Chapters "Please make yourselves comfortable," Tight Lockup said, gesturing his two guests into cushioned blue chairs as they entered the waiting room of the administrative building. The room's walls were a pleasant lilac color, decorated with photographs of the Prison from different time periods and past wardens and their families. Lockup himself was displayed on the furthest left, alone in his photograph. Despite the date saying that the picture had been taken five years ago at the start of his tenure, it could have been taken yesterday. There were sweet-smelling potted plants sitting on tables beneath glass lanterns that cast a warm glow through the room. There was also an armored Guard standing near the door, staring stoically ahead.
"I'll be back for you soon, Your Highness," Lockup said, proceeding through the door into his offices and shutting it behind him. Shining Armor settled into one of the chairs to wait. Phillip sat in a chair on the other side of the room, avoiding the other stallion's gaze. The soft cushions embraced him gently, trying to get him to relax, but the prickling chills at the back of his neck refused to cease. In an attempt to divert his attention, he picked up a brochure for the prison that was sitting on top of the table next to him and glanced through it. The brochure did not tell him anything he didn't already know: Clovenworth Prison, named for the Captain who had discovered the island almost 400 years ago, was originally a fortress, the only one to survive the Sea Serpent Wars. It had been converted into a prison after being abandoned by the Navy and had since served as Equestria's maximum-security prison for its most dangerous criminals.
Despite hundreds of escape attempts over the years, none had ever succeeded due to the numerous security features of the prison that took up an entire page of the brochure: a team of highly-trained and well-equipped Corrective Guards on constant patrol, special security spells that covered every inch of the prison, regular cell searches, daily disruptor spells administered to prisoners to prevent them from using magic, and anti-flight spells cast over the prison skies, not to mention the difficulty of climbing down the sheer cliff walls and the hard swim back to shore even if somepony did manage to get out of the prison.
But none of that reassured Phillip. He kept picturing Zugzwang's smirking, gloating face in his mind, as clearly as if his nemesis was standing in front of him. Once more, Phillip went over the facts in his mind, and more questions were brought than answers. Foremost of all was why Zugzwang had been caught in the first place: he'd faked his own death and went underground for eight years, but allowed himself to be caught by a couple of Guards while trying to escape on a train? He didn't buy it. And even allowing that, why hadn't he escaped earlier? Zugzwang was a genius, and a master of strategy; he surely must have known he was going to be moved to Clovenworth at some point, and would have planned for an escape in the event that he ever was caught.
So why had he allowed himself to be taken here, to the most secure site in Equestria?
Phillip glanced over the top of the brochure at Shining Armor, but quickly looked away when the Prince-Commander tried to make eye contact. Was it coincidence, sheer chance, that Zugzwang had been brought here at the same time as an inspection by the Captain of the Royal Guard himself?
It couldn't be. With a strategic genius of this caliber, coincidence did not exist.
Phillip's grip on the brochure tightened subconsciously. What was Zugzwang's play? And just as importantly, what was his counter?
Meanwhile, back in the cellblock, a dark blue unicorn with a golden mane and tail was sitting in a security booth, helmet removed, secure behind a locked steel door and reinforced windows. The belief in his own safety and the security of the brick and iron world around him had made him lax and inattentive, more concerned with when his shift was going to end than what was going on around him.
So it was with a thrill of horror and disbelief that he looked up at the sound of a throat being cleared to see the Deputy Warden being held hostage by an inmate, who was holding the chains of his shackles around the warden's throat.
"Don't try anything foolish," Zugzwang said calmly, approaching the astonished Guard slowly, still dragging Closed File along like a disobedient dog on a leash. "Open the door."
It took a few seconds for the Guard to comprehend the order. Slowly, he reached out and pulled the switch to open the door to the booth. The door slid open, allowing Zugzwang and his hostage to enter. The Guard backed up slowly, raising his hooves in surrender.
"Take it easy," he said, trying to remain calm, struggling to remember his training. "Nopony needs to get hurt here."
Zugzwang smiled, but his cold black eyes remained as empty as ever, staring with a chilling glare. "That's where you're wrong." His horn lit up with a golden glow and he seized the unicorn around the neck, slowly lifting him up into the air. Choking and writhing, the Guard lit up his own horn, attempting to summon a combat spell. But it was too little, too late: with a horrible crunching sound, Zugzwang compressed his grip, crushing the pony's throat. The corpse dangled in midair for a moment, then fell heavily to the floor as Zugzwang released his magic.
"You didn't need to kill him!" Closed File cried out in horror.
"I didn't need him alive," Zugzwang replied in a monotone, pushing his hostage to the floor next to the body and trapping him with an immobilization spell.
"He had a little filly, only two years old! He was going to get married!" File sputtered; Zugzwang had forced him to face the dead body's pallid face. "Don't you care?!"
"Care? Why should I care?" Zugzwang glared coldly at File. "Ponies die every day. You don't care about them. What does one more body matter? Now, shut up."
Turning away from his hostage, Zugzwang looked over the panel of buttons and switches before him. Most of them controlled locks for doors and lights for various parts of the prison complex. But only one of these attracted his attention: a large red button, separated from the rest, labeled "Emergency Unlock: In Case of Fire."
"Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war," Zugzwang whispered, and pressed down on the button.
Alarms began to blare throughout the prison. With a loud rattling of metal gears, every single one of the cell doors opened and the outer doors unlocked. Every Guard throughout the cellblock froze, surprised by the sudden sound. What was going on? Was there a fire?
But a moment later, they realized that the emergency was just starting. With a collective roar, dozens of battle cries rising into the air at once, the prisoners surged out of their cells and began to swarm through the hallways. Several Guards fell right away, overwhelmed before they could put up a defense. Others began to fight, but were hopelessly outnumbered: the convicts moved like a pack of wolves, surrounding and disabling their prey one by one. Cries for help resounded through the radio channels, demanding backup, warning of groups of prisoners moving past the feeble resistance, pouring out the doors towards the administrative building, barracks and medical wing.
Back in the administrative building, the sound of distant alarms carried into the ears of Phillip and Shining. "What's going on?" Shining asked, moving to the window. Phillip and the Guard joined him, peering out towards the cellblock. To their horror, they saw a group of inmates stampeding across the open ground towards the building, a number with makeshift weapons in their hooves, some already stained with blood. Bloodlust shining in their eyes, they charged towards them.
Shining Armor reacted instantly, casting a protective shield around the door. "There's a bunker room in the basement. We need to get to the Warden and get him in there now. Move!"
With a great crash, the army outside slammed into the door. Relentlessly, like a dozen battering rams, they began to pound against Shining's shield. The Prince grunted in effort, struggling to hold his hasty enchantment. "Move!" he shouted again.
Turning away, the Guard and Phillip hurried through the door into the building proper, hurrying down the hallways past offices, from which other staff members were already being shepherded out by Guards. An alarm began blaring down a hallway to their right; glancing down it, Phillip saw a sergeant entering a key into a metal box mounted on the wall, from which the alarm was coming. Opening the box wide, the sergeant reached inside, pulled out several black short-barreled riot shotguns, and began passing them out to the other Guards.
Suddenly, there was a crashing from ahead as a crate flew through a window. A group of convicts jumped in after it, several of them immediately charging right at the pair. The Guard placed himself in front of Phillip, crouching down in a defensive stance, in spite of the odds.
But even before the first thugs reached them, a wave of purple energy passed by them, knocking down all of their attackers. Shining Armor ran up, his horn sparking with the aftereffects of his magic. "Private, they need your help in the west wing!" he shouted to the Guard, who shot off a quick salute and hurried away. "Get yourself to the basement," Shining said to Phillip.
"Buckley's chance of that, mate," Phillip replied, following him up the staircase to the upper floors, where the warden lived. More crashes and gunshots sounded from downstairs.
The upper floors did have some offices, but for the most part, it served as living quarters for the warden and his family, if he had any, as well as other permanent staff members. The convicts had already penetrated these floors, and were moving through the decorated offices and dining rooms, hunting down any staff members with the speed and ferocity of a pack of timber wolves, the Guards barely holding them off. Pushing past the multiple skirmishes, Shining and Phillip hurried down the hallway towards the office at the end.
"Help!" a voice called from within, prompting both stallions to speed up. Bursting through the door, they saw that a group of inmates had already broken into the office. Tight Lockup was lying in the corner, his glasses askew and a bruise on his head, holding his bleeding stomach. A single Guard was lying on the floor, his helmet knocked off to reveal the young face of a light green pegasus with blonde-white hair and green eyes. Five inmates surrounded him, three of which were mercilessly kicking him.
Shining prepared a combat spell to push the attackers away, but this quickly proved unnecessary. Phillip sprinted ahead, springing into the air and knocking down one of the convicts with a flying kick. As he landed, he drew his baton from his vest, the weapon clicking loudly as it unfolded, and struck the second in the jaw as Phillip simultaneously punched the third thug in the nose. He punched the second attacker in the stomach, kicked the third one in the chest, then dropped and spun, kicking out twice and knocking both of their legs out from underneath them. The remaining two convicts rushed him, one of them pulling out a shank made from a scrap of iron. Bobbing out of the way, Phillip struck the knife-wielder on the hoof, disarming him, then seized his head and shoved him into his partner, causing both ponies to stumble over each other. A couple more strikes with his baton and the fight was over.
Moving to the Guard, Phillip held out his hoof. "Up you go, mate," he said, helping the beaten Private stand.
Shining dashed over to the Warden and helped him stand. "Lockup, are you all right?"
"I-I'll live," Lockup stammered, shaking his head. His knees trembled and he staggered against Shining.
"Listen. We need to get to the safe room in the basement. Let's move!" Shining allowed the wounded Lockup to lean on him as the group hustled back out the door. The call went out over the radio: "All Guards, retreat to the nearest bunker!" En masse, the armored officers shepherded the staff members towards the basement, desperately pushing through swarms of inmates. There was no longer any chance of regaining control; the only hope now was to get to safety.
Reaching the basement, Phillip and Shining Armor found themselves at the end of a long hallway. At the other end was a huge, two-foot thick metal door, opened wide to admit them. An armored sergeant stood within the bunker, gesturing them in like a line coach flagging in a runner towards home. The ponies sprinted to safety, but a swarm of inmates was right on their tails. A hulking beast of a pony was in the lead, swinging a bloodstained length of pipe, gaining on the wounded Guard.
Realizing that they weren't going to outrun them, Phillip halted, bucking the lead convict in the chest and sending him flying back, knocking over several ponies behind him. "Go, go, go!" he shouted, drawing his baton and immediately striking the next enemy with it. Phillip bravely held his ground, holding off the oncoming force and using the narrow hallway to his advantage, allowing the others to reach safety.
As soon as they crossed the steel threshold, the young pegasus they'd rescued turned around, reaching into his saddlebags and pulling out a gray cylinder. Yanking out the attached safety pin, he tossed it out into the hallway past Phillip. The tear gas grenade detonated as soon as it struck the ground, dispelling a thick, choking cloud of gas. Turning from his coughing opponent, Phillip began to sprint for the bunker. The sergeant seized the door and began close the iron door, grunting with effort.
"Get out of the way!" shouted one of the thugs, pushing his way through the stumbling, blinded crowd. Raising a stolen shotgun, he aimed it the retreating Phillip's back and fired.
Instantly, Shining cast out a protective shield between the gunpony and Phil, blocking the deadly pellets just as Phillip dove across the threshold. The next instant, the door slammed shut and locked behind him. A moment later, there was a great banging at the steel as the inmates outside tried to bash their way in.
"They can't get in, right?" a mare secretary asked nervously, crouching with the other rescued staff members along the back wall of the bunker.
"That door's two feet of magic-reinforced steel, and there are only locks on this side," the sergeant replied reassuringly. "Trust me, they can't get in here."
Sure enough, the banging stopped after a while. "Sounds like they've given up," the sergeant said, doffing his helmet to reveal a broad-shouldered, blue maned, dark violet unicorn with green eyes, wiping sweat off his brow.
"But now we're stuck in here," the bruised private pointed out, standing and looking around the dark bunker. "Now what?"
"Ah, much better," Zugzwang sighed, adjusting his well-pressed suit and tie that he'd recovered from the confiscated items room in the cellblock. Reaching into the box containing his things, he pulled out a silver light and a pack of goldleaf cigarettes. Plucking a cigarette, he placed it into his mouth and lit it.
"Sir!" an inmate shouted, rushing into the room. "It's Finder and Shining. They managed to make it into the bunker, with the Warden."
Zugzwang scowled. Raising his right foreleg, he tensed a muscle to activate the hidden trigger. A spring-loaded blade, several inches long, leapt out of the sleeve, gleaming in the lamplight. Behind him, the convict swallowed nervously and took a step back.
"Disappointing," Zugzwang said, deactivating his hidden weapon. "But not altogether crippling." He looked over Closed File, who was lying in the corner, now bound in the shackles and restraint ring that had once been on Zugzwang. "We still have what we need." With a magical tug, he dragged his hostage out of the room and into the cellblock proper. All had gone eerily, unnaturally quiet, like the calm that follows a devastating storm. Dozens of inmates, all of them clad in gray coveralls, many stained with the blood of Guards and hostages, stood before him, watching attentively.
Zugzwang smiled at them all and raised his voice. "I am pleased to announce," he called out, "that as of today, Clovenworth Prison is under new management."
A great shout replied to his words, coming from the many throats of his underlings as they raised their hooves in salute, echoing throughout the penitentiary and mixing with the distant thunder: "HAIL ZUGZWANG! HAIL ZUGZWANG! HAIL ZUGZWANG!"
Author's Note
Well, so far, so good. Or so bad?
In any case, this is my first real action-oriented story with more detailed fight scenes, and I think I'm doing an okay job. Any helpful criticism, thumbs up and faves will be greatly appreciated so that I can improve!
The underground bunker was a wide area, reinforced with concrete walls that smelled of dank moss. Several low lamps provided dim illumination, casting the ponies within in eerie shadows. There were shelves stocked with supplies for a long siege—medical equipment, bottled water, canned food, a radio, and weapons. A small bathroom was tucked away in the back, from which came the incessant drip of a leaky faucet. Shining Armor slowly panned his vision across the room, mentally cataloging their numbers.
Fourteen staff members, and the Warden, whose stab wound was being treated by a medic. Ten Guards, including the medic and the sergeant, all of them wounded, but not badly. Then there was himself, and Phillip, who was currently pacing back and forth at the head of the room, staring at the closed metal door. They had batons, tasers, pepper spray, a few shotguns, two crossbows, one carbine, and three tear gas grenades.
Outside that door were dozens of armed and dangerous hostiles, most of which were armed, and likely several hostages. They had no chance of mounting a counter-assault like this.
"Sir?" Shining looked up at the voice and saw the young pegasus they had saved from the Warden's office. He was staggering a little and his eyes were a little unfocused—minor concussion—but he still stood at attention. Phillip stopped pacing and turned to face him.
"You all right, private?" Shining asked.
"I'll be fine, sir," he said. "But I thought I was going to die up there. I'm alive thanks to you two."
"No worries," Phillip said, and resumed pacing.
"We're just happy that you're all right," Shining said, giving the private a small smile before returning to seriousness. "Now that we're all safe, the next thing we need to do is call the mainland for backup," he announced, pointing to a large radio on the back shelf. "Get the radio up."
One of the Guards walked down to the shelf and plucked the microphone out of it's resting place. "Mayday, mayday. This is Clovenworth Prison calling Manehattan Precinct. We have a massive security failure. Multiple inmates rioting, multiple casualties, multiple hostages. We need assistance ASAP."
There was no reply. The Guard clicked the microphone a few times. "Manehattan Precinct, do you read?" Still nothing. "Hello, hello. Is anypony receiving this?" The only answer was a faint buzzing crackle of static.
"It...it's jammed," the Guard said in disbelief. "Something's blocking the signal!"
"That's impossible!" Warden Lockup said, his face pale from both shock and blood loss. "How did he get jamming equipment up here?"
"I'm beginning to think that very little is impossible where Zugzwang is concerned," Phillip muttered, still staring at the door.
"Are we ready?" Zugzwang asked the henchpony tinkering with the radio in the main security booth at the cellblock.
"Yes, sir," the pony said, setting down his smuggled tools. "With this, you'll be able to transmit to every radio in Equestria."
"Wunderbar," Zugzwang smiled, taking a seat at the cushioned wheeled chair. Levitating the microphone over to his mouth, he paused for a moment, considering his words carefully, going over the prepared speech one more time in his mind. Then he clicked down on the microphone and spoke.
Meanwhile, far away in Ponyville, a trio of figures was sitting on the balcony of a purple crystal castle, watching the clear night sky above.
"And that star there," Twilight was saying, pointing a hoof up at the distant, twinkling lights. "That's Altair."
"Which one?" Spike asked, squinting up into the darkness. "All I see is a bunch of stars."
"It's the bright one in the Aquila constellation," Twilight said. "You see the really bright one that has two stars on either side of it?"
"Oh, that one?" Spike pointed.
"Yeah, that one!" Twilight said in delight.
Beside them, Flash smiled softly. The night was quiet, a soft classical tune was playing from the radio in the room behind them, and it was just him, Twilight and Spike out here. It was nice, for once, to not have to worry about threats, or possible dangers, or criminals. To just spend time with her, not have to be the Guard...he loved it.
Leaning over, he gently kissed Twilight on the cheek. She let out a little giggle. "Flash! Not in front of Spike!"
"Oh, right," Flash said with a grin. "Spike, look away. I'm about to kiss Twilight again." Tilting her chin down, he kissed Twilight on the lips. She laughed as she kissed him back. Spike rolled his eyes in exasperation.
At that moment, the radio behind them began to buzz and crackle, the music coming to a screeching halt. All three heads turned towards it in confusion. "That's never happened before," Twilight said, crossing over to the radio and twiddling the dials. The same static was every station, hissing at them like a baby hydra. Then, all of a sudden, the radio went silent.
"Is it broken?" Spike asked, picking up the radio and giving it a little shake.
His question was answered a moment when a voice spoke from the radio. A Gerwhin accented voice as slick as oil, but as cold as ice water being poured down the listener's spine.
"Guten Abend, Equestria. My name is Zugzwang, and I am in control of Clovenworth Island."
The familiar voice chilled the room, everything seeming to freeze in place for a moment. Slowly, as if he were handling a bomb, Spike set the radio back down as the trio gathered around to listen, not knowing that the rest of the country was also listening in.
"The Guards are running, scared and incompetent. Prince Shining Armor is trapped here with me. Many have died already. I have several hostages, including a number of doctors and civilian workers. And if I see so much as a filly in a rowboat heading towards this island, I will not hesitate to start killing them. This is your only warning: stay away from Clovenworth Island. I will contact you again if I require anything else of you. Have a pleasant evening." And with a click, the voice signed off, leaving behind a dread silence in the air.
Back down in the bunker room, the trapped survivors had heard the same message, broadcast over the radio themselves. For several seconds, everypony could only stare at the contraption in disbelief.
"So he's not trying to escape?" Warden Lockup whispered.
"No," Phillip said, turning back to the door and resuming his pacing. "If he wanted to escape, he wouldn't have come here in the first place. There's something here he wants." Pausing, he strode to the door and opened the peephole, looking out into the hallway. "Hey...they're gone."
Shining stepped up and looked out the window with him. Sure enough, the hallway was empty: the inmates who'd been blocking the doorway had gone.
"Hey! What are you doing?"
Phillip had just opened up the door and walked out into the hallway as if he were simply strolling out to take a walk. "Somepony has to see what Zugzwang's up to," he said flatly.
"It's not safe out there!" Shining declared, moving to try to block him.
"Ponies are dying out there, and you're letting it happen," Phillip said, a dangerous edge in his voice as he moved around the Prince and continued determinedly on his way. "If you want to hide down here, be my guest. I've got to do something."
Shining immediately moved to block him again, angered by both the stallion's idiotic stubbornness and the rude slight at his bravery and competence. "Finder, get back in the bunker. That is an order!"
Phillip stopped, glaring at him, speaking through his teeth. "I'm not a Guard anymore, and I'm not a citizen of the Crystal Empire. I don't take orders from you." He took a single step forward, sliding into an aggressive stance. "Get out of my way."
Shining considered the smaller stallion before him. He could try to force him to go back into the bunker and have him restrained to keep him from going out and getting himself killed. There was an army out there, armed and vicious; one stallion didn't stand a chance. But he could tell that Phil wouldn't go down without a fight, and Shining was not the kind of pony to pick fights.
But he also considered something else. He'd faced down greater threats than this—an invasion of Changelings, a thousand-year old wicked king, and a magic-stealing tyrant from Tartarus—and almost every time, he'd been forced to watch helplessly while others suffered. He was the Captain of the Royal Guard: wasn't it his duty to protect the helpless and innocent? Hadn't he taken a vow when he first put on that armor all those years ago? Hadn't he affirmed his duty, his destiny, the day he had earned his cutie mark?
He continued to glare for a moment more before letting out a sigh. "I'm going with you."
"No," Phillip said, his tone gentler, but just as firm as before. "You need to stay alive. You're more important."
"Either we both go out there, or neither of us do," Shining said, his tone final. Phillip glared at him in annoyance for a moment more, but finally seemed to relent, letting out a little grunt. "Sergeant Stormdust, I want two Guards guarding this hallway. We'll need a safe passage if we need to come back."
"Yes, sir," the sergeant nodded, assigning himself and a tough-looking, square-jawed brown earth pony to the task, both of them equipping themselves with shotguns.
One of the unicorn Guards levitated a taser, baton and spray bottle of mace over to Shining. "It's dangerous to go unprepared, Captain. Take these."
"Thanks," Shining said, placing these items in his belt, briefly cursing himself for being foolish enough to come unarmed. Then again, it was only supposed to be a quick inspection, to make sure that everything was in its place.
"Keep trying to raise the mainland on the radio," he instructed. "We'll be back soon. Keep each other safe." The Guards—his Guards, his soldiers, his responsibility—nodded in reply, standing tense and ready. Shining turned and saw that his "partner" had already disappeared. Growling in frustration, he trotted up the stairs, ignoring the ominous sound of the bunker door shutting and locking behind him.
Spotting a gray-tinged black tail ahead, he sped up until he'd caught up with Phil. "You know, the whole point of us working together is so we can watch each other's backs!"
"You watch your own arse, Captain," Phil replied impatiently. "I can take care of my own."
Both ponies scowling, they trotted up the stairs and into the main offices of the administrative building. There was not a pony to be seen amidst the overturned furniture and scattered papers, no sound but the soft wind outside and the tinkling of broken glass crushed beneath their hooves.
"Where'd everypony go?" Shining whispered without knowing why.
"That's what's worrying me," Phillip replied, also in a whisper, his eyes panning back and forth, seeing everything.
"You know, this feels like a trap," Shining said.
"It probably is," Phillip replied casually.
They reached the door to the outside. Phillip placed an ear against it, hearing nothing, and grabbed the knob. For a moment, he hesitated, glancing back at the Captain. Shining's horn lit up with magic, and he gave a tense nod.
Slowly, Phillip opened the door and the two ponies stepped out into the Hell that awaited them.
Author's Note
Now, Phillip, I know you're in a life and death situation, but that doesn't give you an excuse to be a jerk to the Prince-Captain.
Outnumbered and outgunned, do our two makeshift heroes stand a chance out there? Wait and see...
Outside, the Prison had changed dramatically. Where once the entire courtyard had been lit, now there were large patches of darkness from smashed lights. Bodies of both Guards and inmates were scattered across the ground, lying in pools of their own blood, some still with crossbow bolts or shanks stuck in their bodies. The rain had slowed, but not ceased, and the icy air chilled both stallions. The alarms had been silenced, leaving only an eerie, dead silence in their wake. Above them, the watchtowers stood silent sentinel; no doubt the snipers that had once occupied them were gone.
Phillip moved ahead, sticking to the shadows as much as possible. Shining followed him, both of them continually panning their heads back and forth, watching for any sign of movement or sound.
Suddenly, there came a feeble, shallow breathing sound from up ahead. Hurrying forward, Shining lit up his horn to reveal a wounded Guard lying on the ground, his helmet knocked off to reveal a long, damp light brown mane and full beard and dim blue eyes. Blood seeped from between the Guard's hooves, which were clutched tightly around his stomach.
Shining knelt beside the soldier and tilted his head up. It took a second for the other pony to recognize him. "Don't stop for me, Cap," he whispered, coughing. "It's too late for me."
"Don't try to speak," Shining said, moving to lift the dying pony up with his magic. "We're going to take you to safety."
The Guard shook his head. "No...they took...hostages...to the medical wing..." Weakly, he raised a hoof, pointing towards the hospital building in the distance. "They've got...the Deputy Warden...you have to..." He coughed once more, then took in a slow, rattling breath. The little light that was left in the pony's eyes faded away, leaving only the reflection of Shining's magic in them.
Slowly, Shining Armor lowered the body to the ground, gently closing his soldier's eyes with his magic. "I'm sorry," he whispered. He looked up at Phil, who was also staring down at the corpse, his expression hidden by the shadows. "Come on. You wanted to see what Zugzwang was doing. Let's go see."
The two continued on their way, heading towards the two-story whitewashed building in the distance. The lights around the hospital were still on, illuminating the bright red medical cross above the double doors, which beckoned them onwards from the shadows. The windows, all of which were raised off the ground to make them harder to access, were blocked off with iron shutters, making access through them impossible.
As they approached, the door abruptly opened. Dodging behind a dumpster, Shining and Phil looked ahead to see three convicts, all armed with shotguns, exiting the building. "Okay, boss says nopony gets in here!" said the apparent leader, a broad-shouldered earth pony with a matted brown mane. "Anything moves, you shoot first, ask questions never!"
"You got it!" replied one of the others, a blue pegasus with tattoos across his body. "Anypony coming this way is dead!" He flapped up into the air, shotgun at the ready. The other two stood by the doors.
Shining glared at them from around the dumpster. The lights made it impossible for them to get close without being seen, nor to get around to the back. "Looks like that's our way in, then," he whispered to Phillip. "I'll make a shield with my magic and—"
"No," Phillip replied. "That'll drain too much of your magic, and they'll just alert their friends on the inside." His eyes panned over the three gunponies, planning his strategy. "Can you disable the lights?"
Frowning in concentration, Shining lit up his horn and sent out a quick pulse of magic. The spotlights around the building flickered, then went out.
"Hey! What happened to the lights?" the broad-shouldered pony shouted. The convicts turned on stolen flashlights attached to their shoulders and began panning the area.
"I think I saw something over there!" the pegasus shouted, flying over to the dumpster from which he'd seen a faint purple light. Aiming the shotgun from his shoulder, he slowly panned the flashlight back and forth, looking for any trace. "Who's out there? Show yourselves!" No answer came from the darkness. Flapping down to the ground in front of the dumpster, the pegasus squinted into the shadows.
That's when he heard a quiet cough behind him. Turning, he caught a glimpse of a hoof flying out of the open dumpster before it struck him in the nose, forcing him to drop his weapon. Before he could cry out in pain, another blow to the throat knocked the wind out of him, then a final strike to his jaw knocked him out.
Climbing out of the dumpster, Shining and Phillip both silently sprinted across the grounds towards the other two convicts, who had split up and were facing away from one another. Neither heard them coming, and neither stood a chance: within a second of each other, both were brought down with a takedown, knocked out and relieved of their weapons.
"There'll be more inside," Phillip said as Shining cast immobilization spells over the unconscious ponies.
"My predecessor always said, 'Who Dares, Wins,'" Shining said. "We're not solving anything by standing out here, that's for sure."
Carefully, the two approached the front doors, which Shining opened slowly with his magic. The interior reception room was empty, dimly lit with a single lamp. Blood was splattered across the floor and walls, and overturned chairs and tables were scattered across the room. There was nopony in sight. Silent as palace mice, Shining and Phillip crept through the room and walked through a set of double doors, following a trail of blood droplets down the tiled hallway.
The trail led around a corner; lowered voices could be heard from up ahead. The ponies paused, pressing their backs up against the wall. Phillip tapped Shining on the shoulder and handed him a small mirror. Taking it in his magic, Shining used it to carefully peek around the corner.
In the reflection, he could see the main treatment room, a large area with several beds lined up against the walls. The privacy curtains between the beds had been taken down, as had most of the machinery. Sitting in the center of the room were several nurses and doctors in white coats, as well as Closed File, who was shivering as he sat curled up in a ball in the middle of the bunch. A group of four Guards, two of them apparently badly wounded and unable to sit up, were amongst the hostages. Three convicts surrounded them, all of them armed with makeshift clubs and blades.
"They'll see us if we charge head-on," Shining whispered. "We have to make them look the other way."
"You're the one with the magic," Phillip pointed out.
Tilting the mirror to examine the room, Shining saw that there were some chairs stacked against the back wall. Leaning out past the doorway, he lit up his horn and reached out with his magic. The chairs lifted up into the air, then fell to the floor with a loud crashing. Every head turned at the sudden noise.
"Now!" Shining whisper-shouted, moving around the corner and sprinting up the hallway, Phillip right on his tail. The inmates turned too late: Shining's spell disarmed one of them while Phil's boomerang stunned two others, giving them time to race up and bring them all down.
"Are you all all right?" Phillip asked, bending over the hostages.
"Oh, thank Celestia you're here!" Closed File exclaimed, grasping his hoof with both of his own and shaking it. "These thugs brought me right here from the cellblock! I thought they were going to kill me!"
"You're all safe now," Shining said. "We can get you over to the bunker in the administrative building."
"But what about the others?" one of the nurses asked in a quivering voice.
"What others?" Phillip asked urgently.
"They took Doctors Patella and Healspark away," the nurse replied. "We don't know why. They could be dead by now!"
Shining and Phillip shared a glance. "All right, stay here," Shining announced. "We're going to go look for them."
"Are you sure?" the nurse asked.
"It's our job," Phillip replied, following Shining out the door. "Keep quiet. We'll be back." And without another word, he exited the room, closing the door behind him and entering the hallway to the specialized treatment rooms. The thin hallway was dark, with many of the lights broken or hanging off their hinges, casting eerie shadows across the wall. Most of the doors were locked tight, and the usually clean floor was now covered in garbage and stained with blood. The stallions' hoofsteps echoed endlessly, providing a haunting soundtrack, the only sound aside from the occasional squeak of a slowly swinging lamp.
The two reached a T-junction when Phillip abruptly flung out a hoof. He froze, his body stiffening and eyes widening as he sniffed the air. "Do you smell smoke?"
"It's coming from down here," Shining said, trotting down the right hallway, which led towards the doctor's offices. As they turned the corner, Shining saw another dead Guard, sitting against the wall in a coagulating pool of his own blood. He paused, bending down over the corpse.
"They'll pay," he growled beneath his breath, his hoof trembling as he gently closed the younger stallion's eyes. "Every one of them will pay."
"They will, Captain. But you need to stay focused," Phil said as he walked past. Getting to his hooves, Shining followed Phil towards the one office that had an open door. The sign on the frosted glass said "Dr. Healspark."
Inside the cramped room was an oak desk, papers spread across the top. Shelves of books lined the walls. The only decoration in the entire office was a photograph in a golden frame on the desk. Picking it up, Phillip saw that the picture was of a young unicorn mare, a little younger than Twilight, with a golden coat, a wavy pink mane and big green eyes, smiling happily at the camera. She was standing next to a small cottage that sat upon a patch of green grass, happily holding up a "SOLD" sign in a pale green aura. Her cutie mark was a trio of tulips, pink, green and white.
Examining the picture frame, Phillip noticed that the right edge of the gold was faded and there were streaks over the glass. Healspark frequently holds this , he thought, turning the picture over to examine the back. Sure enough, there was writing on the back: "All settled in, Dad! Love you!"
Putting down the photo of Healspark's daughter, Phillip's nose directed his attention to the garbage bin. Lying in the bottom was a pile of burned papers, still wafting faint smoke. The writing on them was too burned to be discernible. "Hmm," Phil muttered, looking around the rest of the room. On one shelf behind him, some books had been replaced out of order—odd, considering that every other book was positioned with a regularity and order that suggested minor OCD to Phillip. Moving the books aside, he found that there was a safe in the wall behind the shelf. Finding that the door hadn't been shut properly, he opened it up to find that it was empty.
"Why would he burn his notes?" he muttered to himself.
"We need to keep looking," Shining said from the door. "Come on." He guided Phil back down the hallway towards the left. The lights down this hallway had been broken, leaving only intermittent patches of light and darkness. Up ahead, the two saw a pair of flashlight beams dancing on the wall.
"Remind me why the boss wants the doctors alive?" a voice asked from around a corner. Peeking around, Phil and Shining saw two inmates, both equipped with flashlights and batons, standing in front of a pair of double doors labelled "Surgery."
"We operate on a strictly need-to-know basis," another voice replied impatiently. "And all we need to know is that if we do what we're told, we get paid and we get to keep breathing."
"I want out of here," the first pony grumbled. "I've been on this island for five stinking years. I want to look at something besides concrete walls for once."
"You'll get your chance, we all will," his partner answered. "Now just shut up and keep a lookout."
Shining turned to Phil, lighting up his horn just enough so they could see each other. "What do you think?"
"I have an idea," Phil said and whistled softly, just loud enough for the enemies up ahead to hear him.
"Did you hear that?" one of the inmates said. "Let's check it out." The two walked around the corner, only to have Phil leap up, seize them both by the head and slam them together like a pair of cymbals, hard enough to knock them both out.
"A little more communication would have been appropriate," Shining glared at Phil, who coolly walked around the corner and set himself up at the door. Shining slowly opened the door a crack and the two of them peeked through it.
The door led into the surgery room. The bed and equipment had all been shoved to the side, but the center lamps were on, illuminating two doctors sitting tied up and gagged in the center of the room. Doctor Patella was a tall, thin, white-coated earth pony with blue eyes and mane and the cutie mark of a pair of crossed bones. Her companion, Doctor Healspark, was a brown unicorn with green eyes and a black mane and a cutie mark of a red six-pointed star.
Shining and Phil glanced at each other. There might as well have been a sign that "It's A Trap," but what choice did they have? Opening the door, Shining and Phil trotted towards the hostages, whose eyes widened as they approached. Shining removed their gags.
"Your Highness, it's a trap!" Doctor Patella shouted as soon as her mouth was free.
"Obviously," Shining replied calmly, turning around.
The lights suddenly snapped on, revealing several inmates emerging from various hiding places in the theater and circling their two prey. One of the ponies stepped forward, leering over Shining. This pony was twice as big as most stallions and seemed to be made of solid muscle. His coat and mane were the same gray-brown color, his body was adorned with scars and tattoos, and his cutie mark was of a large sledgehammer. He might have been slightly intimidating if his mean little black eyes weren't set a little too close together. They made him look like a cross between a pony and a gorilla, but less intelligent.
"Boss wants 'em alive," he growled, showing his misaligned, yellowing teeth. "Get 'em, boys!"
The thugs charged as one, only to be thrown backwards by a shield of purple energy. Phillip and Shining leapt into the fray, their batons a blur of motion, striking weak targets and deflecting attacks. Bones snapped, objects smashed and one by one, the thugs dropped like flies.
Phil smashed one attacker in the face with his own club and knocked his legs out from beneath him with a sweep of his baton, finishing him with a kick to the jaw. Hearing thudding hoofsteps behind him, he turned to see the musclebound stallion charging at him like a train. Waiting until the last second, Phillip dodged to the side and snapped his leg out in a roundhouse kick to his target's thigh. Most ponies would have been dropped right away with a kick that strong, but the behemoth just laughed.
"Hit so I can feel it, flathoof!" he taunted, swinging his boulder-like hooves at Phillip's head. He ducked and weaved around him, waiting for an opportunity to counterattack. Slipping a straight punch, Phillip snapped his baton out at a floating rib. The only effect was making the gorilla-like pony strike him across the face, knocking him down. With a laugh, his attacker pounced on his chest, wrapping his humongous hooves around his neck and squeezing.
"Not so tough now!" he taunted, banging Phillip's head against the floor repeatedly. His vision blurring around the edges, Phillip tried to break the grip around his neck, but it was tighter than an iron vise.
"Finder!" Shining called to him from across the room, and Phillip saw something flying through the air towards him, carried in a sparkling purple aura. Reaching out, he seized the mace container and immediately sprayed a large dose into his attacker's eyes. Instantly, he reared back, clutching his face in pain. Flipping back to his hooves, Phil unleashed a flurry of strikes, knocking him back towards Shining Armor, who finished him with a powerful stunning spell right to the head.
Panting, Phil looked at the mace container, then pocketed it. "I should start carrying this," he muttered to himself.
Shining untied the two doctors and helped them stand. "I'm sorry, Your Highness," Doctor Healspark said in a soft voice. "We tried to tell you, but we couldn't speak."
"It's all right, we can handle these low-life thugs," Shining assured them. "We're going to get you to the administrative building. You'll be safe there."
"Thank you," Healspark said, following his companion out the door with Shining. Phillip brought up the rear. His eyes never left Healspark for a moment.
Author's Note
Things are moving along at a trotting pace, but things are not as they seem...
More soon.
The bunker door slammed shut behind them, sealing the danger safely outside. The medic busied himself with the rescued civilians, checking for any injuries. Fortunately, the most serious wounds were nothing more than some bruises and headaches.
"Any luck with the radio?" Shining asked the Guard sitting at the radio, receiving a head shake in response. "Keep trying," he ordered, turning away to face his new charges. With the addition of nine doctors and nurses and two Guards, he now had twenty-three civilians and twelve Guards, plus himself and Phillip. The odds were increasing in his favor, and the priority now was keeping them alive until help could come.
That's when he heard Phillip talking quietly. "Warden, I need to speak to you."
"Can it wait, Mister Finder?" Lockup asked, sitting up against the wall. Closed File was limping around in a circle behind him.
"No," Phil replied, lifting the Warden up by his shoulder and guiding him away from the others into a more secluded corner of the bunker. Shining watched them.
"Warden, you've been hiding something from me," Phillip said quietly, but with the harshness of a razor wire fence. "And you're going to come clean right now. What is hidden here that Zugzwang wants?"
Lockup looked slightly taken aback. "I...don't know what you're talking about."
"You're lying to me," Phillip said, stepping forward and looming over the older stallion. "And in doing so, you're allowing more ponies to die." He paused for a moment. "I know Dr. Healspark was involved in it. A mass breakout occurs and his first thought is to go to his office and burn all his notes? What's he hiding?"
Lockup remained silent, but his lips quivered and he could no longer meet Phillip's harsh gaze. Shining approached. "Warden, if there's something here that's endangering ponies, you need to tell us."
"But there's..." Lockup's argument petered out when he realized that neither of his companions believed him. Slowly, he let out a long sigh, sitting down on the floor.
"One year ago, a head pony from the Equestrian Intelligence Division brought an artifact to us," he said, glancing up at the others to ensure that nopony else was listening. "They assigned Dr. Healspark to study it in secret. They wanted to find out how it worked, find a defense against it...and if necessary, destroy it. Only Healspark and I knew about it."
"What was the artifact?" Shining asked.
Lockup stared at the Prince's hooves for several seconds, seemingly unable to meet his eyes. Finally, he answered in a voice so soft that he could barely be heard. "King Sombra's horn, recovered by an expedition to the Crystal Mountains, still carrying his dark magic inside it."
"What?!" Shining shouted, causing every head to turn towards him. "That should have been reported to me the moment it was found! Why was it brought here?"
"It made sense, they said!" Lockup defended, quailing beneath the Prince's fury. "If we kept its discovery a secret, our enemies wouldn't be looking for it, and the ponies of Equestria would be better off not knowing! And this was the most secure facility in Equestria!" He swallowed, blinking underneath the stern gazes, then added, "And they wanted to test the effect of the negative energies on the horn...th-the point is, it should have been safe here!"
"Well, it's obviously not!" Shining shouted. "And now some of my Guards have died! Guards that were protecting something that they didn't even know about!"
"Your Highness, please..." Lockup whimpered, collapsing to the ground at Shining's knees. "I beg your forgiveness..."
Shining stared down at him coldly for several seconds before finally letting out a breath. "We will discuss this later," he told the Warden with an ominous finality. "Right now, we need to make sure that Zugzwang doesn't get his hooves on the horn. We'll ask Dr. Healspark if...hey...where's Dr. Healspark?!"
"He was right behind us," Dr. Patella said, looking around the bunker. Sure enough, Healspark was nowhere to be seen.
Phillip growled. "That idiot. He went after the horn himself!"
"Then we have to go after him," Shining said.
"Wait a second," Phillip said. "We should contact Twilight in Ponyville, tell her to look for Healspark's daughter."
"How do you know she lives in Ponyville?" Shining asked.
"Sugarcube Corner was in the background of the photo," Phil replied. "Zugzwang will probably go after her to put leverage on Healspark. It's what I'd do."
"Good point," Shining said. "I know the spell to send letters to Spike."
Grabbing some scroll from a shelf, Phillip tore out a length and began to write quickly, clutching his pen in his teeth so tightly that the cap almost broke. When he was done, he rolled it up and handed it to Shining, who lifted it up in his magic. The scroll spun quickly in midair, then disappeared.
"There. Now, let's get after him before he kills himself," Phillip said, heading for the bunker door.
"The horn's beneath the lighthouse," Lockup explained. "In a secret corridor in the basement. You have to press the discolored bricks counterclockwise to open it, starting from the north wall."
"Sir, let some of us go with you," Sergeant Stormdust offered, blocking Shining's path, determined to fight for his commander.
"No, Sergeant," Shining replied, laying a hoof on his shoulder. "Your job is to keep these civilians safe. I won't risk anypony else. We can handle this." Stormdust hesitated for a moment, but slowly stepped aside.
"You all, stay here and keep each other safe," Shining said, following Phillip out. "We'll be back."
He exited the bunker, slamming the door behind him, aware of the concerned, fearful eyes that still bored into him through the steel.
Back in the Rainbow Castle, Twilight paced endlessly in a circle, hoofsteps clicking against the crystal floor. Spike watched her from the bed, nervously twiddling his claws. Flash sat, staring at the now-silent radio, glaring at it as if it was knowingly, willingly withholding information. They say that no news is good news. They were so wrong: no news was worse than bad news, because it allowed the mind to wander into the realm of unknowing, into dark worlds where the voices whispered hints of nightmares.
Suddenly, Spike jumped with a loud hiccup that made his companions' heads turn so fast they almost got whiplash. With a loud burp, Spike belched out a cloud of green smoke that formed a scroll. Twilight snatched the letter almost before it appeared and rolled it open to read it out loud.
Flash and Twilight,
I'm here on Clovenworth with Shining. I'm pretty sure you heard over the radio what's going on. We're both okay, but we have a problem. Zugzwang has taken over the island because he's looking for something hidden here: King Sombra's horn, which was brought here to be studied in secret. The doctor who was studying it has been taken hostage. He has a daughter living in Ponyville, and Zugzwang will probably be after her to try to put leverage on him. The doctor's name is Healspark. The daughter's name is unknown, but she lives near Sugarcube Corner. Unicorn, gold coat, pink mane, green eyes, cutie mark of pink, green and white tulips. You should check on her and make sure that she's all right.
Don't worry about us; we'll be fine.
Phillip.
"Sombra's horn?!" Twilight shouted out loud in disbelief. "How...why was that put in a prison?!"
"Probably one of Intelligence's lame-brained schemes," Flash growled. "If Captain Armor doesn't give those idiots hell for this, I will."
"We can worry about that later," Twilight said, putting her fears for her brother aside for the moment. "Right now, we should check on this mare and make sure that she's all right." She didn't need to add that at the very least, it would give them something to do, a momentary cure for the suffocating feeling of helplessness that had gripped them ever since Zugzwang's radio message.
"What should I do now?" Spike asked from the bed.
"Send a letter to Princess Celestia," Twilight instructed as Flash put his armor back on. "Tell her what's going on. If this gets out of hoof, we could have a serious problem."
Spike shivered, recalling their encounter with the wicked king. "You're telling me," he said, grabbing a scroll and quill and quickly scribbling a letter.
"Come on, Twilight," Flash said, adjusting his belt as he headed for the door. "We'll start at Sugarcube Corner and work our way from there."
Twilight hurried out after him into the Ponyville night.
The slowly spinning light guided Shining and Phillip forward through the rainy darkness. There was nopony out on the grounds, making their path to the lighthouse clear. Nopony was guarding the lighthouse door, allowing them easy access.
"Maybe he hasn't gotten here yet," Shining suggested as he picked the lock on the door with his magic. "Or maybe he wasn't after the horn at all."
"We still need to check," Phillip said, watching the empty fields. The door squeaked open and the two entered cautiously.
Aside from warning oncoming ships of the island's presence, the lighthouse served as a spare storeroom for the staff. The dark center room was cluttered with junk, cardboard boxes stacked up on top of one another and spilling over a center table. A set of winding circular steps led upwards towards the light. A small doorway to the right led down to the basement.
"Come on," Phillip said, taking out his flashlight and turning it on as Shining lit up his horn. The two turned and headed down the basement stairs, hoofs scuffing against the stone stairs. Almost immediately, Phillip raised a hoof and stopped Shining, pointing at the stairs. A paint can had been knocked over earlier, and a green stain was spread across the stairs. A set of hoofprints led down the steps away from it. "Dry," he muttered, bending over the track and sweeping his flashlight over the prints, frowning slightly. There was something odd about this trail...
"Come on, let's go," Shining said, continuing down the stairs. The two continued to follow the prints down the dark steps into the basement. The circular stone room was mostly bare, save for some locked and chained crates. The green prints led in a counterclockwise circle around the room, then disappeared into the wall.
"Healspark must have gotten here before us," Shining said.
Phillip didn't answer, instead following the tracks around the room, pressing each of the discolored bricks in the wall in order. When he touched the last one, the wall behind him trembled, then slowly slid downwards, revealing a passageway behind it.
"This must lead into the caves beneath the island," Shining commented, peering into it with the light from his horn. "Ponies had been trying to escape through those for years until they blocked them all off. Let's go." He led the way down the silent stone tunnel, going deeper and deeper beneath the surface of the island, where stalactites and stalagmites grew from the uneven stone and water dripped from the dark ceiling.
I'm glad Flash isn't here. This place would give him nightmares, Phillip thought to himself, skirting a thick stalagmite. Up ahead, he heard a faint humming of machinery and saw a flickering of lights. Shining saw it as well: dousing their lights, the two silently hurried forward and turned a corner to find themselves looking into a large cavern, the floor smoothed over and covered in a silvery metal. Machines of all sizes and descriptions were spread across the room, a number of multicolored lights blinking on them providing the only faint illumination. Doctor Healspark was in the center of the room, hurriedly moving from one machine to the next, pressing buttons and flipping switches like a pony possessed.
"Doctor!" Shining said, hurrying to his side. "Where's the horn?"
"How did you..." Healspark stammered in surprise, then recollected himself. "I have to purge all the data on the horn. Here's the horn itself." He pulled out an object that was all too familiar to Shining's eyes: a large, blood red horn, curved and sharp as a saber. Just looking at Sombra's horn made Shining feel cold, as if he could feel the ancient evil contained inside it. Zugzwang could not be allowed to get his hooves on it.
"No, Doctor, we have to get you out of here right now," Phillip said, taking Healspark's shoulder. "Come with us—"
All of a sudden, all of the lights snapped on, momentarily blinding all three ponies. "Surprise, motherbuckers!" a familiar voice shouted. The huge gorilla-like pony from the medical wing moved into the light, leading a swarm of dozens of other inmates who had been hiding in the darkness of the cave.
"What?!" Healspark stammered, dropping the horn and cowering before the appearance of the multiple enemies. "How did you—?"
One of the inmates charged, but was immediately dropped when Shining fired a stunning spell right into his face. "Let's get out of here!" Shining said, lifting up Healspark in his magic and pushing him back towards the door. Knocking down another three charging thugs with a boomerang toss, Phillip followed them back into the dark caves. The three hurried through the cave systems, weaving in between the rock formations. The inmates were right behind, stumbling over the stones, but never more than a few steps behind them.
The stairs were just ahead, almost within reach. Panting heavily, Healspark looked behind him to see an inmate with a shank in his crooked teeth leering at him. He gave a terrified cry and tried to run faster, but stumbled and fell to the ground. Shining fell back to help him.
"Ah, piss," Phillip muttered, and stopped suddenly, bucking backwards into the thug's face. "Take him and go!" he shouted to Shining, drawing his baton and settling into a combat stance.
"What about you?" Shining said, lifting Healspark onto his back.
"Just go! NOW!" Phillip shouted, parrying a blow and kicking his attacker back into his friends. Realizing he had no choice, Shining turned and ran towards the stairs, carrying the civilian up to safety. Phillip stood in the center of the stairway, forming a living barricade to buy them time to get to safety.
"Come on, you wankers," he snarled, holding his baton out. "Come and have a go if you're pony enough!" With a roar that rocked the cave's ceiling, the unstoppable tide of inmates surged forward.
Sprinting out of the lighthouse, Shining Armor hurried across the open fields back towards the administrative building. Dr. Healspark clung tightly to his neck with both of his hooves. Every instinct screamed at Shining to go back for Phillip: he might not have worn armor anymore, but he was still one of his soldiers, under his responsibility. And he'd just left him behind to die. Nopony should have to sacrifice themselves for him.
But he had no choice.
"Over there! Get him!" a voice shouted. Turning over his shoulder, Shining saw at least a dozen more inmates charging at him from out of the cellblock. Sprinting the last few meters, Shining pulled the door open into the administrative building and dashed inside, slamming and locking it behind him, knowing it would buy him a second at most. With a loud crashing, the door was bashed in and the inmates swarmed in after him, stumbling over themselves.
Hurrying down the stairs, Shining charged at the steel bunker door, his enemies right on his tail. "Open the door!" he shouted. The door swung open invitingly at his cry. Shining dived across the threshold, inches ahead of the inmates, and the door slammed shut behind just in time.
"You slippery little whore!" one of the inmates snarled, slamming against the metal in a futile attempt to break it down.
"Captain, are you all right?" the pegasus private asked as Shining collapsed against the wall, panting.
"I'm...fine," he said. "Help...him." The medic bustled over, prying the shivering Dr. Healspark off of Shining's back.
"We didn't get the horn," Shining reported. As soon as he said it, the cold reality suddenly struck home: they'd had to leave the horn behind. And that meant now Zugzwang had quite possibly the most dangerous source of dark magic in the world.
The bunker door rang with solid thuds as the enemy outside attempted to bash their way in. The civilians scrambled to crowd against the back wall as Sergeant Stormdust peered through the peephole. "I count at least twenty, maybe more," he reported. "I don't think they can break down the door, but we're stuck in here. What do we do now?"
Shining didn't answer, staring at the door, listening to the heavy thuds against the metal. "Sir? What are our orders?" Stormdust asked, sweat beginning to trickle down his brow.
Shining just sat and stared. Zugzwang had the horn, Phillip was dead or about to die, and they were stuck in here, outnumbered and outarmed. He had no idea what to do.
Phillip backed slowly up the stairs, panting in exhaustion. The narrow confines forced his enemies to face him one at a time, but every time he took one of them down, another two took their place. With every attack, he became a touch weaker, a split second slower.
Maybe if he could just reach the top of the stairs, he'd be able to get away. Find something to put in their path and give him time to turn and run...
He ducked underneath a haymaker, only to realize too late that he'd fallen for a feint. A hoof knocked his baton out of his grip and a blow struck him in the face, blinding him. He stumbled, trying to throw up his guard, but it was too late. He was seized and thrown down the stairs, hitting every stone step on the way down. As soon as he landed at the bottom, dazed and aching, the inmates swarmed on him, kicking him mercilessly from every angle, their curses and taunts echoing through the cave. Phillip curled into a ball, covering himself with his legs, but he knew he was only delaying the inevitable.
"Stop!"
At the order, the surrounding inmates retreated with the hesitancy of a pride of lions forced to back away from a fresh kill. Phillip tried to get up, but the pain overwhelmed him. He was forced to lie on the ground, watching through one good eye as Zugzwang slowly approached and stood over him, smiling down at him with superiority.
"You look exhausted, Phillip," he said softly, as if speaking to an old friend. "All this running around, it's not good for you. Why don't you take a little break?" He looked around at the inmates. "Bind him and bring him with us."
One of the thugs roughly grabbed Phillip and forced his hooves behind his back, tying them tightly together. Taking him by the legs, the victorious inmates dragged their captive away into the darkness.
Author's Note
And everything has officially gone to hell.
Both in terms of plot and the actual story.
Anyway, if you are enjoying this, I appreciate your support, and we'll be finishing up this little number pretty soon.
Twilight knocked at the door of the small cottage south of Sugarcube Corner. "Hello? Tulip Blossom?" she shouted, calling out the name that their line of inquiry had uncovered. There was no answer.
"You think we should—" Twilight was interrupted when Flash kicked the door to the cottage in. The two hurried into the cottage, moving through the living room, kitchen/dining room, basement, and the two bedrooms and bathrooms. But Tulip Blossom was nowhere to be found.
"Do you think they've taken her already?" Twilight asked, feeling panic pricking at the edges of her mind. "How long has she been gone? Where have they taken her?"
"Twilight, calm down," Flash said, gripping her shoulders. "There's no sign of a struggle. We can't jump to conclusions."
Twilight took a breath. "You're right. We should look for clues."
The two proceeded to the small combined kitchen and dining room. A narrow hallway was bordered on both sides with cabinets, with a sink on one counter. Next to it was a yellow mug with a teabag and a few dregs of tea in it. Flash placed his hoof on the mug. "Still warm," he said. Turning away, he stumbled over something on the floor, which clattered loudly.
"A dog bowl?" Twilight asked, picking up the object and turning it over to reveal the name "Ginger" etched into the tin.
Flash bit his lip in thought. "There was a hook next to the door with nothing on it. She must have taken her dog out for a walk."
"But where?" Twilight asked. "We don't have time to search all of Ponyville!"
Turning, Flash examined the small circular dining table, pressed against the floor-to-ceiling windows. On top of it was a notepad and pencil. The top sheet of the pad was torn off, and there was a magnet attached to the top of the pad. "This is usually on the fridge," he thought out loud, taking the pencil in his mouth. Carefully, he scribbled over the pad, revealing what had been written on top of it.
"Milk, Quills, Dog Food..." he read. "It's a shopping list."
"This is what we need!" Twilight said, taking the list in her magic. "We can follow this to find her! Come on!" Twilight hurried out of the door and made a beeline for the closest convenience store.
"Wait for me!" Flash shouted, flying out after her. As he did so, he happened to glance up at the stars that they had been gazing at before. He noticed that the sky was darkening as a cloud cover rolled in. A cloud cover that had not been scheduled today.
"I can't decide whether you should live or die," Zugzwang sang to Phillip, dancing before his prisoner's face in the underground research chamber. "Oh, you'll probably go to Heaven, please don't hang your head and cry... oh, don't look at me like that, Phillip," he said in response to Phillip's icy one-eyed glare (his left eye was swollen shut). "You can't win them all, you know."
"How come he's still breathing?" growled the gray gorilla-pony from behind Phillip. "You promised we'd get payback! Most of us here are in this damn place because of him!"
"You'll get yours in due time, mein freund," Zugzwang said calmly. "But as long as you are here, you will do as I say. And I say he is not to be touched. Understand?" The brute growled, but was stilled by the cold look Zugzwang gave him.
Turning away, Zugzwang lifted up Sombra's horn with his magic, spinning it over and over. "You know, it's interesting how the anticipation of something can be more rewarding than actually getting it," he said out loud. "I've been waiting for this for many months. All the plans I made, calling in favors, bribing and threatening the right ponies, setting everything and everypony up and then getting the rare pleasure of seeing everything work out just the way I wanted it to...and now, so close to the goal, all I feel is a vague disappointment that it's over."
He puffed on the cigarette in his mouth, then smirked. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop." He turned to one of his henchponies. "How many hostages do we have?"
"Thirty-eight, sir."
"Gut. Bring them in."
Back in the bunker, Shining paced in a circle. Every eye followed his movements, as if trying to peer into him and decipher the thoughts that raced through his mind in a circular motion, much like his hooves; moving quickly, but going nowhere.
There was a banging at the door, and everypony was forcefully reminded that their captors remained outside the bunker doors. The thick steel might have been almost impenetrable, but it was the only thing that separated the civilians from a painful death, and Dr. Healspark from Zugzwang. But it would not stop anypony armed with the dark magic of Sombra's horn. If Zugzwang did manage to figure out how to use it on his own...
"Doctor Healspark, is there a way to destroy the horn?" Shining asked, turning to the scientist.
Healspark looked up suddenly, his lonely reverie broken. "Well, we found that it was weakened when in close proximity to positive magical energy, a similar kind to the energy found in the Crystal Heart. However, to actually destroy it, one would have to channel a lot of energy, and they'd have to actually be touching the horn itself. Under the circumstances..."
They were interrupted by a loud crackling sound. "Sir, the radio!" one of the Guards shouted, hurrying over to the contraption and grabbing the microphone. "Hello, hello. Manehattan Precinct, is that you?"
"I know you can hear me, Captain."
A chill fell across the room at the sound of the familiar voice. "I have somepony who wants to talk to you," Zugzwang continued. There was the sound of shuffling. "Tell them your name."
There was another voice, a female's, quivering with terror. "P-P-Purple Heart. I-I'm an intern nurse here..."
"How are you feeling at this moment, Nurse Purple?" Zugzwang asked, as casually as if he had met her on the street.
"I-I'm...I'm scared," was the whimpered reply.
"And why is that?"
"Because you're holding a knife to my neck," Purple Heart sobbed, her voice breaking down. "Please...I have a daughter at home..."
"You see, Nurse Purple, right now I have your life in my hooves," Zugzwang continued, seemingly oblivious to her sobs. "Right now, I, and I alone can decide whether you live or die."
"Leave her alone!" a familiar voice shouted. Phillip! Shining thought.
"Gag him," Zugzwang said without missing a beat. There was the sound of muffled struggling in the background. "You see? I command, and they obey. With a word, a gesture, I can spare a life...or end a life. Am I not like God?" He paused. "Look at me, Purple Heart. Look into the eyes of your god."
There was a brief, tense silence, punctuated only by Purple Heart's dry sobs. Suddenly, her sobs were replaced by a horrid gurgling cry, accompanied by the unmistakable sound of a blade piercing flesh. There was a ripping tear, the bubbling of blood, and the heavy thud of a body hitting the floor.
"Schweinhund. She got blood on my suit." Zugzwang's voice was still calm and even, carrying only a slight tinge of annoyance. "Now, listen, Captain Armor. You have something that I want. And you're going to give it back. Because if you don't, I will continue to kill hostages, something that I know you cannot allow to happen.
"Also hear me, Doctor Healspark. I will have your daughter soon. If you do not comply, she will suffer.
"I will give you both half an hour to decide." And with a click, the radio signed off.
Healspark began trembling. "Tulip...my daughter..." He got up and bustled towards the door. Shining instinctively seized him in his magic and pulled him back, despite his desperate struggles. "Let me go! I have to go to them! They'll kill my daughter!"
"No, they won't," Shining said. "Your daughter is in Ponyville. My sister, Princess Twilight, lives there. She and her friends will keep her safe. I promise, nopony is going to hurt her."
"You swear?" Healspark said, clinging to him like a drowning sailor clings to a life buoy.
"I promise," Shining said, patting him on the back reassuringly as he looked around the room, making eye contact with everypony else. "Nopony else is going to get hurt."
Releasing the doctor, Shining began to pace again, his thoughts aligning themselves, falling into place. He gazed around the room once more, taking stock of resources, considering the enemy position. Strategies presented themselves for inspection, and he questioned each thoroughly, determining chances of success, weaknesses, possible counters, and building off of each.
Finally, there was only one plan left. For a long moment, Shining simply stood, crushed beneath several dozen gazes, turning his one last hope over in his mind. Finally, he sighed and looked up.
"All right, everypony, I have a plan. None of you are going to like it."
After questioning the neighbors, the general store owner, the grocer, the baker, and the candlestick maker, Twilight and Flash flew over the Whitetail Woods. Dipping down between the branches, they flapped low over the ground, peering in between the darkening trees for any sign of anypony.
"Ginger! Come back here!" a female voice called from up ahead. There was a jingling noise and a small red dog with a leash attached to it's collar burst through some bushes in front of them, yipping happily as it proceeded to pounce on Flash and cover his face with licks.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" a mare said in alarm, running up just as a laughing Flash managed to push the dog off him. "I—Your Highness!" Tulip Blossom stammered out, hurriedly dropping her saddlebags and kneeling before Twilight.
"Tulip Blossom, you need to come with us," Twilight said, crouching down beside the mare. "It's about your father."
"My father?" Tulip asked, looking up in confusion. "Is he in trouble?"
"No, but you need to come with us," Twilight continued. "It's just—"
"Twilight," Flash cut in, placing himself close to the other two mares. All three of them looked around in growing alarm. Several ponies, clad in dark coats, had appeared, walking up from the path, slinking out from behind trees, descending from the darkening sky. Every single one of them stared hungrily at Tulip Blossom, eyes shining like timberwolves.
"Boss wants the flower mare alive," said the apparent leader, a bulky pegasus with helmet-like black hair.
"What about the other two?" one of the other thugs asked.
The leader slowly reached into his coat and pulled out a butterfly knife, which he deftly opened. The distinct clic-clic echoed through the woods.
"Kill 'em both."
Author's Note
Good news, and bad news, eh?
Story's reaching the climax...who lives and who dies?
"Is there something you'd like to say, Phillip?" Zugzwang asked, removing Phil's gag with his magic. Every eye in the chamber, both inmate and hostage, focused on them, as if to deliberately divert their attention away from the corpse of the violet-maned unicorn laying on the ground.
Phil spat and coughed, staring down at his nemesis' hooves. "You win," he said softly, voice heavy with defeat. "I admit it, all right? You've won. You outsmarted us all; you even played me. You got what you've always wanted; you outsmarted me. You've proven you're smarter than everypony else." He looked up, his eyes shimmering in a display of defeat. "Just stop."
Zugzwang smiled at him like a parent smiling at a child's foolishness. "You're right. I have won." He took a draught of his cigarette and flicked the ashes onto Phillip's mane. "But not yet. Besides, I can tell when somepony is being insincere." And with that, he pressed the cigarette against Phillip's skin, right between his eyes. Phillip grunted in pain, flinching away from the burning heat, but Zugzwang held his head in place, pressing the cigarette harder against the writhing skin.
"Scream, my little pony, scream," Zugzwang hissed, licking his lips in delight at the chorus of pained growls.
"Boss!" a voice shouted from the head of the cavern. Looking up, Zugzwang saw a sight that made him smile in delight. "Now I've won," he said to Phillip, who slowly raised his head.
Slowly walking into the cavern, their faces tight and fearful in the low light, was Shining Armor and Dr. Healspark, escorted by a band of armed inmates. Phillip slumped in defeat, unable to look up.
"Grab him," Zugzwang said, gesturing at Shining. Several inmates immediately grabbed Shining, forcing him to the ground. Healspark leapt back in fright, only to be grabbed by Zugzwang himself.
"Now, doctor," he said pleasantly, guiding his terrified hostage over to the center of the room, parading him past Phillip and the other hostages like a trophy. "I'm delighted to see that you've decided to cooperate."
"I'll do whatever you say," Healspark said softly, trembling in fright as he stared down at Purple Heart's tear-streaked face, laying in a puddle of her own blood. "Just don't hurt my daughter."
Behind him, Phillip sniffed the air quietly. He did not raise his head, nor did his face change, but he slowly shifted, getting his hind legs beneath him.
"We won't," Zugzwang said, patting the other pony on the arm. "If you do as I tell you. Now, the horn." Taking up the artifact on the table, he lifted it over to Healspark. The doctor's trembling increased as the evil device came within reach, and it was with great hesitancy that he took the horn in his own purple magic. Every eye focused upon the two.
"Great power lies within, yes?" Zugzwang spoke in a grating whisper, staring at Sombra's horn hungrily. "And you know how to unlock it. You will give me that power. All of it."
Healspark swallowed, looking around the room as if searching for an escape that did not exist. Resigned to his fate, fully aware of his part in the end of the world as he knew it, he shut his eyes in concentration and pressed his trembling horn against Sombra's horn.
His little sister, best friend forever. Walks in the park, playing Monster Hunter in the woods out back, her content smile as she fell asleep to his voice telling her a bedtime story.
Purple magic flowed from Healspark into the horn, causing it to float into the air on its own. It slowly spun, as if to deliberately keep the attention of the audience.
All his old friends in the Guard. Challenging each other in the gym, laughing boasts and pats on the back. Going out for a cider after a long shift. Reaffirming in each other their purpose, the feeling of love and loyalty for the citizens of Equestria that had guided them to don the armor.
With a buzzing and crackling, red energy began to spark from the artifact, which spun faster and faster. The sinister red light reflected in the empty black of Zugzwang's eyes and cast everypony's faces into eerie shadows.
His wife. Her kind, gentle heart, open to everypony regardless of who they were. The radiant smile that she always greeted him with. The way she always put others before herself. Her beautiful, jewel blue eyes, the last thing he saw each night and the first thing he saw every morning.
Suddenly, a purple crack appeared along the horn's length, slowly widening. Purple light began to mix with the red, then dominated it, shining brighter and brighter.
"What are you doing?" Zugzwang shouted, showing concern for the first time. Healspark did not answer, sweat trickling down his brow as his face tightened in concentration. "Stop! Explain this!"
There was a great crackling of energy, then suddenly, the horn exploded in a blinding burst of purple light. Fragments of the horn tumbled to the ground, the color fading from red to black as the energy faded away from them.
For a moment, Zugzwang could only stare in disbelief, for once unhinged at the sight of his plans gone horribly wrong. "What?! How did you—?"
There was another flash of purple light, and suddenly, Shining Armor was standing where Healspark had been a moment ago, and the Shining Armor that had been held hostage was the light green pegasus, who grinned up at his bewildered captors.
With a flourish, Shining reached into his saddlebags, pulled out a gray canister and smashed it down onto the ground. The tear gas grenade detonated immediately, filling the room with a thick cloud. "NOW!" Shining shouted. Immediately, the inmates that had accompanied them into the caverns turned on their allies and attacked; for these inmates were actually disguised Guards. Gunshots blazed and shanks and batons crashed together as the blinded and disoriented inmates struggled to put up a resistance.
"Down, down, stay down!" Shining shouted as he fired stunning spells everywhere. Heeding his cry, the hostages all dropped to the ground, covering themselves as best they could.
Even before the grenades hit, Phillip was moving. Ramming the two thugs nearest him aside with his shoulders, he rolled backwards, lifting his bound hooves over his hind legs and bringing them around in front of him. Forcing himself to fight the tear gas, he leapt into the fray himself, striking at the choking, stumbling forms around him.
There was roar behind him, and he turned to see the huge gray pony charging right at him, bloodlust shining in his little black eyes. The next moment, his eyes widened in shock and he collapsed to the ground, twitching. Behind him, Shining holstered his taser. The two shared a brief nod.
But then a flicker of golden light out of the corner of his eye distracted him. Looking up, he saw Zugzwang running towards the stairs. "Oh, no, you don't," he snarled, seizing the knot in the rope with his teeth and undoing his bonds. Now freed, he sprinted after Zugzwang, hurrying out of the cavern.
As he ran, the sounds of battle behind him trailed into silence as the inmates were conquered. "Is everypony all right?" Shining panted, looking around the chamber, double-checking every Guard, every quivering hostage, every wounded, dead or surrendering inmate.
"We're all good, sir!" Sergeant Stormdust cheered. It was with apprehension and a bitter taste that Shining noticed the blood spattered across his disguise.
"All right, take care of these hostages," Shining ordered. "I'll go to the light and signal the mainland."
"We've got things under control here, sir!" the green pegasus called out as Shining turned and ran for the stairs.
Purple light shot through the trees of the Whitetail Woods, accompanying the clash of metal on metal, hooves striking flesh. Twilight crouched next to the cowering Tulip Blossom, guarding her with shield charms and firing stunning spells at any attacker who dared draw near. Flash took care of the rest, using his blade to deflect attacks and following up with devastating hoof-to-hoof strikes.
"Twilight, watch your left!" Flash shouted, blocking an ax swing at his head with his sword and countering with a cross punch to a glass jaw. Looking up and to her left, Twilight fired off a spell just in time. The pegasus coming down on her head grunted and tumbled out of the sky like a sack of potatoes, crumbling beside her.
"Flash, behind you!" she shouted. Heeding her warning, Flash ducked to avoid a surprise ambush, bucking backwards and sending the attacker flying back into a tree. Taking to the sky, he landed right behind a surprised gangster, who put up his guard too late to avoid a pommel strike to the jaw and a kick to the groin that brought him to the ground. The final would-be kidnapper shouted in defiance and charged, slashing at him with a rusty scythe. Stepping aside, Flash parried the attack with his sword, kicked him in the gut, and finished him with a rising elbow to the chin, sending him sprawling to the ground.
"Is that all of them?" Twilight panted.
"I think so," Flash said, sheathing his sword as he looked around the dark forest. "Are you hurt?"
"No. Tulip, are you okay?" Twilight asked, looking over the quivering mare.
"I...I'm all right," Tulip squeaked. Ginger walked up and started licking his owner's face, whimpering in concern.
"You're safe now," Twilight reassured her, helping her stand. "Nopony's going to hurt you." So saying, she began to cast immobilization spells on the unconscious thugs, ensuring that they would be going nowhere for a while.
Flash did another head count, frowning. If memory served, there had been nine kidnappers at the beginning of the fight. He only counted eight bodies. Where was the leader?
Tulip suddenly let out a terrified shriek. Looking up, Twilight and Flash saw to their horror the bulky pegasus leap from the bush that he'd hidden in and pounce on Tulip. The blade of his butterfly knife caught the moonlight through the treetops as he raised it, preparing to bring it down in a deadly cut.
The next moment, the blade flew up into the air, accompanied by a cry of shock and pain. For a moment, time seemed to hold still as every eye in the forest traveled down to the sword blade piercing the pegasus' chest. Blood slowly spread from the wound, tar black in the dim light.
Behind him, Flash withdrew his sword blade, causing the pony he had just killed to fall backwards. The thud the body made seemed to echo disproportionately loudly, as if it was more than his body that fell. His staring green eyes stared up at Flash, as if seeking him out. With a clatter, Flash dropped his bloodstained sword and began to backpedal, trembling from head to hoof, his widening eyes never leaving the empty, staring green orbs that judged him from beyond the grave.
"Flash—Flash!" Twilight shouted, rushing to his side. He didn't seem to hear her, continuing to back up until he hit a tree, which he clung to, shaking even harder than before. "Flash, look at me!" Twilight said, grabbing onto Flash's hoof, going back through her mental library to try to find a book on dealing with ponies in shock. Surely she must have read something, somewhere on how to deal with this!
But nothing came to mind. All she knew was that somepony she loved was falling, falling away from her and she couldn't do anything to save him.
Reaching the top of the lighthouse, Shining Armor hurried over to the panel that controlled the light. Stopping the lamp's circular motion, he turned it to face eastward, towards the mainland.
Here's hoping I still remember how to do this, he thought, toggling the on-off switch.
Meanwhile, on the Manehattan Docks, a Guard peering through binoculars at the distant island saw the light. "Sir! The lighthouse—it's blinking out Horse code!"
"What's it say, soldier?" the commanding lieutenant demanded.
"It's using shorthoof, but...'Situation under control...multiple casualties...need backup and medics ASAP...Shining Armor!'"
"That's our cue! Let's move out!" the lieutenant shouted to the squad of waiting Guards, who hurried forward onto the waiting ship.
A rumble of thunder and a blast of cold rain greeted Phillip as he emerged into the renewed storm outside. A crackle of lightning illuminated the prison yard, and he spotted Zugzwang, disappearing into a watchtower. Phillip sprinted across the yard, ignoring the protests of his aching, beaten body and burning lungs, and forced the door open with his shoulder. Inside was a small circular chamber with a single lamp and a set of winding stairs.
Three inmates were standing inside, their vicious grins highlighted by the shadows. All of them were armed with machete-like blades.
"We've been waiting here, Finder," the lead pony said, a bony black earth pony with a muddy red mane and eyes, raising his shining blade towards him. "Waiting all night, just like the boss said. And we get to be the ones to kill you."
"Get out of the way," Phillip snarled.
The killer's response was to charge forward, raising the blade to bring down onto Phillip's head. Phillip stepped inside the attack, whipping his unzipped vest off his body and entangling his attacker's limb with it, striking him in the face with his elbow as he did so. Disarming him of the blade, Phillip kicked him aside and whirled towards the next attacker, ducking beneath a cut at his neck and countering with a thrust to the lower side, punching right through the skin beneath the ribs. Pulling the blade through and out all too easily, he felt warm blood spray across his bare side, sticking to his coat, and heard a guttural groan from the dead pony as he fell to the floor. Without hesitating, without pausing to think, Phillip pressed forward and took down the third inmate with a deadly double slash to the chest and throat before he could throw up his guard. The inmate stared down at his chest as blood spread across his coat for a moment, then slowly fell backwards, letting out his last breath in a gurgle.
Turning to the first inmate, Phillip raised the bloodstained blade. "Do the smart thing, mate," he growled in a voice like thunder.
The thug looked at his two dead partners, at the armed, blood-smeared pony glaring at him, then did the smart thing: he turned and ran.
For a moment, Phillip allowed himself to grieve, to feel the weight of two lives taken. Sorry, mates, but you didn't give me a lot of options. The moment passed, the weight momentarily put aside, he turned and hurried up the stairs, winding up and up and finally bursting out onto the top.
Zugzwang stood atop the wall, wearing a backpack. His abyss-like black eyes stared balefully down at Phillip. For a moment, the two of them just stood and stared at each other in the harsh rain, locked in a tense stalemate.
"You know, Phillip," Zugzwang sighed. "Despite everything, even with Captain Armor's surprising upset—something I didn't think possible from an idiot like him—I had fun tonight."
"Fun's over, Zugzwang," Phillip said. "Get down from there and surrender."
"No," Zugzwang said.
"Get down from there," Phillip snarled, taking a step forward, "Or I swear, I will kill you."
"Of course you will," Zugzwang said, smiling that twisted, superior smile of his. "You're going to kill me, or I'm going to kill you. We both know this. But it can't happen. Not here, not like this. This game is between you and I, liebling, and we have to play it through to the end. When the end comes, when there's nopony left but us two, then you'll be ready. Only then will you have my permission to kill, or to die."
The burning acrid taste of stomach fluid filled Phillip's throat. Listening to the vermin's voice made him sick. This pony was a monster, a freak who killed and inflicted pain for amusement, who considered other ponies to be nothing more than pawns. This pony who had murdered dozens, threatened his family, whose every breath was a direct threat to everything he believed in.
No. No more. He wasn't hurting anypony else. It ended tonight. Kill him, kill him, kill him!
Raising his blade skyward, his heart pounding like thunder in his ears, Phillip stepped forward. And Zugzwang jumped, leaping backwards off the wall and tumbling down towards the rocks below. But after only a moment of falling, he yanked a cord on his backpack causing a large balloon to burst from the pack, inflating in moments and carrying him up and away from the protective charms around the island. Standing on the watchtower, Phillip could only watch in helpless disbelief as a pair of pegasi, dragging a cable between them, flew through the dark clouds, snagging the cable from which Zugzwang dangled and dragging him away towards a distant ship that set sail as soon as he landed upon it, disappearing into the darkness from which it came.
Dropping the blade, Phillip stood and stared in silence. It was over; his enemy might not have succeeded, but he had still escaped, still murdered many, still posed a danger. Pain and exhaustion burned through his senses, the coppery stench of the blood on his coat and he felt the crushing weight of the dozens of lives lost tonight.
Throwing his head back, he roared at the storm, screaming out his pain, his fury, his hate. And the thunder rumbled back at him.
Author's Note
A lot happened in this chapter, not much of it good.
I hated to go into detail about killing, but I was trying to make a point about the nature of violence. I hope that I succeeded.
We'll wrap this up in the next one or two chapters. Hope that you've enjoyed!
Summoned by the noise of battle, a squad of Guards and paramedics stood sentinel amongst the trees, faces stoic as they cared for the wounded. The eight living attackers were shackled and placed in an armored carriage. The one body was tenderly placed in a body bag and loaded onto a stretcher. Twilight could only watch in silence as the bag was zipped close. The green eyes within continued to stare, unseeing until the bag was zipped shut by a medic. The image sent a frightened chill down Twilight's spine; that pony had been alive only minutes before, and she felt as though she was watching him being sealed off inside a small, dark room, forever.
"Your Highness?" Tulip Blossom called out, and Twilight was very glad for the excuse to look away. The mare was sitting on a stretcher, a whimpering Ginger in her lap, a concerned paramedic placing a blanket over her.
"Thank you for your help," Tulip said, managing a small smile. "You saved my life tonight. I won't forget that."
"We're just glad that you're all right," Twilight said, patting Tulip on the shoulder.
"You'll tell my father I'm all right?" Tulip asked.
"Of course I will," Twilight said. "You take care of yourself." Tulip nodded and settled down in her blanket, stroking her dog.
Turning away from her, Twilight's gaze fell upon Flash, who was sitting beneath a distant trees, having refused the attention of any medics. He continued to stare down at his hooves, his bloodstained sword still lying on the ground away from him. Twilight walked over and sat down next to him, and was very gladdened and relieved to see him look up when she did so. "Are you all right?" she whispered.
Flash swallowed, his shoulders heaving. "I think I'm going to be sick," he murmured.
With a flash of purple magic, a bucket appeared before him. Nodding his thanks, he lifted it up to his face and proceeded to heave and retch into it. Twilight flinched, but stayed by his side.
"I...I killed that pony," he whispered, as if afraid to speak it out loud, afraid to make it real.
"But you saved Tulip's life," Twilight said hesitatingly, touching his shoulder. "You did your job, right?"
"My job is to save lives, not take them!" Flash shouted, bringing his head down onto his trembling hooves. "I didn't have to kill him...I should have...I should have..."
There were no words, nothing that could be said. Slowly, Twilight brought Flash into her embrace, allowing him to fall apart in his hooves, swearing to herself that she would do what she could to hold him together. Her Guard buried his face into her shoulder, trying to hide from the awful reality of his actions. His sobs resounded through the woods.
There's a wall in the gardens in Canterlot where the names of Guards who died in the line of duty are inscribed. Their names are recorded for perpetuity, while their faces, their deeds, and the reason why they had to die a cruel and violent death at the hooves of another are forgotten.
More than two dozen names had been added to that wall tonight, Shining Armor thought, watching as yet another one of his Guards was loaded into an anonymous bag and lifted into an ambulance carriage by grim-faced paramedics. The backup that had arrived on the incoming ship could help them keep the surviving prisoners under control, treat the wounded, reassure the traumatized, and help repair the damage. But they couldn't bring back the ones who had died.
He looked around the courtyard under a dark sky that had mercifully stopped raining, observing the wounded being treated, watching shackled prisoners, their faces either of shame or defiance, being led back to their cells. Finally, he spotted Dr. Healspark, who was sitting with some of the other surviving civilians, holding a plastic cup of coffee that quivered in his magic grip. Somehow, Shining got the feeling that he wouldn't be dealing with any dangerous magical artifacts for a while now.
Finally, he saw Phillip, sitting on a stretcher and being fussed over by Dr. Patella. Shining walked over.
"I said I'm fine," Phil snapped, accepting an ice pack and placing it over his swollen eye. "Go help somepony who needs it." Dr. Patella sighed in annoyance and walked over to another patient on a stretcher. Taking this opportunity, Shining stepped up.
"You okay?" he asked. Dumb question, he realized almost immediately: there didn't seem to be a single part of Phillip's body that wasn't bruised, bandaged, or covered in blood, and he was bent over in exhaustion, his face drawn and weary.
"Too many ponies died tonight," Phillip said softly in reply, seemingly unable to look up.
Shining sighed and sat down on the cold, wet ground next to him. "Your plan was brilliant, Captain," Phillip added.
"You caught on pretty fast," Shining commented.
"Illusion spells can change the way you look and sound, but they don't change the way you smell," Phil replied. "You might want to ease up on the cologne a little, sir," he added by way of explanation. Shining couldn't help but chuckle softly.
"Your Highness!" Warden Lockup called, hurrying over to them. Deputy Warden File limped up behind him. "You can be rest assured, we will be performing a full review of our security after this."
"Yes, there are some interesting questions left," Phillip said, looking up for the first time, still holding the ice pack to his eye. "How did Zugzwang get that pick past the scanner? How did he communicate with the prisoners? How did he smuggle in that equipment? And how did he know about the horn in the first place?" He looked around at the three stallions before him. "Only one possible conclusion: there is a traitor here."
The mood had turned even grimmer and darker than before, the weight of the accusation thickening the air. Slowly, Phillip's eye turned and focused on Closed File.
"Why, Deputy Warden?" he asked in a whisper like the wind before the oncoming storm.
"Wh-what?" File stammered. "How can you insinuate...you have no proof!"
"It was your hoofprints in the lighthouse. You opened the hidden laboratory, gave Zugzwang access," Phillip said. Without warning, he reached out and grabbed File's hoof, lifting it up for everypony to see the specks of black paint caught in the frog of his hoof that repeated washing had failed to remove. "That limp of yours is very distinctive," Phillip added.
The Deputy Warden's eyes widened into the look of somepony who has just realized that they are backed into a corner. He desperately looked up at his superior, whose eyes had seemed to shrink into his skull in shock, to Shining, whose eyes were slowly darkening in his stony face.
"I...I didn't want to!" he stammered out. "He found out somehow that I was having an affair...threatened to go public if I didn't cooperate...I saw Dr. Healspark opening the secret door once and told him about it, and he made the plan...but I didn't think so many would die! I didn't—"
"MURDERER!" Shining roared, seizing Closed File by the throat in his magic and lifting him up off the ground, choking him, trying to deal out some fraction of the pain that he felt, to punish, to kill. "You killed my Guards!"
"Your Highness, stop!" Warden Lockup shouted, but Shining did not seem to hear: all his focus was on the struggling traitor, on slowly crushing the life from him...
Slowly, Phillip reached out and touched Shining's shoulder. Somehow, this touch broke through and Shining turned his burning gaze upon him. "Enough," Phillip spoke softly. "Nopony else needs to die tonight."
His chest heaving with breath, Shining turned back to File, who stared back in silent pleading. With a furious grunt, Shining Armor flung him to the ground. "Guards!" he barked, calling over a pair of armor-clad ponies. "Take this traitor away."
The ex-Deputy Warden was immediately shackled and guided away, his head bowed low in shame. Tight Lockup watched his former assistant with regret in his eyes.
"Rest assured, Your Highness," he sighed sadly as he walked away. "This is the last time we will be housing any secrets."
"It'd better," Shining Armor said through his teeth. The anger had ebbed away, leaving only the cold emptiness of death. He wished for his bed back in the Crystal Palace, to fall asleep in the comforting embrace of his wife and forget about everything.
"Here's my ride," Phillip said, noticing two paramedics walking towards him with determined expressions. He extended a hoof to Shining Armor, fading to hide a wince as he did so. "Thank you, Captain. It was an honor."
"The same for you, Phillip," Shining said, accepting the hoofshake. Stepping back, Phillip forced himself to attention and saluted.
"The war goes on, Captain," he said softly, turning as the paramedics guided him back onto the stretcher and carted him away to an ambulance carriage. Shining returned the salute, watching as the white covered carriage took to the sky and made for the journey to Manehattan Hospital.
"The war goes on," he repeated.
Author's Note
This was one of the hardest chapters in the hardest story I've written so far, both in terms of length and complexity, and in content. Carrying through the bittersweet tone that I was going for was a bit of an effort. The idea here was to show the real nature of violence, and how hollow a victory achieved through death and violence is; further, to show just how difficult and stressful being a soldier/law enforcement officer can be in situations like this.
I also decided the best idea would be to do the complete wrap-up in two chapters, and release them simultaneously.
Four days passed in a blur. Four days of writing reports, of interviews, of being judged and critiqued by stern-faced ponies whose names he didn't know.
The investigating council eventually decided that the murder was justified and Flash could return to his duties as a Guard, with a friendly reminder that there were counseling services he could seek if he so desired. But Flash knew better. There was no going back, no returning to the way things were. He had drawn blood. He was marked.
He could see it in Twilight and Spike's eyes right now, the way they stared warily at him, kept their distance. He saw the accusation, the unspoken truth in their frightened eyes: murderer.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay and...help me organize my quill collection?" Twilight asked hesitatingly. "Or maybe help with some experiments that I was working on?"
"No, Twilight," he said, walking slowly to the great doors of the Rainbow Castle. "I just...I just want to be alone for a while." Alone, and away from everypony else. He walked past Spike, who stared up at him with a concerned expression. He was just a child, Flash reminded himself, too young for death, too young to understand...but old enough to fear him.
Pushing the doors open, Flash walked out towards the town of Ponyville, walking down the main street illuminated by firefly lamps. Everywhere he looked, the ponies around him were stopping what they were doing and staring as he passed. Their gazes followed him like he was a vicious manticore: dangerous, unpredictable, ready to kill.
How could Flash have ever thought he could be like them? He was different from them, forever separated by the armor that he had once worn with pride. Sighing, he mindlessly wandered into an alley and bumped into somepony. "Sorry," he muttered, moving around him. But the distinct scent of rotting flesh halted him in his tracks. He looked up and gasped in horror.
The figure before him was the pony he had killed, his rotting skin green and yellow, his jaw hanging horribly open, his empty eye sockets staring directly at him. The wound on his chest was still wide open, dried blood spread across his torso. With a growl, the corpse shuffled forward, raising a hoof towards his killer. Yelping, Flash scrambled back, stumbling over his own hooves and crawling desperately away, backing up against a brick wall.
The zombie, groaning and growling, continued to shuffle forward, reaching down for his throat. "No! No!" Flash begged, covering his head with his hooves, but there was no stopping his punisher. Flash screamed as he felt a cold, slimy hoof around his neck...
With a gasp, Flash pulled himself out of his nightmare and into the waking world. Looking around, he realized that he was not in his room in his cottage; in fact, he was lying on the couch in the living room of 221 B Boulevard. The only light came from a lamp atop the piano tucked against the back wall. Phillip was sitting at the piano bench, wearing only a gray shirt, dark shadows beneath his eyes. Nighttime rain pattered against the window.
"Easy, mate," Phillip said, getting up and walking over to Flash, sitting down on the couch next to him. "It was just a dream. You're in a safe place."
Flash took a few deep breaths, his pounding heart slowly calming. "How'd I get here?"
"I found you in the Midnight Oil, hovering over a shot glass," Phil replied. "My place was closer, so I brought you here." He turned to give Flash a scolding look. "Cider's a lousy therapist, Flash."
Flash moaned in response. His head felt like somepony had used his skull for a drum and his stomach was doing flip-flops. "I don't feel good," he murmured.
"I'll be right back," Phil said, getting up off the couch and disappearing into the kitchen. Suddenly alone again, Flash curled up into a ball on the couch, hugging his knees. For a moment, he feared that his mentor would not come back. But he did return a second later, carrying a plate in his mouth with a tall glass and two pills on it.
"Ibuprofen, meclozine, and a glass of warm milk," he said, setting the plate down on the coffee table. "That and a good night's kip will help." Flash gratefully took both the pills and gulped down the milk while Phil sat down and waited for him to finish.
"All right, let's talk," he said when he was done.
"What's there to talk about?" Flash muttered, staring down at the floor.
"Twilight's worried about you," Phil said, somewhat admonishingly. "We're both worried about you. You've barely spoken in four days and you've almost completely shut Twilight out." His reply was shamed silence. "Come on, mate. Talk to me."
Flash hesitated for a moment like a diver at the tip of a diving board, then finally spoke quietly. "I killed that pony."
"You're sorry you did it?"
"Yes," Flash said. "Not a day goes by I don't wish I could take that back."
"Good," Phillip said. "Anypony who likes killing shouldn't be in the Guard." Flash swallowed nervously. "Flash, I understand. You keep going back, asking yourself if you could have or should have done something different. You keep thinking if you'd only been faster, if you'd only had more time to think about what to do."
Flash nodded. "But let me ask you this," Phillip continued. "Why did you act?"
Flash thought about the question for a moment, remembering his shock when he saw Tulip on the ground, a knife about to be plunged into her heart. "Because I saw that another pony was in danger."
"Exactly," Phillip said, thumping the couch with his hoof. "You acted to save the life of another. You did what you were trained to do, as a Guard."
"But I still took his life!" Flash said. "Is that what being a Guard means?"
"No," Phillip said fiercely. "That is not what being a Guard means." He paused, then sighed heavily. "It's the job, Flash. It's dangerous, it's difficult, it's stressful, and sometimes it's just complete piss." He slowly reached over and placed his hoof over Flash. Surprised by the gesture of affection, the younger stallion looked up and made eye contact. It suddenly struck Flash how old his mentor was; underneath the fading bruises and scabbing cuts, his skin was heavily etched with age wrinkles, the black of his mane and tail was valiantly fighting a losing battle against the oncoming gray, and his gray eyes held a haggard, exhausted look behind their usual stoic curtain.
"But you don't do it for the job. You do it because you want, more than anything, to help and protect others. That's why you became a Guard. That's why you deserve to wear that armor. It's who you are."
The realization that he was trusted, believed in, filled Flash's core like a hot cocoa on a cold night. For the first time in four days, he allowed himself to relax, to feel relief.
"Listen," Phil continued. "I've made an appointment for you to speak with Dr. Rain Breeze tomorrow. She's helped Guards before, she'll be able to help you. And after that, Zipline offered to take you for a guy's night out. No armor, no criminals. Just you two. What do you say?"
Once more, Flash hesitated, some small part of him still fearing to go further. Come on, Flash, Phillip silently pleaded. Be strong. Be stronger than me.
"All right," Flash said, smiling for the first time in four days. Phillip smiled as well, and slowly put a foreleg around him, pulling him into a hug. Flash relaxed into his embrace, pressing his head up against his chest. Slowly, his breath slowed and became shallow as he fell asleep, and Phillip knew that no bad dreams would be waiting for him.
Carefully, so as not to wake him, Phillip lifted Flash up onto his back and carried him into his bedroom. He pulled the covers of his bed back, lifted Flash onto the mattress and pulled the covers back over him, smiling at the way he snuggled up into the warmth, a content, peaceful look on his face.
"Good night, Flash," he whispered, pulling a blanket out of the linen closet and heading back to the couch. As he settled down, he thought he should probably wake up early tomorrow morning to get some pancake batter and syrup for breakfast.
The last thing he noticed before allowing sleep to claim him was that the rain outside had stopped.
Author's Note
The sheep do not want the dog around. He looks too much like the wolf. He reminds them that danger lurks out there, beyond the relative safety of the fence. The wolf also hates the dog. He knows that it is the dog that stands between him and his prey. It is because of the dog that he is lean. The dog is the reason the wolf is forced to stalk the darkness. The dog knows these facts. Undeterred, he stands watch, ever ready to do battle. Despite that he is an unwelcome guest in their midst, the dog is ready, at a moments notice, to give his life in defense of his flock. It is simply who he is. - Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
With the end of this story, I am proud to give this important message: we are officially halfway through the Phillip Finder series! I've got the future stories lined up and ready to go, and I can't wait to get started on the next project!
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of my watchers and readers for the positive feedback and comments. You guys are the reason that I keep writing, and I love reading comments on my stories that show me that people do like my work. You're all awesome and I hope that you're as excited as I am for the continuing adventures of Phillip Finder and his friends!
Part 1Batman: Arkham Asylum ."It was a dark and stormy night." : I had to, I'm sorry."piker" : Australian expression, someone who backs out of a deal.
Part 2"Care? Why should I care?" : taken from dialogue by the Cybermen from the Doctor Who episode, The Tenth Planet ."Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war" : quoting Shakespeare's Julius Caesar ."Buckley's chance" : Australian expression, "no chance."
Part 3"It's dangerous to go unprepared" : parody of the line "It's dangerous to go alone" from the Legend of Zelda series.
Part 4"'Who Dares, Wins,'" : motto of the British Special Air Service.Arkham Asylum , a doctor unknowingly tricked into aiding the villain.
Part 5"Surprise, motherbuckers!" : parody of James Doakes tagline "Surprise, motherf***er" from the Dexter series."You slippery little whore!" : reference to the horror video game Outlast : an inmate shouts this at the player character following a chase scene midway through the game.
Part 6"I can't decide whether you should live or die..." : lyrics taken from I Can't Decide by the Scissor Sisters. This song is also a reference to the Doctor Who episode Last of the Time Lords, where the Master sings this to the Doctor.The grocer, the baker and the candlestick maker : play on "The butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker" from the nursery rhyme "Three Men in a Tub."
Part 7Fulton surface-to-air recovery system , which was used by the US military during the 1950s and 60s.
Part 9
Author's Note
Chapter notes from the story.
It was a dark and stormy night. Lightning flashed across a cloud-covered sky; the momentary illumination revealing a small dark boat, its heavy build and large steam-powered propellers allowing it to carve its way through the choppy sea.
Inside the tank-like interior, a broad-shouldered pegasus with a dark blue coat dressed in the khaki coveralls and rain jacket of an Equestrian Navy sailor descended into the lowest level of the ship. The dank-smelling cabin, lit by a slowly-swaying lantern dangling from a chain on the ceiling, contained three ponies. One was another sailor, a chiseled earth pony with a granite coat and dark brown buzzcut, sitting at a desk upon which was a sheathed short sword and a newspaper with the headline, "CRIMINAL MASTERMIND TO BE MOVED TO CLOVENWORTH PRISON." One was a unicorn with a groomed tan coat and a walnut brown mane. He sat, smiling pleasantly, in a cage in the corner of the room, dressed in a plain gray coverall, shackles locked around his hooves and a restraint ring on his horn. The third, a dark brown earth pony with graying black hair dressed in a green pocketed vest and a gray trilby, sat outside of the cage, glaring coldly at the prisoner. He did not look up when the sailor approached him.
"We're almost to the island, sir," he said to his passenger. "We'll be arriving in a couple of minutes."
Phillip Finder did not react, continuing to stare at Zugzwang through the bars of his cell. Zugzwang, on the other hoof, looked pleased at this news. "Wunderbar. I've been looking forward to a warm cell." The messenger stared at him for a moment, then headed back up to the bridge.
After being captured four days ago attempting to flee on a train, Zugzwang had been placed in Canterlot Jail for holding awaiting trial for his numerous crimes. The next morning, his cellmate and accomplice had been found dead, seemingly untouched, fatally poisoned. After that, a decision had been quickly made to transport him to more secure quarters. Upon hearing of this, Phillip had managed to secure permission to accompany his transport for extra security. So far, Zugzwang had not attempted anything, allowing himself to be carried into the prisoner transport ship without protest, saying little during the journey.
But after a break-in at Manehattan Bank, a riot at Manehattan Jail, and three murders, if there was one thing that everypony had learned about Zugzwang, it was never to underestimate him.
The chessmaster maintained his idyllic smile, closing his eyes and humming a little tune. Neither Phillip nor the other sailor said anything, nor did they take their eyes off the prisoner.
A couple minutes later, the boat's progress came to a halt and there was a thumping as it knocked into a dock. "We're here!" Zugzwang declared with delight, although his two fellow passengers did not react. There was the sound of hoofsteps on the deck above them and a second later, a pair of ponies came down the stairs, wearing the hornet black-and-yellow armor of the Corrective Guard. Their chestpieces closely hugged their torsos and their sleek, plume-less helmets were equipped with cage-like face shields, which concealed everything but their eyes. With hardly a glance at Phillip or the saluting sailor, the two Guards moved to the cage. Unlocking the door, one of them proceeded inside, roughly grabbing Zugzwang by the shoulder.
"Easy, mein freund, I'm coming," the Gerwhin scholar protested, shaking off his grasp and walking calmly up the stairs, both of the Guards at his side. Phillip followed behind, emerging up onto the rain-streaked deck to behold the sight before them.
The ship was docked at a pier attached a rocky island. A small guardhouse was on the end of the dock. Waves pounded against the craggy rocks that stretched upwards for hundreds of feet. Atop the island sat a huge fortress, high concrete walls topped with barbed wire reaching for the dark, stormy sky. A single, slowly spinning light, hovered above the fortress. Two watchtowers on the wall closest to the pier aimed down spotlights upon them, washing the pier in light. Standing upon the dock was two more Guards, stoically standing astride a shivering slim unicorn holding an umbrella over his head. He had a yellow coat, dusty brown mane and blue eyes behind a pair of thick glasses, and was wearing a well-pressed suit and tie. His cutie mark was of a manila folder with a lock.
"Who are you?" the unicorn asked Phillip.
"Phillip Finder, escorting prisoner Zugzwang by permission of Princess Twilight," Phillip replied, pulling a sealed scroll out of the inside of his vest and handing it to the unicorn. "You are Deputy Warden Closed File?"
"Yes," File replied, examining the letter briefly before closing it. "All right, I'll take you both up to the warden."
It took a second for Phillip to comprehend the meaning of his words. Turning, he realized that he hadn't noticed that the boat had been carrying another passenger.
Descending down the gangplank was none other than Prince Shining Armor, his face set and grim, framed by his sopping mane. His polished purple armor glimmered in the light. Phillip instinctively saluted as File kneeled.
Shining nodded briefly to Phillip before turning to File. "Good evening, Warden. I'm here for an inspection of the base."
"Of course. The warden has been expecting you. Please follow me." File led the way up the carved stone stairs on the cliff, Phillip, Shining, Zugzwang and two Guards following. Phillip noticed that the Deputy Warden had a rather distinctive limp on his right hind leg. The spotlights in the watchtowers followed their every move; a sniper stood sentinel in each watchtower, the scopes of their rifles trained on Zugzwang.
Reaching the huge concrete walls, Closed File signaled to the guardhouse next to the iron gates. A lever was pulled and the gates slowly opened, revealing the courtyard. "Welcome to Clovenworth Prison," Deputy Warden File said to his guests.
The tall, wide circle of concrete walls, spaced with watchtowers at regular intervals, provided a rather claustrophobic effect, even with the huge area that it enclosed. Every inch of the courtyard was lit as bright as day. A single, paved pathway led through three layers of electrified chain-link fences, topped with barbed wire and monitored by patrolling Guards. The path ended at a wide, flat building with barred windows, the main cell block of the prison. There was an enclosed recreation yard behind the penitentiary. There were three other buildings within the enclosed courtyard: an administrative building to the right, a hospital/medical wing to the left, and a lighthouse behind them, stretching above the walls and sending a slowly spinning beam of light out into the sky.
File led the way down the pathway, the saluting Guards letting them through each of the three gates one by one. Finally, they reached the doors to the penitentiary, which swung open to greet them.
The stark interior of the lobby countered the ponies relief at being inside. Several Guards were inside, batons drawn and eyes on Zugzwang, who acknowledged their attention with a courteous nod. Sitting in the center of the room was a unicorn with a dark gray coat, a ring of silver hair around the back of his head, and cold blue eyes glaring from behind thick glasses. He was wearing a black suit and tie and had a cutie mark of a silver lock and two crossed golden keys.
"Warden Tight Lockup," Shining Armor said, extending his hoof. "Good to see you again."
"And you, Your Highness," the warden replied, shaking Shining's hoof. He then turned to Zugzwang, eyes narrow with disgust. "Is this him?"
"Yes, sir," one of the Guards said, tightening his grip on Zugzwang's leg.
"Guten Abend, warden," Zugzwang said pleasantly.
Ignoring him, Lockup turned to Phillip. "Who are you?"
"Phillip Finder, escorting the prisoner by permission of Princess Twilight," Phil replied, giving Lockup the letter. The Warden read it quickly, scowling.
"All right, hurry up," he said impatiently.
The ponies were guided, one by one, through a metal gate that scanned them for any hidden items. Shining, File and Zugzwang passed through with no problem, but when Phillip tried to cross, the gate's lights turned red and an alarm went off. Sighing, he took off his vest and passed it around the gate. One of the Guards examined the vest's contents, turning out every pocket and scrutinizing every object, from his baton to his loupe glasses, with suspicion. Phillip glared at him impatiently, occasionally glancing at Zugzwang, who seemed amused by this turn of events.
"All right, fine," the Guard finally said, giving Phillip his vest back. "You can go through."
"Come on," Lockup said, opening the door on the other side of the room. Two Guards took hold of Zugzwang's forelegs and guided him through another gate, which was enchanted with a Disruptor spell that disabled his magic. The troupe then marched through the door and into the cellblock proper.
Almost immediately, a storm of voices greeted them, accompanied by a blast of compounded body odor. Rows of cells with iron bars flanked the troupe, separating them from the worst scum Equestria had to offer. The ponies inside, all of them dressed in the same gray coveralls, pounded on the doors to their cells, shouting taunts and insults at the ponies marching past.
"You stink, Warden!"
"I'll pluck your eyes out, File!"
"How's your wife, Captain Wimp? Maybe I should give her a visit! I think she'd like that!"
"I'll break every bone in your body, Finder! You're gonna pay for putting me in here!"
"Charming group," Zugzwang commented.
"File, make sure that the prisoner is booked," Warden Lockup said.
"Yes, sir," File said, following the Guards as they carried Zugzwang away down another hallway. Phillip made to follow them, but Lockup held him back.
"I need to go with him," Phillip protested.
"No, you need to speak with me," Lockup said. "Let the professionals take care of him."
Danger flashed in Phillip's eyes like a lightning bolt. "That letter tells you that you are to aid me in any and every way," Phillip replied coldly, glaring at the Warden. "And the best way you can aid me is by letting me follow him."
"That's against protocol," Lockup answered. "Besides, you are worrying too much. Nopony has ever escaped from Clovenworth Prison."
"Listen, you piker. The last time Zugzwang was put in an inescapable prison, he started a riot and personally murdered a Guard with a wife and two foals, all through simple blackmail," Phillip snapped back. "You'll forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical."
"I know you're here because of Princess Twilight's orders, but that does not give you the right to treat me this way!" Warden Lockup shouted. "You—"
"All right, calm down, both of you," Shining Armor said, standing between the fighting stallions. "Warden, if my sister says this pony needs help, then I'm sure you will be up to the task of helping him." Lockup looked like he might protest, but shut his mouth. "Mr. Finder, I have urgent business with the warden, but I'll make it quick, and when I'm done, he'll be happy to help you out." Phillip glared at Shining for a moment, then relaxed into his normal taciturn expression.
"Now, come on and I'll take you to the administrative building. You can wait there while I get ready," Lockup said, guiding them down the hallway. Phillip followed, but hesitatingly, glancing back down the hallway that Zugzwang had disappeared down. He felt like he had just allowed a dangerous manticore off its leash...and not had the sense to run away.
Meanwhile, Closed File led the trio of ponies down a narrow, empty hallway towards the booking room. Behind him, Zugzwang glanced around, then raised a hoof to his mouth and coughed quietly. "May I have some water?" he asked.
"Not now," the Guard to his left said.
Sighing, Zugzwang fell silent, continuing to walk forward, the shackles rattling with every movement. After a moment, he glanced around conspicuously. "Can you two ponies keep a secret?" he whispered to the Guards at his sides. Neither of them looked around.
"You're both going to die soon," Zugzwang whispered, a smile on his face. "Have you ever thought about dying? Do you wonder if it'll hurt? If it'll happen quickly? Or will you lie gasping for breath, pain spreading across your body? And what of your poor family? Who will care for them when you're gone? Will they even remember you?"
"Stop it," one of the Guards muttered.
"Oh, don't worry," Zugzwang said, continuing to smile pleasantly, as if they were simply having a normal conversation over drinks. "I'll make it quick and relatively painless. Besides, it's not like anything will happen to you after you die; it'll be like going to sleep, forever, after a long, pointless, tiring day. But if it makes you feel better, you can pray now, settle your minds and make peace with whatever god you worship—"
"Stop it," the Guard repeated, halting and turning to face Zugzwang. "There's nothing you can do. You're shackled."
"Oh, you mean these?" Zugzwang said, holding up the unlocked shackles, the small pick he'd used to unlock them still dangling from the keyhole. For a moment, the Guards could only stare in utter disbelief. Then both of them went for their batons. Zugzwang swung the shackles, striking one Guard over the head and stunning him as he kicked backwards, breaking the other Guard's elbow. Turning, he seized the crippled Guard around the head and twisted hard. There was a distinctive crack like a dead tree branch breaking and the pony dropped to the floor. Ducking to avoid the other Guard's baton, Zugzwang turned, grabbed and twisted once more. The second Guard hit the ground half a second after his comrade, dead and broken.
Hearing the scuffle, Closed File turned around and froze at what he saw: both of his Guards dead, and Zugzwang removing his restraint ring from his horn. Impossibly, the escapee's horn lit up with a golden glow. Zugzwang picked up the shackles and sprinted at the Deputy Warden, who was too shocked to make any attempt to fight back or escape. Wrapping the shackles around his neck, Zugzwang pulled him close, tightening the chains to choke him.
"Come now, mein freund," he hissed through his smile, guiding his hostage back down the hallway.
Author's Note
Well, here we go. It's the first chapter to my new Phillip Finder story, picking up a little after we left off in the previous story.
It's not normal for me to hit the ground running like this. What do you think?
Also, be forewarned: this is going to be easily my darkest story yet, so be prepared for things to get worse.
