I looked down towards the forest clouded in the darkness of the night. The hatch of the plane was wide open. The wind was blowing on my face with great force. I would have to be careful that it would not make me deviate from my landing point. I gazed at the crate next to me : it contained most of my gear.
Inside the compartment, the warning lights went green. Without loosing time, I pushed the box outside the plane, before hurling myself after it.
I watched the craft get smaller and smaller as I fell towards the ground. A brilliant machine, brand new, equipped for stealth and with all the best gadgets.
The customer had to be rolling in money. The mission order was labelled with a big shiny "Unlimited Budget". I had been able to buy everything I needed. Intels, Gear...it didn't matter to the contractor.
As the ground got closer, I reviewed my mission brief on the heads up display over my right eye. My task was to explore the Everfree, and locate the ruins of an old factory, which had more than likely been buried over time by the shifting landscape of the forest. Once discovered, I then had to bring back a micro-chip from its Central Computer.
In short, a nice find and retrieve mission.
«Child's play !» the client had said.Yeah, right, only if you forget about the forest and all the critters that live there, not to mention what could lurk in an old, forgotten, dusty ruin. Heck, the smell alone might kill you.
I glanced over at the altitude on my HUD. I realized that I've gone below the usual minimal height I needed to open my chute. Not a real problem: I twisted around by jerking my shoulder back, and I activated the reactors on my armor to their maximum. A long tongue of fire flickered into the cool night air, lighting up my landing site.
My energy levels drop dramatically, but my speed stubbornly remained the same as before. After a while, there was no energy left. Pony Feathers. This might be a rough landing...
I hit the ground with a horrible sound, digging into the earth, creating holes several inches deep. Every light I had went red, and my helmet explanded to cover my head. It was an automatic reaction as my armor attempted to protect my head from the impact.
At least I landed on my hooves. The inertia dampeners did their job beautifully. I wasn't really worried: this happened to me a lot.
I waited for the dust and smoke to die down a bit, so that I could properly scan my surroundings. To nopony's surprise, I was in the middle of a patch of trees. The clearing I had found was small. Just to make sure, I checked I hadn't landed in the ruin I want. I couldn’t say I was surprised by the negative results : my scanner had not detected anything akin to an underground factory.
I raised my head, trying to figure out where my gear had landed. The glowing markings on the box allowed me to see it as it arrived, falling from the sky, its descent slowed by a parachute. Thanks to the strong winds, it had drifted a few miles to the east.
Why does this always happen to me?
I checked my bags : they were completely undamaged. Searching inside, I found and extracted a pistol. I engaged the mechanism quickly : it wasn't loaded yet. Typical military procedure. It looks like they wanted the mercenaries to obey the rules they did. I took a clip and reloaded the weapon. Finally, I flicked the safety catch.
Once I had put the pistol in its holster, I checked my other bag. I felt a handle under my hoof. I swiftly pulled out my plasma knife... or not. I looked at the weapon : it was a standard issue vibrator blade.
I narrowed my eyes : somepony had messed with my stuff. I promised myself to shout at whoever it was later. For now, I had work to do.
I stuck the blade in a sheath just underneath my pistol, and I began to trot quickly towards the east. Just before I headed into a patch of particularly thick trees, I activated night vision. In the middle of the night, without any moon, its effects were far from... positive. It was just too dark for even the highly advanced mechanism to be of any use. I turned it off and went ahead anyway.
I couldn't hear a single noise around me. No birds, no whistling or rustling, no sign of life. Not even any bugs. Just silence, occasionally disturbed by a soft wind.
I slowed down before stopping completely. This was not a good sign. Silence, in the middle of a dense forest, never was.
Just to be sure, I took a scanner out of my bag and threw it a few yards ahead of me. The tiny sphere hit the ground with a dull thud, then gave an electronical pulse, measuring as much data as its tiny frame could contain. The wave would detect and analyze any unusual molecules around it. The results arrived quickly.
No toxins in the ground or the trees... which would have seemed like a probable cause for silence. Old remnants of the war were all over this forest. Ponies used to hide here. It had been one of the numerous ways to get them out. A brutal one.
More data showed up on my HUD.
No diseases in the air... And I didn't find any traces of predators nearby. The plants were healthy, too. In a nutshell, it was a mystery that wouldn't be solved today.
I began trotting forward again, picking up my scanner on the way. It still had enough charge left for another use, after all. I put it back in my bag.
After a few minutes of travelling, the woods ended up being even more dense and hard to hike through. It became impossible to continue on hoof without hurting myself or losing an hour for every yard of terrain, a luxury I could ill afford. However, if my path was blocked on the ground, there was still a way to travel...
I got closer to a large tree which seemed solid and in good shape to me. The branches were low. Perfect.
I pushed a button on my bracers, and two sets of hooks emerged from a hidden compartiment. Curved and sturdy, I used them to climb whenever it was required. They were extremely useful to harden my hold of precarious grips. Branches, however, allowed me to use them a bit differently...
I took a step back, then accelerated as fast as I can, before jumping onto the trunk and pulling myself up, fighting gravity with every movement, before latching into a branch on my right. I used my right hooks to catch it firmly, they razor-edged blades sinking into the bark.
I grunted as all of my weight and inertia pulled on my foreleg. Thankfully, I didn't dislocate anything, but the sound it made wasn't reassuring. I caught the branch with my other foreleg's hooks, then used both limbs to climb up the piece of wood without much trouble.
It sagged slightly under my weight, but it held firm.
I continued climbing towards a higher branch, repeating the process with fluidity, one after the other. In an instant, I was at the top of the tree.
It was pitch black. Even the stars above my head didn't help me see in this darkness. I could feel the trees spreading in all directions to the horizon, but I wasn't able to make them out in the night.
It was a major problem. I intended to hop from one tree to another, but it would be plain suicide if I couldn't properly see where I would be jumping towards.
Hmm…the forest was still as lifeless as ever. I decided to shoot a flare. I wouldn’t be alerting much around here, and it would provide me with enough light to jump as safely as possible. I loaded my gun with a flash round, before shooting it high into the sky. It burst with blinding light, illuminating everything around me. I had about a minute before it would go out.
This would be interesting...
I activated my boosters, using the last bits of energy I had, and took off into the night, flying away from the crown to land on another tree in front of me. I smashed through the mass of leaves. Small branches and twigs hit my face, making me bleed from many little cuts, but I didn’t care. I was focusing too hard on the next part.
I saw a strong and massive piece of wood, a few meters below me. Perfect.
Using my hooks, I caught the tree. I swang around it with the momentum from my fall, before launching myself upwards, the force throwing me high into the air.
Wind whistled in my ears. I found myself once again above the forest. It felt like I was suspended in the air, time freezing to let me admire this view once more.
I quickly spotted a chain of trees of about the right height. I plunged towards them, before placing a hoof on the closest tree, and jumping once again towards the next, running in this manner across several more summits. The path was treacherous, and more than once a branch would break under my weight and force.
I didn't care.
I finally felt the sensations I lost a long time ago, before my wings were ripped from me. As wind whipped my fur, as the air currents brushed through my mane... I felt the biting cold of the altitude bring tears to my eyes. It was all such a wonderful feeling.
A feeling that was almost lost to me.
When I was on the ground, outside of my missions, I felt like a beached whale, forced to crawl in the sand, unable to feel truly complete without being in the air.
If not for these short sessions, I would have gone mad years ago.
To my utmost sadness, I still had to stop eventually. The flare had died, and it was black once again. I stood still on another branch, breathless, sweat running across my coat. I inhaled the night air deeply, enjoying it's truly unique purity. Each time I let myself get invaded by the fury of flight... I could only stop, and wait for it to pass as nostalgia ate me alive. Each mission, each job was an opportunity to remember all I've lost.
I clenched my teeth. I had to stay focused, even though it felt like my wings stumps hurt more than ever.
I heard a loud sound of wood creaking. Was it the branch ? No, it was still solid.
It was actually the whole tree that was moving. I was having a hard time keeping myself steady. A large tremor made me lose my balance. I was starting to fall. In a quick move, I used my hooks and I plunged them into the tree. It seemed to work. The metal held firm.
I had no idea what was going on, but I realized quickly that the tree was falling down.
I tried to heave myself back onto the branch, but I wasn't fast enough. I saw the ground closing in at an alarming rate. I clenched my teeth. It would hurt.
I hit the ground, my armor making an horrible crashing sound, and everything turned black.
When I managed to get my bearings again, I realized with relief that I was not injured. Every piece of me hurt, though. I got to my hooves as best I as could, quite a challenge in my state. My head ached, and my balance was quite impaired as a result. Thankfully, the tree had fallen a foot away from where I had been laying unconscious on the ground. For once, I got lucky.
All my gear was still there, and where it was supposed to be, with that. However, my climbing hooks were bent and broken. I swore loudly. I was going to lose an insane amount of time if I had to travel on hooves. And the customer wanted the job finished tonight, on top of that ... otherwise, no bounty.
I detached the two sets from my bracers, now just useless weight, and dropped them on the ground. If only my supply crate hadn’t flown away like a drunken Griffon, I could have used my other set. Sigh. No time for regrets.
I looked around me. I'd lost all sense of direction. I was stuck in the middle of the pine trees, with branches and twigs up to my ankles.
I had a compass, of course, but was it still intact ? My heads up display was in pieces. I was a miracle that the pieces of glass didn't destroy my eye. I discarded that as well.
And of course, the compass had suffered a similar fate, just like all the objects that were even slightly fragile. I swore even more, my words echoing around me.
I cooled down and sighed. It was just a minor setback. I'd been in worse spots.
The forest was finally showing some signs of life. I could hear a myriad of little noises all around me. I decided not to stick around for too long. I would probably look quite appetizing for any carnivorous creature around the place.
I heard a low growl behind me. The scent of my blood had already attracted guests. Speaking of worse…
I turned around slowly, my hooves on my holsters.
I saw a pack of Timberwolves looking at me with their big glowing eyes, their jaws slick with saliva. The bark that formed their body was assembled in huge plates, creaking with their every movements.
I counted how many they were. Twelve. And they were already moving to surround me.
I unsheathed my weapons. Pistol in the left hoof, knife in my right. I pressed a small button on my blade, which promptly lit up with yellow light. The vibrations were too fast to be seen by bare eyes. I was still pissed at the lack of plasma blade in my hoof right now, but I had to make do with what I had.
I quickly checked the gun : loaded but not armed. I used a small switch on the side of the handle. Once the bullet was in the chamber, I looked up my opponents once again.
They were all around me, waiting for a signal to attack. I readied my stance, knife ready to strike if one of them got any closer. One of the wolves leapt onto the fallen tree, just next to me.
I shot the offending creature, the sound of the detonation echoing through the night, the cartridge high in the air. Its head exploded outwards, sending hundreds of splinters everywhere. The wolf's accomplices stopped a second, surprised by the noise, and the death of their comrade. I made a good use of the distraction, and I shot another, the one closest to me.
It suffered the same fate as the first, pieces of wood falling around its now lifeless body.
This time, the pack was not as impressed and decided to act before I could reduce their number even further.
They all jumped on me at once, claws out. I waited for as long as I could, then I dashed to the side. I got to my hooves as soon as I could, and shot into the confused mass of limbs that I stood in front of. Several Timberwolves yelped in pain. They rallied quickly, however. I stopped firing. They would see it coming now.
I wouldn't scare them so easily.
I could see the holes my bullets left in their bodies, but they didn't seem too bothered by the injuries. I counted them once again. Seven left.
I needed a mistake... they had to make a mistake. I was running out of options.
One of them jumped towards me, teeth bared. At the distance it came from, it was easy to dodge. I stuck my pistol against its skull as it passed by me, and pulled the trigger : one more down.
Before I could get into position again, another threw itself on me.
Had the first one been a distraction, perhaps ? I didn't have the luxury to ponder the issue. He pinned me down, jaw wide, ready to tear my throat out.
I would not let that happen. I stuck my knife through his skull, the blade literally sawing the bark apart. The lights in its eyes went out, and it fell, inert, on top of me.
I was locked on the ground by its weight. I knew that I wouldn't have the time to get out before they turned me into dog food. They had tricked me.
I placed my hoof into one of my bags, and pulled out two things : a battery for my armor, and a grenade.
They would all get close on me within an instant. I could use the grenade to get them all at once.
There was a decent chance that I would be blown away too, but my choices were limited. I put the battery in its socket, and the armor glowed with a greenish light. An emergency forcefield.
I kept the explosive in my hoof, and waited for the Timberwolves to approach. It wouldn't take long.
I heard their footsteps around me, the sound of their paws creeping closer and closer. I unpinned the grenade with my teeth.
Three seconds...
I peeked one last time to check that they were close enough : I wouldn't get a second chance.
Two seconds...
I threw the tiny sphere towards the sky, as hard as I could.
One second...
And I prayed everything I could think of that my armour would hold out.
There was a flash of white, and then a terrifying heat wave whipped my face. My ears rang, and my vision blurred, the intensity of the light blinding me. The force field waved dangerously. It buzzed with such intensity that I could hear it over the explosion.
I was shaken, and my body was trembling. However, I couldn't feel any teeth or claws ripping me limb from limb. My suicidal tactic seemed to have worked.
I sat down slowly. I felt sick, bile crawling up my throat. And a lot more was churning in my stomach. The shield had not dampened all of the shockwave.
I turned my head around and threw up into the grass. My throat was on fire and my insides were in pain. I was glad to be alive, yes, but I had suffered for it. My vomit was mixed with blood.
I could still move. I got up, shaking the pain away, and I observed my surroundings.
Nothing was left of my aggressors. Not even splinters. They had been completely vaporized.
Problem solved.
I realized, however, that I had just put myself in another dangerous situation. Several trees had caught fire, throwing scarlet sparks and embers all around them with every crackling noise they made. Some small bushes were already falling prey to the fires.
I had to get out of there before I had nowhere to escape.
The lights on my armor had gone out : the battery was dry after the explosion. The small cylinder was ejected automatically, and fell to the ground, the super-heated metal charring the earth below.
I picked up my weapons, scattered by the explosion. They were already hot from the flames, forcing me to be careful as I picked them up. I turned off the knife, whilst checking the ammo in the pistol. I didn't want to be caught in another battle with a half empty clip. I reloaded, before pushing forward.
After giving a last look at the little battlefield, I left, keeping the fire behind me. I was running upwind, so it would take a while for the forest fire to catch up with me, hopefully, if the wind didn't change direction anytime soon. I galloped, slaloming between the tree trunks and jumping over the roots that protruded from the ground. My footing was not as reliable as I would have liked, since I was still groggy, and my limbs felt heavy. My vision was slightly blurred, but for the moment I was able to avoid tripping and falling in the middle of the trees.
I hoped that nothing larger than a pack of Timberwolves would have been awakened by the fire and noise, to make matters worse. Some animals didn't fear fire, and there was one in particular that I knew would even enjoy it. I had to get out of dodge before it would notice what was going on.
I felt a large blast of wind above me. I raised my eyes, but I could only see the tree canopy, obscuring the sky.
Suddenly, a tremor threw me face down in the mud again. Using the momentum from my fall, I was on my hooves once more with barely any interruption.
Then I lifted my head up.
When I actually saw what monster was before me, I stopped dead in my tracks.
A colossal woodland dragon had landed right in the middle of my path. It filled my entire vision, its massive frame dwarfing my own, and, as it moved slowly in my direction, made the earth under my hooves vibrate. Its wings hadn't yet been folded back. I could see all the veins running through the thick membrane, held high by long, bony fingers.
The rest of him was covered with scales thicker than my armor.
I doubted that I could harm it in any way.
To make matters worse, his two green eyes were looking straight at me, and maliciously to boot. I would not be able to sneak away from this one.
I wasn't going to let myself be beaten yet, though. I took what weapons I had left out of their sheathes, and held its gaze, trying to infuse every bit of anger and defiance I had left into my eyes.
As frustrated as I was, this did not impress the dragon in the slightest. It simply opened its mouth and began to breath, his body growing with the air it inhaled. I could see his tonsils begin to glow, right at the back of his throat.
To run away from a forest fire, only to stumble across a fire breathing dragon. The irony was not appreciated.
I circled around the massive reptile. Its head followed my every movements, the heat of the burning inferno inside his jaws hitting my face. I was waiting for the right moment. I had an idea.
Just when the flames surged forth from the dragon's maw, I dug my hooves into the ground, stopping instantly, and leapt to my left, the massive wall of fire scarring the ground a second later, missing my by an inch. I landed elegantly, and then dove towards the exposed side of the beast.
I wasn't entirely sure what to do now that I had closed in on him.
The dragon barred my path by moving its head right in front of me. But I had seen it coming.
I jumped as high as I could, landing on the neck of the creature. It reacted right away, shaking and roaring, trying to throw me off. Everything blurred as I tried to stay on my hooves. I caught one of the spike protruding from the neck's surface, holding onto it as hard as I could.
My forelegs were hurting already. It was draining all of my strentgh to not fall off. My ears were ringing with each roar of the dragon.
The dragon suddently stood up on its rear legs. My hooves slipped from the spike, and I flew away, gravity doing its job. The ground was getting closer. A crash from this height would be my death.
I drew my knife whilst falling. I could see trees at about my height. Without the hooks, it would be quite rough... but I didn't have a choice.
As I passed by a huge branch, I stuck the knife into it.
The countershock made me let go instantly. My foreleg was hurting like hell. I'm pretty sure it was broken.
I crashed into the tree, before falling to the ground. My armor held firm, protecting me from most of the harm. But I could feel pain running through my whole body.
I was utterly paralized. I didn't have the strength to get back on my hooves.
I wasn't hoping for anything at this point. The dragon was looking for me, and I could not flee anymore.
Then, I saw his eyes sweeping around, before locking onto me. It started walking towards me, with slow and heavy steps. The flame set his pupils ablaze, their reflection dansing in the night.
I could feel fear clawing at my heart. I didn't want to die like this, unable to do anything about it.
The reptile opened its jaws wide, ready to rip me in half. It was now or never.
I pulled my gun out of its holster, gripped by the pain, my face twisting into a grin, and emptied all the clip inside the mass of flesh facing me.
The beast deafened me with a roar of pure pain. It moved its head out of reach, blood splashing to the ground.
I had gained some time. I had to act.
I let the gun fall on the ground, using my unhurt foreleg to search my bags. I pulled out a syringe, full of pain inhibitors.
I would have sworn out of despair if I had the strength. I hadn't brought my healing gel.
Rage surged through my body. I would not let myself be distraught by something like this. I was not a weak, broken foal anymore.
I plunged the syringue into my arm, the fluid running quickly through my veins. In a matter of seconds, all pain was gone.
I threw the container away, grabbed my gun and got up. I had 5 minutes before the pain would be back.
I ran towards the dragon. It was still dealing with the pain in its jaw, and didn't have time to notice me.
I jumped on the unguarded tail on the ground. Letting my rage burning within me, I tore apart one of the smaller and more fragile spikes that dotted the appendice.
It had to be painful. The animal jerked its tail before yelping in pain.
I continued my climb on its back, using only my unscathed limb. I had no idea what I was doing. I let the adrenaline drive me forward.
I didn't know how I got on its head, but I had decided to hurt this thing as much as I could.
The monster had other plans. It let his head drop forward. I stumbled instantly, falling into the massive jaws. They closed themselves around me with a huge slam.
My armor grated horribly, a high pitched and threatening sound. I swore. My position was even worse than before.
I could'n move. I was stuck, the huge fangs griding into the metal covering my body.
I smirked. Looks like the dumb thing hadn't undersood the first time. I pointed the gun towards the inside of the maw, and pressed the trigger.
Nothing happened. The clip was empty.
I narrowed my eyes. This was utterly the shitiest day ever.
I had very little time before I would be crushed to pieces. I grabbed the gun with my teeth, and pulled another clip from my bag with my hoof. I inserted it into the gun, before handling the weapon again.
The dragon, sensing my movements, opened its jaws wide, ready to deliver the final blow. Free to move again, I took a look behind me.
I saw the branch my knife was stuck in, close enough for me to reach it. I took the chance. I jumped out from the jaw, the massive fangs crashing right behind me. I got on the tree , and raised my gun towards the head of the reptile, and its evil eyes.
I puled the trigger twice. Blood gushed from his face, falling to the ground.
I grabbed the knife, whilst the dragon yelled in pain. The beast twisted, crushing trees around it with its limbs. The dragon's massive tail smashed in the tree I was on, cutting it clean in half. It was so sudden I had no time to grab onto anything.
The animal jumped high in the air, fleeing as fast as it could.
I had nothing better to try. As a wing passed by me, I plunged the blade into the thick membrane. I was instantly dragged along, the blade stuck into the flesh.
The reptile screamed even louder, if that was possible, and began to lose altitude.
The wind from the flight had swept my ears back. I took a look behind me.
The speed of the dragon was amazing. If I wasn't much mistaken, we were several miles away from the fire. The beast had to be riddled with terror to fly that fast.
I quickly realized that I had a far more pressing concern. We were losing altitude at an alarming rate.
I had ran out of ideas. I held to the handle as hard as I could, and grit my teeth.
The dragon crashed into the ground like a comet, breaking all of his bones, rolling several times, before crashing into a group of trees.
The sheer force of the shock made me let go of the handle.
I flew for a handfull of yards before touching the ground. Pieces of my armor flew everywhere, and I distinctly felt something break inside me.
And the pain inhibitors had just ran out.
I finished my improvised landing by hitting something hard, stopping me in my tracks. Winded, suffering overtook my entire body, and I blacked out in a haze of agony.
« Well, don't you look pretty today. »
A male voice cut through the fog of confusion that had my senses in its grip. I wasn't sure what was going on... in fact, I had forgotten where I was.
The burning pain in my sides forced the memories back to my mind.
I opened my eyes. A grey coated Pegasus with a deep purple mane was standing over me, illuminating me with a torch. I was only half certain that he was the one who had talked.
« Wh— what ? »
The pegasus frowned, and tossed an ID card at me. I couldn't help but flinch as the piece of plastic hit me.
He then spread his wings and flew off quickly, disappearing from my field of vision in a matter of seconds.
I didn't understand much by this point, and I struggled to get up. To my infinite amazement, it wasn't as difficult as I originally expected. I glanced down at myself : my injuries were cured, and I could see the glistening of healing gel over my body. I must have been out for a good long hour at least. Enough to get halfway better but not enough for the pain to have died out.
It seemed the pegasus had taken care of my wounds. He was too far away for me to thank him, now.
I took a glance at the card in he had given me. I blinked twice to make sure it was real.
It was my supply ID. I stood up and looked around me, then I saw it.
The large crate of gear loomed in front of me, the parachute that had guided it laying over it like a blanket.
I almost squealed. This would make life much easier.
I hurried to scan the card over the ID scanner protecting the insides of the crate. The device went green, and the lid slid open, revealing its contents.
A large smile was spread across my face. I could see my combat rifle, my heavy armor, and another batch of bags, full of useful tools.
Hardly keeping my excitement in check, I geared up as fast as I could.
The armor came first, heavy plates and servo-mechanisms covering my body almost entirely. It had its own energy source, too. I didn't have to worry about batteries that could cut off at any moment. At worst, power would be cut off momentarily, leaving the energy core time to recharge. To top if off, it came with a free force field.
I finished strapping the thing to me, careful not to tear the camouflage cloak attached to it, before locking the pieces in place. That cloak was a prototype I had obtained in exchange of a favor: magical, with a little technological boost. It worked wonders, so long as I didn't move too much.
The last piece of the armor was a heavy helmet with integrated HUD. Holographic display projector, and a multi-frequence receiver, all stuck on my left ear. It would help me keep track of my surroundings.
Then, I strapped the gun over my back. It was a superb piece, that I had carefully customized for my specific needs. It was a weapon I knew by heart.
I picked up the remaining equipment bags and attached them to my belt.
Now that I had my gear, I didn't fear much anymore. I continued my way, away from the crate.
I could not see the body of the dragon, so I investigated my surroundings. The pegasus had probably dragged me away from the crash site.
It didn't take me long to find what I wanted : a large patch of blood. I was pretty sure it was mine. I collected a sample, before analyzing it, using my HUD sensors. It was indeed pony blood. I just had to follow my own trail.
Coupled to the tracks I had left when I got dragged, it was as easy as breathing. I arrived next to a huge tree with a distinct mark on its bark. Without a doubt, this was where I had landed.
I turned my head left and right, yet I could not see any cadaver. I was puzzled. Could the creature have survived the crash ? Even for a dragon, the shock was too much.
There was blood everywhere, on the ground, on the trees, but no signs of the corpse. I didn't want to continue my investigation. Our paths had crossed and we had both suffered for it.
Beside, I had a job to do.
I pressed a button on my helmet. An antenna emerged from my backpack. I kneeled, before activating my HUD. I now had access to the data flux broadcasted by the plane. It contained all kind of intels collected over time by flying around the forest during my travel.
I searched through the topographic data to find any large clearings I could come across. I then crossed the results with metal scanners measures to find the factory I was looking for.
Bingo. There was only one area corresponding to my filters. And it was close. Around two miles to the east.
I retracted the antenna and turned my HUD on normal mode, before trotting towards my destination.
It wasn't long before my scanner warned me that there was a large hole, a few yards ahead of me.
I gazed at the indicated location. I saw nothing else than the clearing.
I was puzzled. An enormous hole, but nothing to be seen ? Was my scanner malfunctioning ?
I leant towards the earth, trying to find some opening I could get at, anything that might lead underground.
A second later, I heard a loud and sudden sound right next to my hooves : a bullet ricocheting an inch away from me.
I threw myself to the ground, my camo cloak activating itself. I became completely invisible.
The sound of the shot echoed in my ears about three seconds later. By my estimation, the shooter was 2 clicks away.
Either he missed me, or it was a warning. I was inclined to believe the latter. He wouldn’t have attempted a shot if he wasn't confident about hitting me, after all. It would have been stupid to reveal one's position otherwise. The fact that the bullet had landed so close to my hoof wasn't a coincidence either.
I didn't want to take any risks. I looked around me in search of better cover. The cloak was still a prototype. If it malfunctioned, I would be in a precarious situation.
A dozen yards away, I could see some big rocks protruding from the ground. They would protect me from sniper fire.
I began crawling on my stomach, as quickly as I dared. I didn't want to overcharge the cloak.
The camo was buzzing a little, and my energy levels were dropping. All the energy was being drained. This was bad.
I stopped as a red light popped on my HUD.Suddenly, everything turned off. The inside of my helmet went dark, and the force field shut down.
I had ran out of energy in mere seconds.
Horrified, I stared at myself turning visible in the blink of an eye.
I had no idea where the shooter was, and I was probably as easy to see for him a flashlight in the night.
I looked around, trying to figure out where I had been shot from. If I managed to see the light from the shot...
There ! I saw a small flash of light among huge trees, far away from me.
No time to waste. I got up, and slowly ran towards the rocks, since the servo-mechanism and the artificial muscles were dead. I stumbled a bit under the effort, throwing me off-course. Another snapping sound echoed behind me, the projectile carving a large scar into the ground right where I had been a second ago.
I reached cover safely, behind the stones. I peeked above my shelter, looking through my scope.
I switched to infrared. I was able to make out the faint shape of a pegasus, flying from a tree before re-positioning himself a few yards away, on another branch.
He made a perfect target.
I pulled the trigger twice, two detonations flashing in quick succession.
My adversary saw the flashes of my shots, and didn't waste his time in leaving the scene, flying away has fast as he could, but he was too slow. My bullets traveled in the blink of an eye, and a projectile lodged itself into one of his wing.
I was surprised by the explosion that followed. All my shots contained explosives designed to take down armored targets.
So my opponent had combat armour on, and one sturdy enough to stop bullets from this distance.
The fact that he could fly with an wing protection so thick it could stop sniper shots didn't reassure me in the slightest.
When the smoke cleared, I could not see him anymore. He had taken advantage of the distraction to escape. He couldn't have gone far, though. I had felt nauseous and sick after detonating my grenade. I could assume my opponent was feeling the same way as I had.
I quickly rebooted my armor. The energy core had recharged all the energy, and the machinery was carrying all the weight of the metal once again.
Now that I had recovered my mobility, I got up, and slung my rifle over my shoulder. I began galloping as fast as I could, trying to close the gap between us.
Suddenly, the ground fell away from under me, a large hole forming itself as huge patches of dirt fell down with me, the earth breaking into a thousand pieces. When I looked down, all I could see was darkness. I threw up my shields to maximum.
I hit something rubbery and fluffy, yet somehow hard as rock. The violent collision was jarring. I blanked out for a brief moment, crushed under my own weight, rocks and earth falling around me.
I was in one piece, as my shields had absorbed the blow. All was working normally, my armor was intact, and I hadn't lost anything during the fall.
I quickly got up, unfazed.
I studied was I was stading on, and quickly realized what it was I had crashed upon.
It was a cloud.
A cloud, here, underground. A cloud that, since I was a Pegasus, wingless or not, I had hit full force.
What was a cloud doing here ?
I raised my eyes. There was no doubt that I had found the anomaly I was looking for. The crevasse was very deep. The sky was only visible through a small hole high above.
The gun seemed intact, but to make sure I also checked the firing mechanism and the barrel. Then I looked through the scope, shifting between optics.
No cracks on the glass, and nothing was jammed. I reloaded, casing falling on the soft cloudy matter, going straight through it, and armed my weapon.
I activated the lamp on my helmet, which lit up a sinuous path ahead of me, broken up with fallen rocks. I began to slalom between the stones, tripping more than once on a traitorously positioned chunk jutting from the ground.
I found several other clouds along the way, some of them stuck in the earth, some still floating just above the ground.
Everything I saw astonished me. I noticed, by aiming my lamp across the edges of the ground, that the carvern was getting increasingly wider. There were several other clusters of clouds attached to outcrops of rock, but no discernible pattern existed between them.
Suddenly, my HUD went red. I examined it, surprised, before falling forwards. My heart skipped a beat.
I caught myself just in time, sticking my knife in the tough ground.
I grunted as I heaved myself back up, my weight increased substantially by my armor.
Out of breath, I looked down the treacherous hole. My lamp couldn't make out the bottom of the pit : all I could see was the end of the path that plunged into the endless maw of darkness. From what I could see, I was standing on a cliff.
The sky above me was hidden by the roof of the cavern, huge stalactites protruding from it. Far away from me, another gigantic hole allowed me the see a few stars in the night.
That hole looked odd. Based of its shape, it looked like something had crashed through the roof of the cavern, and judging by the roots coming from above, it had happened a long time ago.
Something about this place weighed heavily on me. I had the impression that something bad was watching, something hidden but dangerous. And whatever it was, it clawed at my subconscious, trying to reach into my memories.
I had to know what it was, and to hell if I got seen by anything.
I loaded a flare into my gun, and turned the weapon down to minimum power.
I aimed the flare down the pit. I pulled the trigger, and the weapon slammed into my shoulder despite the weak forces at play.
The projectile lit up with a blinding flash, milky white, and illuminated all the surfaces below me.
What I saw made me shiver.
Cloudsdale : the magnificent city of my childhood was here, trapped like a beached whale in the middle of the Everfree. So this was where it had landed, left here to rot for years upon end... Once all the Pegasi left the clouds to fight, a long time ago, it drifted down to earth before crashing. It's tall, majestic towers were broken and forlorn, scattered themselves all around the huge crater.
Cirrus, nimbus, and all kinds of clouds were scattered around the heart of the city. Their massive size once kept the entire city afloat. They were in a pitiable state. I wasn't surprised that they could no longer sustain the weight of the building placed upon them. The rainbow rivers were dry. There was no color left in this city.
Colors, rainbows...
All the pieces were starting to come together. I knew what I had come here for, where it was, and I was even beginning to get an idea about who the mysterious gunpony was.
The crater was very, very deep. I couldn't jump and expect my shields to hold out a second time. My energy pool had been quite reduced already. Not to mention, I could surely expect another encounter with the shooter. I shouldn't waste any resources that could save my life later on.
I would have to climb down.
I jumped off the cliff, making sure I would stay as close to the rocky wall as I could.
As I fell, I sunk my new set of climbing claws, recovered from the crate, into the soft earth, trying to reduce my speed. It wasn't enough, I wasn't slowing down. My hooks wouldn't last long at this rate, and I wasn't keen to break another set so soon.
I activated my boosters with as much power as I dared, just for a second before cutting the juice again, and planted my rear hooves on the side of the rocky cliff. I finally stopped falling. I was in a solid position, and I had spared myself most of the descent using my risky maneuver. I only had a few dozen yards to go.
I continued climbing down as fast as I could. I used my hooks all the while - there wasn't any sold grip on the muddy facade. In a matter of minutes, I jumped off and landed on solid ground.
I turned towards the huge dark mass that was Cloudsdale, masked by the black night, moonless, now that my flare had gone out.
I began galloping, as fast as I could, towards the center of the magnificent city, and towards the nightmares of my past.
I hadn’t gotten very far through the ruins before another bullet bounced off my helmet. I owed my survival to luck alone.
I threw myself forward, hiding behind a large building.
It was clear that I wouldn't be able to escape as easily this time. My enemy was prepared.
I activated my camo-cloak. I became almost invisibile. I could see the wall directly behind my body.
I crawled onto my stomach.
I made my way across the ground very slowly so that the camouflage wouldn't break up.
I placed my eye against my scope, and I observed my surrondings.
I would have to be lucky to find my shooter : the heat had dispersed, as my thermal scanner indicated. Unless he opened fire again, I doubted that I would be able to find him, and I would be dead anyway. With all the towers and high buildings, there were a million position my opponent could be hiding in. I'd have to be smart if I wanted to find him.
I picked up a large rock, and threw it as far as I could, towards the most open area I could find. The reaction was instantaneous : I saw a laser dot scan the area where I had thrown my stone.
I lifted my eyes quickly, and saw a fragment of ephemeral light shine from a tower that had remained mostly intact, a hundred or so yards away.
In order to spook the shooter, I armed my gun and fired at the tower.
As I had hoped, my target bolted.
I switched to infrared. I saw my opponent in the sky, open to attack. Before I could fire, I saw a flash of light.
The shooter lodged a bullet in my side. I felt a crippling pain surge through my whole body. The shot had gone through my force field and armor, and hit my flesh with just enough force to cause an injury.
Inwardly, I swore. The wound was superficial, but it was incredibly troublesome. It would slow me down. I was lucky that he had been in the air, making his shot imprecise, otherwise I would have been dead.
I needed to act faster if I wanted to survive.
I loaded another flare into my weapon. I closed my eyes and fired.
Even with my eyelids shut, my vision was still turned to white by the flash.
I lifted myself to my hooves as fast as I could despite my injury and ran ahead, slaloming between the debris and ruins, before diving behind a large rock. I had left a trail of blood behind me.
I let my camouflage power up again, and then peered over the top of the rock, trying to find my adversary.
He was circling the place in a disorganized manner, completely blinded by the flare. All I could catch was a flash of blue fur, the rest of his body hidden behind his armour.
I checked my visor, lining up my shot with relentless precision. At this range, I couldn't miss. And his armor would not save him this time.
I pulled the trigger. The blast from my gun lit up my face. The bullet hit my adversary right in the flank, ricocheting on the metal plate covering it, leaving a wide crack in the armor. Under the impact, the pegasus crashed with a loud, metallic sound.
I loaded another bullet, and aimed at the hole in the armor. I fired again, the bullet hitting the unprotected flesh, sending a gush of blood in the air.
Just to make sure, I detonated the projectile by activating the remote trigger button on my amor. The explosion sent the body flying away, before crashing into a huge cloud wall, carving a massive gap into it.
Once the smoke dissipated, I sighed with relief. I was going to stay alive for a while longer.
Given the circumstances, only luck had saved me, which was not a reassuring thought. My fears were starting to be confirmed as to the identity of the gunpony.
Anypony else would have assumed my adversary was dead, but I wanted to be sure. I wanted to see the corpse.
Just in case, I loaded another bullet in my weapon.
I distanced myself from the battleground, following the puddles of blood and...other things my opponent had left behind. I already had a good idea of where it would lead, and I was not mistaken.
I arrived in front of a large cloudy building, the walls smooth but ravaged by time. I only saw a small opening, dug with hooves, giving the impression of a gaping wound on the side of the cloud.
The opening that I had escaped through, years earlier, with my wing stumps still gushing blood.
I advanced quickly, determined to finish this sorry story.
The place hadn't changed. Everything was just rustier, although broken down, but it didn't look like it had suffered too much.
The long conveyor belts, stained with rainbow colors, and the large grinders were still there. I looked over a balcony : the remains of those less fortunate than me were still there.
I knew the place only too well. I had ran through the corridors, trying to escape from my captors. Trying to escape from the madness, trying to escape from the screams. And always hearing the sounds of the machines...
I shook my head. I had to hold the memories at bay. I had to stop them from taking over, or I'd end up crying in a corner again, like the day She caught me.
I moved quickly, pushing the doors open, careful where I walked. Each staircase, each stain of rust, I had seen them a thousand times.
Now, I followed the traces of blood that acted as a guide for me. I knew where it would end up.
In a few minutes, I reached the heart of this infernal and tortuous factory of death.
And in front of me, on the command table, blood spurting from her opened side, threatening me with her rifle, was my enemy. I was amazed she was still alive after what I had inflicted. It was even more incredible that she had managed to crawl here.
Time to die.
I let my gun fall from my hooves, before unsheathing my pistol. All the memories flashed in my mind, the people I knew and that I had lost, the pain of loosing my wings...
I walked towards her, close enough to be able to see her face. I wanted to see her suffering when I would end her.
I put my gun on her forehead. I felt her own weapon on my chin.
« Don’t…hurt…me… » came her weak, trembling voice.
A deafening detonation echoed through the ruins, bouncing off the buildings and the walls, for a very long time… before diseappearing. High in the sky, the moon now shun brightly, upon the remains of Cloudsdale.End of the line.
