The pony slunk through the undergrowth, belly dragging through the dirt and leaves. She stopped and peered over a particularly large bush and saw an empty clearing.
She knew what that meant. She silently flew up above the trees to take an arial view.
Just as she expected, armed ponies and traps of all kinds fanned out from the center clearing. The pony knew what she was looking for, and this clarified for her that she was right.
The hovering Pegasus wore a shiny, skin-tight, black body suit with a hood and mask. The leather was cut to precisely for the mare, it even covered up her mane and tail and had two separate pieces of fabric around the wings, letting the Pegasus be able to fly if needed.
The only holes in the suit were cut around the eyes, mouth, and nostrils.
Around the assassin's waist was a tool belt that held a set of knives, a compass, a grappling hook with a detachable hook, some explosive grenades and smoke bombs, a dart blower, a gun holder with a gun inside, and an I.D. case that held fake I.D.'s, a typing stylus, a few bits as cash, and a few other small items that might be of importance.
Sewn into the suit was a communication device next to her ear, a microphone by her mouth, and special lenses that would drop over her eyes when needed.
The lenses had night-vision, magnifying glass, long-vision, and a computer for background information about encountered enemies.
The Pegasus above took an explosive grenade from her belt into her mouth. She took a deep breath and pulled the tab, letting the grenade fall.
On instinct, she flew as high as she could to be sure not to be injured. She turned away and used her hoof to shield her face from the blast of light and heat.
When the blast was over, the pony floated downward and carefully checked for any survivors or traps that had yet to be disarmed.
Finding none, she landed and called in on her communication device.
"Solo to base, solo to base. The area is clear, do you copy?" She waited patiently for the response and soon heard a staticky voice.
"That's a copy. Tap Sequence 24-8B is a go, I repeat: Tap Sequence 24-8B, over."
The pony nodded and turned the communication off with a silent click.
The Pegasus tapped in a sequence and backed up into the bushes. The ground began to rumble and shake, and a crack appeared straight through the center axis of the clearing. The crevice grew wider and wider until the shaking came to an abrupt halt. The pony crept hesitantly over to the opening and peered down.
The high-tech lenses automatically switched down over her own rose-colored irises. Even with night-vision, nothing below could be seen.
The mare slowly descended into the depths until she hit the stone floor. She followed the tunnel so long that she lost track of the minutes, but soon a door would appear every so often on the wall beside her.
She soon came to a fork in the road. The pony pulled the tabs on two smoke bombs and rolled one in each direction. One had a maze of red lasers, the other did not.
She smirked through the darkness and began weaving her way through the red beams, taking care not to touch one.
She found herself soon on the last beam, back-bending over the strand of light. Now back on all four hooves, she continued her trek down the corridor.
After minutes of flapping silently down the hall, (she decided that walking was too loud) she came to a dead end.
She felt around with her hooves and found a latch in the wall, meaning that this was a door. The latch was locked, of course, and the Pegasus quickly called back to base.
"I'm at the last door, over." She whispered.
"Tap Sequence 14-6F, I repeat, Tap Sequence 14-6F. Activate keypad code: 451160, over. Oh, and don't mess this up, Newbie."
The mare quickly silenced her call, feathers bristling and with her teeth grit tightly.
I've been doing this for far longer than you have! She thought angrily. She let out a sharp breath and tapped in the correct sequence, the door sliding away.
Behind the first door was a second, smaller door. It was made of rusty metal with a keypad in the center.
She took the stylus from her pack and typed in the correct code.
She pushed the door open lightly, thankful for there to be an absence of eery creaking.
She quietly stepped inside, holding the gun in her mouth. She raised her lenses up, the few torches in the room gave off enough light.
However, the real prize was in the center of the square room. On top of a lone marble pedestal sat a glass case that held a magnificent diamond.
When light hit it just right at just the right time if year, it cast a moon-like glow and could revive any living being enough to come back to life, even stronger than before.
This gem was worth, in some cases, more than life itself.
The pony crept over to it, stepping over a multitude of trip wires and ducking under touch-sensing traps.
She cut a hole into the thick glass with her knife and slowly extracted the gem. She put it carefully in a case that she had attached to her belt specifically for this mission, and walked back over the trip wires and under the hanging traps.
She was half-way to the door when it slammed shut, and all the torches blew out.
In her shock, she couldn't think to let her lenses down. Instead she was shrouded in darkness, until a lone torch at the far end of the room beyond the pedestal came back to life.
It have off an eery yellow glow, brighter than it had been before.
In the dim light, the mare hadn't seen the large chair, waiting for her.
The blood-red, throne-like chair sat alone, its only company being the mare sitting in it.
A pink earth pony mare with a springy pink mane and tail sat, waiting for her prey.
The Pegasus tried to look unfazed, but couldn't help show the anxiety she was feeling.
Don't mess this up, Newbie. she heard over and over in her mind. Sunset "egghead" Shimmer's words ricocheted around in the mare's brain. She wondered how and egghead could make her want to wet herself from anxiety.
"Hello, Dashie." the earth pony said, her tone like ice. She folded her hooves neatly in her lap and leaned forward ever so slightly. Narrowing her sky-blue eyes she added,
"Long time, no see."
Pinkie Pie was an enigma. Ponies had been known to spiral into madness, after being involved with the mare. That is, of course, if you survived. Be it working as a hench-pony, being imprisoned, or even her doctors have all suffered from the wrath of Pinkamena.
Pinkie was an escaped mental patient. She had gone through so many terrors in her life, that the Equestrian Royal Guard had ordered her treatment. Her madness began before the hospital, and only spiraled into worse insanity. The worst problem was, she had about twenty different 'trigger words' that could turn her rabid.
Her pupils would dilate, her mane would deflate, she would start violently twitching, and that smile. The smile of pure madness, and of a pony lost to insanity.
Only ponies close to her would have a chance of survival. One of those being Dash. Only those ponies could have a chance at knowing a trigger word, or being able to guess it.
And yet, here she stood, knowing that she had an advantage (be it a small one), and she was frigid with fear. Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer in all of Equestria, (debatably, of course) was standing rigid with fear, the gem still in her saddlebag.
"Well now, Dashie. What brings you here? Have you finally decided to come crawling back to me? I hope so. I could put you to good use. I even forgive you for what you did to me." Pinkamena bounded off of her throne, and walked slowly over to Rainbow.
The Pegasus gulped and feigned her best look of confidence. Pinkamena saw straight through the lie. After all, she could practically smell the fear radiating off of the blue mare in waves.
"Pinkie." Rainbow greeted curtly, still trying in vein to show confidence. Pinkie slunk over to Rainbow, and in literally the blink of an eye, she was behind Rainbow, her hoof absent-mindedly brushing ever-so-slightly across her mane.
"I know you have it. Just hand it over and we can just keep going with our lives. Who knows, maybe you could finally join me. I could be happy again." She chuckled softly and moved in front of the pegasus.
"I hardly even remember the meaning of that word.
Joy, maybe.
Excitement, certainly.
Madness, why I am the very definition of madness.
But happy? Oh no. Not even a guess. So I guess all those years ago, you didn't just take my heart with you. You took my happiness."
Rainbow cringed at the accusation, uncertain how to react. Should she run, fight, or stand her ground firmly? Two of those sounded wimpy. Those same two choices seemed like what she had her mind set on.
"Pinkie, I-" Pinkie struck her across the face and said, "No. You don't have the right to call me that. No pony has called me that in over twenty years and I am certainly not stopping now." She spat, her face scrunched up in fury, mere inches away from Rainbow's.
"P-Pinkamena. That's what I m-meant to say." Rainbow stammered, her disposition crumbling in an instant. Pinkie Pinkamena, smiled, the grin reeking of malice. She laid a hoof on Rainbow's clothed back and sauntered Dash over to the throne.
As she got closer, Dash noticed that there were a few sets of buttons and switches on the arms of the chair. Pinkamena sat in the chair and smiled. Her hoof pressed down on a button and from a seemingly invisible panel in the floor, a cold metal chair that was bolted to a rising platform came up through the gap. In between the two chairs, a metal table matching the chair rose up, also bolted to a platform.
Pinkamena's hooves found their way to the metal table as she leaned forward, gesturing for Rainbow to sit down.
Rainbow slowly moved over to the table, glancing behind her. The rest of the room was still dark, and, squinting, saw that a metal slab now covered the door.
She turned back and gulped, and kept slowly moving forward. She didn't really process the actions being done by her body, she was staring intently at Pinkamena's face, stone cold and unmoving. Rainbow sat down, and before she could realize her mistake, taut leather straps sprung up from the thin arms of the chair, binding her. She didn't even struggle. She didn't even notice the muffled voice in her hood. Pinkamena instead, decided to break the silence.
"Well now, Dash. How've ya been? You look good after twenty years. How's what's-her-name? That mare you were always talking about. How's she doing?" She asked, the questions bombarding the shocked and slightly trembling mare.
Rainbow gulped and shook her head, fresh adrenaline now rushing through her body. "I've been great thanks for asking. And I have no idea who you're talking about." She said, now starting to struggle against the binds.
Pinkamena smirked, knowing Dash well enough to tell that she was lying. "Come now, Dashie. You know how good of a memory I have." She got up to walk around the other side of Dash's chair, tail brushing across her mane.
"Now I see nothing wrong with protectiveness of course, and I even want to give her a gift. Even if you don't tell me, I have inside sources." She leaned close to Dash's ear and whispered, "I will find out. But in the mean time, I have a bit of advice for you. Trust no one." She then swiftly unclipped the priceless jewel from Rainbow's belt and held it securely in her teeth. She set it down softly on the pedestal and walked back over to her chair. She pressed a button and said, "I'm going to need an escort for Ms. Rainbow Dash, out of Lower Room C."
Pinkamena crossed back over to Rainbow and unclipped her belt, leaving her defenseless. She even dowsed the Pegasus in a bucket of ice water in order to short-circuit the suit's communication system. (Where she got the bucket, Rainbow had no idea.)
Pinkamena smiled and patted Rainbow on the back. She perked her ears at the sounds of footsteps, knowing he guard was approaching. She then took a small knife from Dash's belt. Rainbow's eyes widened then screwed tightly shut, awaiting the pain to come.
Pinkamena slashed a single, jagged letter "P" into Dash's skin, cutting through the fabric and a few layers of skin. Although he stopped when she could see blood stained on the tip of the small knife. She tossed it away and skipped off into the darkness, knowing that Rainbow would be showing her mark for at least a month.
Rainbow could barely make out the pink mare's voice, but as she skipped away, she thought she could hear a tune in her voice. Rainbow heard a door open and shut, her enemy long having vanished from sight through the veil of darkness.
She then heard voices, and the door behind her slide open with a raspy grinding sound. A hooded pony now stood before her, their horn sticking slightly out of the shade. It lit up and cuffed Dash's front and back hooves.
The cloak was a dark purple velvet with a blood-red "PP" on either side of the cloak's body. The pony never spoke, but unbinded Rainbow, letting her stumble out of the chair.
A sudden though emerged to Dash's mind. She cleared her throat awkwardly and said "Er, how do I get out." The hooded figure laughed menacingly, their hood almost falling off. Dash caught a glimpse of a pure-white coat, and identified the pony as a mare by her laugh.
She began to grunt with frustration, a spell making its way out of her horn.
Another cloaked pony walked through the door and behind the unicorn mare and gathered the the circle of glass on the floor. Rainbow knew it was a stallion from the cloak's snugness around the pony's build.
He placed the broken bit of glass back in its former position and quickly cast a repair spell. She then made his way out, shutting the door behind him.
The room began to light up a brilliant white, everything fading. Dash hut her eyes and grit her teeth, pressure building around her. Her hooves touched something solid and the pressure let out, her ears popping.
She opened her eyes and looked around, finding herself somewhere atop a mountain. She yelled out, a few birds flying away from their perch in the branches below.
There were several things wrong here. First of all, she was still in hoof cuffs. The second was that the entrance to the Society's Base was nearby, and she knew it wasn't chance that she appeared here. Her enemy knew where they were hidden. The third was that she had failed on her first real, solo mission. Every other time she went in a mission, it was with Apple Jack or a team of higher ranking officers. She messed up big time.
"Hey Dash!" called a familiar voice, making Rainbow freeze. She turned mechanically around and smiled too largely, her gums stretching.
"Hey there, Twi! Where've you been out at this time?" She asked, the sun starting to peek over the horizon.
Twilight smiled, not catching Rainbow's nervousness. "Well, I was actually out mapping the surrounding territory. Ever since we had to move to a new base, I wanted a chance to get used to our surroundings! It's actually sort of a good thing I messed up that last experiment of mine, or we may have not found such a good spot for a base! I doubt any enemy could guess our spot here, you know? There's literally only a 100 or so acres of woodland down below and then barren sand wastes. Good thing we've got tunnelers on the job. We have so many different underground routes, how could any pony find us? It's a great method for escape as well as getting resources. Except if the tunnel caves in or you get lost, then you might............." Rainbow tuned out, her nerves wrecking her inside.
Oh Celestia, she can ramble. How to escape from this is the question. Nonspecific excuse? Nah, that doesn't work on her. Only AJ. Hehe. Oh that was funny. She's so gullible. Gah! Off track again. Okay, Dash. Objectives: Escape Twilight, make sure no one finds out about the failed mission, and make the defenses more secure. Ouch! Also, get this cut checked out. Okay, deep breath and-
"-but then again, the food isn't that nutritious from the fields since we can't really use them very often. That would be too obvious! Hah, they'd find us out in a day!"
Rainbow took a deep breath and cleared her throat. "So Twilight, uh I'm actually a little tired from the mission and I'm gonna head inside."
She turned to leave, but Twilight quickly caught up with her and stopped Rainbow where she was.
"Oh my gosh, I completely forgot! How did it go? What was it for, again? Where's your belt? Sorry, I'm asking too many questions. Just tell me everything!!
Rainbow wheezed out a breath.
"Oh geez," she mumbled.
"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that?" Twilight asked, leaning closer.
"Uh, yeah, sorry. T-Twilight, you're going to have to promise me not to freak out or tell anypony, okay? Or I'll tell AJ you lied to me!" She threatened, Twilight quickly nodding.
"Of course! Why would I freak out?"
Rainbow gulped, thinking I can't lie to my best friend!
"Well, let's start from the beginning I guess. Two days ago, Dad told me that the Elders were expecting me. I went to their hall and they told me that I was to go on this mission, right? So as you know, that was last night. Well......"
Rainbow continued telling the story, up until the part where Twilight came in. Twilight was stock-still, her jaw hanging open.
Rainbow cringed as she shouted,
"You did what?!"
