Author's Note

So, this section here is probably needed as a forewarning. It's been a year, give or take, since I've really written anything substantial like this, let alone worked on this project at all, and I feel like this chapter is probably weaker than it really should have been. Hopefully you readers still enjoy it.

On a second note, the editor I had for the previous chapters has been inactive for quite a few months and I haven't found myself a new one yet. I've read over this many times over but I've probably missed some stuff, so please forgive any grammatical and spelling errors, which I hope there will be few of.

Anyway, again I hope you enjoy!

Tensions

"First off, let's get some shit straight," Jolt began with his usual snappy tone before shoveling food into his mouth, ungraciously chewing and talking at the same time while jabbing his fork in the direction of Darling who sat opposite of him. "I wasn't drunk off my fucking ass, I had one ale that whole night and you want to tell me I was wasted?! Like, I get it, I'm a lightweight, okay? But, for fuck sake, it wasn't like I was stumbling all over the damn place!"

Darling merely rolled her eyes at him as she rested her cheek on her hoof. "Yeah, whatever. I guess you also didn't break that locket my mother gave me on purpose then?"

Jolt's brow creased, narrowing his eyes at his girlfriend. "You know damn well that wasn't intentional."

"Oh, really now? Is that why you swung it around and threw it at the wall as hard as you fucking could?" Darling snapped back, raising her voice loud enough for the whole room to hear. Fortunately, for all them, the embarrassment was saved by an empty mess hall. "You knew exactly what you were doing when you took it from me, you knew you were destroying something valuable. You knew how much that locket meant to me and you shattered it without a fucking care in the world, and you expect me to believe that you didn't mean too?"

Jolt slammed his hooves against the table with a thundering bang that echoed through the room, making everyone else jump. "Maybe you fucking deserved it you double-crossing bitch," he snarled as his eyes fired up with pure, unadulterated rage. "We wouldn't have the council breathing down our fucking necks and doing an internal investigation on us if it weren't for you. Maybe you want to explain to all of what all that crap was under your mattress? All of our fucking plans detailed out exactly, every fucking step, how we were going to fucking take this place back out their dirty slave-driving hooves? Or what about all of the notes on everyone who was working alongside the council so they would know who to avoid collaborating with so that fucker could get out scotfree? Why don't you make all of our lives easier and just turn yourself in? Or do you really think your alibi is so clean you'll get off without a hitch?"

"You know what? Here," he growled and grabbed Darling's tray of food, tossing it behind him and on to the floor before turning back to her, "Go eat off the floor like those damned lowlife shit eaters who fucking turned this whole program into a shit show."

Darling sat quietly while Jolt berated her, her ears pinned back and eyes fixed to the table even when he threw her food across the room, not so much as budging an inch from her position save for the small shudders that visibly sent waves through her body.

"Jolt, do you mind?" June finally snapped back at him from the other side of the table. "We're all pissed about it, but could you for shut the fuck up for one hour in your miserable life?" Both Bandit and Grey grunted in agreement while Duena and Lightning shared worried glances. "Besides," June would continue, taking on a calmer tone, "We don't know if someone's trying to set her up. In case I have to remind us all, the only ponies we have to trust right now are ourselves. As much as I hate to believe that any one of us would stab the others in the back I have to remind myself it's a possibility, and you all should too, but we need to give each other the benefit of doubt as well until all is said and done."

Jolt furrowed his brows as his attention turned toward June. "Yeah, you'd be the one to protect the traitor, aren't you? What happens when they're done with her? They go after someone else. They're going to go after you, you, all of us! The only one here who's fucking safe is the damned bug, and they're not going to stop until they have someone's head on the chopping block to make themselves feel like they accomplished something," he finished, breathing hard from his incessant need to yell.

Bandit rubbed his temple as he groaned out, "Jolt, stop yelling. They're not going on a witch hunt, it's just one internal investigation on Darling. I've already spoken with Hierarch Silverwing about the situation."

"Oh ho! You know her by name?" Jolt exclaimed with a laugh that Duena could only think of as hysterical. "What, are you two a thing now?"

"You could say something like that," Bandit replied sarcastically before sipping from his drink.

Jolt chuckled for several long seconds before he looked to everyone else. "Well, since we're all sharing secrets now, does anyone else have something that they would like to tell the rest? No? How unfortunate, I was looking forward to learning more about you all," he sneered at them all before he got up from his seat. "Guess I'll fuck off for the night since we seem to be finished."

Everyone watched Jolt head out of the mess hall while he continued to mumble to himself, no one saying a word until the door had closed. Only then did Darling crumple down onto the table and break down into tears with June moving over to comfort her sister shortly after.

"Never seen him get like that before," Lightning said in a low voice, looking between Duena, Bandit, and Grey. "Not towards Darling at least. I thought those two were inseparable?"

Bandit simply shook his head, still rubbing his hooves in circles on the side of his head. "It's giving me a damned headache. You would think the kid's voice would give out from all the yelling he does."

Duena kept quiet all the while, unsure what to say in all the mix, or if she should say anything. It was strange for her, feeling like she was simply watching from the outside despite the fact that over the last week the group had more or less accepted her into their circle. She was in this as much as the rest of them were, but she couldn't shake that feeling of being a ghost among all of it.

"How's your wing holding up?" Bandit would ask Lightning.

Lightning rolled his shoulder with a small grimace as he did. "It's getting better. Still hurts like hell if I move wrong, but the nurse was saying that I should be able to fly again in the next two weeks or so as long as I'm easy on it. Gotta say, that magic the doctor has been working on me has been doing wonders speeding up the healing. Give credit where credit's due. Mnn, speaking of going easy, hope basic was alright, Dee."

Duena looked up at Lightning then back down at her food, stirring it around her plate with a heavy sigh. "Sergeant was a bit of a prick if I have to be honest. Training feels pretty half-assed."

"Ah, as I was afraid it would be," Lightning replied as he took his spoon and placed a parcel of food on it, holding the handle in one hoof while pulling the spoon back with the other. "Incoming," he would chuckle before launching the piece of food in Duena's direction.

She got smacked right in the face, flinching back as she held her hooves out in front of herself to protect herself from any more attacks. "Awh, gross! Come on, that was uncalled for," Duena retched while she wiped her muzzle clean with a hoof.

Lightning had a big grin on his muzzle as he loaded up for another attack. "Completely called for. Someone has gotta raise the morale around here," he said as he hurled food at Duena again, this time with the scraps landing off on the far side of the room. He sighed and dropped the spoon to rest his cheek on his hoof as he turned to look at Darling and June. "Ain't that right, girls?"

"I don't think you're helping all that much, Lightning, but we appreciate the effort," June scolded him while she held Darling close, running a hoof through her mane. "Besides, we all know things will turn out okay. Our family is far too proud to let ourselves succumb to evil as such for a little extra coin on the side."

Darling wiped her face clean of the tears that had streaked down her cheeks. "He's got to be a prick about everything. I do everything I can to be understanding with him."

"That's because he's an asshole," June stated, giving Darling a little bit of room now. "I've been telling you this for the last year and he's only gotten worse since you two first met. None of us know why you put up with him."

Lightning smacked his hooves down on the table, taking a look at everyone. "Well, it's getting late. Why don't we all head to bed before we start digging ourselves into more negative topics? At least, those of us who can go to bed," he finished giving a nod toward Duena. "You've still got a long night ahead of you."

"Yup, night patrol," Duena sighed as she got up from the table and turned to Bandit. "You coming?" Bandit nodded and got up himself with a long groan to join her. "In that case, you have a good night, Lightning," Duena said and turned to the others. "Catch you guys tomorrow."

The rest mumbled their goodnights before heading for the sleeping quarters leaving Duena and Bandit by themselves. "We have four hours to burn. Let's get it over with," Bandit sighed and led Duena out to the main stairway, heading upward.

"I'm going to be honest, I expected the equestrian military to be a lot more rigid," Duena said as she took a spot beside Bandit. "Everything feels so relaxed."

Bandit glanced at her and nodded. "A lot of it comes down to the leadership being executed only a week ago. Most of them were working for the slavers so there isn't anyone around to give directions. Ponies just doing what they want to do, you know? Brass isn't exactly looking to be replacing anyone anytime soon, so chances are everyone will get transferred elsewhere."

"Aah, I see," Duena said as they walked up to the open area inside the fort. The relatively small area was lit with torches once more in the night, giving the base a faint orange glow that blotted out the stars above. Bandit led her over to one of the small stations up against the wall and gave her a lantern. "So what will happen to this place?"

"It'll probably get abandoned in a couple of weeks, the fort is so far out from civilization it's not worth keeping at this point," Bandit said and took a lantern as well, hooking it onto his armor from the wire handle. "It gets expensive teleporting resources to and back here instead of taking the two-month trip."

Duena continued to follow him toward the large set of doors and out into the wilderness that surrounded the fort. Tall blades of grass swayed back and forth in the warm wind, casting long shadows across the landscape from their lanterns. "Yeah, I can imagine." They cut off to the left onto a dirt trail that went around the whole fort they had been down many times before over the course of the week. Faint lights dotted the landscape of other patrols covering a vast amount of ground. "So, you know that Hierarch lady?"

Bandit gave her a side glance and let out a long, frustrated sigh. "It's a long story, kid."

Duena gave him a disbelieving look as she said, "Is it the 'I don't want to talk about it' kind of story, or is it actually a long story?"

The two traded looks for a moment before Bandit quietly nodded his head for a few seconds. "Alright, alright. You have to make me a promise, though. Absolutely nothing I tell you can get out to the anyone else, especially the ponies in our unit. Do I make myself clear?" Duena returned the nod to him while they walked down the slope in the path. "I'm a fairly old horse, been in the military for a good ten years, going on eleven. It's a rather lucrative job even during peaceful times, which, most of those years have been. Of course, save those couple weeks during that big changeling invasion."

Bandit paused for a second, looking around them and took a seat. "I had received a week-long leave of absence just after I had completed basic training. They said it was because I was in the top five of my unit. Of course, I didn't complain. Matter of fact having a short little vacation was nice. It gave me a chance to go back home for a few days, see my girl again before being deployed off to some city I had never been to for grunt work. All of my plans went out the window on the second day of my vacation. I didn't know who the Hierarch was at the time when she approached me, rumors about the council weren't as widespread back then because they mostly did things in the background, so when she asked me if I would be interested in joining an unknown military organization young me was intrigued. I didn't really know what I was getting myself into."

Duena took a spot next to Bandit as he went on, occasionally glancing over to him during her scans of the area. "She spoke of conducting espionage to keep peace within our borders, going off to distant lands to make deals with other countries, help set up embassies, improve relationships with our allies while eliminating those who sought to bring ill will upon our country. All of it sounded exciting. It all came with a catch, though, something I wish I had known before I even agreed to join."

"So, you're apart of the council?" Duena asked, a worried tone creeping into her voice.

Bandit gave a nod and a 'Hmmhmm', his head turning to look at Duena again. "It's not exactly easy to leave the council, as strange as that sounds. Believe me, I've wanted to leave since I could remember, but the Hierarch won't let me. She played with my pride, telling me that she needs me for this project. Promised that when all this is said and done she would finally let me retire. I don't think my retirement is coming anytime soon, unfortunately."

Duena furrowed her brow at that and set her lantern down. "I suppose going AWOL isn't really an option?"

Duena was caught off by the sudden laughter from the stallion who settled down after a few moments, clearing his throat. "Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh. No, going AWOL isn't an option. I might as well kill myself if I were considering that option," he sighed as he let his hooves slide forward to rest on his barrel. "It's not an option I want to consider. I have a mare back home waiting for me, and Celestia knows she prays for me to get back alive. Miracle I've made it this far with how disastrous the Parallel project has been."

Duena mirrored Bandit and relaxed, giving a good stretch to her limbs. "I've heard a lot of stuff about the project in other areas around the world. Ponies getting letters back talking about casualty rates."

"Not to mention the issue with the slavers having taken complete control of the whole thing," Bandit added. "That whole point to taking over this fort was to capture or kill one of their leaders, the hippogryph who has been hiding out here for the last few months. We didn't think he found out about our plans, but it turns out we had a couple of rats in our ranks."

"Do you think Darling would stab you guys in the back like that?"

Bandit shook his head almost immediately. "No, no. Darling and June's family have a long history within the equestrian military, at least twenty generations back. I highly doubt either of them are willing to taint that history with such negligence. That being said, it's likely the council won't find enough information to put any direct blame on her and will likely make a request to the princesses to perform an 'interrogation'."

Duena raised a brow at him as he made quotation marks with his hooves. "It's not a normal interrogation, is it? Are they going to torture her?"

"In a way, it is torture, just not in the way most ponies think," Bandit answered as he pushed himself back up onto his hooves with Duena following his direction. He began to stroll further down the narrow pathway, glancing behind to make sure Duena was with him. "It's a very invasive spell that they perform that allows the caster to peer into the memories of the creature they're casting it on. I had to have it done on myself whenever I joined. The Hierarch too. Every one of us has gone through that experience, and I don't think any of them wishes it upon anyone. They're desperate to find that hippogryph character though."

Duena didn't say anything after that and continued to follow down the path, letting the information Bandit had just given her sink in.

"A lot of ponies think the Hierarch is some maniac with a lot of power, but really she's just a mare under a lot of pressure right now," Bandit continued moments later. "The Princesses want results and they're getting impatient. The sooner this whole thing can be flipped over the sooner the Princesses can start recouping losses. It's a lot of taxpayer money going down the drain right now."

"Why don't they just abandon the program altogether?" Duena asked out of curiosity.

Bandit quietly chewed on the question for a few moments before he said, "I'm not really sure. I'm certain they have their reasons, but I couldn't tell you. Maybe they just want that bastard's head on a silver plate. Anyway, let's get this shift over."

Hours later Duena and Bandit headed back inside the compound and loitered around the small outside armory stand that was set underneath the stairs leading up to the upper platforms, casually chatting up the fellow running it after their patrol. "No, I'm telling you! This fuckin' guy jams his spear up into the wall and snaps the thing in half trying to get it out, right? Then he comes to me expecting me to just give him a new one for free like these things grow on trees? He knows they cost at least a hundred bits a pop, and that's if you're buying the cheap ones."

Bandit shook his head. "You know some ponies, they can be that way. Whatcha thinking, Dee?"

"I'm trying to figure out how this is supposed to work," Duena replied, looking at an iron ball with spikes protruding from it.

"Oooh, she's got good taste there, bud," the pony running the stand said with a short laugh. "That there is tail flail. Attaches to your armor, you spin 'round and smack baddies with it."

Duena gave the two stallions a side glance, raising a brow. "Seems a little impractical."

The stallion snickered and sat back against the wall. "She's smart too! It's a novelty item, never seen a pony make any good use out of it, just hang it up with their collection." He paused and looked past them, clicking his tongue. "Looks like you two have trouble headed your way."

Duena and Bandit looked behind them to see the Hierarch strolling toward them from the main stairway. It was the first time Duena had seen the Hierarch without her intricate armor covering her body, instead, a red flowing gown covered her white coat and dragged across the ground. "Bandit, just the stallion I was looking for. We need to talk for a moment," The Hierarch said as she approached and gave a dismissive look to Duena. "Privately."

Bandit furrowed his brow at the Hierarch and sat down. "I'm not really in the mood for pleasantries tonight, Hierarch, so unless privacy is absolutely necessary I'd rather keep this short. I would like to enjoy my night."

The Hierarch natural gaze shifted to a more annoyed one at Bandit's comment before she let out a long sigh. "Very well. Darling and June came and spoke to me earlier about a few things," she said and gestured for the two to follow her. "Darling and I talked about the investigation going on and she understands the weight of our situation here. She offered to undertake an interrogation in order to help speed up the process. I've already had her sign all of the necessary paperwork and had it sent to Canterlot, so approval papers should arrive by the morning. Darling and June also want a transfer out of your unit."

Duena and Bandit both followed the Hierarch while she made her way down the main stairway at a leisurely pace with Duena flanking her left and Bandit her right side. "I can understand her wanting to go through with an interrogation, but a transfer? I'm not sure why either of them would want that, as far as I'm aware they both feel pretty strongly about their positions here," Bandit said with some concern in his tone.

"Neither of them really said why, but I'm not here to dig for information not pertaining to my current mission," the Hierarch said and stopped to stand in one of the many hallways. "I didn't approve or deny their transfer requests because I wanted your opinion on it first, but since I'm working on getting everyone transferred out to different regions that need the help I don't see any issue with having the moved to another area. I'll just have to move your section to a low-threat area until I can get you reliable replacements. One way or another you're losing at least one soldier."

"Let me talk to them tomorrow before the interrogation and I'll you know. Sound good?" Bandit said after a moment of thought.

The Hierarch gave a curt nod. "Let me know if there's anyone here you feel would make a good replacement for either of the two. I'll make a transfer notice as soon as I can. In the meantime I want you and the rest of your unit to start packing tomorrow, you will all be relieved of duties until the move."

Bandit returned the nod before the Hierarch went off her own way and left the two again. "Well, that wasn't the news I was expecting."

"Think it has to do with Jolt?" Duena questioned while she and Bandit went back into the main stairway and walked further down.

"Likely, though, I still want to talk to them. At this point, I'm not going to restrain them since our work here is done and we'll probably be waiting at least a couple of weeks for new orders. So, if they want to leave, they can leave," Bandit said with a heavy sigh. "I'm going to go shower and relax, I'll see you around."

Duena nodded. "Sure, sure. Take care."