Splinter Cell: Target Lost

"Is that staue breathing?!"

The stone figure suddenly warped and changed into something indescribable.  A horror beyond horrors.

"W-WHAT IS THAT THING?!" Byron shouted, falling backwards onto the ground.

"Discord!" Twilight scolded. "How could you scare By-run like that?"

The being of choas simply laughed at the reaction he got from the human.  Once he had calmed down, he turned to Twilight.

"Oh, please, I was just having a little fun.  I'm sure your friend here understands, doesn't he?"

Byron stared.  There were no words for this moment.  None he could place into an intelligible sentence, anyway.

"What... How did.... Why..."

Discord laughed.  "He didn't even see it coming!  Hahaha!  Though I have to say, seeing through my disguise was quite the feat."

"Twilight... explain..." Byron managed to form these two words with much effort involved.

"By-Run, Discord.  Discord, By-Run."  Twilight quickly introduced them. "Discord is nothing but a trouble-maker in town.  He's a little strange... and not just with just the way he looks."

"Well excuse me, Princess." Discord backed off.  He snapped his loin-paw fingers and gave himself a cushioned chair , a monocle, a top hat, a robe, and a fake pipe that he blew bubbles out of. It gave him the look of a rich man reclining after a, quote unqoute, "hard day's work".  "In light of the current situation, I would hardly call myself the strange one here.  I mean, By-Run here doesn't exactly have the same kind of... aura as you ponies do."

Byron did not like the taunting he heard just then.  He came to his senses and got off of the ground. "Well, I see you've had your fun, beast.  Twilight and I were just having a calm and collected conversation until you came along."

"Is that so?  I thought it sounded more like an interrogation of sorts.  Perhaps maybe an... accusation."

He drew out the last word with a devious smile on his face.  Byron dusted off his pants, but said nothing in reply to the sly draconequus.  He didn't seem to notice the situation Discord was trying to put him in.

"I was not!" Twilight shouted at him.  "I was just... learning about his culture!"

"Yes, yes," Discord replied, "by trading food for info.  You could starve him, as he has no money for anything around here, but instead you chose to keep him alive.  However, I doubt this has anything to do with the magic of friendship."

"Discord, is it?"

The choas being turned his head around like an owl's to face Byron. "Yes, that's right."

"I don't like the way you act, the way you look, or even the way you speak.  Twilight just told me you were a trouble maker.  However, that will not stop until these ponies and I are allies, at the every least.  I suggest you leave before I have to take some... how do I put it... 'unnecessary actions'.  We both don't want that, now do we, Discord?"

"Oh, you poor little human.  You think you could even stand a chance against me.  You think you know just what to do and how to do it at all times.  I see how it is.  You make me out to be the impure being here... but what about you?  I know what you've done, what you've seen.  It's all in your eyes, should one look close enough."

Byron got defensive. "What are you talking about?"

Discord got up close and whispered into Byron's ear with a dastardly tone.  "I'm talking about how you are the worst kind of being there is.  You are a killer, you are a liar, and you are a devil.  I've seen you since you got to this planet: you do nothing but stab those have helped you in the back after all they've done for you.  You're no better than the other humans, and from what I've seen, you are worse than they are.  You are ignorant, incompetent, and insane.  Mark my words, 'Byron', if that truly is your name... you will be caught.  You won't go on with your plans, even if I wasn't here to tell you that I know all this."

He slithered away, allowing the look of dread, shock, and fear collapse into one onto the human's face.

"But don't you worry!" Discrod said with much enthusiasm. "It's a secret I'll take to my very grave..." --he then leaned in close to Byron-- "...so long as you don't dig it for me."

Discord straightened himself out and walked away, waving and shouting, "Hopefully we'll have a chance to talk again soon, Byron!  I just heard  a couple of ponies just got to Ponyville, and I'd like to be the first to greet them!  Until then, ta-ta!"

Byron was angry, confused, and anxious at what he had heard.  This strange beast was to rat him out!  If he tried to do anything to it, his actions would surely get him caught.  He grit his teeth.

"C'mon, By-run.  Let's forget about Discord and get back on topic.  Why don't you tell me about the people you knew back at your home?"

Byron didn't turn to her.  He didn't move.  He just stood there, staring at Discord as he strutted away.

***

As the three operatives drew closer in to Masters’ position, they felt a cold breeze blow by their faces.

Harper shivered a bit in the cold.  “Something’s wrong with this place.  I don’t like it.”

“Shh,” Kestrel silenced him. “Be quiet.  I think I hear something up ahead.”

Harper heard the noise, too.  It sounded like the gnashing of teeth and a patter of paws on the ground, neither of which comforted him in the least.

“Animals?” he suggested.

“Negative,” Archer responded, keeping his voice to a whisper.  “Nothing’s showing up on thermal.  Whatever is making that noise isn’t living.”

“Or maybe it’s just really cold,” Kestrel theorized. “Perhaps it doesn’t need heat to live.”

Archer let out a small laugh. “The day I meet a freezing cold, yet living, animal… that’ll be a cold day in hell, my friend.”

All too suddenly, the sounds stopped.  The three stopped in their tracks, pistols raised.  They heard some snorts and then more silence followed.  Whatever was over by Masters was sniffing for something.  Archer gestured to the other two to surround the assumed position of the body.  Kestrel went left, Harper went right, and Archer stayed put.

Harper got a glimpse of the creature as he made his way right.  It looked like a bunch of logs, only they moved.  They were animated, alive.  What were these things?

Just before they could surround the being, it let out a long howl and ran towards Archer.  It lept onto him and started to claw away at the bulletproof vest he wore.  Archer quickly pulled out a knife and stabbed the beast, but it was useless.

“You get off my friend, dammit!”

Kestrel rushed up and kicked the wolf-like wooden being off of Archer.  It lunged to bite him, but Archer got up in time to shoot it in the head.  The beast’s head flew off of the rest of its body due to the propulsion of the shot, and the rest it fell to pieces on the ground.  They stood there, taking deep breaths for a few seconds.

“I doubt that thing’s alone,” Archer rushed to say.  He turned behind him and saw three more converging on their position.

Three shots rang out and flew towards the timberwolves, some being more accurate than others.  The first connected with the leader’s head, knocking it off.  The second hit the back on in the hind leg, causing it to trip and fall, breaking it to pieces.  The last… missed altogether.

The remaining wolf lashed out, biting down onto Archer’s arm.  Blood gushed from the wound, and Archer yelled in pain.  He then smacked the beast’s jaw off and watched it fall to pieces.

Harper ran up to them. “Shit, that one got you!  Damn it!  This area isn’t safe!  Let’s just grab Masters’ body and go!”

However, when they rushed to Masters’ location, they found the body in bloody pieces on the ground.

Harper panicked.  "Fuck!  Now what?!"

Archer assessed the situation quickly.  "See if he's got anything on him!  We'll cover you!"

Harper dug through the mushy pile of Masters.  He heard the sounds of more beasts behind him, the shots of Archer and Kestrel, and the thump of logs falling to the ground.

"Hurry up!  We can't fight them off forever!"

Harper searched through the bloodied lab coat and found what might have been the device used to record the data for the teleporter.  He snatched it up and shouted, "Okay, I've got it!  Let's get out of here!"

Just when Harper turned back, he saw Archer get tackled by one of the beasts.  The animal began to gnaw on his leg while Archer shouted in pain, trying to get it off.  Kestrel kicked the attacker off of his partner and helped him up as they ran away from the pack of murderous logs.

It didn't take long for Harper to realize Archer was slowing them down.

"C'mon, c'mon!  Run! Run or they'll do to you what they did to Masters!"

"I can't!" Archer yelled to Harper. "Just leave me, and you two get out of here!"

"What?!  No!  You're coming with us, and we're all getting out of this alive!" Kestrel shouted at him. "Harper, come back here and help me carry him!"

Harper turned around and ran back the two others.  Each grabbing an arm, he and Kestrel lifted Archer from the ground.  They ran as fast as they could away from the beasts, but they just would not let up on the chase.

"We can't keep this up forever!" Harper informed the others. "We need a plan to get out of this situation, stat!"

"Look over there!"

Kestrel pointed to a hole in the shield, with a pony waving them over.

"Come on, there isn't much time!  You have to hurry before those beasts catch you!"

Harper questioned them, even in this dire situation.  "Who are--"

"There's no time to explain!  Just get over here!  Now!"

Harper gave it his all, using every last ounce of strength he had to rush to their opening in the barrier, their salvation.  Kestrel did the same, giving all three the last burst of speed to just make it...

... to just outside the barrier.

In an instant, they were stopped.  Something held them back.  Harper saw the look of fear on the pony's face in front of him.  He turned his head to see what had brought them to this unintended stop.  What he saw made him want to scream.

Archer's lower half was inside the mouth of one of the log beasts, the fangs of which had bitten into his waist.  His one visible eye was dilated.  He slowly turned his head to Harper.

"Let... go..." Archer whispered with his last breath. "Get... away..."

And just like that, Archer was tugged away from the two.  Harper and Kestrel fell to the other side of the barrier, which was then sealed.

"NOOOO!" Kestrel screamed, pounding on the barrier. "ARCHER!"

He watched as the feral beasts dragged the corpse away into the woods.

"NO! NO!  NO, GOD DAMN IT, NO!"

He pounded on the unbreakable barrier as hard as he could.  After a few seconds, his punches got slower and lost power until they were mere knocks on the magic wall.

Kestrel shrieked at the wall, "NO! No! No... nononononono... Archer... no..."

Harper didn't know what to do.  He simply stared   Stared as Kestrel wept.

"Sir... I'm so sorry..." the pony apologized.

Kestrel hesitated.  When he spoke, his voice was laden with poison.

"You did this...  you damned ponies drove us off...  through your distrust... and your hatred..."

Kestrel turned his head to the equines.

"I'll make you PAY FOR HIS LIFE!" he screamed, mad with anger.  He rushed towards the ponies.

Harper jumped in his way. "Kestrel, no!  This is not their fault!"

"I'LL KILL YOU!  I'LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU UNTIL THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO KILL!  YOU DID THIS!  YOU KILLED ARCHER!!!"

Kestrel struggled against Harper's grasp, trying to push by him and kill his prey.  Harper's restraint was too much.  He couldn't get there.  That's when he realized he didn't need to.

"ARCHER WILL BE AVENGED!" Kestrel shouted.

Harper saw what he was planning to do.  He was too late to stop it now.

"Kestrel, no--!"

A gunshot rang out and echoed across the town, and then everything fell silent.