Roommates [Old Version]

"You sure he's even here Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked, glancing over at her lavender friend while Chrysalis and the two agents combed the surrounding area.

"Of course he is, why do you ask?" Twilight responded, glancing over at the disgruntled Rainbow Dash.

"Because it's already been an hour and still no sign of..." Rainbow Dash paused, her eyes widening in pure horror at the sight before her.

"What's wrong Rainbow... Dash..." Twilight paused as well, seeing the sight that her cyan friend was seeing.

The sight before them was gruesome: bodies strew about the ground and were also piled up in cages. They were all bloodied, bruised, malnourished, and had more holes in them than Swiss cheese. They were slaves; humans, ponies, minotaurs, and griffins of all ages. There were even a pile of rotting foals huddled up in a large cage, embracing each other in their final moments before they were peppered with bullets.

It appeared that Red and the other mercenaries had executed the slaves they had accumulated over time- they'd rather see their victims dead than have them rescued, they'd even go as far as to kill mere children.

Rainbow Dash fell to her knees, vomiting everything she ate that day onto the bloodied mud beneath her. Twilight remained frozen, staring blankly at the carnage before her. Tom and Frank approached them,  Tom helped Rainbow Dash to her feet, comforting her the best he could. Frank placed his hand on Twilight's shoulder, snapping her out of her daze.

"Your highness..." Frank spoke softly, a solemn look on his hardened face.

Twilight gave a silent nod of acknowledgement.

"There are no survivors..." he informed her, causing Twilight to go pale.

"Is... Walter...?" Rainbow Dash managed to choke up, only to receive a head shake from Frank.

"There's no sign of Walter, other than an empty cage with traces of his DNA. He's probably nearby" Tom informed Rainbow Dash, giving her and Twilight some hope.

"Alright then, we better push on" Twilight spoke, raising her brow when she saw Chrysalis jogging up to them with an excited expression.

"It's Walter! I sense his emotions- he's in trouble!" Chrysalis exclaimed, coming to a skidding halt in front of them.

"Where is he!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, her eyes wide.

"He's near the southern part of the camp, it's about five minutes away!" Chrysalis replied.

"Then lets get going!" Twilight encouraged, taking off in a sprint along with Rainbow Dash and Chrysalis.

Frank took off running after them, however Tom stayed behind for a few seconds to say a few quick prayers for those who were massacred, a sympathetic look on his face. After that, Tom took off running after Frank and the other three mares in their group.

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"We're almost out of here big guy, just hang on a little longer!" Verna encouraged, jogging along side me as we hugged the sides of the camp, traveling behind the tents and structures to avoid being seen by anyone.

"I've never felt so tired and sore in my life, I think I'd have better stamina left over if I slept with a dragoness!" I exclaimed, wheezing as I jogged with Verna.

"Quit complaining! We're almost out of this hell!" Verna hissed, giving me a slap on the back.

"I'm not a fucking marathon runner!" I grumbled, furrowing my brows.

"No fucking duh Hercules, now get your ass moving!" Verna retorted, pushing me to move faster.

About five minutes later, I heard voices in the distance, which only made me and Verna run faster. However, I came to a stop once I recognized a few voices...

"WALTER!!?" Twilight cried out, cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice.

"WALTER!!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, doing the same as Twilight.

"WALTER!!" Chrysalis shouted, using her magic to amplify her voice.

"You know those mares?" Verna asked, glancing back where she and I heard the voices.

"Y-Yeah! They're my friends!" I spoke, a look of relief and joy crossing my face.

"What're they doing here?" the griffin questioned.

"I'm not sure, they must be the ones who got Celestia to raid this camp!" I responded, making a B-line straight towards the voices of my friends.

"Where are you going!?" Verna asked, jogging after me.

"We need to get to my friends! They can help us!" I called back.

With an agitated groan, Verna ran to my side and followed me as we both pursued the voices of my friends. Within moments, the sight of Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Chrysalis, and two men dressed in tactical attire drew closer. I came to a skidding halt once the girls all locked eyes on me. We all stood there for a moment, staring at each other, before the silence was broken by a deafening sonic boom. The next thing I know, I'm on the ground, Rainbow Dash on top of me, squeezing me tightly within her grip, burying her face into my chest.

It took a while for me to catch the breath that Dash knocked out of me, but eventually I regained the strength to hug her back, gently stroking her mane as she wept hysterically, her cries muffled by my broad torso. I was covered in dried mud, blood, greasy sweat and all sorts of other grime, but that didn't seem to stop the rainbow-maned fury from embracing me.

Twilight, Chrysalis, and the other two men quickly ran up to us. Twilight smiled brightly along with Chrysalis, tears in both of their eyes.

"Walter... You're alright!" Chrysalis cried out, helping me up, Rainbow Dash still clung to me.

"Sort of" I responded, wincing a bit. I was still sore from my recently healed wounds, and every inch of my body felt two times heavier than it really was, plus my muscles felt like pulled pork.

"Thank Celestia we found you!" Twilight sighed in relief, her along with Chrysalis and Rainbow Dash embracing me tightly.

"I didn't know you were a ladies man" Verna spoke, raising a brow.

"Me either" I replied, chuckling sheepishly.

"Who's she?" all three mares spoke in unison.

"Oh, she's the one that got me out of the pit, her name's Verna" I replied, glancing over at her.

"Look, could we save introductions for when we all get out of this hell hole?" Verna spoke, growing impatient.

"I agree, we need to get moving, all of us, who knows what remaining enemy forces a lurking out here" Frank spoke, narrowing his eyes as he examined the area.

"The sooner we get out of here the better" Tom spoke, motioning for them all to get moving.

"Right, of course" Twilight spoke, clearing her throat.

"Lets get moving then" I spoke, walking along with the group as we made our way towards the north side of the campgrounds.

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"Your highness" a royal guard spoke, approaching Celestia, kneeling down.

"You may rise" Celestia responded, glancing over at the guard.

"We have received news from Frank Clancy, Walter is alive and secure, Frank's group is returning to this position as we speak" the guard informed Celestia, causing the alicorn monarch to purge a smile on her lips.

"That's wonderful news, please make sure to keep a look out for them" Celestia responded, returning her gaze to the battle at hand while the guard retreated to his post.

The battle has been long and grueling, having lasted over thirty-five minutes now, the longest raid Celestia has lead so far. She was growing impatient with the enemy's relentless retaliation, even if they had firepower from earth Celestia had even more advanced firearms developed here in Equestria. This battle shouldn't last any longer, especially since she knew Walter was safe and secure... She could go all out.

Celestia approached the front lines, where her royal guards were laying down fire onto the remaining enemy forces, who were pushing back with heavy fifty caliber return fire. Celestia cracked her knuckles, before concentrating on a massive shield. She casted this shield in the center of the battlefield, blocking all return fire from the enemy.

"ADVANCE! THEIR BULLETS CANNOT HARM YOU THROUGH THIS SHIELD! BUT YOURS CAN!" Celestia shouted, causing all of her royal guards to bellow a war cry before advancing as Celestia had ordered them to.

"Too bad you don't have your own shield" a voice suddenly spoke from behind Celestia.

Before Celestia could turn around, she was suddenly grabbed from behind, her arms being pinned behind her as a red dot slowly crept up along her form before reaching her center chest where her heart was. The person behind her was one of the enemy soldiers disguised as a royal guard.

What happened next was too fast to take in all at once. There was silence, followed by the crack of a sniper rifle firing its round directly at Celestia... Then the sudden large form of Walter coming out of nowhere, knocking the enemy soldier to the ground and shoving Celestia out of the way, as the bullet pierced his chest, and into his heart.

Walter collapsed to the ground as Frank and Tom came sprinting to the scene, executing the spy with a single round to the skull. Twilight, Chrysalis, and Celestia all froze in pure horror as the sight of Walter's limp body lying motionless on the ground with blood pooling beneath him. All that was heard next, was Rainbow Dash's shrill scream...

"WALTER!!!!"