Author's Note

Double update for you guys, as always, read and review~

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Attack on Firesteed - Part 1

The ship had finally arrived at Canterlot, however, due to what happened back in Ponyville, they did not want to take the risk of landing in the city in case of an alert from Princess Twilight. So instead of landing in the city, the ship flew past Canterlot and near the mountainside where Pearl informed them there was a narrow pathway that led into the city that was once used by thieves and escaping nobles a few centuries ago.

No one really asked how she knew that, only going with it and using it.

So, Dustchu, Firefly, Fuse and BP, along with Filly C and Heartlock were currently on the narrow pathway… narrow being an understatement, as it was only a few feet wide, and one wrong move would send anyone plummeting to their death. The pegasi were the only ones not too nervous, since they could easily fly in case of falling, which Firefly was doing, not liking the narrow path. Fuse was gliding next to her, while Dustchu braved the path on hoof, wings held tight against his barrel as Filly C was perched on his back with her hooves wrapped around his neck tightly, and BP and Heartlock were sticking as close to the mountain wall as possible.

After what seemed like an eternity of walking on the path, but was only about an hour or so of slips and near falls, the group made it into Canterlot. “Do you guys wanna be seen by more or less ponies?” Firefly asked the group as they stood near a few buildings in an alleyway, which was only illuminated by the stray light of a few magically lit street lamps, and the moon above.

Dustchu faced the pegasus. “After how we left Ponyville, I don’t doubt Twilight sent a letter ta good ol Celly,” He said, his voice dripping into a slight southern accent before he cleared his throat. “So we should be careful and not be seen, just in case… why?”

“Like the lab, I know this town like the back of my hoof, so I know all the pathways most ponies don’t take.” The fiery pegasus explained, shrugging her shoulders.

“Well let’s get movin’ girl.” Heartlock hissed as they remained huddled in an alleyway, she peeked out into the street and spotted a few guards stationed by a gate and frowned. “Guards are everywhere.”

Firefly, however was already near a sewer grate, thinking, she turned and looked back at BP and Fuse, “Can you guys open this?”

BP and Fuse smiled, both of them were donning equipment and had small packs with them. BP and Fuse reached into both of their packs at the same time. Fuse pulled out a stick of dynamite, and asked, “Lockpick?”

“Or the master key?” BP questioned as she held out a large looking explosive with a smiley face painted on it.

“Or maybe both?” They both asked simultaneously, hoping to blow something sky high.

A blink from the fiery pegasus. “Uh, well, we’re trying not to get attention drawn to us, so the more quiet one~” Firefly said, laughing a little at the sister's wanton need of explosives.

BP and Fuse gave her a look that suggested she was insane. “I’m sorry, a quiet explosive?” BP asked in a quivering, looking incredibly shocked and disturbed at such a notion that there was a silent explosive.

“BLASPHEMY!” Fuse hissed in a whisper, hooves trembling.

Filly C just sighed before hopping off of Dustchu’s back and trotting over to the grate. Using her magic, she reached into BP’s pack and pulled out a large foldable pry bar, and in one swift motion, stuck it between the creases of the grate and the street. “How about… we use the fucking pry bar?”

“Aww.” Both sisters complained, putting their explosives away in their packs with dejected looks on their faces.

They wanted boom boom. 234

Dustchu made his way over to Filly C, and he ruffled her mane a little before saying, “Nice thinking kid.” He praised her as the two proceeded to lift the grate off of the ground. Filly C just smiled, and for once, it wasn’t a devious one.

After the grate had been removed, Firefly jumped down, flaring her wings when she neared the ground below. Flapping her wings, she quickly got out of the way of the rest of the group.

Everypony quickly made their way down into the sewers, Heartlock being the last one as Dustchu flew down with Filly on his back. The thieving mare covered her nose once the smell hit her, eyes bulging out of her skull as she hacked. “Goddess damn it! It stinks down here!” She growled as Fuse replaced the sewer cover above them, sliding it back into place.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it~” Firefly smiled back at her, before taking the lead. The sound of their hooves resonating on the tall walls and dampness. It was obvious that this wasn’t the first time that Firefly had been down in the sewers, as she confidently led the way towards the lab.

“I take it you’ve been down here before?” BP asked the mare leading them as the others held their noses, except Dustchu who seemed at home in the sewers, if his thoughtful face was any indication.

“Mhm, it’s how I escaped detection from the cameras around the lab~” The mare explained, and she jumped over a puddle.

“What exactly went on in tha’ lab of yer parents?” Heartlock questioned, frowning as she saw a rat, sailing down the sewers on something she did not wish to see. Funnily enough, it was wearing a pirate hat, and holding a tiny stick of wood in its paws.

The fiery pegasus thought for a second, “Well, you know of Navi’s poor treatment, so animal testing was a big one, and they’re a psychological and medicinal company. They were trying to cure mental illnesses, along with normal ones.” She didn’t go into the more precise details, opting for silence instead.

“Sounds kinda shady, if’n ya ask me.” Heartlock commented, stepping over a soggy newspaper with a picture of fancy pants on it. “Last time we raided th’ lab in Canterlot, this was before Firesteed Inc took it over, Navi was bein’ kept in a tiny jar barely big 'nuff for his tiny self.”

“I remember that, poor little guy.” Fuse shuddered. “I think Firesteed is doing something else in those labs...”

Dustchu suddenly spoke, this time in a very dark sounding tone. “You’d be surprised by what goes on in places like those… sometimes they’re just a front for something bigger...” He turned to look at Firefly, his eyes glowing for a brief second. “Sometimes something more… sinister...”

Her ears pressed against her head as she looked at the ground, “I-I just don’t want to have to remember… okay?” She murmured, showing that she knew more about what did happen there, she just wasn’t willing to tell.

No one pushed her to ask, sensing she was uncomfortable with talking about the lab they were headed to. Instead, they turned to Dustchu for questions.

“So what’s the plan boss man?” BP asked Dustchu, trotting by his side.

The stallion thought for a moment, his mind racing as he conjured up a plan. “We follow Firefly to wherever they might be keeping the case, we sneak in, Heartlock snags it, hopefully they didn’t crack one of them open, and we get out.”

“I doubt it’ll be that easy.” Filly commented from his back, where she had her muzzle buried in the back of his mane to block out the smell of the sewers of Canterlot.

“Yeah, probably not, but this should be fun~” The sound of Peaky’s voice heard from behind the group.

Firefly glanced back, and saw the small colt smiling at them. Quickly flying over to him, she said, “I thought I told you to stay on the ship!”

“Oh, I know, but that’s not as fun as coming along~” Peaky smiled back at her.

“Wait, didn’t someone put the grate back on?” Firefly turned to the rest of the group.

Peaky answered before anyone else could, “Oh, someone did, but I removed the grate by myself~”

The Kickass Mercenaries just stared at Peaky, unsure of how to respond to the colt’s claim of lifting the grate. Instead they just sighed collectively. “Alright kid, just stick close to FIrefly and do exactly what she tells you.” Dustchu told him, his tone serious as he turned to face the colt.

“Of course, Chewy~” To emphasize his point, the colt jumped on Firefly’s back, “I’ll stick close to the Fly~”

Firefly glanced back at the colt, before shrugging and taking off again, taking the lead once more. “Well, I would say that we only need to be here for about 15 more minutes at most.”

Dustchu nodded. “Let’s see if we can’t hurry up, I’m getting a gut feeling this won’t end well...”

“Understood,” The fiery pegasus responded, and she picked up her pace, trotting through the sewers now.

About 10 minutes later, Firefly flew up to a different grate, and looked through it, Peaky still on her back. Upon floating back down she announced, “This is it, but there’s a camera nearby, so be careful where you guys step.” The mare flew back up, and was able to push the grate open, this one having been bent in a way that made it easier to lift up and out. After pausing for a second, Firefly then darted out, pressing herself against the wall of the lab.

Dustchu and the rest followed shortly after, mimicking the pegasus’ movements and hugging the wall. The lab looked like it did the last time, however there were a few improvements, cleaner walls and floors, and it brought back horrible memories for Dustchu that made him shiver.

Firefly also shivered, but quickly shook her head to clear it, and after everyone got out of the sewers, she led the way towards a window barely big enough for Dustchu to fit through. “Okay, they probably have the door locked over there,” She pointed at the door, “But we do have a lockpicker, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get in. Also, the room is barely big enough for two of us, except for the younger ones.” Firefly explained, glancing in at the room every now and again.

Heartlock took that as her cue, moving forward towards the window and slipping through with the grace of a cat. She landed on her hooves with nary a sound before creeping over to said door, and deftly retrieving her lock picking kit.

The rest of the mercs waited by the room’s window, however Filly C made her way in and stood by Heartlock as she fiddled with the lock. “How long?” Fuse asked.

“Couple of seconds, tops.” Heartlock responded, carefully moving her picks into the lock.

Some clicks sounded, and Heartlock grinned a toothy grin. “Got it, hehe.” She twirled her pick before putting it back in her little kit. “Let’s rock n roll kiddies~”

After Heartlock gave the cue, Firefly entered the room, shivering as she saw the cot she used to sleep on, it taking up half of the already tiny room. “This must be how my claustrophobia started…” She spoke quietly to herself, and slowly left the room, happy to be out of it.

The group made their way into the room one at a time and out through the door, effectively entering the Firesteed lab. Filly gave one last look at the room before she jumped onto Dustchu’s back and tightened her hold on him, a feeling of unease settling over her mind.

The fiery pegasus waited for everyone to exit the room, a little to the right of the room. Her wings shifted uncomfortably as she tried to act brave, but on the inside, she was freaking out, wanting to fly away at breakneck speeds. “O-okay, the most secure part of the lab is down this hall…” Taking a deep breath, the mare began to lead the way, Peaky walking beside her.

The group made their way down the halls, following the pegasus with trepidation. The halls were clean, the floors having a clear sheen to them, and the lights above giving off a dull hum that made the sisters of the group nervous, and a white pegasus to have horrid flashbacks that made him tense up and grow paranoid.

“You’re all going to die down here.” Dustchu heard in his head, he tried to shake off the feeling, but he couldn’t. The voice repeated it in his head, and he swore he saw shadows moving around his vision.

Suddenly, Filly C leaned in by his ear. “What’s wrong?”

“This place… reminds me of… Umbrella.” He muttered, shivering as Filly hugged him tighter.

She whispered again, “This isn’t that place.” the filly assured him in a soft voice, one that very few heard.

Dustchu sighed through his nose. “I know… but it still brings back memories, Filly...”

Filly didn’t know what to say to him, instead only keeping her hold on him. She may have been an annoyance most of the time, but she had her moments when she showed her good side.

The sound of a different set of hooves coming down from a side corridor could be heard. The fiery pegasus stopped, as a brown earth pony scientist came into view. His eyes were dull and lifeless as he looked at Firefly, “Oh, miss Firefly, we’ve been expecting your return.” His voice was just like his eyes, dull and lifeless. “Your parents are awaiting you to join them.”

“I-I’m not going back to them!” The pegasus shook her head quickly, starting to back away.

“I’m sorry miss Firefly, but you don’t have a choice,” The scientist said, and another scientist, this one a unicorn mare.

The brown coated unicorn’s horn began to glow with a brown aura. Firefly tried to fly away, but the magic encased her, and yanked her away from the group. Before the rest of the group could even react, a wall came from seemingly nowhere and blocked off them from the kidnapped pegasus. The sounds of Firefly’s terrified cries could be heard getting quieter and quieter.

“Son of a bitch!” Heartlock cried as her, Fuse and BP charged, only to hit the door. “Who the fuck were they!”

BP suddenly pushed the others back, pulling out the bomb she had before and throwing it at the wall. It stuck in place as she yelled, “Get back!” The group backed away, hiding behind the corner of one of the halls as the explosive suddenly went off, shaking the entire building and sending a plume of flame down the hall and almost burning BP as she barely got in cover.

After the smoke cleared from the wall, it showed no signs of damage. Firefly’s cries soon died down, and after a good minute of her cries being too quiet to be heard, the wall slid back open, adding insult to injury when they realized they would be here a lot longer than intended.

“Fucking hell!” Fuse cried, “We gotta go after them!”

“We don’t know th’ layout, and that fuckin’ bomb no doubt drew some attention!” Heartlock countered, snapping at the pegasus.

The sound of something hitting the wall sounded, and it was almost rhythmic. “‘Fraid you lot won’t be going anywhere.” Someone spoke up from behind them.

Behind them were several guards, dressed in light but sturdy looking body armor and wielding steel batons. Dustchu growled at them, Fuse and BP just frowned at the guards as Heartlock looked for an escape route. Peaky had already begun to run in the direction he thought where Firefly had gone.

“What do we do?” Filly questioned, teeth bared at the guards as her eyes caught sight of Peaky. “Hey wait up!” She cried, chasing after him.

Dustchu tried to stop her, but was hit by a stun bolt sent flying from one of the unicorn guards. The pegasus hit his head on the wall, and looked dazed for a moment before glaring. “Mmm… yep, I’m going to hurt you.” He said after cracking his neck and flaring out his wings.

The guard took a stance, before sending another bolt at Dustchu. The pegasus dodged his attack, ducking to the side before kicking off the floor and flying towards the guard. “Guys run! Find Firefly now!” He yelled at them, throwing an uppercut into one of the guard’s jaws hard sending them falling back with a cry.

A guard shouted out - “The test subject can not be found by them! Don’t let them run!” - and more stun shots were thrown at the departing group.

Fuse stuck out her tongue at them as she dodged one of the stun bolts. “As a friend of mine once said,” She chanced a look at Dustchu before flashing him a wink, “Suck my dick!” She then ran away cackling, BP, and Heartlock following her as Filly ran after Peaky.

Dustchu only grinned as he dodged a hit by one of the guards, sweeping his hind leg across the floor and knocking two of them over before taking flight and sailing over the guards. “Come and catch me bitches!” He yelled at them, sticking his tongue out in a taunting manner.

Firefly was thrown into a tiny room, after reaching the room where most of the experiments had been conducted on her earlier in her life. The little room she was thrown into didn’t seem to have any windows that she could see. Curling up in a small ball, the pegasus began to panic and hyperventilate as the walls started to close in. “Huh, it seems that our experiment to see if we could get a pony claustrophobia was a success.” An eerily familiar voice said.

She knew that voice... it belonged to a pony she didn't want to see again. “D-dad! Let me go!” Firefly shouted out, her body shaking.

For once, her request got answered, and the door opened, along with a red aura surrounding the mare. “Hello there Firefly, it’s good to see you again,” A red coated, black maned unicorn said. “You know we can’t let you escape, so…” he trailed off, and Firefly cried out in pain, as her right wing began to be pulled and twisted.

“Stop!” She cried out in agony, then wailed as the wing came out of it’s socket, and the bones connecting the bone to socket, shattered.

“There you go, can’t have you running away on us again, now can we?” He smiled eerily and dropped the pegasus to the ground. Enjoying the sound of her cry of pain, her body shaking in agony.

A dark blue pegasus with an orange mane flew down by the shaking fiery pegasus, smiling down at her, before dragging her over to a lab table. Firefly groaned in agony as her wing dragged on the ground, “Don’t worry honey, this is only going to hurt… a lot~”

Trying to drag herself away from the table but couldn’t before her hooves were clamped down to the table. “We’ve just gotta reawaken that little drug again, we’ve found a way to control it better now.” Her father explained, and Firefly’s eyes went wide as she pulled and pulled trying to get away from the needle that was about to be driven in her arm.

The liquid was injected, and a burning sensation went through Firefly, and everything went dark.