Chapters First Story constructive criticism is greatly aprreciated!
Pony of Interest
One year later
Rainbow Dash woke up from her bed in her apartment in Manehatten. The room was cold and dark as usual. It was the"best" the government could spare for her. It was a small apartment with basic essentials a bed, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Rainbow Dash knew it wouldn't get any better since the case one year ago. She knew she could never have a cloud house like the one she had in Ponyville. In a way it was better than the guards barracks, she had her own bathroom and a larger personal space, but she has no one to talk to now.
Ever since the trial ended Rainbow Dash hasn't seen any of her friends. They were put under protection and they slowly lost trust in Dash. But that was in the past, now Dash has to focus on reality. The government gives her money for food, rent, and other nesecities because as part of the penalty she is not permitted to have a job. Judge Duty figured that if Rainbow Dash had a job she would rebel like she did when she was a guard. "I guess it's for the best" Rainbow Dash sighed in a depressing tone to herself.
CLOP CLOP CLOP CLOP...........KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
"Who's there?" asked Rainbow Dash. She assumed it was just another official checking on her. She opened the door and found, to her surprise, Princess Luna standing at her door. Rainbow Dash bowed in respect and confusion. Dash rarely had visitors, and most of them just came to drop off her money from the government.
"Rainbow Spectra Dash." said Luna, interrupting Rainbow's train of thought.
"I want you to come with me." said Luna. "I am the head of a new project that I need you to help me with."
"You know that I can't, part of the penalty was that I can no longer interact with you or your sister!" replied Rainbow Dash.
"I am aware of that." Luna answered. "However, I also know that you feel like you are a bird trapped in a cage. I know you desperately want to come back to society, because you feel that you are wasting your life here in this rotting apartment."
"When do I start?" Rainbow Dash eagerly asked. She was starting to get excited. Rainbow Dash thought she would never get a second chance.
"I'm glad you've chosen this path Rainbow Dash" said Luna in a serious voice "But first we need to make your disapearance official. Tomorrow you will meet me in the Royal Canterlot Graveyard, but before you do that, you need to take care of your overwatchers".
She handed Dash a weapon she was very familiar with. Wing blades. They were popular with the royal guard and pegasus gangs alike, but these were not standard issue. These blades seemed to perfectly fit on Dash's wings and they were made of a black lighter material. "It's getting late, I'm going to have to leave you now Rainbow Dash, meet me at the graveyard entrance tomorrow as soon as the sun comes down".
"Understood". replied Rainbow Dash in a more official voice. After years of guard training she finally gained some level of dicipline. She still wondered why guard officials wanted to recruit her after two years of performing with the Wonderbolts, but that was all in the past and Rainbow Dash had a long night ahead of her.
She always knew where the two watchers were. It took her a while to figure out what they looked like, but now they stuck out to her. Keen was an all black pegasus with jade green eyes and she knew she didn't have to worry too much about him, but Dash does have to worry about Lin. Lin was a dark pony like Keen although Lin is a unicorn and very talented in close quarters using his magic to make his horn a sharp deadly blade. Rainbow Dash prepared for the upcoming fight by locating the pair and preparing her wing blades. The blades go on the front of the wings and hook back. They were simple, but effective even when flying. Unlike most wing blades the royal guard carry, these blades pivot and turn naturally with Rainbow Dashe's wings.
It was late enough that all the lights went out except for a few clubs and the street lights and that is when Rainbow Dash began her new objective. Dash wasn't exactly a veteran, but she has fought in multiple skirmishes with governmental revolutionaries and griffon soldiers disrupting borders between Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom. She olcked the blades to her wings and flew off into the night.
"Hey Lin, Rainbow Dash just took off!" yelled Keen who was a little sleep deprived considring he had been up all night observing Rainbow Dash. Lin woke up slowly figuring Keen was just playing another trick on him, but he did sense something bad was about to happen.
"Where did she go?" said Lin in a half sarcastic, half serious voice.
"I don't know she just took from her balcony and I lost sight of her. She flew over our building!" Keen exclaimed
"I'll go alert the director of observation" said Lin getting his magic ready to report to his comand.
"You don't need to do that guys, I'm right here. COME AND GET ME." said a voice who they were both very familiar with. Keen was the first to attack, he instictivly pulled out his knife with his mouth and attacked Rainbow Dash's wings, but of course he didn't realize that he was the one who was already under attack. Dash viciously tackled Keen and closed her wings in front of her to seperating her from Keen who was now pinned against the wall. Then Keen realized the situation and knew that this was the end, he couldn't reach his knife, it was knocked out of his mouth before he could even locate his target, he only hoped that Lin had sent a message to the direct/SLASH
"AHHHACK!" With a quick opening of her wings Rainbow Dash quickly diposed of her first enemy and located her next. Lin's train of thought was interuppted when he heard Keen scream in the other room. Lin focused on his horn and it became a sharp shadowy blade. Before Lin could even try to react the door was busted in and in the wreckage was a blue rainbow maned pegasus covered in blood. Lin faced his opponent and stood his ground, but unfortunatley the ground under him was disrupted when Rainbow Dash dove right under him and took him down.
"Wait!" screamed Lin trying to buy some time to save himself. "Rainbow Dash why are you doing this?" asked Lin who was shocked by this news.
"Orders" Dash answered in a monotonous voice.
"From who?" Lin asked. He was still dazed by the intial attack, but he quickly regained his senses and stood back up.
"You ask too many questions" and Rainbow Dash charged again at Lin. Lin anticipated this second attack and quickly lowered himself ready jump up and lunge at Rainbow Dash. The second Dash caught on to Lin's trap it was a second too late. Lin lunged at Dash and cut her upper torso and managed to cut a little of her left wing. Dash fell to the ground and bellowed in pain. Lin got up and charged at the seamingly helpless Rainbow Dash ready to finish the job. CRACK
Lin felt a sharp pain in his chest realizing that Dash's good wing had pierced his rib cage. His outer chest was covered in blood and he slowly collapsed to the floor. Rainbow Dash picked herself off the floor and found the watcher's first aid kit. She tended to her wounds and then went through all of the watcher's records.
She discovered that Luna had sent a message to the two overwatchers saying that she was going to visit Rainbow Dash today and then execute her in two days and that their service will no longer be required in three days. Brushing those thoughts away Rainbow Dash quickly burned all of the files and flew away from the new murder scene and into the night away from both apartments and into a dark desolate alley way where she figured no one would find her.
(Thanks for the tips on the previous chapter! I really appreciate it.)
1 Year earlier
"Rainbow .S Dash you have been found guilty and as part of your punishment you will be under constant surveillance under officers Lin and Keen"
Present Day
Rainbow Dash woke up in the alley way wakened by a dream she had when she first heard her overwatchers names in court one year ago. She looked around and saw that she wasn't alone. All around her she saw homeless ponies each with a different story to tell, once rich investors who lost it all, a gang member who ran away from the police, runaway soldiers from the Equestrian guard, even criminals who seemed innocent were sent out of jail only to end up in an even worse place. She heard shouts of authorities coming, but she wasn't immediately alarmed until she noticed she was the only pony standing in the middle of the alley. Then five earth ponies, six pegasi, and two unicorns rushed into the alleyway, the pegasi landing on the rooftops. No matter where the ponies were they all had their eyes fixed on one thing. Rainbow Dash.
"Don't move!" shouted one of the unicorns. Dash didn't really have any options. She could attempt to fly, but that idea was dropped when another squad of pegasi flew over preventing any ways of escape by land or air. "Rainbow S. Dash you are under questioning for the murders of officers Keen and Lin." The unicorn said. He had a cross hair for a cutie mark and he was clearly the leader of the group.
Rainbow Dash thought this over for a minute. She could surrender to them and probably be charged with murder and hope that the letter was fake and Luna could hopefully bail her out or she could attempt to escape and meet with Luna. She had her blades behind a dumpster, if she could maybe grab them and put try to fly past the pegasi and put them on in mid flight she could have a chance and taking risks was one of the few things about her personality that has stayed with her throughout her entire life.
"Come and get me" Rainbow Dash calmly said. At first the lead unicorn was stunned by the calmness in Dash's voice and that single moment was all that Rainbow needed to fly past him holding her wingblades trying to put them on while flying.
"After her! Don't let her escape!" Yelled the leader. The pegasi flew off one by one locating their new target. They flew in a rugged, but steady formation trying to catch up to Rainbow Dash, but they had a slight advantage over her. Dash was still attaching her blades to her wings, slowing her down, well at least that's what the officers thought. Rainbow Dash still flew faster than them and time was running out for the police, she only had to strap the weapon to her left wing until they would be completely on her.
(Chase, this is Scope. You have permission to use deadly force.) Scope finished his psychic communication spell. He was frustrated that he let Rainbow Dash escape, but he knew that it wasn't the first time a criminal pegasus tried to outrun him and his squad.
Chase and his squad trailed Rainbow Dash for another five minutes until he ordered the rest of his squad to continue following her as he broke off from the main group. Chase was smart and he knew exactly where he was in the city. He landed on the roof of a large office building and trotted over to an air conditioning pipe. That's what it was supposed to look like anyway. He removed the pipe and took out his crossbow along with a bolt tied with string attached to the crossbow. The string was about thirty feet long and the reason it was there was incase he missed he could easily recover it and so it won't fly off and possibly injure an innocent pony. He flew off trying to intercept Rainbow Dash. After four minutes Chase caught up with his squad and he took the first shot. WHOOSH
The bolt grazed Rainbow Dash's right wing. She made a 90 degree turn to the right then looped around hopping that she could evade a second shot. WHOOSH
She heard the bolt being shot again, but it completely missed. It was then when she turned around and saw that the bolt was tied to a piece of string so her persusers could easily reload shot after shot. Then an idea came to her. Dash dive bombed towards the bolt, snatching it with her mouth. She then grabbed it with her front hooves and yanked the crossbow out of the hooves of the lead pegasus. She then dove down almost right underneath Chase and grabbed the weapon.
She flew down on a rooftop and loaded the weapon. She ducked down under a vent and looked towards the sky. THUMP Chase landed on the other side of the rooftop, panting, but she cloud still tell he was determined to kill. He drew out his knife and spread out his wings ready to charge. Dash heard him land and quickly found him. The problem was that he was one foot away from cutting her throat. Dash quickly made a 360 degree turn opening her wings deflecting the attack, but not without consequences. She lost a few feathers and she was cut badly on her right side. She looked over and saw Chase four meters away with a couple cuts made from the wingblades, the injuries weren't major, but they were enough to put him on the ground for a minute. Chase stood up realizing that his initial attack failed. He prepared for a second attack, but he realized that he didn't recover as fast as he hoped. Rainbow Dash stood up and took aim at Chase. Chase knew he made a mistake by leaving his squad. He saw them in the distance.
I'm not going to make it, but at least Scope will find her..... eventually..... hopefully WHOOSH
Rainbow Dash shot her enemy and then limped towards a vent and sat down trying to regain her focus and look at her wounds. She was already injured from the fight last night and she ditched the first aid kit so she didn't have any resources. She then looked at Chase. He had an arrow going through his head, but she then looked at his chest. Chase was wearing a standard Manehattan Police uniform.
"It won't be a bandage, but it'll do" Dash talked to herself. For most ponies talking to yourself meant that you were going crazy, but for Rainbow Dash, talking to herself kept her sanity in situations like this. She knew that she had killed three ponies within twenty four hours, but she's done worse in the past.
Chapter 3: Flashbacks part 1
2 years before "reactivation" Equestrian/Griffon Kingdom border Outpost 15
Outpost 15 was like any other border outpost out there. Two squads of eight guards. All of the squads in the local outposts consisted of a platoon. The platoon consisted mostly of pegasi and earth ponies and unicorns being used as comanders and special operations teams, but not Rainbow Dash's platoon. She had an entire army of pegasi at her disposal. She wasn't exactly like other platoon comanders though. While most unicorn and earth ponies fought, they would fight at a distance with higher ranking officers, but not Dash. She would be the first to charge in and the last to fly out. Her guards respected her for that and the fact that she has saved all of their flanks at least once.
"Hey chief!" shouted Fletch. Fletch was a pegasus who had a black and green camo pattern for his entire body. His cutie mark was a drawn back recurve bow. He was the best shot in Outpost 15 and probably the best in the entire platoon.
"Yes. What is it Fletch?" Rainbow Dash responded. She was currently in the medical cabin treating a pony who had just been in a recent skirmish with a griffon scouting squad.
"Outpost 14 has reported seeing some more griffon scouts and Outpost 16 has responded with the same report." Fletch finished.
Then Dash began to speak "Alert everypony in the station, tell them to prepare for another battle. You and Deadshot get to the clouds with your bows and prepare an ambush from above. If they see you guys then fly back down where ever the rest of the squad is." Rainbow finished her orders. This was not good. This was the third skirmish this week and with four injured ponies one of them being the medic it would only be a matter of time before her outpost gets over run. At the beggining of the week there were only a few sightings of scouts most of them becoming unnecesary battles resulting in shallow victories for the Equestrian guard. More soldiers were getting injured or killed as a result the border was getting weaker.
Rainbow Dash flew up to her post and her loyal troops followed her. The border between Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom was a little odd in Dash's opinion. The Equestria side had hills and green grass growing, but the griffon side was a dark desolate desert with large mountains in the backround. "Stand your ground. Stay focused, stay alive!" Shouted Rainbow Dash. Her troops took their position and she took out, and loaded her crossbow.
Dash looked up and saw Fletch and Deadshot take their positions in the clouds above. There was a flash from a storm cloud on the griffon border and suddenly dark figures started to emerge from a nearby mountain. SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH The griffons cried out flying towards the small outpost drawing their bows ready for a fight. 100 meters..........90 meters......70 meters. WHOOSH The first arrows of the battle were shot by Fletch and Deadshot striking down a few griffons, breaking their flying formation. Dash had been leading her platoon for adecent amount of time and one thing that she knew was that you could never assume anything in a battle especially when your winning.
"Shade! take your squad and take the right flank. Spark and Scout, come with me we're going to take the left!" This plan was simple, but effective. The idea was to focus the majority of the fighting to the side with less ponies and have the squad with greater numbers intercept the enemy while being covered by both the cloud snipers and the fort. The griffons charged the right attacking Shade's squad which was a surprise to Rainbow Dash, but her tactics could easily be changed. Her squad flew and took the griffon mob by surprise. A volley of crossbow bolts were fired and then a wingblade charge to keep enemy long ranged support out of the fight.
The battle has gone on for for fithteen minutes with violent results for the griffons. Their numbers have gone from over forty to below twenty. Due to anatomy griffons couldn't wear wingblades so they would usually charge with bows or swords in their talons which were easy targets for anypony. Dash flew up opening her wings slashing any nearby opponents and breaking off any engagments that were working in the griffon's favor. The battle in the air was easily being won by the Equestrian Guard.
Suddenly Dash realized something was wrong. There were no more arrows coming from the clouds. Fletch and Deadshot couldn't have ran out of arrows so quickly and she didn't see either of them fighting in the bloody close quarters battle. She was suddenly tackled by a griffon in mid air interupting her thoughts and forcing both of them to decend towards the ground. The air war was happening over 100 meters above the ground and although pegasi and griffons alike were designed to take a fall like that, there was another problem. The griffon had a lit fuse on him. Dash quickly closed her wings in front of her and opened them getting some distance from the griffon. A second later......BOOOOOOOM The griffon exploded knocking Rainbow Dash through a cloud and sending hot shrapnel across her body cutting her in multiple places. She flew then fell on a cloud trying to regain her senses and asses the situation. The minute she assumed she was ok she flew towards Fletch's cloud hoping that no one had spotted him. "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Dash saw a griffon ultra grab Deadshot by the head and drill his sword into the sniper pony's stomach. The body went limp and the griffon bastard discarded the body by throwing it off the clouds letting it plumet to the ground below. The griffon screeched in victory marking another kill. WHOOSH An arrow pierced the skull of the griffon leader by Fletch who was standing 30 meters away with a broken wing and a bleeding thigh.
"Fletch!" Rainbow Dash flew over to Fletch who collapsed to the ground due to severe bleeding.
"They surounded us and attacked at every angle. W-we managed to take out as many as we could, but..... There were too many." Fletch started to cough up some blood and Rainbow Dash took off his uniform and started to tend to his thigh trying to stop the bleeding. "The griffon charged me, but Deadshot intercepted him. The ultra....cut his neck then..grabbed him.....and killed him." Fletch finished his sentence coughing up more blood.
"I'm getting you out of here Fletch." Dash said. "I'll carry you back to the med station I'm not losing you!" Rainbow Dash said. Fletch sighed looking at his broken wing realizing he could do nothing. "Stay here." Dash said. She then looked down at the battle below. The remaining griffons were trying to regroup and started to retreat. She then looked at her troops. Unfortunantly most of them were on the ground trotting back to the outpost which was a bad sign.
"We won didn't we?" Fletch asked.
"Yeah another victory with more consequences" Rainbow Dash replied.Dash then trotted over to Fletch. Fletch knew that he wasn't going to make it.
"The griffons have a nerotoxin on their arrows and swords......It hurts for a long time until eventually death........Captain I not going to make it." Fletch finished. Rainbow Dash knew very well about the affects of the nerotoxin. Even a drop of it could kill you and suicide was a more prefered option than waiting for death."I want you to shoot me Dash." Fletch was still coughing up blood and his thigh was bleeding through his makeshift bandage. Rainbow Dash was shocked about the request her trooper, her friend has given her.
"I can't do it Fletch! I won't! We can still make back!" Atleast that's what she wanted to believe. Fletch was her best friend in the platoon and they've faced countless struggles togehther saving each other's lives more than once.
Tears came to Dash. "Dash. I want you to do this. You and me both know that I can't make it and that if you kill me now.........I won't have to suffer anymore."
Rainbow Dash understood, got up and replied "Ok.......I'm sorry I have to do this" Fletch understood perfectly.
Fletch smiled and said "You don't have to be sorry Dash....I want this......thank you" He then felt a sharp pain in his chest, but it wasn't an arrow. It was a syringe. Fletch closed his eyes and went silent and Dash took out the syringe from Fletch's chest and put it back in her jacket. With tears still in her eyes she flew back to her outpost.
End of Flashbacks part 1
(Thank you for the comments and please continue giving me feedback!)
Rainbow Dash was opened her eyes. She was still on the roof where she shot the pegasus chasing after her. It has been about five minutes after the kill and she lost consciousness for a minute or two just remembering an old memory."Ok Dash back to reality." She got up and checked herself. She had a few mild cuts but her improvised bandage was wet with blood, but it did slow down the bleeding. A thought ran through her mind. The pegasus following her didn't have the crossbow originally so he must have had it stashed on the roof of a building. Rainbow Dash went through the pockets of the officer's vest and found a small map of the entire city. Some buildings had labels on them marking things like:crossbows, telescopes, emergency flares, first aid kit. Dash smiled weakly as she read the last item on one of the labels. By luck she landed on one of the buildings with a supply cash. All she had to do was find it and after about five minutes of looking she finally found the fake air vent which held the supplies.
She quickly patched herself off and checked her surroundings. The pursuit squad of pegasi were off in the distance searching on rooftops and beyond the clouds. "Guess I might as well take this." Dash said as she picked up the crossbow and a clip to store the bolts. She slung the weapon over her back and flew off towards Canterlot.
Sunset. Canterlot Graveyard
Rainbow Dash landed at the entrance of the gate of the graveyard and she didn't see Luna anywhere. Dash figured that she was early so she decided to trot around. After about five minutes of looking around she suddenly stopped at one of the graves.
A tear formed on Dash's cheek and a shadowy figure trotted behind her.
"Did he serve with you?" Luna asked.
"Yea we fought together. He...suffered from nerotoxin...I had to help him." Rainbow Dash had a hard time talking. Fletch was not only her second in Command, but also her most loyal friend.
"I see you've been injured quite a bit." Luna said, trying to change the subject. "From a recent Manehatten 'wanted' report it seems that you had a little trouble leaving the city."
"It's nothing I couldn't handle." Rainbow Dash tensed up. "I read the letter you gave to Keen and Lin."
"That was just so they would keep their guard down. It was also a test to see if you really trusted me." Luna finished. She wasn't shocked at all the Rainbow Dash had found the letter in fact she wasn't even surprised that Rainbow Dash wasn't trying to kill her right now. After all of the past experiences with Rainbow Dash, Luna knew that out of the mane six, Rainbow Dash would be the most trustworthy and obedient even if it didn't show in her earlier years.
"So why did you bring me here?" Dash asked.
"Come with me. You need a new home,food, and to be forgotten."
"This is the Canterlot Underground. About one hundred years ago a large network of tunnels were built under the city for storage, but after about halfway through the project the engineers found a design flaw that could have put an entire section of the city underground. The area that was already drilled is safe and there are hundreds of entrances and exits hidden all over the city. This will be your new living quarters. I have to go now so go explore the facility a little, get something to eat, then get some rest because your new assignment starts tomorrow."
The underground was fairly large. The living quarters section could easily house twenty or more ponies. She then trotted into the main storage area. There were a few large containers from multiple companies and organizations that have been abandoned or discarded. Luna did say this was an old storage facility. Dash then trotted over to a sub section marked: MILITARY STORAGE ONLY. This room had the most containers and probably the most expensive items in it.
"Well a little look inside won't hurt." Dash said to herself. One by one she opened the containers and looked through the items held inside. Old armor variants, riot shields, combat knives, wingblades and even a few ballista guard tower turrets. A lot of these things Rainbow Dash had already seen or used sometime during her line of service, but one container did catch her eye. PROTOTYPE: CB Mk XII Only permitted ponies only. Of course Rainbow Dash had to open it. She unhitched the handle and opened the door. The container had multiple armored cases each marked SECRET, but the one case in particular caught her eye, it was the center one. Unlike the other rectangular boxes, this one had a flat mushroom shape marked WEAPON PROTOTYPE 12. Rainbow Dash trotted over towards the box and smashed the lock with another case. She then opened it. It was a slick compact tactical crossbow.
She knew how to use a crossbow, but this weapon seemed alien to her. The basics of the crossbow were there, but there seemed to be several unknown attachments. There was a high powered scope, a gravity fed bolt magazine, and a rapid pull back system for faster reloading. Even with all of the attachments it was still slimmer than the standard issued ones Dash during her time on the outpost.
She then went about opening the other cases inside the storage container. They mostly consisted of documents and schematics of the crossbow and previous variants of the weapon. All of those cases just seemed to be normally placed to an average pony's eye, but Dash knew that the goods were always hidden at the bottom and it didn't take long for her to find the cases marked AMMO. Each case stored thirty bolts and each case had different bolts in them. Some were just basic standard bolts, but others were a lot more complex. Some were hollow designed to break and send shrapnel everywhere, some had flammable tips on them, some were even designed to explode.
After about half an hour more of looking through the case Dash decided to call it a night. She took a few documents and then headed to the living quarters section.In the living quarters there was a main room connecting to all of the bedrooms and other rooms. The main room was plain white with a row of cafeteria tables in the center. On one of the tables there was a basket full of fruit that mostly consisted of apples. Dash trotted over and sat down at the table. She started to eat and then noticed that Applejack's farm's logo was on the basket. Dash was surprised. First of all there was an apple farm on the outskirts of Canterlot and second of all it had Applejack's personal mark on it which meant it came directly from the farm.
Did Luna do this on purpose? Is she trying to connect me to my past friends? Why? So many questions went through Rainbow Dash's mind. "It's probably nothing."
Dash finished eating and retired to bed. She read a few of the documents then drifted off to sleep. She had a big day tomorrow.
(Probably not the best chapter in the story, but I was in a rush and I had to put in some necessary information and a little bit of foreshadowing in this chapter. Also thanks again for the helpful tips!)
Chapter 5: Spectra and mission 001
"Uhhhh" Rainbow Dash moaned as she woke up. Her wounds still hurt from her recent fights. She got out of bed and trotted out of her room and into the main room. Luna was sitting at a table reading a file and finishing an apple. There was a small paper bag on the table next to her.
"Good morning Rainbow Dash." Luna greeted her, not taking her eyes off the paper she was reading.
"I guess this is the pony you want me to find." Dash said.
"It is, but before I brief you, your going to have to change your look." Luna motioned to the paper bag. It had mane dye, hair scissors, and a few other products. Rainbow Dash hadn't really changed or cared about her looks after she got court martial. She would cut it every now and then, but nothing out of the usual. She took the bag then trotted towards the bathroom.
After about fifteen minutes Rainbow Dash trotted out of the bathroom. Her mane mane and tail were cut short. Her mane was now blue and red and her tail was light green mixed with a dark blue.
"That will do" Luna said. "Your now going to need a new name."
"Spectra" Rainbow Dash said her middle name. Her mother's first name.
"It'll work. Now Spectra, Rainbow Dash is dead. She died of exhaustion and starvation while attempting to flee Manehatten. Do you understand?"
"Yes"
"Here's the file for your first mission." Luna gave Spectra the file and she began to read.
"His name is Sickle" Luna began while Spectra was reading. "Earth pony. Born in Las Pegasus then he got drafted into service. He was a blacksmith for the royal guard. He now runs a project called Project High Point. Him and his team research and advance royal guard weapons and armor. He currently lives in Canterlot so your not going to have to go far."
"So he's a high class target. Some pony's going to assassinate him." Spectra assumed
"I don't know. My spell gives me a cutie mark and that's it. For all we know he could be trying to kill somepony. Mabye a competing project director or too stubborn client. The Royal Guard aren't the only ponies interested in his line of work according to these business papers. Either way you need to observe him then go in for the kill or the save."
"Understood." Spectra then went off to pack her gear. According to the documents Sickle lived on the north side of town. That is where the important business ponies all lived. It wasn't going to be easy. Not only did Sickle live in a gated community, but he also ran the security there.
Night time One day after start of mission Gate community 14 Royal Trade Gates
Spectra flew above the clouds carefully avoiding any night guards or alarms hidden in clouds. She had a bad experience with tripping alarms throughout her life. She surreptiously flew down on a rooftop. She looked at the address or what the community called an address. The community was organized by businesses and occupations of the ponies living there. Bankers, stockers, lawyers, and other business ponies lived together while scientists had their own section. Luckily she wasn't too far from her objective's destination. She was currently at Section 3: Physics and Chemistry and she needed to be at Section 6: Magic and Technology. She flew over the many mansions and guard stations that littered the land. After about ten minutes of searching she arrived at Section 6. Sickle lived directly in the middle of the block and he had the largest house too so it wasn't hard for Spectra to find his house. House 15, Section 6, Professor Sickle, Magic and technology.
Spectra flew on top of a nearby house top and pulled out her binoculars and began observing Sickle. He was out on a balcony trotting in circles. He seemed impatient like he was expecting somepony. Then suddenly the clouds over the house dispersed and a dark figure landed on the balcony. The form was too large for a pony and the body structure only suggested one species in Spectra's mind. A griffon. Spectra focused on Sickle and the griffon. They were talking about something. The professor seemed calm while the griffon was stressed and angry. Then Sickle went back inside his house and after two minutes he reappeared with a package. It had the similar shape to a case that Spectra had opened the previous night. Sickle unlocked the case and took out a crossbow. He hoofed it to the griffon who was looking over the object. Griffon tech wasn't as advanced as Equestria's, so black market trading wasn't uncommon for the Griffon Empire. Then the griffon handed it back to the pony and Sickle put it back into the case. The pony then went into his house again and brought out more cases. The griffon inspected the cases then grabbed them and took off. The cloud above the house reformed leaving no trace of the griffon.
Sickle trotted back inside and turned out the lights. After another hour of watching the house Spectra packed her gear and started to head back towards the Canterlot Underground.
"What do you have to report Spectra?" Luna asked as Spectra trotted down one of the hidden entrances and into the main hall.
"Sickle is working for the other side. He's selling weapons to the griffon army." Spectra reported. "The griffon buyer seemed angry towards him."
"Ok. So we have a top equestrian scientist working with the Griffon Empire selling them weapons and probably other technology. So why?"
"He doesn't care who he's selling weapons to as long as he gets money. He's making an easy fortune by helping the other side." Spectra made an educated guess. "He seemed calm while talking to the stressed griffon. He knew that he had other clients he could rely on if the griffons stopped doing business with him."
"But mabye if they stop trading the griffons will just kill him and take his work for their own use. Tomorrow you're getting a new job. I have sent Sickle a letter saying that you will be overseeing his project and that you and The Cloudsdale Guard are interested in doing business with him. Get as much information as you can and if you see the griffon at Sickle's house again trail the griffon mabye we can get some more information."
Morning The next day High Point Labs
"Good morning Miss......Spectra was it?" Sickle asked. It has been two hours since the facility had opened and all of the ponies started working and testing. There was a lot to do today. Three new armor prototypes had to be tested as well as a new crossbow variant. Today was also the the day where all sub directors of the project had a meeting. He was not looking forward to this day and a sudden letter sent from the Cloudsdale Guard the day before and a representative visiting today was not a good start.
"That's correct Professor Sickle. I must apologize for the late notice, but in Cloudsdale has become a large target for griffon border jumpers and spies alike. The guard are easily outnumbered and our technology isn't as advanced as it is for the Royal Guard. We were hoping that your project would be willing to accept another large client."
"Miss Spectra my organization is always looking for new clients and I assure you that I can assist you in any way possible." Sickle smiled. He knew that another client would put more stress on his organization, but at the same time more funding and profit. After another hour of talking about the guard's interests and the facility's technology, Sickle realized his direction meeting was about to start. "Well it's been great talking to you Miss Spectra, but I have a directors meeting to attend to now unless you would like to join me. You'll meet the sub directors and see how fast our tech moves here."
"I would be honored to join you Professor. I'm very interested in the technology myself and I would like to see the progress your facility has achieved."
"Very well then. Follow me." Sickle motioned her to follow him. The two ponies trotted down a hallway and into a large meeting room with four other ponies sitting at the table. "Attention everypony this is Miss Spectra. She will be joining us on this meeting. She represents the Cloudsdale Guard and she is interested in our organization. Please show some respect." The scientist ponies understood and all stood up and introduced themselves.
"I'm Aegis, I research and improve armor. I also oversee all prototype testing in the laboratories." The red unicorn said. He looked at Sickle as he sat down knowing that this was another important client. He knew that all introductions to clients for sub directors should be brief unless the client wanted to learn more.
Then a gray earth pony stood up and introduced himself. "I"m Broad Head. I test and research crossbow and bolt technology."
"I'm Flicker. I research pyrotechnics for military usage." Said the female orange pegasus. Her mane and tail were a mix of yellow and red, and out of everypony there she seemed to be the only pony with energy.
Finally the last scientist got up. She was a wood green pegasus with a black mane #Too similar to Fletch#. She also had a deep scar running across her neck. "I'm Valkyrie. I research and test crossbow technology along with Broad Head. I also coordinate the manufacturing of all of the products built in this facility." She sat back down and had a slight glare at Sickle.
Sickle noticed Valkyrie, and seemed a little annoyed with her, but shrugged it off. "Now down to business. I know today is a busy day for everypony so lets just cut to the chase. Aegis, how much more time do you need to test our newest armor?"
"We should be done testing tomorrow if everything goes smoothly." Aegis answered him. "Forging the armor is done, it's just enchanting them that's taking them so long."
"Very well. You have two days to complete testing and I expect to see the final product by the end of the week. So Broad Head how are things coming up on your side of research?"
Broad Head seemed a little hesitant with his answer. "Well our recent crossbow variant will be completing it's final tests today and we should have a final product by tomorrow. We would have been done by know, but of course you know well about our little accident that set us back." After he reported he looked at Valkyrie. She was staring down at the table trying to avoid any contact with Broad Head.
"I see. Miss Spectra I'll have to explain later to what happened, but for now I would like to continue. Flicker what have you been doing? From what I've heard you and your team have done something too big."
Flicker chuckled at the comment. "We finished testing our mines. They work on land and on clouds. We've also finished our exploding tips. Sorry if you heard some noise boss."
"Just tell somepony next time Flicker. I don't want this entire facility destroyed. Ok well last and foremost what have you been doing Valkyrie?" Sickle knew very well about Valkyrie staying up past working hours. "From what the guards have told me, you've been spending more time here than in your house. Sixteen hours at least each day."
"Well that's a little exaggerated sir. I've just been caught up with research, trying to regain some lost time. As Broad Head said we're finishing testing today, but there is something I want to bring to your attention. There was another report of stolen weapons, but this time it happened inside the facility. I checked the stock every week, but we were short twenty crossbow Mk 10s this week. All shipments were accounted for, and all visitor and worker check ins were accounted for that day."
"That will be for another time Valkyrie. I understand that there is a security issue and I do intend to fix it. Remember when we moved the facility a few years years ago? A lot of things went missing and so we moved to a more secure facility. We are all scientists here so instead of complaining lets fix the problem and move on." Sickle seemed more annoyed. Valkyrie didn't seem to be doing anything wrong, but only he knew where those crossbows were. Spectra noticed the stress in Sickle even though he was working hard trying not to show it.
Sickle got up from his chair and spoke "That will be the report for the month. If anypony has anything else they want to say please say it now..................Ok well I expect all finished products by the end of the week. Miss Spectra I have a few things to do, but you are free to take a look around the facility."
The ponies shuffled out of the room and Spectra was left alone. "If only Sickle knew or even Valkyrie could know." Spectra said to herself. She trotted over to a file cabinet a started going through them. Nothing. No security reports, no worker check ins, and no reports on an accident. The files were a dead end. Spectra figured that Sickle had them all in a more secure place. She then trotted out of the conference room and headed over to the area marked Lab 1A. Aegis was there with five other unicorns working hard on enchanting the piece of armor that's on the table. An aurora of different colors started forming around the armor. After another five minutes of continued concentration by the unicorn team the armor began to glow on it's own. Aegis started to trot over.
"It's harder than it looks you know." said Aegis.
"I'm just taking a look around. When I served my platoon didn't have armor since we were all pegasi. Have you ever considered making a more flexible armor for pegasi guards?" When Rainbow Dash served all she had was a jacket and a vest as armor. Most pegasi guards on the border didn't wear armor since it slowed them down in flight.
"Yes I have as a matter of fact." Aegis trotted over to a table and levitated a vest. "It doesn't look like much, it's not even enchanted, but it can withstand crossbow bolts shot from one hundred meters or more and most close range ballistic explosions. The only problem is that it dissolves if it gets hit with a chemical explosion."
"That's interesting. I'll keep this in mind. The pegasi guards have always needed better protection especially from archers. Anyway I heard that the company has moved before. How come and where was the original location?"
"Well I can't tell you much, but I can tell you this. Sickle used to run the project in the Canterlot Underground, but a rival company shared the same labs with them. It was when Project High Point began and we didn't stay in the underground for more than a year. Why do you need to know?"
"I see. Well thanks for the information. My company wanted a little more history on your project and that's why I asked." A little more history on the company could reveal what Sickle's involved in.
"It's not my project Miss Spectra, It's Sickle's" Aegis said.
Incredible. Spectra thought. Sickle seems to be enforcing his authority and dominance over the ponies in the facility. Somepony or someponies might want to rebel.
Chapter 6: Meeting an old friend
Sickle got up from his chair and spoke "That will be the report for the month. If anypony has anything else they want to say please say it now..................Ok well I expect all finished products by the end of the week. Miss Spectra I have a few things to do, but you are free to take a look around the facility."
The ponies shuffled out of the room and Spectra was left alone. "If only Sickle knew or even Valkyrie could know." Spectra said to herself. She trotted over to a file cabinet a started going through them. Nothing. No security reports, no worker check ins, and no reports on an accident. The files were a dead end. Spectra figured that Sickle had them all in a more secure place. She then trotted out of the conference room and headed over to the area marked Lab 1A. Aegis was there with five other unicorns working hard on enchanting the piece of armor that's on the table. An aurora of different colors started forming around the armor. After another five minutes of continued concentration by the unicorn team the armor began to glow on it's own. Aegis started to trot over.
"It's harder than it looks you know." said Aegis.
"I'm just taking a look around. When I served my platoon didn't have armor since we were all pegasi. Have you ever considered making a more flexible armor for pegasi guards?" When Rainbow Dash served all she had was a jacket and a vest as armor. Most pegasi guards on the border didn't wear armor since it slowed them down in flight.
"Yes I have as a matter of fact." Aegis trotted over to a table and levitated a vest. "It doesn't look like much, it's not even enchanted, but it can withstand crossbow bolts shot from one hundred meters or more and most close range ballistic explosions. The only problem is that it dissolves if it gets hit with a chemical explosion."
"That's interesting. I'll keep this in mind. The pegasi guards have always needed better protection especially from archers. Anyway I heard that the company has moved before. How come and where was the original location?"
"Well I can't tell you much, but I can tell you this. Sickle used to run the project in the Canterlot Underground, but a rival company shared the same labs with them. It was when Project High Point began and we didn't stay in the underground for more than a year. Why do you need to know?"
"I see. Well thanks for the information. My company wanted a little more history on your project and that's why I asked." A little more history on the company could reveal what Sickle's involved in.
"It's not my project Miss Spectra, It's Sickle's" Aegis said.
Incredible. Spectra thought. Sickle seems to be enforcing his authority and dominance over the ponies in the facility. Somepony or someponies might want to rebel.
After visiting Aegis, Spectra trotted over to Lab 4A. She trotted inside and it was only Valkryie inside working on a crossbow on one of the tables. The table itself was a mess. Tools, papers, schematics, and parts were littered across the table.
"Hello Miss Spectra."said Valkyrie. She got up from her work and trotted over and motioned Spectra to her office. She then sat at her desk and glanced at a few new documents before looking back at her new client. "So how do you like the project so far?"
"I'm very interested in doing business with the company. Our guard in the sky have been stretched thin with borders and gangs and we need all of the help we can get." Spectra said and this was partially true. Cloudsdale was a hard place to defend from griffon border jumpers and some places in Cloudsdale were even harder to control with new gangs rising daily. " I understand that there was some kind of accident involving your lab. Is this why your the only pony working here right now?"
"No" Valkyrie stated. "Miss Spectra you're asking too many questions, but lucky for you I have some answers. You see Sickle is domination type of boss and he likes to show that he is the alpha in the group, but that's not all. He's up to something, but I don't know what. He knew that I knew too much and that's where I got this." She pointed to her scar running across her neck. "An assassination made to look like an accident. We were testing a new crossbow in the field and I was helping Flicker set up targets. The weapon 'misfired' and I almost died. I woke up in the hospital two days later and checked out the next day. To this day I carry a knife because I know he'll try to do it again."
"Why are you telling me this then? Shouldn't you go to the authorities?"
"That's the hard part. Sickle is the authority around here. He monitors everything we do inside and outside the facility!" Valkyrie was trying hard to stay calm. He could be listening right now. "Your the client. You can get the authorities in on this. You can stop Sickle!"
It was then when Spectra noticed a picture on her desk of a pony who seemed very familiar to her.
"Who is this?" Asked Spectra.
"What? Sorry I thought we were still talking about overthrowing my boss last time I checked."
" In order to have my trust I have to trust you and that means getting to know you better. So who is this?" Spectra said calmly. She really didn't need the answer for Luna's mission, but Spectra did need it for her mission.
"He's my brother Fletch. Before the project we both got drafted into different companies. He's...........missing in action, assumed..dead. He was the only one I had left." Valkyrie was trying hard to not cry, but she was failing.
"I'm so sorry. I know what it means to serve and lose everpony you loved."
No! Fletch was the only link back to Rainbow Dash. The one part that stayed in Spectra and the one part that will always stay with her.
2 years earlier Equestria/Griffon border Outpost 15 (After assumed death of Fletch)
Rainbow Dash glided down towards her outpost leaving her dead comrad on the clouds. She didn't want to see him again, she didn't want to see anypony right now for that matter. She landed on a tower and trotted towards the courtyard.
"Shade report." Dash said flatly.
"Deadshot's gone and so is Spark. Three guards are severely injured and five are recovering from more minor wounds. Fletch also hasn't reported in yet chief." Spark reported. Spark kept his thoughts on the inside, something seemed wrong when Dash spoke.
"Fletch is gone Shade. I don't know where he is or if he's alive. I'm going to look for him tonight, he couldn't have gone far." At least that's what Rainbow Dash wanted to believe. That Fletch was somewhere out there, still alive.
"Good luck." Shade knew that without Fletch and Dash the outpost will be hell until one of them or both of them return. Shade then gathered all of the guards in the medical bunker and made the announcement of Commander Dash's leave.
Present Day Canterlot Underground End of week 1 of mission 001
Luna was sitting down at a table reading a book as Spectra entered the main room.
"What have you learned from visiting Sickle's facility Spectra?" Luna asked.
"Sickle shows his dominance throughout the facility workers and he has made an example of one pony. Valkyrie Archer.....he tried to kill her, but failed. She's in danger and as well as the armor pony Aegis. It was hard to notice at first, but I saw hatred in his eyes when we were talking about Sickle and the facility."
"That's not the problem Spectra. I viewed his security reports and apparently there have been multiple griffon sightings recently around his house. Tonight you will go there and see what information you can get from the griffon dealer."
"I'll get my equipment." It was already noon and Spectra knew it would be a long night just as it was last time.
---------------Present Day Night time Royal Trade Gates One block from target's house----
The griffon and Sickle were talking on the balcony again, but this time the griffon had guards with it. The griffon
Step 1: Take out guards
Spectra was well prepared. She came with her crossbow and wingblades as well as a muzzle knife she found in the underground. FWOOSH FWOOSH The guards went down fast and without even blinking, Spectra reloaded and aimed at her primary target.
Step 2: Immobilize the primary target
FWOOSH Right in the wing. The griffon cried in pain and shock. Within five seconds her two guards have gone down and now she was hit too. The griffon spiraled towards the ground and landed on a hill. She was too far to go back to her client and it was too risky Anyways. She looked at her left wing, it was broken and bleeding. Her only choice was to fight. She drew out her knife and loaded her crossbow. Then a shadowy figure landed five meters away. A pony shaped figure.
Step 3: Obtain information
"Who are you!" The griffon screamed. She could barely see even with the light of a full moon. The pony started to trot forward and the griffon pointed her weapon.
"A better question is why I kept you alive" Spectra said to the frightened griffon.
"That voice....No" The griffon whispered to herself. She eased on the trigger of the crossbow, but kept it pointed at the figure. It couldn't be, her base got over run when they rescued me. SWOOOSH The griffon was swept off her limbs and fell to the ground. While she was wrapped in her thoughts the pony had attacked! Regaining her focus the griffon stood up and saw that the pony was preparing for a second attack so she took a shot in the dark.
"Hello Dash. Long time no see." The griffon grunted.
Spectra looked at her. She stopped in her tracks, but not for too long. Spectra slowly trotted over pointing her crossbow at her target.
"So you did escape after all Gilda." Spectra's anger started to rise. She should be dead right now. Was the only thing that went through Spectra's mind. Right now she didn't really care about Luna's mission.FWOOSH
"Ahhhh damnit!" Another arrow pierced Gilda's body. Her left wing was bleeding and now her right thigh. Gilda limped over and leaned on a tree. She got a firm grip on her crossbow and hip fired it. FWOOSH A miss and there couldn't be room for error. Gilda dropped her knife. There must still a way out of this.
Spectra took out a lantern and lit it. She hung it on a tree and just watched the griffon slowly die. She enjoyed every moment of it. The light revealed multiple large scars on Gilda's body. One running along her left eye Spectra seemed to observe very closely. Then when she got too close, Gilda spat in her face.
"What are you looking at? You know why and where I got this." Gilda looked disgusted at Spectra. "Or do I need to remind you what happened last time we met?"
"Shut up Gilda! I'm not here about that." Spectra said as she remembered the real reason on why she was here. "Why are you doing business with Sickle?"
"C'mon Dash what does that have to do with Fletch?" BAM The blunt side of the wingblades hit Gilda's face and she started to cough up blood and fall on the ground. Spectra/Dash trotted over and hit Gilda again. The griffon was helpless.
"I'm going to repeat myself one more time. Why are you doing business with Sickle?" Spectra said. She then hit Gilda with the butt of her crossbow.
"Ack I'm still work with the army. Ack...They have an agreement with him."
"What is it!" Spectra demanded.
"We Ack get weapons and Sickle Ack gets gold and protection Ack."
"Protection from the griffon army?" Spectra asked. Gold was kind of obvious for somepony like Sickle, but protection. The Griffon Empire would never launch a full scale invasion on Equestria.
"Yea. Incase of a terror attack ACK he gets protected from it." Gilda knew she only had a few more minutes if this kept going on. Luckily it didn't.
"One more thing Gilda. I knew you were lying that day in the interrogation room. The fact that you never found a body was all a lie, but that doesn't matter now, what matters is if you know where he is." Dash said. She aimed her crossbow at Gilda and was ready to pull the trigger.
"What I tell you doesn't matter Ack I'm going to die anywayrigh---ACCCCHK!" Another bolt sailed and pierced Gilda's stomach. She was still alive, but barely. She coughed up more blood and clenched the bolt from her new wound. She couldn't get up and all she saw was Rainbow Dash.
"You're right" Spectra/Dash said. She bucked the lantern and let the fire spread along and around the tree leaving the down griffon screeching in pain. Spectra then took flight and left the burning hill.
Step 4: Eliminate primary target
