3-now-1 was standing at the foot of the bed. The transmission feeds that 6 was sending had stopped. This either meant one of two things. 6 was somehow damaged, or 6 had been terminated. 6 had been good at following orders, but nothing else. 6 had always been careless, course, even, to an extent, lazy in whatever task was currently assigned.

"What do we do now?" 7 asked.

3-now-1 turned to face 7. "6 has been terminated. We will now finish this ourselves."

"How?"

"We will form a new plan to accomplish our goals."

"When?"

"Soon. Once we have a plan, we will be able to move and claim our target."

"How will we execute the fugitive?"

"We no longer need to be subtle. We will simply use our weapons."

"Then why not go now?"

"..."

"We could claim the fugitive's body and be gone before any of the local inhabitants are aware."

"This is a plan that we will use."

"Then we go now?"

"Yes. We will claim our target now."

7 and 3-now-1 both turned towards the door at the same time and walked towards it. They were ready and had a plan of action. They only needed to be quick enough so tha-

A knocking came from the door.

They stopped and looked at each other. After less than a second, they turned towards the door and made to open it.

It opened from the one at the door however, and she stopped them both with her stare. "What did you two do?" she asked, hostility clearly in her voice.

"We do n-"

BANG-chk-BANG-chk-BANG

3-now-1 stared as three holes, two in her chest and one in her head, exploded open from the force of 7's 7.76 x 39 AK-47 automatic rifle.

Her body hit the ground with a wet thump, blood already pouring out of her from the holes in her that 7 had put into her.

3-now-1 turned to 7 "Why did you do that?"

"She was unfortunate. She should have been somewhere else."

"What do you mean?"

"She was deemed a liability to the mission at her arrival and needed to be terminated."

3-now-1 hesitated for a nanosecond. Then he raised his 5.56 x 45 mm_NATO M416 automatic rifle to 7 and let lose a volley of bullets, tearing 7 into bright red meaty chunks.

During this, the message "Why?" was received from 7.

"Because you were are a liability to the mission and needed to be terminated," 3-now-1 told the shredded corpse of 7 as the light left 7's eyes.

"..."

"..."

"... Understood."

3-now-1 turned and left the room. The fugitive needed to be terminated and it was going to be done today.

***

Luna was talking to Gentle Breeze and Sky Fire about the creature for what seemed like hours. But in reality, it had only been about twenty minutes. She awaited the return of her sister so she could feel safe again in this room. Even though the two guards in the room with her assured her that he was in no way dangerous to her as long as they were there, she still felt uneasy about the situation as a whole.

"So you are saying that as long as he is near you, he can cause no harm?" Luna asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hmm, more like if we're there to stop him, but yeah," Sky Fire said.

"Do you think that your presence alone could keep him from doing damage to property or ponies?" Luna asked.

"Of course!" Sky Fire beamed. "As long as we're here, he won't do anything."

"But if that isn't the case, would you be able to stop him if he really wanted to hurt you or somepony else?"

She was silent after that.

"We thought as much..." Breathed Luna.

Off in the distance they heard loud banging noises. After a few seconds, they heard more, but less like banging and more like a deep popping.

"What was that...?" Gentle Breeze wondered aloud.

Luna's eyes went wide. "Get the guards! Quickly, you must summon every last guard in the palace to us!"

The two in the room with her went stiff as they heard the urgency in her voice. They didn't know what was happening, but they knew that they needed to do as she said. They flew off at lightning speed and called the guards to them as the flew through the palace corridors.

Luna started to shiver slightly in her spot on the hospital bed. As the seconds went by, tears came to her eyes. She tried to send mental messages to her sister, but she wouldn't respond. Along with that, she felt as though a blade of ice was plunged into her heart, filling her with dread. Her sister was dead, and she knew it.

***

Sky Fire and Gentle Breeze took different paths to cover more ground as quickly as possible. They flew through hallway after hallway, screaming for every last guard in the castle to make for the hospital wing.

There were dozens of guards. Hundreds of them. Nearly a thousand left their post and galloped at full speed to the hospital at the call of Luna's personal guards. Every last guard in the castle ran to the aid of the princess. They didn't know what they were needed for, but they knew that they had to respond to the call for rally.

***

Luna stopped the flow of tears and wiped her face off with a hoof as the first of the guards could be heard galloping towards her. She looked at them as the entered. Lieutenants, sergeants, corporals, and every other rank there was now stood before her. "Guards," Luna started, "as you know, there are creatures in this castle from another world."

Every guard- that could fit into the room- nodded at her.

"It seems that they have betrayed our trust, and have harmed our sister. We do not know this for certain, but the feeling of loss and dread is enough for us to be sure that something has happened to her."

Every guard stiffened as they heard this.

"She told us that she was going to visit the creatures in their room here, then our mental link disappeared and this feeling came over us. It is clear that the beings that we trusted in our home have tricked us."

Many of the guards seemed to growl in anger when she said this.

"For this, they must be punished. They are in the abandoned corridors to the west of here. Go forth, and make them pay, my loyal subjects."

Every guard at once galloped from the room, intent on making whoever hurt their princess pay with their life.

***

Everything was a blank, empty abyss. No light, no dark, no life, no death. Just... nothing. Wayne didn't know where he was, or why he was here. But he knew that he had to get out. But how do you get out of nothing? That was like asking how to see air. You can't.

He tried to move, but he couldn't feel anything other than the beating of his heart. It was slow. Much slower than it should be. Not being able to feel his limbs made it hard to tell if he was moving or not, so he just lay there, not moving at all. Wait, laying? He was laying down? Yes... Yes, he could just barely feel the bed underneath him. Wait. He could feel the bed. He could feel! He tried to move again, but couldn't.

A sound met his ears. Feet... No, hooves. Like a horse. A horse... Horse...

Wayne's eyes snapped opened at once. He remembered where he was, and why he was here. He wanted to move. Needed to move. But some unseen force just wouldn't let him. He tried to move his head to see what was happening, but only just managed to have it flop to the side. Great. This was really helpful. He could see the door and... He could see that blue horse from before.

It must have known that he was looking at it and turned to face him. Its eyes widened in shock from seeing him awake and staring at it. It backed away as best it could while on its cot.

Wayne tried to open his mouth to say something to it. He couldn't feel his tongue and all that came out was a garbled slur.

The horse blinked at him.

He tried to move again, but still couldn't even raise his arms.

The sound of gunfire tore through the air around them.

Wayne looked at the horse as its eyes widened.

He heard screams of pain and terror as the gunfire continued. It was slowly getting closer to him, but he still couldn't move.

The horse looked at his struggles and seemed to look at him with... sadness? Why would that stupid fucking horse be sad at him?! He needed to get up! He needed to get away! Why couldn't this stupid fucking-

The gunfire stopped as the sounds of hooves pounding past the door met his ears.

Two familiar form sped through the doors and quickly slammed them shut. The orange one and the white one were panting hard and leaning against the door. They were covered in blood.

Seeing this, Wayne tried to move again. He forced his body into overdrive as his muscles screamed at him to stop. He lifted his arm up in the air and tried to roll over.

The two horses saw this and rushed over to him.

He lifted his head and tried to get the rest of his body up. He used his arms to push himself up while the two beside him pulled him gently off of the cot. He was on his feet and walking towards the door with the help of the two horses. He needed to get out, to get away from that god damned merc. He had no weapons, he was nearly dead as it was, and he could barely walk on his own.

The door was kicked in violently.

Wayne stood there as he looked at the merc, his gun pointing at Wayne's head.

"Surrender now or you will be terminated," the merc told him.

Wayne looked around him for any chance at escape. He saw walls. Walls, the door and... the windows... He looked to the two horses and saw their wings. Wayne smiled slightly as he formed a plan.

He made a grunting noise and they looked at him. He looked at the windows, and they followed his line of sight.

Wayne raised his hands in the air and walked towards the wall, right next to a large window and took the arresting position.

The merc was behind him in seconds. "You will be taken to the grand courts and found guilty for your crimes against our great government. You will-"

Wayne elbowed him in the face and spun around, ignoring the pain flaring in his stomach. He grabbed the merc by the neck and slammed him against the window, shattering it.

The merc hung by only Wayne's arms as he dangled three stories above the ground. The merc looked to Wayne, a blank expression on his face as he reached for his gun.

"I told ya to go fuck yerself!" Wayne growled as he let the merc drop out of the window.

The merc raised his gun and tried to aim at Wayne, but didn't have time.

Wayne felt a tug at the bandages wrapped tightly around his chest. He was pulled forward, half-way out of the window. The merc's rifle barrel was caught on his bandages. His eyes widened as he as pulled out of the window all the way.

The two horses screamed from behind him.

Wayne pushed the gun away as he fell, the merc only a foot ahead of him. he grabbed the merc's shoulders as they fell together.

They hit a tree. Branches and twigs scratched and tore at their skin as they fell, causing Wayne to yell in pain. They came to a sudden stop.

Wayne looked down and saw a huge branch gore through the merc's chest, another through his waist.

The branch creaked.

The merc swung his gun up to aim at Wayne, but Wayne moved faster.

He swung his fist into the face of the merc, causing the branch to groan under the pressure. He took the barrel of the gun in his hands and tore it from the grip of the merc. He pointed it at the the merc, ready to kill.

The branch snapped, sending both of them tumbling down at least ten feet before crashing to the ground.

Wayne groaned from where he landed on the ground, agony coursing through his system.

A boot collided with his face, sending him rolling across the ground.

Wayne blinked up at the form above him in confusion.

It was the merc. He still had the branches in his chest and waist, but didn't seem to care as he tried to kick Wayne again.

Wayne rolled to the side, barely escaping the booted foot. He stood up with some trouble and faced the merc. He had lost the gun while rolling across the garden they were now in, so he was just about defenseless.

The merc walked towards him with a limp. Obviously the branch in his waist was hindering him... to an extent.

He approached Wayne with the same expressionless face that he always wore.

Wayne took a step backwards, trying to come up with some sort of a plan to save himself from obvious death. He couldn't think of one.

As the merc drew nearer, a shadow came across the two of them. Wayne looked up in time to see the orange army horse flying at the merc.

It came at him fast than lightning. It collided with him, kicking in his already-damaged leg, breaking it at a nasty angle.

The merc dropped to the ground, trying to hit the horse while he went.

It flew backwards and drew out its sword, holding it in its teeth. It closed its wings, letting itself drop onto the merc, ramming its sword straight through his heart.

Another shadow passed over them.

The white one landed next to the orange one and wrapped its wing around the other.

They whispered to each other quietly while Wayne just stood there. He really needed names for them. The orange one and the white one were getting old.

They turned to him and smiled.

He smiled back. He didn't know why; he didn't even try to smile, it just came.

"You will be met with deadly force," the dead merc said.

They all looked down in shock and horror as he stood up, the branches still inside of him, and the sword sticking out of his chest.

"Do not attempt to escape, you will only be punished more for it," he droned on.

The two horses sprinted away from it and hid behind Wayne.

Some saviors, huh?

Wayne rushed forward as best he could and grabbed the sword. He ripped it out of the merc's chest and held it like a batter would do at the plate of a baseball game.

"Do not-"

The sword struck his neck, almost cleaving his head completely off.

The merc stood there for a second, bright red blood spurting out in great amounts.

Wayne pulled the sword back and shoved it down his neck, causing more blood to come out.

The merc was dead on his feet. Not moving, breathing, talking... not anything.

Wayne pushed on his chest to knock him over but was met with resistance. As his hand met the merc's chest, a hand grabbed his wrist with crushing force.

"Do not attempt to resist. Such acts would only be met with extreme force." The mouth of the merc was moving, but the sound was coming out of the base of his neck.

Wayne panicked and slammed his fist into the merc's almost-detached head. The last bit of flesh and tubing tore apart and the head fell free of the body.

The body... The body still was alive, and it threw him back against the two guard horses behind him.

All three of them yelled out in fear as Wayne landed on them. What's going on? What is this thing? How do I kill it? Those were the questions flying through their heads.

Wayne pulled himself up with sheer willpower alone, his strength almost leaving him completely. "Why can't ya jus' go an' fuck yerself?!" Wayne shouted at the... thing.

It came at him and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him into the air.

Wayne's already exhausted mind and body could barely take it anymore. His vision started to fade as black spots appeared and faded away in his eyes. He flailed his hands around desperately trying to stop the thing from killing him. His hand grabbed something hard and cylindrical. The sword! Wayne pulled it free from the neck-stump and swung it hard. It struck one of the thing's arms and chopped it clean off.

The thing dropped him on the ground roughly, no longer able to hold him.

Wayne landed on the ground and scrambled to get up. He tripped over himself and fell back to the ground, hurting his leg in doing so. He tried to get up, but something caught his eye.

The gun.

Wayne found new strength that was hidden somewhere deep inside of him as he lunged forward. He grabbed the barrel and pulled it closer to him, gripping the handle and fore-grip. He looked down the sights and lined up the thing perfectly.

He pulled the trigger.

A hail of bullets shot from the weapon, riddling the thing's body with enough holes to make Swiss cheese jealous.

The gun clicked empty.

But Wayne wasn't worried as he watched the thing fall to its knees. There were large chunks of it missing, exposing wires and cords running throughout its body.

A synthetic.

Wayne should have guessed when it first spoke. No Human would use words as fucking stupid as "terminated". He rolled over to lay flat on his back and looked at the sky. It was a beautiful sight. Not a cloud in sight, and the Sun was high in the sky above him.

The Sun... it was there, but... it felt... cold... In fact, it looked... somewhat grey, compared to the colors of the sky and landscape around him.

He was sure that it wasn't like this before. But as the edges of his vision faded away to black, he wasn't able to think straight any more.

Two forms rushed to his side, touching him.

He smiled. He knew that it was his friends just worrying over him. His friends... Yes, Wayne liked the sound of that. Friends. Friends were a good thing to have... A very good thing...

Author's Note

YAY!!!!! Wayne killed that bastard! But crap, he was a synthetic? Wow, didn't see that one comin'. But anyways... Wayne's got friends now. Whoo! I'm so proud of that dirty, murderous bastard.