Rescuing the Night

Chapters

The Infiltration
Captured
The Escape?
The Extraction

The Infiltration

There was nothing but silence in Equestria. The night was unusually cold for the time of year. There was no moon in the sky, nor were there stars. Soon, however, that silence was broken by the sound of the rotors of a helicopter. On the helicopter, was none other than Big Boss, the legendary mercenary. He had been called into Equestria by Princess Celestia, on a very important mission, the details of which, were withheld until he accepted the mission and arrived at the castle.

When the helicopter arrived, Big Boss and Kazuhira Miller got off said helicopter and went to speak with the Princess of the sun. It was a rarity that they would accept such a mission, but they realized the urgency of it. The moon not only refused to glow in Equestria, no, it affected their world as well. Once they were briefed, they took off for the Changeling Kingdom, where Princess Luna was being held captive.

The helicopter dropped Snake off at a near by forest, where he would begin his infiltration mission. As he got on the ground, Kaz had phoned him, reminding him the details of this mission. "Snake, this is a top secret black op. You will be getting no support from us, physically at least. You have been equipped with Night Vision goggles to make seeing enemies in the dark easier. You have also been provided with a tranquilizer gun. It is recommended that you stick to it. Celestia doesn't want us to leave any traces of our presence here. It is for the better that the Changelings don't suffer any casualties. Your job is to infiltrate the Changeling Kingdom Castle, and then find and rescue Luna. Be sure to mark an Evac point when you have Luna in your possession. I will be here for emotional support and intel, should you need it. Good Luck." Kaz then hung up, and let the legendary mercenary do the work he's known for.

Unsurprisingly, the kingdom was littered with search lights, to light up the night in the absence of the actual moon and stars.

The soldier stopped for a minute, and phoned Miller for a short and quick conversation. He wanted to speak about some thoughts he had on his mind. "This is Miller." Kaz had responded as soon as he picked up.

"Kaz, you know, Luna was always the Boss' favorite. This is making me have a lot of flashbacks to back when I was Naked Snake. Some of them, are not happy flashbacks." The mercenary replied.

"I can imagine that this brings back some unhappy memories. But you still have a mission, Snake. Once you complete that mission, we're home free. I know you can do it, Boss."

"You know Kaz, during night infiltration missions, the moon and the stars would be a soldier's best friends. They were the soothing light within the darkness, The light to inspire you to keep going on. It doesn't feel right not having them up there. This darkness is an unusual, unnatural pitch black."

"All the more reason why this mission needs to be completed, Boss. You're not only rescuing the beloved Princess of the Night, you are rescuing the night itself."

Big Boss then hung up and went on to do the mission. He had the weight of two worlds on his shoulders. There was no room for failure here. For the average soldier, this would be more pressure than one could handle, but not for Snake. No, he saw it as a challenge. He thought of the fastest route to take, and the easiest way to get in, and get out, without even having to fire a single tranquilizer dart. As he sneaked his way through the forest, he stood up and used his binoculars to get a better view of the castle. He saw an easy extraction point at the opposite end of the dark fortress. He also noticed that a few guards were asleep, to which he was slightly disappointed about, since that only decreased this challenge. He noticed an area where the bricks were a bit more protruding and decided to start there. He put his binoculars back in his inventory, and quietly crawled his way to the wall.

When Snake made it to the wall, he took a quick observation to make sure there were no guards around the area. He saw the guards with flashlights on opposite ends slowly approaching his location, so he quickly climbed up the wall. When he got to the top, he looked down on the other side, and saw two guards talking to each other about Princess Luna. This was his chance to gain some new intel. The espionage expert listened in closely to the conversation as he climbed down the wall as silently as he could.

"I can't believe Queen Chrysalis is literally keeping the night itself held hostage until she gets what she wants from Equestria. If you ask me, that's just wrong." One of the guards said.

"What I think is more wrong is where that poor thing is being held. She's deep within the Castle, in a cell in the ruins. She has no food, no water, no anything. Honestly, I want to set her free, but if I do, I know the Queen will make me suffer a fate worse than death." The other guard replied

"Yeah, Luna's going to die of malnutrition eventually if nothing is done. It sucks that we're only guards and we can't do anything to to convince the Queen to at least take better care of her."

Big Boss believed this was all he needed to hear, so he very slowly approached the unsuspecting changelings and knocked them both out by slamming their heads against one another. He then waited for one of the guards to regain consciousness so he could interrogate him. As the changeling regained consciousness, Snake grabbed him and held him in a headlock. He held a knife to the creature's chest, and simply said one word, "Speak"

The changeling, knowing that his life was in danger, told the menacing mercenary all that he needed to know. "If you're looking for Princess Luna, she's in the abandoned and ruined part of the Castle, deep down inside! Just take that door over there, go down the staircase, and crawl through a bunch of rubble, and you'll be there!"

With this new information, Snake immediately knocked the guard out again, and proceeded to drag its body into a dark corner behind a few boxes. He did the exact same thing with the other unconscious guard. He decided to take one of the cardboard boxes for himself, for good measure, and began his journey into the depths of the castle. He didn't know his way around, but he would just have to use all his instincts to navigate it.

He entered the castle itself, and crawled his way to the door that led to the staircase. However, when he opened the door, there were only more doors, each that led to stair cases that went down. Snake was confused, but he was not foolish. Instead, he went back out the door, and went on a hunt to find more changeling guards within the castle that could help him navigate easier. He knew that if he took the wrong stair case, he could have easily been caught, and that was the thing that he needed to avoid.

He simply sat and waited in a dark corner of the hallway for any guards to come around, and he did not need to wait for long until a changeling did show up. Taking his chance, he interrogated the changeling and of course, received the necessary intel to continue. "The staircase that leads to the prison cells where the hostage is held is on the right! Please! Don't kill me!" Snake proceeded to knock out the guard and hide his body, keeping his promise not to kill anyone. Big Boss was not a man who would break a promise. He then crawled to the door to the staircase again, and went down the door on his right. The spiral staircase was old, narrow, and was practically falling apart. Steps were missing every so often, and the walls and ceiling had holes that exposed to pitch black darkness from outside everywhere.

Then, all of a sudden, about halfway down, the stairs began to crumble as he stepped on them, and the whole staircase began to fall apart into nothing but rubble and dust.

Captured

Snake ran as fast as he could, trying to escape the collapsing staircase. Everything around him was collapsing, the ceiling, the stairs themselves, the walls, it was all caving in. Soon, the door to what he assumed was the old and abandoned part of the castle was in view. However, the collapsing stairs were gaining on him. He decided to make a leap of faith and try to jump to the platform where the door stood, however, he was just a bit short. The mercenary ended up grabbing onto the ledge of the platform with one hand, trying his hardest not to lose his grip. However, the ceiling above him caved in, and he plummeted down into the deepest depth of the castle.

Snake fell right down into the security room of the castle, where the guards were currently holding a meeting. He landed right onto the table that the changelings all sat at. The fall had knocked him unconscious, however. The changelings were shocked to see his body, and immediately imprisoned him. They dragged his body to the abandoned part of the castle where the worst cells were, waiting to simply cave in on all that they imprisoned.

When Big Boss regained consciousness, he discovered he was placed in a cell right across from Luna's. His mission was made much easier by this error in the guard's judgement. However, there was one obstacle left, and that was the guard that guarded his cell and Luna's. He sat in his cell and thought about all the possible ways he could go about escaping his cell. There was the loud and easy way of just breaking out of the cell with what he had on him, there was the sly way of trying to convince the guard to let him go, and there was the sneaky way where he could try to climb out of his cell and quietly knock out the guard. As he contemplated his options, Big Boss rested a little and took a nap in his cell. It was during this nap that Princess Luna used all of the strength she could muster up in order to communicate with the man who intended to free her.

It took all of her strength in order to penetrate the solid mind of the soldier who was sent to rescue her. It was as if his mind was encased in multiple layers of steel, not allowing his mind to be easily entered. She knew that this man was strong willed, and would be the one who would finally free her from her imprisonment.

After forcing her way into her rescuer's mind, she entered his dream. Big Boss was dreaming about his mentor, The Boss, and herself, who was always The Boss' favorite. Big Boss was recalling a past memory, from before the Virtuous Mission. The year was 1963. The Boss had received interesting orders from the highest person in the chain of command. It was an unusual mission, one she had never taken before. She was to go to another world and rescue Princess Luna. It was a mission very similar to the one Snake was assigned to right now. Princess Luna had been taken hostage, and The Boss was their last resort. But, there was a big difference between the missions, and that was not only the captors, but the time. The mission took place 12 years ago in the human world, yet it took place 1000 years ago in the Equestrian world. Due to the peculiarity of the mission, The Boss had asked Snake to accompany her on her mission. She knew that he could learn valuable things about infiltration and surviving in an unknown environment.

However, Big Boss' mind soon skipped from the assignment, to all the way after the mission was completed, when he, The Boss, and Luna were all in Canterlot, safe and sound. The actual Princess Luna was witnessing this recollection, and she soon realized that her rescuer today was the very same one all those years ago. He looked so different to her, so much more banged up, so much more damaged and worn down. He was even missing an eye. The Snake she saw today was much different than the one she had met a thousand years ago.

Regardless, she soon stopped the dream to speak to Snake. She had important advice to give.

Big Boss was confused as to what was going on. Everything in his dream had paused, and then had been washed away. What replaced the landscape of the dream was nothing but empty white space. It was as if Snake was in purgatory. It was a phenomenon that he had never experienced before, as people in the human world could not manipulate dreams.

"Hello Jack, that is your name, correct?" The mystical princess of the night had said as she appeared in front of Snake.

"I am a man of many names, call me whatever you wish. Names, are not important. What is important is that I am here to rescue you, and I will find a way to accomplish that mission." The cold mercenary replied.

"Then I shall refer to you as Jack, for that was the name I was given to call you a thousand years ago. All issues with names aside, you have a point. You are here to rescue me. I am very glad to see you accepted such an unusual mission. Before you continue, however, I must warn you of two things. One, these creatures are not the same that captured me a thousand years ago. No, these are changelings. From their name, I believe you can already assume their special ability. They possess the power to change into anyone they please. This is something you must be wary of. Should they know of your past, I believe they could take the image of someone who was close to you." Luna was beginning to decrease in strength after every word said. It took most of her energy to enter the steel mind of Big Boss in the first place.

"If you're referring to The Boss, I share no sentiments for her any longer. She means nothing to me anymore. Now continue with your warnings, if you insist." Snake replied as if he was a robot. He was cold, solid, and to the point. He did not waste anytime.

"I can sense some discord within you when you mentioned her name, obviously, although you try not to show it, you do have feelings for her, which are the source of the chaos within your heart." Luna was treading on thin ice.

"That is irrelevant to this mission. Princess Luna, if you have anything important to say to me, say it now, or stop wasting my time." Snake replied, to silence the weak moon princess.

"Very well then. I shall not speak to you the second warning, since you may pass it off as unimportant or irrelevant. Best of luck to you. I no longer have the strength to continue speaking to you in your dream. I managed to muster enough strength for this conversation, however, my body is weak, ergo my mind has been weakened. I will no longer be of any assistance to you. I recommend however, that you play mind games with the guard. There were talks of the Queen having an important visitor. I believe you can piece the rest of this puzzle together. I place all my faith, and my life, in your hands, Jack." With those words, she disappeared from Big Boss' dream and all returned back to normal.

Not long afterwards, Snake then woke up, recalling the events of his dream. He pieced everything together, and proceeded to get on with the mission. He was lacking all of his equipment, but had a strong belief that the guard knew where he could locate it. He proceeded to call the guard over to his cell to try to manipulate and trick the guard, just how Princess Luna had suggested. "Hey, guard, come over here. There's something important I need to talk to you about."

"I'm not allowed to speak to prisoners, now be quiet." The changeling replied.

"But I'm not a prisoner! I am the Queen's important visitor, and because I was not escorted, I got lost trying to find my way around the castle. I demand to be handed my items back and to be released from this cell at once!" Big Boss was assertive, demanding, and intimidating. The guard was frightened and easily fooled, believing every single word the clever soldier said.

"I-I-I'm sorry sir! I'll get you out right away! If you'll just kindly come with me to the outpost nearby, I can give you your things back! Please don't tell the queen!"

The Escape?

Big Boss did not respond to the terrified guard with words. Instead, he gave him a cold stare with his one good eye, looking as menacing and angry as he could. The guard only became more nervous and started stammering and slipping up. His body was shaking with fear. As he freed the mercenary who successfully tricked him, the foolish guard led him directly to where his items were being held.

After reacquiring all of his gear, Snake proceeded to tranquilize the guard with a dart. His CQC would have been far to risky to use, as it would have been loud and noisy, thus it would attract the attention of nearby guards until eventually the whole castle would be on high alert. From the guard's office where Snake's equipment was taken, Big Boss found a map of the whole Castle both inside and out. He proceeded to take a picture of it with his i-Droid and quickly put said map back where he found it. He was still trying his best to make it seem as though he was never here, even though one of the staircases was already gone.

While in the guard's office, he made sure to steal the keys to Luna's cell, so he could quickly and quietly free her without notifying anyone. Snake made his swift return to the deteriorated prison cell that contained the weak and faint princess and he began his escape. When observing the map, he realized that the original information he got from one of the guards was wrong and he was in fact nowhere close to where he originally was. Though, he did find a shortcut to get to the opposite end of the castle than which he entered through, to be close to the most optimal extraction point. There was one catch though. The shortcut went straight through Queen Chrysalis' chamber. However, it was the only route he could take, since the stairs on the other method had collapsed on his last attempt. It was do or die for Snake, and dying was not an acceptable option, so he proceeded to follow the map closely, and eventually, he arrived at the chamber.

Things quickly took a turn for the worse for the mercenary and the one he was sent to rescue. Queen Chrysalis herself had entered the room, and had the potential to spot Big Boss and Luna. He quickly went into the nearest dark corner, and kept his breathing at a minimal. He made himself be as quiet as possible, to avoid unintentionally making the threatening Queen aware of their presence.

However, the weak, fatigued, and faint Luna could not be as silent as her rescuer. Her breathing slowly got heavier and heavier, as it became harder to breathe overtime. Big Boss did his best to keep her quiet as well, by putting his hand over her mouth. Chrysalis began to speak to herself, unaware of the potential escapee's presence. "Ah, how wonderful it is. I have Princess Luna within my grasp, and she will soon starve and waste away! And once she does, I can change myself into her, just like I did with Celestia once before, and I will convince everyone that I am the real Princess Luna, and that I escaped from that prison. They will never know the difference, and soon, Equestria will be all mine!" The diabolical queen began to cackle, as if she were a witch.

Chrysalis seemed like the average, over-confident and vain villain with a quest for world domination. Big Boss was disappointed with her, on the inside, thinking she would be more of a serious threat.

Soon, Chrysalis got up and started to walk away, but what she said as she walked away had exposed Snake and Luna's presence. "Oh, I know just how I'll take over to! I'll pretend Luna changed into Nightmare Moon again! The plan is genius! Not only do I kill a princess, but I further tarnish her name!" Those words made Princess Luna begin to weep uncontrollably. The memories of being Nightmare Moon overwhelmed her, and broke her heart. She feared for the safety of the kingdom, and especially, Celestia and Twilight, her Sister and closest friend.

Luna's mental stability was at an all time low. Her mental health was poor due to the extensive time that she was kidnapped. She was deprived of everything she would need to keep her sanity, and keep her health. She was deprived of nutrients, such as water and food. She was also deprived of social contact. Her current imprisonment drew parallels to the time she spent on the moon, for she was in solitary confinement, with no one but herself to talk to, slowly growing mad, losing her sanity, her stability, her composure.

Luna's mind was weak and growing weaker by the minute. The health of her mind deteriorated over the time of her capture. It had been one long month since the controller of the night had been kidnapped. Eventually, she ran out of strength, and reverted back to a smaller, powered-down form, and was unable to provide the magic energy needed to raise the moon and make the stars twinkle. Due to her poor conditions, the alicorn was a ticking time bomb of insanity, and was easily manipulable. The proverbial bomb had exploded the moment Chrysalis mentioned Nightmare Moon. And just like the sound of an explosion would, the uncontrollable weeping caught the Changeling Queen's attention.

The evil monarch of the crippled kingdom of the changelings had, in an instant, cast an illumination spell to determine the source of Luna's impossible to silence crying. Chrysalis then noticed Snake, a man she had never seen before, but knew all about, who was holding the weeping pony in his arms. "So you are the special forces that Celestia was rumored to have called in, I suppose? The legendary Snake of the human world? Pah, you look nothing like a professional. You look like a homeless bum with an eye patch and a suit!"

These petty insults did little to muster a response from Big Boss, and instead, he simply ignored her words, making it seem as if he deflected said words.

Even though Snake did not react to the Queen's words, he was curious as to how she knew about him. He had only been in Equestria once, and according to Princess Luna, it was a thousand years ago. He did not bother to speak with the changeling responsible for the kidnapping, however. He remained silent throughout the entire conversation, not revealing a single thing.

"So, you're a quiet one, aren't you? They say that the quiet ones are the most fun to break. It seems you are stealing something that belongs to me, Snake. I demand that you put it back, and should you put it back where you received it, I will let you go home free. You will have your freedom, and will be able to go back home. Oh wait, you don't have a home, do you? No, of course you don't, or at least, you won't in due time." Chrysalis was acting as if Luna was her property and slave.

Finally, Big Boss decided to speak. He would not let her boss him around like he was her servant. "Chrysalis, is it? You really think I care about going back home? I only care about my mission. If I fail my mission, there is no point in going back home. I live by a code, you see. I believe in service before self, and excellence in all I do. Returning this prisoner, this victim, to where you had held her, will result in her death. Her life is worth far much more than mine. Now, get out of the way, or I will force you out of my way. I'm sure we both don't want this to get ugly, but wait, you already are." Snake decided to brighten up his situation by returning an insult to the Queen. His mind could not be swayed from completing his mission. He had one simple task, rescue the princess. He would either succeed in this task, or die trying.

"Petty insults will not get you anywhere, you buffoon. If you really think you are a threat to me, then you are sadly mistaken. I have the power of magic, and you only have your bare fists. I think it is easy to see who will come out on top."

"Heh, if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get." The mercenary replied.

"Are you really that foolish as to challenge someone with a prowess in magic? I can easily do with you as I please!" The changeling had began to grow frustrated with the iron will of the legendary soldier.

Snake did not respond to her statement. He simply put Princess Luna down, and braced himself. He went into a fighting stance, facing his enemy, with his eye completely focused on her and her movements. The Queen accepted the fight, and quickly began to engage the soldier. She severely underestimated not only his skill, but his strength, as he charged at her, to counter her attack, and flipped her. "Pah! That was merely a warm up. Wipe that look off your face and prepare yourself for the real fight!" The queen angrily stated.

Snake nodded his head, and again went into his fighting stance. This time, however, instead of flipping her when she charged at him, the soldier of great skill decided to push back, creating a dead lock of both sides trying to push the other. They were at a stalemate. Their strengths matched, their bodies exerting all the force outward that they physically could.

Chrysalis then decided to stop fooling around with physical contact and took a step back. In the next instant, she fired a mind weakening spell. She intended to knock him out and give him a concussion. But her plan, had failed. Big Boss merely shrugged off the spell. The arrogant queen was shocked to see this, but quickly regained her composure. She proceeded to fire a stronger, more continuous spell at the seemingly unstoppable force. She soon noticed the same thing that Princess Luna did, and that was his mind was locked down tight. It was hard to penetrate his thick skull and enter and manipulate the man's thoughts.

She increased the power one more time, as Big Boss started to sprint at her, preparing to concuss the foolish Queen.

This time, however, the Queen used all of her might, and finally penetrated the mind of Big Boss. She then began to weaken and cripple him from the inside and out, until he was slowly losing control of his own body. Big Boss fought against her magic force, and kept moving towards her no matter how little he actually traveled. Even when reduced to nothing but a mere crawl, his iron will kept him fighting.

The Queen was impressed with the man's level of persistence. She never thought anyone could be so resistant to a spell as powerful as the one she was casting. Most victims of the spell would drop to the ground instantly, having been concussed, yet Snake kept fighting and pushing on. In her mind, she commended him for this, but never spoke a word about it.

Soon enough, despite his efforts, Snake could not overcome the over powering force of Chrysalis' magic. He soon passed out as he reached out to grab her leg. Princess Luna was witnessing the entire thing go down. She began to cry, thinking that her rescuer had met his demise. That he was defeated, and that she would waste away, and never see her dear sister or friend ever again.

A fire began to burn in the faint Princess' heart. A fire of fury. She mustered up the last of her strength out of a combination of the emotions of rage, sorrow, and regret. She stood tall, facing head to head against the diabolical Queen. "Oh how amusing! You actually think that whatever little strength you have left can save you now? You were better off saving that strength to quickly run off while I was distracted by this man. Oh well, you have sealed your own fate, Princess Luna. Fight me if you wish, but it will get you nowhere."

"I will not... let... you... get away with this... I... will...nay... I...I MUST defeat you for not only my sake, but for the... sake of those dear to me!" Luna said faintly. She was having trouble even standing. Her legs were shaking, her voice was frail, and her mane no longer flowed.

Chrysalis simply scoffed at the sight of the weak Princess actually trying to put up a fight. She noticed that love was the force that powered her to do this among other things. It was her love for her friends and family that kept her going. That gave her a will to live, a will to survive, and a will to escape. However, sheer will can only do so much. Sheer will allowed Luna to have enough strength to live and fight, but she did not have the power itself it would take to fight against Chrysalis.

The evil Queen simply preformed a knock out spell on the frail Princess' mind, and she too, was concussed. Her body lay next to Snake's on the cold floor. The Queen had taken this time to dive into the unconscious mercenary's heart, knowing that there had to be someone he loved. However, the man's heart was just as locked up and imprisoned as his mind. It was nearly impossible to break the locks. However, with one quick spell, she managed to discover new information about the legendary mercenary, and that information was about his mentor, the legendary soldier before him, that he succeeded.

After some time had passed, she ordered the guards to imprison both the mercenary and the Princess in the maximum security cells again. She demanded that every guard be concentrated on the area, just in case the mercenary attempted to escape with Luna. She would not allow him to escape the Changeling kingdom alive. However, she had a trick up her sleeve in case he should somehow manage to break out of his cell.

A few hours had passed, Kaz Miller became worried about the Boss' status after not reporting in since his infiltration began. He knew Snake would never take such a long time on an infiltration mission such as this, even with the given circumstances. He decided it was time to try to phone the mercenary who was supposed to be rescuing the Princess of the Night.

Big Boss woke up to the sound of his communicator violently ringing. It echoed through the empty halls from the caste. Again, he discovered that he had been stripped of his gear and that Princess Luna was again in a cell. The mercenary was surprised to discover that there was no guard keeping watch at his cell. As he curiously reached towards the door, it simply fell down on the dusty ground, creating a loud noise as the metal came into contact with said ground.

He found it all too easy that he was captured but yet there was no one guarding neither his cell or Luna's, and the guard station was also deserted. He was also surprised to see how desolate the place really was. It was as if no one had been there in a thousand years. He procured his equipment with utmost ease and located the key to Luna's cell. Everything was all to strange for the mercenary. It was unusual that no one was in sight and he was left unattended, when he managed to escape mere hours ago. Little did he know that it was all a part of the Queen's plan. He had tried to phone Kaz to tell him of his planned rendezvous point, but no one had picked up.

Regardless, he proceeded free Luna from her cell. She seemed much more bold and strong this time around. Her mane once again flowed, her body no longer shaky. As the soldier unlocked the cell, the captive Princess immediately stood up and walked out. "Why thank you Snake. It took long enough for thou to awaken. I had been sitting in that cell, recuperating after Chrysalis had defeated me. Now let us go, I do believe you know the way." Something was off about the way the Princess spoke. Something was unnatural and unusual, but Snake could not put his finger on it.

He simply nodded in response to Luna's words, and carried her with him through the castle, reattempting his previous route, hoping for some luck, as it was the only possible way to get out.

As he made it into Chrysalis' chambers, Luna started to become more talkative. "Oh I really do owe you the greatest gratitude, Snake. I must commend you for your unstoppable efforts. I, Princess Luna, thank you for coming in my time of need. I know this is your first time in Equestria, and it must have been hard to get here in the first place, but without you, I would have simply withered away to nothing."

That was when Big Boss had finally had it. He put the puzzle pieces together, and finally realized what was going on. He had his suspicions about the Princess Luna he was rescuing once he had again found himself imprisoned in his cell, but now, they were confirmed. He proceeded to throw the Princess Luna on his back forcefully onto the ground.

The princess had screamed in pain, and the look in her eyes was the look of one who had just been betrayed. "Snake, why did you do that? Are you trying to kill me?" She began to sob.

"Give it up, Chrysalis. I know it's you. You really thought you could fool me? How stupid do you think I am?" The mercenary was becoming enraged that such a shallow attempt of deceiving him was the changeling Queen's master plan. Suddenly, the pony stopped crying, and green and black fire engulfed her as she shed the look of Princess Luna and revealed herself to be Chrysalis.

"But how did you know it was me?! My plan was perfect!" Chrysalis argued, angry that she didn't succeed in deceiving the soldier.

"It's simple, really. You made yourself instantly suspicious when you made yourself look like the Luna I remembered. The Luna I was rescuing was weak, frail, and seemed to be slowly withering away. You looked strong, mighty, and seemed to be in good health. That was strike one. Strike two came around when you spoke to me the first time, not only acting portentous, but also calling me Snake. Princess Luna knows me as Jack, not Snake. And you just committed the third strike."

"Oh, I did? Pray tell, since you pointed out the flaws in the other strikes, what did I do wrong to cause this third strike?" The Queen curiously questioned.

"It's a real simple mistake, really. I'm not surprised you made it, but it was a mistake that Luna would never make. You said that this was my first time in Equestria, when in fact, this is my second. My first time was a mission quite like this one, except I wasn't the main soldier on the mission. I was with my old mentor on that mission, The Boss. Our goal was the same as this mission's, rescue Princess Luna. Except, things weren't as dire as they are now. Now tell me where Princess Luna is, and stop wasting my time!"

Chrysalis simply let out a laugh. Again, she was engulfed by the black and green flames. However, this time, she did not change into just another pony, no. This time, she changed into The Boss herself. "Oh? By "The Boss" do you mean this woman?" She devilishly smiled as she played her trump card against the mercenary.

Snake was shocked and dumb founded to see that Chrysalis had changed into and sounded just like The Boss. He knew of her changing abilities, but he had no idea that she was capable of such a complete transformation, especially a transformation into a human. "Boss..." He uttered.

Chrysalis, pretending to be The Boss herself responded, "Hello, Jack. It's been a while, hasn't it? I missed you." Snake was starting to become like putty in her new hands. She had finally found his one and true weakness. It was his memory of The Boss and the mixed emotions in his heart that would lead him to his downfall.

However, this ruse would not go long until it was interrupted, at least in Snake's eyes. Luna was contacting him through his communicator. She learned how to alter her spell so he would receive it through there instead. Luna spoke to the mercenary with a heart filled with discord in a very small voice. Her strength was only further diminishing by the moment.

"Jack, you must not allow her to play with your emotions. I recall the discord within your heart when I brought up your old mentor, when I saw her in your dream. I know how much she still means to you, but I am afraid that you must fight her again. She is merely stealing the face of the one you love to try to render you powerless. You must show her that you can prevail, not only for my good, but for your own good." Those were her last words to Snake before the transmission was lost.

The Extraction

Big Boss snapped out of it and realized that he had to defeat Chrysalis, no matter whose face she donned. "Nice tricks, Chrysalis. You had me going there for a second. I really felt my heart jump when I saw her face, but you are not her. Just because you have her face does not mean that this will make it any harder for me to do my duty."

"Then prove it, my apprentice. I am The Boss, all you are is a slimy, slivering snake." The deceiver stated.

Big Boss once again got into his fighting stance. He signaled for Chrysalis to come charging at him, since it was now equal ground. He was a human, and so was she. This gave Big Boss the advantage he needed. Chrysalis foolishly went into Snake's trap, and was instantly punched by the soldier. His CQC skills were unmatched.

However, Chrysalis was not out just yet. She continued in her fruitless attempt to defeat Snake. This time, it was she who motioned for him to come over. Snake approached slowly with caution, and just as he got close, he grabbed her. However, she had grabbed him as well. It was another stalemate. Their strength, was again matched by each other. This time though, there was no magic that Chrysalis could use, other than to turn herself back into her changeling form.

Big Boss struggled, using every fiber of his being to try to flip and concuss The Boss impostor. It was true, her face did make his deeds difficult. However, he remembered The Boss' will and the words Luna said to him.

After five minutes of dead lock between himself and Chrysalis, Big Boss was starting to gain the upper hand. He began lifting the impostor off of the ground, slowly but surely. His lasts words, before he ended this whole ruse were, "I'm sorry I have to do this again... Boss...". He then threw Chrysalis into the nearest wall, head first, successfully concussing her. The concussion that Snake delivered her caused her body to automatically change back into her true form. He had finally gotten rid of the one obstacle in his mission.

After he defeated Chrysalis, he tried to phone Kaz again, and to Snake's surprise, he picked up. "Boss, what's going on here? We've been waiting around for hours. It's unlike you to take this long! Is everything alright?" The worried friend of Big Boss questioned.

"I'm just fine Kaz. I just ran into some trouble. I'll be out soon. I know of a perfect place to be extracted from. Wait for me at the back end of the castle, opposite of the end where I infiltrated." Snake ordered. Kaz had confirmed this location, and proceeded to hang up. Big Boss assumed that the jamming between Kaz and himself was Chrysalis' duty as well. Now all Snake had to do was find Princess Luna. He used his i-Droid to track where the call from her had came from, and used it to find Luna.

He went far back down into the depths of the castle, where he found an unconscious Luna laying on the ground next to some chains. He assumed she broke free of those chains in order to try to contact him, but she ran out of energy once she did contact him. The guards in the area had failed to notice her, surprisingly. As a precaution, however, he fired his tranquilizer gun at the changelings in sight. He proceeded to lift Luna and quickly make his way back to the Queen's chambers. To his relief, the Queen was still out cold, so he started to sprint out of that room, holding his i-Droid in one hand, and supporting Luna on his shoulder with the other.

As Big Boss was sprinting, he caught the attention of every single guard in the area. Stealth was no longer his concern, as he was soon to be extracted with Princess Luna and the fact that Chrysalis was unconscious lessened his worries. As he was sprinting, he decided to phone Kaz one more time, to confirm the arrival of the helicopter. "Kaz! Is the helicopter ready to extract me? I'm almost at the rendezvous point and I've managed to alert the entire castle!" Big Boss shouted into his communicator.

"That's pretty sloppy work, Boss. I'm surprised." Kaz responded.

"Look, we can discuss my methods later, but I need extraction now! Is it ready?!" Big Boss yelled.

"The chopper is almost there, you should hear the rotors by now, Boss. I'm hanging up now, we can talk when you get on."

Kazuhira Miller then hung up on Snake and just as he said, the rotors of the helicopter coming in could be heard. Snake quickly stopped for a moment to put on his Night-vision goggles again so he could see in the pitch blackness that was outside. Once he finished donning them, he resumed his sprinting as he exited through the back door of the Castle, and there it was, the Helicopter. However, things got a little complicated, as there were tons of guards there just waiting for Snake. He was not going to let the changelings stop him now, he had come too far.

To his surprise, Luna regained consciousness right before they reached the swarm of bugs that blocked their path. She mustered up enough strength to cast a barrier spell that encompassed her rescuer that knocked down all the changelings in his way. Finally, after he passed through all of the changelings, he saw the helicopter and made his final dash.

The helicopter was being attacked by the changelings however, and was starting to leave without him. Big Boss had to make a perfectly timed jump if he were to land in the helicopter. However, when it came around to the moment of truth, Big Boss' jump was too short.

In an incredible lucky strike, Big Boss was saved from being at the mercy of the changelings down below. Kaz Miller had grabbed his Boss' hand at the last moment, pulling up the weight of both the mercenary and the Princess. "Kept you waiting, huh?" Kaz jokingly stated as he helped get the two on the helicopter as they took off for Canterlot.

"Thanks Kaz, I don't know what I would have done without you. But don't steal my line next time." The mercenary said.

They rode into Canterlot at top speed, hoping to have lost any and all changelings that pursued them. The stars and moon were gradually regaining their respective shine and glow the closer they got to Canterlot. "Oh, that reminds me. Kaz, give our friend here some rations. She hasn't eaten in over a month, I can only imagine what that does to any living creature." Kaz nodded his head, and quickly grabbed the rations.

"Listen, Princess. I know this isn't a five star gourmet meal that you might be accustomed to, and it certainly isn't the best tasting food, but you need to eat something." Kaz said as he handed the rations over to the frail looking Princess. She nodded and quickly consumed the first piece of food she had seen in over a month.

Soon, the waxing gibbous Moon was able to be seen along with some of the constellations among the stars. They had finally arrived at the Castle. Kaz told Snake to go bring Luna back himself, as Kaz just wanted to relax on the helicopter. Big Boss agreed and stepped down from the helicopter into the courtyard of the castle. He extended out his hand for Luna to hold onto for support as she stepped out as well. The two walked together into the throne room of the castle to be greeted by a happy and smiling Princess Celestia.

"Sister! I am so happy to see you again at last! I'm so sorry it took so long to rescue you... there were so many issues regarding your capture that I could simply not get out of the way quick enough! Please, forgive me for taking so long"

"Oh big sister, you need not apologize! So long as I am here with you again, and not that vile Chrysalis, I do not care. Being in that prison was an incredibly traumatizing, yet familiar experience... as I'm sure you can guess why... but regardless of that, I missed you so much!" Luna said as she began to cry tears of joy. She went to go hug her big sister, her mental stability regained and her heart at peace. The two sisters cried together as they were at last reunited with each other after so long.

Big Boss was touched by this display of family love. A sense of happiness was starting to form in his heart. He then proceeded to take out a cigar, and light it, relieving him of all the stress the entire mission has put him through. "All I needed, was a good smoke after all... heh..." He said to himself quietly.

"Oh yes! Big Boss, I do believe I owe you your payment for rescuing my sister." Celestia acknowledged.

"Keep everything for yourself, Princess. I don't need any payment. It was worth it just to see you two sisters happy again... it's what The Boss would have wanted and done in the first place. I guess I'll be taking my leave now. I'll stay out of your troubles." The mercenary who's heart was warming up said.

"Wait! Please do not leave us just yet, Jack." Princess Luna begged.

"Huh? Is something wrong?" Big Boss asked.

"I just want to let you know, I will forever be grateful to you for this. I want you to know that both Celestia and I love you. You're our friend now, Jack. You are always welcome here, should you ever find the desire to visit us again. I'll miss you until you show up again." The princess stated, with tears in her eyes. She went to go give a hug to the man who saved her. Big Boss knelt and gave the Princess the hug she desired.

"Thank you, Luna. I'll miss you and your sister to." The man said with a hint of sorrow in his voice. Celestia then joined in on the hug, and it was as if they were family.

"Heh, I won't keep you two waiting for too long. After all, we're friends. Now, I gotta go. I got people waiting for me back home."

"Farewell then, Jack!" Luna exclaimed

"Goodbye, Jack. Best of luck to you." Celestia said with a smile, hoping she'd see the man again.

Soon, Big Boss climbed back onto the helicopter. He did not say a single word to Kaz or anyone else, but they could tell that he wanted to leave the helicopter door open. As they took off, Celestia and Luna both waved goodbye to him as tears flowed down both of their eyes. As Snake took one last puff of his cigar, he threw it out, and waved goodbye to as he shed a single, small tear, not only in memory of the ponies, but in memory of The Boss.