Crystal Raid

The ride on the Warbird was long and quiet. You still had a long ways to go, and the conversation had since died down, leaving you to your thoughts. You peer around the dark metallic interior of the cabin, scanning the faces of your allies. It's difficult to see what they're thinking; perhaps nothing at all.

You might be the only one with any morals on this entire mission. Your teammates literally committed war crimes back there. That crystal pony fleeing and getting gunned down sticks to the back of your mind like glue. You can't shake that image. Not that you're not desensitized to violence, of course; it's not that. It's the fact that that was an innocent being killed for literally no reason.

That shouldn't have happened on a mission like this. You expected to get in and get out quickly, only killing guardsponies that got in your way. You also consider that although Shining Armor was a threat to you, killing him probably wasn't a good idea. You're going to piss off what is probably a superpower in the world you're on. Was it worth the credits? Lost in your thoughts, you don't notice the merc next to you trying to get your attention.

"Hey! You there?" he says, hand on your shoulder. You snap out of your daze and turn to him, nodding.

"Yeah, what's up?" you respond.

"We're almost to the drop-off point. Hand me the Crystal Heart," he replies.

"Alright," you remove your backpack and lay it down in front of you. Unzipping the dark container, you slowly lift the Crystal Heart out of the depths. You hold it up, level to your face, gazing in to it. "This is pretty shiny," you mutter to yourself. You rotate it, watching as the sun reflects off of its edges. In the reflection, you peer out the window behind you, just in time to see three pegasus guards closing in on your transport. Eyes widened, you turn around and yell.

"SHIT!"

The pegasi slam into the aircraft head first, smashing the window with their metal helmets, and tipping the Warbird over mid-flight. Forgetting to strap yourself in, you float up to the ceiling and feel glass shards whip around you as the pilots struggle to stabilize the VTOL. As it flips back over, you slam into the metal floor, squadmates falling around you. The Crystal Heart drops to the floor in front of you, and as you reach for it, everything that isn't bolted down flies into the air again as the aircraft has entered a downward spiral.

You stretch your arm out, reaching for one of the handles along the top of the cabin, finally wrapping your fingers around it before you fly upside down again. You move your other arm up and grab onto the handle with it as well, straining to hang on as people and objects alike whip past you. Suddenly your radio crackles to life with a broadcast from the pilot:

"Mayday, mayday, this is Shark 4-6, we're going down, I repeat, we are goin-"

His sentence will forever remain unfinished as the Warbird connects with the firm Equestrian soil, sending you through the window and rolling into the grassy plain. You struggle to lift your bloodied head, peering up in time to watch your Warbird flip over itself before bursting into a ball of flames, sending the Crystal Heart flying into the dirt not far from you.

You lift one arm and plant it ahead of you, grabbing a fistful of grass and soil, pulling yourself forward. You repeat the motion with your other arm and continue, slowly inching closer to your target. You spit out a mix of blood and dirt, opting to roll over on your back and face the clear, blue sky, taking several deep breaths.

You unlatch your helmet and throw it several meters away from you, and wipe the sweat off of your forehead. You take a moment to examine your surroundings completely.

You lay in a field of bright green, with several hills of equal beauty rolling around you in every direction. Above you is a cloudless sky, the sun at its peak, shining brightly. Far off in the distance, you can make out the silhouette of a small town. Everything is quiet, save for the crackling of the fire consuming the carcass of your Warbird ahead of you. You lift yourself up into a sitting position, resting your arms on your legs, and exhaling loudly.

What a ride.

You probably deserved it. You just stole a priceless artifact and killed a bunch of innocent ponies and a prince in the process. Okay, technically, you didn't actually kill anyone. Maybe that's why I'm alive right now and my squadmates aren't. You shake the morbid thought from your head. They were people too, even if you weren't too close to any of them. Something to consider, though.

You ponder that you're too far away from the drop-off point to realistically make it in a reasonable amount of time, and without any supplies or weapons, you're in a fucked position. You scan the skies for the pegasi that put you here, but they can't be seen anywhere. That unnerves you greatly. As if on cue, the sound of flapping can be heard from behind you, and it grows louder before several sets of hooves touch the ground.

"Here's the Crystal Heart. It doesn't look too damaged. Can't say the same of the current state of the Crystal Empire, however. Reports so far are that many civilians and guards alike are dead, as well as Prince Shining Armor."

Well, this isn't good. You're about to get your ass caught and locked up. A feminine gasp follows the guardspony's statement. Female guards...?

"Wait, what's that over there? Look, it's one of humans!"

Here we go...

You lift yourself up slowly. Once standing, you put your arms into the air and open your hands, signaling that you're unarmed. You start speaking while simultaneously turning to face your soon-to-be captors.

"Listen, I'm not like them, I even didn't fire a single bullet. I was just in it for the money, and I didn't want anybody to die! Please, just lemme get out of here and I'll leave you alon-"

You stop mid-sentence, jaw hanging in the air as you've completely turned to face the guards...

... and Princess Celestia.

You smile sheepishly.

"... Maybe we can talk this out?"