A few years before the show, a few people, from all types of backgrounds, are thrust together to stop a terrorist group. But, cut off from anything legal, and with few of them having any decent military training, can they live long enough to win?
Before it all, if you asked me if I even COULD save the world, or even just Equestria, I would’ve done two things: Laugh, and say “no.” In fact, up until near the end, I still would’ve said it. But that changed. My name is Firestar, and this is how me and my new-found friends saved the world.
This is written basically like my other stories: Made up as I go. I usually don't have any clear-cut plans for ANYTHING, and if I do, then it's usually just briefs moments, or even just general events that I have no idea what I'm going to actually put inside of them. Just clearing the waters, not drying the stream. I don't want to push away readers, I just want them to know that they shouldn't ask me if I have any outlines; because I don't. Not really.
This is written because a friend of mine loves my stories, but I've basically lost interest in Earth Outbreak. This is (obviously) not in the same universe as Earth Outbreak, so just because I use Firestar, doesn't mean he's the same person.
Before it all, if you asked me if I even COULD save the world, or even just Equestria, I would’ve done two things: Laugh, and say “no.” In fact, up until near the end, I still would’ve said it. But that changed. My name is Firestar, and this is how me and my new-found friends saved the world.
It started as a normal day. Or, as normal as you can get when you’ve moved into a small town named Ponyville the day before. I hadn’t even finished unpacking. But I had the essentials. My clothes, my money, and my gun. It was a civilian-grade pistol, but even though it wasn’t the best around, it was dependable.
I was in the town square’s plaza, looking for food. One kiosk offered sandwiches. I decided to get in line. But when the person in front of me got out his money to rake off five bits, he only got two.
“Um,” he said, “sh*t, why did this happen to…” he trailed off, muttering incoherently.
I reached into my bits bag and took out three bits. Without a word I walked around him and placed them on the counter and walked back.
“What…” the man said, apparently speechless. He turned to me. “Th-thank you!”
I just smiled and nodded. The man grabbed the sandwich and strolled off to find a table.
I approached and said “One sandwich, please.” And drew out the five bits. But when I set them on the counter, the kiosk manager shook her head.
“Four bits, sir.” At my quizzical look, she added “that was real nice, what you did. A thing like that deserves something, at least. Four bits.”
I shrugged and placed four bits on the counter, putting the last one away. I grabbed the sandwich, thanked her, and started ambling around for an empty table. I saw the guy from earlier wave me over, so I joined him.
“I can’t thank you enough,“ he said. He opened his mouth to say more, but I held up my hand and stopped him.
“No need. I like helping others. I’m Firestar.” I held out my hand, and we shook.
“Leon.” he said, unclasping.
We chatted for a bit while we ate. As we were getting up to leave, a man came around a corner wearing the uniform of a Royal Guard. I saw Leon flinch, and start acting nervous and fidgety.
“You ok?” I asked.
He snapped out if it.
“Y-yeah. I’m goo-“
That’s when things went to he**. A part of the wall of a building in the corner of the plaza exploded.
Everything stopped. I saw the Guard had his gun out, but before he could take a step, a gunshot rang out. He crumpled to the ground, his forehead blossoming blood.
People screamed and ran. More shots started coming, and people started dropping like flies. Leon and I, though, flipped our table and used it as cover.
I took out my pistol, and I saw him bring his to bear.
I propped myself up. A dozen or so figures had come through the smoke. All carrying rifles.
I popped one and ducked back down. Bullets thunked into the thick wood. It wouldn’t last long. I turned to Leon as he took cover again from finalizing his own target’s life.
“We need to move!”
“Where!?!”
I looked around quickly. I spied an overturned kiosk made of metal nearby, thicker than the table. There!
“Kiosk! On me!” I sprinted for it, firing to suppress. I dived at the last second, but misjudged my timing. I ended up with my shoulders up past the kiosk. I looked up in time to end a shooter before he gave my head a new airway.
I scrambled back and crouched up. Then, I heard something.
Oh, great, more of them! I thought as I heard a large increase in rifle fire.
“Hey!” Leon yelled, peeking from the other side of our makeshift cover. “Soldiers!”
Oh, thank Celestia!
I looked from my side. Sure enough, multiple Guards had come in and engaged our attackers. But I saw a few of the attackers suppressing a kiosk. That one was wooden. And it was falling apart.
“Save that kiosk!” I yelled, already firing at its destroyers. After 3 went down, I saw a woman dart out from the kiosk over to the wall of a building. I recognized her as the woman who had sold sandwiches.
She was armed, and knew how to use it. During her run, which was a full-out sprint by the looks of it, she fired three shots. Three shooters went down. Headshots.
I ducked back down, and mentally whistled. She’s good!
A minute or so more of fighting, and the shooting died down. The next time I popped up, there was only one guy left, and he was already falling.
“Search and secure!” I heard a voice call out. Guards started coming out of the woodworks. There were at least a dozen. Maybe more.
After about ten seconds, I heard various calls of “Clear!”
I called out “Civilian! Standing up!” And put my gun down. I slowly straightened, and found multiple guns trained on me. Upon seeing my attire, they went back down.
“I’ve got a guy with me, and there’s someone over-“
“Here.” I looked over, and sure enough, the shopkeeper was standing there, pistol holstered. Her hands in the air.
“What-Well I’ll be!” One Guard exclaimed. He walked over to her. “Jackie?”
She smirked. “You bet your a**, Allen!”
Seeing everything was all peachy again, I grabbed my pistol and holstered it.
Leon stood up. One Guard looked at him, then did a double take.
“Do I know you?” The Guard asked. Leon looked at him, then shook his head.
“I know your face…” the Guard continued. “I’ve seen it somewhere… oh well.”
Leon’s look of fear upon the Guard’s first statement vanished.
“Alright, boys!” The Guard leader, Allen, called out. “Let’s go! On the train!”
He came up to me. “We’ll all talk about what happened there, and then in more depth at the Castle.”
I nodded. “Yes, sir.”
He smiled at both my words and my clear, strong tone. “Good to know you’ll be cooperative. Not everyone always is.” He looked at everyone else.
After a grueling debriefing, as Allen called it, we were given rooms in the castle to stay in.
The day after, we were clustered in a well-furnished room. Lots of furniture, elegance, and space. It was me, Leon, Jack the kiosk manager, and a bunch of other ponies who'd survived the attack.
It was then that Allen walked in. He looked grim. Conversations stopped, and all heads turned to him.
"We've tracked down a base of operations for this group." He started. "They're actually already infamous, but they're usually subtle. They call themselves Judgers. Their group is named Crimson Justice."
He sighed, looking almost defeated. "I hate to ask you all this, but we were stretched thin before this. Would any of you be willing to put aside your personal lives and help us get rid of Crimson Justice?"
I thought about it for a second, and stepped forward. "I will."
"So will I." I turned. Leon.
"And they're not alone." Jack stepped up.
No one else did.
Allen looked around, waited a few seconds, and nodded.
"Then you three, follow me. You'll get a crash-course in military training. Let's see how fast you can learn."
After the highly-intensive 3-month crash-course - which tested are accuracy, reflex time, and stamina, among a whole load of other things - we were led to our training gym and given military-grade field pistols (in training, the pistols had been down-graded. They seemed like real ones, but they weren't designed for extended use).
Upon our confusion at not getting rifles, Allen apologized. "We're trying to requisition more, but a lot of things are popping up. It might be a while before we get anything. In the meantime, we'll - all of us - have to scavenge what we can from the field."
Huh. So he's in the same boat as us.
Allen walked over to a doorway at the end of the gym. Another Elite Guard was there.
"This is Jackson." Allen introduced us all.
Jackson continued the mini-briefing. "We've tracked down their base to a field a couple miles out from Appleloosa. Allen and I will go with you and we'll all take it down."
"How?" Leon piped up. "We've only got pistols, and that's an entire base. There's only five of us."
"Then you'd better hope your da** good." Allen deadpanned. "There's no one to spare. Crimson Justice has put all our locations on high alert. There's a reason we asked for volunteers. All the reserves are being used to defend. For this op, we're on our own."
So, we got recruited, we got a 5-week-long crash-course, and we got a target. Nice. It took us a while to get to Appleloosa by train. We passed the time with idle chatter.
Jackie, used to be a Spec Ops Tier Three operative. No wonder she blew the crash-course out of the water. She had left only a few months ago.
Leon had been in quite a few tough scrapes, and had learned how to fight, and fight hard. He wouldn't say why he'd gotten in most of them, but he did say that quite a few were because of bar fights when the other guy was drunk.
"I don't drink enough to really get drunk." he admitted, upon being asked if he was ever the one that was drunk.
"That's good." I replied. "Means you're still in control."
He nodded, and looked at Allen. "So, what's up with you and Jackie?"
Allen smiled. "We grew up together. Signed up for the Army, went into Spec Ops Tier Two. She graduated even further, but I wanted a different kind of military service."
"So you became an Elite Guard, then?" I asked.
"Nope, I went down to Royal Guard. Found it boring - usually just standing around and putting up appearances for the public - and so I asked to be transferred back down to Elite Guard, and here I've stayed."
"So, what's you guys' ranks?" Leon asked.
Allen just looked at him and said "Officer."
Jackie spoke up. "Used to be a da** good Sergeant Major in Tier Three."
Jackson said "I'm currently a Corporal, but Allen says that he's put in a promotion request for me."
"Da** right!" Allen replied, slightly louder than talking volume. But he quieted back down. "You're good enough for Tier One! I'm surprised you're already at Lieutenant! Corporal? Who-" He cast an apologetic glance at everyone. "Sorry, I'm rambling."
Jackie grinned "Just be glad he hadn't warmed up yet, or he'd have gone for hours."
Allen chuckled "Not quite that long, sister."
"Yeah, more like years."
"I'm sorry, who hard-fu**ed you when I wasn't looking? They must've been pretty desperate!"
A few hours later, the train stopped at Appleloosa. We got off and went to the nearest police station.
In the armory there, we stocked up on ammo.
"Okay," Allen started, "We'll sneak into the base. Once we're all in good positions, I'll radio the go, and we'll take them by surprise. It could be over in twenty minutes, if we play this right."
We grabbed armored vests, any ammo we could hold that wouldn't slow us down, and left. We used underground tunnels in order to get out of the town without arousing attention.
Out of the tunnels, we hiked three miles, and stopped on the edge of a cliff. Below and about a quarter-mile off, I could see the base.
"It looks like a military base." I remarked, going prone.
"It could be one." Jackson stated, crouching next to me, with binoculars out.
I looked up at him. "Huh?"
"Crimson Justice is a militaristic group. They probably build their bases to match. Not to mention, sometimes they take over our own."
Allen grabbed a pair of binoculars and eyed the place. "I'm seeing three barracks, probably an armory, and a few other things. Warehouse, communications station, the works." He set the binocs down, took out a piece of paper and a pencil, and drew.
When he was done, it was a map of the base. "Okay. We'll go in from these ends." He pointed them out. "Firestar, you and Jackie will go in from this side. Leon, you and Jackson will go in from there. I'll head in here. Find a spot with sights on multiple targets, and when I give the go, take them down as fast as you can."
We snuck into the base, creeping silently through the tall wheat stalks surrounding the base. When we reached the border, we crouched down.
After about 20 seconds, we heard the radio call over our earpieces. "Anyone not in position?" "...Okay, move in."
We went prone and crawled in. Lucky those guards aren't very attentive, I thought as I nervously glanced at the pair on one watchtower, and then another. Or they'd rip us to shreds before we could even hit 'em.
After reaching the perimeter of the concrete, we went sideways until we came up on the edge of a building that blocked the watchtowers' views of us. We went back to crouching and walked to the corner.
Jackie took the corner, and I was right behind her. She peeked around, then motioned me to go the other way.
I turned around and went to the other corner. I could hear her following me.
I glanced around, only showing half of my head. No one was near us, or even looking in our direction.
We snuck over to a pile of crates, and then to a doorway of a building. According to Allen's map, we'd reached one of the barracks.
Jackie cracked open the door, but didn't let it go any further. We waited there for a minute, to make sure no one was suspicious, and then she nudged it another inch and looked in.
After a few seconds, she put the door back to being only a crack opened. She whispered "Eight guys, two of them armed. One's cleaning his gun, so that won't be a problem. Three of them are sleeping, or at least resting. Stay here, I'm gonna circle around. We'll hit 'em from both doors."
I nodded, and nudged the door open an inch, like she did.
I barely heard her padding off.
I peeked in, and confirmed what she'd reported. Eight guys, two armed, one cleaning, and three sleeping. One guy had a book. The other two were talking. Something about ladies in town, and how they'd love to get their hands on them. Among other body parts.
After about half a minute more of waiting, and Allen radioed. "Everyone in position?"
Leon came on "Sir, I've got a civilian, here. She's armed and hiding."
"What's her status?"
"I don't think they know she's even here. I can get to her, if you want. She looks like she's getting ready to kick off a fight."
"Do it. Maybe she can help us."
I prepared to wait a little more.
After about a minute, Leon reported in. "Her name's Amber. She'll help."
"Alright. Get yourselves in position, and I'll kick this off."
I pushed the door in and readied my gun at the spot I remembered the armed guy that wasn't cleaning was.
I pulled the trigger on his confused face. I heard a couple more shots as I was aiming at the bookie. The cleaner dropped, and so did one of the talkers.
Bookie went down as soon as he looked up. Talker 2 bolted for his buddy's gun, but three bullets in his chest convinced his body to retire.
Sleepers 1-3 all scrambled out of their beds. I'd already walked a few steps in, and didn't see the need to waste ammo. I shot one while I sprinted for another.
He tried to knock my teeth loose, but he was a slow waker. I socked him in the stomach, and he bent over, air rushing out. I used my elbow to the back of his head to introduce his face to the floor.
By the time I'd put the guy on the floor, Jackie had taken down Sleeper 3.
She looked at me, saw the barracks was clear, and yelled "Let's go!"
We rushed to the next one. As we got to the door, she stopped me from opening it. "Bait them. Open it and don't go in."
I saw her hand come up. She'd nabbed a grenade off of one of the guys in the previous barracks.
I smiled. "Gotcha."
I pulled the handle of the door, pushed it open a quarter-way, and scrambled back as a hail of lead tore through the opening.
Jackie waited till it died down, then she pulled the pin and tossed.
I closed the door. A muffled bang came. The ground vibrated for an instant. And then Jackie kicked our entrance out of our way.
It was easy. Out of the ten guys in there, three had survived the grenade. We finished them off.
When we got out, we found Allen walking out of the last barracks.
He nodded at us, and indicated the warehouse. We went.
There were only four guys in the warehouse, and two of them were alone. Too easy.
After getting whatever info they could out of the guy, Allen and Jackson carried him to the police station, where he'd get sent off to spend a long time in a cell in the Canterlot dungeons.
A letter from Celestia herself stated that we could use the base we'd just taken over as our own base of operations.
"So, we're almost like a PMC?" I asked Allen when he finished reading it to us.
"A small one, yeah."
Welp. Fun.
We settled down to wait for anything to come in. We didn't know any other locations to hit, and the guy didn't know of any other attacks.
I passed the time talking to Amber. Turns out she was a local who decided to go Vigilante after hearing about a bunch of crimes being done, and no one being caught. She'd heard a rumor from a drunk that there was a "Crimson Base" out here, and she decided to check it out.
Having already seen more than her share of crimes, she recognized the uniforms of the base's occupants to be uniforms of some people she'd seen committing some of the more terrible crimes in Appleloosa.
"I decided to investigate." she said. "Apparently, they were allowed trips once a week or so to go into town and do whatever. Unfortunately, some of them decided to do some less moral things than shopping or buying each other drinks."
:So, you'd been watching these guys for a while?" I asked.
She nodded. "Two months. Kinda coincidental that you guys happened to take it out the same day I was gonna start hit-and-running them." She chuckled.
I chuckled a little, too. "Well," I said after a bit, "I'm gonna go off and do something. See ya later."
"See ya."
I walked around for a while, making a map of the place. My on-the-spot handwriting wasn’t very good, but I’d make another map with quality handwriting later.
I found Jackson in the armory, and he called out. “Hey Firestar, I found something!”
I went over, curious.
“Come over here and look closely.”
We walked to one of the few bare sections of the armory. Jackson pointed at the wall.
I looked. “I don’t… What’s that?” I noticed that a part of the wall was just barely further back than the rest, and shaped suspiciously door-like.
“There you go.” Jackson said.
I turned and saw him grinning. He walked to the other side of the room and pushed on a small square barely jutting out. I heard rumbling behind me, and I turned.
The door in the wall was moving. It opened downward. Almost like it was falling, but slower. There was light on the other side. I glimpsed dim lights, like a building on emergency power. I caught the odor of a tunnel that hadn’t been used for days. Stuffy.
After the door had gone all the way down, it sloped into the tunnel. Then, a section of the tunnel floor opened up, and something came out. Mechanized stairs.
I heard Jackson padding over next to me, and we watched. Once the stairs had fully extended, they stopped. The new staircase stretched from the now-open entryway to the floor of the tunnel. Nothing moved. I heard me and Jackson breathing, and a small echo from the stairs going deeper into the tunnel.
After a couple seconds, I spoke up. “Cool.”
Jackson snorted. “Not just cool, Fire. This extends all the way into Appleloosa, and even intersects with some of the ventilation of the official tunnels. These guys could’ve watched us coming, if they’d had people down here.”
I nodded approvingly. “So, we not only have our own base, we also have a secret exit slash entrance, too. Nice. Have you told Allen?”
“Not yet, I’ll go in just a second. Hey, can I tell you something?”
“Sure.”
“I haven’t really seen much of you in action, but you strike me as a leader type. You’re at least a skilled fighter. I talked with Jackie. She said you did great taking the base.”
“Um… thanks.” I was never great at accepting complements, or giving them. It just didn’t come naturally, and I never know what to do.
Jackson smiled and chuckled. “I’m the same way, man. You don’t even have to explain it.” And then he summed up what I was feeling almost perfectly. Awkward, embarrassed, etc.. "Hey, I’ll recommend Allen consider you for a secondary squad leader. Celestia knows I can’t be one, and Jackie doesn’t like being one, even though she’s decent at it. So, I can tell Allen to consider you, or would you rather I not?”
“You’re-you’re fine.” I stammered, still internally glowing from the praise.
Jackson smiled, knowing what I was going through. “See you around.” He walked out.
After a few seconds of staring at the tunnel, I was conflicted. Explore the tunnel, or walk around some more? There might be other stuff I could do. Or even just people to talk with for a bit. I eventually decided to just walk around a bit more. I pressed the square again, and sure enough, the staircase unfolded and the entryway was obscured again.
I wrote a quick note on how to open the tunnel and left it there, so that Allen would see it when he came to check out our new entrance.
After a couple minutes, I found Jackie standing around. She called to me, and I came over.
“Now that we’ve got nothing to do, we could go back to Appleloosa and chill. Or even Ponyville. We can keep our earpiece radios, in case something comes up. You wanna go?”
I thought about it for a second, then shrugged. “Sure.”
After we stepped off the train at Ponyville, Jackie said “I’ll be off somewhere. If you wanna chat, come find me at Sugar Cube Corner.” And walked off.
I stood there and looked around for a bit, taking in the sights, like I did only a few days ago. It feels longer, just because so much has happened since then.
After taking in the beautiful colors and the sounds of birds chirping, train personnel calling out various things, and people chatting, I walked around.
Eventually, I found myself standing in front of a bakery. The sign read "Sugarcube Corner Cafe." I was about to walk in, but stopped. The sound of someone crying was faint, but audible. I tracked it down to coming from behind the cafe, in its backyard.
I came across a woman looking very distraught. I decided to figure out what the problem was. Maybe I could help?
I stepped up to the distraught woman, who was by now almost bawling. “Excuse me, ma’am, but, is something wrong?”
“My children and their friends are all missing! They went off to play hide and seek, but they haven’t come back! It’s been nearly an hour!”
I put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It’s alright ma’am, I’ll find them.”
She looked at me with extreme gratitude. “Oh, thank you sir!”
I started to walk off to search, but then something occurred to me. “By the way, ma’am, what’s your name?”
“I’m Mrs. Cup Cake. My kids are Pumpkin and Pound Cake. Um, they and their three friends, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo went all over the place looking for hiding spots.”
Just then, a voice called out, “Okay, fillies, come on out, already! Where are you?”
Mrs. Cup Cake wheeled around. There was a small colt walk towards us.
“Oh, Pound!” Mrs. Cup Cake cried. She ran and hugged Pound, who was suddenly very confused.
“Mom, what’s got you so upset?”
She stopped hugging him, but kept a hand on each shoulder. “I was worried! I hadn’t seen any of you in nearly an hour, and I was afraid something had happened!”
“Mom, we’re playing hide and seek, of course you couldn’t see us!”
I walked up, reluctantly killing the moment. “Pound, do you know where your friends are?”
“No, I haven’t found any of them. I’m not a good seeker. I’ve been looking this whole time!”
Before she could say anything, I put a hand on Mrs. Cup Cake’s shoulder. “I’m sure their still just hiding. Come on, Pound, I’ll help you look.”
“You will? Thanks, Mister!”
“Firestar.”
“Thanks, Mr. Firestar!”
I chuckled. Oh, kids are cute.
We walked around town, every once in a while spotting one of his friends. Each time we got an exclamation of “Aw, shoot, you found me!” or “Oh, come on!”
Finally, we only had to find Applebloom. Scootaloo suggested looking in Sweet Apple Acres. We went.
After a couple minutes of searching, we found her. “Finally!” She exclaimed. Upon seeing everyone else, she jumped up and down and said “Ah won! Sweet!”
We all hoofed it back to Mrs. Cup Cake. She was ecstatic and relieved upon seeing all of us. She thanked me profusely, and gave me a dozen cupcakes. “Our baker, Pinkie Pie, is extremely good with anything cake-related.”
I tried one, and my mouth exploded with flavor. “Woah!”
Mrs. Cup Cake laughed at my face. “If I had a bit for every time someone did that!”
I chuckled, too. When she said extremely good, she wasn’t kidding! The best I’d had before wasn’t even half as good!
After chatting for a minute, I said my goodbyes and left. Mrs. Cup Cake turned and watched the fillies and colt play Tag.
I didn’t want to lug the box of cupcakes all around town with me, so I went over to a store and bought a backpack. I used my horn to magic the box into the backpack, strapped it on my back, made sure my wings were still free, and walked off.
I was still next to Sugarcube Corner, so I decided to pay Jackie a visit. I saw her flying around with a rainbow-colored blur. I took off and flew to her.
“Hey Fire!” She yelled from a distance.
I stopped, not wanting to get too close, lest I get rammed by accident.
“What’s up?” I called.
“Just racing circles with this absolute wind spirit! Her name’s Rainbow Dash!”
Jackie and the light-distortion-of-a-pony kept it up for a good half minute longer, then Jackie stopped and the blur solidified into a grinning cyan Pegasus mare with… interestingly colored hair. Then she became a blur again. Only this time, she was flying towards me. I dodged, but there was no need. She put on the brakes early and stopped a couple feet away from where I would’ve been, had I not moved.
She turned to face me, and said, in a voice that could’ve fooled me into thinking she was an unusually high-pitched stallion, “Hi! I’m Rainbow Dash! Fastest flyer in Equestria!”
I chuckled. “Is that why you were racing her, Jackie?”
“More like attempting to, pretty much.”
Dash grinned. “So, what’s up?”
I introduced myself and said that I came to hang out with Jackie. “You wanna come with?”
“Sure!” Then she grinned in that way that makes you just know a joke’s coming. “'Cuz then you can keep admiring how awesome I am!”
I chuckled. “Sure, Rainbow Dash. Sure.” I grinned to show her I meant no offense.
We flew down to a building, which turned out to be the bakery Mrs. Cup Cake and her husband owned, ordered some cupcakes, sat down, and chatted for a while.
Apparently, she hadn’t even heard of the attack two days ago. “What!?!” She exclaimed, upon being told about it. “When I get my hooves on them I’ll-”
Jackie put a hand on Dash’s shoulder, and she stopped talking and looked at her. Jackie spoke up. “They got beaten down. None of them got out of there. There’s no one to get.”
Dash calmed down a little. “Still,” she said, “I’d like to get a chance to beat up whoever ordered it.”
I chuckled. “We’ll brain the leader when we find him, okay?”
Dash chuckled “Yeah, like we’d ever find him around here. If the Royal Guard get him, that’s fine.”
Jackie and I shared an unnoticed look, and by mutual silent agreement we didn’t tell Rainbow Dash about our group.
“Yeah,” I continued the conversation before any pause was noticeable. “I just want the A- er, flank-of-a-pony brought to justice.” I had seen Pumpkin Cake walking by, and hurriedly corrected my language.
Dash smirked, holding in a snicker. Jackie didn’t bother.
We chatted for a bit more, and then I got up and left.
I went home and unpacked a little bit more, and then I went to sleep, as it had gotten dark. The next day me and Jackie went back to Appleloosa and then back to the base, which had basically become our Headquarters.
Walking towards the base after exiting the tunnels, Jackie said “If we’re our own group, we should come up with a name. You got anything?”
I thought about it, but then shrugged. “I got nothing.”
Jackie grinned. “I’m thinking Wolfhound.”
Chapter 3: Wolfhound's First Mission: Part 1: News
After getting back, I walked around the base for a bit, making small talk with everyone. After conversing with Jackson for a bit, he said,
“Allen’s been in his new ‘office’ for a while. You wanna go check up on him?”
I shrugged. “Sure.”
Jackson gave me the ‘follow me’ wave, and I did. Along the way, he asked me “Have you heard of Jackie’s idea for our group name?”
“What, Wolfhound?”
“Yeah. I like it. What do you think?”
I nodded. “Same here.”
We walked for a bit more before he piped up again. “It’s kind of hard to believe that we’re officially a PMC now. I mean, we were always told that groups like PMC’s were bad, too. They fought and killed purely for money, and didn’t mind betraying, for a bigger paycheck. Guess that’s not always true. But still, we’re technically illegal, now.”
“But Celestia knows about us.”
“Yeah, she has to turn a blind eye. If she ever publicly acknowledges us, she’d be legally forced to take us in. So everything she does with us has to be under the radar.”
“Well, that sucks.”
“He** yeah, it does. At least we still get paid. I was there when she first came on the radio. She promised us that whenever we do a job for Equestria, she’d find a way to pay us.”
“Huh. Well, at least we won’t starve to death, trying to root these guys out.” I remarked.
Upon finishing that sentence, we came to Allen’s office’s door. Or, rather, double door. It had originally been the base commander’s quarters, but Allen converted it into an office. He still used the barracks with the rest of us. He’d become the unanimous leader of our group. Of Wolfhound. Score one to Jackie, for a great name.
When we entered Allen’s office, he was just finishing up a radio conversation on the commander’s personal radio set.
“-Yes ma’am. We’ll be there. Out.” He switched off the radio, turned, and saw us. “What’s up?”
Jackson spoke up. “Just checking up on you. What was that?”
Allen sighed. “Apparently, our guy did know something. Crimson Justice is gonna attack in a few days.”
“What, here?”
“No. Worse. Canterlot.”
Oh colt.
“Sh*t.” Jackson swore.
Allen nodded in agreement with Jackson’s assessment, then he continued. “But we still have some leeway. The attack’s in a few days, and it’ll only take us a few hours to get there. If you have anything you want to finish up, do it now. Jackson, tell the teams. Dismissed.”
Jackson saluted and about-faced. I heard Allen give a quick, quiet snort. Then Jackson walked out. I made to follow, but…
“Firestar.”
I turned back around. “Yes sir?”
“First of all, I’m not too big on formality. If we’re not on an operation, just call me Allen. Secondly, the attack is going to be all over the place. Really scattered. Celestia’s doing what she can, but the amount of guards she’s using to cover each area has left a couple areas virtually unprotected. And they’re right next to each other, so if they combine, they’ll be a real problem. I need a second team to cover the second area. Jackie’s admitted you’ve got a cool head, and Jackson’s told me he sees a lot of leadership potential in you. I want you to lead the second team. Is that alright?”
I stood there for a second, stunned. Allen opened his mouth to repeat, but then I stammered out “Uh-y-yes sir, Allen.” Then I deflated, thinking my stammering had just bombed me. But then I heard laughing.
“Don’t worry, Firestar. Jackson also told me how good you are with complements and sudden trusts. And this sure is he**a sudden.”
I smiled gratefully, and let out a nervous chuckle. Then Allen got serious again.
“So. I’ll take Jackson and Leon to one sector. You’ll take Jackie and Amber to the other. Yes, Amber’s agreed to officially join the group. I asked her myself.” He glanced behind him at a table with a stack of paper on it. “I’ve got some paperwork to do. Do whatever you need to do, then head to Canterlot. I’ll get Jackson to arrange everyone transport. Dismissed.”
I saluted and about-faced, like Jackson. I heard a snort of laughter from behind me, but he didn’t even attempt to contain this one. I smiled, even though he couldn’t see my face anymore. I walk out.
I found Jackie, Amber, and Leon lounging around in the only barracks we were currently occupying. “Did you all hear-“
“Yeah, Jackson told us.” Jackie spoke up.
I nodded and walked back out. I found Jackson in full gear in front of the Armory.
“What’s got you so ready to go?”
“Just being early. Allen put me in charge of arranging transport to Canterlot. Luckily, there’ll be no shortage of trains heading there, so whenever you’re ready, I can get you a ticket.”
“Maybe that’s part of why Crimson’s attacking. No shortage of inbound trains? No shortage of people. Lots of targets.”
Jackson nodded grimly. “That’s my thinking, too. Canterlot’s highly defended, but with so many people, striking there would be a huge blow. Possibly a turning-point opportunity.”
“Which is why we need to stop it from happening.”
“No chance of that. We’ll just stop ‘em from winning. But anyways, like Allen said, if you have anything else to do, do it soon. Or do you want to go now?”
I thought about it for a second, then shook my head. “I’ve still got stuff to do.”
“Alright, just come on back when you’re ready. I’ll be here.”
I walked off. I found myself heading into the Armory. Might as well get those tunnels explored.
I grabbed an earpiece, put it in, turned it on, and said, “Hey, Allen. You getting this?”
A few seconds later, “Yeah, what’s up?”
“I’m gonna explore the tunnels beneath the Armory. Keep an ear on the radio, I’ll call in anything I find.”
“Copy that. Don’t get lost, and be careful. Out.”
“Will do. Out.”
I made sure my pistol was in easy reach, grabbed a couple magazines for it, opened up the tunnel, and went in.
I’d brought a paper and pencil, and was sketching down a map. After a couple minutes of accidentally going in circles, I found something.
“Hey, Allen, I found what looks like a cache of something. Possibly arms. I’m seeing ammo boxes, along with bigger boxes with something.”
“Alright. Check it out.”
I stepped up and opened one. When I saw what was inside, I whistled and radioed in again. “Whew, we hit the goldmine, Allen. I’m seeing pistols, SMG’s, even a couple Assault Rifles. And the ammo boxes are heavy.” I reported, after experimentally trying to pick it up.
“Hold on. I wanna see this. I’m coming in.”
“Copy, I’ll head back to the entrance and show you the way.”
I headed back. By the time I got to the stairway, Allen was all set and sitting at the bottom. He stood up. “Let’s go.”
When we got there, he immediately took over. “Search the rest of those weapons crates, I’m gonna see the state of the ammo boxes.”
I went over to one of the crates and opened it up. “Whoa. Allen, I just found a bunch of vests. They look armored.” I picked one up. “They’re heavier than the ones we used to get here.”
I heard him whistle appreciatively for a full three seconds. “When you said this was a goldmine, you weren’t kidding. These ammo boxes are chockfull. Throw me a vest.” He grunted when he caught it. “Da**, they are heavier. Whoa! This is almost twice as thick!”
“Is that really good, or just good?”
“It’s great! The standard vests could stop a couple shots from a pistol, and I’m no judge, but I think this could probably stop half a dozen rifle rounds!”
My eyes widened. Da**, that is great!
“Now we have to decide what to do with it. We could move it all to the Armory, where it’s easier to reach, or we could keep it here.”
“Why would we keep it here?”
“Crimson Justice knows about his base, but I’ve studied these guys for a while. The commanders are given almost completely free reign what to do on the base. It’s pretty likely that the only person besides us that know about this cache is locked up deep in Canterlot. If the base gets raided, Crimson would probably steal from our Armory. We could move it up there, where we’d have a chance of getting at it and using its contents, or we could leave it down here. They probably wouldn’t waste time searching the tunnels until after the base was taken over. If they even know the tunnels exist. If we can fight them off, then even if they do successfully raid the Armory, we’d probably still keep this stuff. But if we leave it down here, we’ll likely not be able to use it on surprise attacks. What do you think?”
I blinked. “What, me? You’re the leader, here.”
“I don’t want to be the only one capable of leading these people, Firestar. What if I go down? What if I go out? What then? You have the most potential for leading out everyone else here, and I want you to get used to making decisions.”
I looked away for a second, absorbing what I’d just heard. I came to a decision. “We keep it here.”
Allen nodded. “Good choice. Really, either one is a good choice, and I’d back you either way.” He turned back to the weapons crates he’d moved to standby, opened one, and started rummaging. “You can keep searching the tunnels, if you want. Or you can go do something else. Your call. I’ll be here for a bit. I want to identify and catalogue everything here.”
I walked off. “Alright. See ya.”
“See ya.”
Chapter 3: Wolfhound's First Mission: Part 2: Entering Canterlot
I thought about it for a second, then nodded. “Yep.”
He nodded back. “Alright. There’s a train leaving Appleloosa heading to Canterlot in a couple hours. I’ll get you a ticket. Grab your gear and let’s go.”
I went into the Armory, grabbed a few magazines, and then went down to the cache of weapons. Allen was still sorting through it.
“I’m heading to Canterlot. Would it disrupt anything if I nabbed some stuff?”
“Not so long as you tell me what you’re nabbing.” He didn’t even look up, engrossed in his cataloguing.
I walked over to the cache and looked around. Grab too many weapons or ammo, and I'll be either too slow or not even be able to carry it all in combat. So what should I get, me?
I eventually decided to take an SMG and a screw-on/screw-off suppressor for my pistol. I went over to Allen, tapped his shoulder, showed him what I was grabbing, and pointed at the crates I’d taken from. He nodded.
“Can I take some ammo?”
“Sure.” He grabbed a couple boxes and brought them over.
I opened them up.
“Take what you need.”
I took out the magazine in my SMG, loaded bullets into it, grabbed four more magazines of ammo for my SMG, and loaded the first one into it.
“225 rounds.” I stated.
Allen nodded and went over to a paper he had on a closed crate. He marked something down on it, and went back over to the boxes. “Anything else you need?”
I thought for a second. “Nope, that’s it.” I said. I made to walk out, but he stopped me.
“Bullet in the chamber, plus a full mag. Trust me, sometimes it’s that extra bullet that makes the difference.”
I walked back over, cocked my SMG, took out the magazine, inserted another round into it, and put it back in.
Allen nodded. “There you go. Now do the same with your pistol.”
“Already done.”
“Alright! We’ll make a soldier out of you yet.” He teased.
I played along. “Oh, I don’t know, I wanted to be a pacifist with an HMG.”
He cracked up. “Nice one!”
Jackson stepped in. “Alright ladies, the boys are coming, so get your dresses back on.”
I stepped up to him, a full-fledged idea in my head. I grinned, looked him right in the eyes, and said, in a Moe-like voice, “Why, I oughtta-“ I smacked myself in the face, and looked back at him. “-you!”
Jackson and I made small talk as we walked to Appleloosa. After getting to the train station, he bought me a ticket, and I was on. Apparently Jackie was on the same train, so I sat with her.
Like with Jackson, we made small talk for a while. But then we ran out of things to talk about in public, and we didn’t want anyone to overhear us. Mutual silent agreement. So eventually, we settled down and slept. A train whistle woke us up.
A conductor called out “Canterlot!”
Me, Jackie, and half the car got up.
The guy we were staying with was nice, and apparently he and the rest of the Royal Guard had already heard about the attack, but they’d also been told that they couldn’t divulge – or, in most Guards’ cases, couldn’t find out – how the information had come about. Nor could they even divulge the information itself.
I saw the sense in doing so. If Crimson Justice found out we knew, they’d either call it off – and leave us with no traces to follow whatsoever – or attack immediately, to catch us by surprise – which they would, and we’d suffer massive casualties just being unprepared. Plus, if we did tell the public, there’d be chaos in the streets. People would flock to leave, and that would probably encourage Crimson Justice to attack immediately, rather than risk losing an opportunity to strike a huge blow to Equestria. I didn’t like that we couldn’t do much without extreme risk, but we had no choice.
I spent the rest of the day walking around and familiarizing myself with the town. I also chatted with a couple other Royal Guards at a café a couple blocks away from the house. Both of them knew of the incoming threat, and shared my viewpoint: they both disliked being unable to help, but realized the necessity of keeping quiet about it. Apparently Celestia had personally spoken with all of the commanders of the Royal Guard squadrons and given them their assignments. The information and battle plan were then passed down to the others.
Allen arrived the next day, along with the rest of Wolfhound. He greeted us, spent an hour relaxing and talking with us, and then went into the living-room-turned-war-room for twice that. Then he came out carrying a few rolled-up pieces of parchment. They looked big. Suspiciously like the maps that had been set up in the room.
“Heading to Celestia for plan confirmation.” He explained. And off he went, the house’s owner trailing behind him.
Chapter 3: Wolfhound's First Mission: Part 3: Preparation
About five hours later, they came back. Allen called us into the war room and unrolled a map of the city.
“Okay, Wolfhound,” he started, “we have our positions. Jackson, Leon, and I will take this sector.” He pointed to one of the many drawn-on boxes on the map. Then he grabbed red and blue markers. He outlined his square in red, and then another right next to it in blue. “Firestar, you, Jackie, and Amber will take this sector.” He then grabbed a green marker, outlined a box halfway across the map, and said, “This is us, currently.”
I studied the map. Then something occurred to me. I stepped up. “Sir, aren’t there underground tunnels throughout the city?”
Allen nodded, then motioned for me to continue.
“Sir, how are we going to cover those? Crimson Justice could pop up anywhere, and they could also just bypass. If we really want to stop them, and make sure that their stopped, we need people covering the tunnels.”
The Guard, which by now we’d learned his name was Flash Sentry, stepped up and cleared his throat. “That’s where most of the Royal Guard is going. We’re also pulling in some Army personnel and as many Special Operatives as we can that’ll arrive in time.”
I nodded and stepped back. Flash did the same.
“Any questions?” Allen asked.
No response.
“Good. Remember where you go, and look around it thoroughly. Crimson Justice attacks in two days. Dismissed.”
We’d already known when, but that verbal reminder really drove it home. I grabbed Jackie and Amber, and we agreed to scope out the area together. We went there, and memorized streetlights, buildings, average amount of people, etc..
We met up frequently and exchanged notes. After two hours, we decided that we’d probably combed through every inch of the area twice-over. We combined notes, and Amber – being a fast and neat writer – copied them all down into three packets. One for each of us.
I looked over all the notes taken, and eventually worked out a map. I gave it to Amber to decipher my writing and make herself and Jackie copies. When she was done, we headed back.
Once back inside, we settled down and talked about our specialties. I’d found I could proficiently do pretty much anything, but I had my specialties. I told them, and Amber replied that she was good with pistols, hand-to-hand combat, and melee weapons. Jackie stated that she a jack-of-all-trades. That earned her some teasing.
After chatting a bit more, we all went to bed early.
It was going to be a big day the day after tomorrow. We’d need all the sleep we could get.
The day of, we woke up before eight O’ clock. We made sure to have a huge breakfast.
Afterwards, Allen gathered everyone in the War Room.
“We know they’ll attack in the afternoon,” he started, “but we don’t know exactly when. It could be four, it could be seven, or it could even be one. I want everyone in position by eleven. Questions? Good. I know breakfast was big, but try to get a good lunch in, too. I want everyone at full energy. A target like this, their gonna give it almost all they got. It’s gonna be big. Huge. Extremely massive. We CANNOT mess up. Everyone know their positions? Good. Questions? Dismissed.”
Like I said before. It was gonna be big day. And we had no clue exactly how big it was really going to get.
Chapter 3: Wolfhound's First Mission: Part 4: The Assault
Everyone in Wolfhound had been issued – per Allen’s request to Celestia – experimental contacts. They were basically eye cameras. They recorded what they saw and heard, overlapping sight as necessary. We could play them back at base. Allen would be analyzing mine to see if I had the makings of a good leader. I didn’t let it get to me. If I was good, I was good. If I wasn’t, then I wasn’t.
At our sector, we were ready. We’d all had lunch, and it was three o’ clock.
I sat at an outside table of a restaurant, Jackie was standing next to an alley on the other end of the square, and Amber was walking a circuit around the middle.
I decided to conserve Amber’s energy. I reached for my earpiece radio. “Amber. A whole hour. You’re gonna make your own road. Please keep your energy and sit down.”
She smiled in my direction, but complied. Five minutes later, Jackie came on.
“Five guys at the grocery store. Dressed the same, and hanging around outside. One keeps looking around like he’ studying everyone, and I’m seeing suspicious jacket bulges.
I looked to Amber. She nodded and got up. She’d keep an eye on them.
After a minute, Amber’s voice came in my ear. “Confirming, they have SMG’s and sidearms in their jackets.”
I set my earpiece to auto-transmit. “Copy. Get what you can and find a spot to take cover.”
It was maybe half a minute later that she reported “they’ve got Crimson Justice stuff carefully hidden underneath the jackets. My guess? They’ll shrug them off, then start shooting.” “…I’m at a good spot.”
“Jackie, you good?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright, now let’s- wait, what are they-“
It was at that moment that one of them put a hand to his ear, nodded to the others, and they all shrugged off their jackets.
All he** broke loose.
Someone screamed, and they started shooting wildly. I pulled out my gun and mowed down a couple before the others found cover. Jackie and Amber picked off a few more that were streaming out of the woodworks. In seconds, the place, once filled with four dozen civilians, was now holding half a dozen bodies, a couple dozen people running around screaming, more than a few handfuls of gun-toting terrorist maniacs, and three secret soldiers intent on keeping everyone alive.
The fighting lasted a while. Everyone popped up, took a few hopeful shots, and ducked back down. Most of the time, you hit a wall or a piece of cover. Even so, me, Jackie, and Amber managed to take down quite a few of them. But all of a sudden,
“I’m hit!” Amber’s voice screamed into the radio.
I looked around, and spotted her. She was on the ground, but moving.She doesn't even look hit. Must be somewhere I can't see, because there was some blood.
I worked my way over to her. She’d apparently found her pistol and was tearing into the Judgers with it. I knelt down by her, pulled out a medical syringe full of painkillers, and injected her with it. I'm glad these are low level, or she'd be in trouble, with this much of a dose.
Considering where I injected her, it took effect almost immediately. I helped her up, and she took cover, the painkillers allowing her to ignore her injury.
I took cover next to her, and gave her a thumbs up, my face showing that I was asking her if she was okay.
“I’ll be fine!” She yelled. “I might have to recover back at base, but I can fight, for now!”
I shrugged. Not much else any of us can do about it. I came up and popped a couple idiots before I dropped back down again.
I glanced over and saw Jackie spray one down, creating half a dozen entrances into his chest. I couldn’t resist a jibe.
“You know,” I said to her over the radio, “I think that guy was breathing just fine through the hole in his face.”
“Well, I adjusted his anatomy to help.” She replied immediately.
I chuckled. “Well, he’ll certainly get some air now. Let’s help the others breathe better!”
In unison, me, Jackie, and Amber all came up and brought down three guys each in about as many seconds. Then we mowed a tenth guy down together. Poor ba**ard.
We all ducked down again. I reloaded and took a peek.
Three, four, no. Five more. Oh. Jackie happened. Three more.
I waited until Jackie finished reloading, and then yelled “Take ‘em down!”
As one, we stood and put one in each of our targets.
My target had already been aiming in my direction. Suddenly, as I fired my shot, my shoulder flared, and I found myself spinning a 180 and falling. I heard a bark of a scream that I realized had come from me.
“Star!” Jackie ran over. She moved my hand out of the way and gently grabbed my injured shoulder to steady it.
Even so, it hurt like I’d never felt before. I used my other arm – my right – to clutch her wrist. Somehow, squeezing something helped me handle the pain.
“Just hold on, Sugarcube!” Jackie said.
She pulled a syringe and gave me a dose of painkillers. It helped me stand, but I was still biting my lip to keep from crying out.
Upon seeing my pained face, Amber stated “It must’ve nudged a nerve cluster. Jackie, we should get him to a medical area.”
“What medical area!?! The whole da** city’s under attack!”
“Sh*t, what else can we do? I’m running on both painkillers and adrenaline, and even with both of those, he can barely stand!”
It was true. I was leaning heavily on a supporting Jackie. If she wasn’t there, I’d be on the ground, wondering if I should even try crawling.
“I-I’m a certified doctor!” Came a voice. A civilian was running over to us, carrying an emergency first-aid kit.
Jackie guided me to a long table. Amber cleared it ff, and together they lifted my onto it. I yelled a couple times from the pain.
The doctor came over and looked at my shoulder. After a few seconds, she took something out of her kit and injected me with it.
“Ugh…” I groaned slowly. I opened my eyes. Bad idea. “Ahgg!” Light. Too much light. Ah, darkness. Not trying to burn my eyes out.
I heard a click, then a door opening. “Hey, sleepy. Rise and shine.” Jackie’s voice came from off to my left.
My voice decided to stay groaning. “Ugh, what if I want to glower?”
I heard a chuckle. Footsteps went over to my right. A hoof gently rested on my right shoulder.
“Feelin’ ok?”
“Should aches and the light hurts, but otherwise I’m good.”
“Great!” Jackie visibly brightened.
“How… How long was I-“
“Just a few hours. The doc got the bullets out.”
“Bullets? Plural?”
“Um, yeah. Ya got hit like four times, Star.”
I pointed my head towards her voice, confused. “I only remember the one.”
“It’s called adrenaline rush, hotshot. Ya didn’t even feel ‘em. Ya only felt tha’ one cuz it hit a part of a nerve cluster.”
“Huh…. Also, you got a little accented, there.” I smiled.
“I heard a mock indignant huff, and a nobility accent replied, “And is that a problem, kind sir?”
I laughed “Now where did you pick that up?”
A chuckle sounded, and then a reply in her farmer’s drawl. “Ah served, Firestar. Ah’ve talked to a spoiled brat or two in mah time.”
I chuckled. Then I noticed I could see a little. My eyes had opened just enough to see through the eyelashes. I opened them a little more. All the way was still uncomfortable, but at least I could see.
We chatted for a while. Eventually a nurse came in and said that I was good to go.
“Just don’t hurt that shoulder again! It’ll be weak for a couple months, while the inside recovers. That bullet tore at just about everything in there, and it’s gonna be a while before that fully heals. Two months, minimum. No strenuous activity on it. Miss, don’t tempt him.”
Jackie flushed. “I’m-I’m not his…”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I just assumed, since you stayed with him…”
“No, no. He’s just a good friend, and I happened to be there when he got hurt. I was just making sure he was feeling okay.”
“Very kind of you, ma’am. As I said before, you’re free to go, but keep that shoulder rested for a couple months. Don’t neglect it, but definitely do not overuse it. If it starts feeling tired, stop right then and there.”
I made a mental note to myself to tease Jackie sometime, for blushing. I got wheeled out - standard procedure for the hospital - and then me and Jackie walked off.
We went to the train station, got on the train, and went back to Appleloosa.
Everyone but Allen and Jackson had already gotten back to base. Apparently they were discussing payment with Celestia. This was probably a one-time deal. She’d have to go through underground undercover operatives to get things to us now, and in fact, most of the payment would have to, as well. But she could give us a sizable amount of it under the pretense of extreme aid to the city (fighting off pretty much a whole sector of Crimson Justice members). Allen was also updating her on everything that had happened.
I followed the doctor’s orders. I only practiced a large amount with my right arm. My left only got a small amount. The doc was right. My left arm was really weak for a few days. It got better quickly, though. I visited her after a couple weeks, and she cleared me for complete control again. I was officially 100% recovered.
One day, about three months later, disaster struck. I was walking along, and spotted Jackson walking past the three barracks. I nodded to him in greeting. He nodded back, and looked around the corner.
I saw him falter for a split second. Then, at the same time, two things happened. Jackson pulled back around the corner and pressed himself to the wall, as if taking cover.
The other thing? A gunshot.
On instinct I dove for some nearby crates.
“Crimson Justice! They found us!” Jackson yelled. More gunshots sounded, chipping away at the building.
Leon burst out of another barracks closer up, out of the way – and view – of both the bullets and the shooters. “What the he**’s going on?”
“A lot of sh*t!” I called back, eliciting a fresh round of metallic, horizontal rain.
“How about we do something?” Jackson yelled.
“Yeah,” I replied, “I don’t really like these guys!” I peeked out. “Leon! Armory! Lead!”
He nodded, and started to run. I waited a second to make sure I wasn’t being shot at. Then I rolled out of cover, came up facing Leon’s direction, and sprinted.
It was a short sprint, as the base actually wasn’t that big. We ran for not even a minute. Half a minute might even be called a stretch, the speed we were going.
When we got inside, Jackie and Allen were already mostly geared up. Amber was standing at the button to the secret tunnel.
“Should I open it?” She asked.
I considered it. If she did, there was no guarantee that we’d be able to fend them off long enough to get anything from the cache. If we didn’t, there was a chance we wouldn’t get another opportunity to.
“Open it, but close it behind you. Call on the radio when you’re back at the entrance.”
Allen piped up. “If you can, get me a sniper rifle.”
I did a quick scan of everyone. Amber had a pistol – as far as I could see, as she ran pretty fast into the tunnel -, Jackie and Allen had assault rifles, Jackson a shotgun, and Leon an SMG. I noticed Allen had an extra rifle holster slot on his back. Probably for his sniper rifle.
“Alright,” I started, “I want positions set up to hold them off until Amber gets back. GEAR UP, PONIES!”
That did the trick. Everyone scrambled to get into a position. Allen nodded approvingly, and then did the same. I grabbed a shotgun myself, and took a spot next to Jackson.
“Just don’t spend the entire time admiring me.” Jackson spoke up.
I scoffed, and said “You wish, pretty boy.”
He smirked. “Even you gotta admit it!”
I chuckled. I checked to make sure I was set, locked, and loaded.
They’d be here in seconds. But, when they opened the doors, they’d get an early Christmas present. Actually, a lot of presents. Made of lead.
They had other plans. The door only opened a crack. Something came in, and the door shut. Allen gasped.
“Flashba-“
Ow. I’d managed to get halfway down, so my cover had blocked some of it. I could still see – kind of – and hear, but barely.
I realized their tactic. I brought my shotgun up, but I myself stayed down. I blind-fired in the door’s direction until nothing came out.
By then, my sight had gotten so everything just seemed really bright. I pulled out my own personal pistol, came up, and aimed at the doorway.
Nothing came in for a second. My ears were still ringing quite loudly, but no longer deafening or painful. And I could hear.
That probably saved me. I heard a footstep outside, and then a Crimson-Justice-uniformed woman came in, gun already pointing at me.
But, because of my hearing, I was ready. She hit the floor, I still stood. My eyes registered that the emblem on her uniform marked her as a rank high enough to be a possible squad leader. Next to her, strewn about, lay the bodies of her comrades. My shotgun bursts had actually taken them all down.
I waited a little more. Nothing. Everything was pretty much back to normal, if you only counted the states of my senses.
I cautiously worked my way towards the bodies, checking each one for signs of life.
I heard everyone else standing up. Leon was moaning. He’d caught the full visual blast. It’d be at least half a minute more before he completely recovered. And unlike me, it’d be painful until he did.
Right when I finished checking the bodies, I heard my radio crackle to life.
“Yo, anyone alive in there?” Amber, asked.
“Yeah,” I headed over and hit the button, “you missed a he**uva party, though.”
“Ha! That’s alright. I’m not a big party girl.”
I walked over to the entrance and replied “Eh, wasn’t that fun, anyways.”
Jackie piped up with her own addition. “Flashy an’ loud things, size uh yer hoof. Ah’m not a fan.” She moved over to somewhere behind me.
Amber grunted sympathetically, and came up. She handed Allen his sniper rifle, which he holstered.
Amber looked behind me, and her head tilted in confusion. I turned around to see Jackie fiddling with one of the bodies.
I marched over. “Whatcha doin’?”
She pulled something out of a breast pocket from the body and held it up. “Enemy radio.” She hit a button, and a female voice came out.
“-ave one, what’s your status?... I repeat, wave one, what is your status?”… Da** it! Wave two! The veterans will accompany you! Move in!”
My mind started racing. I conjured up a mental map of the base and surrounding area. “Sh*t! Allen, cliff!” I pointed in the intended cliff’s direction. I knew that, technically, Allen was in command, but right now it didn’t really matter. I was on a roll. “Jackson, generator. Amber, comms station. Jackie! You hold here!”
I looked straight at Leon. “With me. We’re mobile.” Me and Leon would be the guys running around, dispatching stragglers and conducting hit-and-run attacks on the main units. Allen would supply hostile positions to us, and assist as needed.
Everyone nodded as I said their orders to them. When I was done, I dismissed them. “Go!”
Everyone ran off to their respective positions. Jackie propped herself behind the corner, and took cover. Leon just looked at me and held his SMG up, indicating he was ready.
Over the months, we’d reviewed – and trained – ourselves in hand signals. I gave him the ‘on me’ signal. We also used it for ‘recall,’ if we already had an order.
Leon and I moved out. After a minute, we encountered a half-dozen Crimson Justice guys. A firefight ensued. When there were only two guys left, I had to reload. I finished, and moved to aim, only to find one of them aiming at me before my gun was even up.
Before I could react, he pulled the trigger. At the same instant, he jerked to the side, and his head blossomed with red. His gun fired into the air. Less than two seconds later, the other guy fell, his head in the same state.
“You needed a little help?” A mock-smug reply came over the radio.
“Allen,” I started, “thank Celestia you got there when you did!”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I just didn’t wanna lose my Second. And Celestia had nothing to do with it.”
I chuckled, and heard the same on the other end.
“Alright,” I went back to serious mode, “get us locations, and we’ll go there. To all Wolves, if you need help, just call out.”
We’d decided that on operations, we’d go by Wolves 1-3, depending on what team you were in, as well as our names. It was really personal preference which one you used.
It took a while to clean up. Every so often I’d relay an enemy’s location to Allen, and he’d snipe the guy.
After a whole three minutes of nothing, I ordered everyone but Allen to start searching buildings. He’d stay up there, just in case anyone was left, and was just good at avoiding us. If they left a building, Allen would see them.
After a whole hour of triple-checking every inch of the base, we concluded that we had actually fended off the attack. We gathered up all of the bodies and searched them for anything we could use.
We found a document on one of the officers that said that survivors of the Attack on Canterlot had reported extremely skilled, armed forces in two sectors, that had defended those entire areas. Crimson Justice Command had put two and two together – what with our base not checking in – and sent a few squads to investigate.
We could only hope that those squads hadn’t reported what they’d found, because we had nowhere else to go.
We noted down the frequency that the radios were on, and then stored all the ammo, weapons, and equipment we’d scavenged in the Armory or the underground cache.
I talked with Allen a while later. He said that he’d gone over the Attack on Canterlot recordings from our helmets, copied them, and sent them to Celestia. She had a few trusted people that knew about us. One of them had spotted something.
Allen had gotten the transmission after the attack, unfortunately. One of Celestia’s people had noticed that there were less Crimson Justice bodies than there were Crimson Justice personnel that we’d engaged. The same thing was noticed on Allen’s side. Members of both of our sectors’ attackers had survived and managed to get away.
I never asked what Jackie, Allen, and Jackson did to the bodies. But a couple hours later I did smell fire in the distance, the opposite direction of Appleloosa, which was also the same direction they’d carried the bodies. The fire’s smell was tinged with a very bad scent, as well.
It had been about a year since our group was formed. Crimson Justice had understandably not been very active ever since the Attack on Canterlot. In fact, we’d only had one other mission.
I was chilling in the Mess Hall with everyone else, chatting away, waiting for something to happen.
Unfortunately, something did.
The door burst open, and in walked Allen. “Gear up!” He yelled. “We’ve got something!”
Everyone scrambled. “What’s up?” I asked, following him as he led the way to the Armory.
“We’ve got a transmission directly to us from someone. She claims that she wants to join us, but that she needs help getting out of a building that’s filled with Crimson Justice.”
“Well, who?”
“She won’t say. All she’d tell me was that she and few others want to join us, but they need help getting out.”
“Sounds fishy, if you ask me.”
“I agree, but we don’t know what’s going on. Get your gear.”
We’d arrived. Most everyone grabbed their customary gear.
“So,” I started, “Allen. You gonna snipe, or go with us on the ground?”
He paused for a second, and considered.
“I’ll go on the field.” He said eventually.
I ended up grabbing an assault rifle. I turned to everyone else.
“Leon, Jackson, you’re with us.” I indicated towards Allen. “Jackie, Amber, you’re our evac.”
Everyone nodded. We double-checked our gear, and headed out. Our mysterious contact had told us where to go.
When we got there, Allen and Jackson went off to recon the area. When they got back, they reported a large building in a clearing, surrounded by trees.
Makes sense, everything in front of us is forest.
Allen, Jackson, Leon, and I moved out. Jackie and Amber sat down and waited.
Surprisingly, there were only a couple of exterior guards. They were easy to get past, as they were both at the main entrance. I noticed an alarm button next to one. It’d be easy for one of them to just reach over and push it if they spotted anything.
We worked using hand signals, even though we knew that we could whisper. Jackson had modified our helmets. They were thicker, but there was a button we could press that would seal them and they’d be sound-proofed enough that we could whisper and it wouldn’t be heard. We wouldn’t suffocate, nor would our hearing be affected. I don’t think I’d ever figure out how Jackson did that. I was no engineer, by any means.
We snuck through, dispatching guards as necessary. Eventually, we came across an extremely large room. It was filled with crates, desks, and all sorts of things. Difficult to go through rapidly, but incredibly useful if you needed to be stealthy.
Unfortunately, there were a lot of guys. Enough to form half a dozen whole squads.
“What the he**?” Leon whispered, looking at one group of them. “Blue stars?”
I peeked. Sure enough, a squad’s-worth of them had large blue stars colored onto their uniforms. “What do you think they mean?” I asked.
“Don’t know. Spec ops?” Allen replied.
“Where’s our contact?” Jackson asked.
“Don’t know, we- wait, over there! That woman yelling at a guard!”
A woman in a Crimson Justice uniform was lecturing another one. It seemed pretty heated. Then I noticed something. “Hey, the one yelling has a blue star.”
“She’s our contact.” Allen stated. “I recognize the voice.”
I thought for a second. “Okay, move into a position, and take out anyone who doesn’t have a blue star. I’ll start it off.”
I snuck over to near where the women were yelling at each other. After everyone reported that they were in position, I stood up. The yelling stopped.
“Greetings from Canterlot.” I said. Then I blew the non-starred woman’s brains out. I quickly ducked back down before any guard could rearrange my skull.
“What- Now!” The other woman yelled. Suddenly, everyone with a blue star drew on those that didn’t.
What the he**? I just mentally shrugged and started mopping up my own targets.
The room was cleared in under a minute, with our help.
“Clear?” The woman yelled. Various calls of the same word came back.
I hesitantly stood up. The woman looked at me, nodded in greeting, and asked “Who’s the leader?”
Allen stepped forward from halfway across the room and called out “I am.”
She beckoned him over. It took almost half a minute for him to navigate. By then almost everyone had gathered in the coincidentally clear area that we were already in.
When Allen got there, she said “Sarah. I’m the commander of my squad. Thanks for not shooting us, too.”
“Welcome. So, all of you want out?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m not sure we could sneak out.”
“We probably won’t be able to. We’ve disabled the alarms, but these walls are not sound proof. No one’s come in, so I think the outside guards are alerting the rest of the base.”
I replied “Then we’d best start moving.”
Sarah looked at me and nodded. She ordered her squad over to a set of double doors, but then indicated to us to follow her.
Her squad took numerous positions. They breached, and half of her guys went in. Gunshots followed. Calls of “Clear!” came.
Sarah led us over to a couple crates. On top of them were piles of paper.
“We’ve got cases for them, but these are documents for all sorts of things. Planned attacks, some base locations, infiltrator locations and/or identities, the works.”
I looked at her, and then at the papers, amazed.
“If we stay alive, we also have a lot of Intel that isn’t on paper, too. Crimson Justice is way more than a terrorist organization. I’ll tell you myself when we get out of here.” She grabbed a couple nearby briefcases and started loading up the documents.
After she was done, Allen fitted one of the briefcases into the empty rifle holster on his back – the one he’d normally use for his sniper rifle – and walked towards the doors that Sarah’s squad had opened.
Leon took the other briefcase, and grabbed some cloth from a nearby table. He tied together some kind of strap and slung the briefcase over his shoulder. It stuck firmly to his back.
I took a quick glance over the room. Finding no other loose papers, I shrugged and followed Sarah through the doorway.
Her squad had already cleared three rooms ahead. Jackson and I moved up to take point. Sarah joined us.
“I’ve got a couple marksmen in my squad,” she said, “they can help.” She ordered them up.
We snuck through a couple hallways and rooms. Eventually we came across one that was populated. I stopped one of the marksmen before he snuck out right in front of a guy. I indicated that guy and another one for the marksmen to take out.
The one that was close got his face slammed into the crate, along with a knife to the skull. The other guy got his brains blown out. Jackson and I took down two more.
The rest of Sarah’s squad rushed in and quickly destroyed all other hostiles. Lucky the blue stars are big, or we'd never see them from any considerable range.
We went through probably over a dozen hallways, corridors, and rooms before we reached the exit.
Our marksmen suddenly moved up and slammed open the doors. It was the main entrance, and they’d just knocked out the two guards.
We searched outside for a few seconds, to make sure no enemies were hiding. After confirming we were clear, Sarah said “Lead the way.”
Jackson and I led the way to the evac point. When we got near it, I went onto the radio. “Jackie, Amber, don’t be alarmed. Our contacts are dressed as Crimson Justice. They’ve got big blue stars on them.”
“Uh, copy that.” Jackie replied. “We haven’t seen a single thing since y’all went out there.”
“Roger. We should be there in half a minute, tops.”
We arrived, Jackie and Amber helped us load everyone up into the vehicles we’d brought, and then Jackson and I drove us all out of there.
After we got back, we unloaded everyone and everything. When we were done, Allen practically quarantined all of the new people – except for Sarah – into one of the unused barracks. He and Sarah went into his office to radio Celestia and explain what just happened.
Jackson and I went inside with Sarah’s squad and talked with the marksmen. Jackie, Leon, and Amber were guarding outside.
The marksman I was talking to was named Crystal Ranger. He claimed to have sniper training, but preferred to just be an in-the-field marksman. “I grew up with Sarah.” He said. “She’s a great person, and a good leader, too.”
“Nothing more? You two seemed pretty close.”
“We grew up together. I’m not interested in her romantically, if that’s what you’re saying. She's a friend, but I don’t think I’d ever consider her as a romantic companion. Plus, I don't think she's looking for something like that.”
"Oh!" My eyes widened. "I wasn't trying to scope her out, or anything!"
"Eh," Ranger shrugged, "you're fine."
“...So, how’d you all end up deciding to… defect?”
Ranger sighed. “Well, we were on an op, out at the edge of Equestria. We were basically doing a search-and-destroy. Kind of like the Attack on Canterlot, but specific targets. An assassination. Good job there, in Canterlot, by the way.”
I nodded my thanks, and motioned for him to continue.
“Well, we were searching the local governor’s house for him. He was our final target. At one point, I spotted an official document. It pretty much detailed most of our ops the past year. I read it, and I pieced together what we were actually doing. Unfortunately, it was too late to stop our own operation from being a success. We’d gotten all of our targets. When we got back to our base, we scrounged around, trying to trace anything we had on you guys. It wasn’t much. You basically appeared in Canterlot, and decimated our-…their guys.”
“Well, it was pretty much our first op there, yeah. Unless you include taking this base. But back then we were actually under orders.”
“Huh. Anyways, eventually, we figured out your location. It took a whole month, and it was still half guess-work.”
I chuckled. “We do keep a low profile.”
He barked out a laugh, and then resumed. “It was the not checking in that did it. It was around the same time as the Attack, that the replies stopped. Plus, the squads that were sent there never checked back. It was like they went off the map and disappeared. We guessed it was you guys. We broadcasted, and luckily, your commander was listening in.”
“So, you pretty much figured us out, called us, and we picked up?”
“Yep. Good job sneaking in, by the way. Had no clue you were even there, yet.”
I laughed. “Yeah, we’re just careful with our operating.”
He laughed back. “'Careful?' I guess!”
I was warming up to him, and vice versa. Just then, Allen and Sarah barged in.
“Alright,” Sarah said loudly, getting everyone’s attention, “We’re all heading back to Canterlot for debriefing by the Princess herself! Allen here has offered positions in Wolfhound for any that want to join. Otherwise, it’s either the Elite Guard or a civilian life in Cloudsdale or Manehattan. We’re getting on the train to Canterlot in five! Think about your choices, and after the debriefing, confer with either me or Allen.... Yes?”
A hoof had been raised in the back. “What’d you choose?”
“Wolfhound. But don’t let that affect your decision.”
After a few seconds of silence, Allen spoke up. “Dismissed.”
Everyone filed out. The defectors dropped off their gear in the Armory, and then got on the train. Allen and Jackson followed. Everyone else saw them off.
As the train was starting to move, Leon came up to me. Quietly, he said, “Hey, can I talk to you, in a while? In private?”
“Uh, sure.” I replied, curious.
We all continued to watch the train until it had become a dot in the distance, then we all walked back to base.
When we arrived at Wolfhound HQ, everyone dispersed to various places. I eventually tracked down Leon.
“You wanted to talk about something?” I asked him.
He started fidgeting and he glanced around nervously. “Y-Yeah…” He sighed, “look, seeing you readily accept them, without hesitation, it made me think. I-Do you just accept bad people, purely because they’re willing to temporarily put aside what they are and help?”
“Uh, not exactly. At least, not in this case.” I looked him straight in the eyes, showing him that I wasn’t even trying to butter it up, or straight out lie. “I accepted them because they’re willing to change.”
“I think they’ve already changed.”
I smiled, but held the laugh in. “True. But that’s because they’d already decided to. In my mind, if you regret it, want to change, or don’t even know what you’re really doing, - which they didn’t – then you’re forgiven.”
Leon looked off into the distance, thinking and absorbing what I’d said.
I sped it up. “As far as I’m concerned, they’ve all got a clean slate.”
“And... that’s that?”
“That’s that.”
He bit his lip, like he was nervous, and stayed like that for a full five seconds. I opened my mouth to ask him what was going on, but then he spoke up.
“I used to be a bad person. Not as bad as them, but… well, maybe worse, because I knew what I was doing…”
I gave him a quizzical look.
“I used to be a thief. And a da** skilled one, at that. Hardly ever got caught. And when I did, I got away. I don’t want to be ostracized, so I never tell anyone. I tried to move past that life. And, for the most part, I did. But... my name’s still out there. I’m always worried about getting recognized and taken in. I wouldn’t resist, now, but I wish I could just leave it all behind me.”
I put a comforting arm around him. “Even though back then you knew what you were doing, you’ve also just told me that you regret it. Not in so many words, but it’s obvious. You’re trying to change.... I won’t judge you on your past. I didn’t know you then, nor are you the same as you were. Just like them, you’ve got a clean slate, up here.” I tapped my head. “Not everyone has that great of a start, but that doesn’t mean they can’t rise up and make themselves great by their own blood, sweat, and tears.”
Leon smiled, and I heard a sniffle, but there was also a humorous note in there, too. “Since when did you become a philosopher?”
I laughed, and I heard him laugh too.
“Well,” I replied, “maybe I’m not one. Maybe I’m just spouting stuff from when I hit my head as a colt.”
“That’s more likely.”
More laughs rang.
After a few more minutes of conversing about just about anything that popped out of our mouths, - which, considering us, was a lot of weird stuff –I said goodbye and went to bed, as it was getting late. The Sun had already been lowered by Celestia herself, and the night’s crisp, fresh air was ready to greet its animals.
One of the few times I actually just stopped and admired the beauty of it all. And it was. Beautiful, that is.
The next morning, I found Leon in the Mess Hall, having already finished his breakfast. We talked for a while as I myself ate, and then we went our separate ways.
I read a couple books I’d picked up from a library in Ponyville last week, and then I went and visited Leon in the barracks. He was often there, alone. I found him idly messing with a couple pieces of scrap metal.
“Whatcha doin’?” I asked him.
He jumped, startled. “Woah! Oh, sorry. I don’t normally get addressed. Everyone just comes in, does what they need to do, and leaves. Idle conversation aside, I haven’t really talked much.”
“Just not a talkative person?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I was wondering if you wanted to talk more. About yesterday?”
He nodded slowly in understanding. Then nodded faster in the affirmative. “It’s not that important, but I still have some gear over in Fillydelphia.”
“Alright. You know, you can just ask for transport.”
“Well, thing is, I can’t go in there by myself. The house is guarded. I’m not a Pegasus, nor am I a Unicorn. I need help, if I’m gonna get my gear.”
“Got spotted one time too many?”
“A Policeman spotted me going into the house a couple years ago. It’s a known location, so they’re still casing it.”
“Huh.”
“Look, I’m not going to beg, or anything. It’s really not that important. It’s some lock-picking stuff, a listening cup, – It’s not an actual cup, you attach it to a door and put your ear to it, and you can hear what’s inside, as long as the door isn’t too thick – and a few stacks of money. I had a… well, not a friend. More like a trusted underground contact that I paid to enchant it, so that only I can open it. Even better, it’s incredibly hard to find. I don’t use most of the normal tricks. I doubt they’ve found it. There are actually a lot of containers in the place. Most of them had stuff in them.”
“So, the police would assume they’d found everything, when really they didn’t.”
“Exactly. I was a pretty good thief, and I knew a lot of tricks. Even came up with a few of my own. I knew how to look for things, so I came up with ways that would trick my own system, without it ever even knowing.”
“Well, as long as you remember where it is, let’s go.”
“What-Seriously?” He stood up quickly, utterly shocked.
His face was so comical, I couldn’t resist a laugh and a little tease. “Alright, close your mouth, before someone thinks it's a holster, and shoves a barrel down it.”
He shook his head to clear the insta-cobwebs, then laughed when my words registered. I grinned back.
We stepped off the train in Fillydelphia. I’d written a note telling Allen where Leon and I were, in case he needed to find me. I didn’t say why. Leon wasn’t ready to just go out and admit that he used to be a high-end professional thief.
We walked around, exploring the city. After a while, we came across Leon’s house.
I whistled, high to low in pitch. Double Whammy!
“Okay. That’s a big house, and that’s a lot of security.” There were at least a dozen traps that I’d spotted already, in only half a minute. If you didn’t know what to look for, you’d step right up and trip one off, too. We’d have to be careful.
“They’ve probably done the outside the most, hoping to catch me before I even get in. Door’s locked.”
I looked at him, surprised. “How do you know?”
“My door always has a blue streak on it when it’s unlocked. I had a guy design it for me. Another contact. There’s no streak; door’s locked.”
“Neat trick.”
“Picks up lock-picking, too. Not only does it set off a silent alarm, that streak pops up after five seconds. Gives the guy enough time to get in without knowing something’s up, but also enough time that he won’t get far in there before someone sees it.”
“That could be a problem, then.”
“Not really. Two years? I don’t think they have anyone just standing around wasting money doing nothing. No. They might have alarms of their own, but as long as we avoid them, my alarms won’t matter.”
“They can’t wire into your alarms?”
“Nope. They’d have to take them apart and rebuild them. I know my alarms by heart, and I could build them from scratch, by memory alone. I’d notice the difference, and we’d be gone before anyone shows up.”
“Sounds pretty easy, then.”
“Some things take more than one guy. And a criminal usually doesn’t have anyone he actually trusts. I guarantee you that some of those multi-pony traps were used. Luckily, I’m an expert on disarming traps. I just didn’t want to risk going halfway, leaving, and having someone walk in on my progress. They probably still check it, from time to time.”
“Huh. Alright, so what are we waiting for?”
“That guy at the diner to leave.”
“…What?”
“I’m pretty sure every policeman here knows what that house means. If that guy sees someone walking in, we’d be called in for sure. Look.” Leon pointed at a spot on the guy.
I could see a police badge. “Alright, let’s hurry up and wait, then.”
“You hungry?”
“Nah.”
“Whelp, then let’s wait.”
Ten minutes later, we started moving. It took us another five minutes to work through all the traps in the front rooms.
“Unfortunately,” Leon said, “the wanted items are in my bedroom, top floor. In the back.”
“Then why didn’t we go through the back?”
“Stairs are over here. Besides, if you were trapping a criminal’s house, wouldn’t you hit the backyard even more than the front?”
I stopped for a second, then nodded. “Good thinking.”
“When you live like I used to, things like that just become common sense.”
We worked our way through a couple more traps and found ourselves in a hallway. At the end of it were the stairs. I took a couple steps forward.
Right then, I spotted something less than half a foot from my leg. I froze.
“Oh, dear Celestia!” I whispered. I’d almost walked right through a tripwire.
“Whoa.” Leon stated. He went past me and stepped over it, but he indicated for me to stay back. He pulled out a can of something.
“What are you-“
He wordlessly sprayed it into the hallway. Suddenly, red beams lit up the entire length of it. Leon grunted. “They’ve added to it.”
I looked at him, incredulous. “Well, do you know which ones are yours?”
“I know what pattern they’re supposed to make, but that’s easy to mimic. Look carefully. Three triangles. My lasers only make one. I don’t know which triangle, though.”
“So, it’s random guesswork?”
“Pretty much. Just don’t hit any, and we won’t even have to guess.” He started navigating through.
I snorted. Smarta**. I followed.
I almost gave us away probably twenty times. The triangles all intersected, cris-crossed, and all that at different angles and heights. It was deceptively hard, and it looked difficult, in the first place. After we’d gotten through, I followed Leon up the stairs.
After careful searching, we only found a few lovely alarm-causing presents on that floor. Unfortunately, most of them required both of us to get either one of us through. We eventually figured it out, and we worked our way to the third floor. Soap, Rinse, Repeat.
Sixth floor. Finally we were at the top. We’d come across multiple open sections of walls.
“Hidden compartments.” Leon stated. “Some of them were meant to be found. A true criminal knows that there are things he can afford to lose, yet they still have value. He puts those things into areas that are meant to be found. Doesn’t mean it’s easy to find them, just easier than the other things.”
When we finally got to his bedroom, It had been almost two whole hours. Leon immediately walked over to a seemingly random section of the floor and stomped. Hard.
The floor broke. I looked at him quizzically. “Don’t you think that’s a little excessive?”
“After all this time, build-up would’ve practically sealed it. I’m not coming back. Might as well just do it the easy way.”
I shrugged, and just stood there while he pulled out a backpack. It was dusty, so he beat it off. I heard a small amount of clanking inside. Then he walked over to something sticking out of the wall, and tapped it a few times. Then he walked over across the room and hit a part of the wall there. It caved in. The wall opened up. I glimpsed stairs unfolding.
“Um, how far down does that go?”
“First floor.”
“And we couldn’t use it before?”
“Keypad was covered by the lasers. Even if I could reach the numbers, or even the pad itself, it’s got a timer. Whole code needs to be entered within a certain amount of time, or nothing happens. And I saw at least three lasers on some of the numbers I'd need to hit.”
“But the stairs are fine?”
“Stairs are fine. My lasers are off, now, too. Let’s go. Not too fast, some of this stuff is fragile.”
From then on, it was surprisingly pretty easy to work our way back to the front door, outside, and then just casually walk to the train station. We had to stay the night at a hotel, as there was no train to Appleloosa that night. But, come noon the next time, we were inbound.
Chapter 6: Meet and Greet: Part 2: New Recruits, New Targets
Leon went and plopped his gear inside the Armory. I told him to get out and socialize a little. He nodded, and walked off to the Warehouse, which had been turned into the de facto lounging area.
I grabbed a paper and went around, asking everyone what they liked to pick when go on missions, loadout-wise.
I marked everything down and went to the Armory. I grabbed everything that had been marked down and sorted them into groups. This way, no one would have to walk all over the place just to grab a couple guns and some ammo. They were all right there. Organized, of course, but still in the same general area.
An hour after I left the Armory, Allen, Jackson, Sarah, and Ranger came back. Just them. Apparently most of the other members of Sarah’s squad had decided to become Elite Guards. A couple chose civilian life, though.
Getting to know Sarah was my objective, as I’d already thoroughly met Ranger. Coincidentally, Ranger and Jackson were also in the conversation, though only to a minor extent.
Sarah pretty much backed up what Ranger had told me; Sarah and Ranger grew up together just outside Equestria, were great friends, and Ranger had found some documents detailing their past activities, and they’d figured out what they were actually doing. La dee da dee da, the whole jumbo-mix mess.
Allen interrupted any further attempts of getting to know each other by saying “Gear up! We have a lot of targets!”
What's going on now?
“Sir? Don’t you think we could use some trust-growing time?” I asked.
“On the way there. Crimson Justice is a lot bigger than any of us imagined. They’re not just a terrorist group. They’re practically a nation of their own.”
After we got on the train leaving Appleloosa, we searched for – and found – our own private train car. We contacted the guy in charge of the train and told him that we’d bunk in there. Jackie then locked both ends of it, so we could talk in peace. Then, we grilled Allen and Sarah for details.
“Okay,” I said, “what do you mean, a nation?”
Allen opened his mouth to answer, but Sarah beat him to the punch.
“We-They,” she paused to ready herself.
I prepped for a lecture-worthy speech.
“They have quite a few bases in Equestria, yes. But they also have a lot of bases outside it. And some of them are more than bases.”
“What, right outside?”
“Yes.”
“How have we not-“
“Discovered them? You don’t expand. There are a few bases literally only a few dozen miles out. Your lack of expansion has allowed them to stay like that for years.”
Jackie piped up. “Wait, you said some of them are more than just bases?”
“Correct.” Allen replied. “Some of them are cities.”
Silence as we absorbed that.
“…What?” Leon asked in disbelief.
Sarah clarified. “Crimson Justice isn’t exactly a nation; there’s no true government. But they’re definitely more than a terrorist group. I don’t know how long they’ve been around, but Ranger and I both grew up outside Equestria, in one of those towns.”
“So,” I said, “you’re saying they’ve been around for more than a generation?”
“Yes. In those towns, you grow up your whole life being told that Equestrians are all horrible. That joining Crimson Justice is a good thing. We were always told we’d be striking either military or government targets. Not true.”
“But mostly, you guys do.”
“Mostly, yes. But all those city attacks? On civilians? We’re told that those are just huge military complexes modeled to look like cities. Civilians were just soldiers caught unarmed. We would be killing innocents, and we’d be thinking that we were getting rid of some of the worst things in the entire world!”
“How did that stand up?”
“Most don’t care. That’s what I was arguing about when you guys came. I was saying that we were hitting civilian targets, and killing innocent civilians. That woman was saying that it didn’t matter. Just being an Equestrian was enough, whether you did anything or not. That’s the viewpoint of just about everyone in Crimson Justice. Individually, we’ve been told to forget about it. Most of my squad has tried to reach out. Each time, we’re told to forget we ever knew. They just don’t care.”
“So, what else is next?” Amber spoke up. “Kings and Queens?”
Ranger just looked at her. “We’ve already said; there’s no government. We have local governors-for-life, but we don’t have much of anything beyond that. The military of Crimson Justice is the only truly united part of it.”
Allen took the spotlight. “So they’d be relatively easy to strike.”
I stood up and looked him in the eyes. “Are you crazy!?! That’s like what Crimson Justice does, themselves! Striking civilian targets! Those people don’t know what’s really going on! And we’re going to just cut them down!?!”
“No! We are not going to target civilians. The governors know all about the true details of the conflict, and can be killed, along with anybody who attacks you. We’re not going to even think of striking anyone that doesn’t have a high position and doesn’t attack us on sight!”
“We’d better not! You wanted me to lead? I’d refuse to even be a part of this group, if we did!”
“You have made your point, Firestar! Now sit down!”
I realized I’d gotten out of control. I hadn't even really listened to Allen's reply. In fact, I'd started not even making any real sense. I tried to calm myself. Luckily, Jackie gently helped me sit down and relax. Eventually, I nodded my thanks. I was okay.
She nodded back, smiled, and went off.
I didn’t want to risk losing control like that again, so after a minute, I excused myself, and went to my bunk. It had gotten dark, by then, so I tried to rest. After a while, the conversation drifted off to just background noise, and I let the darkness of sleep consume me.
“Hey, sleepyhead, wake up!” A voice penetrated the haze that was the process of waking up.
I opened my eyes to see Ranger standing over me, grinning. “We’re there. Sarah and your boss are packing everyone’s stuff.”
“Allen.” I groaned, sitting up and blinking the sleep away. Not that it did much good. It’d take a bit for me to really be awake. Thank Celestia I was somehow a morning pony, so it wouldn't be that long.
“Alright, you’ve got wings, if your hooves get tired. And you’ve got a horn, if you can’t pick up your own crap, so come on!” Ranger winked at me, showing that he was just joking around.
I smiled, and let out a small chuckle. “Okay, okay, let’s go.”
I magicked my bags into my hands, and then I walked off. Surprisingly, I didn't use my magic much. I preferred using my hooves whenever possible. I also didn't fly much. What can I say? I'm a hoof-stallion. If that's not already a term for something.
Stepping off the platform, I was greeted by the sights of a still-growing town. Incomplete buildings, roads half-finished, and even the platform itself had a few things missing here and there. It looked like a set straight out of an old Western movie.
Yep, definitely the outskirts of civilization. I collected my thoughts, and consigned myself to walking through haphazard surroundings.
I found everyone in the back room of a surprisingly complete and sturdy pub, going over the battle plan. Allen and Ranger were sitting at the table, everyone else was standing a couple feet from it.
Sarah was hunched over it, apparently pointing things out. She was talking. “-Town is only ten miles from here, actually. I guess you guys are picking up on your expansion. Used to be, our closest city was twice that distance from the border.” She looked up and saw me. “Firestar, come here, you’ll wanna see this.”
I came over and sat down. On the table was a map of the town and what was known of its surroundings.
“Okay,” Sarah continued. “The town is somewhere around this area,” a finger tapped a supposedly empty spot, “but it’ll be guarded, at the least. They’ll already know of this place, and they’ll be on their guard for any adventurous explorers who wander too close. I’ve never been here myself, so I don’t know the specific layout. Most towns are pretty similar in general, though.”
I leaned forward for a better look as Sarah grabbed a blank paper and started drawing on it. When she was finished, it looked like a basic plan for a frontier town, but with some extra things of a militaristic nature added in.
“This is the general outline for every town I know of. Governor’s building should be around the center, but specific location is variable. The whole area is surrounded by guard towers, but they won’t shoot first. They’ll do it quietly, and make it look like a local animal. This area has a lot of snakes, so they’ll probably make it look like a snake bite.”
“So, what? Walk in there, an’ don’t let ‘em stab ya?” Jackie stepped forward and asked, not bothering to change her accent.
“No.” Allen replied. “I’d rather we don’t get spotted at all. If we have to, sure. But otherwise, try to stay low. I want to be in and out before they even know anyone’s there.”
Jackie nodded and stepped back.
Sarah continued again. “The barracks for the local militia will be right next to the governor’s house, so if we set off an alarm, we’ll be surrounded real quick.”
Jackson spoke up. “How trained are the militia?”
Ranger answered. “About as well as an Elite Guard.”
“Seriously? A militiaman? That good?”
“They take their military seriously.”
“I suppose so.”
Sarah waited to make sure they were done, then, “Any questions?”
No one spoke up. “Good. Let’s move out. Two miles from, we’ll unpack our gear. Allen, if you want to, there’s a small hill that happens to overlook some of the area. It might have a view of the town.”
Luckily, the hill did overlook the town. Well, some of it. We could see a couple roads in, and we had a complete view of the guard towers on our end. Allen and I were guiding the team. He had his sniper rifle, and I had binoculars.
Somehow, I navigated everyone in without getting them spotted, but it was close a couple times. I had to get Leon to drop to prone before the sniper on a tower turned completely around. That was a really close one.
“So, why are we doing this, again?” Jackson asked.
“We’re doing this to send a message.” Allen replied.
“And that is?”
Jackie answered. “You attack us, we bring you down.”
I smiled. Not how I might have put it, but similar enough. It works. “Plus, who wouldn’t go after the chance to weaken them, or at least slow them down a little?”
“True.” Jackson agreed. “Nice message, by the way.”
“Thank you.”
They all formed up behind a random house. The plan was to use it as a safe haven while we determined where the governor was. If civilians were in the house, we’d either tie them up, or take them down. Depending on their reactions. Anyone who acted in self-defense hasn’t committed a crime. If a civilian attacks us, we respond in kind. If we can restrain them non-lethally, great. If we can’t, oh well.
“We’re at the house, ready to move in.” Jackson said.
“Leon, pick the lock.” I ordered.
Allen had had enough of holding his rifle. “Firestar, switch.”
We switched. Now Allen was the spotter, and I was the sniper.
I watched through the scope as Leon finished picking the lock. Jackson went in, gun at the ready. A few seconds later, he called out “Clear!”
“Firestar, get down there.” Allen ordered me.
“Yes sir.” I grabbed my kit and worked my way down, navigating around or over the numerous rocks.
Unfortunately, something I didn’t see almost got me. All I got was a HISS! Before something moved only a foot away.
On instinct, I dodged. That saved my life. A large snake sailed past where my neck would’ve been if I hadn’t moved.
I pulled out my knife and quickly lunged over, grabbed the thing, and decapitated it. Once I got a closer look, I realized I’d been extremely lucky. One bite from that thing and I’d be paralyzed, and within an hour its venom would’ve killed me. No known cure, except for heavy-duty healing magic. It was one of those varieties of snakes that we hadn't figured out an effective anti-venom to, yet.
“Star! You alright down there?” Allen called out.
“Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine! Thing almost got me, though.”
“Well, if you’re good, then move. I’ve got you covered.”
Sure enough, I was practically escorted in. I followed his instructions, and I never got spotted. Although I never asked, nor did I ever want to, how close it had been, or how many times I almost was.
I pretty much just strolled into the house. Inside, two people had been tied up. Ranger was talking to them.
“We don’t want to hurt you, and we’ll let you go as soon as we’re done here. You have my word. Is there anyone else that lives here?”
Two shakes.
“Visiting?”
Same response.
“I sincerely hope you’re telling the truth. If they fight us, we’ll try to restrain them, but we might end up having to kill whoever we’re fighting. If you tell us now, then there won’t be any chance of them dying.”
They just looked at him.
“Okay.” He straightened, and turned towards me. “Howdy.”
“Howdy, pardner. Where’s everyone else?”
“Upstairs, come on.” With a jerk of his head, Ranger led the way up to where Jackson and Sarah were scoping out the surrounding area.
They were kneeling in front of a window. Jackson had binoculars, and was scanning outside. Sarah was doing the same with her eyes. She glanced up when we walked in and nodded hello, then went back to looking around.
Jackson started speaking. “I’m seeing the target building. Um, Sarah? There’s three barracks surrounding it.”
“Then it’s a fortified place.”
“Here, Firestar, take a look.” He handed the binoculars out without even looking.
I took them and stood next to him. I put them up to my eyes and scanned the area. Everything was only a block away, across the street.
“I’m seeing a lot of armed guys down there.” I reported. I centered onto the building that was in between all the barracks. “Front door’s guarded. I’m seeing somebody in the windows.”
“That’d be a sniper.” Ranger said.
“He could be a problem. He’s got a good view of the entire area. He’s got it completely locked down. He’ll see us as soon as we get anywhere near the place.”
“Too bad we don’t have a suppressor for Allen’s sniper rifle.” Jackson muttered.
I looked over and caught Ranger grinning. “We don’t need one. Star, you a good shot?” He held out a crossbow to me.
I took it. “I could be. Gimme a minute.” I set up at the window, and aimed. I’d shot crossbows a few times as a colt, and I’d been able to hit the bulls-eye eight out of ten times. Granted, not as accurate at this range, but I still knew how to account for the various factors. I’d done it before.
I aimed for half a minute, double-checking, triple-checking, and even up to quintuple-checking my aim. Once I was certain I’d hit him, I asked “You want me to get him now?”
Allen’s voice came from the doorway. “Do it.”
I fired. The sniper collapsed. We waited for people to freak out, but nothing happened.
“Okay, let’s go.” Allen said.
I walked over to the living room, and found everyone geared up and ready. I selected my team, and moved out.
Allen, Jackie, and Leon would hit the back, where it was less guarded. Sarah, Crystal Ranger, Jackson, Amber, and I would sneak through the sides. We’d have to go right through a bunch of the guys patrolling around. It was going to be tricky, but we had to. The only way to the side doors were over the fences or through the fence gates, all of which were behind at least a people patrolling.
“Is this normal?” I asked Sarah.
“On alert? Yes, it’s protocol. Otherwise, no.”
“So, because of that town over there, our job is that much harder?”
“Pretty much. Gotta love ignorance, huh?”
“Ha. Yeah.”
We snuck through them, somehow. Half the time we were prone, the other half we were crouched or hunched over. Occasionally – actually three fourths of the time - we’d have to stop and wait for one to pass, or we’d have to double back before one came around the corner, but we did it.
We soundlessly opened a fence gate and quietly filed in. Mercifully, the fences weren’t metal links, but wooden structures. We moved to the side door and stacked up.
I spoke over the radio. “Wolf One-One? Wolf Two-One. We’ve made it to the entrance. Standing by for green light.”
“Copy, Two-One. We’ll radio when we’re ready.” Allen, AKA Wolf one-one, replied.
We set up positions so we’d be able to see all the ways into our area, and hide if need be. Luckily, no one came, and a minute later Allen got back on the radio.
“We’re ready, you have a green light. Count down, Two-One.”
We stacked up against the door, I silently tested it. Unlocked. Good.
“Three, two, one, go!” I said. I opened the door and held back.
Sarah and Ranger went in, followed by Amber. I followed.
I swiveled my sights around as I moved, making sure it was clear. Then I turned around and covered Jackson as he backed in and shut the door. There was now no sign we’d ever even been here.
I motioned for Ranger and Sarah to take point. We’d have to search every room, just to be sure. The governor probably knew what’s really going on in the world. We needed to take him down before he found a way to do any damage.
The message would be sent.
Room by room, we searched. Occasionally we’d have to knock out someone that was occupying a room. We couldn’t risk them screaming and blowing our cover. We’d gotten really lucky. So far everyone we’d found had either been facing away from the door or been close enough that we’d just knock them up top the head and they’d slump to the floor. After being caught so they wouldn’t make any noise, that is.
Eventually, we found ourselves on the third floor. As we were walking down a hallway we’d just finished clearing, a door on the far end opened up.
Team One.
“Dear Celestia, I almost shot you!” Leon said.
“I could say the same.” Amber replied.
Allen walked in. “Alright, we’ve regrouped, let’s stay together now. Team One will take point. Team Two, cover our six, and get anything we missed.”
“Copy sir.” I said.
We followed them up a set of stairs onto the fourth story. They on purposely gave us something to do by passing some doorways.
I’d occasionally order one of my team to check out the rooms behind those doors, but I’d also do it myself, sometimes.
Eventually, we found ourselves on the fifth – and highest – floor. That’s where everything went wrong.
Leon opened up the door on the far end of the floor. On the other side was a man wearing a formal suit. The governor. Unfortunately, he was too far away to knock out quietly. And he was facing us.
His face went white, but he lunged for a desk. On it, was a pistol. He and I fired at the same time.
I hit him in the head, he hit Leon in the stomach.
Leon crumpled with a pained grunt. Ranger rushed forward.
“Move, move, move!” Allen yelled, no longer bothering with being quiet. The whole neighborhood had heard the shots, anyways.
I looked over my shoulder to see Ranger picking Leon up, with Jackson’s help.
“On me!” Allen ordered. We formed up and double-timed it out of there.
Third floor, we found quite a few unhappy campers.
All he** broke loose. Lead filled the air as we all took cover.
There must be a hundred of them! I risked a peek, but after only a couple seconds, I had to pull my head back. It was worth it, though. I’d estimated at least twenty of them.
I blind-fired in their direction. I couldn’t see, so I could only hope I’d hit any. I could see everyone else engaging them.
Someone took cover next to me. I glanced over. Jackie.
“Any ideas?” She yelled over the gunfire.
“Uh, maybe a little metallic greeting?” I replied as I sprayed the so-called greeting down the corridor.
She nodded. “That works!” She popped up and let off two bursts before ducking down again, narrowly avoiding a spray of bullets.
I grabbed her shoulder before she could pop up again. I held up my fingers and counted down. “Three, two, one!”
We came up together, and time seemed to slow. I casually shot off three bursts, and heard Jackie doing the same. Then, together, we brought down another guy, with one present from each of us.
I pinned myself against the wall again as a hail of flying metal tried to say hello to our faces. Jackie ducked back behind me, and waited for the storm to pass.
“Hey, I’m pinned down!” Amber called over the radio. There’s no way we’d hear her normally.
I looked over. Gunfire was being concentrated on her position.
I saw a spot that Jackie or I could move to in order to get a better view on who was shooting at her.
I decided quickly. “Jackie! Move there, I’ll cover you!” I indicated.
She took one look and nodded. She readied herself to run.
I leaned out and started laying down a whole magazine on the ba**ards down the hall.
When took cover again and reloaded, I heard Jackie over the radio.
“Made it! Amber, you’re good! Move!”
I didn’t look to see where Amber ran off to. I was concentrating on shooting. But it was slow going.
“Is there another way out?” I yelled over the radio.
“Should be! Get me over to you!” Sarah replied.
Ranger caught my eye, and together we suppressed the bad guys again while Sarah moved.
“On me!” She yelled.
I stayed there and covered everyone, and then I turned around and ran after them.
I turned the corner in time to see Sarah break a window with her boot and attach Leon’s grappling hook to the windowsill. Ranger and Allen formed up to hold off the baddies while everyone else rappelled down.
It was close. I ended up going last. I threw a grenade in the guards’ direction and jumped. I grabbed the rope in midair and slid down.
Thank goodness we have gloves.
As we ran for it, a door of a building opened, and a woman carrying a briefcase ran out.
“That’s the info storage!” Sarah yelled.
I aimed for the woman, but suddenly a bodyguard came out, too. I tried to shoot my target, but the bodyguard jumped in front of the bullet. At least he went down. I adjusted my aim.
Right before I could shoot the briefcase woman, something slammed into me. An enemy soldier, a knife glinting in the sunlight shining down on his hand.
I ended him with a bullet to the brain, before he could do more than knock me down.
I got up heard a grunt. I looked over. Allen, who had been right in front of me, had been in the process of rounding another corner when an idiot with a knife tackled him.
Time slowed. I saw the woman pause right next to an armored vehicle. I could still take the shot.
...But I’d be sacrificing Allen for some Intel. The guy’s knife was already up. Allen’s arms were pinned.
I could shoot the woman, and let Allen die. Or, I could shoot his attacker, and let the woman and the Intel get away.
The Intel could’ve been anything. It could’ve been the identities of Crimson Justice’s leaders. Could I really let that go?
...Yes. Yes, I could.
I chose Allen.
I turned and brought my gun up to the tackler’s head. I pulled the trigger.
I turned to try to get the woman, but she’d already gotten in. The car was moving. She was gone.
I helped Allen up, and we high-tailed it out of there.
At the house, I stopped to quickly cut loose the civilians we’d tied up, and then I ran and followed the rest of Wolfhound.
I panted heavily, hoping I’d be able to get inside before they rounded the corner.
We’d basically run for our lives from the town after Allen and Jackie had rapidly taken down the guards up in the towers.
We’d managed to get into town before they’d caught up. Now we were looking for a defendable location to hole up in.
I barged in, and Jackson shut the door. Everyone else had already gotten inside.
Allen yelled out “Alright, defensive positions! I want eyes out every window! Jackson, Firestar! Barricade the door!”
I looked around and found a bookshelf. Not much, but it'll do in this pinch.
I ran over and started to push. Jackson grabbed the other end and pulled. We got it over to the door, and together we pushed the front so that the bookcase firmly blocked it.
Just in time. Thumps came as someone slammed into the door from the other side.
“Down!” Jackson yelled, grabbing me and pushing me to the floor.
A couple louder thumps came, and then holes appeared. They’d started shooting at it. It’d held a couple shots back, but now it was almost useless.
Jackson and I crawled over to a window overlooking the entryway. I could see everyone scrambling around, trying to get a position. When Jackson and I reached the window, we stood up.
I opened the window, and Jackson sprayed down a couple guys while I brought my gun up. I laid down a couple more, and took cover.
The door might not have been very thick, but the walls were good enough to stop bullets without getting punctured by the next one. Maybe it got cold in the winter down here. Whatever the case, I was grateful.
While I was waiting for the pleasant storm of lead to end, I glanced over the interior.
It was dark. No lights were on, no candles were lit. Only sources of light were the open windows and the flashes from guns firing.
Leon was slumped over in a corner. He was conscious, but barely. There was already blood on the floor.
Come on, man, don't die on me here! My eyes caught sight of a first-aid kit. Oh thank Celestia! “Amber!” I yelled. “First-aid! Get Leon!”
She looked over, saw it, and nodded back at me. She waited for a second for a clear run, and sprinted.
Jackie, who was nearby, grabbed the kit off the wall and tossed it to Amber, who caught it and immediately changed course towards Leon.
I decided I was done staring, and so I started shooting. Bad Guys dropped like flies, but there were so many of them.
“Just die!” Jackson yelled.
“I don’t know, they don’t seem to keen on the idea!” I replied. “How about we persuade them otherwise? Now!”
We brought our guns up and took down at least six of them in unison, all within a couple seconds.
Unfortunately, that was almost as long as it took for more fire to be concentrated our way.
“Sh*t!” Jackson yelled as we were forced to duck back.
“Oh, is that what they’re made out of?” I asked. “No wonder they stink so much!”
“In which way?”
“Both!”
We grinned. Don’t ask me how, but for some reason I found myself still able to crack jokes even in the middle of lethal combat.
Maybe it’s a genetic thing.
We popped in and out of cover, taking potshots and spraying them down in equal measure.
Until…
“I’m running low!” I yelled.
Jackie was just emptying her magazine. When she was done her hoof went into her pocket and drew out two magazines. She put one in her gun, and held out the other to me. “Last one.” She tossed it.
I caught it and nodded my thanks. I loaded the magazine in, leaned out, and let loose.
Luckily, their numbers had died down a bit. Literally. Although, ‘a bit’ might be a little too low.
I shot a couple more, and then I saw them all just start running away.
“Woo!” I called. “Run!”
“Run, you sons of bi***es!” Amber added.
Jackson just looked at us. I cracked a grin. Slowly, he smiled back. Then, he couldn’t hold it in anymore. He laughed. Pretty soon, everyone was laughing. The room echoed with it. It was nice, letting go of the stress that the mission had caused.
After a brief – though it seemed much longer – talk with the local authorities, we convince them to not expand in the direction of the hostile city, at least until the town had good, solid, and reliable defenses.
The house we’d been in had actually been occupied at the time, but the owners were upstairs. They’d seen everything, so we didn’t need to clear our names of randomly firing a crap-ton of guns all over the place. Nor were charges pressed for breaking into an occupied home and using it for a military purpose.
Leon was transferred to the hospital to recover. After a couple days, he was released with a warning of not straining himself.
After a surprisingly pleasant feast in the local Sheriff’s own home, we were given an all-expenses-paid trip back to Appleloosa, courtesy of the train driver himself, who’d been only across the street, and had seen it all, as well.
Our secret of having military-grade weapons and armor was out, but nobody really cared. They were just glad that the town had saviors.
We’d met some new friends, killed some baddies, and saved a town. All in all, a pretty good day.
Chapter 7: A Deadly Choice: Part 5: More Than a Fighter
We were all in good spirits on the way back. Free trip? Cool. First class? Nice. Free meals and drinks of whatever kinds available, too? Awesome.
And, we’d gained the upper hand. Kind of. The roles had switched. For once, we’d been the attackers. Now it was Crimson Justice that was on the defense, instead of us.
Mission success. Crimson Justice would have to be more cautious from now on. We had the locations of their outposts. If they hit us, we’ll hit them back.
Okay, maybe not all of us were in good moods. Sarah and Ranger were talking. Or, at least, Ranger was. Sarah was trying to, but when your face is covered in tears and you’re still sobbing, it’s hard to talk.
Ranger was trying to comfort her and calm her down. He seemed to be doing alright, but Sarah must’ve been hit hard. I didn’t blame her.
She went from:
Being an imposter among horrible people who knew they were horrible and either couldn’t care less or actually even liked it.
To betraying all she’d ever known.
To a thorough – but aggressive – debriefing that could be attributed to a slightly friendlier interrogation.
To being separated from all but one of the people she actually knew and trusted.
To striking down the leader of a place that reminded her of where she grew up.
All in only a few days! It was no wonder she was breaking down. If anything, I was surprised Ranger wasn’t collapsing, too.
But, as I walked over to help – doubting that I eve could, but wanting to all the same – I found that apparently that wasn’t what was eating her.
What she’d done was.
“We killed so many innocents!” She cried. “All in the name of doing what we thought was the right thing!”
“We didn’t know.” Ranger replied gently. He was almost whispering.
“But we still did it! We thought were targeting soldiers! People who had signed up knowing what they were getting into! And instead we were killing people who hadn’t done a thing against us in their lives! Most of them probably didn’t even know we existed!”
“We’ve changed, Sarah. We’ve changed.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better!?!” She screamed at him.
I stepped in. “No.” I said as I moved up to her, and kneeled down next to her. “But taking down the ba**ards that caused all this will. You didn’t know what you were doing, and they did. Redeem yourselves! Help us take Crimson Justice down! Whatever injustices you’ve unknowingly, unintentionally committed, can be redeemed and forgotten! You’ll always carry the scars of what you’ve done. Always know of what you’ve committed. But that cause was false. And you’ll have done even more good than you’ve ever done bad.”
I looked over at Ranger. Even he had a tear in his eye. He nodded at me appreciatively, and blinked the tear away.
On a hunch, I stood up and said “Now on your feet, soldier!”
Immediately, Sarah stood up, saluted me, and said, loud and clear, “Sir, yes, sir!”
I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and she relaxed. I squeezed gently, letting her know that she wasn’t alone. Then, I turned around and walked away.
“Firestar?” I heard her voice behind me. It was shaking again.
I turned around. There were even more tears in her eyes. But this time, she was smiling. They were happy tears.
“Thank you.” She said softly, almost whispering.
I smiled, nodded, and walked away.
Not all of us were soldiers. But we were still fighters. And like the rest of us, Sarah wasn’t just a fighter. She was a person, just like any other. She knew how to do a lot of things, and she knew how to handle herself. But she’d been through a lot. She had emotions. She could break down, like she’d just done. Any one of us could.
You can’t make the case that we’re just killing bad guys. Yeah, that might be a large part of what we’re doing. But, deep down, we’ve all got something in common.
It had been a month since the attack. After a lot of convincing and badgering, Leon finally agreed to tell everypony where he’d gotten his gear.
Leon and I assembled everyone in the Mess Hall, and Leon got up onto a table and admitted his past to everyone. Just like with me, he made sure to point out that not only was he not like that anymore, he regretted ever having been like that in the first place.
I led the wave of comments. “So, you’ve made mistakes. We all do! Yeah, some of yours were big. Is that supposed to matter, now?”
He smiled gratefully at me as murmurs of agreement filtered out of the audience.
“Like I said once about the defectors,” I added, and looked straight at Sarah and Ranger, making sure they got the message, as well, and truly absorbed it, “As far as I’m concerned, you’ve got a clean slate. Actually, no. More than clean. Shining.”
By then, Leon – who still wasn’t good at, or used to, accepting complements or praises, nor did he know how to – was red-faced in embarrassment. I glanced at him and chuckled.
I caught Jackson looking at me strangely, but I couldn’t place what the look meant. I smiled at him, and he smiled back, and then he went over to Allen and started talking to him. I dismissed the strange look.
Seeing as how everyone was pretty much doing the same as Jackson and Allen - conversing amongst themselves – I motioned Leon off the table and over to me. We chatted for a while, and then everyone went off and did their own thing.
A few hours later, I was walking around, looking for something to do, after practicing at the Firing Range with dummy refire rounds.
“Hey Firestar!” I heard Jackson call out.
I looked in the direction his voice had come from. He and Allen were standing next to the Generator facility. I waltzed over. “What’s up?”
Allen took a step back, giving Jackson the spotlight. All of a sudden Jackson was fidgety, like he was extremely nervous about something.
Jackson flicked his head in the direction of the Generator building. “Let’s go inside.”
I gave him a curious look, but I followed him in. Allen came in, as well, and shut the door behind us.
It was dark. The machinery was a little noisy, but not too much, as we weren’t in the Generator’s actual room. This was a place that only engineers, mechanics, and repairmen would go. Not being much of any of them, myself, I only recognized a couple of machines, out of the dozens throughout the large room.
Verbally, there was silence for a couple seconds. Then Allen spoke up. “Need a kick-off?” He asked Jackson.
Jackson glanced at him, hesitated, then nodded.
Allen took a breath as he stepped up. “I’m not going to say what the secret is, but Jackson is like Leon, in a way; hiding a part of himself.”
After a second of waiting to see if there was more to it, I realized Allen was done talking. Jackson was still obviously gathering up the courage to speak, so I replied “...And it’s also something dark?”
Jackson’s eyes flickered from me, to Allen, and back again. “W-Well,” he stuttered, his nervousness almost getting the better of him, “not dark, per se, just…unique. I’m not Equestrian.”
I felt my brow furrow in confusion. “…Okay? So, you were born outside. So what?”
“No, you don’t understand. When I say ‘not Equestrian,’ I mean I’m not of your race. I’m not even human. I’m a changeling!”
“…A what?”
“Changeling.” Suddenly, his horn lit up. There in his place stood a humanoid creature. It was black, with small, randomly-placed holes all over. It’s armored exoskeleton looked like chitin. It also had wings, in addition to its horn.
My eyes widened. “Whoa!” Half of it came out in a whisper. I took a step backward in surprise.
Allen put his hands up in a ‘stop’ gesture. “Don’t be alarmed!”
“I’m not alarmed. Just surprised.”
“You’re not…” Jackson said, astonishment clear in his voice, “…you’re not scared?”
“No…. Should I be?”
“N-No! Not of me. But... most ponies get frightened by my true appearance.”
I snorted. “Appearance, shmappearance. You’re still you, right?”
“Y-Yeah. Still me.” Jackson was visibly brightening – mood-wise – by the second. In fact, by now, he was actually smiling.
Doing more than a cursory glance, I could visibly tell it was still him. Those bright green eyes, holding both intelligence and a caring nature behind them. The way he held himself up, like a long-time soldier. Almost as if he’d been one just about all his life. It was an unconscious thing. Hard to change, even a little. Aside from the wings, the obvious holes, and the exoskeleton, the overall physical stature and characteristics were pretty much the same, as well.
I didn’t really need verbal confirmation. I already knew, just by my eyes alone.
To show it, I broke into a grin and pulled Jackson into a friendly hug. “Thought so, man.”
I felt him stiffen with surprise, and then slowly accept and return the embrace.
“As long as you still act like yourself,” I continued, “I don’t care what you look like, or even what you really are.”
I heard Allen quietly slip out. I figured he’d just been there to make sure things went alright, and to comfort Jackson however needed.
I was a little surprised to hear a sniffle, as if someone was crying. When I pulled away to look, I saw tears on Jackson’s face.
“Thank you.” He said. “Thank you so much! All my life… all my life, I’ve had to pretend. No one wanted to be friends with a monster, and-“
“Shut it! You’re no monster. You may not be human, but you’re no monster, and I do NOT want to hear that kind of talk ever again. Got me?” By Celestia, I sound like my mom!
He sniffled a little, and nodded half-heartedly.
“Do you got me, soldier!?!” I said, a little forcefully.
He snapped to attention. “Sir, yes, sir!” I could see a smile on his face.
I smiled back, and put a comforting arm on his shoulder. I squeezed it gently. “No matter what anyone says, you’re no monster. You’re you. Don’t forget that.”
He nodded, and after a couple seconds of absorbing silence, I changed the subject a little.
“How long has Allen known?”
“Years. I’d served with him for about thirteen before that first attack, and I'd told him by the time the eighth year began. He was like you; he didn’t care. As long as I stayed true to myself, deep down, than he didn’t care at all. It never affected his trusting me, negatively. If anything, it was positive. I’d trusted him with a deep secret, and he knew it.”
“And usually, when someone you trust trusts you with a secret as deep as that, you know that they’re a good person to give your own deep trust to.”
“Exactly.”
“So… what exactly is different between an Equestrian and a changeling, besides the obvious?”
“Well, the disguise you saw wasn’t a normal disguise spell. Most of us aren’t powerful enough for that. It’s a type of magic unique to our race.”
“Race? Not species?”
“Well, scientifically, yes. We’re scientifically in the same species as Equestrians, – breeding is possible, though not easy – but yes, most would just go ahead and say species.”
“Not easy?”
“Understatement. I’m talking somewhere around one-fifth of the probability of just two Equestrians.”
It went on like that for a while, him telling me the differences. Changelings can gain sustenance from food, but not nearly as much as Equestrians do. Changelings don’t usually even try to depend on solid food. They feed on emotions. Specifically, positive emotions. Love in particular, but it isn’t necessary. They don’t even need to be directly receiving it, although that’s the easiest and most nourishing way.
Even just a normal friendship is good enough to keep them alive. Multiple friendships can even keep a changeling quite comfortable.
The amount of that going around this base is more than enough to keep Jackson both comfortable and strong.
Another thing unique to his race is the ability to sense emotions. You have to be physically close to a person to actually sense them, though. Emotions directed toward the changeling are strongest, while emotions directed towards others have to be given more than a basic effort. Not impossible, by any means, but none of it is subconscious.
Jackson comes from a changeling hive under the command of a Queen Chrysalis, but he’d been kicked out for openly - and strongly -disagreeing with her policies multiple times.
“She almost hates Equestrians, for some reason. She’s smart, and usually does what’s best for the hive as a whole, but she doesn’t like much individualism. Only her closest advisors are allowed to truly think for themselves all the time. And even then, they have to agree with her, or offer something better, or she won’t even try to listen to them. Your average drone wasn’t allowed to think for himself anywhere except for the privacy of his personal sleeping space. Even on a mission, a drone officer is sent along to do the thinking.”
“And what were you?”
“A high-end officer. I was actually among the best. Intelligence, skill, and ability. I was among the best in all of those. But, unlike most of them, I chose to adhere to a moral code. I chose to listen to my emotions when they told me that what was happening was wrong. That led to me publicly disagreeing with Chrysalis multiple times. Eventually, she got fed up. She warned me, but I didn’t care. When I got thrown out, I told her that I’d rather be an outcast than be in a hive that commits horrible acts.”
“Horrible acts? Such as?”
“Drones and drone officers were given free reign to do what they wished to their victims. Changelings feed on love, but we can also take it. When we take love, we get it even stronger, but it weakens the victim over time, and can even lead to death. Drones and drone officers commonly seemed to choose that option. Of course, it looks like a natural death. In a way, it is. The changeling itself doesn’t kill the victim. It just weakens the victim until nature itself kills it.”
“That’s awful!” I was disgusted. But what followed disgusted me even more.
“When I said free reign, I meant it. Whatever they wanted, whether it was emotions or physical actions. Yes, I do mean sex. Officers and drones weren’t punished if they convinced their victims to reproduce. Nor were they punished for raping and/or killing them. If anything, officers that commonly did were rewarded for being willing to do what was ‘necessary.’ I despised that. It was one of the main causes of our disagreements.”
“I can imagine. How long ago was this?”
“Uh… fifteen years?”
“…Fifteen?” I furrowed my brow, confused. "You don't look that old. What were you, eight?"
“Changelings don’t look that much different when they’re 150 than when they’re twenty, Firestar. What are you, thirty?”
“Twenty-six.”
“I’m forty-one.”
Whoa. “You’re almost twice my age!”
He chuckled. “Trust me, I don’t feel it.”
We laughed. Then something occurred to me.
“If you feed off of emotions, can you feel them, as well?”
“Yes, although certain emotions are much harder to achieve. We don’t feel lust nearly as often, nor is it actually that easy to fall in love. We recognize attractiveness, but that isn’t actually a very large boost. Although the incredibly unlikely has happened.”
“Incredibly unlikely? You mean a Changeling falling in love almost immediately?”
“Pretty much. And yes, before you ask, there are some Equestrians that have a little bit of Changeling DNA in them. Emphasis on little, though. Equestrian DNA almost always overpowers changeling DNA by far. There have been incidents, though.”
“Does that DNA give them anything?”
“Sometimes they feel drawn towards other Changelings, in some way. Sometimes repelled. Sometimes it’s some completely different effect, like increased magical or flying aptitude. Or increased receptiveness or understanding of others’ emotions, though that could also just be the type of person they are. No special abilities, if that’s what you’re thinking. And there isn’t always an effect at all.”
“Can a Changeling tell?”
“No. For all I know, you, Leon, or anyone else here could be swimming in Changeling ancestry.” Jackson leaned in, as if there was someone else there that he didn’t want hearing the next bit. “Although,” he added quietly, “if you ask me, it wouldn’t actually surprise me that much if you or Allen actually have some. You both are pretty accepting of differences, big and small.”
“I’m just logical.” I replied, although inside, I was wondering if I actually did have some Changeling, in my blood.
After a few more neat little facts from the info-dump-of-a-conversation that we were having, we walked out, and started chatting about any random thing that popped into mind. Weather, specialties, past experiences, jokes, whatever.
We had a grand old time, and I, for one, respected him for placing so much of his trust in me. I mentally promised him that not only would I never betray that trust, I’d find some way to repay it.
Little did I know, that just being an unconditional friend was good enough for him. Although saving each others’ lives multiple times probably helped, too.
“I know Chrysalis’s actions are… extremely questionable…” He said.
“Understatement.” I replied.
“Completely. But she’s smart, and she looks out for the hive. Crimson Justice is killing indiscriminately. Not only does that mean that potential food sources are disappearing by the dozen, but that also means her own hive members are at risk when their operating. If we approach her, we might just gain an ally. And a powerful one, at that.”
“And you’re sure this’ll work?” I said as I crossed my arms.
“…Well… no. But it’s worth a shot, right?”
“I guess. Didn’t she kick you to the curb, though?”
“Not the point. Changelings believe in favors, too. During my time there I’d accumulated a few. I haven’t cashed them all in, yet. I know the location, and I can get us an audience…. I think.”
“You think?” I was getting a little skeptical.
“Chrysalis makes the final decisions. She’s unpredictable. I can get us in there, but if you’re waiting for a guarantee that she’ll even listen to us, you’re wasting your time.”
I sighed. “I don’t know, Jackson….”
“It’s either she listens to us, or she doesn’t. At the very least, we’ll have instilled some doubt in her head. All in, or not at all, Firestar?”
His ultimatum gave me some thought. After I considered it for a while, I nodded. “All in. Take Allen with?”
“You bet you’re a**.” A voice came from the doorway. Allen walked in, already in full gear.
The hive was a few miles away from Canterlot. The terrain was rough. Hills, slopes, rocks, you name it.
Jackson had gone back to his real form whence we’d gotten two miles out. His dark figure led the way.
The Sun was being pulled down by Celestia. Sunset's wasted on this barren area. There weren’t even any plants. Just rocks, and rocks, and rocks.
“We’ll stop a mile out.” Jackson stated. “I’ll go ahead and secure an entrance.”
True to his word, we stopped a mile back. Jackson went ahead, and an hour later he came back and beckoned us over.
On the way there, he cast a spell on us. “Changelings can take any form that’s around the same size as them, as long as it’s organic. The spell prevents them from taking your form while you’re still alive.”
“What about you?”
He took out some kind of small device and slipped it into his armored vest. “This’ll do the same thing. I can’t cast the spell on myself, otherwise I can’t change forms. Plus it’d revert me to my true form. Changelings look almost exactly the same. In battle it’d be next to impossible to differentiate.” As he said this, he slipped into his Equestrian persona.
It was very dark inside the hive.
Black shapes milled about in the darkness. I didn’t see more than a few glances our way, but I could feel a whole lot of eyes on our backs as we walked.
Footsteps were the only sounds, and the near-silence was eerie. Eventually, we reached a large room. Pitch-black doors shut behind us. We were alone.
In the center was a large table, fit for at least a dozen. We gathered around it, but stayed standing.
After a few seconds, I broke the silence. “Uh… I guess we sit…?” I took a step towards a chair.
Suddenly, a female voice pierced the darkness. “Well, well, well. The traitor returns.” It seemed to come from everywhere.
I found myself holding my pistol. I’d drawn in on instinct. I slowly edged it back to its holster. As I secured it, I spotted movement.
A tall woman with the characteristics of a changeling stepped out of the shadows from a nearby corner of the room. Her teethy grin and bright green eyes hid a truly evil nature. Her eyes showed intelligence, but also malice.
She slowly came over to the table, her sultry walk clearly trying to arouse us into agreeing with whatever she’d propose.
When she stopped at the table, she glared at Jackson and snarled. “Who are they?”
“Representatives, Queen. Of-”
“I am not your Queen, anymore!” She yelled. “You are nothing!”
I gritted my teeth, but I kept myself from lashing out. I could bear letting my friends get insulted if we could get her help, however undesirable it was.
“Chrysalis.” Allen said as he stepped forward.
She immediately turned her attention to him, disregarding Jackson.
“We are representatives of a militaristic group in Equestria.” Allen continued. “We call ourselves Wolfhound. I’m sure you’ve heard of the terrorist group Crimson Justice?”
She nodded slowly, and walked toward him a little.
“If you’ve ever seen how they operate, they don’t discriminate between civilians and soldiers. We’re trying to stop them, but we’re a small group, and we can only do one thing at a time.”
“And how is this my problem?” Chrysalis replied. Her voice no longer echoed around the room, but it was no less menacing. She probably did that on purpose.
“If you have your people in areas that are hit, then they’re in great danger.”
“Just going out there is a danger.”
“But not nearly as much. Even if your operatives aren’t affected, your… food supply is. You feed on emotions, correct? What happens if there are no people to have emotions?”
“There will always be humans. Crimson Justice is not trying to wipe humanity out. It is just trying to collapse the Equestrian government. That is none of my concern. You will get no help from me.”
Jackson stepped up. “Chrysalis, surely you are joking. You already knew what this meeting was about! The ones who let us in told you what I told them! If you weren’t going to offer us help, then why would you even listen to us?”
She wheeled on him. “The agreement was for you to come alone! I said nothing about your ‘friends!’” Her voice again echoed around the room, but this time it was louder than before. She turned to Allen. “In coming here, you have trespassed on our territory. Because of the confusion, you will have two hours before we hunt down your heads. But the traitor stays here!”
“Not gonna happen.” I replied.
Jackson piped up. “Chrysalis, please reconsider.”
“You knew the consequences of coming here, and I let you in to have you face them, imbecile! If you truly thought I would help you, then you are an idiot!”
I couldn’t take it anymore. I stepped forward and glared at her. “Chrysalis! He is not an imbecile, nor is he an idiot! If anyone is an idiot here, it’s you! We’re offering you a chance to-”
“How dare you!” Chrysalis yelled. It was almost deafening. “How dare you insult me! I can have you killed!”
I drew and cocked my pistol in one smooth motion. “Try it!” When she stood there, stunned, and didn’t answer, I continued. “You think everything centers around you! That everything should go your way! I’ve seen a bunch of stuck-up, no-good, sons-of-bi***es like that! You’re not a queen! You’re just the stupid bi*** that gave birth to all those ba**ards! We’re leaving!”
I turned around.
“GUARDS!”
I whipped back, but she was already moving. Before I knew what was happening, I was on the floor. I located my gun and stood back up, but by then Chrysalis was almost to a door on the far side of the room. I fired a couple rounds in her direction, but she was too fast to lock onto.
I heard noise behind me, and I spun to see another door opening, and at least a dozen armed figures rushing through.
Allen and Jackson were both getting up. I fired a few times at the doorway to suppress the guards and give my guys time to get up and get to cover.
“Go! Go!” Allen yelled, and motioned at the door we’d come in from. It was still closed.
I fired a couple more shots, then sprinted to the door. I slid it to the side a little, opening up enough space to slip through. “Come on!” I waited until Allen and Jackson had both gone through, then I slipped out and shut it behind me. That’d buy us maybe a few seconds.
We sprinted for the exit. Luckily, we’d remembered the route. Having Jackson has a guide helped, too. Every once in a while, we’d come across a changeling or three. They went down quickly, as they were usually taken by surprise. Not to mention they were mostly unarmed.
We got out of the hive and sprinted for a rocky outcropping. We took cover there for a few seconds, and then we moved behind a nearby hill.
We didn’t see a single changeling on the way back to Canterlot. I guess Chrysalis was too afraid we’d come back and finish the job I’d tried to start.
Jackson was understandably a little disappointed and down, but surprisingly not too much. He’d already given up on the hive about twenty years ago. This little adventure had been a small hope, at best.
Two months later, we’d officially mapped out all the Crimson Justice facilities inside Equestria to the best of our abilities. A lot of it, surprisingly, we had to glean from documents detailing locations of various facilities. Outposts, bases, and listening posts in abundance.
I was going to ask Allen when we’d give a copy of the map to Celestia, but when I walked into his office, I found him working on exactly that.
As I opened the door, the Princess’s voice filled the room. It was coming from Allen’s radio station. “-not worry, Allen. I’m used to negotiating frequently. Doing so with a friend is a welcome reprieve, and I understand your needs. What is your base price?”
Allen glanced up at me as he opened his mouth. He didn’t dismiss me, so I just stood there as he spoke. “I don’t have a concrete number, but if you remember Operation Cauldron Glory a few years back, I’d like its costs to be the minimum, ma’am.”
A small chuckle came through. “You drive a hard bargain, Allen.” Approval was clear in the undertone of Celestia’s voice. “Are there more than a few installations throughout Equestria, then?”
“More than a dozen squared, Princess.” Allen’s voice was quiet as he delivered the sobering news. “We know of 150, but that’s only what we know of. Equestria’s a big place, with an unbelievable number of spots that they could’ve planted something.”
Silence filled the other end of the line for a couple seconds. “…I see.” Celestia said eventually. “In that case, it would be a bargain for me. Is that really all you want for it?”
“Ma’am, I’d give this to you for free, if you asked. I’m just asking for money that we can use for repair. You’re our most reliable source, by far. In fact, you’re currently our only source. Crimson Justice doesn’t keep a large amount of bits in their facilities. Even so, not all of the last few payments made it here completely. We’re running almost dry. Two of our people know a few things about maintenance, but we still can’t fix everything. Some things don’t even work at all, anymore.”
“You’ve made your point. I’ll pay quintuple Cauldron Glory’s costs. Is that acceptable?”
Allen’s eyes widened. “Yes ma’am. Very much so. If possible,” he added as an afterthought, “could a maintenance team be sent along, as well? We can get any needed materials, but it’s know-how that we need more of.”
“Give me couple minutes, and I’ll have a list of high-ranking engineers. In the meantime, was there anything else you required?”
“Are there any high-skilled fighters that can assist us temporarily? There’s a listening post just outside of Manehattan that’s in range of multiple outposts. At the same time, we need to get rid of a small base halfway between Canterlot and Appleloosa that has a bird’s-eye view of the main train route. By now, Crimson Justice will know we’re here. If we ever go to you, we’re extremely vulnerable.”
“I see. And you don’t have the numbers to hit both at once? Very well. I already have just the Royal Guard for the job.”
“Royal Guard, ma’am? Are you sure?” Allen asked, hesitant.
“He’s only that 'low' because of his own volition. His skill is parallel to yours.”
“Huh. And what is the good stallion’s name?”
“Sergeant Major Shining Armor. He and his squad are a legend among the Royal Guard. Though the most skilled, the other members of his squad are all still worthy of being called Operatives, if they so choose to move up.”
“Indeed. Will it be all of his squad?”
“Just him and his Fireteam.” Celestia replied.
“Roger. Have them meet me at Station 48 in two days.” Allen motioned me over. “My second will take the majority of Wolfhound and hit the listening post. Here he is now. He’ll brief you on all Crimson Justice locations within twenty miles of Canterlot. You’ll probably want to dispatch Army units to them soon.”
Allen tapped a map on the table next to him, then backed off.
I located Canterlot, and discovered that Allen had previously already drawn a circle with a twenty-mile radius around it. I leaned over and spoke the ten locations into the microphone. I made sure to include the listed facility types for each one.
When I was done, I added “As the commander advised, it’d be a good idea to either destroy or capture those facilities.”
“Agreed. It’s time to crack down on Crimson Justice. Now, I must know the names of those I speak with. What is your name, second?”
“Firestar, ma’am.”
“Firestar. A fitting name, for a member of Wolfhound.”
“Um, thank you, ma’am.”
“Ah, here is the list of engineers.”
Allen took over as she started listing off names, but one caught my ear. “Wait, who?”
“Dark Pipe?” Allen asked.
“No, Sky… Sky Dreams. I know her!”
“Indeed.” Celestia replied. “Coincidentally, of the many on this list, she is one of the few I’d personally recommend
I chuckled. “I’ll bet! Even as a filly, she was an engineering genius. She built her own house, and it survived a rogue tornado going right over it! I can’t tell you how many times she repaired all our stuff too.”
A laugh came through. “Yes, she is like that here, as well. When did you last speak with her?”
“I was 16, I think. Yeah. About eight years ago.”
“Then perhaps you could catch up.”
I respectfully backed off as Allen and Celestia finished the list, and then finalized who would come. Sky Dreams was among those first chosen to come.
I didn’t even try to keep the grin off my face. I couldn’t wait to see Sky again! We’d been as close as siblings when we were foals. Saying goodbye when she had to move was one of the hardest things I’d ever done.
I left the room as Allen started the tedious updates. It wasn’t exactly common for Celestia to be available for a significant amount of time, so when she is, we give her a full update.
When Allen came out, I’d come up with a mental list of the people I definitely wanted with me.
“Sir, requesting permission to take Jackson, Sarah, and Crystal Ranger, sir!” I went full-on with the effect, even standing at attention and saluting him as I requested them.
He face-palmed and groaned, but it quickly turned into a laugh. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
I relaxed and chuckled. “You bet I did!”
“One of these days I will get you back for this. Oh, permission granted.”
“Thank you, sir.” I couldn’t resist doing one last salute. As I walked out the door I was struggling not to lose it at the sight of Allen going to a nearby table and lightly face-planting while groaning “kill me now.”
I walked into the barracks when I was done laughing my organs out. Sarah and Ranger were already there, coincidentally.
“So, we’re gonna go and hit a listening post outside Manehattan.” I stated nonchalantly.
“Oh yeah? With what, a meteorite?” Ranger replied, continuing the nonchalant mood.
“Nope. Me, you two, and Jackson. Might be more, haven’t decided.”
“I don’t know,” Sarah said, trailing a little, “listening posts that deep usually have a lot more underground than above. Never been to that one, but the ones I have been to covered at least half a mile below ground level. If it’s anything like that one, we’ll have a pretty busy day, even with a full squad.”
“Well, better than a boring one. We’re hitting it in two days. Got any plans?”
“Not really, no.”
“Good, ‘cuz you’d have to cancel them. Wolfhound’s splitting on this one. Allen’s taking a base between here and Canterlot. We’re cracking down.”
“You’ll need more than a few people to take down an entire base. A listening post is one thing; they’re not prepared for a full-out assault. An entire base is filled with guys who are paid to fight, wherever they are, with whatever they have. Four or five guys, no matter how well armed they are, are gonna be hard-pressed to take a whole base on.”
“Which is why Celestia’s sending one of her best fireteams to help him out.”
“Just a fireteam?” Ranger was incredulous.
“One of the best. It’s commander is as good as Allen, according to Celestia.” I replied.
“And the rest of the fireteam?”
“Worthy of being called Operatives, if they wanted to move up.”
“Huh. Well, if any of them are as good as Jackie, they might actually stand a chance.”
“Da** right. I’m gonna go tell Jackson. See ya’ll later.” I turned around and headed for the leader.
“Ya’ll?” Sarah repeated, confused.
“What, I can’t fake accents?” I grinned over my shoulder as I walked out.
Jackson just nodded and said “Alright” when he heard the news.
On a hunch, I wrote a note to myself the check who the local police were in Manehattan. I’d remembered that back when I was twelve-ish, a friend had moved there. He’d always been interested in policemen and Guards. He’d always claimed that when he was old enough, he’d join one of them. I’d see if he lived up to that promise.
Good thing I checked, too.
Chapter 8: Deniable Allies: Part 3: Old Friends, New Friends
We’d arrived in Manehattan. I’d told Jackson, Sarah, and Ranger about my hunch, and they agreed that it’d be a good idea. An extra guy or two could make a huge difference in a firefight, no matter how skilled they are.
We found the Police Station, and I went in.
After getting access to the records, I’d found him. My old pal was now a Sheriff of Manehattan.
I laughed a little. “Flash Sentry, you crazy ba**ard, you.” I can't believe he actually got that far up! How long's it been? Twelve years, six in the Force? Flash Sentry was two years younger than me. Ambitious Son of a Gun.
I went back to the lobby, where everyone was waiting for me. I went up to the officer who’d given me access to the personnel files and requested an audience with the Sheriff.
“He’s in a meeting right now, but it should be wrapped up already. You’ll probably catch him walking out the door.” The officer said.
“Good enough for me. I’m an old friend of his, though I doubt he’d recognize me. Twelve years have passed.”
“That’ll do it. There’s the door. If they’re still talking, just stand to the side. It’s nothing classified, with your rank.”
We’d all received a small patch to pin on that showed us as Elite Guards of varying ranks. I was a Sergeant Major, Jackson a Sergeant. Sarah and Ranger were both Corporals.
I nodded my thanks to the officer, and walked toward the door. Jackson and co. had followed, but I motioned them to stay outside. I wanted my reuniting with Flash to be personal, not just business.
POV: Jackson, Currently Wolf Two-Two
Firestar walked towards the door. I was curious what he was feeling. Upon scanning, he was joyous, but also a little anxious, as well.
I watched him open the door, and a voice came through.
“-And that wraps it up-hello, what do we have here?”
Firestar paused, then walked in. “Flash Sentry? You remember me? Firestar?”
“Firestar… Wait, Firestar, that awesome smart-a** back in elementary?”
“The very same.”
“No way! Come on in! Whatcha need? We’re all done here.”
“Couple things,” the door started to shut, “wanted to catch up, and I need your help. These Guards can help, too, if they want.”
“Okay. What do you need help wi-” The door finally closed all the way.
I settled down in a chair next to it in the hallway, and waited. I could hear muffled voices, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying.
After about ten minutes, Firestar and three other men came out. Two of them were dressed in the standard off-duty clothing of a serving Guard, and the other wore a police uniform with a Sheriff badge on it. Sheriff was a Pegasus, and the two Guards were Unicorns.
Firestar motioned me to follow him. “We’ll meet and greet on the way there. Grab our gear and meet up at Rendezvous Point Beta.
I nodded, and set off to do exactly that.
Chapter 8: Deniable Allies: Part 4: Raiding Party X 2
On the way there, I learned the two Guards’ names. Lightning Flame and Wizard Handle. One was good at defensive magic, and the other was exceptionally good at all things electronic.
Sarah, Ranger, Firestar, and Flash were dressed in Crimson Justice uniforms left over from either the base attack or from the defection. Sarah and Ranger actually just grabbed their old uniforms and put them on.
Lightning Flame apparently noticed the familiarity that Sarah had with her outfit. Without thinking, he asked her “Why do I get the feeling that that fits you better than the rest of us?” He asked her.
Sarah just looked him in the eye, and said “Because I used to wear it.”
Lightning Flame’s face went red in embarrassment as he realized what she meant. “Oh… um… sorry.”
Sarah just grunted, and waved it off.
I’d decided that I was vulnerable carrying only a shotgun and pistol. If I was stuck with somebody that was outside the range of either, I couldn’t hit them. Luckily, I had room for a much-longer-ranged assault rifle.
Ranger had his marksman rifle, Sarah had her own assault rifle, and the two Guards had SMGs from the Police Station’s Armory. I could only guess that Firestar had an assault rifle and his personal pistol. I didn’t have a clue what Flash Sentry had.
At one point, there was a knock from the front. “We’re almost there.” Firestar’s voice filtered through. “Sarah, handle the radio.”
Sarah took his cue and went up to the front. She pressed a button, and the wall between us and the driver’s section opened up.
There was a radio in between the two seats. Sarah knelt down next to it, and waited.
When Firestar gave her a thumbs up, she pressed transmit.
“Ears Nine, Ears Nine, this is Delta Two Echo. Do you have room for a few more, over?”
There was silence for about ten seconds. Then a voice came back. “Delta Two Echo, this is Ears Nine. We are not a hotel, over.”
“Ears Nine, we’ve been on the road for the better part of the day, and it’s getting late. Authorization Bravo eighty-six, we’ve got local passengers, over.”
“Copy, Delta Two Echo, standby.”
Half a minute later, we stopped the car. We were at the edge of the safe zone, where, if we went any closer without permission, we’d be automatically perceived as hostile. Remote charges along the road would be detonated, and we’d be blown sky-high.
“Delta Two Echo, this is Ears Nine. You have a green light. Come on in, over.”
“Roger, Ears Nine. Delta Two Echo, coming in from the south road, over.”
“South road, received. This is Ears Nine, over and out.”
“Copy Ears Nine, Delta Two Echo over and out.”
Sarah let go of the transmit button, and we all heaved a sigh of relief. Now we actually stood a chance of getting in there.
“Okay,” Firestar said. “We’ll park outside. Flash, Sarah, and I will go in first. We’ll do the paperwork. You guys just sit there and look scared. Jackson, Ranger, keep ‘em still.”
I pulled out my pistol, but let it rest on my knee, facing the floor in front of me, on the opposite side of the compartment. We needed to look tired. Tired people aren’t the most alert, or careful.
Firestar and co. got out after we parked. About three minutes later, someone banged on the back. “You’re clear.”
Ranger, who was closer, went over and slid the door open. A sunset sky’s light filtered into the dark compartment.
Ranger took a quick glance around. He got out and circled the vehicle. “Looks clear. Firestar just banged and went back in. We’ll get inside and meet him there.”
A nodded, and motioned everyone else to follow.
When we walked inside, there were only a couple guards there. Sarah was talking with one. “Okay, thank you. We can handle it.”
The guard nodded and turned around. He jerked his head towards a door, and both the guards left.
Now it was just us.
Firestar immediately turned around. “Okay, there are two floors we can hit at once, and I don’t want anyone getting out.” He said. He looked at me. “Jackson, take Sarah and Ranger and hit this floor. We’ll hit underground.”
I nodded, and my group went over to me.
By then, everyone had pulled out their weapons. I saw the Sheriff dual-wielding pistols, but there was a shotgun on his back. Police issue.
I signaled my team to stack up at the door, then took one last glance in Firestar’s direction. He and his team were already set to breach their door, which opened up into a stairway heading down.
He looked at me and caught my eye. He smiled at me, and said “On you, Jackson.”
I turned back around. My team was waiting for me.
I moved into my position, and said loudly “Go!”
Ranger opened up the door, and I tossed in a flash-bang. Ranger closed the door.
A muffled explosion worked its way through the metal, and Ranger opened the door again. He got out of the way as Sarah went in, followed by me.
There were three guys in the room. Sarah took one down, and then we shot the other two at the same time.
I scanned the room. Seeing no one, I reported “Clear!”
Sarah repeated, followed shortly by Ranger. I turned around to see him shut the door behind us. He pulled something out, and I saw him stick red tape on the door and the wall next to it. Now the only way to open it up, would be to break the tape. If anybody came this way, they’d either be stuck, or risk giving away the fact that someone got out.
And they weren’t exactly welcome in Manehattan, anymore. The police there had been informed of what uniforms to look for. Anybody they saw wearing them would be arrested.
We had them cornered, already.
We stacked up against another doorway, but this time, we didn’t use a flash-bang to clear the room. We just opened the door and went in. Granted, the gunshots from before had alerted them, but that didn’t matter to us. We took them down, anyway.
It went on like that for a while. Room after room of varying size or shape was cleared of all life.
I knew our luck couldn’t last, and it didn’t.
“Mayday! Mayday!” Firestar’s voice came through my earpiece radio. “Jackson, there’s a balcony on your floor in one of our rooms! We’re pinned down! There’s a sh*tton on bad guys over here!”
“Roger, we’re on our way!” I said.
We quickly cleared a couple more rooms that were annoyingly more populated than some others. The ones in those rooms were also waiting for us. We couldn’t even go in. We had to fire from the doorway.
We stacked up at one final door. I could hear a he**uva lot of gunfire on the other side.
“It sounds like a whole army’s out there.” Ranger remarked.
“Well, then it’ll be an even fight.” I replied.
Sarah opened the door, and the volume increased exponentially. It was almost deafening.
We moved onto the balcony. “Over there!” Sarah pointed across the room.
Firestar and co. were huddled behind some crates on our end.
I took a quick visual scan. Oh, dear Celestia! There must be at least fifty guys!
I wasn’t even exaggerating. Whatever this listening post was, it was unbelievably heavily staffed. At least fifty people wearing Crimson Justice uniforms were firing at the crates that were temporarily stopping the absolute wall of bullets being directed at Firestar’s team.
And the crates were starting to fall apart. As I watched, a few planks of whatever the crates were made out of fell off. Something started pouring out. It looked like sand. The Guard that was using it looked at the crate for a second, and then dashed out towards another one.
I quickly realized he’d be out in the open for at least a few seconds. “Engage!” I yelled, and pulled out my still-not-used assault rifle.
My team and I rained lead down on the enemy just as the Guard hit the edge of the crate. We disoriented the enemy just enough that he managed to make it to another crate.
“Glad you could make it! Liking the party?” Firestar yelled over the radio.
“Yeah, but there’s a few too many people, for my liking!”
“Well, I know I didn’t invite them! How about we remind them of that little fact?”
“Sounds good! Wolves, take them down!” I yelled.
I started shooting at anything that moved on the Crimson Justice portion of the room, which was just about all of it.
This place is the size of a Hoofball Field! How big is this Listening Post!?!
“Jackson, we gotta move! Cover us!” Firestar yelled over the radio.
“Copy! You heard him, Wolves! Covering fire!”
As I started laying down the pain on the enemy, I saw out of the corner of my eye Firestar and his team dart out and sprint across the No Man’s Land that was the open parts of the room.
When they all took cover again, Firestar radioed. “We made it! Thanks for the cover; we didn’t even get hit once!”
“You’re welcome, now start shooting, already!” I shouted. I’d apologize for that later, I told myself, but right now was not the time for formalities. Besides, Firestar put me in command of my team for a reason. I didn’t know what that reason was, but I figured it meant I was good enough to be the one giving orders.
I was not going to be the one to let him down.
It went on like that for five or ten minutes. Hostiles kept pouring out of the open doorways on their side. Eventually, Firestar and his team made it three quarters of the way through the room. That just made the baddies all the more concentrated in the quarter they had left.
“Is this normal?” I shouted to Ranger.
“No, but it’s not too unusual! Listening Posts are important! Most of our Intel on you guys comes from facilities like this one! Makes sense that it’d be heavily defended!”
“Heavily is right! There must be over a hundred of them in this room alone! What is this, some idiot’s book where the heroes kill everyone!?!”
“Do I look like I’m made out of cartoon drawings to you? No? Didn’t think so!” Ranger yelled back.
Despite the seriousness, I had to grin. There was just something about our group that made us constantly crack jokes in the middle of a firefight.
“You done rambling, over there?” Sarah yelled. “Cuz I’m seeing a lot of dummies that are just asking to be used for target practice!”
“What kind of dummies?” I yelled back, as I fired some more.
“One, the other, both, neither, pick your choice!”
“Ranger, you sure this isn’t some kind of bad story?”
“If it were a bad story, there’d be explosions all over, so what do you think?”
Just then, coincidentally, I caught a guy pulling the pin of a frag grenade. I quickly fired at him, but I miscalculated. Instead of hitting him in the head or the chest, I hit his grenade dead-on.
Let’s just say I didn’t see any of him after that.
“You were saying?” I deadpanned.
“Fu** you!” But I heard a laugh in the midst of his reply.
After at least five more minutes of shooting, and finally no one came out of the enemy’s door.
“Hoo!” Firestar shouted. He didn’t even bother to use the radio. It was almost silent in the room, now, anyways. “Nice party! Kinda wish I could call it quits. Gotta go all the way, though! You ready?”
“You crazy ba**ard!” I yelled down, voice cracking as I laughed. “Yeah, we’ll see you on the other side! Of what remains to be seen.”
“Then let’s see it! Come on, old man!”
“Ah, youngster, you’ve still got a lot to learn!” I replied.
“Don’t think so, Pappy! Ah’m a grown colt! Ah know everythan’!” He yelled back, imitating a little foal’s voice, method of speech included.
“Make ol’ Papa proud, then, boy!”
Firestar stacked up next to the doorway, but couldn’t resist one last jibe. He looked up at me, and said, just loud enough for me to hear, “Why should I?” He went through before I could reply.
I shook my head and mumbled “Cheeky a**hole.” I chuckled as I walked to my own doorway.
Surprisingly, there were actually a few guys left in the next room. They went down quick.
My route ended, while Firestar’s split. My team and I walked down the stairs at the end of the balcony to him, and then we split up again.
But, we ended up together again. “Two doors to the same room, less than twenty feet from each other?” I asked rhetorically. “How does that even make sense?”
“Uh, maybe one’s a highway, and the other’s an expressway?” Firestar said.
“You do realize that doesn’t even make sense?”
“Yes. Your point?”
I laughed and shook my head. “How do you even come up with this stuff? I’ll never know.”
“You’re right, you won’t. Then again, I don’t, either.”
“Again! What are you, unofficial court jester?” I said as I burst out laughing. I couldn’t hold it.
He’d had everyone rolling around the Mess Hall one time, a few months back. Even he doesn’t know how he does it. Just sometimes he gets into one of his moods, and he tries to suffocate you through laughter. And the best part is that he rarely prepares anything. Almost all of his humor is spur-of-the-moment.
After I recovered enough that I could see more than pitch black, we stacked up against the final door. Even though it was a double door, it was a tight fit. Seven people on one doorway? Things get very close-quarters.
Firestar mouthed numbers as his hand counted down to one. When he made a fist, I kicked the doors in.
Gunfire erupted through the open entrance, and we had to dive for the sides. Somehow, none of us got hit. During a lull, I peeked in. Technicians holding pistols.
I popped one in the chest with my shotgun, then ducked back as his buddies tried to return the favor.
Suddenly, all the gunfire stopped. I glanced at Firestar, and he mouthed ‘What the he**?’
Before any of the rest of us could wrap our heads around the silence, Flash Sentry and his dual pistols decided to. He checked to make sure it wasn’t a trap, and then rushed in, guns blazing.
Apparently the idiots hadn’t staggered their firing, and they’d all run out at virtually the same time. By the time they’d finished reloading, there were only four left.
Time seemed to slow. I saw Flash whip around and bring his pistols up on his targets, while Firestar and I aimed at ours. We all fired at the same time.
Four bodies hit the floor. None of them were ours.
We now stood in the control room of the Listening Post. Just us. We’d officially, just the seven of us, taken down over two hundred Crimson Justice personnel.
A major victory. While I was congratulating my team, I overheard Firestar saying something to Flash Sentry
“You’re good. Ever thought about the Guard? I’d bet you’d Royal in no time!”
Wolfhound had been in business for two-and-a-half years, now. We'd worked with Shining Armor's squad, a few Tier 3 Operatives, and even a few other exceptional squadrons amongst Equestria's various military divisions.
Over time, we'd both gained and lost new people. We'd also sustained some injuries, but they'd been healed. How serious?
Let's just say that, if unicorn/alicorn doctors didn't have both the magical prowess and knowledge to basically clone a new arm or leg, a few of us would have less than the normal amount of limbs.
As I'm thinking about that, I look down and flex my right hand. I'd gained a special dislike for hostile shotgunners. Especially when they aim for the hands.
You can't actually tell the difference. The doctor's scan the disembodied limb's genetic code and genetic memory, and within an hour you have a good-as-new body part. Muscle memory is retained, as well. Don't ask me how, though. I'm no doctor.
Anyways, we'd gotten a total of 15 new recruits. Unfortunately, only seven of which were still alive.
Wolfhound's original members (Me, Allen, Jackson, Leon, Jackie, Amber, Sarah, and Crystal Ranger) called themselves the Original Wolves. We were the first of the group. One thing that commonly separated us from the rest of Wolfhound was our skill. Somehow, all of the Original Wolves all had extraordinary skill. Not all of the new recruits did, but we didn't refuse willing recruits just because they didn't have Operative-level skill in combat.
Unfortunately, skill was a big factor in staying alive. So was luck. We had a lot, but most everyone else didn't.
Of the seven members still alive, I actually only knew two of them; I'm not actually an outgoing guy. Despite my personality, I am actually an introvert. I'm not that shy if a stallion, but I'm not much of a people pony, either. More than a few people, and I'm not a really social person. I prefer a small group, or no one at all.
Anyways, I knew Tom and Soft Trickle.
Tom was another ex-Crimson Justice member, but from higher up. He'd actually known what he was doing, and had been like everyone else; he didn't care. But one day he'd had a revelation, and decided to join us. He'd gone alone, not trusting anyone but himself. Tom had actually walked up to the base out of the blue, one day, and requested a spot.
Soft Trickle had actually been my responsibility. She'd been one of those vigilantes in the big cities that goes right after the big gangs. The real dangerous ones. Ones who'd commit unspeakably brutal acts without hesitation, and walk away without batting an eye. Not thinking twice. We'd pretty much followed Soft's tracks into the gang headquarters until we found her cell. She'd been overwhelmed halfway through, only a few hours ago.
None of us waned to ponder why a dominantly-male criminal gang had kept a female invader alive.
We freed her, and she helped us collapse the gang's entire leadership. I'd noticed her exceptional skill, and her will to do whatever she could to make the world better, and invited her in.
We were surprisingly a lot alike. Introverts, intellectuals, good memories, naturally fit, etc.. She was a more soft-spoken person than I was, but she was also a bit kinder. I'd found myself taking a liking to her.
A large liking. I was honestly considering asking her out. I'd only known her for half a year, but she was one of those types of people that, whence you got to know her personally, she was actually a pretty open book.
Tom, however, was almost our exact opposite. He wasn't a very smart guy, nor did he want to be. What he did have going for him, though, was brute force, skill, and highly-tuned senses.
Sharp hearing, Eagle Eye eyesight, unbelievable hand-eye coordination, he had it all.
Unfortunately, he was dim as a brick and dumb as a rock. The true stereotype of brawns, not brains.
I'm not 100% sure he even went to school past first grade.
Okay, okay, I'm exaggerating. Sue me. I don't really like the guy. Antagonistic, braggart, self-centered, and all around your stereotypical jerk.
The only reason Allen even tolerates the guy is because he's extremely skilled, physically. He beat Jackie in a sparring match in seconds, could hear Leon sneaking up behind him from six feet away, beat Allen in a virtual-magical sniper duel using an assault rifle with an ACOG scope, and he won a race against both Leon and Amber.
Still, despite his personality, we tolerated him. But that doesn't mean we like the guy. Not by a long shot.
Yeah, he's all business on an op, but off? He's all no business.
Oh, the irony. It's all in my head, and I still have to stop myself from getting too carried away.
Doesn't help my urge to sock the a**hole in the jaw. I'm just glad... well, I'll save that for later.
One night, Jackson came with surprising news.
He brought up Soft Trickle, and I found myself rambling about her. I had a huge crush on her.
"Firestar!" He said loudly, almost yelling.
That finally got me to shut up and give him my attention.
"Firestar, I'm trying to say, she's not human! She's a changeling."
That stopped me in my tracks. "What...seriously?"
"Changeling emotions are both harder to sense and discern, and have a different... 'feel' to them. Trust me, I checked."
I looked away, thinking. "Do you... do you think she knows?" I didn't need to clarify.
He smirked. "I guarantee you she knows exactly how you feel about her, lovebird."
"...So... should I ask her?"
"You don't care that she's...? Huh. Anyways, if you want, then definitely. At the least, she'll probably try this once. She'll know it's genuine. Hard for a changeling to resist at least a trial run, with that."
"So, it's pretty much guaranteed she'll say yes?"
"Just about."
I smiled. He and I both knew I'd never be able to ask, otherwise. Heck, the only other time I hadn't been single was back in eighth grade. And that was after I'd had a major crush on the filly since fifth, and knew she liked me back in sixth. Even when I knew she'd say yes, it took me two whole years.
I knew Jackson could feel my gratitude, but I wanted to show it. I came up to him and gave him a heartfelt, grateful hug.
What can I say? Whence you get you know me, I'm a real friendly guy.
"Thank you, Jackson." I said sincerely.
"No problem, man. No problem." He pushed me off of him, but still held me by the shoulders. He looked me in the eyes for a second, and as he pushed out the door of our barracks, he said "Now go get yourself the mare of your dreams!"
After a minute or so of looking around, I found her sitting at the side of her bed in her own barracks. I came up to her. Unfortunately, even though I knew she'd almost definitely say yes, I was still extremely nervous.
"Um..." I said. Great start, idiot. "So... I know we haven't known each other long, but... I was wondering if... If you would like to... to-"
I was interrupted as she suddenly smiled, got up, wrapped her arms around me, and pressed her lips against mine.
I melted into her. I subconsciously registered returning the embrace, but I didn't care. I was too absorbed into the kiss.
After at least ten full seconds of lip-locking, she pulled back. "Definitely."
I smiled stupidly, still not completely back from the kiss. "Awesome..." I trailed off.
She giggled, and shut my mouth, which had been hanging open.
I shook my head to clear the cobwebs, and grinned again. "Great! Um..." I desperately searched my mind for a good spot. "I heard there was a special at the Apple Palace, back in town. You... wanna grab a bite to eat?"
"If you'll say it's a date."
"It's a date."
"Then that sounds perfect."
We headed to town, holding hands. We passed by Jackson, and he just smiled at us.
We reached the Apple Palace. Sure enough, there was a special on dinners and desserts. I ordered, she ordered, and I paid.
We spent the next hour or so talking about just about anything that came to mind. Our similarities, our differences, our families, our friends, funny moments we'd had, and a bunch of other things.
At one point, I cracked her up with a story of an old friend's cluelessness. A filly had had a crush on him for a couple months, and it'd been obvious to everyone but him. Unfortunately, the guy was also dim as a brick in a shadow.
He'd said that she'd invited him over to her house for supper, and that her parents had actually given him permission to stay the night. Now, keep In mind that this is twelfth grade. Adult things happened.
By now, tears of mirth were streaming down Soft's face, as she'd been laughing her lungs out even before I'd gotten to him being confused.
"He had no clue what I meant! The dumb brick-for-brains had no idea!"
Soft almost fell to the floor. We were a lot alike, in that respect. We sometimes found jokes to be funnier than they actually were.
"The best part is that he didn't understand what I meant even after that night!"
"Seriously?"
"Seriously! He got laid, and when I asked him how the special gift at the sleepover was, he just looked at me and said 'Huh?'"
In between gasps for breath, Soft got out "So he did get laid?"
"Yeah. In fact, I think they're still together. And he's still dumb as a rock! Oh, you gotta love him, though. He's a special kind of idiot. You just can't fake that level of stupidity!"
"I don't doubt it! If I was him, I'd have gotten the hint even before I'd told you about it."
Things went on like that for a few more minutes as we traded stories, and tried to keep each other from falling onto the floor.
As we were in the tunnels walking back, I decided to tell her my opinion.
"So," I said, "you know what Jackson is, right?"
"Jackson? Wait, what he is? What do you mean?"
I sighed, wishing the mood could stay romantic, rather than tense and serious. "Soft, I know you're a changeling."
She froze.
"And I don't care. Jackson himself told me what he was over a year ago. A few hours ago he told me that you're one, too. I don't hold it against you, because there's nothing wrong with it. I know you probably don't return my affections, but I'm glad you at least gave me a glimpse of happiness. So, even if this it to be the end, thank you, Soft Trickle."
She stood there for a couple seconds, absorbing what I'd said. Slowly, a tear formed in her eye as she smiled. "You... You really mean it? You do." She whispered, her voice clearly showing disbelief.
"I judge people by their own merits, not by what they look like, or come from." She leaned in, and we shared another kiss. This one was out of gratitude and happiness.
Before it could get passionate, I pulled away slowly. I smiled at her.
She smiled back. "So, if Jackson's gone over the differences, did he tell you anything about... you know... interspecies relationships?"
"Well, he said it was especially hard for changelings to truly fall in love."
She laughed. "And?"
I blushed. "Um-Well, he... he said that changelings aren't easily... impregnated."
A laugh. "True. Usually, both sides usually have to want it. Even then, it's rare for it to happen after less than two or three tries."
"So... what-what was the point of this?"
She smiled sultrily, and trailed a hand down my shoulder to my elbow. "Well, I'm not in heat, anyways.... We could play a special game in bed, if you want."
My cheeks were burning. "Uh-Um, yeah. I mean, if you want to..."
She giggled. Celestia, that's cute.
"Firestar, I wouldn't offer if I didn't want to in the first place." She wrapped her arms around my neck, and suddenly, her changeling form was standing in front of me. "So, what do you say? "
"Um... I-Sure. Seriously?" I was extremely embarrassed, and both my blushing and my stammering showed it clearly.
"What do you think?" She kissed me passionately. I found myself on the floor of the tunnel for a good full minute.
We walked back. Soft had gone back to her human form. we grabbed our respective beds. For some reason, the beds in the barracks weren't actually attached to the walls, nor to each other. It was relatively easy to move our beds somewhere both soundproof and private. We made sure, they were close enough together to not have a gap between them, then we tied them together tightly, underneath the mattresses.
She reverted back to her true form, and walked up to me sultrily. We kissed for a while, not stopping even as we fell into the beds. Our hormones had gone wild. The kissing lasted several minutes. Then, we got undressed.
I've been told I was a looker, but I didn't believe it. With Soft, though, there was no denying that she was.
Soft then cast a spell on me. When I asked her what it was, she replied "Reproductive System Rewire Spell. Now, your reproductive system is making your 'special liquid' exponentially faster, temporarily. The effect only lasts a few minutes, but the supply stays. Let's just say that we can do more than one round, now." She smiled seductively.
She told me to get on the bed, and I did. Her naked form climbed onto me, and she lowered herself.
I can honestly say that it was a truly awesome experience. I don't think we even fell asleep for another two hours, at the least. I'll just say that, because of my not caring that she wasn't even human, she must have made it extremely enjoyable. And all the more special.
I woke up the next morning with her in my arms, and vice versa. It was nice. When she woke up, we kissed some more. But eventually, we had to get up and meet the day.
That's not to say we didn't mess with each other. At one point, I grabbed her pants before she could put them on.
She had to chase me around the room before I tossed them back to her. It was amusing to see her halt the second her face was full of denim.
About a week later, Allen came with surprising - but not entirely unwelcome - news.
"Today," Allen stated, "we are going to determine ranks. Those that are Brigadier Sergeant and higher can lead Wolf teams. Those below, must train harder. By this time next year, I want everyone to be at least Sergeant."
Upon receiving strange looks at the rank, he explained. "Low expectations? Not really. There's a very large jump between Corporal and Sergeant."
I raised my hand. "How will the ranks be determined?"
"Those not participating in the operation will grade the operative in question on their various abilities. Leadership, combat skill, performance, et cetera. Both basic things - such as accuracy and instinctual reaction time - and advanced abilities - such as performance-under-pressure and diplomatic/political skill - will be scored. Those participating will then write their own reports and thoughts on the operative in question."
Jackie spoke up. "Will our performance be rated when another operative is being tested?"
"To a minor extent." Allen replied. "Your ability and willingness to follow orders will be noted, but the specifics of the situations will quite possibly change what the same performance means. Under fire, and ordered to move? Hesitation will not be a heavy mark. Failing to provide support when given the direct order to do so, will be. Protests can be directed towards me, and I shall consider every one."
"What about testing yourself?" Leon asked.
"That's why we're all participating in both the testing and the grading. I will be graded as well."
"How are we going to test?" Sarah piped up.
"Good question. I've already coordinated with Celestia. She and two of her most trusted advisers will set up various situations. No member of Wolfhound will know what to expect. Each Wolf's run will be different. We'll see a few squads of various skill in the Equestrian Military run through some scenarios. Jackie, Jackson, and I will talk about each aspect of whatever grade each operative received."
"Is this going to decide teams?" I asked.
"Partially. It will determine who is able to be a team leader. Up until now, we've basically either given the position to a highly-trained Wolf or one who has either natural leadership ability or actual officer training. I want that to change. While the personnel might be the same, the reasons behind their taking command will be different. Nothing permanent will be decided by this testing."
Allen turned to walk out, then stopped. Almost as an afterthought, he added "This will not make things any less informal in Wolfhound. The ranks will only determine who can lead fireteams. Nothing more. Also, none of you will see any of the reviews on yourselves, so don't hold back on criticism for fear of offending. They'll never see it.”
“So, class trip to Canterlot! Explore a castle, duck past knights, and run a top-secret simulation that less than a dozen other people know about.” I summed up, jokingly adding twists to the plan. “What’re we doing after lunch, Teach?” I smiled at Allen.
He smiled back. “I think we’ll all play ‘Teacher’s Pet Torture.”
I mock-pouted. Lips curled and jutting out, hands up like a dog, and all. For added effect I even whimpered.
Allen laughed. I joined in, unable to maintain composure.
After we calmed down a little, I took a casual glance around the train car.
The teams were scattered all over, socializing. I caught Soft’s gaze, and we smiled at each other.
We’d talked, and she actually did have feelings for me. And, in her words, “One thing about romantic Changeling-Human emotions is that the only abnormal part is just starting out in the first place. Otherwise, it grows as if both of them were human.”
Not an unpleasant surprise. We’d gone on a couple more dates since our first, but nothing like its ending had happened. We’d agreed to save that activity for special circumstances. Though I doubt she'd complain if that changed.
I chuckled as I thought that, though it wasn’t a very serious thought. Although, to be honest, I wouldn’t mind that much, either. Although, honestly, my favorite part wasn’t the sex. It was just the fact that I could hold someone that cared about me. Someone that I cared about. Someone I could hold, and be held by.
We arrived, and at the castle’s entrance a squadron of Royal Guards escorted us to Celestia’s throne room. I noticed some of them greet our resident ex-military members with familiarity, and vice versa.
That'll ease hesitation when Celestia dismisses them. Sure enough, the guards that knew Allen and co. didn’t even hesitate at all. If anything, they helped speed up the ones that did.
Once all the doors were closed, Celestia cast a sound-proofing spell on the entire room. Then she opened up a magic view to someplace.
“This is the first area of the simulation.” Celestia stated. “I have five Royal Guards in there. They received a semi-low score in the recent drills last week.”
A panel alongside the main view of the simulation showed it from the eyes of each of the five operatives. They were each given the designation Fox, followed by a number. One through five. It indicated their position of authority.
We watched as the group cautiously walked to the fountain in the middle of the simulated roundabout. Suddenly, doors from multiple buildings slammed open, and armed people dressed in pure black uniforms came out.
The Foxes all spun around when they heard the doors, but it was too late. The black-clad soldiers surrounded them.
Fox 1 stepped forward hesitantly. “ERG. Lower your weapons.”
In response, all guns trained on him, he froze.
Fox 2 slowly backed up, towards the fountain. She whispered into her radio microphone “Fountain. Move.”
She and Foxes 3-5 backed slowly.
Fox 1 was still trying to defuse the situation. “We don’t want any trouble. Just walk away, and-”
“On your knees.” Ordered one of the hostiles. After a second of Fox 1 hesitating, he repeated “On. Your. Knees! NOW!”
Fox 1 took a step backwards, and one of the hostiles took out a baton of some kind. He hit a button, and the tip lit up with electricity.
A blunt-and-shock! The blunt-and-shock baton was infamous for cruel beat-downs, agonizing electrical tazering, or both.
The hostile walked over to Fox 1 and reared back to strike.
Fox 2 shouted “Go!” and shot the hostile. It crumpled to the ground, and the whole area turned into a warzone.
Fox was uncoordinated, and only had basic skills. Within a minute, they were all on the ground, taking only a total of ten out the thirty-or-so hostiles with them.
Suddenly, the area was different. It was a castle gate, and its surroundings.
Celestia spoke, and her voice came from both her mouth and the simulation. “Squadron Fox, you are to prevent entrance into the castle, except for authorized personnel.”
The simulations went on. We watched five groups of people, with varying skill levels, take on each of at least twenty different sims.
I never saw one twice. Whoever those advisers are, they're good. One person can only think of so much.
When it was our turns, we selected who we wanted on our teams. Each one of us had a chance at command. Each one of us had varying degrees of success.
We stayed comfortable in Canterlot for a week. The first three days, all of us were testing and scoring. The next was Allen, Celestia, and her advisors combing everyone’s scores and reports. They also compared it all and set the final ranks.
At the end of the week, Celestia summoned us all to her throne room.
“Now,” she began. “Be aware that, according to Allen’s request, any who lack beyond a moderate grasp in leadership will not be beyond Sergeant, regardless of skill in any other subjects. Those subjects as well, if lacking, can also set you within that range. Now, the ranks for the ‘Original Wolves’ are:”
She held up a paper, cleared, her throat, and spoke loudly and clearly.
“Starting with the highest, we have Officers Allen and Jackie. Sergeant Major Sarah. Firestar, Brigadier Sergeant.”
Phew! I was relieved I wasn’t a simple Private. Logically, I knew I was better than that. Didn’t help my anxiety, though.
Myself included, I could see everyone relax upon hearing their rank.
“Jackson and Crystal Ranger,” Celestia continued, “Sergeant. And, last, but most definitely not least, Corporals Leon and Amber.”
Barely knowing anyone else, I only paid attention to the ranks of Sergeant Soft Trickle and Private Tom.
I softly chuckled at Tom’s face in reaction to his rank. In his simulations, he’d almost always lost at least half his team.
Celestia looked up from the paper. “We have made a list of who the best team leaders would be. Allen shall name the first three teams himself, and then I will name the rest. Some of you have requested to not be chosen as team leaders, and so you will not be.”
Allen cleared his throat and began. “I, myself, will lead Team 1. Team 2 will be led by Brigadier Sergeant Firestar.”
Wait, what!?! Seriously? My face must have shown my shock, as Allen gave me a quick, small grin, containing both reassurance and repressed laughter.
“The third team,” He continued, “will be led by Sergeant Major Sarah.”
I gave her a quiet high-five, then turned back to Allen and listened as he said something.
“Each team leader,” He started, “will be allowed to choose a Second. Should they accept, the Second will be as implied; always in that team, and always second-in-command.”
As much as I wanted to, I realized that Soft would not be the best Second I could have. Technically, I could choose anyone that wasn’t a leader, as long as they accepted. Logically, though, I needed someone who’d fought by my side for a long time. Someone who already instinctively knew how I operated.
That pretty much only allowed me to choose within the Original Wolves. We all knew each other like the back of our hands.
Soft, standing next to me, just looked me in the eyes. The look in her own eyes told me that we both knew. She couldn’t be my second, if we wanted to operate at maximum effectiveness. Maybe eventually, but not yet.
Jackie was a good idea, but not if Allen picked her. They were closer. If he asked her, it’d be better to be his Second than mine.
I can only guess she requested that she not be a team leader, as she did much better than I did, in almost every way. And, when she didn’t, she was still pretty close to my score. There’s a reason that I was a Brigadier Sergeant and she was a Sergeant Major.
Jackson, my next choice, ended up leading Team 5, so he was out.
Amber was next, but I needed someone who stops and thinks more often than occasionally. Her emotions usually took control. As a regular team member, she was okay. But, if she led an entire team off on some kind of vigilante’s quest, that could cause a whole host of problems.
This… is going to be pretty hard.
Crystal Ranger was almost guaranteed to be picked to be Sarah’s Second. To be honest, I’m even still surprised he wasn’t made a leader, himself. Of course, he might’ve requested, as well.
Maybe Leon? No. He'd never want to lead. Being a Second means that you have to, especially if your First kicks the bucket.
All the good ones already had a high chance of being picked by someone else. I decided to wait.
The next day we returned to base. It turned out that Allen had picked some girl named Morna as his Second. Apparently, she’d served with him even longer than Jackie had.
So, in light of that piece of news, I asked Jackie.
With the matter of obtaining a Second over, I thought it was time to relax.
A few days after, we got word from Celestia. Some of her Operatives had gotten Intel that a large base near Equestria’s borders had received at least a dozen squadrons of high-level operatives, along with enough supplies to outfit an army. It was a golden opportunity, if we pulled it off. And it was one we couldn’t pass up.
My team for this op ended up consisting of myself, Jackie, Leon, and Amber. We fitted up for the operation.
Everyone had Assault Rifles. Leon and I also had SMG’s, whilst Jackie lugged around a Sniper Rifle. Amber had a Shotgun. She’d painted it the standard camo of Police weapons. Kind of ironic, considering she used to be a vigilante.
We drove to an area about five miles away from the base, in order to rendezvous with a bunch of Elite Guard squadrons that Celestia had sent. It’d take longer than going by train, but we’d be able to hit harder, and move in faster. Technically, we’d be the reinforcements, not the main attack force.
Coincidentally, we arrived at the same time as the main force did. Sweet, no waiting. Maybe the rest of the op will go just as smoothly.
Whence we confirmed all accounted for, we moved out. We’d ride up to the base’s front outpost and storm it, giving us a clear path to the main base. Then we’d do the same to the base itself. We’d take them by surprise, and they’d never know what hit them, until it was too late.
Boy, were we wrong.
I rode in the back of the second Troop Transport Truck (TTT, or Triple-Tee) of our ‘convoy.’ After a couple minutes, the vehicle stops.
“Get ready.” Allen says quietly over the radio. A few seconds pass, and then, in the same tone, “Go!”
Jackie kicks the back open, and the late afternoon sunlight filtered into the dark interior. Everyone in the Triple-Tee – Me, my team, and a group of Elite Guards – poured out. We turned around, and either crouched next to the truck or stood either behind those that did crouch or behind the truck.
All of our ‘convoy’ was doing the same. Passengers and drivers stuck themselves and their rifles out of their rolled-down windows.
A Crimson Justice guard, accompanied by at least eight others, saw us. His face achieved an expression of complete shock before our barrage of gunfire not only cut him and everyone around him down, but also caused the one-man stations on our side of the gates to collapse inward, as well.
What can we say? Almost a hundred people with automatic weapons tend to ruin even a wall’s day.
It took only a single minute to make sure the outpost was secure. It was. We now had a clear path straight to the base itself. And one that was easily accessible by vehicles, at that.
We got back in our trucks and rode to the base. I’d switched seats with an Elite Guard. Now, I was in the passenger seat.
The base’s gates were open. We stopped just inside and piled out. No contact. Not even a peep. What's going on, here?
After a few seconds of stationary visual scanning, one person muttered into the near-silence “What the fu**-?”
Suddenly, doors opened and windows swung. Gunshots filled the air.
By dumb luck, no Wolves and only half of the Elite Guards were hit. My team and I sprinted to one building that seemed unoccupied.
We took cover, along with a team of guards. One was bleeding from a shoulder wound, but a closer look showed it was only a close graze.
We traded fire with the enemy, but we had to move. Our walls were getting shredded under the sheer amount. They wouldn’t hold up any longer than a minute, at best.
We’d come here with about a hundred people. By random guess, I’d say we were outnumbered at least 2-1, already. Ever since the ambush began, more had been coming out of the woodworks from all over the place.
A truck blew up nearby. Shrapnel pelted the walls, accompanied by even more bullets. One unfortunate guard was hit by the shrapnel, and he fell. Another ran out and grabbed him by the shoulders, intending to drag him to relative safety. They were both immediately caught in a blaze of gunfire. A third was hit in the head from his spot of cover, collapsing immediately.
We had five remaining guards with us. Unlike Wolfhound, Elite Guard teams were strictly four members, each. Somehow, each Guard's insignia was spotless, shining out to the world, declaring 'I am an Elite Guard, and proud of it.' I doubt they're proud of losing almost an entire team in less than a minute, though.
Suddenly, a small object flew past me. It looked like…
“Grenade!” Jackie yelled. She tackled me. We went straight through a window, and fell a good eight feet to the underground floor below.
I was facing up, towards the window, and could see the flame and debris follow close behind us.
We landed hard, but miraculously, neither of us were injured, as long as you don’t count scratches and bruises.
Once I’d managed to get some breath back, I groaned. I slowly got up, and saw Jackie doing the same.
“You good?” I asked.
“Yeah.” She nodded.
I put a hoof to my ear. “Wolf 2-1 to 2-3, what’s your status?”
Leon replied “We’re ok, but we lost a couple more guards. That window led to a lower floor, but you’re cut off from us. And… Wolf 2-1! You have incoming! A hostile squad just went below-ground! That’s the only other entrance we can see!”
The underground tunnels under our own base were unique in the way that there was only the one entrance/exit, and the fact that it was disguised. In most other bases there was a labyrinth beneath the entire thing, with almost every other building having an entrance.
We were about to have some rather rude company.
“Fan out!” A very distant voice called. “Search the area!”
Crap! Well, I guess we'll just have to be rude, right back.
I motioned Jackie to a metal locker, and she took cover. I did the same on the other side of the room.
I heard a door open, and footsteps went into the room. Jackie and I just looked at each other, and we were in sync with our ambush.
We came out at the same time. Of the four hostiles in the room, none of them got a single shot off. Jackie and I quickly moved through the open doorway.
Apparently, multiple squads had come in, because we definitely fought through more than one.
We worked our way through the tunnels, picking directions at random. Eventaully, we came across an exit.
“Wolf 2-1, Wolf 2-2, what’s your location?” Allen’s voice came from over the radio.
“1-1,” I replied, “2-1. 2-2 and I are underneath the communication’s post. We are unharmed, and ready for more.”
“Copy. Team Seven is having some trouble with the com post’s occupants. The tunnel comes up outside, right in the middle of the enemy.
“Roger, we’ll assist.”
Jackie and I ascended the stairs. At the top was a double door. We could hear gunfire in abundance on the other side. We stacked up.
“Ready?” I asked.
Jackie nodded.
Together, we shoulder-bashed open the doors. And went straight into a firefight.
30 Minutes Earlier
Quick Author’s Note: I’m not racist, and, other than the accent itself, this is not how my mind portrays Irish/Scottish people. I’m just picking on this particular character.
POV: Corporal Jukebox, Wolf 7-4
Whence we confirmed all accounted for, we moved out. We’d ride up to the base’s front outpost and storm it, giving us a clear path to the main base. Then we’d do the same to the base itself. We’d take them by surprise, and they’d never know what hit them, until it was too late.
Boy, were we wrong.
I was up front, in the passenger seat of the fourth vehicle. Next to me, driving, was team leader Daron. In back, we had a team of Elite Guards, along with 7-2, Soft Trickle; 7-3, Jeren; 7-5, Benster; and 7-6, Tom. The only one I actually really knew was Daron, though.
He’s an aggressive guy with a lot of anger towards groups like Crimson Justice, but he’s not too prideful to call for help, when needed.
I was born and raised in an Irish/Scottish city, so my natural accent was the same. My name fits with how I talk.
“Yo, Dare.” I used my nickname for Daron. He didn’t like it, which made it all the more fun to use on him. “Ya really need ta tell ‘er.”
Daron had had a crush on 6-2, Antalsa, for a month, now. He’d yet to tell anyone but me and our mutual friend, Wolf 5-4, Macksten.
Daron snorted. “And you’re one to give advice? I know you’ve had more mares than brain cells, but have you ever been brave enough to be the starter?” He flashed me a grin.
The jokester. I may not be the smartest guy around, but I wasn’t exactly dumb, either. Still, how he turns almost all of my teasing against me always baffles me.
I grinned back. “Yeah, Yeah, foyn; ya got me. Still, ya do. Oy’ve been lucky, but not all mares seek out their own stallions. Some wait for the stallion ta ask them. Antalsa might already know, and she’s just waiten’ for you ta ask ‘er out. Believe me, some women can be very patient.”
“Well, maybe you ought to lend me some of your leprechaun charm, eh, Juke?”
I laughed. “Oh, you’ve got plenty of yer own, mate! Ya don’t need moyn.”
“Yeah, alright, sh**head. If you say so.” Daron said softly.
I put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and he smiled a little. As he drew his attention back to the road, though, it vanished. “We’re here, get set.”
I looked ahead. A small building sat behind a gate. On our side of the gate were a couple one-pony stations. This was built more like a fortified checkpoint than a base’s outpost.
I opened the glove compartment in front of me. Inside lay an Assault Rifle and a Shotgun. I set the shotgun down at my feet, and held the assault rifle below the dashboard, so it wouldn’t be seen.
A few people in Crimson Justice uniforms approached the gate from the far end. One of them went to the side and pressed something. The gate started opening.
“Get ready.” A familiar voice said over the radio.
Allen. Wolf 1-1. I cocked my assault rifle, then rolled down my window.
No sooner had I done that, then the gate finished opening, and Allen’s voice came again. “Go!”
I stood up, putting my upper half – gun included – outside. I saw the backs of the trucks in front of me open, and at least half a dozen people per truck poured out, a mix of Elite Guards and Wolfhound operatives.
I aimed at one of the Crimson Justice blokes that had stopped walking through the gate upon our appearance.
A barrage of bullets not only wrecked them, but also the stations.
“Yeah! Take that, you sons of bi***es!” Daron muttered as we got out.
I smirked. “Bit of an attitude, eh, fella?”
“I just hate their guts.” Daron said quietly.
After checking inside the remaining structures, we found no one. We got back into our trucks, and we drove to the actual base.
We got inside and disembarked. After I looked around, I realized we were the only ones there. Not a blooming peep of anything else. “What the fu**-?”
Suddenly, a door in front of me burst open, and I was sent sprawling onto my back.
Gunfire came from everywhere. Before the man who’d kicked the door open could make me kick the bucket over, though, Benster shot him.
Benster shouted over the gunfire. “Come on!” He offered a hand.
I used it to hoist myself up.
“We gotta get to cover! Over there!” He’d spotted the rest of the group.
“Royt behoynd ya!” I yelled back.
We bolted towards our team. When we got there, we found three other teams with them, all Elite Guards.
Daron stood up. “Come on, you ba**ards!” He screamed at the enemy. “Come on! You think you’re tough!?! Bring it!”
Well, they don't call him good for nothing. The guy's a fu**ing death machine, when he's got a rifle.
We shot baddies for a whole minute, or so. Things exploded all around, including couple trucks. I think Daron got the highest kill count.
“Team Seven, this is Wolf 1-1.” Allen said over the radio. “Wolves 2-1 and 2-2 are in the underground tunnels, and are about to have a whole lot of friends. Across the road from you is a building. On the far side of it, inside, is the entrance. Capture it, if you can.”
“We’re on our way.” Daron replied. He turned to us and yelled “Let’s go, people!”
We sprinted for the building. Somehow, we all made it. The Elite Guards, using the same radio frequency, had heard it all, and decided to help.
There was an enemy squad en route to the entrance that we came upon. They went down quick.
But, when we found the entrance, the tide turned.
There was one single door leading to the tunnels. Daron indicated it. “Jeren, Benster, breach it.”
I glanced across the room. There were a few horizontally large crates on the other end. They were wide enough for all of us to crouch behind. It was a good thing they were there.
Jeren and Benster reached the door, barely. Suddenly, the high explosive that had apparently been on the other side detonated remotely. Neither of them survived.
Benster’s body – what was left of it – slammed into me, knocking me down. I pushed it off of me, got up, and sprinted for the crates.
Seeing me coming, the people behind that crate made room just as I dived over it. I landed on the safe – comparatively - side on my stomach with a grunt. I pushed myself up to a crouch and planted myself against the crate. Taking a quick glance over, I saw how many we were up against.
Oh sh**. We were outnumbered more than two to one, and we didn't exactly have a lot of cover..
We exchanged fire, but it was a losing battle. Within a minute, our three teams of fellow guards had been reduced to only six individuals. We now had a total of ten people.
“Pull back!” Daron yelled. “Pull back! Now! Go!”
We ran for the doorway leading back the way we came. I heard glass breaking, and I smelled smoke. Heat was creeping up my back. A glance behind us confirmed it. “Molotovs! They’ve got molotovs!”
I got through the doorway and turned to see Daron and Soft Trickle covering those still inbound.
A Molotov cocktail exploded in the doorway. Daron had managed to avoid it, but Soft hadn’t completely dodged the flames. Her armor caught fire, and she screamed.
I ran to help her. Daron saw me rushing over, so he continued to suppress the enemy.
By the time I’d reached her, she’d extinguished the fire. But her armor was ruined. I had to help her peel off the now-useless-junk.
“Almost gotcha, eh, lady?”
“Almost. Thanks.”
“It was nothen’. Come on.”
We rejoined our meager group, which had started retreating again.
“Wolf 1-1,” Daron yelled, “this is Team Seven. Tunnel entrance is still under enemy control! Repeat, we could not capture the entrance! There were too many!”
“Roger Team Seven. New objective: The communications post is nearby. Shouldn’t have too many hostiles. Acquire it.”
By then, we were outside. “Copy. We see it. We’ll get it done. Okay people, you heard him! Let’s move!”
We got near it, but then we were forced to take cover against an onslaught of unfriendly fire.
“Wolf 1-1,” Daron radioed, “it’s us again. We can do it, but reinforcements would be a little handy!”
“Sorry, Seven, everyone’s tied up. Hold on over there!”
“As long as we can, 1-1!”
After two minutes, two of our guards had been taken down. We’d been a lot more cautious. Mostly potshots, but we were still taking damage. Then…
“Wolf 2-1, Wolf 2-2, what’s your location?” Allen’s voice came from over the radio.
“1-1,” a voice replied, “2-1. 2-2 and I are underneath the communications post. We are unharmed.”
No way.
“Copy. Team Seven is having some trouble with its occupants. That tunnel comes up outside, right in the middle of them.”
“Roger, we’ll assist.”
“You heard that, colts!” Daron yelled. “We’ve got some backup!”
After a few more seconds, a miracle happened. The double doorway leading down into the tunnels opened, and two people came out.
The enemy had had at least two dozen guys. With our fire, and the two newcomers moving among their cover, we won within half minute.
The male of the two came up to us. He raised an eyebrow upon seeing Soft.
“Molotov.” She stated.
“Ah.” The male turned to Daron, who had walked up to him. “Are you 7-1?”
Daron nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Please, no sirs. I’m Firestar, Wolf 2-1. That’s Jackie over there, she’s Wolf 2-2. What’s your status?”
Daron turned. “Soft, that’s on you. Tom, watch that doorway.” He pointed towards the entrance to a building we hadn’t gone into yet.
Tom opened it up, and went just inside.
Soft stepped up. “We have two KIA. I’ve lost my armor. The Elite Guards with us were originally three teams.”
I saw Firestar cringe. “Yikes. Anything else to report?”
“The communications post is clear. We can move to our next objecti-”
A bang sounded. Soft gasped, and froze.
I turned to see Tom, with his pistol out, and pointing it towards Soft. Behind him were four Crimson Justice soldiers.
We opened fire, but they retreated through the doorway. When I got there, they were nowhere to be seen. “Da** it.”
I walked back over to see Firestar sitting cross-legged, cradling Soft’s head in his lap. She wasn’t breathing, or blinking.
“No! No, no, no, NO!” Firestar’s voice was filled with agony. “Soft! Soft, no! Come on, wake up! Wake up! Soft! NO!”
We'd started out with 70 Elite Guards, and 50+ Wolves. We ended with 25 guards and about 20 Wolves. Minimal injuries, but fatalities were over 50%.
We had secured the base, but was the price too heavy?
I was numb. It had been two whole months, and I was still numb. I barely felt anything. I’d fallen hard for Soft, and now she was gone. Dead. Killed by that ba**ard Tom.
We’d found a document with a picture of him in the base. He wasn’t against them. He was their leader. He wasn’t dumb. He was smarter than any of us. He’d played us like we were fish, and we’d bought it hook, line, and sinker. And we didn’t even know there was a hook until the sinker was already there.
We’d been reduced from around 40 or so people to about half that. The Elite Guards had been taken down from 60 to 15.
When I find him, I am going to feed him his own entrails. Then I'll stuff his own appendix down his throat and cut it open! I'll watch him die slowly. And I will stand there and laugh!
I alternated between anger and sadness. Sometimes, I just wanted things to go back to what they were. Other times, I wanted tear the eyes out of every Crimson Justice member I could find.
I’d been temporarily relieved of duty, whence Jackson had told Allen how close Soft and I had truly been. Everyone knew we were in a relationship, but no one - save Jackson - knew how deep it really was. Apparently, Allen had had something similar happen to him, once, and had understood that I’d never be able to operate even close to full efficiency anytime soon.
I’m thankful for that. While I wish I could have the work, to distract me, I understood that it’d be better if I didn’t have it. In Wolfhound, a messed-up job can easily turn into a disaster, with the right conditions. As it is, Allen took the time out of his schedule to check up on me, and talk. We chatted and reminisced about a lot of things. Kind of funny, really. We had a lot in common. He**, he even grew up only a city away from where I did, albeit a few years earlier. Well, I say a few. He was nineteen when i was born.
I wondered where Tom was, now, and what he was doing…
POV: Tom, Third Person
LOCATION: Crimson Justice Command Post Delta, somewhere outside Equestria
Tom was sitting at his desk. Well, not his desk, really. The Post had a few empty desks, some of which were enclosed in offices, rather than cubicles.
After sitting for a few minutes thinking and doing paperwork, he scratched down a single sentence on a small pad of paper. More like a sticky note than a full-sized piece of paper. Then he pressed a button on the desk.
A woman in a Crimson Justice uniform came in. “Sir.” She snapped to attention, awaiting his request.
“At ease.” Tom handed her an envelope. The paper was inside it. “Take this to the Sierra One site. You’ll receive directions on your way out. Find the commander of the site. Only he may see it.”
“Yes sir!”
“It’s a long trip. Small things can get lost. I don’t fully trust anyone, especially a group, who hasn’t personally proven themselves to me. In case you lose it, remember its message. It's three simple words. When combined, they have a slightly larger meaning: Commence Romeo Bravo.”
“Understood.”
“No, you don’t understand, nor will you. Take a squadron with you. In fact…” Tom paused, thinking, “take Epsilon Two.”
The soldier-turned-courier’s face went a little light as she absorbed how important her message was. “Y-Yes sir!”
“You are dismissed.” Tom replied. As the messenger walked out, he smirked. Whence Romeo Bravo commences, we will be impossible to stop!
We’d been a group for four and a half years, now. I’d recovered – as much as anyone could – from Soft’s unexpected death.
I’d told Allen I’d recovered, and he’d put me in charge of Wolfhound’s new base. We called it Beta Base, as we already had our HQ, now also known as Alpha Base.
I’d been promoted, following our capture of Beta Base. Apparently, I’d gotten even better than when we’d done the ranking. Not like I cared.
Talking about Beta Base, there were a lot of repairs that had been done already. And more than twice as many that hadn’t even been started, yet. But Celestia’s top engineering and technical teams were a huge help. Plus, we had a lot of materials, both from the debris and from what we could buy or already had in the HQ’s warehouse.
Apparently, being Second-In-Command of the whole organization means I was in charge of Beta Base. I sketched a map of the whole base, but I’d have to update it quite a few times, in the future. The majority of buildings were pretty much unidentifiable piles of rubble and debris, now. Even most of the remaining buildings were damaged.
I'd counted nineteen spots that buildings had already been in, not including the watchtowers. Plus, if we needed to, there was plenty of space to build more. Plenty.
The watchtowers around the base are in a seven-by-ten number configuration, as is the base itself's size, length to width. Beta Base's length is longer than its width, and the larger sides got twenty watchtowers. That means the other sides had fourteen. Plus the side with the gate had an extra two, purely for defending the gate, itself. That made a whopping grand total of seventy watchtowers!
Talking about size, I didn't fully grasp how big the place really was. Kind of hard to do that when you're focusing on if there's a bad guy around the next corner, ready to blow your brains out. Beta Base was a good seventy square miles! It took us around fifteen-and-a-half hours to secure it. Crimson Justice built everything big, here. One of the smaller buildings, the Infirmary, was about a whole square mile, by itself.
I don't know how we didn't know it was here long before we discovered it. While still extremely small compared to all of Equestria, it's still a sizable chunk of land. Another thing I don't know is why Celestia actually gave it to us. In fact, we didn't even ask. She practically shoved it onto us. Not that we'd refuse. More space means more capacity for supplies and personnel, which means we can both store more things and recruit more people. And that usually only leads to more good things.
As time passed, Crimson Justice eventually decided to step up in their campaign against Equestria, what with us stepping up against them, in our own campaign. Before Tom had defected, it hadn't been that bad. They usually had - at best - a decent strategy, and their forces weren't very well trained. Honestly, one standard Guard fresh out of training could probably take down at least three alone.
That all changed. For a bit, we thought we'd almost exhausted their basic forces. Then, they didn't have any "basic" forces. Suddenly, every CJ grunt we came across was the equivalent - or better - of your average Royal-Guard-in-training. The grunts now had almost as much skill as the veterans.
We'd identified a few classes for the Crimson Justice military, and what they usually fought like, and what attachments they carried.
Grunt: Gets what amounts to a Guard's Boot Camp training, without the advanced courses that most Equestrian Guards take. Rarely do you see anything but iron sights from these guys.
Veteran: Might not have actually been in combat before, but they definitely fight like they have. Skill range goes from Elite Guard to Royal-Guard. Reflex sights and red dot sights optional. Some of the higher-skilled ones seem to be the team/squad leaders.
Officer: They're the main military leaders. They have the skill of a top-notch Royal Guard. These aren't the squad leaders. These are the guys that highly-skilled squad leaders become. They can sometimes have under-barrel attachments - shotguns or grenade launchers - or more advanced sights on their weapons, such as an ACOG sight or a hybrid sight (which is both an ACOG sight and either a reflex or red dot sight, put together).
Shotgunner: Name pretty much says it all. These reckless maniacs carry shotguns and pistols. Skill varies depending on the above categories. Some of the more skilled ones also have either semi-auto or fully automatic shotguns. Grunts always have pump-action ones. Doesn't mean they're not dangerous.
Marksman/Sniper: Just like the shotgunners, the name says it all. 4X-20X scopes, depending on the gun and skill level. Some of the Officers even have suppressors, but that's rare. Although their skill more than makes up for their rarity. The ones with suppressors also seem to have some pretty decent CQC training. All of them have a very keen awareness. If you're in their visual field for longer than a second, you're pretty likely to be seen. Their hearing is good, too.
Commander: These guys are Crimson Justice's best of the best. We've only tackled these juggernauts a few times, but each time was a huge challenge. They've got everything; skill, weaponry, attachments, armor, and supporting manpower. They're usually surrounded by top-notch Officers and Veterans, to make matters worse. We once lost an entire squad to a Commander by himself. I myself actually saw one lugging around a mini-gun. That guy was terrifying. These guys are the whole package: Bullet-sponges, damage-dealers, and highly intelligent, to boot.
After that info dump, just think; those are only the general categories. I could think up probably half a dozen more, if I wanted to be more specific. And terrifying. Using just those ranks, I'd say Tom would probably be worse than any Commander we've come across, by far. Seriously, if that ba**ard wasn't a traitor, he could've taken down two Commanders in full-out combat by himself. And walk away, whistling Jingle Bells.
Anyways, I was still trying to really process the fact that I was fully running something as big as this. Whenever the impact comes down, it'll come down hard. I was sure of that.
I'd allocated some resources to build a Training Hall out of the destroyed Barracks, as the Barracks that wasn't destroyed was way more than enough for us. Seriously, when one building houses - beds, showers, bathrooms, and all - over a thousand people, I think a group of less than a hundred can live there pretty comfortably.
Still, even with all of our preparations, gear, skills, numbers, and effective mindsets. Everything we had and were. We were about to dive head-on into things we would never have been able to be even remotely ready for.
Chapter 14: An Unusual Mission: Part 1: Sneaking In
Over time, we’d been both on the offense and forced onto the defensive, every once in a while. Various places: HQ, Beta Base, and random cities all over Equestria, for the defense. We’d also taken the fight to them. We’d raid a base at random, or make a hit-and-run attack on a CJ town. For the bases, we usually just cleared them out and left with whatever supplies we could carry. We didn’t have the manpower to occupy them, and Celestia didn’t want them. Besides, as long as the enemy kept coming back, we could keep hitting them where it stung.
Due to our recruiting, no one went on every mission, anymore. In fact, sometimes missions weren’t even fully commanded from the field. Minor operations were sometimes directed from HQ over the radio. Allen, myself, or both of us would be hunched over maps of the Area of Operation, or AO, and we’d be holding figurines of either red, green, blue, or white ponies. Red for enemy, green for ally fighters, blue for our own operatives, and white for civilians or non-combatants. We’d listen to radio reports from our troops in the field, and put down, move, or take off the action figures, accordingly.
I myself just envisioned it as it probably was, just with a bird’s-eye view. Like some kind of real-time strategy game, of sorts.
We did participate in some of them, though. Sometimes Allen would be directing, and I’d be on the ground, or vice versa. Sometimes we’d both be there, in which case either one of us directed from the field, or Jackie led from HQ.
But Crimson Justice wasn’t our only enemy. Sometimes criminal groups or slightly-rude foreign countries tried to pull something, and we’d have to make them… “reconsider.” The criminal groups were either shut down or heavily put in their place. Sometimes they rose back up, but we’d just roll in and teach them another lesson.
Criminals weren’t nearly as difficult as Crimson Justice soldiers, but they made up for it in numbers and local area knowledge. Unlike Crimson Justice soldiers, too, criminals never hesitated to use downright ruthless or dirty tactics. That is, if they even came up with them. Usually they aren’t nearly as smart, either.
Repairs of Beta Base were well underway, but still far from complete. But at least it was decently functional, now. We’d still need dozens of more people to spare, if we really wanted full efficiency and defense. Allen had allocated to me the authority to recruit additional members. I rarely did. Only half a dozen people – out of at least 20 – in Beta Base were recruited by me, personally. Usually it was either Allen, Jackie, Jackson, me, or a combination of us. It really depended on who had nothing to do at the time, or was willing to just walk away from whatever they were doing.
One day, though, we got an unusual assignment from Celestia herself. A sizable team of high-level special operatives in Crimson Justice had infiltrated Canterlot, and were going to assassinate Princess Cadance at her public speech on foreign affairs, next week.
Sooner, if they got suspicious. Celestia had tracked them down to a cluster of buildings half a mile outside Canterlot, but the number of operatives – and their location – made it impossible for her to just send in a large amount of Royal Guards to capture them. With the reported skill of the operatives, a few would be almost guaranteed to get away, and carry out their mission.
Another small problem? The cluster of buildings they were in was a suspected Crimson Justice hideout. Pretty much confirmed, if you ask me.
Allen, Leon, Jukebox, Jackie, and myself were going in to take them out, but we’d have to do it quietly.
Thing is, we didn’t actually have that much stealth equipment. Leon could easily pick locks or bypass security measures, but even with his stealth skills, he couldn’t pull the mission off alone. Not before they realized something was wrong. Once we’d started, we’d have to do this quickly and quietly.
Allen asked us for suggestions for what gear we’d need, and then he had a discussion with Celestia. When he came back, apparently she’d agreed to provide us with what we needed, but didn’t have.
When we got to the castle, a pair of Royal Guards gave us a couple crates small enough to carry. I say small enough, but that doesn’t include their weight.
Let’s just say I’m glad we could strap them to our backpacks.
When we unloaded the crates in the hotel room, we found quite a few things. In one, there was a surprisingly large amount of silencers, some short-swords for melee combat and silent take-downs at close range, and a few variable-magnification sights for our guns.
Inside the other, we found even more surprising gear. A sniper-rifle-grade silencer, a bunch of night vision goggles, and a scope of some kind.
I picked up the scope and read the letters on the side. “VMTNV. What’s that?”
Allen looked up from his NVG sharply. “No way…” He trailed off in amazement.
Jackie was looking interested, as well.
Allen grabbed the scope and read the letters himself. “This is top-of-the-line. Four months ago, it was still in prototype stage!”
“Well, what does it mean, lad?” Jukebox asked.
Jackie turned to him. “Variable magnification, with both thermal and night vision capability.”
Leon whistled. “That’s some good stuff.”
“You bet you’re a**!” Allen replied. He checked something on the scope, then whistled appreciatively. “I could even set up at the castle, if I really wanted.”
“Um,” I said hesitantly, “the castle is three miles away from the AO…”
He looked pointedly at me. “Exactly.”
My eyes widened. “Whoa.”
“But you’re not going to, right?” Jackie asked.
“No. I’ve got my spot picked. Everyone pack up and get ready. We move out in five.”
Whence we were out of sight behind a hill, we unpacked everything. We then reassembled our weapons and equipment, and put on our armored clothing – which was basically clothing with built-in bullet-proof vests -, over-armor, and helmets. When we were done with it all, we double-checked everything, and then we moved out.
Allen moved to the roof of an unoccupied building at our edge of the city, and set up a sniper post. The rest of us went and stopped behind another hill only a few yards away from the building cluster. Allen would call out targets until we got inside, and eliminate any that weren’t visible to any other guards.
He must’ve called out about a dozen guards. He took two down, as they were isolated. But we had to navigate past the others.
I almost gave us away before we even got inside the district. I was crawling behind a corner, but my foot was still visible. The guard I was sneaking around turned. He saw me, albeit barely.
“Huh?” The guard wasn’t sure what he’d seen. “…Hey, Jerry?”
“Yeah?” His partner replied from thirty feet away. In the opposite direction.
My guy paused. “Think I saw something. Gonna check it out.”
“Got it.” Suddenly, guard number two was alert.
I got up to a crouch and moved quickly, but quietly. There was a wooden box that was partially open at the top. Just big enough to crouch inside of. Luckily, it was empty. I clambered in silently, and moved the lid back to where it was.
The night was quiet. I could hear the guard’s footsteps coming around the corner. They stopped, and a couple seconds later, there was a click. A flashlight. The light bathed the alleyway-like area we were in.
The footsteps walked around for a half-minute. They came closer. I silently pulled out my silenced pistol. The footsteps went somewhere else. They came back. They left again.
Then, they came right up to the box. I held my breath, and pointed the pistol at the opening. As soon as he looked in, his head would acquire a new hole.
But it didn’t. He never looked in the crate, for some odd reason. “All clear! False alarm.” The guard shouted.
As he walked around the corner again, I exhaled a breath I’d forgotten I was holding. I waited until he’d gone a few steps away from the corner before I climbed out.
“Firestar,” Allen said, “the alleyway’s a dark zone for them, but all around it is deep red.”
Great, so all around me is immediate visual range.
“Star, Oy can ‘elp.” Jukebox replied.
“How?” I asked.
“That other guard. Jerry. Oy can take ‘im down. You get the other guy.”
I crept to the corner and peeked around it. My guy was back in his spot, facing the opposite direction.
“We’ll do it together. Move into position.” I whispered.
I snuck slowly up to my guy. From here, I could see his buddy. And, if I looked closely, I could also see Jukebox right behind him. I took out my knife. We locked eyes, and I nodded.
I stood up, clasped my hand over the guard’s mouth, and stabbed into the center of the back of his head. Instant death.
As I lowered the body, I glimpsed Jukebox lowering his.
Suddenly, a third guard came out of an office building directly behind Jukebox.
There was no sound, even as Jukebox whirled around too late. Red sprayed the wall, and the guard slumped to the ground. He hadn’t even gotten his mouth open.
“You’re welcome.” Allen said. “Jukebox, Firestar, group up.”
Juke and I moved together. “Which way?” I asked him.
“If you move now,” Allen replied instead, “Jukebox’s route looks mostly clear, for a while. Dark zone for the guards.”
I gave Jukebox point. We got most of the way there, then we had to hide from five guards that appeared from a nearby building.
“Allen, little help?” I whispered.
“I can get two before they know it, but any more is too risky. If we’re taking them down now, they all go.”
I scanned around. “There’s a vent over there. Grating looks rusted. Might be able to cut through.”
“That’s another option. Actually, looks like you’ll need to use it, anyways. Still, those guys can either go down now, and we might blow our stealth, or we can take them later, when they already know we’re here, but we’re prepared. Field Operative’s discretion, Firestar. Your pick.”
I thought for a moment. Then I decided. “We’ll take them out now. Get into position.”
“Okay. Pick your targets. I’ll get the two talkers to the right.”
“Set. On your shot.”
“Wait. One guy’s walking away. If he keeps going, we won’t need to take him down for a few seconds. What the fu**?” There was a couple seconds of silence.
“…What?” I said, worried.
“Possible friendly. Only saw him for a second. Guard’s dead. Wasn’t me.”
“Is anyone near our location?”
“No. There he is- she is again…. She’ll never get past all four guards. Take them down in three.”
We aimed at our targets as he counted down. He hit zero.
In half a second, four bodies slumped to the ground.
I stood up from behind a dumpster. “Friendly.” I called. “Come on out.”
“Huh?” A male voice came from around the corner.
THAT’S NOT A GIRL’S VOICE. FU**.
“Get down!” Allen exclaimed suddenly. “Guard was inside the building! Sh**, we’ll be made!”
A baddie ran from behind the corner to the bodies. Suddenly, as he stopped, something flashed from the same direction he’d come from. It was a person.
The dark blue-and-purple clad figure flew to the guard. It latched onto his neck with its legs. A strangled gasp came from the guard as he found his airway blocked. The figure’s hands touched the ground, and it contorted. It picked the guard up with the leg-grip on his neck, and pretty much carried him along for the ride in a back-flip. When the new arrival’s feet hit the ground, its torso twisted. The guard’s neck broke. Death was immediate.
“You Royal Guards really need to be careful around buildings.” The feminine figure remarked. She looked at us, and gave a start. “Who the he** are you?”
I motioned a nearby Jukebox to stand up, and stand down. Then I turned back to the mysterious female. “Call me Sarge, for now. Who are you?”
“Why do you need to know? It’s Shadow.” The Pegasus stated.
“Okay. Now, what are you doing here?”
“My business, not yours. Classified, anyways. I don’t recognize the gear. What’s your division?”
Well, if she won't answer us, we won't answer her. “Classified. Yours?”
“Please.” The woman chuckled. “I’m Tier Three. There’s not much that’s classified beyond my level.”
I turned to Jukebox, and opened my mouth, but then Allen spoke up.
“Celestia’s declassified Wolfhound to all Operatives, and, to Tiers Two and Three, we’re a must-know. She’s not Tier Three. Whether she's a threat or not, is another-duck!”
I started to turn and duck at the same time, but I was too late. All I earned was a spin-kick foot-swipe to my head.
As I fell, I heard a muffled grunt from Jukebox, so he must’ve been taken by surprise, as well.
As my vision reestablished focus, I glimpsed the woman untangling herself from Jukebox’s face. He was still moving, though.
I got up as she started to run off. “Stop! It’s loaded!” No use. I could either hit her leg, head, or the edge of her uniform. I chose the edge.
I fired and started running as her leg came up into the air. The extra momentum sent her sprawling. I put a foot on her hand to shake her out of getting back up, and backed off before she could use my position to knock me back down.
That, and my gun aiming at her head, convinced her to listen to the message. If she moved, the next bullet would do more than tear a hole in her suit.
Jukebox got up with a grunt. “Usually, when Oy get a lady’s hip in my face, it’s cuz Oy bought ‘er dinner!”
I ignored him, and instead spoke to the woman on the ground. “You wouldn’t have gotten far.” I told her. “We’ve got a sniper that just saw this whole thing.”
“Sure you do.” She didn’t believe me.
“Sniper One, please show this ‘fine woman’ we mean business.”
I could almost hear his smirk as he said “Your wish is my command.”
Two holes appeared, in one second, in the concrete less than 6 inches from her head. The chipping was audible at this close range. She gasped. “Okay! I get it! I run, I die. What do you want?”
“Information.” I replied. “Who are you, and what are you doing here?”
She sighed. “Couldn’t have just wanted a piece of my…. Okay, fine. My name is Speeding Shadow. Look, I’m unarmed. Can I get up? I won’t run.” After she saw me nod, she propelled herself to her feet.
After she didn’t continue talking, I asked “Now what are you doing here?”
“What I’m here for? Easy. Revenge.”
Chapter 14: An Unusual Mission: Part 2: New Friend?
“Revenge?” I asked. “These guys did something? Stuck you in that skin-tight? Hurt a friend? Bankrupted you?”
“Destroyed what I stand for.” Shadow replied hotly. “What I work for. And I’m proud of this ‘skin-tight!’”
“Oi!” Jukebox replied. “We’re the ones who’re armed! Show some respect!”
“Two!” I said, and looked him directly in the eyes. “Cool it! She could help us.”
“Help you? Why?” Shadow sounded skeptical.
“You want revenge? This whole district is full of these guys. We’re taking them down. Work with us. We’ll get our job done, and you’ll get your revenge, even easier than you would’ve.”
“How can I trust you not to shoot me in the back?”
“Easy. Jukebox, rifle to the ground.”
“What!?!”
“Rifle. On. The ground.”
I walked over to a body, grabbed a pistol off it, and went back. I set my own gun on the ground, and walked over to Shadow. I held the pistol by the barrel out to her.
She slowly took it. But she didn’t lower it. In fact, she pointed it right at my forehead. “What if I shoot you and your buddy? Right now?”
I stared around the barrel into her dark, lavender eyes, and replied “Then my gut would be wrong for the first time in my life.”
She stayed still for a good five seconds. Then, the pistol slowly lowered. “…It’s not wrong.” She took a breath. “Alright. Let’s go kill us some dumb motherfu**ers.”
Jukebox and I picked back up our rifles. “Oy really hope ya know what yer doin’.”
“You’ve never listened to your gut before?” I motioned her to open the vent. “She’s on our side, whether she knows it or not.”
“You don’t know that.”
I started walking backwards. “Again. Gut.” I turned around and went up to the vent. I heard Jukebox sigh softly behind me, then follow.
“Allen.” I said. “Looks like we found another friend.”
“Okay. Risky move there, Firestar.”
“I had a hunch. Seems it paid off.”
“Hopefully so. Alright... Leon’s at the rendezvous. Jackie should get there just before you do. Go.”
We climbed into the vent. Jukebox first, then Shadow, then me. We set off, crawling to the other end. Our rendezvous point.
Chapter 14: An Unusual Mission: Part 3: Regroup, Re-leave
Coincidentally, the vent was connected to a multi-structure ventilation system. And one of said structures was our rendezvous.
Jukebox peered through. “Clear. Jackie and Leon are already waiting for us.” He pushed the vent cover open, but caught it before it banged on the wall below.
I couldn’t see how he got out, but Shadow went for the flashy; a roll of some sort, landing on her feet on the floor, 7 feet below.
I pressed myself up against the top of the vent, switched my legs from behind me to out in front, dangling out of the vent. I was pretty much sitting now. I pushed off, and landed on my feet. Didn’t even hurt at all.
Jackie nodded to us in greeting, then reached for the radio toggle on her helmet. “Allen, we’re all here.”
As I pulled out a spare radio earpiece and tossed it to Speeding Shadow, I heard Allen say “Alright. Status?”
“All good.” Leon replied. “In fact, better than good. There’s an unguarded command terminal in here.”
No way. A command terminal was basically the one computer that had everything all its under-computers had, and then some. If we could get into it, we’d get names, locations, maps, documents, you name it. HVT’s would be not only revealed, but almost completely exposed, with this computer alone! If we pulled this mission off right, it’d stay that way for at least a week! We'd found a goldmine.
“But,” Leon continued, deflating my new-found, now-lost spirits, “it’s encrypted. And it’s password locked. My guess? Probably the worst we could get. Zulu-Barrier level firewall, on the login password alone.”
Crap. I only knew a few levels of locking, but any civilian who knows a thing about coding and encrypting knew of the Wilco-layer. Officially, the Wilco-Layer wall was only able to be cracked by experts, and it took at least four hours. That was the official record.
Because of the nature – and level – of our group’s classification, we’re allowed a much higher access to restricted files than even some Royal Guards. In reality, your average Army-level electronic technician could crack it in a few minutes.
“What’s the Zulu-Barrier?” Shadow asked.
“To put it simply,” Jackie responded, “it makes the Wilco look like a little kid’s version of bare minimum. The average Wilco codes the whole passage. The Zulu-Barrier codes only one letter at a time, using a Wilco-Layer encryption for each individual letter. No on-purpose patterns, either.”
“Oh my Stars.” Shadow trailed off, astounded just by imagining it.
“Allen,” Jackie said, “request permission to access the terminal, while the rest of the team clears the district.”
“Granted. Leon, you’re her multi-role support.”
So, I’ve got Shadow and Juke with me, again. Okay.
“Oh, tha’s jus’ great!” Jukebox exclaimed. “Oy’m stuck with her again!”
“Well, it’s not like I’m particularly fond of you, either.” Shadow replied.
“Juke.” I turned to him “Shadow.” I made sure they both were focused on me. “What is your problem?”
“Oy don’t trust ‘er.”
“Not trusting in a casual conversation is one thing. That’s fine. But this is another. We are on a high-risk mission! We have got to trust each other, whether we want to or not. Where I grew up, we respect people, unless we’re given a da** good reason not to!”
“She fu**ing attacked us!”
“She doesn’t know us, and we had her at gun point. I don’t blame her. I’m perfectly okay with you two not liking each other. But during an operation, we need to trust each other with not just our lives, but the lives of our entire team! Do you understand that?”
“I get it.” Shadow said calmly.
Jukebox huffed angrily, but nodded. He'd never been the best at keeping his emotions in check, even when he realized he was in the wrong.
Shadow hefted an SMG with the same color scheme as her rather tight-looking outfit. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know where she was keeping it. “Jukebox, kiss your fu**ing bride, and let’s go kill some sons of bit**es.”
He stared at her for a second, his mouth hanging open a bit. Then, he softly sighed, shook his head, and followed Shadow outside.
I glanced over, and saw Leon and Jackie both hunched over a computer screen, on the far end of the room. I moved to follow Juke and Shadow outside, taking one last glance at two of the people that had been with me, in one way or another, since this whole thing started. I walked out.
Chapter 14: An Unusual Mission: Part 4: Clearing Out
As we cautiously moved to a corner, Allen’s voice came out of the radio. “According to what I’ve seen, and recent Intel, a good three-quarters of their suspected numbers are in this sector. The rest, you all have taken care of, while getting to the RV point.”
“Oy thought we didn’t know their numbers.” Jukebox stated.
“That’s why he said suspected, no?” Shadow replied in a fake royalty accent.
I shot her a look, but it wasn’t as forceful as I might’ve been. She had a point, after all.
“Celestia radioed. That’s the recent Intel. A couple late-coming Operatives had taken the liberty of gathering information for us. Awful nice, if you ask me.”
“Got it.” I said. “Thank them for us.” I turned to my two companions. “Let’s move! Fan out, clear the area.”
Only a silent minute in, we found our first targets in a small warehouse. Three, gathered in a small circle around a heater. Well, it is a cold night.
They never knew we were even there. Silenced weapons don’t make a lot of noise. As we were heading off, though, Shadow said “Wait.” She walked to a corner of the wall, and stomped on the ground. There was a hollow noise. She bent down, and my vision was obscured from seeing what she was doing.
Up she came, this time with a backpack, of some kind. Surprise, surprise; color scheme was the same as her outfit. She unzipped it, and reached in. Rummaging around, she pulled out a few pouches that, from the looks of them, were obviously not empty, and stuck them to various places on her person.
“I’ve had a few ops in Canterlot.” She explained. “Before these guys took over, this was a safe-house.”
I had to ask. “Took over the safe-house, or your group?”
She looked me straight in the eyes. “Pick one.” She said, darkly.
Message received. I let her pull out a couple other things. Some kind of huge bolt quiver with five sections, and a strange-looking crossbow, of sorts. It had a few additions. I’d never seen the likes of them on anything before.
“What’s that?” Jukebox asked.
“A crossbow.” Shadow stated simply. She smirked at him. “Multi-shot, multi-type. MSMT.”
“Well, that’s special.”
“Nothing like it outside the group. Regular, sleep, explosive, sound-explosive, and multi-use camera.”
“Nice gear.” I replied. “You done? Let’s go.”
We headed out. The next place we came to was a two-story building. There was a staircase on the outside leading to the second floor. We went in the ground entrance first.
Our next group of baddies also didn’t know we were there. Glancing around the labyrinth of boxes and crates stacked and placed haphazardly throughout the building, I noticed that the second floor had windowless views surrounding this floor. And that the entire structure was just one big room. Perfect. “Shadow, you and I will go up there and cover Jukebox. Juke, hold here.”
He gave me a thumbs-up. Shadow and I went back out, and up the staircase. We went in, and I pointed at the closest viewpoint. Shadow set up her crossbow. “Which bolt, boss?”
“Let me look around, first.” A scan of the entire first floor commenced. I plotted out routes at least three moves in advance. “Regular bolts. Juke, move left to the end of that box.”
As he moved, I pointed at a guard that, if Juke went too far and turned the corner, would see him. “Shadow, get him.”
Two seconds later, the guard was on the floor. “Juke, move up!” I was about to point again, but…. “Juke, that guard next your spot is facing away from you. He’s right there. Take him quietly.”
I watched Jukebox stand up, move a little, and execute his attack. A quick chokehold, followed by a twist. He lowered the body to the floor.
After a couple renditions of that, including switching viewpoints multiple times, we found a group of four guys. Any one of them could alert the whole complex in only a couple seconds. There was a door at their end of the room that could be opened, and any loud noises inside would bring the whole district down on us. I looked around. All the paths in the maze of that weren’t dead ends led to a more literal ‘dead’ end. All four guards had automatics, and their ID tags, which I had to squint to see in any detail, showed that they were high-level Veterans. If they saw Jukebox, we’d have to be extremely quick, or he was done for.
Crap. Hmmm…. "Shadow, get an SE bolt.” I waited until she stopped moving. “Juke, hold. We’re switching positions, again.”
We got a much better angle from this new spot. We set up. “Shadow, hit the box next to the three-O’clock guard. Juke, get ready.”
The guard on my right literally jumped at the THUNK of the bolt implanting itself into the wood, less than two feet away from him. Shadow pressed a button on her crossbow, and chirping noise emitted from the bolt. All four guards were momentarily distracted. One even added himself to the potential casualty count by walking over, and investigating the bolt. As he reached out for it, our attack commenced.
“Take them down.” I ordered.
Shadow pressed another button, and the two guards next to the bolt resigned from life. The poor investigator found his corpse missing both arms, and half of its neck and face. The other guy merely lost his head, from peeking around the corner.
Jukebox and I somehow acted in unison. We stood up and each let loose a single shot. The other two guards slumped to the floor. The building was clear, and, because of the lack of open windows or doors, anyone outside was none the wiser.
The rest of the op passed by like a breeze. Moving in and out of corporate and other types of buildings, along with alleys, streets, etc., we cleared the rest of the district of all CJ forces.
I almost slapped myself when I thought If everything goes this smoothly, we'll win this secret war, easily.
Chapter 15: Working in the Shadows: Part 1: A Secret Mission Begins
Three days after the counter-assassination assignment, Leon and Jackie still hadn't cracked all of the command files. We'd decided not to occupy a Canterlot city district for an indefinite amount of time, so we'd just hauled the hard drives to Alpha Base.
They'd gotten a lot of the important stuff, though. Information on CJ officers of various levels of authority, for example. That, I passed down to Firestar. He, in turn, did one of two things: Go himself, or delegate the field work to Jackie, and commanded from the War Room of either here, HQ, or Beta Base.
I was in the middle of a requisitions form for construction materials when my radio desk spoke in Celestia's voice. "Commander?"
I scrambled over to it. As I did, my office door opened. I held my hand up in a 'stop' gesture without a glance. I pointed at the radio, and the door shut. The person stayed in my office.
"Princess?" I spoke.
"Allen. I have a request."
"Go ahead."
"My student, Twilight Sparkle, is soon-to-be on her way to Ponyville, to coordinate the Summer Sun Celebration, for this year. I won't say what, but something big will happen. I'm afraid that Twilight will be in danger, as well as her soon-to-be companions."
"And you want us to provide security?" I asked.
"Quietly and subtly." Celestia replied. "I'd suggest only two-to-four operatives. She has no knowledge of Wolfhound, and I fear for what she'd do, if she found out. She's quite a stickler for rules, and she knows most of Equestria's laws as well as any judge. She's also not very good at keeping secrets."
"And we don't want to be public, because then you'd have to shut us down." And lock us up, and possibly even throw away the metaphorical key.
"Correct."
"We'll do it. I'll organize a team. Middle count." Three people should do it, considering the numbers she's suggesting.
"I'll see you after the Celebration."
I flicked off the radio and turned. Firestar. "Back from Beta, huh? How is it over there?"
"Aside from lack of materials, all we need is time."
I smiled. "Good." He doesn't know it, but ever since our first Canterlot operation, he's been as good a leader as I could ask for. And he's only gotten better, since.
I got up from my seat. As we walked out, I said "Grab a buddy. We're going to Ponyville. I want to be en route within the hour." If we're going to have any decent chance of protecting someone, we need to know the lay of the land. Two days in advance should be enough to get at least most of the town mapped out, and memorized.
"We'll be ready." Firestar walked off.
As I headed to the armory, I thought about the mission, and what we should bring. Considering we'll be on the down-low, we'll want small weapons with silencers. SMGs and Pistols.
Just to be safe, I disassembled my silenced sniper rifle, and stuffed it into a backpack. I also grabbed a small SMG and a pistol. I made sure that they all had attachable silencers, then waited.
Not ten minutes later, Firestar and Leon popped in. We ended up with pretty much the same loadouts, except for my sniper and Leon's personal thievery gear.
We were lucky enough to find a spot to ourselves on a train to Ponyville. Celestia had somehow managed to forward a file on our VIP to the Appleloosa Police, and a Deputy had brought it to us. We spent the time familiarizing ourselves with the face, name, and general physical traits of Twilight Sparkle.
Chapter 15: Working in the Shadows: Part 2: NOT Creepy Stalkers
We arrived in Ponyville two days early, as planned. We'd familiarize ourselves with the town's layout. Shortcuts, dead ends, unexpected twists and turns. We had to know them all, just in case things got way out of hoof.
I stepped off the train. Firestar and Leon were right behind me. We'd meet up at the Sugarcube Corner Bakery every 2 hours, with a map of what we'd explored. We probably looked a little strange, walking around carrying a pencil and paper, jotting down things seemingly at random. Oh well. I'd seen stranger in Canterlot, and that place was supposed to have very few unnatural occurrences.
8 hours later, we'd gotten pretty much all of Ponyville explored. We rented three rooms in the local hotel. There, we sat down, compared notes, and studied up on what we had.
The next day, we had a meeting, of sorts. We had to figure out a way to ensure Twilight Sparkle's safety. Or, at least, if we couldn't do that, we'd keep tabs on her. But how?
Eventually, we settled on a classic spy movie trick: Bug the target. When Twilight arrived, one of us would plant a listening device somewhere on her person. Celestia herself had actually sent us the device. It was colored the same shade as Twilight's skin: Purple. No one would notice the difference, including her.
We saw her coming in, and figured out where she'd land. As we watched, she disembarked from the chariot, followed by her baby dragon. If I remembered the rumors correctly, - which, being rumors, you have to take with more than a couple grains of salt - his name was Spike. Twilight thanked the chariot flyers, and they kindly snorted back.
Spike and Twilight seemed to be deep in a conversation. They walked right up to a pink pony, who was also walking in their path, and the three of them all stopped. While the pink pony just looked at her strangely, Twilight and Spike seemed to finish their conversation. Twilight looked at the pony that had been staring at her, and greeted her. Then, to our surprise, - and amusement - the pink pony just leapt in the air, gasped with shock, and sped off faster than our eyes could interpret.
We followed Twilight from a distance as she headed for Sweet Apple Acres. I chuckled at the vigorous hoofshake that the farmer mare that greeted Twilight gave her.
We all had a good laugh as she tried - and failed - to comprehend and remember all the names that were spoken to her. The amount of food she ate there also had a beneficial side effect, for us; it made her temporarily less aware than normal. Upon re-entering Ponyville, Leon simply walked up to her, and planted the bug. She barely even registered he was there. Absolutely clueless.
We, again, followed from a distance. At one point, I was glad Firestar had the pre-knowledge of one particular local, or I'd have blown our cover immediately.
A certain male, baby dragon's voice came through our earpieces, which were connected to the bug. "There's supposed to be a pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash clearing the clouds."
The two stopped, and Twilight looked up. "Well, she's not doing a very good job, is she?"
"Uh-oh." Firestar said suddenly, looking off to a side. "Don't freak, everything's fine."
"What do you-sh*t!" I exclaimed. In my earpiece, I heard two grunts. Through my eyes, a rainbow-colored streak smashed into our VIP. I reached for my pistol, but Firestar restrained me. "It's Rainbow Dash, she's not a threat."
Sure enough. The cyan-skinned pegasus got up from the mud puddle they were both in. Upon seeing Twilight still sprawled out on the ground, she said, with barely contained humor, "Uh, excuse me. Hehe!"
Rainbow Dash floated up into the air. After chuckling some more, she said "Let me help you." She flew off. A couple seconds later, she reappeared. This time, with a rain-cloud. Dash jumped up and down multiple times on top of the cloud. Water came pouring down onto Twilight.
It cleaned Ms. Sparkle, but also left her sopping wet, hair drooping.
Glancing over the edge of the cloud, Rainbow Dash laughed some more. "Oops. I guess I overdid it!" She tapped her head, thinking. "Um..uh... how about this?" She sped around Twilight so fast, we could see a visible, full-circle rainbow form around her. "My very own, patented Rain-Blow Dry!"
Dash stuck a dramatic pose. As she flew down, she stated "No, no, don't thank me! You're quite welcome." However, at the sight of Twilight Sparkle's now-poofy hairdo, she cracked up. Even falling onto her back. From a distance, we had to restrain ourselves from doing the same. I vaguely, through my teared-up eyes, saw Spike follow Rainbow's example.
"Let me guess;" Twilight said, unamused, "You're Rainbow Dash."
Dash immediately snapped out of her laughing fit. Springing up, Spike was flung from her back. "THE one and only!" She flew up, and got into Twilight's face. "What, you heard of me?"
"I heard you're supposed to be keeping the sky clear!" Twilight sighed, and looked away.
At that, Rainbow Dash grabbed another nearby cloud, and laid down on it.
I snorted. Lazy, much?
After a second, our VIP turned full-body to face Rainbow. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and the princess sent me to check on the weather."
Rainbow lazily waved a hoof in the air. "Yeah, yeah, that'll be a snap! I'll do it in a jiffy. Just as soon as I'm done practicing."
"Practicing? For what?"
Rainbow stood up on her cloud. "The Wonderbolts!" She pointed at a nearby poster. "They're going to perform at the celebration, tomorrow." Doing a couple back-flips while flying in the air, Dash continued. "And I'm going to show them my stuff!"
"THE Wonderbolts?" Twilight said, not quite as enthusiastic about them as Rainbow was.
"Yep!" She was back to laying on the cloud.
"The most talented flyers in all of Equestria?" Twilight was goading Rainbow Dash.
"That's them!"
Twilight snorted through her lips. "Please. They'd never accept a pegasus who can't even keep the sky clear for one measly day!"
Dash stood up, unable to ignore the blow to her pride. "Hey, I could clear this sky in ten seconds flat!"
"Prove it." Twilight replied.
Instantly, Rainbow Dash took off, her cloud disintegrating beneath her in the process. Suddenly, she was a whirlwind of speed. I glimpsed her kicking clouds as if she was in martial arts, but that was all I could catch. I could hear her saying something about loops, but I couldn't catch what. Sure enough, the sky was clear of clouds in only ten seconds.
Hovering in front of Twilight and Spike, Rainbow boasted. "What'd I say? Ten. Seconds. Flat!" She landed on the bridge below her. "I'd never leave Ponyville hanging!"
Twilight, Spike, and the rest of us just stared at her, open-mouthed in shock. A goat bleated nearby.
"Ha ha! You should see the look on your face!" Rainbow Dash casually flew, upside down, around Twilight, pretending she was laying on a bed. Albeit, one that moved around, and floated in midair. "You're a laugh, Twilight Sparkle!" Getting close, Rainbow said "I can't wait to hang out some more!"
As Rainbow did a front-flip and sped off, Spike said in awe "Wow, she's amazing!" He bounced one of the puffed-up curls in Twilight's hair, then laughed.
Twilight just groaned in frustration, and trotted off.
"Wait! It's kind of pretty, once you get used to it!" Spike followed her.
So did we, at a distance. We found ourselves heading toward's a building. The sign on the front said 'Rarity's Boutique.'
"Leon, sneak inside. We need eyes-on, in there." Firestar ordered.
Wordlessly, Leon nodded. He sped up, but managed to look like he was still casually walking along. He circled around the back of the boutique, and I lost sight of him. He's probably going to climb through a vent, or something. Maybe pick the lock on the back door.
Twilight and Spike entered the boutique. A few seconds later, I heard the rustling of paper through my earpiece. "Decorations!" Spike's voice declared. Then, in an almost hypnotized voice, he muttered "Beautiful...."
"Yes," Twilight's voice replied, "the decor is coming along nicely. This ought to be quick! I'll be at the library in no time." A slight pause. "Beautiful indeed!"
"Not the decor. Her!"
Leon's voice. "Woah. I agree!"
Apparently, he's found some kind of overwatch position. I could hear the bug picking up a mare's voice saying... something, but I couldn't pick out exactly what.
"How are my spines?" Spike's frantic voice came through. "Are they straight?"
After a slight pause, Twilight's voice. "Good afternoon."
"Just a moment please!" An unknown mare's voice came through. "I'm in the zone, as it 'twere." A small pause. "Ah! Yes, sparkle always does the trick, does it not?" Before Twilight could say anything, the mare replied to herself. "Why, Rarity, you are a talent! Now, um, how can I help you-agh!"
An amused snort from Leon. "She's scared by Twilight's hairdo."
"Oh my stars!" Rarity's voice exclaimed. "Darling! Whatever happened to your coiffure?"
Kwa-what?
"Oh, you mean, my mane? Well, it's a long story. I'm just here to check on the decorations, and then I'll be out of your hair!"
"Out of my hair? What about your hair?"
"W-Wait! Where are we going? Help!"
Leon reported. "Rarity's dragging Twilight to a changing station. And... Spike is floating along... apparently his tail can helicopter... what the fu**?"
After at least ten more minutes of listening to Rarity's various "no!''s and other negative comments on whatever outfits she'd made Twilight try on, she finally settled on something.
"Talk about tight." Leon thought aloud. "It almost looks like Sparkle can barely breathe in that!"
"Now go on, my dear! You were telling me where you're from?"
Twilight's strangled voice came through, her pitch rising dramatically with each word. "I've... been... sent... from... Canterlot... to-Ah!"
There was a thump. Leon's barely contained laughter rang through my brain.
"Canterlot!?!" Rarity's ecstatic voice exclaimed. "Oh, I am so envious! The glamour, the sophistication! I've always dreamed of living there. I can't wait to hear all about it! We are going to be the best of friends, you and I!" And then... "Emeralds! What was I thinking? Let me get you some rubies!"
"Quick!" Twilight's frantic voice came. "Before she decides to dye my coat a new color!"
"They're heading out." Leon reported. "I'm regrouping."
Twilight burst out of the door of the boutique, and out into the air. We nodded politely to her, as she passed by, and waited for Leon. We'd done well, so far, and Ms. Sparkle was none the wiser about our true intentions. Or that we had any intentions at all, for that matter.
Once Leon arrived, we went after Twilight Sparkle, once again.
"Wasn't she wonderful?" Spike's love-struck voice filtered into our ears.
"Focus, Casanova. What's next on the list?"
Spike cleared his throat. "Um... oh, music! It's the last one."
Just as he finished, we all became aware of beautiful whistling, coming from nearby. I really hope this isn't like that old tale about the mythical Sirens.
Thankfully, it wasn't. It was just a yellow-skinned pegasus with pink hair, directing a choir of... birds? Yes, the whistlers were birds. They were perching on various branches of a tree, as the yellow-and-pink pegasus conducted them.
Wow. That must take some serious time and patience. Not to mention skill!
Evidently, however, she didn't have it all down. One bird was being rebellious. He's either unnaturally off pitch, or he's ahead.
The birds suddenly went quiet. The pegasus mare seemed to be talking to the one who was different. After a couple seconds, she flew back to where she was originally. She waved her hoof around, the way a conductor does at the beginning of a concert. As she was about to launch the birds into the song, however...
"Hello?" Twilight called out.
The pegasus mare yelped, and all the birds flew away.
"Oh my!" Twilight exclaimed, upon realizing her mistake. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to frighten your birds." As the pegasus slowly drifted to the ground, Twilight continued. "I'm just here to check up on the music, and it sounded beautiful!"
The mare landed, and merely pawed at the dirt road underneath their hooves.
Twilight smiled awkwardly, glancing around for something to break the silence. We made sure we were hidden. "I'm Twilight Sparkle." She introduced herself. After a second of being visually avoided, she stepped forward a half-step. "What's your name?"
"Um... I'mFluttershy..." The mare mumbled out. I barely heard the "I'm," and, if it wasn't for her mouth moving, you could've convinced me the mare had stopped right there.
"I'm sorry," Twilight said, stepping forward just a bit, "what was that?"
"Um... Myname isFluttershy." The mare replied, stepping back easily a full three steps.
The mare just whimpered, so high-pitch that she outdid some birds I'd heard, waking up in the mornings.
There was a tense, awkward pause, for a good five-to-eight seconds. The soft flutter of birds flapping their wings, and getting back onto the tree branches, was the only sound.
Finally... "Well, um..." Twilight started, "it looks like your birds are back, so I guess everything's in order. Keep up the good work!"
Another whimper, as the yellow mare's reply.
Twilight slowly backed up. "Oookay!" Returning to Spike, who emerged from around a bush, she said "Well, that was easy."
Motion. The shy mare had suddenly perked up, now not even hiding her face. "A baby dragon!" A soft, high-pitched voice exclaimed from the mare's mouth. She sped - nigh-on teleported, really - over to Spike, knocking Twilight away three clear feet. "I've never seen a baby dragon, before!" The mare stated enthusiastically, closely studying Spike. "He's so cute!"
Spike looked back at Twilight, who was comically sprawled on all fours on the ground. "Well, well, well!" He declared.
"Oh, my!" The mare said, surprised. "He talks! I didn't know dragons could talk. That's just so incredibly wonderful, I..." She leapt into the air, fluttering in place. "I just don't even know what to say!"
Suddenly, a purple glow surrounded Spike. He floated up, and over to Twilight, who'd gone to the other side of them. As she deposited Spike on her back, she said hurriedly. "Well, in that case, we'd better be going!"
"Oh wait! Wait!" The mare rushed over to them, and followed, walking behind Twilight. "What's his name?"
"I'm Spike!"
"Hi, Spike! I'm Fluttershy. Wow! A talking dragon! And, what do dragons talk about?"
"Uh... What do you wanna know?" Spike asked.
"Absolutely everything!" Fluttershy declared.
Twilight groaned in defeat, before she even began her argument.
"Well," Spike started, both him and Fluttershy completely oblivious to Twilight "I started out as a cute little purple and green egg...."
"And that's the story of my whole entire life!" Spike declared.
Sweet Celestia, finally! And I thought Jackson could talk forever!
"Well, up until today!" Spike added, after a second.
Oh, please no.
"Do you wanna hear about today?" Spike asked.
No.
"Oh, yes, please!" Fluttershy almost begged him.
NO!
Spike yelped as Twilight whipped around almost faster than my eye could track. "I am so sorry," She apologized, not really sounding sorry, "how did we get here so fast?"
We'd found ourselves in front of a giant tree. And... What the fu**? If I said treehouse, you'd get the wrong image. But that's pretty much what it was. The tree was hollowed out, with lights, windows, you name it, inside. It even had doors and a balcony, coupled with a lamp, hanging from a second-floor window. A pony-sized sign with a book painted on it showed that this was the town's library. Oh, that's right. Celestia had arranged for Twilight to stay there, for the night.
"This is where I'm staying, while in Ponyville," Twilight continued, "and my poor, baby dragon needs his sleep!"
"No, I don-!" Spike said, turning around. He was interrupted when Twilight subtly bucked him off, and onto the ground.
"Ahh, wook at dat!" Twilight exclaimed, using baby-speech. "He's so sweepy, he can't even keep his wittle bawance!" As Twilight smiled - totally convincingly, not - up at Fluttershy, Spike glared at her.
Twilight's plan backfired, however, when Fluttershy zipped over and picked up Spike. "Poor thing!" She said, hovering in the air, cradling Spike like a newborn, "We simply must get him to bed!" She flew through the door, which Twilight had magically opened.
Twilight rushed in, grabbed Spike, and pushed Fluttershy - rather rudely, I might add - back out the door. "Yes, yes!" She exclaimed hurriedly. "We'll get right on that! Well, good night!" She slammed the door.
I nodded to Leon, and he went into a nearby alley. Climbing up to the roof of a nearby building, he'd get a line of sight going inside the library.
From our earpieces, we heard Spike huff. "Rude, much?"
"Sorry, Spike. But I have to convince the Princess that Nightmare Moon is coming!" Nightmare Moon? Who the he** is she? "And we're running out of time! I just need to be alone, so that I can study, without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time! Now, where's the light?"
A party-whistle announced the jump-scare "Surprise!" At least two dozen voices yelled. I grabbed my ear, and groaned. By the stars, that's loud! My ear barely caught Twilight's moan, hurting as it was, from the yelling and party-whistling.
"Surprise!" I very high-pitched mare's voice repeated. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!" She continued, speaking at a rapid-fire pace. "And I threw this party just for you!"
I kid you not, I swear I heard a cartoon-like bouncing. "So," Pinkie Pie continued, "were you surprised? Were you? Were you? Huh, huh, huh?"
Did someone push the triple speed button on reality?
"Very surprised." Twilight replied. "Libraries are supposed to be quiet." There was a hinting tone in her voice, at the end.
Pinkie's laugh came through. "That's silly! What kind of welcome party would this be if it were quiet?"
One that doesn't deafen anyone who participates?
"I mean, duh! Boooring!"
A click on my radio. Leon didn't want disrupt our listening, but he was reporting that he was in position. That was fast. How good of a climber is he?
"You see," Pinkie continued, yet again, "I saw you when you first got here, remember? You were all 'hello,' and I was all-" She imitated her gasp. "Remember? You see, I never saw you before, and if I never saw you before, that means you're new, because I know everypony, and I mean everypony in Ponyville! "
Pinkie apparently didn't hear Twilight's groan of defeat, because she continued, oblivious. "And if you're new, then you hadn't met anyone yet. And if you hadn't met anyone yet, then you must not have any friends. And if you don't have any friends, then you must be lonely. And that made me so sad!"
Dear Celestia, does this woman even know what not talking is like? Is this the town of the endlessly-rambling talkers?
"And I had an idea!"
Oh, please! Just shut her up, someone!
"And that's why I went-" She imitated her gasp, again. "I should throw a great big, ginormous, super-duper, spectacular welcome party, and invite everyone in Ponyville! See?"
Is there such a thing as breathing, here?
"And now you have lots and lots of friends!"
A moment of blissful silence, then... "Are you alright, Sugarcube?"
A chuckle from Leon. "She thought the hot sauce was the fruit punch."
Firestar and I completely lost it. I barely heard Pinkie's remark, which sent us even further over the edge. "Ah, she's so happy, she's crying!"
After we recovered, Leon apparently saw something. "What the fu**? Okay, there is definitely more than a few screws loose on Pinkie Pie. Hot sauce on cupcakes?"
I blinked.
Firestar's face showed what I was feeling, and he put it into words. "...Um... yeah, what the he**?"
"Twilight left the room." Leon reported. "I think she's... yep, there she is. She's entering a bedroom. Far side. I've got a good view on the front and sides of the tree, though. Recommend Firestar find an overwatch position with eyes on the back."
"Agreed." I turned to Firestar. "Go."
He nodded, and walked off.
"Two, Three," I addressed them both over the radio, "I'm heading into the house. I'll mingle as a party-goer. I'm turning up the radio volume, so I can hear." By then, music was blaring from inside. Apparently, someone had either brought or found concert-level speakers. That's got to be at least eighty decibels.
I opened the door, and the noise level multiplied. Yep, this is loud. I've used a lawn mower, and this is comparable. I can barely hear myself think. I slipped inside, and mingled.
A few casual greetings, rounds of small-talk, and cups of fruit punch later, and I'd met probably half of Ponyville. Rainbow Dash was nice enough, but slightly self-centered. Pinkie Pie was... Pinkie Pie. There's not really much to say about it. Fluttershy couldn't say a word, to me. Well, at least she lives up to her name. I think I was most disturbed, when it came to Applejack.
"Well, howdy-do!" She said to me, as I walked up to a spot next to her on the snacks table.
"Hey." I greeted her back.
"Ya know, Ah don't remember your face. What's your name?"
"Allen. You're... Applejack?"
"That's me. So, how ya doin'?"
"Doing fine, thanks. You?"
I was a little confused, when Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Now, Ah don't know what, but somethin's up, with you. Ah've got a keen eye for spotting dishonesties. Are ya sure yer alright?"
I blinked. "Um... as far as I can tell, I am." I held up a hand, as she opened her mouth, again. "Yes, there are some things that could be improved, but no, there's nothing anyone can do about it. Please, if you're going to pry, don't."
Applejack flushed. "Sorry, pardner. I get a mite curious, sometimes. Ah forget that not everyone wants ta share their problems with a complete stranger. Still, somethin's gettin' to you. Ah won't ask, but Ah do suggest you try ta fix it, whatever it is."
"I-I'll try." I was nervous, and thoroughly creeped out. I'd better watch what I say, around her. Closely.
After a couple more minutes, Leon's slightly-amplified voice reported "Got some sounds on the bug. Twilight's groaning, again."
By the time he'd finished talking, I'd turned up the bug's volume. I really hope this doesn't damage my ears. Getting eardrums magically fixed is not a pleasant experience.
"Hey, Twilight!" Spike's voice came through the bug. "Pinkie Pie's starting 'Pin the Tail on the Pony!' Wanna play?"
"No!" Came the heavily-annoyed reply. "All the ponies in this town are crazy! Do you know what time it is?"
"It's the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration. Everypony has to stay up, or they'll miss the Princess raising the Sun!" A caring tone came into Spike's voice. "You really should lighten up, Twilight. It's a party!"
Twilight's falsetto voice quietly mimicked gibberish talking. "Ugh! Here I thought I'd have more time to learn about the Elements of Harmony. But, silly me! All this ridiculous friend-making has kept me from it!"
After a few moments, Twilight spoke softly, as if quoting from something she'd read (which she was). "'Legend has it that on the longest day on the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about everlasting night.'" She sighed. "I hope the Princess was right. I hope it really is just an old pony-tale."
"Come on, Twilight!" Spike yelled from somewhere a distance away. "It's time to watch the sunrise!"
Personally, I liked this part of the Celebration. Not the waiting, that I could do without. But, when you finally see the full beauty of the sunrise, it just fills you right up, with emotion. Of course, usually, I had to pretend that I wasn't watching. I was a Royal Guard; I had to maintain their image. I could only watch through my eyes. I couldn't turn my head, or my body, but it was worth it. Every time.
We all filed into the large hallway that was most of Ponyville's City Hall. Pegasi were floating around, trying to find the best spots. Unicorns and Earth Ponies were scrambling for front-seat views. Me? I preferred a spot in the far back. I could see it all, and I didn't have to worry about getting too crowded. Leon and Firestar were on one of the top balconies, also in the back. I'd loaned them my pack with the sniper rifle, but they were only to put it together if they needed to use it. For now, the pack stayed zipped up, sitting on the floor, right next to them.
For some reason, I felt a sense of foreboding. The strangest part, though, was when Firestar and Leon both claimed to feel the same. We'd all then made sure that our pistols were loaded, and within easy reach. It was alarming enough to have a bad feeling, yourself. When you're entire team felt it, for no explainable reason, you're probably going to be thoroughly creeped out.
Spike was sitting upon his surrogate mother's shoulders, blocking her head from our view. However, Twilight's bug was still active, as it should be for another two days, and Pinkie's voice coming through confirmed it. "Isn't this exciting?"
For once, we all could actually see Pinkie and Twilight's interactions. Pinkie was nigh-on teleporting. "Are you excited? 'Cuz I'm excited! I've never been so excited! Well, except for the time I saw you walking into town and I went-" She, yet again, imitated her gasp. "But, I mean, really. Who can top that?"
This is going to be a bona fide real-life version of one of the most common cliches in literary history, I just know it.
Suddenly, the choir of birds gave a dramatic opening tune, accompanied by musical instruments that weren't in view. A spotlight went all the way from the ceiling to the stage, at the front of the packed hallway. The mayor of Ponyville, coincidentally named Mayor Mare, began her introduction. "Fillies and gentlecolts! As mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!"
I couldn't help it. As everyone else cheered, I yelled right along with them. "Wooh!"
Once everyone quieted down, Mayor Mare continued. "In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this; the longest day of the year! And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you, the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the Sun and the Moon each and every day; the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria; Princess Celestia!"
Rarity pulled a rope, and the stage curtains above Mayor Mare pulled back, and the spotlight centered itself onto that stage, and Fluttershy's band of birds and instruments dramatically greeted... nothing. Celestia was missing. My eyes widened. What the he**?
"Huh?" Rarity gasped in shock.
Amongst the gasps and murmurs of everyone, the listening bug picked up Twilight's muttering "This... can't be good."
Mayor Mare, nervousness slightly creeping into her voice, tried to settle down everyone's unrest. "Remain calm, everypony! There must be a reasonable explanation."
Suddenly, Pinkie Pie jumped up. "Ooh! I love guessing games! Is she hiding?" She looked around the room, still hopping.
Unbelievable.
Rarity came out from checking backstage. "She's gone!"
As everyone else gasped in shocked horror, my jaw set. Rarity had only confirmed what I'd been suspecting. Something had happened to Celestia. But what? What could possibly take her down?
Oblivious to the seriousness of the situation, Pinkie continued to believe her theory that Celestia was hiding. "Ooh! She's goooooood." Suddenly, she shrieked. "Ah!"
As everyone else gasped, in the same shocked, horrified way, I watched as dark blue, wispy, fog-like tendrils of magic curled around the upper stage, where Celestia should've been standing.
"Oh no!" Twilight whispered, the bug barely picking her up.
A flash, and a tall, pitch black-skinned alicorn mare, clad in ancient armor of the same color of the magic tendrils, appeared on the stage.
"Nightmare Moon!" Twilight whispered, just quietly. Spike fainted, and fell to the ground.
What the fu** is going on, here? I thought pony-tale legends weren't real!
"Oh, my beloved subjects!" A deep, female voice came out of the mysterious arrival. It was magically amplified, and it filled the room. Standing near a corner, I could even hear a very faint echo. "It's been so long since I've seen your precious, little, sun-loving faces."
"What did you do with our Princess?" Rainbow Dash yelled out. She moved to fly at Nightmare Moon, but Applejack grabbed her from behind.
Nightmare Moon chuckled. What the he**? Even her laugh sounds evil. Talk about cliche?
"Why," Nightmare Moon finished chuckling, "am I not royal enough for you?" Her voice took a serious turn. "Don't you know who I am?"
"Ooh! Ooh! More guessing games!" Pinkie exclaimed.
...How can she be this stupid?
"Um, Pokey Smokes? How about... Queen Meanie? No! Black Snooty! Black Snooty!"
Applejack, still holding onto Rainbow Dash, reached for the snack table next to her, and used an apple as a gag for Pinkie Pie, who continued attempting to guess, without seemingly noticing the obstruction.
Thank you!
Nightmare Moon flew to Fluttershy, who trembled and looked away, looking as if she would try.
"Does my crown no longer count, now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years?" Nightmare Moon got in Rarity's face. "Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?"
"I did!" Twilight spoke up. "And I know who you are! You're the Mare in the Moon! Nightmare Moon!"
As if no one had registered that something bad was happening, everypony gasped, again.
"Well, well, well!" Nightmare put all her attention on Twilight. "Somepony remembers me. Then you also know why I am here!"
Twilight stuttered with fear and nervousness. "You're here to... to..." She gulped, unable to finish her sentence.
Nightmare chuckled. "Remember this day, little ponies; for it was your last!" Her voice went low and quiet, but was still clearly audible. "From this moment forth, the night will last forever!" As she started laughing maniacally, lightning hit, as if to punctuate her point. Which was probably her doing.
"Two, Three, set up that sniper!" I whispered into my earpiece, hoping they weren't in too much shock to respond. I really hope they can set it up, in time. It'll take at least a minute. Is Nightmare Moon going to stay that long?
"Seize her!" Mayor Mare exclaimed. "Only she knows where the Princess is!"
Three Royal Guard Pegasi flew up, and went after Nightmare Moon.
"Stand back, you fools!" Nightmare yelled. Her eyes glowed, and she stomped on the floor. Lightning came down, and hit all three Royal Guards. Nightmare Moon laughed, again.
As I moved to check on them, I saw the magical fog that had been surrounding Nightmare Moon the entire time close in on her. It became thick enough to completely obscure her from view. Suddenly, the whole, foggy form moved, As if there was no one inside it. The back doors to the City Hall opened, and the fog flew out. There was definitely nothing solid inside it. Somehow, Nightmare Moon had transformed herself.
Rainbow Dash got out of Applejack's grip, and flew after Nightmare Moon. "Come back here!"
Twilight grabbed Spike, and ran out. Where the he** is she going? She can't be chasing Nightmare Moon, already!
I reached the Royal Guards. One was laying on the ground, dazed. The other two were sitting up. One was rubbing his head, the other was shaking his own. They'll be fine.
"Two, Three, we're following Twilight. Pack up, and rendezvous outside the library."
Chapter 15: Working in the Shadows: Part 3: Eternal Night
Twilight had apparently cast a spell on Spike, to make sure he stayed asleep. He hadn't woken up from fainting.
This time, I had the overwatch position that had visual inside. Spike was in some kind of baby-bed. Amusingly, he was snoring. "Hm... Hmagh- We gotta stop Nightmare...hagh...!" He hadn't even really woken up. Just talking in his sleep.
Twilight floated a blanket on top of him. "You've been up all night, Spike." She said, her tone full of motherly care. "You are a baby dragon, after all." She walked out of the bedroom, and switched off the light. Then, she scrambled over to a bookcase.
She frantically floated dozens of books over to herself, from the bookcase. None of them had what she was looking for. She tossed them into a haphazard pile on the floor. The crash of them all landing at the same time was actually quite loud. "Elements, Elements, Elements!" Twilight mumbled to herself. "Agh! How can I stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony?"
Flying so fast I didn't even see her, Rainbow Dash flew through the open front door, and got right into Twilight's face. "And just what are the Elements of Harmony?" She asked accusingly. "And how did you know about Nightmare Moon, huh?" Twilight was slowly backing up, but Rainbow was keeping pace with her, floating right in her face. "Are you a spy? Whoa!"
Applejack had rushed in, seen Rainbow's interrogation session, and grabbed her, once again. "Simmer down, Sally! She ain't no spy."
Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy walked in. Well, Fluttershy floated. The five of them moved towards Twilight.
"But," Applejack continued, "she sure knows what's goin' on. Don't ya, Twilight?"
Twilight looked at all of them, gathering her thoughts. "I read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon." She started. "Some mysterious objects, called the Elements of Harmony, are the only things that can stop her. But I don't know what they are, or where to find them. I don't even know what they do!"
Unbeknownst to all, including myself, Pinkie Pie had walked over to a bookcase that hadn't been searched, yet. "The Elements of Harmony; A Reference Guide!" She read aloud a book title.
Twilight scrambled over, unintentionally pushing Pinkie to the floor. "How did you find that?"
Pinkie just bounced to the other side of the room. "It was under 'E!'" She exclaimed in a sing-song voice. I could actually hear the bouncing, once again. What, are her legs made up springs?
"Oh." Twilight said, embarrassed. She'd been so hectic, she'd forgotten to look efficiently, by category. She floated the book over to her. Opening it up, she began to read. "There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery."
I suddenly felt butterflies in my stomach, and not in a good way. On a hunch, I moved my binoculars over to a window. Oh, son of a bi***. A single wisp of Nightmare Moon's fog was eavesdropping on Twilight. I can't shoot fog. Even if I could, I doubt it'd stay still long enough for me to hit it. At this range, I'd need a sniper rifle. Now, if it was a normal target, standing and not moving, I could hit it just fine.
"It is said," Twilight continued to read, oblivious, "that the location of the five Elements was in the ancient castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. It is located in what is now known as..." A whimper of fear.
"The Everfree Forest!" Everyone exclaimed.
Well, sh**. This will not be a fun adventure.
Firestar, Leon, and I quickly packed up. We'd need to follow them.
"Hey," Firestar exclaimed suddenly, "I remember something! There are two paths that lead to Castle. I vote we see which one they take, and we'll use the other."
Twilight and co. stood in front of one path. I was crouching behind a tree, next to the other. Once they moved in, we'd have to be very careful. Unfortunately for them, they'd picked the more treacherous path. Ours would be pretty smooth. In fact, we'd have a lot of positions that had sight-lines on sections of their path.
Staring into the creepy, dark forest, Pinkie was, once again, oblivious to the danger. "Whee!" She exclaimed randomly, "Let's go!"
As Pinkie started walking, Twilight interrupted her. "Not so fast." Twilight's voice went quiet. "Look, I appreciate the offer, but I'd really rather do this on my own."
Not smart, Sparkle. Not a smart move.
"No can do, Sugarcube!" Applejack exclaimed. "We sure ain't letting any friend of ours go into that creepy place, alone!"
As everyone started to move Applejack continued. "We're sticking to you like caramel on a candy stick."
Twilight had apparently not taken a step, and Pinkie, investigating a bush, perked up. She'd looked back at Twilight. "Especially if there's candy apples in there!"
Unbelievable. Un-fu**ing-believable.
"What?" Pinkie asked, as Twilight just stared at her. She walked after everyone else. "Those things are good!"
Twilight sighed, and followed her.
"Okay, let's move." I got up. We jogged in. We wanted to stay slightly ahead of Twilight's group, so we'd need to go fast.
After a while, Twilight's bug picked up her asking nervously "So, none of you have been in here, before?"
"Ugh!" Rarity exclaimed. "Heavens, no! Just look at it. It's dreadful!"
"And it ain't natural." Applejack added.
I couldn't help but agree with both of them. While I wasn't one for fashion, I also wasn't a fan of mud, bugs, and getting so dirty, you'd feel it for weeks. I'd do it, but that doesn't mean I'd like it.
"Folks say it don' work the same as Equestria." Applejack continued.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Twilight asked, fearfully.
"Nopony knows!" Rainbow Dash replied, using a ghostly voice. "You know why?"
"'Cuz everypony that has ever come in," Rainbow continued, ignoring Applejack, "has never. Come. Out!" She shouted the last word.
The sounds of multiple rocks breaking filtered into our ears, and we sprinted for the nearest overwatch position. Screams came through the bug, but not much else.
"Hold on!" Applejack's voice barely registered. It got louder, though, as if Applejack was getting closer. "I'ma comin'!"
"Applejack!" Twilight exclaimed. "What do I do?" The sound of rocks hitting rocks was still coming through, albeit much quieter than the initial chaos. My guess was confirmed when we reached the top of a hill. Applejack was holding onto Twilight's hooves, while Twilight was dangling off the edge of a cliff. They'd been at the top of a mountain, and the section they'd been standing on had broken off.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had already set down everyone else, safely. They flew up, and into Applejack's vision, who saw them. Applejack looked Twilight in the eyes. "Let go."
"Are you crazy!?!" Twilight half-exclaimed, half-yelled.
"That's not true!" Twilight yelled. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were waiting, below her. She'd never had the chance to see them.
"Now listen here!" Applejack said. "What Ah'm sayin' here is the honest truth. Let go, and you'll be safe."
Twilight, after a moment's further hesitation, let go. "Aahh!" She screamed, until Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy caught her, after she fell less than ten feet. "Phew..."
She and Rainbow Dash yelped as Fluttershy's grip slipped for a second. However, she reaffirmed her hold. "Sorry, girls. I'm not used to holding anything more than a bunny, or two."
Twilight watched Applejack hop down the mountain like a goat, as she was lowered to the ground.
I caught a glimpse of Nightmare Moon's blue fog, but I couldn't tell where it'd gone. That is, until we all heard a roar, in the distance.
I really hope that's on our trail, and not theirs. The terrain of their path had muffled to roar too much. None of them had heard it.
"Check your weapons, make sure they're loaded and silenced." We moved out. This time, we were holding our silenced pistols. If we encountered anything, we'd be ready for it.
As both our group and Twilight's moved, we all listened to Rainbow Dash's embellishment of how she and Fluttershy had saved the day. She performed a couple small tricks, to emphasize certain parts.
I didn't really pay much attention to it. However, I did catch the end. "-And wham! Caught you right in the nick of time!" Rainbow finished proudly.
"Yes, Rainbow, I was there." Twilight replied, annoyed at Rainbow's highly exaggerated tale. "And I'm very grateful, but we've gotta-" A gasp of fright.
"Move!" I yelled.
"A Manticore!" Twilight exclaimed. As if to punctuate, the Manticore roared. I could even hear it, without the bug. Fu**! Come on, legs. Move faster!
"We've gotta get past him!" Twilight stated, somehow calm.
We sprinted for yet another ledge, overlooking their path. Is it a coincidence that our path spies on theirs so many times? And at just the right spots?
"Take that, you ruffian!" Rarity exclaimed, only to be met with another roar. "My hair!" She squealed.
Oh, please! Do those ponies not grasp the seriousness of being attacked by a manticore?
"Yee-Haw!" Applejack yelled out. "Get along, little doggy!"
What's she doing? We reached the ledge. "Set up! Now!"
Firestar and Leon rapidly pulled out parts of my sniper rifle, from the pack on my back. As I watched, Rainbow, creating a - fittingly rainbow-colored - blur around the manticore, was suddenly swatted aside by its spiked tail. With a yelp, she was sent sailing off a few yards away.
"Rainbow!" Twilight exclaimed.
Rainbow slid to a stop in front of Twilight and her friends. She pawed at the ground, trying to get up, but the hit had made her groggy. The best she did was move some dirt around.
"Get it set up, already! One of them's hurt!" I whisper-yelled at Firestar and Leon.
"Doing the best we can, Allen!" Firestar replied. "Precision is not a good thing to need, when you've gotta be fast!"
I looked back, and blinked. "What the he**?"
The five standing ponies were all charging the manticore. Wait... I did a quick headcount, through the dust. Fluttershy wasn't among them. Where'd she go?
Suddenly, Fluttershy popped out from a nearby bush, right in Twilight and co.'s path. "Waaaaiiiit!" She screamed, actually reaching a volume that could've been easily heard over normal conversation.
Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie all skidded to a stop. The manticore looked at Fluttershy, confused.
Wordlessly, Fluttershy turned around, and walked up to the manticore. It growled, and raised a clawed paw to strike her down, permanently.
I scrambled for my sniper rifle. The barrel still wasn't fully attached. Sh*t! We're going to lose her! I looked through the scope. Wait, what the he**? Is she really...?
Fluttershy was nuzzling the manticore's other front paw. The manticore lowered its raised one. It then put its nuzzled paw, upside down, in front of Fluttershy's face. I could see her lips move, but she wasn't loud enough for the bug to pick up what she said.
"Little?" Rainbow asked, seemingly out of nowhere, disbelief in her voice.
What did Fluttershy call the manticore little? That thing's more than three times her size! Its paw is bigger than her head!
Fluttershy, for some odd reason, extended her neck. As she bit down on something, I caught a glimpse of it; it looked like some kind of sharp rock fragment, embedded in the manticore's paw, like a splinter.
Fluttershy tugged it out, and the manticore roared in pain.
"Fluttershy!" Twilight and her friends exclaimed, thinking the manticore was going to lash out.
However, the manticore did just the opposite. I did a double-take. Is it seriously licking her? I didn't know manticores even could be friendly!
As it licked Fluttershy continuously, in gratitude, Twilight and co. quickly and quietly walked past them.
"Well, I guess we don't need the sniper then, huh?" Firestar quipped. "Or are we still gonna shoot the thing?"
"I don't think we should waste the bullet." I replied. "Remember, we're covert, here. If it's not necessary, we don't do anything they'll notice."
We repacked the sniper. As we did so, I heard Twilight ask "How did you know about the thorn?"
"I didn't." Fluttershy replied.
I blinked, and face-palmed. Seriously? That thing could've killed you, and you just stopped your friends from defending you, when you didn't even know its motivations?
"Sometimes," Fluttershy continued, "we all just need to be shown a little kindness."
Firestar blinked, and straightened. "Hey... Kindness. Elements of Harmony? Element of Kindness? Anybody else following me, here?"
I looked at him. "Huh." I remarked, simply. "You may be on to something, there."
We finished packing the sniper rifle back into my backpack, and hurried to keep pace with Twilight Sparkle.
We'd been walking for a few more minutes, when Rarity piped up. "Ugh! My eyes need a rest from all this filthy muck!"
Suddenly, everything got darker. I glanced up. Perfect... A cloud moved in, blotting out the moonlight. As that wasn't enough, we then entered a deep part of the forest. Even if it'd been daytime, the trees were so thick, it wouldn't have made any difference, whatsoever.
"Well, I didn't mean that literally." Rarity remarked.
"That ancient ruin could be right in front of our faces, and we wouldn't even know it!" Twilight exclaimed, nervously.
A few seconds later, there were multiple bumps and apologies. In the dark, they were stumbling into each other.
Not two seconds after the first bump of many, I collided with Firestar. We both went sprawling. "Sorry." I groaned, getting back up.
"Ah, you're fine." Firestar replied, casually. He obviously didn't care that his equipment just got muddy enough that he could take a bath in full gear.
Suddenly, Fluttershy's scream pierced the air. Fu**!
"Move! Go!" I exclaimed. We went a little faster. In the darkness, tripping would only slow us down. Better to be slow and steady, then have a lot of small, quick bursts.
"It's just mud!" Applejack said, amused.
We slowed back down. She must be freaking out over the general horror of the Everfree.
That is, until Applejack yelped "Woah!" followed by everypony else screaming, as well.
We went back to our faster pace, only to slow back down to a comfortable one, again, whence the bug picked up Pinkie Pie's laughter.
"Pinkie!" Twilight said, still scared, "What are you doing? Run!"
"Oh, girls!" Pinkie replied, still laughing. Suddenly, she burst into song.
"When I was little filly, and the sun was going dooooowwn...-!"
... Are you fu**ing kidding me?
"Tell me she's not." Twilight said, deadpan.
Yes, please!
"-And the darkness and the shadows, they would always make me froooowwn...-!" Pinkie continued singing.
"She is." Rarity replied to Twilight, her tone conveying that she'd accepted Pinkie Pie's obvious lack of ability to grasp any semblance of seriousness.
"I'd hide under my pillow," Pinkie sang, "from what I thought I saaaww! But Granny Pie said that wasn't they way to deal with fears at all...!"
"Then, what is?" Rainbow asked.
Shoot them?
"She said, 'Pinkie, you've gotta stand up tall! Learn to face your fears! You'll see that they can't hurt you, just laugh, and make them dissappear!"
Pinkie Pie let off three deliberate, staccato laughs. "Ha, ha, ha!"
Dear Celestia, how long is this going to be?
At everypony else's gasps, I could only conclude that whatever was scaring them was magical, in origin, because laughing at something doesn't make it disappear.
"So... giggle at the ghostly, guffaw at the grossly! Crack up with creepy, whoop it up with the weepy!"
I did a double-take in the dark, when I heard Firestar humming right along with her. I'm in the company of the fu**ing court jester, here, and now he enjoys annoying music? What the fu**? However, eventually, I found myself smiling, just a little bit. For some inexplicable reason, I was happy. More than that, I wanted to laugh. I started to hum along, as Pinkie continued.
"Chortle at the kooky, snortle at the spooky!"
I don't think snortle is a word, Pinkie.
Pinkie's next words were said, though they probably would've been better understood, if she was singing them. Her rate was so rapid-fire, I could barely understand her. In fact, I'm not quite sure I did, anyways. "And tell that big, dumb, scary face to take a hike, and leave you alone, and if he thinks he can scare you, then he's got another thing coming! And the very idea of it just makes me want to...!" The rest of her sentence-paragraph hybrid was incomprehensible, as she'd been reduced to just uncontrollably giggling.
Finally, Pinkie finished with an extremely long "Laaaaaaaaauuuuuuugggghhhh!!!"
The air was then filled with everypony laughing their heads off. Firestar and Leon were laughing, too. I, myself, heard a few chuckles escape. Eh, what the he**? I let myself collapse in laughter, landing on my back, less than a foot behind my two half-serious compatriots on the long road to getting our a**es kicked.
Somehow, minutes later, Twilight's group was still laughing. Not quite uncontrollably, but laughing, all the same. Suddenly, they were all cut off, the laughs replaced by single grunts, as if they'd run into something. I vaguely heard the sounds of running water. A river?
"How are we going to cross this?" Twilight exclaimed.
Before anypony could reply, the air was pierced by a heat-broken cry of sadness.
"Huh?" Apparently, no one in Twilight's group was doing the crying, as Pinkie was as confused as we were. Then again, the crying sounded more stallion-like than mare-like.
The admittedly-high-pitched, masculine voice cried out "What a world! What a world!"
"Excuse me, sir," Twilight began, "why are you crying?"
"Well, I don't know!" The voice took on a little bit of a condescending tone, in its obvious irritation, "I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this spectacular little cloud of purple smoke just whizzed past me, and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off!"
Oh, brother. It's a mustache! It'll grow back!
"And now," the voice continued, "I look simply horrid!" It unleashed another wave of crying, and the bug picked up a splash, followed by the sounds of water drenching a certain group of ponies.
Oh, come on! I'll bet you all the bits in Equestria that, right now, we look worse!
"Oh, gimme a break!" Rainbow Dash remarked. I couldn't help but agree with her.
"That's what all the fuss is about?" Applejack asked, incredulous.
"Why, of course it is!" Rarity exclaimed.
Really? I've made smaller fusses over getting shot!
"How can you be so insensitive?" Rarity continued.
Because it's not a big deal?
Rarity's voice took on a baby-like tone. "Oh, just look at him! Such lovely, luminescent scales!"
The male snorted. "I know!" He exclaimed.
"And you're expertly cropped mane!" Rarity's voice was back to normal.
"Oh, I know, I know!"
Well, he's not conceited, at all.
"You're fabulous manicure!" Rarity continued gushing out the compliments.
Laying it on a bit thick, maybe?
"It's so true!" The man said, full of himself.
"All ruined, without your beautiful mustache!"
Killjoy.
"It's true!" The male replied, on the verge of crying, again. "I'm hideous!"
"I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected!" Rarity finished.
Huh? What are you going to do, find some long-lost hair growth spell?
Suddenly, the male yelped in pain. "Ow! What did you do that for?"
"Rarity," Twilight exclaimed, "what are you-" Everypony gasping cut her off.
A fainting-like sound emanated from the male's voice. Then a crash sounded, as if he'd collapsed on the ground.
"What'd she do? Cut his other half-of-a-mustache off?" Firestar asked, amused.
The male, seemingly for no reason, yelped in joy. "Oh! My mustache! How wonderful!"
"You look smashing!" Rarity complimented him, sounding proud of herself.
We'd been walking for another half-hour, at least. Finally, we came across a ridge. In the distance, I could see the old castle. Well, it's certainly old. Looks more like ruins, than anything else. I only saw the remains of three castle towers, one of which was almost completely gone. The other two weren't that far behind.
"Uh oh." Firestar said. He pointed. "Bridge is out. They'll have to be carried." Then, he chuckled, a little embarrassed. "Or, they could just have somepony fly over there, and reconnect the bridge."
I patted him on the back. "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut, twice a day." I said.
He mock-glared at me, and we all chuckled.
We got to work setting up the sniper rifle. Our trail ended here, anyways. Luckily, we had a good view of both the entrance to the castle, and all of its towers. We finished getting the sniper set up seconds before our VIPs exited the forest, into the clearing that the castle was in.
"There it is!" Twilight exclaimed. "The ruin that holds the Elements of Harmony. We've made it!" She ran ahead of her friends.
"Twilight!" Applejack yelled. "Wait for us!"
"We're almost there!" Twilight yelled back.
Oh, sh*t. Twilight hadn't seen that the bridge was out. Luckily, Rainbow had. She dived forward, and latched onto Twilight's tail, as Twilight started to fall.
"What's with you and falling off of cliffs, today?" Rainbow quipped.
"Now what?" Pinkie asked.
"Duh!" Rainbow shook her wings, and took off.
"Oh, yeah." Pinkie said.
"Got something." Firestar said, suddenly. "Contacts, crawling up the cliff. What the fu** are those things? I can't see them well enough."
I moved my rifle's scope. Sure enough, at least a dozen pitch-black... things were crawling up the cliff's face. Twilight and her friends couldn't see them, and Rainbow was distracted by... sh*t! Rainbow was talking with three ponies, who were wearing Wonderbolt-esque uniforms. Take the colors, turn them to purple, dark blue, and yellow, and you've got the exact outfit that those ponies were wearing.
No time to deal with randomly-appearing ponies from creepy Nightmare fog. I could see Nightmare Moon's color ooze a little off of the ever-ascending creatures.
"Firestar," I said evenly, "I want you ready with a spare mag, now."
He moved. I aimed. After half a second of aiming, I pulled the trigger. One down. Who's next? You are. Good night. And contestant number three is now also down for the count. I rapidly sniped the rest of them. More kept poring up out of the fog, below, but I kept taking them down, just as fast. I was down to two, and no more were appearing, and my kill-count was up to ten, when my sniper went click. fu**!
"Switch mags." I ordered. Within three seconds, I'd taken out my magazine, traded with Firestar, slotted the new magazine into my gun, and cocked it. Bam. And bam. Who ordered dead monsters? He**, why am I joking around, this much? I've never been this comical, while on duty.
"Rainbow!" Twilight exclaimed, a little worried. "What's taking so long?" Apparently, no one but Rainbow had seen the pony newcomers, and even Rainbow was clueless of the threats I'd just disposed of.
"Oh no!"Twilight had used a spell to clear some of the fog, and had caught a glimpse of the ponies. "Rainbow!"
One of the ponies glared at Twilight, and her eyes flashed. The fog immediately moved in, and obscured Rainbow from view of all of us. Fu**! Sh*t! Fu**ing he**! This is not going according to plan, here!
"Leon, this is getting tense. Get down there, and-" I interrupted myself as Rainbow came flying out of the fog.
A chorus of cheers erupted. "Good job, Rainbow!" Twilight exclaimed.
"See? I'd never leave my friends hanging!" Rainbow replied, flying along next to them.
They walked up to the doors, and went inside. "Woah..." They all half-whispered, in awe.
"Come on, Twilight." Applejack said, softly. "Isn't this what you've been waitin' for?"
"The Elements of Harmony!" Twilight exclaimed, even more awed than the others. "We've found them!"
"One, two, three four..." Pinkie started counting, and gasped. "There's only five!"
"Where's the sixth?" Rainbow asked.
"The book said," Twilight started, "'when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed.'"
Well, that's helpful! They're all already there. Where's the sixth?
"What in the hay is that supposed ta mean?" Applejack asked, incredulous.
"I'm not sure," Twilight replied, "but I have an idea. Stand back, I don't know what will happen."
Twilight's friends walked back out the door, while she stayed inside. I couldn't see most of the ground floor. But I did see the wisp of blue fog that went in through one of the many cracks in the castle's walls. Sh*t.
The sound of howling wind came from the bug, followed by Twilight yelping in surprise. Her friends called her name, and rushed back inside.
I could see the top of a blue mini-tornado. I caught glimpses of circular pieces of rocks, inside it. Where did that come from?
"The Elements!" Twilight exclaimed. The wind got louder for a second, and then all was silent. The tornado was gone.
Twilight's friends burst inside, but, judging from what movements I could see, they couldn't find her. Where'd she go? He**, where'd that tornado go?
While her friends scrambled around aimlessly for her, below, Firestar, Leon, and I rapidly scanned the entire castle for signs of the lavender unicorn. Come on, come on, where the he** are you? Fu**! This is not going well, at all! I was getting anxious, I'll admit it. I may not mind the night, but I'd rather not have eternal darkness.
"Got something!" Firestar exclaimed, and pointed. At the same time, I saw a white hoof stick out of one of the castle's walls. Apparently, Firestar and Rarity had spotted something, at the same time. I looked. One of the two towers still standing (relatively) had a lot of light coming out of it. White light, too.
I had to move a little, to see inside. When I could finally see, Twilight's bug reactivated. Apparently, it had had some trouble figuring out where to broadcast. Nightmare Moon's laughter came through it, sounding as if she was in the middle of it, when the bug started transmitting. The sound of glass breaking was barely audible, but there, nonetheless. What, did one of them just punch out a window?
"You little fool!" Nightmare Moon exclaimed. "Thinking you could defeat me! Now, you will never see your Princess! Or your Sun! The night will last forever! Ha ha ha!" More evil cackling.
Does she ever shut up? I've got my cross-hairs right on her. Can I just put a round through her head?
Suddenly, Twilight glanced behind her, and gasped. "You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony, just like that? Well, you're wrong! Because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!"
Twilight's friends had arrived. The six of them stood there, boldly facing down Nightmare Moon.
Twilight began her explanation. "Applejack, who reassured me, when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of Honesty. Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of Kindness. Pinkie Pie, who vanquished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of Laughter. Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of Generosity. And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire, represents the spirit of Loyalty! The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us!"
"You still don't have the sixth Element!" Nightmare Moon exclaimed, sounding more worried than confident. "The spark didn't work!"
And that's where she's got you, bit**!
"But it did!" Twilight replied, softly. "A different kind of spark. I felt it, the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you. To see you. How much I cared about you! The spark ignited inside me, when I realized that you all..." Twilight turned to face Nightmare Moon, and finished with "... are my friends!"
A light suddenly appeared over them all, and everypony glanced up. I moved my scope, a little. Oh,no way! I smiled, awed. Coming out of bright white light, floating down to the floor, was another circular rock. This time, I could see the engraving on it. Curiously, it was the same as Twilight's cutie mark.
Nightmare Moon shied away from the light. Apparently, it emanated more than brightness. Something about it was keeping the black alicorn from looking directly at it.
"You see, Nightmare Moon," Twilight said, "when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth Elements; the Element of Magic!"
The light emanating from the Element's rock glowed as bright as a supernova. I had to cover my eyes. When I was able to look, again, I saw an amazing sight; Twilight's friends were wearing necklaces, with their cutie marks on them. Twilight was wearing a crown, with her own cutie mark adorned on the front. The six of them were floated. They moved into the ball of light that was now half the size of the room, and rainbow-colored double-helix-shaped beams came out of it. It was majestic, awesome, and awe-inspiring, all at once. The beams met, inches below the ceiling, and shot towards Nightmare Moon as one wide, super-powerful beam.
"Nooooo!" Nightmare Moon yelled, as the beam hit her, and surrounded her in a rainbow-colored tornado.
A light came out of Twilight, blinding me, again. It took me a whole ten seconds to blink the spots away. Dear Celestia! Get your sight back, Allen! You're not that old! When I was able to look, again, Nightmare Moon was gone. In her place, unconscious, was dark blue, alicorn mare, the size of any other pony. I looked back at Twilight, and my eyes widened, in alarm. She, and all of her friends, were sprawled out on the floor, all just as unconscious as the mare taking Nightmare Moon's place.
Then, thankfully, Twilight and her friends began to stir. Various groans rose into the air.
"My head!" Rainbow moaned.
"Everypony okay?" Applejack asked, sounding groggy. None of them had quite managed to get to their feet, yet.
Rarity suddenly jumped up. "Oh, thank goodness!" Her tail had regrown.
Fluttershy's mouth moved, but I couldn't lip-read, and the bug wasn't sensitive enough to detect what she'd said.
"I know!" Rarity exclaimed. "I'll never part with it, again!" She sounded like she was on the verge of tears.
Fluttershy shook her head, and pointed at Rarity's necklace.
"Huh?" Rarity replied. "So does yours!"
"Look at mine, look at mine!" Pinkie bounced over to Applejack.
"Aww, yeah!" Rainbow exclaimed, ecstatic at her necklace containing her 'awesome' cutie mark.
"Gee, Twilight!" Applejack said, looking at he friend's crown. "Ah thought you were just spoutin' a lotta hooey!"
Well, at least you went along with it, and backed her up.
"But Ah reckon we really do represent the Elements of Friendship."
A yellow light suddenly appeared in the destroyed window next to the still-unconscious mare. "Indeed, you do." Celestia's voice replied. The night suddenly vanished, replaced by the light of the morning's beautiful sunrise.
No way. Yes!
"Wooh!" Firestar cheered, quickly. He and Leon gave each other a quick high-five. I smiled, and exchanged thumbs-up with the two of them.
A ball of light came out of the window, and settled in front of it. I blinked, and Celestia stood, in its place. Wings extended, looking majestic.
"Yeah!" Firestar yelled out. "Woo-hoo! They did it!"
Twilight gasped. "Princess Celestia!" She fast-walked Celestia's welcoming embrace.
"Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student!" Celestia quickly embraced Twilight, then stepped back. "I knew you could do it."
"But, you told me that it was all an old pony's tale!" Twilight exclaimed quietly, sounding a little confused.
"I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more. I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return, and I knew that it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her. But you could not unleash it, until you let true friendship into your heart." Celestia glanced sadly at the dark blue mare. "Now if only another will, as well." She walked a little closer. "Princess Luna."
The mare, still prone, gasped, and looked up at Celestia. There was absolute fear in her eyes, mixed with grief and regret.
Celestia walked up to her, saying "It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this." She knelt next to the mare. "Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister!"
What? The he**? Gasps from Leon, Firestar, Twilight, and her friends told me I wasn't the only one who didn't know Luna's identity.
"Sister?" Twilight and Rainbow Dash exclaimed, together.
"Will you accept my friendship?" Celestia asked her sister.
Twilight and her friends leaned forward, straining to hear. Pinkie, leaning too far, fell forward with a yelp. "Woah!"
I snorted in amusement. Pinkie. Only you.
Luna suddenly leapt forward into Celestia's waiting arms. "I'm so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister!" The two of them were crying, tears streaming rapidly down their faces, landing on the hard rock, below them.
"I've missed you too!" Celestia replied.
Pinkie, somehow finding a tissue, blew her nose, and cried. Somehow, her tears were arching waterfalls of water, yet made only a small amount of water, on the floor. Suddenly, she instantly went from crying to wide-eyed excitement. "Hey! You know what this calls for? A party!"
Our mission over with, we decided to stay in Ponyville, for a few days. We let loose at Pinkie's town-wide celebration of Princess Luna's return.
At one point, I glanced over, and was surprised to see Twilight Sparkle standing sullenly a few yards away from the crowd of people talking and dancing merrily.
Celestia approached her. "Why so glum, my faithful student? Are you not happy that your quest is complete, and you can return to your studies, in Canterlot?"
"That's just it." Twilight replied, sadly. "Just when I learn how wonderful it is to have friends, I have to leave them."
Celestia stared proudly at her lavender student. "Spike? Take a note, please." After Spike had gotten out a quill and scroll, she continued. "I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree, that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission, for Equestria; she must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings, from her new home; in Ponyville!"
Twilight's new friends, who had gathered around, to hear, surrounded Twilight, and all of them started congratulating Twilight, in happiness.
'Oh, thank you, Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed, almost on the verge of tears. "I'll study harder than ever before!"
I had somehow not noticed that everypony around us had gone silent, listening to the exchange between Twilight Sparkle and her teacher. The crowd erupted in cheers and applause.
"Whoo!" Firestar cheered, from nearby. He grinned at me. "You know, sometimes, working in the shadows feels pretty good!"
After the fiasco that was Nightmare Moon's return (and subsequent defeat and transformation), I decided to ask Celestia just what she was thinking. The risks she'd taken were crazy, especially if you add in the fact that we'd actually known very little of anything that had been happening.
I found the door to her temporary office in Ponyville's City Hall, and opened it. Apparently, I'd just walked into a sibling-exclusive argument.
"-lost track of their descendants?" Princess Luna exclaimed to her sister in disbelief.
"Yes," Celestia replied, "but I believe I have found the current ones- hello, my little pony." She'd seen me trying to inch out. The two of them faced me.
I stammered. "P-Princess." I glanced at Luna, and amended. "Princesses." That'll take some getting used to saying.
Luna glanced quizzically at Celestia. When Celestia nodded back, I realized a silent conversation had just taken place.
Luna opened her mouth, and I almost fell out of the room, when an unbelievably loud voice bellowed out of her. "What is the reason for thy presence?"
I shook my head to clear the ringing. Da**! "Princess Celestia," I began, "with respect, why did Wolfhound get so little information? There were multiple times that we could've killed your sister." I barely heard the scoff from Luna, but it was there. "We didn't know what enemies we were looking for. We almost exposed ourselves, when Nightmare Moon came. Why take all those risks? Why not just tell us what we were up against?"
Another ear-piercing reply from Princess Luna. "Thou daredst to-"
"Luna!" Celestia interrupted her, sharply. She faced me again. "Honestly? I wasn't completely sure, myself. I knew it would be sometime soon, but I didn't know the exact year."
"You knew that Twilight and her friends would be the Elements of Harmony. Were you just going to keep Twilight overseeing the celebration, every year, until Princess Luna returned?"
"Actually, I didn't know. I suspected, but I didn't know, for certain. It turned even better than I'd have hoped for." She smiled. "My favorite student is one of the Elements of Harmony, and my dearest sister has returned, unharmed."
"So, we could've just been sent on a useless mission, if this hadn't happened?"
Celestia shuffled, embarrassed. "... Yes." She glanced at Luna, and her whole demeanor inexplicably changed. "In two days, we will visit your HQ. Gather your top fifteen warriors, then."
I blinked. "Uh, yes, Princess." Feeling awkward, I bowed. Upon straightening, I about-faced, and walked out. In my head, I was trying to replay the conversation, and figure out Princess Celestia's confusing request. What could've caused that sudden of a change? What does she know, or at least suspect, now?
Sure enough, two days later, Celestia and Luna winked into existence, right in our cafeteria. They appeared less than three feet from Leon, who yelped in surprise. Jump a little higher, man, you didn't hit the moon.
I stood up, and saluted. "Princesses!" Yep, still weird.
Celestia just smiled at me. "At ease, Firestar."
Okay, so now she knows my name. Who told her? Eh, doesn't matter. My hands moved to clasp each other behind my back.
The door to outside opened, and in walked Allen, staring at a document, of some sort. He glanced up at the silence, saw the Princesses, and froze.
"Allen." Celestia greeted him. "Please gather your top operatives."
"Yes, ma'am." Allen saluted her, and glanced at everyone in the room. After mentally logging that it was only me, Leon, and Crystal Ranger, he left.
Apparently, word spread to everyone else, because, within minutes, the cafeteria was swarming with at least 30 people. Amongst them, I saw Sarah, Jukebox, Jackie, Amber, Jackson, and at least eight other people that I knew.
I still had no clue what was going on, but I was about to find out.
Celestia turned to Luna. "Do you know what to do?"
"Verily." Princess Luna's horn lit up.
What the he**? I found myself walking towards her. I couldn't stop myself. I halted in front of her. Her horn darkened, and I regained control of my muscles.
"Interesting." Celestia remarked. "I had expected it to be Allen or Jacklyn." She turned to Allen. "Compared to Jacklyn and yourself, how skilled is Firestar?"
Who's Jacklyn? Oh. Jackie. Duh! I mentally smacked myself in the face.
"Equal, ma'am." Allen replied.
Seriously? I blinked, and looked at him, surprised.
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "With no formal training?" She chuckled. "Even for a descendant of Thunder Fury, I'm impressed."
Who's Thunder Fury?
"Let us see the descendant of Graceful Star." Celestia said. Her horn lit, and out walked both Sarah and Jackson.
How is Jackson a descendant of a pony?
Luna chuckled. "Verily, she did!" She said to herself, forgetting her Royal Voice. There was a smile on her face.
"...Did what?" Jackie asked, from the back of the room.
Luna blushed a little bit, and said, surprisingly without the use of her Royal Voice, still, "Procreate."
An awkward silence filled the room, after that single word. In Equestrian culture, it was rare (and almost taboo) to have foals without getting married. Sex was fine, but foals were an after-marriage subject. The fact that mares can only get pregnant while they're in heat might have something to do with that aspect, though.
Eventually, Allen broke the silence. "Moving on..."
Celestia launched right back into magically attracting multiple other people. I made a mental chart of the people, and the current descendants:
Thunder Fury: Myself.
Graceful Star: Sarah and Jackson (apparently, a changeling is in Graceful Star's family tree, somewhere).
Burning Tide: Allen, Jackie, Crystal Ranger, and somepony named Daron (apparently, BT got busy. None of them could find any common descendants, and they went back twenty generations, or so).
Silent Daybreak: Speeding Shadow and Leon.
Vibrant Cloud: Amber and Jukebox.
Ticking Moonlight: Me, again (Celestia and Luna both chuckled at this. Apparently, back when they were alive, and the Princesses knew them, these two were obviously made for each other).
"So," Jackson said, "who are these ponies?"
"True soldiers." Luna replied, bellowing once again in her Royalty Voice.
After the ringing subsided, Celestia continued Luna's explanation. "Names from an ancient time. Almost two million years ago."
Whoa.
"If I remember my history right," Jackie said hesitantly, "that would place it around the time Nightmare Moon first came into being."
Celestia nodded. "Only two hundred years before, yes."
"What's..." Leon started to say, stammered, and regained control of his nervousness. "What's so special about them? Were they the original Bearers of the Elements of Harmony?"
"A good guess," Celestia replied, "but, no. They were the original Bearers of the Soldier's Spirit, however."
"And... what does that mean?"
"Combat does not affect them psychologically, and they have an extreme natural affinity for all things related to fighting. Take Firestar, for example."
Me? What's so special about me?
"With no formal training, whatsoever, only crash courses, tips, and experience, he is as skilled as your resident Tier Two Special Operative; Jacklyn."
I'm not quite sure I really believe that, but thanks for the compliment. I think?
"I can show you all the original Bearers, myself. Albeit much more real than mere words."
At our quizzical looks, she explained. "Inside your DNA, there are memories. Ancestral memories, to be exact. I know a spell that can temporarily access them. I only need to initialize it, and select the memory. Then, I can use a mental tap to display the retrieved memory."
"Tha' sounds like somethin' straight out of a game." Jukebox remarked. I couldn't help but agree. I knew what series he was referencing, too. Growing up, it had been one of my favorites. Honestly, it's still up there. I think the latest took place only a couple hundred years ago, too. Right around the time immediately after Equestria invented trains.
Celestia chuckled. "Indeed, son of Cloud." She replied.
"Oy'm sure Cloud's a nice lad," Jukebox said, "but Oy don't know who 'e is. Oy'm Jukebox. Moy pop's name is Verbal Song."
What's with your family's names and music?
"Very well, Jukebox." Celestia smiled. "Would you like to meet him?"
"Um, Princess," Jukebox replied, confused, "if Cloud lived two million years ago, Oy'm pretty sure 'e's long dead an' buried."
"You're correct, Jukebox. However, with my knowledge of the required spells, we can see the events of their lives through their own eyes."
"If DNA contains memories," I thought aloud, "wouldn't they be heavily fragmented? I know I can't remember each and every second, not without a memory-boosting spell." And those spells are short. They're not meant to be used for any extended period of time, and if you use one for longer than twenty minutes, there's all kinds of bad side effects. I mentally shivered, recalling one nasty time I'd used one prior to a school test, and sustained it for twice that limit. I'd been getting all the symptoms of a cold/fever hybrid for a week, afterwards. Not a pleasant experience. The longest I've heard of a memory-boosting spell being held continuously was five hours, and the poor mare passed out. When she woke up, she couldn't remember anything after she'd cast it. In fact, her latest memory had been two whole hours before she even cast the spell.
"The first part is actually false." Celestia replied, oblivious to my thoughts (how could she have known about them, though? It lasted not even a second, and my facial expression didn't change). "The brain actually contains a completely photographic memory. 'Forgetting' is really just the -temporary, in most cases - inability to recall the specific memories. That's actually how a memory spell works; it creates magical 'highways' in the brain from the consciousness section to the memory section. That bypasses all the physical pathways, many of which could split apart the memory, or take it outright."
Jukebox scratched his head. He looked like the science talk we just got (which I understood completely) was almost physically hurting him. I saw quite a few others with similar looks.
"Welp," I exclaimed cheerily, "I'm game! What do I need to do?"
"Nothing, really. Just stand still. However," she added, seemingly embarrassed, "the initial search and retrieval of the genetic memory is extremely painful, the first time."
"I've gotten my hand blown off by a shotgun. Does that count as extremely painful?"
"Somewhat. However, that was concentrated on one area. This would be your entire body, and it would still be just as painful."
"He's not doing it alone." Jackson stepped up. At my thankful glance, he added "You had my back, when it counted. I'm not leaving you hanging, here." He turned to the crowd of people. "Who else would go through he** to help him, if he needed us?"
If Jackson's admitting it was a surprise, then the seven others that agreed amounted to a total system shock.
"I..." I was struck speechless. They'd willingly risk the unknown, needlessly, for me?
I'm not a self-hater. I have a high self-esteem. I just never expect others to sacrifice, purely for me. Regardless of my actions, I usually don't expect anything, in return. That's just who I am. I didn't go through any traumatic event, not one that would cause that. It's just an example of what I'm really thinking... or not thinking, I guess.
Still, I was beyond shocked. I was, truthfully, almost in tears. Jackson, being a Changeling, could sense it. He walked to my side. I felt a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"Let's give him a moment." I heard him whisper to Celestia.
"Indeed."
Through my long process of calming down, I dimly noted that almost everyone had started conversing about various things.
Eventually, I nodded to Celestia and Jackson. "I'm okay."
Celestia walked up to me. I could see an almost-motherly care in her eyes. Never let it be said that Celestia doesn't care deeply for each and every Equestrian. She put a comforting hand on my unoccupied shoulder. "Are you sure?" She asked softly.
I nodded. "Yeah." Then added quietly "Thanks." I cleared my throat. "So, I just stand here?"
"You mean" Jackson interrupted, "we just stand here."
I tilted my head, acknowledging his correction.
"Yes." Celestia answered. "Luna, I'll get Jackson."
Luna walked over to me. Celestia went to Jackson. She whispered something to him, and his eyes widened. But then, he nodded. "I'm sure." He said quietly. "Firestar already knows, though."
"...Know what?" I asked.
Jackson angled himself so only I could see his eyes, and they momentarily flashed green. His true, Changeling form.
"Oh."
"It'll be all but revealed to everyone, here."
My eyes widened. "You don't have to do this."
"I want to." He replied, immediately. "Are you going to dismiss my help?"
I shook my head. "Of course not. If you're set on doing this, then let's do it." I turned to Luna. "Whenever you're ready, ma'am."
Luna nodded. She grabbed my shoulders. Her horn touched the base of mine, and my head exploded. At least, it felt like it.
I saw Luna step back from me. "By the stars, tis just as much!" Her voice was talking volume. She was so shocked she forgot her Royalty Voice.
Dimly, through the searing pain, I wondered what had caused that. However, my focus was on other things. I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing happened. My mouth didn't open. No sound came. I couldn't move. None of my muscles responded. I had literally no control at all over any of my body.
Something popped into my vision. About three-quarters of what I could see was taken up by the new picture. A castle in ruins, with fire and debris flying out of it. A cannonball was heading straight for one of the castle's towers. The picture seemed holographic. Then, it disappeared. It came, again. The image was flickering. Then, it expanded. It went from most of my vision to all of it.
Sound. Movement. Touch. Smell. The image was no longer an image. I was witnessing an assault through the eyes of one Thunder Fury. I had no way of knowing if anything was happening, in the present.
The cannonball crashed into the tower. The air was filled with a large BOOM! Debris and shrapnel rained down from the hole. The smell of gunpowder from ancient times had filled the air (nowadays, with modern improvements, weapons are smokeless and shot gunpowder is scentless). The ground rumbled from the concussive wave of multiple canons firing, and their massive rounds impacting and exploding. Steel clanging against steel came from off to my left.
I turned just in time to block a downward slice from an enemy combatant's sword, with my own. I countered with a stab through the stomach, impaling my attacker. I then wrenched the blade upwards, cutting open multiple organs. My opponent fell to the ground, dying rapidly. I turned left a little more. "Star!" A male's voice came out of me. It was slightly deeper than mine, and the accent was... strange. It sounded like a cross between how I speak, and how ponies spoke in ancient times (Celestia later explained that it was my mind trying to translate, and that it sometimes doesn't differentiate between languages and accents, and the accents usually malfunction). Thunder continued. "Get the fourth battalion back to the south-most quadrant! If we lose the castle, the village is wide open!"
A yellow mare with a green-and-orange mane looked over from beheading another enemy, and nodded. "What about you?"
"I'll be right behind you. Go!" My ancestor turned around.
POV: Thunder Fury, 1st Person
Two enemies were charging me. One swiped downward, like the previous opponent, and the other swung sideways. I sidestepped, and angled my blade to block them both. The blades bashed against each other in a violent Clang! My foot shot out, hitting one opponent in his side, momentarily destroying his steady balance. I stepped further to the side, and ran him through, from his own side. The other hostile tried to cut me in half vertically, but I pulled out my sword, and blocked. When the blades hit each other, I forced his to follow mine to the ground, close to my left foot. I then used the opening that provided to swing heavily, with both hands, at neck level. I decapitated both of them with that swing.
I took a quick glance at the battlefield. Hundreds of ponies in ancient body armor clashed, wielding swords and shields. Blood and guts strewn about, coating the ground, and dyeing it a crimson red. I need to move, before this happens to the Princesses! I turned, and ran for a wooden structure, hoping no enemy archers would get a lucky shot.
I barreled through the destroyed wall on the far side, letting my armor knock away any wood that could've hurt me. I was glad that my armor didn't have any chinks, right then. Splinters are never fun. I continued running, hoping I could make it to the south-most quadrant.
While the process was boring as Tartarus, I was glad that I and my other warrior friends had memorized a gridded map of the castle, and its surroundings. We knew the terrain, and we'd come up with all sorts of strategies, for both offense and defense. But, as a famous phrase states; "no plan survives contact with the enemy." No matter our preparations, things always went wrong. We'd assumed that our enemy had much smaller numbers, and not even half the resources, than they apparently did. Two thousand of Equestria's best soldiers, fighting off a force at least three times that number. Probably more. We'd been prepared for about a one-to-one ratio, but being outnumbered this badly, we were having difficulties.
Also, they had artillery. Canons, a relatively new invention, and much-more-common assortment of trebuchets and catapults. The fact that a tower of the castle had already been hit did not bode well.
I shook my head. No use thinking about what could've been, in the middle of a fight! Move your flank, Thunder! I ran forward, coming up to another wooden structure. Upon entering it, I immediately went to a seemingly obscure section of the floor, and reached down. Pulling open the trapdoor, I dropped into the underground shaft. I raced down a few tunnel corridors, eventually coming across a set of steps. Climbing them, I pushed open the trapdoor. I was now much closer to the south-most quadrant: The last line of defense before the neighboring village. Before Ponyville.
Inside the small hut I'd just climbed into, a group of familiar ponies were hunched over a table. They were discussing defensive position placements, hoping to find a last-minute improvement. I saw Graceful Star, among them. She'd already made it here, somehow.
I walked up to them. "How are we doing?" I asked.
"Not good, Thunder." My friend, Silent Daybreak, replied. "Only half of the fourth battalion made it. We're understaffed. Instead of a hundred stallions, we've got maybe forty."
"Fu**." I stated, simply.
Star walked around the table. I realized she'd reverted to her natural form. Black chitin exoskeleton, with holes spread randomly, throughout her limbs. Green eyes stared at me, worried. "A scout came in only a minute ago. There's a force of at least three hundred coming in, and they're not looking friendly."
"Sh*t." I replied. "How are we supposed to hold off three hundred, with just forty?"
"Yeah, that's not exactly good odds." Another mare spoke up. Ticking Moonlight.
Just look at her, my heart warmed. Unfortuantely, the current situation was cold enough to still overpower it. A simple fact laid before all of us, hiding in the background, yet clear as day: We weren't going to survive this. Forty ponies, holding off three hundred? No amount of training is going to help that kind of situation. The best we could do is try and buy the civilians more time to evacuate.
"How are we doing, in Ponyville?" I asked.
The third stallion in the room, Burning Tide, spoke up. "Pretty good, but not good enough. They'll need at least three more hours."
"That force is going to arrive in less than ten minutes!" The last pony in the room, a mare by the name of Vibrant Cloud, spoke up. "Ponyville's only an hour away from here."
"Okay," I started, "the situation sucks. But I think we all know what we've got to do... somehow."
"Hold off a force three hundred strong with only forty troops?" Silent replied, sounding sarcastic. "Piece of cake."
"Then the cake is fu**ing lying to you." Tide remarked, hotly.
"Inanimate objects can't lie." Silent stated. "They aren't even alive."
"You're missing my point, you colt of a-"
"HEY!" I yelled, startling the two of them out of probably the tenth argument in the last two hours. "Arguing is not going to help us, at all. What will help is us getting out there! Ticky, are the defenses set?"
"As set as they'll ever be." Ticking Moonlight responded.
"Then let's get out there."
Graceful Star returned to her pony form, and we exited through the front door of the hut. Outside, forty ponies, all clad in metal armor, were rushing about. I saw a couple small, one-pony towers being set up on our side of a makshift wall. I glimpsed crossbow turrets inside of them. On my other side, I saw a metal catapult. A mass of black liquid was inside the launching bowl. Oil. A lit torch nearby would probably serve as the igniter. When the enemy force got here, they'd have to run through a big, hot fire.
I decided to spend the remaining time checking my armor, making sure there weren't any chinks that could be exploited.
Right when I finished, a scared voice exclaimed "They're here!"
I grabbed my sword, and got into a free spot in the mass of soldiers huddled around the gate, waiting for the enemy to breach through, and run into our blades.
"Hey, Thunder!" I looked over. Burning Tide tossed me a shield. I caught it, and slipped it on. I was threat, before, when I had only my sword. But my specialty was a sword-and-shield combination. If i went down, I was certain that I'd take at least a dozen of them, with me.
I glanced around, noting what weapons my friends all had. Burning Tide had a huge battleaxe. Fitting, as he was built like a tank. Silent Daybreak had opted for what I'd previously had; a single sword, held with both hooves. Vibrant Cloud was on one of the towers, using its crossbow turret. I could just barely see the tip of her bow, sticking out above the solid, stomach-high, wooden railing. I also saw her lance, strapped to her back.
Ticking Moonlight, coincidentally, had the same specialization as myself; one sword, one shield. I looked longingly at her, wishing this battle could end. Ticky and I had only been together for about a year, but I was already considering marrying her. I had even looked up prices of rings.
Reluctantly, I tore my gaze away from Ticking. Finally glancing at Graceful Star, I saw she'd opted to switch out her sword for a pair of knives. Well, she does move like a speed demon. I'd once watched her land four highly-successful attacks in a single second, with only one knife. With two, she a walking terror, on the battlefield.
I smiled grimly. With the six of us, they'll at least lose a hundred. Still, the odds are too far against us. The only way we'll leave this place, is loaded on a wheelbarrow.
Our crossbow ponies began shooting. At the same time, the Fourth Battalion's commander yelled out "Fire the catapult!" A few seconds later, the characteristic sound a catapult being fired reached my ears.
I saw a massive glob of burning oil fly above our heads, up and over the makeshift wall. Most of it, anyway. A couple small drops landed on the wall itself, prompting a few soldiers to rush over and extinguish it.
"Get back!" Vibrant Cloud exclaimed. "They've a ram!"
The half-dozen soldiers that had extinquished the flames scrambled back to us. However, two of them fell when the wall split open, broken pieces hitting them in the back with enough force to stagger even someone who was prepared for it.
"Charge!" Both the Fourth Battalion's commander and the enemy officers screamed. Battle cries rose from both sides of the wall, and two masses of flesh and metal surged toward each other.
The deafening sound of dozens of weapons clashing reached my ears. The smell of blood soon permeated the air. Cries of death, agony, and rage filled the gaps between each clang of battling blades.
I lost myself in the haze of adrenaline-fueled combat. Ducking, dodging, slashing, stabbing, blocking, twisting, that was all that was on my mind. I didn't think, I just did. One enemy tried to slice me in half. I blocked with my shield, and ran him through. His buddies tried to charge me. I stepped back, and used the tip of my sword to trip one, while I raised my shield to block the other's hurriedly-corrected lunge. I decapitated the one still on his feet, and used the momentum to spin around, ending with my blade stabbing downward into the tripped enemy's throat.
I glimpsed Star slit an enemy's throat, following up with a spin kick to his friend, and throwing one of her knives into an eye of the third. Somehow sensing the fourth enemy behind her, she sidestepped and turned. Grabbing his shoulder with her free forehoof, she stabbed him in the back, and pushed him into the kicked soldier's sword, in turn piercing him with the fourth's own blade. She turned, kicked a fifth's sword out of the way, right-hooked him in the face, drove a knee into his stomach, and used his bent form to deftly flip over him. Star moved her knife to her left forehoof, held it under-hoof, and left it in the enemy's head, right in-between his eyes. She bent down, picked up her first knife, and then retreived her second from the freshly-fallen corpse.
At several points, a clearing-like circle would form in the battlefield, caused by Burning Tide swinging his battleaxe a powerful 360 degrees. He usually accompanied the swing with a powerful yell.
I glimpsed Vibrant Cloud running two enemies through at once, with her long lance. At another time, I spotted Ticking Moonlight bashing the edge of her shield down on one enemy's head, while she stabbed another in the heart.
I don't know how long the fighting lasted. It could've been minutes, it could've been hours. All I know is, at the end, I found myself standing in a pool of blood, surrounded by fallen soldiers, both friend and foe. I looked around, and saw the dead face of the Fourth's commander. I didn't know his name, but many of my associates had spoken highly of him. I knelt down, and shut his eyes, giving him some respect that I believed anyone who'd known about him would.
In disbelief, I continued staring around me. We made it. I can't believe it. We beat them! Three hundred against forty-six, and we won!
Thunder Fury put out his hoof. In front of him was a door. But not just any door. This one was over five times his size, and he's not exactly a small pony. He pushed the door open with a single, anticlimactic push.
On the inside was a room larger than any I've ever seen. I'd guess at somewhere at least half a mile long, and no less than half that wide.
Thunder and co.'s steps echoed across the extremely-spacious room. On the far end, I saw the Princesses themselves. They were discussing something amongst themselves, quietly.
We stopped most of the way to them. Celestia turned to us. "Soldiers." She recognized us in her Royal Voice.
"You summoned us, Princesses?" Thunder called back.
"Indeed." Princess Luna replied, also in her Royal Voice. "Because of your valor, skill, and exemplary defense, we have decided to test you."
Thunder blinked. "... Test us?" He said hesitantly, confused.
"There has been an old legend." Celestia explained. "Six warriors, some of the greatest that will ever exist, will show their skill in a battle with impossible odds. Their spirits are those of true soldiers."
Luna looked us all in the eyes. "You are six, and you all have shown amazing skill and loyalty. We have chosen to see whether you are worthy of bearing legendary power."
Celestia's voice from real-time came. "Another time-skip."
Thunder blinked. Suddenly, we were outside some kind of cave. The wind howled, and sand went at his face. He held up an arm to block it, but the arm looked different. Feminine. Not Thunder's arm. I saw Thunder Fury pass me on my left. Huh? Oh! I realized I was seeing it all from a different set of eyes. Ticking Moonlight is also my descendant. I must be seeing this from her eyes, now.
Sure enough, Ticking Moonlight's voice came out of my host's body. "Finally."
Burning Tide, to Ticking's right, looked at the cave's entrance and scoffed. "Four days. Four days spent wading through all sorts of crap, four days of dangerous trrain, four days spent not winning the war, and we get a fu**ing cave?"
"It merely hides it true importance." Celestia's voice replied from behind me. "What is hidden within."
Ticking turned, and I saw that they'd been climbing a cliff-face. Celestia started to haul herself to her feet, but Tide offered his hoof, and helped her up.
"If it hides something so important," Thunder remarked, "then who's to say it won't have a guardian, deeper within?"
"It will recognize you," Princess Luna replied, "if you truly are worthy of its treasure."
"Recognize us?" Thunder repeated, with skeptical confusion.
"It might not even wake." Princess Celestia explained. "If you are all worthy, it will not attempt to stop us."
"What about you two?" Ticking asked.
"We are the Royal Alicorn Sisters." Princess Luna answered, already at the entrance to the cave. "We are allowed, despite not being the bearers."
"Oh." Ticking said simply. "That makes sense. I think."
The blue alicorn smirked. "Let us see what you have earned." She walked into the cave. Everypony else followed.
It was dark, wet, and slightly cramped. The Princesses lit the path with their horns; Luna in front, Celestia in back. Their hoofsteps in puddles and on the rocky ground were the only sounds to be heard, aside from the dripping water.
They came to a dead end, or so it seemed. "Hmm." Luna rubbed her chin. "What if..." She started searching the wall. After a couple seconds, there was a click, and part of the wall moved in. "Aha!" She took a step back in order to fully see a door-shaped section of the cave's rock wall move in an inch, and then slide to a side.
Luna looked at her companions. "Shall we?" She quipped with a smirk.
Stairs led downward for at least 50 feet, vertically. At the bottom was a large doorway. Standing between the group and the double-doors, however, was an even-larger statue. It looked akin to a medieval knight, even adorning a sword and shield. The blade itself was more than twice Celestia's size.
Burning Tide cautiously walked up to it. He tapped its foot with the flat of his axe. "This thing ain't moving." He remarked. "Either we're all chosen, it's already dead, or it's not the guardian."
"Let's hope it's the first one." Thunder walked up to the door, examining it. "Okay, there's no handle." He stated, confused. "How do we open it?"
Ticking Moonlight shrugged. "Open Sesame?" She joked.
Everyone tensed and readied their weapons when, upon Ticking's words, the door opened by itself.
Thunder cautiously went through the doorway. After glancing around, he sheathed his sword. "Clear."
Everypony put away their weapons and followed Thunder past the magic doors.
Princess Luna walked up to an old torch fitted onto the wall. "Interesting." She remarked. "It seems that whoever put this here expected at least one of us to be alicorns." Her horn sparked, and the torch came ablaze. Dark blue fire, yet somehow brighter than a normal torch.
"Magic torches." Tide stated. "Huh. What should we call them? Magi-torches?"
Sounds as good as any other name." Graceful Star replied.
Ticking did a small double-take as she noticed that Star was in her true, chitinous form, but otherwise made no comment.
"I found another one." Thunder said loudly from a few yards away, on the other side of the room. His eyes narrowed in focus as he stared intently at the floor between the two. "It looks like they're on some kind of grid. Odd."
"In that case," Celestia replied, "there's bound to be more. Let us dispense with lighting them one by one. Sister?"
The two alicorns linked arms at the elbows, and closed their eyes. Their horns sparked brightly, and a wave of light shot out from them. Suddenly, the whole room was lit by at least a dozen torches.
"Well." Ticking remarked. "There goes scrambling around in the dark."
"Thank the stars." Thunder replied.
The group crossed the room, and went through another doorway. They entered a huge cavern. At the far side was a source of light that wasn't a magi-torch. When we got close to it, though, I saw it was actually 6 sources. Necklaces. On them, symbols glowed. I thought the light emanating from them was changing, but on Ticking's on closer inspection, I saw it was the symbols, themselves, that were changing.
"Cutie Marks." Ticking stated, surprised. "They're flickering through Cutie Marks!"
"What, are these the previous bearers' Marks?" Thunder asked.
"No." Celestia replied. "There have not been any previous bearers."
"If they aren't previous bearers, then who are they?" Ticking said.
"Future bearers. Your descendants."
Confirming her answer, my own Cutie Mark flickered past; a medieval shield, with a pencil, sword, and a gear in it. At the top of the shield sat a light-bulb. The sword, shield, pencil, and gear symbolized the various uses of improvisation; defense, offense, science, and economy.
Finally, the symbols settled on weapons. Ticking's eyes found themselves staring at one necklace, in particular; it bore two daggers, with a pair of short-swords in the background. Ticking glanced at the Cutie Mark on her person. The same image adorned her body.
"That's... us." Thunder said, curiosity leaking out through his tone.
"Bearable items," Princess Luna stated, walking up to the group, "containing the immortal, powerful spirits of true, honorable soldiers. Each one is a Soldier's Spirit."
"Take them." Princess Celestia ordered, coming up behind her sister. "They have chosen your lines, and you are most certainly worthy."
"Our lines?" Burning Tide repeated, confused.
"Bloodlines." Thunder answered him. "Our bloodlines. Our descendants, at least some of them, will also be worthy. Am I right?"
The Princesses nodded in unison.
Thunder turned back to the necklaces. "Well, if they're ours, should we grab them?"
In response, Silent Daybreak wordlessly grabbed his necklace and put it on. He blinked. "Whoa. That's weird. I feel... stronger. Focused. More capable, I guess."
Ticking grabbed hers, and donned it. I felt it with her. It's hard to explain, but Daybreak put it a lot better than I could've. It was like a rush, but there was nothing to cause it. "Wow..." She exclaimed quietly.
"Agreed." Thunder replied, staring at his own new addition.
After the rush of power ebbed, Ticking and Thunder glanced around the huge, cavernous room. "Alright," he said, "we're done here. Let's head back. I want to win this war."
As the group exited the room, my view started glitching. "We're pulling you out." Celestia's voice said, in real-time.
My sight finally went completely white. Then, the white collapsed into HQ's mess hall. The floor moved. At least, it seemed to. It came rushing closer. My legs didn't respond.
Firm hands caught me. "Easy." Princess Luna's voice said. "Relax. Thy body is reconnecting to itself. Thee will be able to move in a few moments."
My head chose that moment to loll to the side, and I saw Princess Celestia explaining the same to an also-limp Jackson.
I was moved to sit on a table's bench, where Allen and Jackie supported me.
After a minute, Jackson and I could move normally, again.
"I've got a question." Someone spoke up. "If Graceful Star was... whatever she was, are her descendants that, too?"
"Not that I know of." Sarah replied.
"...I am." Jackson admitted. His horn flashed, and his true form was shown to all.
"Whoa." Someone said, as if in awe.
"Now that's cool." Another remarked.
Jackson blinked, his surprise obvious in his expression. "Wait... you aren't going to... kick me out?"
"Uh, no." Jackie said. "Why would we? Yeah, you're a bit different, but aren't we all?"
"This is a lot bigger than personality quirks."
"Should that make any difference in what we do?" I spoke up. "Because I don't think so."
"It's a little creepy," Leon remarked from a couple tables away, "but I'm with Firestar; I'm certainly not going to push you away, for how you look."
"I... th-thank you!" Jackson managed to get out, his eyes tearing up in joy.
Allen walked up, and clapped Jackson's shoulder. "You are no different in my book; you're my teammate, my friend, and my brother-in-arms." He turned to the rather-large crowd of ponies in the mess hall. "Who's with me?"
I wouldn't be too surprised if some ponies in Appleloosa heard the chorus of "Yeah"'s. My ears certainly did. Ow.
After the ringing stopped, I walked up to Jackson. I put a casual hand on his shoulder. "You did good, man." I told him. "No one's targeting you, no one hates you. Look at them. None of them care if you're all that different; you're still a person, still a Wolf. And you're still my friend." I surprised him with a welcoming hug.
Things were looking up.
"By the way," I turned to Princess Celestia. "who were those bad guys, in that war?"
Celestia grimaced. "They are the ancestors of today's enemy; Crimson Justice. We won the war, and let them live. We only exiled them from Equestria. After centuries of no further contact or sign of them, I had assumed they'd all died out. I wish that had been true; Crimson Justice does not fight for what their ancestors fought. They fight purely to bring Equestria to its knees."
"What did their ancestors fight for?"
Princess Celestia smiled sadly. "They wished to rule themselves; back then, neither my sistor nor I believed they would do more than scrape by, getting just enough to survive. They decided to rebel; it was a civil war that turned into a revolution."
I nodded. "For what it's worth, I think Equestria would still be in an un-unified Medieval Age, if not for you two."
While Allen and Firestar were spearheading their op, and I was unneeded, I was sorting through some of the documents assigned to me to figure out and catalog. I'd found a few that were interesting, but the vast majority of them were correspondences for things that had already happened. Some of them were even about us. It's slightly alarming, but also amusing, in a way. They know where we are, but they also know that, if they attack us, and defeat us, we'd still have some people that would make it out, and reconstruct Wolfhound, somewhere else. So they leave us alone. Well, mostly. I recalled some of the incidents we'd had.
Although the first one was a major attack, in a way, it hadn't been the only time Wolfhound had been defending its own turf. Both HQ and Beta Base had been attacked numerous times, over the years. I blinked. Has it really been that long? Feels like only a few months ago we were forming Wolfhound from scratch, with only half a dozen people. I sighed. When will this stupid, half-clandestine war end?
Sitting next to both me, and conversely the War Room Ops table, the War Room Radio station, or WRR, blazed on. An inbound radio transmission. And not one from Allen, either. "Wolfhound, are you there?" A soft but authoritative female voice came out.
I scrambled for the reply button. "Princess Celestia!" I exclaimed. "This is Wolfhound Command Operative Three. Jackie."
"Jackie," Celestia said, "I need a small favor from Wolfhound. I doubt it's anything too serious, as they're stations need to be replaced, but a certain... special military base has gone dark. It's only been a few hours, so it might just be equipment failure, but I'd like Wolfhound to investigate. I've heard you have a couple teams in a nearby area. I was wondering if one of them could be diverted to the facility."
"Of course, ma'am." I replied. "We'll get right on it.... May I ask, how is the base special?"
An embarrassed reply. "I may have ignored some - admittedly, rather strong - advice from a couple of my generals, and built only one missile silo facility. And stored all of Equestria's missiles, inside it. Another one is currently under construction, but, as of right now, all of Equestria's missiles and missile capabilities are located in a single facility. Which hasn't responded to check-in requests for a few hours. In fact, they're scheduled check-in was eight hours ago."
I gulped. That can't be good. "I'll get a team there right away, Princess."
"Thank you. I, myself, find it more likely to be equipment failure. Their youngest radio set is more than a decade old."
I blinked. Okay... that's not weird, at all.... "Um... okay. Let me contact Allen. He's leading the op that's near the facility. Wolfhound out." I flicked the off switch.
Technically, because of magic things that I can't understand for the life of me, modern radios rarely malfunction, as they're mostly based on magic. They're pretty much a box of plastic with a few wires that somehow enable the buttons on it to use magic. You're literally talking into a magical void. At least, that's what I gathered from a scientific speech that I barely understood a quarter of. Anyways, because of all that, saying things like "over" and "out" aren't necessary, anymore. You just talk into it, like a normal conversation, and that's that.
I just figured that, what with the other end being the Princess, I should be a little more formal. I hit a couple more buttons. "Allen?" I spoke. "It's Jackie. Celestia wants a couple guys to check out a nearby facility. It hasn't checked in, and it's a few hours past it's time." I explained the situation. Glancing at a map, I continued. "Looks like it's about eight miles east of your AO."
"Got it." Allen's voice replied. "I'll send Firestar and Jackson. Recommend you send in Wolfpack Seven, to assist. Just in case."
"Sounds good. They'll arive late, but they'll get there. That's it."
"Roger. This op's almost wrapped up. Should be outbound back to base in an hour, or so. Wolf One-One out."
Allen was the only one there who's earpiece was connected to the radio station, here. It was a higher-quality, much-more-expensive model that we just didn't have a lot of. The last time I'd checked storage, I'd counted only five of them.
I intercommed the barracks. "Wolfpack Seven to the Armory. Repeat, Wolfpack Seven to the Armory. You're to assist Wolves Two-One and Two-Two in investigating a missile facility that's gone dark. Additional intel will be provided by Wolf One-One."
Having nothing more to do, I went back to sifting through documents. I started mumbling to myself. "That one's about their assault on Canterlot... This is a roster of their assault teams that participated in their first assault on Wolfhound..." Two documents took me a whole hour to read, summarize, and catalog in our now-extensive supply of Crimson Justice documents and paperwork.
"Ooh! What's this? Operation Hot Sphere? What the fu**'s that? Some kind of breast joke?" I chuckled to myself. Jackie, you've got a messed up mind, sometimes, you know that? I opened it up. The first page was a map. Stars for footnotes were everywhere. Ugh. Great. Guess I'll be flipping front-to-back a bunch. Then, I noticed something. What's that? I sat up, alarmed. My eyes rapidly scanned a portion of the map. I flipped through, finding the footnotes. I read them. Oh, sh*t.
I took one last glance, and another footnote caught my eye. I read it, and then flipped back to the map. "Oh no..." I scrambled for the radio. "Allen!" I practically yelled. "Get them back! Now!"
"Wait, what? Who?"
"Firestar and Jackson. They're heading to the base? Get them back, now! It's a missile base, and Crimson Justice has just taken it over! They know we're coming, and they're waiting for us. They were counting on us going there. But they're set up for whole squads of us. Star and Jackson will be killed! Allen, it's a trap!"
1 1/2 hours ago...
Pov: Firestar, 1st Person
"Get down!" I yelled. We scrambled for cover. Just in time, too.
Boom! An RPG rocket hit the wall of the building we'd just left, blowing it, and the doorway next to it, to smithereens.
"Return fire!" I yelled needlessly. We poked up from our various positions, and opened fire. A dozen automatic rifles spewing multiple, powerful rounds per second quickly reduced the enemy's cover to dust. Followed by their bodies.
More bad luck. four buildings' windows popped open, revealing almost a whole platoon's worth of RPG's and machine-gunners. Sh*t.
We ducked as even more bullets than we'd just fired whizzed over our heads. One thing you could say about Crimson Justice; their guns may fire faster than most, but their accuracy is usually pretty bad. They trade quality for quantity.
"Wolfpack Two!" Allen yelled, from somewhere nearby, "Flank them! Right side!"
I peeked, barely, but it was enough. If we used a few buildings, we'd have a pretty sheltered run towards a lot of the enemy gunners and rocket troopers.
If we survived the initial dash, that is. A good ten-or-so yards of completely open ground to run through.
Huh. Okay. Forty-plus rockets and machine-gunners, and a huge stretch of no cover. Sounds pretty deadly. Oh, what the he**? I'm game! "Wolves Two-Two, Two-Three, and Two-Four! On me!" I yelled.
Jackson, Crystal Ranger, and Amber, respectively, all got ready to follow me.
"Allen, we're going to need some cover fire! Think you can give us some? Or are you too busy with your thumbs up your a**es?" I asked cheekily.
"Wait five seconds." Came the reply.
After what seemed like an eternity, because of the adrenaline rush... "...Go! Now!"
We ran. Don't ask me how, but none of us were hit. I shoulder-bashed a door open, and we scrambled into the building.
We quickly worked our way through the building. We came out the opposite side from the battlefield. "Let's go." I said, needlessly. We scrambled past one structure, looked like some kind of office building, and into another. This one was linked with the series of balconies and windows that the RPGs were firing from. We climbed some stairs to the third floor, and opened fire on the first group of enemies we encountered.
It all took about three minutes, max. In the end, all the RPG and MG shooters lay dead on the floors, and my team and I stood standing, without so much as a scratch on us.
We casually walked back Allen and the rest of his team. He was on the radio. We can't hear him, so he must be talking to Jackie, back at base. "-oger. This op's almost wrapped up. Should be outbound back to base in an hour, or so. Wolf One-One out." He turned to us. "Firestar, Jackson." He addressed my second and I. "I'm diverting you, on request of Princess Celestia, herself. A facility nearby has gone dark. We're closer than any Guards. Wolfpack Seven's inbound, but you'll get there first."
I blinked. "Um, okay." I replied. "What kind of facility is it?"
"Missile." Jackson answered. "Only one in Equestria. I'd read about it a few times, back in the Royal Guard."
I blinked again. "Why would there be only one?"
Jackson shrugged. "He** if I know, but it is what it is. When are we going, Cap?"
Allen gave him unamused look. "Now." He stated.
The path in the woods eventually led into a very huge clearing. I could see a main structure, and at least half a dozen silos. If Equestria ever used this facility, they could launch all those silos at once. I pity whoever would have these aimed at them.
I drove the truck into a conveniently-placed parking space, and we got out.
We opened the door into a room I didn't expect to find in a missile facility; a lobby/waiting room. Like what you'd find at your doctor's office, or something. I just mentally shrugged, and walked up to secretary's spot. Empty. I rang the bell. Nothing happened.
"Welp." I said, eventually. "There's no one here. Move deeper in?"
"Sounds as good as anything else." Jackson agreed. He walked past me, and opened a door marked 'Employees Only.' He glanced inside. "Looks like a control room."
"Oh yeah?" I asked, wandering over.
"Well, lots of computers, lots of buttons, a crap-ton of technical displays; if this ain't it, what is?"
"Touché. Is there a security room? Cameras?"
"Not here." Jackson glanced around the lobby, then pointed at another door. "Maybe that's it?"
It wasn't. I discovered the hard way that some janitor had decided to prank someone. I exited the closet sopping wet, water dripping down my body armor.
Jackson took one look at me and broke out laughing.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." I tried to keep glaring, but I couldn't help letting a few chuckles escape, myself.
After we recovered from that fiasco, we went through another door. This one led to a different part of the facility. Still empty.
"I'm getting a real, bad feeling about this." I muttered.
"Yeah, me too." Jackson remarked.
As I glanced around one last time before moving on, something caught my eye. "Did someone spill some coffee, there?" I pointed at a darkened section of the wall. I hadn't noticed it before, as it was in the shadows, but a crate I'd nudged earlier had put some light closer to it, just enough to see that something was there.
We went over to it. Jackson kneeled down to check it, but quickly came back up, pulling out his pistol. "That's blood." He said.
I took out my own pistol. "That's... a lot of blood, for an accident. Looks more like someone died."
"It's a solid, five-inch stain of dried blood; I'd say that's more likely."
I turned on my radio. "Allen, we've got a problem." No response. "Allen? ...Wolf One-One, come in!"
"Not good." Jackson said.
"All of Wolfhound's radios are enchanted." I stated. "They don't just stop working; we're being jammed."
"Crimson Justice must've gotten here."
"Yeah, but this is a missile facility." I replied. "Not only that, it's Equestria's only missile base. They wouldn't just kill and get out. They'd take it over. So where are they?"
Jackson and I stared at each other, the same thought forming in both our heads.
"Ambush." He said softly.
"Let's get out of here, before they trigger it."
We high-tailed it for the truck.
We made it outside. Then...
BOOM! The truck we'd came with blew up in front of our eyes. The shockwave knocked us to the ground. My head hit the wall, and I blacked out.
When I came to, Jackson was tied up and being held down by a couple brutes wearing Crimson Justice combat armor. I tried to move, only to have something land on me, holding me down.
Tom's maliciously-grinning face appeared behind his boot. "Well, look who's awake." He said. He looked up, and gestured to someone I couldn't see. "Tie him up; load them both into the truck." He glanced back down at me, staring at me as if imagining how great my head would look on his wall. "I have plans for them."
Oh, to he** with that! I swiped his foot off of me, and he lost his balance. As he landed next to me, I got to my knees. As I brought my fist down, intending to do some serious rearrangement on his face, he punched me square in my own. As he got up, I returned the favor with my armored boot, causing him to go sprawling.
I scrambled to my feet, only to see that he'd recovered just as quickly, and had pulled a tranquilizer gun out his holster.
The dart hit me square in the arm. I pulled it out, but I could feel my arm already going numb.
Deciding to end this quickly, I rushed Tom. The tranq fluid in my system, though, slowed me down. Tom simply sidestepped and pushed me down, as I ran right past him.
I tried to get up, but I'd already pretty much lost the battle for consciousness. I stumbled heavily, and tried to steady myself on a nearby wall. I only succeeded in bashing my head against it, as I fell.
Everything went black.
Chapter 17: Close Calls Galore: Part 2: Prison Breakout
I opened my eyes blearily, but quickly shut them, groaning. Light. Bright, painful light.
"He's awake." A voice I didn't recognize stated gruffly.
As I wondered who just spoke, it all came rushing back. The missile facility, seemingly abandoned. The ambush. Jackson and I got knocked out. We were captured.
A door opened. "Firestar," Tom's voice said, "wake up."
Tom. my blood boiled. I opened my eyes, blinking. After they adjusted, I looked around. The room I was in was small and spartan, uncomfortably akin to an interrogation room.
Then I saw Tom, standing there, armed with nothing but a smug look. My mind blanked. I tried to lunge at him, to wrap my hooves around his throat and squeeze the life out of him, but something held me down. I was strapped onto the table, bound my my hands, feet, arms, and legs.
I couldn't attack physically, so I lashed out verbally. "You piece-of-sh*t ba**ard son of a fu**ing bit**! I'll kill you! You'll rot in Tartaus, you motherfu**ing- AARGH!!"
One of Tom's buddies stuck an active tazer rod onto me. The pain stopped my ranting, and shocked out of my mindless, rage-filled, verbal hazing. I calmed down a bit, though the adrenaline rush still left me breathing hard.
"Well, if there's one respectable thing about you," Tom quipped, "it's your colorful mouth."
"Give me a gun." I replied. "I'm a respectable shot, too."
Tom smirked. "I'll pass."
"Scared?" I tried to goad him.
"Smart." He countered. "I'm not giving you a chance at me." He nodded to one of his friends. "Get what you can, but leave him intact."
When the interrogator grinned, I swear I could feel a chill go down my spine.
The only time I had felt worse pain was when Princess Luna sent me back in time, and that had taken mere seconds. The interrogator knew just the right spots to leave no permanent injury, and he knew how much presure to apply to achieve maximum effect. I was only in there for a half-hour, tops, but I felt like it'd been a century.
Don't ask me how, but I didn't break. They didn't get a thing.
I was eventually half-dragged to a cell. Jackson was there.
Whereas my escorts unceremoniously dumped me onto the floor, Jackson carefully lifted me up onto a rough cot that would serve as my bed.
I felt too weak to do anything, so I just lay there, with Jackson softly singing some kind of lullaby. I still don't know the name of it, or even what language it was in, but it was beautiful. Smooth, soft, comforting, etc.. I doubt I even lasted 20 seconds before I apparently drifted off.
When I woke up, it was dark, and I was alone. One guard stood outside the cell, and Jackson was gone. I started to worry, but then I heard footsteps. Three guards came to my cell, carrying my now-injured friend.
They opened the cell door, and one shoved Jackson inside. Then surprisingly, he followed. Jackson was roughly pinned to the wall.
"You're gonna pay for that one." The guard said. He spit in Jackson's face, and then planted a knee into his groin.
As the guard left, Jackson collpased. Through the pain, I could see a victorious grin on his face.
As he lightly chuckled, I quietly asked him "What the he** did you do?"
"I broke out." He whispered. "The interrogator and I were alone. He turned his back, and I morphed a little. Slipped out of the cuffs. By the time security came in, I'd broken both his arms, and a leg. I heard one mention that the interrogator was the only one they had; it'll be days before a new guy gets here. Now, all they can do is hold us."
I chuckled. "You fu**ing moron! You're terrific!" No interrogations meant time to regain our strength.
I checked him over, but found only a few bruises. "Tomorrow," I whispered, "we can work on how to get out of here. Let's get you up, come on." I carefully lifted him into his cot. "You feeling okay, besides the bruises?"
"Mostly. Nothing that getting back won't fix. You?"
"Now, yeah. When I first got here, I felt like I'd been hit by a stampede, and then trampled by Running-of-the-Leaves participants. Repeatedly."
Jackson laughed. "You and your strange descriptions. How do you come up with them?"
I chuckled. "I don't know; it just comes out." I grinned. "I guess I'm just special, that way."
Jackson grunted, amused. "You're special, alright." He deadpanned, teasing.
I shrugged, playing along. "Eh, having a brain's overrated, anyways."
After he finished chuckling, Jackson said quietly "Go to sleep, before you kill me with laughter."
The day after, we mentally noted down everything we could. What guard had the keys, where he had them, how many guads there were, how long each shift was, etc.. That night, we discussed the how's.
The next morning, as usual, there were two guards. Their shift changed. Me and Jackson sat around for about 20 minutes, waiting for the newcomers let their guard down.
At one point, I glanced over. Both guards were facing away from us. I nodded to Jackson. We silently got up. Jackson morphed into a very thin version of himself, and stepped right through the bars.
Meanwhile, I got behind the guard closer to me. I slipped my hands through the bars. A quick chop to the throat stopped any vocalizations. I then grabbed the guard, and held him against the cell door, choking him out. The guard foolishly dropped his gun, scrabbling to get my arms off of his throat.
The other guard had started turning, but Jackson had already normalized. Jackson kicked the barrel of the gun, knocking it out of the guard's hooves, then knifed right at the throat with his hand; a more pointed method than my chop, but with the same result. As the gun clattered to the floor, Jackson followed up with a knee to the stomach, and a twist of the neck.
Jackson casually sauntered up to my victim. A head butt with Jackson's horn leading the way into an eye socket finished him off.
Jackson picked up the keys, and unlcoked the cell door. He shiverd. "A horn can be used for a lot of creative things; stabbing should never be one of the them."
I chuckled. "At least you didn't discover a new kink."
"Don't even put that thought in my head." He replied.
I smirked. Picking on my friends is too easy, sometimes.
We grabbed the guards' weapons and uniforms, and tossed the bodies into our cots, covering and positioning them in a way that made them look like they were us, asleep. It'd buy us at least a few seconds.
I tried to remember anything I'd seen while I was escorted out of my cell. Think, Star! Was there an exit? I couldn't remember seeing any, not that I'd expected to; why would you bring your captive anywhere near where they wanted to go?
We basically just picked a direction and set off. We were in a cellblock, but it was empty. We were the only prisoners. I tried not to think of what that said about how often they captured, instead of just outright executed.
We passed a few hallways, some of which were occupied. The uniforms allowed us to slip by, but I didn't want to chance getting too close; uniforms don't do much, if a guard recognizes you.
We could've gone down any of the hallways; we didn't exactly know where we were going, anyways. Still, we eventually just turned into a random one.
It was initially empty, but when we got about halfway down, a door opened right in front of me.
"-And so I took the gun and shot the bulls-eye. Just like that!" A pair of guards walked out of the room, chatting. They looked like they were heading back to their shift.
However, upon seeing us so close, one's eyes widened. "What the f-!"
I blasted him with a mute spell, and then lifted him off the ground with my magic. Jackson fired a magic bolt of some kind, apparently doing kinetic damage, right into the other guard's eye. I saw brain bits splatter the wall. I finished my own guard by twisting his neck sharply.
Not used to using my magic that much, with that precision, I allowed myself a moment to recover. While I did have a huge mana reserve, that didn't mean I was able to use it all. It's more like a muscle than anything else; you don't use it often, then you can't apply it as much when you do use it. Even with an adrenaline rush, a mostly-ignored muscle is not going function nearly as well as one you use frequently. I can do the average "carry your stuff without your hands" stuff for half the day just fine, but that's about all I can do for any extended period of time.
Eh, call me an idiot; I have more natural power than most unicorns, and I barely use it. I have better wings than some pegasi, and I don't fly much. Sue me.
After the (very) minor magic-induced headache passed, I noticed Jackson had already dragged one of the bodies into the room. Ripping a piece of one's shirt off, I used it to clean up the blood and brain matter on the wall.
After hiding the bodies (and disposing of the mess), Jackson and I continued casually strolling down the hallway, hoping we'd find a map, or an exit sign. Yeah, like we'll just stumble upon the way out. That's likely. Eh, a pony can hope.
Two hallways (and a narrowly-avoided close encounter) later, we found a map. That was the good news. The bad news?
"You're kidding me." Jackson said. "We've got to pass right through multiple highly-populated rooms in order to get to the exit?"
"Well," I replied, "there are always the vents. Unfortunately..." I turned to one such air duct, which was about the size of my head, "... only one of us can fit."
"I'm not leaving you behind." Jackson stated simply.
"I'd have been surprised if you did." I replied. "Welp! Mess Hall and a couple of Barracks, it is! It was nice knowing you."
We walked off. As long as we kept pretending to be deep in a conversation, and avoided getting too close to other guards, we'd be fine. Surprisingly, we actually made it. Well, almost.
An alarm sounded. The PA system yelled out "the prisoners have escaped! They are armed and disguised! Find them!"
I'd reflexively glanced up at the PA as it screamed that out. When I looked down, I saw... every single person in the room staring right at me.
"Oh... sh*t." I said slowly, realizing just how screwed I was. I turned to Jackson. "I don't know what this looks like to you, but to me, this looks like a very good time to RUN LIKE HE**!!!"
And so we did. I was just glad none of them were armed.
PING! Eh heh... scratch that, a few were. Granted, pistols only, but still. More incentive. We didn't even bother shooting back, we just poured all our strength into running like the wind.
We turned a corner, and I shoulder-bashed the door in front of me open. Somehow, we'd gotten ourselves into the base's garage.
As we both scrambled for the nearest Humvee look-alike, I asked Jackson "You know how to hot-wire?"
"Eh, kind of!" He replied, yanking the door open. "I'll figure it out. Get on the turret!"
I got in, checked that it was loaded - breathed a sigh of relief when I found it was - and rotated it towards the doorway we'd just come through.
Not a moment too soon. The first three guys that scrambled through all went wide-eyed, and then went wide-open to the floor, with a few new holes to breathe through. Their buddies wisely decided to stay behind the door, blind-firing. I instinctively ducked as one got too close, and pinged off the shield the turret was mounted on.
"Jackson, hurry up!" I shouted, trying to be heard over the gunfire.
"Keep your shirt on, I'm trying! Almost there!"
A few seconds later, I was greeted with an exuberant shout of "Got it!" accompanied by an engine starting up. "Hold on to something!" Jackson yelled back.
I tightened my grip on the handlebars of the turret as Jackson floored the accelerator. We bashed right through the small bar blocking the path outside. I barely moved. This thing must be built like a fu**ing tank! Any normal car would probably have just severely dented its whole front, and probably thrown me right off.
Then, I had to put all my concentration on firing. Dozens of fully-armed CJ soldiers were sprinting around outside, some alone, some in clusters. All of them started shooting.
Luckily, being in a vehicle driving at 50+ MPH really throws off their accuracy. Unluckily, it did the same to mine. I probably hit one guy for every 10-15 rounds I shot.
We caught a small break as I managed to hit an explosive barrel sitting next to a parked truck, blowing them both up... setting off a chain reaction of huge explosions as the half a dozen other trucks sitting in a line near the first one also went up.
Why do I get the feeling this would be a perfect movie scene? I thought as explosions went everywhere, dramatically. Seriously, what the he**? This is like one of those movies with the huge robots that can transform into whatever they scan. Oh yeah, the sheer amount of explosions from them was because of the director. Something to do with water... a bay, I think?
... And that's when things took a turn for the 'we're fu**ing screwed.' A bona-fide tank rolled out of a nearby garage.
"Jackson, step on it! They've got a tank!"
"What? Fu**! ...Argh! This thing won't go much faster!"
"It'd better, or- Jink right!" I saw the tank's barrel aim directly at us.
I nearly flipped over the whole turret when Jackson made what was probably almost a 90-degree turn, managing to catch myself only because he then did the same to the left, in order to re-orient us.
I glanced in front of us. A small bridge, barely large enough for two Humvees to go side-by-side, was the only way across a huge gap, which looked akin to a canyon, of some sort. Despite the gap being at least 100 meters, I couldn't see the bottom, which meant that it was a very deep canyon.
The tank's round blasted a hole right in the center of the bridge. It also apparently, took out a central support beam; the bridge suddenly sagged right where the blast was. I saw said support beam fall, impacting directly against another beam. The process repeated, and suddenly the bridge was no longer a viable option for anything but walking, and even then, you'd have to feel pretty adventurous.
"Sh*t!" Jackson exclaimed. We were coming in too fast, from too close, to brake. He tried to yank us to a side, but the wheels skidded. We ended up perching on the edge, half off, half on, for a second. And then our turning momentum sent us over the edge.
"Fuuuuu**!" Jackson yelled out as we fell. I held on for dear life, and I could only guess he was doing the same.
We hit a rock shelf after only a few feet. The heavy impact jarred me, but I held on tight. The Humvee kept turning in midair, gravity helping its momentum along. We did a complete 180 before we hit the next shelf, much further down. The impact was hard enough for me to lose my grip, and I tumbled into the Humvee. I scrambled for a handhold, and just barely managed to grip the door handle, thanking the stars that Jackson had decided to lock it, before we hit yet another rock shelf. I hit my head on the roof, and for a second I thought the sensation of gravity attempting to pull me down to the back of the Humvee, rather than the floor, was just my dizziness. As my eyes glimpsed outside, though, I realized we were actually flipping.
And then we were upside-down. I thanked the stars that I hadn't fallen to the back when it, alone, landed on the next shelf, completely crushing the roof.
Following gravity, my head turned up, towards the front of the Humvee. Quite a distance below, I saw the ground. There was no rock shelf to - painfully - cushion our fall to a survivable speed. We were going to die, just like that; crushed by our Humvee by being inside it when it landed at a high-impact speed.
Jackson, however, had other plans. "Jump!" He yelled. "Right before we hit the ground, jump!" He unlocked the doors. His opened. Mine was damaged, and stuck. Thinking quickly, I scrambled for the turret. Climbing on top of it, standing on the shield, I braced myself.
"Make sure you put most of your strength into going up!" Jackson exclaimed rapidly. "Cancel out your inertia from the fall!"
There is no way in he** this is going to work. Not like Wolfhound's goal seemed like that, originally, either. If I live through this, I will officially declare Jackson a genius.
I waited until my eyes told me the Humvee was less than 10 feet from the ground before I let my legs straighten out, sending me into the most dangerous jump of my entire life. I didn't even bother using my wings. Trying to get myself to fly at this height would just sprain them; I had enough trouble getting them to work first-try on the ground.
... I won't claim I didn't scream my a** off on the way down, but I wouldn't say I'd deny it, either. As I fell, my mind decided to actually work right, and recalled a spell I'd learned as a Grade School kid, back when I was a slight parkour enthusiast. The spell cushioned your fall, a little. It was only meant to stop you from hurting yourself when you jumped off something a couple feet higher than you thought it was. This was a whole lot more than couple feet, but it was worth a shot. Targeting both myself and Jackson, I let it off.
It worked, but it sure didn't feel like it. As I landed, I transferred my momentum into a roll, but it still hurt like he**. Have you ever fallen on a stick? Try falling on a group of them from 15 feet up.
"...Ooww..." I barely choked out, sprawled on the ground. Every inch hurt, and I felt like I couldn't move. He**, I could barely breathe. I was just fine with laying here for a few years, go away. I'll get up when the world stops enjoying my suffering, physical or otherwise.
After what felt like an eternity - code for about 30 seconds - the pain dimmed. My breath returned, and I could move again. Which also meant I could inflict even more pain upon my person.
Two excruciating minutes later, I'd worked myself to my feet, and I was now leaning on a nearby tree. I heard footsteps, and pulled out my pistol, expecting to have to fight for my life while the pain - now more of a dull ache - from the fall partied throughout every inch of my body. I was happily surprised when Jackson hobbled into view, looking the other way, towards the wrecked Humvee.
I put the pistol away and called out "over here."
Jackson and I walked up to each other. Wordlessly, we both started chuckling, which soon dissolved into outright laughter, venting our nerves and adrenaline.
"I can't believe that really fu**ing worked!" I gasped.
"Me neither." Jackson replied. "At least, as well as did; I was expecting us to have to find our way home with a broken leg, maybe a dislocated arm or two."
"I cushioned us. An old spell I learned as a kid."
"I felt it.... Now, how do we get out of here? I seriously hope you don't think we can fix that wreck." He thumbed in the direction of the Humvee, now more like a pile of scrap metal than anything else.
"Nah. We'd need a whole lot of duct tape, for that." I quipped. Thinking for a few seconds, I told him "Take off the uniform."
"Wait, what?"
"Take off the uniform. If they find pieces of them in the fire, they'll think we died." I replied.
"... What fire?"
"Got any string?"
"Firestar, what the he** are you trying to do?"
"Trust me. Now, do you have any string?"
"Um, no. The first-aid kit in the Humvee might have some gauze, though. Hopefully it's long enough for whatever you need."
"Eh, just a few feet, I think." I said, nonchalantly.
Jackson blinked. "... A few feet? I doubt it."
"I suppose I could rip my jumpsuit up, a little. Tie some cloth in." I said, enjoying a chuckle at Jackson's raised eyebrow and completely confused look.
Eventually, I had a makeshift string made of gauze and jumpsuit cloth. I tied one end around my pistol's trigger, and used another string to secure the gun from moving, making sure it was aimed at the Humvee's engine. We placed one uniform in the driver's seat, and tossed the other in the back.
Standing a safe distance away, I yanked the string. The already-heavily damaged engine couldn't take the heat and power of being shot, once again, and exploded. Flames licked away at everything inside, burning the uniforms, seats, and now-empty first-aid box, along with everything else inside the Humvee.
"You do realize that, if they check, they'll see the uniforms are empty?" Jackson stated.
"Not if they just use binoculars. The second they see two uniforms inside the flames, not moving, they'll assume we're wearing them, and have already died. It's a risk, but it could buy us some time."
Jackson shrugged, and pointed at a nearby mountain. "I recognize that one; I studied Equestrian geography, a few years before all this happened. There's another Changeling hive hidden deep inside the mountain, which is why I was interested in it. Friendly, of course. Most hives are. Besides my own, of course. Anyways, whence we get to the mountain, I can figure out where we are."
"Well, then let's move before they check on our bodies and find us standing around, chatting." I said, patting him on the back. "You did a good job, back there. We both did, but you, especially."