There are several things to be said about stealth missions. On one hand, you can do it all quietly, subdue when you feel threatened, and get out unscathed. Or you could kill everybody you meet in an attempt at glory. The first option is always the more practical. Anyway, now is not the time for an obligatory narration, on with the story.

Twilight led the group from the entrance into a dark alleyway. The sounds of footsteps and shouting reached their ears, and for a moment they thought they'd been spotted. But those thoughts faded when they saw the mercenaries run past their little hole in the wall, and they continued towards the first building. They searched for a quiet way in, and found that there was a ventilation shaft by the outer wall, which was an ideal entrance. Crawling through, Twilight guarded their location until the others were in, and they were in. The tight, cramped vent gave every one of them a sense of claustrophobia, and Fluttershy in particular seemed affected. As they crawled towards the next room, they heard voices. Somebody was probably standing watch. Rainbow Dash readied her sidearm, a Glock 19 suppressed she'd picked from one of their earlier fights, and peeked through the vent. A guard was sitting at the desk, speaking through a headset.

"There's nothing on the cameras in that section, but Barry saw some girls enter from that side."

"Well," the headpiece he wore crackled. "I wouldn't trust Barry much, he's far too jumpy. I'll get my father to send search parties. Send a squad over to the watch towers, and keep me updated."

"Yes ma'am."

Pressing his headset off, Rainbow shot him in the head, dropping him quickly. After crawling out of the vent, Twilight went to the computer, trying to find a route they could use. "Okay," she said. "there's a patrol there, and the main building is right across from the armory. Sounds like they want trouble. If we go through the vents in buildings, we'll be able to... hey, here's an overhead view of the base, come and look."

From the camera, the entire base was revealed to them. It couldn't have been any less than two hundred miles on each side, with barbed wire protecting the tops of the walls. The runway had a jet resting on it, but it looked as if it could run no more. The sheer size of the base made them lose hope, for they saw no possible way to avoid a fight. There were thousands. They decided standing around wasn't an option, hid the body in a small box containing C4, and climbed in the vent again. They crawled to the next building, and they were thankful it was right beside them.

"You know," said Rainbow Dash. "When you said we'd be sneaking, I still expected that we'd be, oh I dunno, more careful? You know, wait for him to deactivate the headset or something?"

Twilight turned to look at her. "Rainbow Dash, there are some moments you simply cannot wait for in life. That was one of them, as this deals with our survival."

"Yeah, but the fucker had his headset on, they could have heard the thud, or tried to talk to him and gotten suspicious."

Shaking her head, Twilight continued through the vent, making Rainbow sigh, thinking of what she would do to Twilight if they got caught. In the next building, they found only a chest of parachutes, a small lamp, and a AK-74 with a red dot sight, which would prove useful in a minor jam. They finally made it to their main target, the cafeteria, and set C4 charges around the walls. Once they were all set, they crawled out again, heading for the armory. When they were at a safe distance, they detonated the charges, and the building was nothing more than smoke, flame, and rubble in seconds. They heard an alarm, and the smell of smoke filled their nostrils, stinging the back of their throats. The sirens were blaring, and soldiers were starting to assemble. As they watched, a girl of about twenty-five pulled up on a bike, and started pacing among the soldiers. Her features were muscular, she had feathers woven into her hair, and her voice chilled them.

"Soldiers! What happened? There were squads of you patrolling the base, and none of you could spot a simple intruder!?"

A soldier she had looked at gulped, and sweat appeared on his face and neck. "No ma'am, General Gilda, there weren't any signs, ma'am. Barry said he saw six girls enter the base by the-"

Gilda turned sharply to face him. "What did you say, punk? You're a soldier, and you will not speak to me without being addressed! Am I clear!?"

"Y-yes ma'am."

"Good," Gilda sneered. "now what was the alarm for?"

Rainbow Dash's face was filled with pure hate, but Twilight and Applejack held her back. "Dash, I know you hate her, and so do we, but er one thing, killing in anger will only result in pain, and two is we have to stay here, until it's the right time."

Rainbow Dash relaxed a bit, but kept her expression fixed on Gilda. The girl had caused so much trouble, and nearly ruined several of her friendships. She was a rude, intolerable girl with a desire for misery. That bitch is not going to escape this time, thought Dash. I won't let her. For now, she would wait, but when the time came, Gilda's head would be hers. As they watched Gilda moved down the line, questioning the soldiers. Rain had started.

"And you say you saw six girls?"

Yes ma'am."

"Did you see what they looked like?"

"Yes ma'am, one of them had hair dyed in rainbow fashion."

Gilda froze, and grabbed the guard by the throat. "What did you just say?"

The guard was clutching at his throat, kicking the air. "One of th-them had a r-rainbow dyed h-hair, m-ma'am."

Gilda dropped him, and he gasped for breath. Gilda marched to her bike, and turned towards the main building. "If anybody sees a girl with rainbow dyed hair, bring her to me. I'll deal with her myself. As for the others, and they're surely with her, take them to the torture room, or even the barracks. You all haven't had any for months, have you?" Laughing, she sped towards the building, a cloud of dust in her wake. They let go of Rainbow Dash, but she got up, fury in her eyes.

"Run! I'll deal with these fuckers!"

She fired her pistol, hitting three in one with a shot to the head, and the others there were alerted. They turned, yelling inaudible words, and the shooting began. Twilight and Applejack got behind a metal crate, and Pinkie and Fluttershy got behind barrels. Twilight aimed her carbine and sprayed, downing six of the men at once. Pinkie hadn't needed to shoot until now, and bounced out of her hiding place.

"Say hello to my friend, guys!"

She fired, her M16 downing three men at once, while the rest ducked for cover. The laws of logic seemed to take an exception for her, and not a single bullet touched her. She successfully killed thirteen men, and turned to her friends. "Hey guys! Come on out, the meanies are dead now."

Coming out, they looked at the carnage. Bodies lay everywhere, and they saw a few tracks leading to the main building. Rainbow scowled, and faced the others. She had a cut over her eye, and blood ran down near her eye, and the lightning cast shadows over her face that contorted it into an evil glare combined with a smile. And her voice sent chills through their spines, for it sounded nothing like the calm, laid-back and collected Rainbow Dash they knew.

"That filthy bitch is gonna get it now."

As they watched her walk away, they thought of their previous encounters with Gilda. She was fierce, and very egotistical, even more than Dash. But the anger in Dash's eyes was the most rage they had ever seen in anybody before, besides Sombra. They all remembered that day, when Rainbow had seen Gilda for the egotistical loud-mouth that she was. But Gilda's grudge seemed to have lasted for this long, and now she seemed to be going a bit far with her revenge plans. They worried for Rainbow Dash, and hoped that Gilda was weaker than she seemed. If not, it would be a short fight.

"Rainbow," said Twilight. "you can't fight Gilda yet. We need to kill all her soldiers first, then deal with her. If not, the entire base will run to our location if she's either found dead or she calls for help. You know I'm right, so just wait and kill the rest, alright?"

Rainbow nodded, though reluctantly. They knew that there was strength in numbers, and a thousand well armed men was asking for trouble. By several minutes, they had found a sizable hole in a wall, and crawled through, revealing a big chamber full of all sorts of things. Guns littered the far corner, armor and clothing lay in heaps on the floor, and several small firearms were carelessly thrown in a locker. A water puddle on the floor suggested this might have been a locker room, but the size of it was more than normal sized for such things. The metal walls were rusted and breaking, and the concrete floor was cracked and slippery, making it hard to keep one's footing. As they crossed the floor, they heard a loud bang, and a shadow appeared in the doorway in front of them. Twilight aimed her gun, attaching a new silencer she found, and shot the guard coming through. They hid the body in a locker, and proceeded through the hall towards what looked like an office of sorts. They stopped, and listened inside for any noises, and heard three voices.

"What do you say to you commanding officer?"

"We found no trace, ma'am."

"Good, now what about your friend here?"

"We found nothing ma'am. No bodies, no trace whatsoever, ma'am."

It was Gilda, and she was talking to two of the soldiers that were at the lineup. Rainbow Dash couldn't hold in her anger anymore, and burst in the room, gun pointed at Gilda. Twilight shot the two other soldiers, after being aimed at, and stepped inside. "Gilda, Gilda, Gilda. You'd think after all this time you would take care of your troops better. Now, are you going to come quietly for interrogation, or are we going to have to fight this one out?"

Gilda smiled, and stood up slowly. "Why, Twilight Sparkbutt, we meet again, along with Rainbow Crash. Come to beg for mercy from you dear princess? Sorry, but I don't take requests from walking meals."

Twilight smiled. "That's too bad, I thought you cannibals would be delighted to finally be defeated and banished, where the food can eat you."

Gilda snarled, and circled them. "Seeing as you've all come so far from your idiotic princess, I suggest we fight honorably."

"Honorable fighting? You don't know the meaning." Dash was starting to raise her gun."

"Don't I, Dash? We'll see, if you have the balls. A spar, in the airfield, now. Unless you're afraid?

Rainbow Dash grinned. "Afraid of you? Never. Lead the way."

Author's Note

Yep, Gilda's gonna get it. But I feel bad, she's misunderstood mainly, and her want for attention was probably brought on by either being ignored by peers, or to make herself seem useful, needed or wanted, causing all the events from that episode. She seems as if she just wants someone who cares, but I made her evilish in this for the sake of using her character in a semi=canon way.

Anyway, onto the stupid voiceover: Can our heroes help Dash defy Gilda's greedy grasp and get away? Can they even hope to see the end of this perilous plot of Equestrian evolution gone wrong? Find out next time, on The Wasted Lands.