Operation: Falling Leafby IrresponsibleCupidChaptersPreparations (Part 1)Preparations (Part 2)DepartureCuriousityPreparations (Part 1)Canterlot Royal Court May 5th, 1058 A.B. 1:28 PM Canterlot Castle was quiet. The birds were singing their songs in the gardens. The staff were contentedly sunning themselves outside, their job done for the day. The Royal Guards were slightly less stoic and would actually hold small conversation with the passersby. The castle was the perfect image of serenity. Then that image was shattered by one noise. The sound of galloping hooves echoed down the corridors as their owner made their way towards the Royal Court. Without hesitation, they threw open the great oaken doors and slid to a stop at the base of the Princesses' dais. The stranger threw back their cowl and revealed themselves as a member of LUNA. "Hail, Operative. What urgent news brings you galloping through our halls?" Princess Celestia asked the newcomer quickly. "Princess Celestia, my name is Lunar Aegis, and I come bearing, as you said, urgent news." Lunar Aegis paused briefly to catch his breath. Celestia was curious, now, as to what news this LUNA operative could have brought. Finally, she could contain her curiosity no longer. "Lunar Aegis, what news have you brought?" Lunar smiled slowly. He had a feeling that Celestia would grow impatient and ask him about the message. He thought about making her wait a little longer but decided against it. "Princess, LUNA has received a tip that a small group of hostile creatures are gathering in Whitetail Woods. Scouting operations have not reported back at all. LUNA is requesting permission to discover the source of the disappearances directly." Lunar Aegis stepped back a pace as he let his words sink in and waited for his answer. Then, for the first time during this report, Luna spoke up. "Aegis, you are granted permission to discover the source of these disappearances." "No! It's too dangerous, Luna! What if we lose the whole of LUNA?" Celestia cried out, turning to face her sister. "The LUNA operatives can handle themselves, they will not let themselves be taken." Luna replied nonchalantly. "Actually, Your Majesty, the disappearances were all members of LUNA." Aegis replied in the same manner. His words stunned Luna into falling backwards into her throne. Seeing this, Celestia offered a compromise. "Luna, what if we send the Royal Special Forces as well? That way we've got almost double the amount of operatives looking into this." Luna looked at her sister and realized she was right. "Alright, then. It's settled. Aegis, go report to the captain of the Royal Special Forces. Tell him what you told us, then inform him that they are to assist you in any way possible." When Luna spoke she had an air of finality about her. Lunar Aegis decided not to press the matter further. "Yes, Mistress of the Night. Your wish shall be done." Canterlot Practice Fields May 5th, 1058 A.B. 1:47 PM The practice fields rang with the dull thump of weapon hitting leather-padded wood. The newest Royal Guard recruits were going through their basic drills in one field. In the field to their left the Royal Special Forces were practicing unseen movement. Although they were better than the guards, they were still below LUNA's standards. Then I spotted an old friend standing off to the side, observing the RSF training. I trotted over to him casually. "Wind Rider! Remember me?" I called to him as I came within earshot. He turned his head towards me slowly. Although as soon as he recognized me his face went from a scowl into a grin. "Lunar Aegis! I haven't seen you in forever!" He replied, meeting me halfway across the field. We walked together back to where he had been standing. "So, what brings you here?" "I'm actually here to see the captain of the RSF. Do you know where he is?" "Yeah, he's right over there." He replied, pointing with one hoof at the figure standing over the RSF Operatives as they attempted to unsuccessfully hide from his vision yet again. "But what's this all about?" His face had a look of seriousness upon it that I've rarely ever seen. "We've lost some LUNA Agents up by Whitetail Woods. I was just talking to the Princesses about it. They gave the whole of LUNA permission to investigate, but they gave us a condition. We needed to get the RSF to help. That's why I'm here." I had hesitated for a split second, but decided to tell him, considering he's my best friend. Of course, he noticed that hesitation. "What was that?" He asked nonchalantly, implying that he didn't notice a really significant detail. 'Oh, he's good. But I can still see that he's actually really curious for some reason.' I thought to myself as I studied his face quickly. "What was what?" I replied in the same manner. That finally broke down his dam. "You hesitated before you told me the situation. Is there something you're not telling me?" His voice was a mixture of pain and curiosity. I decided it would be the better course to be honest. "Yeah, sorry. I just wasn't sure if I could trust you with those secrets. Again, I'm sorry." I apologized twice to make sure there would be no doubt that I was, indeed, sorry. The pain on his face died away, but only a little bit. "You weren't sure if you could trust your best friend?" His voice almost seemed to crack for a second, but it was to brief to tell for sure. Again, I decided to be truthful. "Yes. But you of all ponies must understand how imperative it is to hold on to secrets. Please, you need to understand." My pleas must have hit a part of him, a part known to me alone, hard, because his face immediately softened. "Yeah, I understand. I still don't like that you even considered that." He sighed. "Never again, I promise you. Now let's go talk to the captain." Preparations (Part 2) Swift Strike, the Captain of the Royal Special Forces, looked up as Wind Rider and I approached him. He called out for the operatives on the field to take a break. “Sir, Lunar Aegis of LUNA wishes to speak to you,” Wind Rider reported to his CO. “Does he now? What about?” Swift Strike replied. “Apparently, some operatives are MIA, Whitetail Woods.” “And what does this have to do with me, exactly?” “The Princesses are calling us out. They need us to provide back up to LUNA.” Judging by his facial expression, the Captain was getting ready to make some snarky comment, so I jumped into the conversation. “Captain, it’s less of a call onto the field and more of a suggestion. The only Princess you’d be upsetting is Luna. Although I do hope that you lend us assistance, I understand completely if you don’t. It is not a mandatory step.” Swift Strike turned to face me as if it was the first time he noticed I was there. “If it’s a suggestion, then why does it still seem like an order? Huh, Runt?” That upset me. When I was bullied, I was always called either “runt” or “shorty”, due to my being at least three inches shorter than everypony else. “You are going to far, Captain. I’m inches away from tearing your throat out here and now.” “Both of you, KNOCK IT OFF! Sirs.” Wind Rider swiftly put himself between us. “Seriously, you’re both acting like angry school colts.” I backed away from the Swift Strike, sat on my haunches, and stared at my hooves. ’I was this close to killing the Captain of the Royal Special Forces. And over something as small as a name! What good is a name if you soak it in blood, rinse it off, and soak it in blood again?’ I looked back up and made eye contact with the pony that I had come close to killing. He was still visibly angry. Now, putting my own life on the line, I stood up and walked back over to where Wind Rider was standing. Never dropping eye contact, I extended a hoof towards him. “I’m sorry. You just said something that triggered my fight or flight response. No hard feelings?” He looked at my extended hoof, seeming to think about whether or not to accept my offer. In the end, he decided to accept. We shook hooves and decided (well, I did anyway) that it was best not to hold a grudge. “There, see what a little forgiveness can do?” I rolled my eyes in partial amusement as Wind Rider gave his remark while sarcastically smirking. “Okay, Captain. What is your decision? Will you assist LUNA or not?” “Thing is, I’m not quite sure. If I help you, I could lose my own soldiers. If I don’t, we could lose all of LUNA.” “I’ll do it,” Wind Rider spoke up. “What? You’ll do what?” The Captain replied, turning his head to face Wind Rider. “I’ll take Razor Team and we’ll provide assistance to the LUNA operatives,” the white pegasus replied. “Are you sure about this, Rider?” “Whatever’s out there managed to take out several of Equestria’s best operators. Lunar and his stallions will most assuredly need backup. Besides, I’ve been trained by humans for these sort of missions.” “You have a valid point.” Swift Strike paused. Then, coming to a decision, he continued, “Alright, the matter is settled. Instead of sending all of our troops, you will take your group out and assist LUNA. That sound good?” “Never better, sir,” Wind Rider saluted and adjusted his bandana headband. “Alright, maybe we should go round up your troops now, yeah?” I asked Wind Rider. “Follow me,” he grinned. Royal Special Forces mission room, Canterlot Castle May 5th, 1058 A.B. 2:36 PM “Gather around, Razors,” Wind Rider announced to the RSF operatives who arrived in the room. I watched as Wind Rider’s personal team, known as Razor Team, gathered around the map table where Wind Rider stood. Rider had chosen quite the squad, I could tell. Fourteen young stallions, all in the pinnacle of their physical conditions, as far as I could tell. “First off, boys, I’d like to introduce you to Lunar Aegis of LUNA,” Rider waved his hoof over towards me. I nodded as I stepped next to Wind Rider, cautiously observing each of the stallions around the table, as I had been trained. I noticed one of them leaning and whispering to another. I couldn’t understand exactly what he said, but I swear I at least heard ‘LUNA’ and ‘dirty work’. “Hey, Rider. You got a couple of stallions to ‘convince’ to be quiet.” I whispered, motioning towards them discreetly. “I noticed,” he whispered back. He then turned his head towards the whispering stallions. “Dragonfly, Crimson, lock it up! This is an important mission straight from the Royals, we’re to be going in as backup for LUNA operatives for a reconnaissance mission to Whitetail Woods. I know what you’re thinking and no, we’re not doing LUNA’s dirty work. About three weeks ago, three LUNA operatives were reported MIA. Their last objective was Whitetail Woods, which is where we assume they went missing. The cause of their disappearance is currently unknown, though we assume there’s trouble. From what Lunar has told me, Celestia herself has recommended operatives from the RSF to assist LUNA in it’s reconnaissance, they’ll likely need it. Any questions?” “Yes sir,” the one named Dragonfly raised his hoof. “So, we’re basically going in as canon fodder for the deluxe models?” Wind Rider let out a very aggravated sigh. Obviously, he knew where this was going. I myself had a pretty good idea. “Dragonfly, we’re not going to have another ‘discussion’ about LUNA,” Wind Rider firmly stated. “If anything, we should be proud that Princess Celestia recommended sending us in. Any further questions?” I could clearly sense the annoyance in his voice. It seemed he and Dragonfly did not always see eye to eye. “Good, now ready up,” Wind Rider said after no other questions were raised. “We form up back at the barracks at 1500. Dismissed.” Just as Wind Rider’s team began to file out through the doors, I caught a glimpse at Dragonfly’s face. He still looked skeptical. “Everyone, if you don’t mind, could you just come back for a second? Especially you, Dragonfly.” “Lunar, what are you doing!?” Wind Rider whispered to me with an incredulous expression on his face. “You’ll see,” I whispered back as the team filtered back in. Raising my voice and head to address the team of RSF operatives, my gaze settled on Dragonfly. “Dragonfly, I noticed that you still didn’t like the thought of being pushed aside by LUNA.. So, I’ll give you this one chance to leave. But before you decide, I ask you to think about my words. I’m sure Dragonfly’s not the only one, so I address all of you when I say this. I understand completely that you may have your concerns about this mission. But believe me when I tell you that if you do nothing, you may die anyway. We don’t know what’s in Whitetail, but it is a danger to all of us. If you do nothing, all of LUNA, and eventually Equestria. I know personally that it is better to fight for something than it is to live for nothing. It doesn’t really matter what you choose, the outcome could be the same either way. But at least you have a choice. There, that is all. Thank you for listening.” As I finished, I turned and walked towards the exit, until I felt a hoof on my shoulder. I turned around to see a very bemused Wind Rider staring me in the eye. “What?” I asked. “Don’t ever speak that way to my team ever again,” he said. “Okay, so you don’t want me to encourage them? I’m trying to erase all of their doubts!” I replied, a little louder than was intended. My words quickly reaped a result as I began to notice several members of Razor Team glaring at me... including Dragonfly and Rider. “Encouragement, my flank!” Wind Rider suddenly shouted. “I really don’t want to get into it with you, Rider!” I shouted back as I shoved my way past him towards the door. “Just who do you think we are, Lunar? We’re Royal Special Forces, not some sorry-flank cadets!” Wind Rider took a deep breath to calm himself. “Of course, we’re more than willing to take part in this mission. But we’re not going to just be regarded as REMBs by LUNA. I’ve tried to be reasonable about it and I’ve tried to keep my team reasonable about it, but it doesn’t help when a friend of mine implies the exact opposite.” “Look, Rider. I was only trying to help. I was hoping you’d accept that, if nothing else. If you don’t like something that I accidently implied, than I think you should just leave me alone,” I called over my shoulder as I made it through the doorway and into the hall. As soon as I reached a door outside, I opened it and immediately took to the skies, headed towards LUNA Headquarters. LUNA Headquarters May 5th, 1058 A.B. 3:14 PM “Alright, Night Panthers, gather over here.” I called to the members of my team. Most of them were honing their skills, while all the others looked on with amusement. At my words, they all stopped what they were doing and hustled over to where I was. Twelve seasoned pegasi and two ex-Lunar Guards had been assigned to my team. We were called the Night Panthers by the other operatives because of our unique fighting style. We were usually given night missions and preferred to strike from the shadows. “Alright, boys, here’s the thing. You know those recent disappearances we’ve been having to deal with?” I paused as they all nodded in response. “Well, we’re being sent in to deal with the issue. But we’re not doing it alone.” “Are the Eagles helping us?” One of the younger members asked. I shook my head at him before responding. “No. We’re getting help from Razor Team,” I almost laughed at how long it took them to realize what I meant. The operative who had spoken up before asked one last question as a final attempt to deny what they all knew was the truth. “Is that a new LUNA team?” The others in the room could barely withhold their laughter, but they managed it. “No, Moon Glare, they’re a Royal Special Forces team led by my good friend Wind Rider,” As all of the operatives erupted into yells of dissent, I muttered under my breath, “Or at least... I think he’s still my friend.” It took them all a minute to settle down, but once they did, it was smooth sailing. “I don’t want to hear any complaining on this mission. Razor Team thinks we’re too stuck up to realize their true value. We need to show them that they’re wrong, that we can appreciate the talents of others. If we’re going to succeed on this mission, then we need to get along with Razor Team. We must succeed on this mission, no matter the cost. Any questions?” Moon Glare stepped forward sheepishly. “Why weren’t we supplied with more LUNA teams? I thought all the RSF was good for was sitting back and doing nothing.” As the other operatives vocalized their assent, I was having an internal debate. ‘Should I defend the truth? Or should I let them have their opinions as a twisted form of revenge? As much as I like the second option, all of my instincts tell me to defend the truth.’ Finally coming to a decision, I raised my voice above the conversation between the others. “SILENCE!” I yelled. There was exactly that. “Better. Now, I’ll have you know that the RSF, Razor Team specifically, have worked their flanks off on missions that we have never been asked to do. Although you may not like them, you still have to respect how much work they do. If you did that much physical labor, you’d probably drop from exertion. Now that that’s cleared up, are there any more questions? No? Have any of you been trained by Humans? That’s right, Humans. Still no? Alright then, if you ever want to know what those guys go through, you might want to start by doing twenty laps around the training field, then do weapons practice for a bit before going through an obstacle course. All with no breaks. From what I’ve seen, that’s just a taste of what they have to do sometimes. Try doing all that while bullets are whizzing past your head. Or while trying to stay undetected. Anyways, we meet in the Canterlot Throne Room at 1600. Dismissed.” With that, I led the way out onto the practice fields. I watched in satisfaction as several of them followed my advice. DepartureRoyal Special Forces Barracks May 5th, 1058 A.B. 4:03 PM Just as planned, I move down the road towards the RSF’s barracks, the rest of the Night Panthers following closely behind. Standing right outside the building was Wind Rider and the rest of Razor Team. They were giving us a no-nonsense kind of look as we came closer. Finally, when we were only five feet away from Razor Team, we stopped moving forward. Both teams stood in silence, eyeing each other as if assessing their chances in a fight. Obviously, it wasn’t going to come to that. After a few minutes of this, I decided to break the silence. “Well, we’re all here. Now what?” I asked, turning to face Wind Rider. “Well, we were wondering when you guys would show up,” Wind Rider smirked. The whole of Razor Team couldn’t suppress their laughter. The members of the Night Panthers behind me only barely managed to control themselves, but even then their faces were flushed red with anger. “Oh, come on, Captain Rider. We were a whole three minutes late!” Growls of assent rose from the throats of the stallions behind me. “Well, we’re all here now,” Wind Rider continued smirking. Looking from Wind Rider’s troops to mine, I noticed many differences. Razor Team wore black leather armor around their torsos, their weapons held in the harnesses, and on each of their forelegs was a leg band that showed the insignia of Razor Team, a red buzzsaw blade with a hole in the middle, whereas the bands on their right forelegs showed the insignia of the Royal Special Forces. A golden shield, two crossed silver swords in the front with a stallion’s skull overlapping both, the words ‘Royal Special Forces’ were written on the topside of the shield and the words ‘For Freedom & Glory’ on the bottom side and finally, a half sun and moon meshed together as the background. My team’s armor looked almost identical to their’s, only bearing a few subtle differences. Where Razor Team’s was full black, the Night Panthers’ armor was a dark indigo. Our weapons were similarly attached to our right shoulders. On our left shoulders, we had two patches stitched into the leather. The first one was a black panther head on a midnight blue background. The panther had red eyes and a silver sword held horizontally in it's mouth. This was the symbol of our team, the Night Panthers. The other one was LUNA's emblem. It was a silver crescent moon with eight black swords pointed inwards. The word LUNA is stitched onto the top. Midnight blue wings stretch out from the moon. This is all on a moderate grey background in the shape of a shield. “Alright, I guess we’d better start off with introductions. Night Panthers, this is Razor Team and their leader, Captain Wind Rider. I want you guys to remember that Captain Wind Rider is one of the Royal Special Forces best officers, personally trained by elite human warriors along with years of extreme experience. He has survived many things that would drop half of you dead in seconds, so I expect you to show respect to him as well as his team.” I saw some of my stallions looking warily at Wind Rider and Razor Team’s members. “That goes for you guys, Lunar Aegis is one of the best operatives in LUNA. He and his team have all completed highly elite missions that we’ve hardly been selected for. So I expect you guys to show respect as well, especially you, Dragonfly. I better not hear any gripes or it’s twenty miles up Hawk Mountain, am I clear?” Wind Rider loudly announced to his team. “SIR, YES SIR!” they thunderously replied in unison. I actually winced, Wind Rider was very demanding of his stallions. Threatening to send them up Hawk Mountain? That was one of the most rocky mountains in all Equestria, only the best had the ability to hike that landscape. “Well, enough standing around, we’d better inform the Princess of our preparations,” said Wind Rider. “I agree. Moon Glare! Go tell the Princesses that we’re preparing for the mission!” I snapped the order quickly and the Night Panther I had spoken to hurried to follow it, word for word if necessary. Although that wouldn’t give him much to go off of. “Dragonfly, go with him,” Wind Rider ordered his operative. ‘Oh no,’ that was the only thought that went through my head. The said operatives didn’t look very thrilled either. Moon Glare stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around to stare in surprise at Dragonfly, Wind Rider, and myself. “Um... with him, sir?” he asked me. “Yes, Moon Glare. Although I’m sure you don’t need an escort, Captain Rider probably wants his own representative there as well.” Truth be told, I wasn’t so sure about this idea either. ‘Hey, if Rider thinks it’s a good idea, I’ll go along with it. Despite what happened earlier.’ “Is there a problem with that?” Dragonfly asked, raising his eyebrow. “No not at all. It’s just-” Moon Glare didn’t get much farther before Dragonfly cut him off. “Just what? You don’t want to seen dead in my company? You still think you’re too good to be followed around by some lowly RSF operative? You think being seen walking, or flying, or running, or however you’re going to get to the Castle, with me is going to damage your precious reputation? If that’s what you think then I’m going to prove you wrong. Let’s go!” “Lock it up, Dragonfly!” Wind Rider cut in before the conversation could get out of hoof. “Just get your plots to the throne room and get back; and I better not hear any complaining, am I clear?” “Yes, sir!” Dragonfly saluted. “C’mon!” He motioned to Moon Glare as he quickly began trotting away. Though he seemed to be able to perform his order with no problems, I couldn’t help but feel some animosity from him. My logical side deduced that Dragonfly had most likely had a negative experience with LUNA operatives at some point, if his mannerisms were anything to go by. “I apologize for Dragonfly’s attitude, he’s got a bit of a gripe with LUNA, as many of my stallions do,” Wind Rider said to me. “Eh, no big deal. To be honest, that was expected beforehoof,” I replied. “Well, it’s not really a rivalry ordeal. Let’s just say most of the LUNA operatives we’ve worked with have been... less than cooperative, if you know what I mean.” “You’re basically telling me that the LUNA operatives you and your stallions have worked with were too stuck-up to help you with the heavy lifting. Correct?” “Not quite ‘stuck-up’, more along the lines of an unnecessary superiority complex. In their own defense though, they tried to be as professional about it as they could.” “Yeah, that sounds like a couple of the other LUNA agents I know,” I respond, before chuckling slightly. “Listen, I’m sorry about what happened earlier. Let’s just say the last time a LUNA agent gave us a speech along those lines... it wasn’t exactly polite, y’know?” “I know altogether too well. I do hope you understand that I meant well, though. I was only trying to boost Razor Team’s confidence. I guess it kinda backfired, huh?” “A little bit, but it’s all in the past,” Wind Rider smiled. I smiled back, looking over to the other stallions as the two teams began to mingle together. As expected, the Razors were a tad weary of my stallions, though it wasn’t obvious by any means. As for me, I was professionally trained and experienced for reading emotions. “So, how’s Arrow Dancer, Rider?” I decided to make small talk as we currently had nothing to do but wait. “I haven’t seen her for a while.” “She’s doing fine, she’s on a job escorting an ambassador in Saddle Arabia, nothing too dangerous,” Wind Rider laughed. “And you don’t expect her to get on your case for going on this potentially hazardous mission?” I smirked while cocking my eyebrow. Wind Rider simply continued his laughter. “Hey, after every life threatening event the two of us have gone through together, I don’t expect her to freak out too badly at what we may face.” I started laughing as well. “You have a valid point, my friend.” Arrow Dancer, my adventurous, arrow shooting cousin; and Wind Rider’s wife. When those two met, they were practically at each others throats, how they actually had feelings for eachother, I’m still trying to figure out. It wasn’t too long ago Wind Rider proposed to her, she reacted like a little filly getting a new doll. Unfortunately for them, Wind Rider’s job with the RSF and Arrow Dancer’s job as a Private Military Contractor made it difficult for them to make time together. I myself had not seen either of them for some time because of my duties. Just then, two of my Night Panthers approached us, particularly eyeing Wind Rider. “Captain Wind Rider, sir?” Midnight Nova said as he and Shadow Flight gave a salute with their wings. “Yes?” Rider replied. “We were simply wondering,” Nova began. “is it true... you were trained by elite humans?” Wind Rider glanced at me, bearing an expression that silently spoke, ‘seriously?’ “Am I to presume that you don’t believe your own CO... Master Sergeant?” he said after glancing at Nova’s rank insignia. ‘Oh, dear Faust,’ I struggled to resist the urge to facehoof while cracking up with laughter. I had known Wind Rider for years, he was married to my cousin for Faust’s sake, I knew where this was going. “Wha... ah... n-no sir!” Midnight Nova stammered as he and Shadow Flight were clearly caught off guard. “Then what’s the deal?” Wind Rider said, raising his eyebrow. “Well, sir...” Shadow Flight spoke. “... humans have the most extreme training in the world....” “And?” “.... and they are known to increase the difficulty of the training, depending on the species of their trainees...” Midnight Nova asked. “And?” I barely managed to suppress my snickering. I could clearly read the expression on Wind Rider’s face, he was about to pull it off again... “Well........... how difficult did they make the training for you sir?” Shadow asked after much hesitation. ‘Faust bless their souls.’ I thought to myself as my urge to burst out laughing intensified. Wind Rider just blankly stared at the two of them for a moment, while I struggled not to laugh. “You really want to know?” Wind Rider’s face grew into a wry, sinister smile. ‘Here we go.’ Nova and Shadow glanced at each other nervously. “Yes... sir?” Nova replied. ‘Colt, you just sealed your fate.’ “Well, in all honesty, the training I was given wasn’t too hard,” Wind Rider’s face suddenly reverted back to normal. Nova and Shadow turned their heads to each other, their faces bearing highly confused expressions. “They only knocked me unconscious, dumped me in the snowy mountain with no food or water, sent me across dangerous terrain, only communicating with me through letters, only appeared to me once and awhile, made me hunt wild animals with little more than a knife...” I gradually began to lose my composure as Rider continued his rant with the most snarky face you’ve ever seen. Poor Nova and Shadow, their faces were priceless, shocked by the information they were hearing. “Oh... and they forced me to eat meat,” Wind Rider finished, smiling like a mad-stallion. “WHAT!!!????” Nova and Shadow simultaneously chorused as they recoiled. I could no longer help it, I burst out laughing. “What?” Wind Rider asked. “It tasted like daisies.” Every single pony in the area was now staring at him, except for those of Razor Team, who were well aware of what Wind Rider had gone through in training. “Hey, Rider?” I said. “You’ve gained quite the audience. Why don’t you tell them the details?” I finished speaking and a huge, maniacal grin quickly spread across my face. Rider turned to me, bearing an identical grin. “Very well,” he said, adjusting his headband. “So, they cut open this dead bear...” He got no further, due to there being nopony around to listen besides Razor Team and myself, who couldn’t stop laughing even if our lives depended on it. “Alright, enough fun n’ games!” Wind Rider shouted after regaining his composure. “Aegis, get their flanks back over here.” “Alright,” I ran off in the direction all the Night Panthers had gone. Once I judged I was near them, I stopped, stomped a hoof on the ground once and waited. The Night Panthers quickly ran out of hiding and gathered around me. I started back towards where Rider and Razor Team were. “That wasn’t too hard.” That fiasco proved to be rather embarrassing for the Night Panthers, the Razors were all over them with taunts, though Wind Rider quickly ordered them to lock it up. Dragonfly and Moon Glare finally arrived about that time, the Princesses had given us permission to launch the mission, which they had codenamed, Operation: Falling Leaf. Outskirts of Whitetail Woods May 5th, 1058 A.B. 6:23 PM The Equestrian Sky Corps transported us three miles outside of Whitetail Woods via a small airship. After making our way to the outskirts of the woods, we readied weapons and prepared to move in. “Alright, pegasi to half tree level!” Wind Rider ordered the pegasi of Razor Team, composed of five pegasi (Wind Rider included), five unicorns, and five earth ponies, the ideal structure of a Royal Special Forces team. “Razor Team! Offensive formation Bravo, move in!” “Night Panthers! On me!” Considering the fact that my team consisted exclusively of pegasi, we were flying between the trees, trying to proceed as quickly and quietly as possible through the woods. “Skirmish Formation!” I called out as we continued forward. Our combined unit began our trek into the woods. In all my years as a LUNA operative, I couldn’t help but feel a slight presence of fear. We had no idea what we were about to face... and I had no idea how close I would soon come to an agonizing death. A strange screech rang out from a long distance within the woods, nothing like any animal or sapient I had ever heard. “What was that?” CuriousityWhitetail Woods May 5th, 1058 A.B. 6:30 PM Upon our orders, our teams moved inside the woods, unfazed by the strange screeching we had just heard, which Rider had ruled off as, “probably just a bird.” Rider and I positioned ourselves in the middle of our units as the mission entered it’s opening minutes. Soon, however, our forward operatives suddenly stopped. “What’s going on?” Wind Rider asked, his tone unusually serious. Moon Glare was the only one who responded. He raised his right foreleg and pointed at a misshapen form lying on the ground in front of them. Even without seeing what it was, the terrible stench that I could now smell in the air told me what it was... “A body,” I said out loud. Lying up against a tree was the corpse of a gray pegasus stallion... at least it looked like it; it was maimed beyond description. In all my years as a LUNA operative, I had never seen a body so... ripped apart as this. I literally could not begin to describe it. If I hadn’t seen similar corpses before, I almost certainly would have lost my lunch. Wind Rider pushed aside the stallions in front of him. He stepped up to the body and kneeled at it, closely inspecting it. After a few seconds, he turned his head to me. I could see that stone cold look in his eyes, that look he only had when he knew we were about to step into the proverbial meat grinder. Although the body looked like it literally had gone through one. “It’s one of the missing LUNA operatives,” he simply said. Snapping myself out of my trance, I stepped closer to the body, allowing me to partially make out some details. One of the Night Panthers, Black Bolt, snapped out of his trance and stepped forward as well. “No... no, it can’t be! That was my brother!” Wind Rider looked at him, the look in his eyes softening. “What was his name?” he asked. “Gray Wing, sir,” Black Bolt shakily replied, sniffling slightly. Wind Rider turned back to the body, reached towards the neck (or what was left of it), and retrieved the fallen soldier’s dog tags, though there was only one tag left. It was bent, scratched, and the chain was severed in half. Wind Rider stood up and held the tag out to Black Bolt. The black pegasus took it in his own hoof, though not letting go of Rider’s; he was clearly holding back tears. “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing we can do for him now,” Wind Rider calmly stated as he gently released his hoof. “We’ll have to mourn him later.” Shutting out my surroundings, I leaned in closer to the corpse to begin inspections of the wounds. Multiple large lacerations ran the length of the body- some still oozed blood, as if the body had recently been moved, while the others had begun to dry up. From the evidence present on and around the body, I drew the conclusion that the corpse had been killed- no- mutilated days previous to our discovery of it. Looking over the corpse one last time, I could see that Gray Wing did not suffer very long. It was definitely a very quick death. “Any idea what could’ve killed him?” Wind Rider asked me. “None at all. I’ve never seen anything like this,” I responded, rising from the crouching position I had observed the body from. “What do you think?” Wind Rider grunted. “Well, I don’t know of any creature or sapient that could’ve possibly done that much damage, unless there were several of them,” he said as he ran his hoof through his cyan mane. Looking around, I could see that Wind Rider had ordered everypony to spread out and form a perimeter. In my close inspection of the body, it seemed I had failed to notice the actions of the rest of the group. “You done there?” Wind Rider asked me. “Yeah.” “Razor Team, on me!” he rallied his stallions. “Night Panthers, gather ‘round!” I called to mine. “Prepare yourself, boys, this mission just became absolutely crucial. We’re not leaving until we find who or what did this,” Wind Rider addressed everypony, his stone cold look once again appeared in his eyes. The two combined teams chorused their agreement, although they did it quietly, as not to disturb whatever it was that did this. This would be so much simpler if we knew of any creature that had enough malice to do this. “Razor Team, re-form formation, move out,” Wind Rider ordered. Following his example, I turned back to my troops. “Night Panthers, Skirmish Formation, move up,” I ordered quickly. And forward we pushed, deeper into Whitetail Woods. As we moved inward, the image of the corpse still disturbed me. The more I contemplated it, the more I began to realize, no one creature or being could’ve mutilated that body the way it was. That pegasus hadn’t been killed, he had been destroyed. His body was shredded like a piece of meat from a gryphon slaughterhouse (they were particularly known for grinding their meat). My best guess was that multiple sapients or creatures were responsible for this, but what? Or who? Depths of Whitetail Woods, May 6th, 1058 A.B. 00:15 AM “What was that?” Wind Rider suddenly asked, his eyes darting to the side. “What was what? I didn’t hear anything,” I replied. “I thought I saw something glowing,” he spoke after a long pause. “I didn’t see anything,” I silently chastised myself. LUNA agents were supposed to be elite assassins, meaning we had to train our senses to become more acute than average. “Think we should set up base-camp somewhere nearby? It’s 2400.” I promptly checked the position of the moon. “That’s a good idea. Alright Night Panthers, we’re setting up camp! Fan out!” My team quickly spread out and formed a perimeter around a nearby clearing, Wind Rider ordered Razor Team to do the same. Using a small clearing, we made a small circle, removing our rucksacks and laying out our sleeping bags. After serving ourselves an impromptu dinner of some of the food we had brought with us, Wind Rider and I chose the watchponies from both of our teams to keep guard as the rest of us would rest up for what was sure to be a grueling mission ahead of us. “Hawkeye and Knock Out, stay on watch. Take an hour shift, then wake up Diamond Cutter and White Knight to take the next one,” Wind Rider ordered. “Just standard procedure, but I definitely don’t want whatever might be in here to sneak up on us.” The pegasus and earth pony stallions near simultaneously replied with a “yes, sir!”. “Shadow Flight, Moon Glare, you do the same,” I ordered my stallions. “Get --- and --- when you’re done.” With the orders given and carried out, the rest of the expedition went to sleep. It would probably be a hard night getting to sleep, considering the... scene from earlier. Wind Rider and I opted to stay awake for a bit and talk. “Still don’t have any clue what killed that stallion?” Rider asked. I shook my head. “At this point, could be anything. A sick, demented pony, a forest creature, anything. Besides, Whitetail Woods is supposed to be pretty calm and peaceful, according to intel.” “Who would’ve thought we’d be on a ponyhunt in the woods traditionally used for Ponyville’s Running of the Leaves,” Wind Rider chuckled. “I hope whatever’s in here doesn’t get to that town,” I replied. “If it comes to that, Razor Team and I will do what we do best.” “And that is?” I rhetorically asked, already knowing what Rider would say next. “Slice ‘n dice.” I smirked, hearing Razor Team’s motto. “Still, we’ve got to stay on the tips of our hooves for this mission,” I replied. “Whatever’s in these woods...” “Don’t worry, we’ll chew them up.” “I will never understand how you can stay confident like that in times like this.” Wind Rider shrugged. “For me, it comes with time, and the fact that I’ve survived Tartarus and high water more times than I could care to count.” I smiled. Our first mission together in months, but he was still the Wind Rider I knew. “Goodnight, Rider.” He did not reply. “Rider?” I sat up to see that he was staring off to the side, ‘the look’ in his eyes again. “What?” “Did you see that?” “See what?” “Hey, did any of you see that?” Wind Rider spoke up to the ponies on guard duty. “Wind Rider, what are you talking about?” I asked, sitting up as well. “I swear I saw something glowing again.” “I didn’t see a thing, sir,” White Knight reported to Wind Rider. The other stallions followed suit with variations of the same basic answer. “Where was it?” I asked him. “Right over there,” he pointed his hoof in the said direction. I swiftly slipped out from my sleeping bag, wing blades at the ready. Wind Rider followed in a similar fashion, grabbing his crossbow. “Razor Team, on your hooves!” The white pegasus quietly commanded. “Night Panthers, form up!” Every stallion scrambled to their hooves upon our orders, almost purely on instinct. “Dragonfly, Crimson Star, on me!” Wind Rider ordered before snapping his head to me. “We’ll investigate, stay here, I’ll signal you when clear.” “Roger, stay frosty,” I whispered. “Let’s move,” Wind Rider whispered to his small reconnaissance team before silently moving into the brush of the forest, Dragonfly and Crimson Star following suit. They quickly disappeared from my eyesight due to the darkness. As I stood there, I noticed something slightly cover part of the moon. After a few moments, it disappeared again. ‘That’s weird,’ I thought to myself as it happened again and again, with more of the moonlight being blocked each time until a fog denser than any other I’d encountered blotted out all of the moonlight and wove through the trees. “What the heck is that?” I thought out loud. At this point, the other operatives all began noticing the fog as well, silently whispering among themselves. “Sir, I don’t recall any reports of fog in the area,” Moon Glare whispered to me. “Strange,” I said, half to myself. Our task force had reviewed Ponyville’s Weather Team schedule before we arrived in the woods, as it was imperative that this black operation stayed black; there was no job scheduled for this area. “This isn’t right.” I turned my head to Glare. “Check it out.” Moon Glare thrusted his body upward into the air, using as little wind power as he could so as not to make noise. I kept my eyes locked on his figure as he ascended toward the fog. He landed softly a moment later. “Just fog sir. Continue with the mission?” he asked. “Affirmative, but keep your eyes and ears open. You never know what might be just around the corner,” I replied. “Especially with visibility reduced with this fog.” At that moment, Wind Rider, Diamond Cutter, and Crimson Star returned to the group. “Anything?” I whispered to Rider. “No, whatever it was high-tailed it.” “You don’t suppose there’s something following us, do you?” Wind Rider bowed his head, obviously contemplating my words. “Well, it’s too early to jump to conclusions, but given our current situation...” “I think our best option would be to remain on guard,” I finished. “Agreed.” Depths of Whitetail Woods May 6th, 1058 A.B. 3:10 AM After a practically restless three hour sleep, Wind Rider was promptly on his hooves, giving everypony our wake up call. “Everypony up, now!” Of course, Wind Rider was generous enough to give his team a little time to wake up... exactly three seconds. Everypony moved swiftly to repack their sleeping bags and ready their gear, a quick bite from each of our MRE’s and we were on the move. It wasn’t long at all until Rider noticed our anomaly. “Aegis? How long has that fog been there?” he asked. “Since last night.” Rider looked back up at the fog, a bewildered expression on his face. “That can’t be right. That’s not on the- ” “We know.” “Something’s not right here.” I shrugged. “Well, it’s not doing anything to slow us down, just normal fog.” “But where did it come from?” “I don’t know, but it’s not a priority. We could move it if we need to.” “Call me paranoid, but I think something’s up.” “Well what do you want to do about it?” “Well... if it’s not stopping us, I guess there’s no point in moving it. Still, I’ve got a bad feeling.” “That’s why I’m glad you’re on our side,” I smirked. Rider had that soldier’s intuition that served a mission well. Before we knew it, the sun had risen above dawn. We had been trekking into these woods from 0300 to 0700 hours.
Preparations (Part 1)Canterlot Royal Court May 5th, 1058 A.B. 1:28 PM Canterlot Castle was quiet. The birds were singing their songs in the gardens. The staff were contentedly sunning themselves outside, their job done for the day. The Royal Guards were slightly less stoic and would actually hold small conversation with the passersby. The castle was the perfect image of serenity. Then that image was shattered by one noise. The sound of galloping hooves echoed down the corridors as their owner made their way towards the Royal Court. Without hesitation, they threw open the great oaken doors and slid to a stop at the base of the Princesses' dais. The stranger threw back their cowl and revealed themselves as a member of LUNA. "Hail, Operative. What urgent news brings you galloping through our halls?" Princess Celestia asked the newcomer quickly. "Princess Celestia, my name is Lunar Aegis, and I come bearing, as you said, urgent news." Lunar Aegis paused briefly to catch his breath. Celestia was curious, now, as to what news this LUNA operative could have brought. Finally, she could contain her curiosity no longer. "Lunar Aegis, what news have you brought?" Lunar smiled slowly. He had a feeling that Celestia would grow impatient and ask him about the message. He thought about making her wait a little longer but decided against it. "Princess, LUNA has received a tip that a small group of hostile creatures are gathering in Whitetail Woods. Scouting operations have not reported back at all. LUNA is requesting permission to discover the source of the disappearances directly." Lunar Aegis stepped back a pace as he let his words sink in and waited for his answer. Then, for the first time during this report, Luna spoke up. "Aegis, you are granted permission to discover the source of these disappearances." "No! It's too dangerous, Luna! What if we lose the whole of LUNA?" Celestia cried out, turning to face her sister. "The LUNA operatives can handle themselves, they will not let themselves be taken." Luna replied nonchalantly. "Actually, Your Majesty, the disappearances were all members of LUNA." Aegis replied in the same manner. His words stunned Luna into falling backwards into her throne. Seeing this, Celestia offered a compromise. "Luna, what if we send the Royal Special Forces as well? That way we've got almost double the amount of operatives looking into this." Luna looked at her sister and realized she was right. "Alright, then. It's settled. Aegis, go report to the captain of the Royal Special Forces. Tell him what you told us, then inform him that they are to assist you in any way possible." When Luna spoke she had an air of finality about her. Lunar Aegis decided not to press the matter further. "Yes, Mistress of the Night. Your wish shall be done." Canterlot Practice Fields May 5th, 1058 A.B. 1:47 PM The practice fields rang with the dull thump of weapon hitting leather-padded wood. The newest Royal Guard recruits were going through their basic drills in one field. In the field to their left the Royal Special Forces were practicing unseen movement. Although they were better than the guards, they were still below LUNA's standards. Then I spotted an old friend standing off to the side, observing the RSF training. I trotted over to him casually. "Wind Rider! Remember me?" I called to him as I came within earshot. He turned his head towards me slowly. Although as soon as he recognized me his face went from a scowl into a grin. "Lunar Aegis! I haven't seen you in forever!" He replied, meeting me halfway across the field. We walked together back to where he had been standing. "So, what brings you here?" "I'm actually here to see the captain of the RSF. Do you know where he is?" "Yeah, he's right over there." He replied, pointing with one hoof at the figure standing over the RSF Operatives as they attempted to unsuccessfully hide from his vision yet again. "But what's this all about?" His face had a look of seriousness upon it that I've rarely ever seen. "We've lost some LUNA Agents up by Whitetail Woods. I was just talking to the Princesses about it. They gave the whole of LUNA permission to investigate, but they gave us a condition. We needed to get the RSF to help. That's why I'm here." I had hesitated for a split second, but decided to tell him, considering he's my best friend. Of course, he noticed that hesitation. "What was that?" He asked nonchalantly, implying that he didn't notice a really significant detail. 'Oh, he's good. But I can still see that he's actually really curious for some reason.' I thought to myself as I studied his face quickly. "What was what?" I replied in the same manner. That finally broke down his dam. "You hesitated before you told me the situation. Is there something you're not telling me?" His voice was a mixture of pain and curiosity. I decided it would be the better course to be honest. "Yeah, sorry. I just wasn't sure if I could trust you with those secrets. Again, I'm sorry." I apologized twice to make sure there would be no doubt that I was, indeed, sorry. The pain on his face died away, but only a little bit. "You weren't sure if you could trust your best friend?" His voice almost seemed to crack for a second, but it was to brief to tell for sure. Again, I decided to be truthful. "Yes. But you of all ponies must understand how imperative it is to hold on to secrets. Please, you need to understand." My pleas must have hit a part of him, a part known to me alone, hard, because his face immediately softened. "Yeah, I understand. I still don't like that you even considered that." He sighed. "Never again, I promise you. Now let's go talk to the captain."
Preparations (Part 2) Swift Strike, the Captain of the Royal Special Forces, looked up as Wind Rider and I approached him. He called out for the operatives on the field to take a break. “Sir, Lunar Aegis of LUNA wishes to speak to you,” Wind Rider reported to his CO. “Does he now? What about?” Swift Strike replied. “Apparently, some operatives are MIA, Whitetail Woods.” “And what does this have to do with me, exactly?” “The Princesses are calling us out. They need us to provide back up to LUNA.” Judging by his facial expression, the Captain was getting ready to make some snarky comment, so I jumped into the conversation. “Captain, it’s less of a call onto the field and more of a suggestion. The only Princess you’d be upsetting is Luna. Although I do hope that you lend us assistance, I understand completely if you don’t. It is not a mandatory step.” Swift Strike turned to face me as if it was the first time he noticed I was there. “If it’s a suggestion, then why does it still seem like an order? Huh, Runt?” That upset me. When I was bullied, I was always called either “runt” or “shorty”, due to my being at least three inches shorter than everypony else. “You are going to far, Captain. I’m inches away from tearing your throat out here and now.” “Both of you, KNOCK IT OFF! Sirs.” Wind Rider swiftly put himself between us. “Seriously, you’re both acting like angry school colts.” I backed away from the Swift Strike, sat on my haunches, and stared at my hooves. ’I was this close to killing the Captain of the Royal Special Forces. And over something as small as a name! What good is a name if you soak it in blood, rinse it off, and soak it in blood again?’ I looked back up and made eye contact with the pony that I had come close to killing. He was still visibly angry. Now, putting my own life on the line, I stood up and walked back over to where Wind Rider was standing. Never dropping eye contact, I extended a hoof towards him. “I’m sorry. You just said something that triggered my fight or flight response. No hard feelings?” He looked at my extended hoof, seeming to think about whether or not to accept my offer. In the end, he decided to accept. We shook hooves and decided (well, I did anyway) that it was best not to hold a grudge. “There, see what a little forgiveness can do?” I rolled my eyes in partial amusement as Wind Rider gave his remark while sarcastically smirking. “Okay, Captain. What is your decision? Will you assist LUNA or not?” “Thing is, I’m not quite sure. If I help you, I could lose my own soldiers. If I don’t, we could lose all of LUNA.” “I’ll do it,” Wind Rider spoke up. “What? You’ll do what?” The Captain replied, turning his head to face Wind Rider. “I’ll take Razor Team and we’ll provide assistance to the LUNA operatives,” the white pegasus replied. “Are you sure about this, Rider?” “Whatever’s out there managed to take out several of Equestria’s best operators. Lunar and his stallions will most assuredly need backup. Besides, I’ve been trained by humans for these sort of missions.” “You have a valid point.” Swift Strike paused. Then, coming to a decision, he continued, “Alright, the matter is settled. Instead of sending all of our troops, you will take your group out and assist LUNA. That sound good?” “Never better, sir,” Wind Rider saluted and adjusted his bandana headband. “Alright, maybe we should go round up your troops now, yeah?” I asked Wind Rider. “Follow me,” he grinned. Royal Special Forces mission room, Canterlot Castle May 5th, 1058 A.B. 2:36 PM “Gather around, Razors,” Wind Rider announced to the RSF operatives who arrived in the room. I watched as Wind Rider’s personal team, known as Razor Team, gathered around the map table where Wind Rider stood. Rider had chosen quite the squad, I could tell. Fourteen young stallions, all in the pinnacle of their physical conditions, as far as I could tell. “First off, boys, I’d like to introduce you to Lunar Aegis of LUNA,” Rider waved his hoof over towards me. I nodded as I stepped next to Wind Rider, cautiously observing each of the stallions around the table, as I had been trained. I noticed one of them leaning and whispering to another. I couldn’t understand exactly what he said, but I swear I at least heard ‘LUNA’ and ‘dirty work’. “Hey, Rider. You got a couple of stallions to ‘convince’ to be quiet.” I whispered, motioning towards them discreetly. “I noticed,” he whispered back. He then turned his head towards the whispering stallions. “Dragonfly, Crimson, lock it up! This is an important mission straight from the Royals, we’re to be going in as backup for LUNA operatives for a reconnaissance mission to Whitetail Woods. I know what you’re thinking and no, we’re not doing LUNA’s dirty work. About three weeks ago, three LUNA operatives were reported MIA. Their last objective was Whitetail Woods, which is where we assume they went missing. The cause of their disappearance is currently unknown, though we assume there’s trouble. From what Lunar has told me, Celestia herself has recommended operatives from the RSF to assist LUNA in it’s reconnaissance, they’ll likely need it. Any questions?” “Yes sir,” the one named Dragonfly raised his hoof. “So, we’re basically going in as canon fodder for the deluxe models?” Wind Rider let out a very aggravated sigh. Obviously, he knew where this was going. I myself had a pretty good idea. “Dragonfly, we’re not going to have another ‘discussion’ about LUNA,” Wind Rider firmly stated. “If anything, we should be proud that Princess Celestia recommended sending us in. Any further questions?” I could clearly sense the annoyance in his voice. It seemed he and Dragonfly did not always see eye to eye. “Good, now ready up,” Wind Rider said after no other questions were raised. “We form up back at the barracks at 1500. Dismissed.” Just as Wind Rider’s team began to file out through the doors, I caught a glimpse at Dragonfly’s face. He still looked skeptical. “Everyone, if you don’t mind, could you just come back for a second? Especially you, Dragonfly.” “Lunar, what are you doing!?” Wind Rider whispered to me with an incredulous expression on his face. “You’ll see,” I whispered back as the team filtered back in. Raising my voice and head to address the team of RSF operatives, my gaze settled on Dragonfly. “Dragonfly, I noticed that you still didn’t like the thought of being pushed aside by LUNA.. So, I’ll give you this one chance to leave. But before you decide, I ask you to think about my words. I’m sure Dragonfly’s not the only one, so I address all of you when I say this. I understand completely that you may have your concerns about this mission. But believe me when I tell you that if you do nothing, you may die anyway. We don’t know what’s in Whitetail, but it is a danger to all of us. If you do nothing, all of LUNA, and eventually Equestria. I know personally that it is better to fight for something than it is to live for nothing. It doesn’t really matter what you choose, the outcome could be the same either way. But at least you have a choice. There, that is all. Thank you for listening.” As I finished, I turned and walked towards the exit, until I felt a hoof on my shoulder. I turned around to see a very bemused Wind Rider staring me in the eye. “What?” I asked. “Don’t ever speak that way to my team ever again,” he said. “Okay, so you don’t want me to encourage them? I’m trying to erase all of their doubts!” I replied, a little louder than was intended. My words quickly reaped a result as I began to notice several members of Razor Team glaring at me... including Dragonfly and Rider. “Encouragement, my flank!” Wind Rider suddenly shouted. “I really don’t want to get into it with you, Rider!” I shouted back as I shoved my way past him towards the door. “Just who do you think we are, Lunar? We’re Royal Special Forces, not some sorry-flank cadets!” Wind Rider took a deep breath to calm himself. “Of course, we’re more than willing to take part in this mission. But we’re not going to just be regarded as REMBs by LUNA. I’ve tried to be reasonable about it and I’ve tried to keep my team reasonable about it, but it doesn’t help when a friend of mine implies the exact opposite.” “Look, Rider. I was only trying to help. I was hoping you’d accept that, if nothing else. If you don’t like something that I accidently implied, than I think you should just leave me alone,” I called over my shoulder as I made it through the doorway and into the hall. As soon as I reached a door outside, I opened it and immediately took to the skies, headed towards LUNA Headquarters. LUNA Headquarters May 5th, 1058 A.B. 3:14 PM “Alright, Night Panthers, gather over here.” I called to the members of my team. Most of them were honing their skills, while all the others looked on with amusement. At my words, they all stopped what they were doing and hustled over to where I was. Twelve seasoned pegasi and two ex-Lunar Guards had been assigned to my team. We were called the Night Panthers by the other operatives because of our unique fighting style. We were usually given night missions and preferred to strike from the shadows. “Alright, boys, here’s the thing. You know those recent disappearances we’ve been having to deal with?” I paused as they all nodded in response. “Well, we’re being sent in to deal with the issue. But we’re not doing it alone.” “Are the Eagles helping us?” One of the younger members asked. I shook my head at him before responding. “No. We’re getting help from Razor Team,” I almost laughed at how long it took them to realize what I meant. The operative who had spoken up before asked one last question as a final attempt to deny what they all knew was the truth. “Is that a new LUNA team?” The others in the room could barely withhold their laughter, but they managed it. “No, Moon Glare, they’re a Royal Special Forces team led by my good friend Wind Rider,” As all of the operatives erupted into yells of dissent, I muttered under my breath, “Or at least... I think he’s still my friend.” It took them all a minute to settle down, but once they did, it was smooth sailing. “I don’t want to hear any complaining on this mission. Razor Team thinks we’re too stuck up to realize their true value. We need to show them that they’re wrong, that we can appreciate the talents of others. If we’re going to succeed on this mission, then we need to get along with Razor Team. We must succeed on this mission, no matter the cost. Any questions?” Moon Glare stepped forward sheepishly. “Why weren’t we supplied with more LUNA teams? I thought all the RSF was good for was sitting back and doing nothing.” As the other operatives vocalized their assent, I was having an internal debate. ‘Should I defend the truth? Or should I let them have their opinions as a twisted form of revenge? As much as I like the second option, all of my instincts tell me to defend the truth.’ Finally coming to a decision, I raised my voice above the conversation between the others. “SILENCE!” I yelled. There was exactly that. “Better. Now, I’ll have you know that the RSF, Razor Team specifically, have worked their flanks off on missions that we have never been asked to do. Although you may not like them, you still have to respect how much work they do. If you did that much physical labor, you’d probably drop from exertion. Now that that’s cleared up, are there any more questions? No? Have any of you been trained by Humans? That’s right, Humans. Still no? Alright then, if you ever want to know what those guys go through, you might want to start by doing twenty laps around the training field, then do weapons practice for a bit before going through an obstacle course. All with no breaks. From what I’ve seen, that’s just a taste of what they have to do sometimes. Try doing all that while bullets are whizzing past your head. Or while trying to stay undetected. Anyways, we meet in the Canterlot Throne Room at 1600. Dismissed.” With that, I led the way out onto the practice fields. I watched in satisfaction as several of them followed my advice.
DepartureRoyal Special Forces Barracks May 5th, 1058 A.B. 4:03 PM Just as planned, I move down the road towards the RSF’s barracks, the rest of the Night Panthers following closely behind. Standing right outside the building was Wind Rider and the rest of Razor Team. They were giving us a no-nonsense kind of look as we came closer. Finally, when we were only five feet away from Razor Team, we stopped moving forward. Both teams stood in silence, eyeing each other as if assessing their chances in a fight. Obviously, it wasn’t going to come to that. After a few minutes of this, I decided to break the silence. “Well, we’re all here. Now what?” I asked, turning to face Wind Rider. “Well, we were wondering when you guys would show up,” Wind Rider smirked. The whole of Razor Team couldn’t suppress their laughter. The members of the Night Panthers behind me only barely managed to control themselves, but even then their faces were flushed red with anger. “Oh, come on, Captain Rider. We were a whole three minutes late!” Growls of assent rose from the throats of the stallions behind me. “Well, we’re all here now,” Wind Rider continued smirking. Looking from Wind Rider’s troops to mine, I noticed many differences. Razor Team wore black leather armor around their torsos, their weapons held in the harnesses, and on each of their forelegs was a leg band that showed the insignia of Razor Team, a red buzzsaw blade with a hole in the middle, whereas the bands on their right forelegs showed the insignia of the Royal Special Forces. A golden shield, two crossed silver swords in the front with a stallion’s skull overlapping both, the words ‘Royal Special Forces’ were written on the topside of the shield and the words ‘For Freedom & Glory’ on the bottom side and finally, a half sun and moon meshed together as the background. My team’s armor looked almost identical to their’s, only bearing a few subtle differences. Where Razor Team’s was full black, the Night Panthers’ armor was a dark indigo. Our weapons were similarly attached to our right shoulders. On our left shoulders, we had two patches stitched into the leather. The first one was a black panther head on a midnight blue background. The panther had red eyes and a silver sword held horizontally in it's mouth. This was the symbol of our team, the Night Panthers. The other one was LUNA's emblem. It was a silver crescent moon with eight black swords pointed inwards. The word LUNA is stitched onto the top. Midnight blue wings stretch out from the moon. This is all on a moderate grey background in the shape of a shield. “Alright, I guess we’d better start off with introductions. Night Panthers, this is Razor Team and their leader, Captain Wind Rider. I want you guys to remember that Captain Wind Rider is one of the Royal Special Forces best officers, personally trained by elite human warriors along with years of extreme experience. He has survived many things that would drop half of you dead in seconds, so I expect you to show respect to him as well as his team.” I saw some of my stallions looking warily at Wind Rider and Razor Team’s members. “That goes for you guys, Lunar Aegis is one of the best operatives in LUNA. He and his team have all completed highly elite missions that we’ve hardly been selected for. So I expect you guys to show respect as well, especially you, Dragonfly. I better not hear any gripes or it’s twenty miles up Hawk Mountain, am I clear?” Wind Rider loudly announced to his team. “SIR, YES SIR!” they thunderously replied in unison. I actually winced, Wind Rider was very demanding of his stallions. Threatening to send them up Hawk Mountain? That was one of the most rocky mountains in all Equestria, only the best had the ability to hike that landscape. “Well, enough standing around, we’d better inform the Princess of our preparations,” said Wind Rider. “I agree. Moon Glare! Go tell the Princesses that we’re preparing for the mission!” I snapped the order quickly and the Night Panther I had spoken to hurried to follow it, word for word if necessary. Although that wouldn’t give him much to go off of. “Dragonfly, go with him,” Wind Rider ordered his operative. ‘Oh no,’ that was the only thought that went through my head. The said operatives didn’t look very thrilled either. Moon Glare stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around to stare in surprise at Dragonfly, Wind Rider, and myself. “Um... with him, sir?” he asked me. “Yes, Moon Glare. Although I’m sure you don’t need an escort, Captain Rider probably wants his own representative there as well.” Truth be told, I wasn’t so sure about this idea either. ‘Hey, if Rider thinks it’s a good idea, I’ll go along with it. Despite what happened earlier.’ “Is there a problem with that?” Dragonfly asked, raising his eyebrow. “No not at all. It’s just-” Moon Glare didn’t get much farther before Dragonfly cut him off. “Just what? You don’t want to seen dead in my company? You still think you’re too good to be followed around by some lowly RSF operative? You think being seen walking, or flying, or running, or however you’re going to get to the Castle, with me is going to damage your precious reputation? If that’s what you think then I’m going to prove you wrong. Let’s go!” “Lock it up, Dragonfly!” Wind Rider cut in before the conversation could get out of hoof. “Just get your plots to the throne room and get back; and I better not hear any complaining, am I clear?” “Yes, sir!” Dragonfly saluted. “C’mon!” He motioned to Moon Glare as he quickly began trotting away. Though he seemed to be able to perform his order with no problems, I couldn’t help but feel some animosity from him. My logical side deduced that Dragonfly had most likely had a negative experience with LUNA operatives at some point, if his mannerisms were anything to go by. “I apologize for Dragonfly’s attitude, he’s got a bit of a gripe with LUNA, as many of my stallions do,” Wind Rider said to me. “Eh, no big deal. To be honest, that was expected beforehoof,” I replied. “Well, it’s not really a rivalry ordeal. Let’s just say most of the LUNA operatives we’ve worked with have been... less than cooperative, if you know what I mean.” “You’re basically telling me that the LUNA operatives you and your stallions have worked with were too stuck-up to help you with the heavy lifting. Correct?” “Not quite ‘stuck-up’, more along the lines of an unnecessary superiority complex. In their own defense though, they tried to be as professional about it as they could.” “Yeah, that sounds like a couple of the other LUNA agents I know,” I respond, before chuckling slightly. “Listen, I’m sorry about what happened earlier. Let’s just say the last time a LUNA agent gave us a speech along those lines... it wasn’t exactly polite, y’know?” “I know altogether too well. I do hope you understand that I meant well, though. I was only trying to boost Razor Team’s confidence. I guess it kinda backfired, huh?” “A little bit, but it’s all in the past,” Wind Rider smiled. I smiled back, looking over to the other stallions as the two teams began to mingle together. As expected, the Razors were a tad weary of my stallions, though it wasn’t obvious by any means. As for me, I was professionally trained and experienced for reading emotions. “So, how’s Arrow Dancer, Rider?” I decided to make small talk as we currently had nothing to do but wait. “I haven’t seen her for a while.” “She’s doing fine, she’s on a job escorting an ambassador in Saddle Arabia, nothing too dangerous,” Wind Rider laughed. “And you don’t expect her to get on your case for going on this potentially hazardous mission?” I smirked while cocking my eyebrow. Wind Rider simply continued his laughter. “Hey, after every life threatening event the two of us have gone through together, I don’t expect her to freak out too badly at what we may face.” I started laughing as well. “You have a valid point, my friend.” Arrow Dancer, my adventurous, arrow shooting cousin; and Wind Rider’s wife. When those two met, they were practically at each others throats, how they actually had feelings for eachother, I’m still trying to figure out. It wasn’t too long ago Wind Rider proposed to her, she reacted like a little filly getting a new doll. Unfortunately for them, Wind Rider’s job with the RSF and Arrow Dancer’s job as a Private Military Contractor made it difficult for them to make time together. I myself had not seen either of them for some time because of my duties. Just then, two of my Night Panthers approached us, particularly eyeing Wind Rider. “Captain Wind Rider, sir?” Midnight Nova said as he and Shadow Flight gave a salute with their wings. “Yes?” Rider replied. “We were simply wondering,” Nova began. “is it true... you were trained by elite humans?” Wind Rider glanced at me, bearing an expression that silently spoke, ‘seriously?’ “Am I to presume that you don’t believe your own CO... Master Sergeant?” he said after glancing at Nova’s rank insignia. ‘Oh, dear Faust,’ I struggled to resist the urge to facehoof while cracking up with laughter. I had known Wind Rider for years, he was married to my cousin for Faust’s sake, I knew where this was going. “Wha... ah... n-no sir!” Midnight Nova stammered as he and Shadow Flight were clearly caught off guard. “Then what’s the deal?” Wind Rider said, raising his eyebrow. “Well, sir...” Shadow Flight spoke. “... humans have the most extreme training in the world....” “And?” “.... and they are known to increase the difficulty of the training, depending on the species of their trainees...” Midnight Nova asked. “And?” I barely managed to suppress my snickering. I could clearly read the expression on Wind Rider’s face, he was about to pull it off again... “Well........... how difficult did they make the training for you sir?” Shadow asked after much hesitation. ‘Faust bless their souls.’ I thought to myself as my urge to burst out laughing intensified. Wind Rider just blankly stared at the two of them for a moment, while I struggled not to laugh. “You really want to know?” Wind Rider’s face grew into a wry, sinister smile. ‘Here we go.’ Nova and Shadow glanced at each other nervously. “Yes... sir?” Nova replied. ‘Colt, you just sealed your fate.’ “Well, in all honesty, the training I was given wasn’t too hard,” Wind Rider’s face suddenly reverted back to normal. Nova and Shadow turned their heads to each other, their faces bearing highly confused expressions. “They only knocked me unconscious, dumped me in the snowy mountain with no food or water, sent me across dangerous terrain, only communicating with me through letters, only appeared to me once and awhile, made me hunt wild animals with little more than a knife...” I gradually began to lose my composure as Rider continued his rant with the most snarky face you’ve ever seen. Poor Nova and Shadow, their faces were priceless, shocked by the information they were hearing. “Oh... and they forced me to eat meat,” Wind Rider finished, smiling like a mad-stallion. “WHAT!!!????” Nova and Shadow simultaneously chorused as they recoiled. I could no longer help it, I burst out laughing. “What?” Wind Rider asked. “It tasted like daisies.” Every single pony in the area was now staring at him, except for those of Razor Team, who were well aware of what Wind Rider had gone through in training. “Hey, Rider?” I said. “You’ve gained quite the audience. Why don’t you tell them the details?” I finished speaking and a huge, maniacal grin quickly spread across my face. Rider turned to me, bearing an identical grin. “Very well,” he said, adjusting his headband. “So, they cut open this dead bear...” He got no further, due to there being nopony around to listen besides Razor Team and myself, who couldn’t stop laughing even if our lives depended on it. “Alright, enough fun n’ games!” Wind Rider shouted after regaining his composure. “Aegis, get their flanks back over here.” “Alright,” I ran off in the direction all the Night Panthers had gone. Once I judged I was near them, I stopped, stomped a hoof on the ground once and waited. The Night Panthers quickly ran out of hiding and gathered around me. I started back towards where Rider and Razor Team were. “That wasn’t too hard.” That fiasco proved to be rather embarrassing for the Night Panthers, the Razors were all over them with taunts, though Wind Rider quickly ordered them to lock it up. Dragonfly and Moon Glare finally arrived about that time, the Princesses had given us permission to launch the mission, which they had codenamed, Operation: Falling Leaf. Outskirts of Whitetail Woods May 5th, 1058 A.B. 6:23 PM The Equestrian Sky Corps transported us three miles outside of Whitetail Woods via a small airship. After making our way to the outskirts of the woods, we readied weapons and prepared to move in. “Alright, pegasi to half tree level!” Wind Rider ordered the pegasi of Razor Team, composed of five pegasi (Wind Rider included), five unicorns, and five earth ponies, the ideal structure of a Royal Special Forces team. “Razor Team! Offensive formation Bravo, move in!” “Night Panthers! On me!” Considering the fact that my team consisted exclusively of pegasi, we were flying between the trees, trying to proceed as quickly and quietly as possible through the woods. “Skirmish Formation!” I called out as we continued forward. Our combined unit began our trek into the woods. In all my years as a LUNA operative, I couldn’t help but feel a slight presence of fear. We had no idea what we were about to face... and I had no idea how close I would soon come to an agonizing death. A strange screech rang out from a long distance within the woods, nothing like any animal or sapient I had ever heard. “What was that?”
CuriousityWhitetail Woods May 5th, 1058 A.B. 6:30 PM Upon our orders, our teams moved inside the woods, unfazed by the strange screeching we had just heard, which Rider had ruled off as, “probably just a bird.” Rider and I positioned ourselves in the middle of our units as the mission entered it’s opening minutes. Soon, however, our forward operatives suddenly stopped. “What’s going on?” Wind Rider asked, his tone unusually serious. Moon Glare was the only one who responded. He raised his right foreleg and pointed at a misshapen form lying on the ground in front of them. Even without seeing what it was, the terrible stench that I could now smell in the air told me what it was... “A body,” I said out loud. Lying up against a tree was the corpse of a gray pegasus stallion... at least it looked like it; it was maimed beyond description. In all my years as a LUNA operative, I had never seen a body so... ripped apart as this. I literally could not begin to describe it. If I hadn’t seen similar corpses before, I almost certainly would have lost my lunch. Wind Rider pushed aside the stallions in front of him. He stepped up to the body and kneeled at it, closely inspecting it. After a few seconds, he turned his head to me. I could see that stone cold look in his eyes, that look he only had when he knew we were about to step into the proverbial meat grinder. Although the body looked like it literally had gone through one. “It’s one of the missing LUNA operatives,” he simply said. Snapping myself out of my trance, I stepped closer to the body, allowing me to partially make out some details. One of the Night Panthers, Black Bolt, snapped out of his trance and stepped forward as well. “No... no, it can’t be! That was my brother!” Wind Rider looked at him, the look in his eyes softening. “What was his name?” he asked. “Gray Wing, sir,” Black Bolt shakily replied, sniffling slightly. Wind Rider turned back to the body, reached towards the neck (or what was left of it), and retrieved the fallen soldier’s dog tags, though there was only one tag left. It was bent, scratched, and the chain was severed in half. Wind Rider stood up and held the tag out to Black Bolt. The black pegasus took it in his own hoof, though not letting go of Rider’s; he was clearly holding back tears. “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing we can do for him now,” Wind Rider calmly stated as he gently released his hoof. “We’ll have to mourn him later.” Shutting out my surroundings, I leaned in closer to the corpse to begin inspections of the wounds. Multiple large lacerations ran the length of the body- some still oozed blood, as if the body had recently been moved, while the others had begun to dry up. From the evidence present on and around the body, I drew the conclusion that the corpse had been killed- no- mutilated days previous to our discovery of it. Looking over the corpse one last time, I could see that Gray Wing did not suffer very long. It was definitely a very quick death. “Any idea what could’ve killed him?” Wind Rider asked me. “None at all. I’ve never seen anything like this,” I responded, rising from the crouching position I had observed the body from. “What do you think?” Wind Rider grunted. “Well, I don’t know of any creature or sapient that could’ve possibly done that much damage, unless there were several of them,” he said as he ran his hoof through his cyan mane. Looking around, I could see that Wind Rider had ordered everypony to spread out and form a perimeter. In my close inspection of the body, it seemed I had failed to notice the actions of the rest of the group. “You done there?” Wind Rider asked me. “Yeah.” “Razor Team, on me!” he rallied his stallions. “Night Panthers, gather ‘round!” I called to mine. “Prepare yourself, boys, this mission just became absolutely crucial. We’re not leaving until we find who or what did this,” Wind Rider addressed everypony, his stone cold look once again appeared in his eyes. The two combined teams chorused their agreement, although they did it quietly, as not to disturb whatever it was that did this. This would be so much simpler if we knew of any creature that had enough malice to do this. “Razor Team, re-form formation, move out,” Wind Rider ordered. Following his example, I turned back to my troops. “Night Panthers, Skirmish Formation, move up,” I ordered quickly. And forward we pushed, deeper into Whitetail Woods. As we moved inward, the image of the corpse still disturbed me. The more I contemplated it, the more I began to realize, no one creature or being could’ve mutilated that body the way it was. That pegasus hadn’t been killed, he had been destroyed. His body was shredded like a piece of meat from a gryphon slaughterhouse (they were particularly known for grinding their meat). My best guess was that multiple sapients or creatures were responsible for this, but what? Or who? Depths of Whitetail Woods, May 6th, 1058 A.B. 00:15 AM “What was that?” Wind Rider suddenly asked, his eyes darting to the side. “What was what? I didn’t hear anything,” I replied. “I thought I saw something glowing,” he spoke after a long pause. “I didn’t see anything,” I silently chastised myself. LUNA agents were supposed to be elite assassins, meaning we had to train our senses to become more acute than average. “Think we should set up base-camp somewhere nearby? It’s 2400.” I promptly checked the position of the moon. “That’s a good idea. Alright Night Panthers, we’re setting up camp! Fan out!” My team quickly spread out and formed a perimeter around a nearby clearing, Wind Rider ordered Razor Team to do the same. Using a small clearing, we made a small circle, removing our rucksacks and laying out our sleeping bags. After serving ourselves an impromptu dinner of some of the food we had brought with us, Wind Rider and I chose the watchponies from both of our teams to keep guard as the rest of us would rest up for what was sure to be a grueling mission ahead of us. “Hawkeye and Knock Out, stay on watch. Take an hour shift, then wake up Diamond Cutter and White Knight to take the next one,” Wind Rider ordered. “Just standard procedure, but I definitely don’t want whatever might be in here to sneak up on us.” The pegasus and earth pony stallions near simultaneously replied with a “yes, sir!”. “Shadow Flight, Moon Glare, you do the same,” I ordered my stallions. “Get --- and --- when you’re done.” With the orders given and carried out, the rest of the expedition went to sleep. It would probably be a hard night getting to sleep, considering the... scene from earlier. Wind Rider and I opted to stay awake for a bit and talk. “Still don’t have any clue what killed that stallion?” Rider asked. I shook my head. “At this point, could be anything. A sick, demented pony, a forest creature, anything. Besides, Whitetail Woods is supposed to be pretty calm and peaceful, according to intel.” “Who would’ve thought we’d be on a ponyhunt in the woods traditionally used for Ponyville’s Running of the Leaves,” Wind Rider chuckled. “I hope whatever’s in here doesn’t get to that town,” I replied. “If it comes to that, Razor Team and I will do what we do best.” “And that is?” I rhetorically asked, already knowing what Rider would say next. “Slice ‘n dice.” I smirked, hearing Razor Team’s motto. “Still, we’ve got to stay on the tips of our hooves for this mission,” I replied. “Whatever’s in these woods...” “Don’t worry, we’ll chew them up.” “I will never understand how you can stay confident like that in times like this.” Wind Rider shrugged. “For me, it comes with time, and the fact that I’ve survived Tartarus and high water more times than I could care to count.” I smiled. Our first mission together in months, but he was still the Wind Rider I knew. “Goodnight, Rider.” He did not reply. “Rider?” I sat up to see that he was staring off to the side, ‘the look’ in his eyes again. “What?” “Did you see that?” “See what?” “Hey, did any of you see that?” Wind Rider spoke up to the ponies on guard duty. “Wind Rider, what are you talking about?” I asked, sitting up as well. “I swear I saw something glowing again.” “I didn’t see a thing, sir,” White Knight reported to Wind Rider. The other stallions followed suit with variations of the same basic answer. “Where was it?” I asked him. “Right over there,” he pointed his hoof in the said direction. I swiftly slipped out from my sleeping bag, wing blades at the ready. Wind Rider followed in a similar fashion, grabbing his crossbow. “Razor Team, on your hooves!” The white pegasus quietly commanded. “Night Panthers, form up!” Every stallion scrambled to their hooves upon our orders, almost purely on instinct. “Dragonfly, Crimson Star, on me!” Wind Rider ordered before snapping his head to me. “We’ll investigate, stay here, I’ll signal you when clear.” “Roger, stay frosty,” I whispered. “Let’s move,” Wind Rider whispered to his small reconnaissance team before silently moving into the brush of the forest, Dragonfly and Crimson Star following suit. They quickly disappeared from my eyesight due to the darkness. As I stood there, I noticed something slightly cover part of the moon. After a few moments, it disappeared again. ‘That’s weird,’ I thought to myself as it happened again and again, with more of the moonlight being blocked each time until a fog denser than any other I’d encountered blotted out all of the moonlight and wove through the trees. “What the heck is that?” I thought out loud. At this point, the other operatives all began noticing the fog as well, silently whispering among themselves. “Sir, I don’t recall any reports of fog in the area,” Moon Glare whispered to me. “Strange,” I said, half to myself. Our task force had reviewed Ponyville’s Weather Team schedule before we arrived in the woods, as it was imperative that this black operation stayed black; there was no job scheduled for this area. “This isn’t right.” I turned my head to Glare. “Check it out.” Moon Glare thrusted his body upward into the air, using as little wind power as he could so as not to make noise. I kept my eyes locked on his figure as he ascended toward the fog. He landed softly a moment later. “Just fog sir. Continue with the mission?” he asked. “Affirmative, but keep your eyes and ears open. You never know what might be just around the corner,” I replied. “Especially with visibility reduced with this fog.” At that moment, Wind Rider, Diamond Cutter, and Crimson Star returned to the group. “Anything?” I whispered to Rider. “No, whatever it was high-tailed it.” “You don’t suppose there’s something following us, do you?” Wind Rider bowed his head, obviously contemplating my words. “Well, it’s too early to jump to conclusions, but given our current situation...” “I think our best option would be to remain on guard,” I finished. “Agreed.” Depths of Whitetail Woods May 6th, 1058 A.B. 3:10 AM After a practically restless three hour sleep, Wind Rider was promptly on his hooves, giving everypony our wake up call. “Everypony up, now!” Of course, Wind Rider was generous enough to give his team a little time to wake up... exactly three seconds. Everypony moved swiftly to repack their sleeping bags and ready their gear, a quick bite from each of our MRE’s and we were on the move. It wasn’t long at all until Rider noticed our anomaly. “Aegis? How long has that fog been there?” he asked. “Since last night.” Rider looked back up at the fog, a bewildered expression on his face. “That can’t be right. That’s not on the- ” “We know.” “Something’s not right here.” I shrugged. “Well, it’s not doing anything to slow us down, just normal fog.” “But where did it come from?” “I don’t know, but it’s not a priority. We could move it if we need to.” “Call me paranoid, but I think something’s up.” “Well what do you want to do about it?” “Well... if it’s not stopping us, I guess there’s no point in moving it. Still, I’ve got a bad feeling.” “That’s why I’m glad you’re on our side,” I smirked. Rider had that soldier’s intuition that served a mission well. Before we knew it, the sun had risen above dawn. We had been trekking into these woods from 0300 to 0700 hours.
