A Decade in the Shadows

At the sound out the alarm, Commander Sentry said, “Enough with the melancholy. We’ve got work to do.”

“Right,” we all agreed.

We hurried outside. Unsurprisingly, Sombra’s soldiers weren’t able to get very close to the fort, let alone the camp.

I decided to get a bird’s-eye view and flew upwards, a move that I soon half regretted making.

Why? Because of something unexpected; a Pegasus with a familiar purple mane wearing a high-tech version of the armor Sombra’s soldiers use. The armor was very different from the regular kind; it was full body armor that concealed everything but the mane and tail, and over the Pegasus’s face was a gasmask with a 1970’s style sci-fi visor. The armor was stained with what I hope was ketchup.

“It’s been a long time, Rainbow Dash. Ten years, in fact,” said the Pegasus in a  metallicy, but still clearly female voice.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Oh, no one special. Just call me Gorgon.”

“‘Gorgon’? Why ‘Gorgon’?” I asked.

“Well for one thing, I can do this.” Gorgon fired an energy beam from her visor, hitting a random soldier, and turning him to stone.

“Oh my Celestia.” I said, at a loss for words. Honestly, I did not expect that. So, naturally, I reacted in the only logical way. By shooting.

I fired my Saddlegun, but Gorgon dodged the bullets easily. Normally, Sombra’s Crystal Pegasi are slow enough to land a hit without much difficulty. But this one is different. And I swear, there’s something familiar about this ‘Gorgon’ pony, I just can’t pinpoint it.

Down below, I see Pinkamena going up against enemy soldiers in hoof to hoof combat, which is easy for her considering that she can crush boulders with her bare hooves, and Spark is attacking the approaching soldiers using his new weapon (you know, the K7-Rapidfire). Simply said, it was something to behold, even if I could only watch for a second or two.

The battle continued for about a half an hour, all the while I was occupied by Gorgon, dodging bullets, energy beams, and even a few mid-air kick.

Soon Sombra’s forces retreated, Gorgon included. Why they retreated? I don’t know.

I landed in the fort’s walls. Everypony was celebrating this victory. Well, everypony except for Pinkamena and Spark, who were discussing something. I trotted up to them. “What’s going on here?” I asked.

“Rainbow, we need to tell you something,” said Spark.

“It’s about Scootaloo,” added Pinkamena.

“Scootaloo? Please tell me she’s not dead.”

“Oh, how I wish I didn’t respect you enough to tell you the truth. But yes, she’s dead,” said Spark.

“I can’t believe this. How did this happen? When did this happen?”

“I happened about two months ago, in Vanhoover. Private Scootaloo was in an explosion,” said Pinkamena, “They never found her body. All they did find was this.” Pinkamena placed a large coin on a table near them. On the coin was a picture of a pony with snakes for a mane; a Gorgon.

“Impossible,” I said.

“What do you mean?” asked Spark.

“This coin has a picture of a Gorgon on it, and just a few minute ago, I fought somepony who called herself Gorgon. This can’t be a coincidence.” I picked up the coin in my mouth and headed for the Control Room.

“Commander Sentry!” I said, after placing the coin on the Control Room table.

"What is it, Captain Dash?” he asked.

“This coin, do you know anything about it?”

Commander Sentry inspected the coin. “Yes, I do. Bring up all files on the Gorgon,” Flash instructed one of the ponies at a computer.

Up on the big screen, pictures and information about Gorgon appeared. There wasn’t much though, just a picture of the coin and a couple pictures of Gorgon.

“As you can see, we don’t have much on the Gorgon, but what we do have says that she is an extremely dangerous assassin. She has killed countless ponies within just one month, and her visor is her most dangerous weapon. It is called the Medusa Beam.”

“She definitely is a skilled soldier. I speak from personal experience.”

“Are you saying you’ve actually fought Gorgon, and survived?”

“Yeah. In fact it wasn’t even thirty minutes ago.”

“Hmm, I’m impressed.”

“But there’s something familiar about her.”

“Really? How so?”

“Her mane, it’s a familiar shade of purple.”

“Well, purple manes seem to be rather common. It could be anypony.”

“True, but she also said it’s been ten years since she last saw me.”

“Hmm. That could help you narrow down the possibilities. You do you know from ten years ago who had a purple mane?”

“Well, let’s start with the obvious. That being Scootaloo, but I was just informed that she died in an explosion about two months ago. I also knew of some purple-maned Pegasi back in Cloudsdale, and some when I went to Military School not long after Sombra’s return, but in both cases I didn’t know any of their names. Maybe Gorgon’s not even a Pegasus. What if Gorgon is an Earth Pony with mechanical wings?”

“Mm, okay so this isn’t as easy as I thought it would be.”

“Apparently so.”

“You know I think I know who could help you get to the bottom of this.”

“Really, who?”

“They’re a covert team of Equestria’s greatest soldiers. Their name is B Cause.”

“Who?”

“Exactly. I told you they’re covert. Now, you better be off, you have to prepare a journey to Ponyville.” With that, I saluted and left the room.