Into Ashes: Act II

I take the bomb, placing it carefully into my backpack. The water sloshes inside, and the whole thing wobbles about between my hands. Some part of me fears that at any moment, it could explode right in my face. But as it comes to rest in the pouch, my confidence is restored, and our handywork proves sturdy. Buddy Duke comes down the tunnel with a basket between his teeth. Cradled in the shoddy woodwork, three sets of radios and binoculars. He hands a set to me, but I turn away the binoculars as my rifle is quite superior. He hands a set to Twinkleshine, and saves one for himself.

I will admit, this type of infiltrate and extract mission was not something I was able to apply much after my training. Everything is always different when it’s the real deal. The team of three other scouts I worked with, not months ago, often found ourselves performing sets of much less intensity. Never anything with so many unknown parameters, so much unpredictability and such little intel. I am used to working with unfamiliar faces, but in The Rainy Days, I could rely on knowing we had all done the training. All of us knew our places and always knew what to do and when. But now I’m an ace matched with two wildcards. I know I can only hope they know what they’re doing. But I also know that nature always sides with the hidden flaw. Hopefully Twinkleshine and all of her bullheadedness won’t interfere with our chances of success.

Ahead of us down the hall is the cave’s exit. I see the moon cropping up just above the smooth hills in the far off. Its dim light shines down on us through the mouthy exit. I had come so close to leaving through here before, freedom was just within my reach. But now I’ll leave with an obligation to remain imprisoned.

Twinkle and Duke take a moment to look to the moon and bow their heads. They whisper “Luna, grant us strength. Guide us through your hallowed realm. Give us your grace so we may return.” I abstain from joining them in such a ridiculous notion, but I do keep my lack of interest in their hokey religion to myself. I stay strong knowing I am righteous by my own light. No divine intervention can be found with me, not here. Even if it did I would ignore it. I am more than competent enough to make it through it all and come back. Even when all seems lost, and the end is but seconds away, a fighter with his two hands and nothing to lose can always turn the tide. Should things go south, we can always fall back on our bomb.

Twilight joins us just as I finish strapping my bag shut. She pulls a cart behind her. And on that cart, my promised gear; my knife, my rifle and silencer, but only two ten round magazines. “As we agreed,” she says, “Here are your belongings.”

“Where’s the rest of my ammo. I had more than this.”

“It’s all I’m willing to spare. I still have my reasons to not give you everything back yet. Remember, you can’t just go around killing everypony. This should be enough, if you run into trouble.”

“Trust goes both ways, you know.”

“Yes, you’re right. But I have presented you with my side of the deal, and now it's your turn to present me with yours.”

“..Fair enough. Just one question. What exactly am I looking for? What does an Element even look like?”

“It won’t be hard to notice. It’s a golden necklace with a red jewel shaped like a lightning bolt in the middle. You can’t miss it. Good luck, Jax. Good luck to all of you. I know this is just a start but it puts us much further ahead than we’ve ever been. Do what you must. But please do everything you can to come back home. The excavation site isn’t far, but time is running short. The fate of Equestria lies with you, and may the wisdom of the solar and lunar princesses guide you. Now go.”

With that, I take my gear and Twilight leaves. What a relief it is to finally have my lifelong friend back in my hands. I load a magazine, a revel in all the ticks and clicks as I chamber a round. I let the bolt slam forward, the round locks in place and is ready to be fired with just my squeeze of the trigger. 20 rounds? I could do a lot of damage with that. But not without sliding on the silencer over the barrel, and twisting it until it locks. There, now she’s ready for war.

Twinkleshine and Buddy Duke both thank Twilight as she walks away, both of them smiling and filled with hope. Duke is the first to leave the safety of the cave. I walk to his left, and Twinkle to his right. And now, back out into the ashen hell we go, our spirits high, and our confidence at full. I take a deep breath. Finally, after so many days held captive in that musty cave, the smell of freedom is all around me. Crisp and clear, just like the night in which we stroll towards our target. Not a single bit of dust floats around, and no wind to sully the stillness. My companionsalso enjoy the quiet night. They seem so much more alive with the light of the moon shining down upon them. “Can you feel it Twink? Can you feel her spirit?” Duke asks, presumably referring to Princess Luna.

“Yes, I feel it Duke.” she says somberly. “If only she were still alive. This whole thing could have been avoided.” She makes a sharp glance over to me. I keep my head and eyes forward, ignoring her snide tactic. But I know there are no spirits left. Princess Luna was killed long ago. But somehow their unshaken faith in her seems to me to be so.. authentic. Even after the world has been burned, ruined beyond any point of recovery, they still hold true to their faith. And along with the unexplainable apparitions I’ve been experiencing, I find it all… Unanswerable.

For several crawling minutes, we walk in almost total silence. Their hoofs clot against the ash, my boots crunch into it, the water on my back sloshes, and we listen to our own private thoughts. It is all that staves off the quiet awkwardness of our trio that prevails over our supposed comradery.

“So where exactly is this place?” I ask, finally putting an end to the sound of silence.

Duke answers “It’s not far. It’s to the southeast, just passed where the Everfree Forest touches Ramble Rock Ridge.”

“Whatever those places are.” But I notice that based on the position of the moon, we are headed in a different direction. “Wait, southeast? Aren’t we headed northeast right now?”

“We are, but we have to head wide to the east so we don’t have to cut through the Everfree Forest.”

“There are no forests anymore.”

“There aren’t, you're right, but the Everfree isn’t your typical forest. It still creeps with the dark spirits of evil magic. Even after The Inferno.”

“We know what we’re doing Jax.” Twinkle says.

“I sure hope you do. I’ve got a lot riding on this mission.” I reply.

“What and you don’t think we do?”

“I’m sure you do. I’m just not interested in it the same way you are.”

“I don’t know why you wouldn’t be! You’re kind of stuck here with us now!”

“True. But I have my own agenda to follow. As soon as I’m done getting these Elements, I’m out of here.”

“Well good. Let’s just get there faster then so you can leave sooner.”

“Well let’s also do it quietly.” Duke says to keep us at bay.

“What’s got you so upset with me anyway?” I ask sarcastically. “We’re a team now aren’t we?”

“What do you mean what has you so upset?! You destroyed my home! You tried to kill me!”

“I was just following orders. I did what I had to do. Never thought I’d end up here though. Plus, I wasn’t going to kill you.”

“Jax I swear. If this mission goes south I’m blaming it on you. I might just kill you myself and --”

“Aww cheer up Twink.” Duke interrupts. “There’s no need to be so sour! We’re a team!”

“Ugh you keep saying that but it’s only true on paper!”

I chortle. “What paper?” Twinkle grits her teeth and growls at me for that joke about how any sort of paper is now ash.

“You just think what you did is so great don’t you!” She says. “I lost everything! Everypony lost everything!”

“Twink, keep your voice down, come on! We’re supposed to be quiet! I mean I get you two hate each other but can we at least put it aside for now until the mission is over? Please?”

She lets out a huff and distances herself from us. We go on for the next few kilometers without even a whisper.

Eventually we come to a dirt road. “Alright now we just have to follow this road all the way there.” Duke says. I look over to Twinkle who is much farther away from Duke than I am. She walks with her head down, a saddened expression covers her face as thoughts of something dark takes her focus away from the task at hand. It brings out my curiosity to see that there is a mood other than Hate inside her. Whatever that mood may be, it distracts her enough that I have to get her attention back on track with us as we change course. As we follow the road, I have us space ourselves away to decrease any chances of detection. The weather may be nice, but it only aids our chances of being spotted in the open. But the entire way we’ve come, I’ve noticed a distinct lack of any guards or patrols. I also keep my eye out for drones, but they come up just as absent. Duke and Twinkle both seem fairly relaxed, no fear of running into either at all. The situation has me on edge. My instincts tell me that being so blatantly out in the open, we are sure to be spotted before we even get there. And yet nothing happens. We just walk freely over the moonlit ash. The peaceful night air still holding clear. No wind, no swithering dust, the vista is just as clean as it was before we ever touched this planet.

We follow the road for a while until it splits in three directions. We take the road heading north. With our change in direction comes a change in terrain. Soon, the smooth plains give way to jagged rock. The road itself is enveloped between the mountains, flanked on both sides by tall, crumbling hills. It winds and cuts through the land like a slithering snake as we enter Ramble Rock Ridge. We all gather our wits, and focus on our senses as we crawl deeper into hostile lands. We stop occasionally and use the higher grounds as lookout points to survey the path ahead, in case we are to run into any wandering patrols. I put my rifle with its advanced optics to great use. But still, for all of our journey, all scans come up blank. As we get closer to our objective, more and more do we become keen to the dangers. We soon take turns bounding forward. I go ahead of my team, and scan around the sharp corners to make sure it's clear. Then they go forward to the next point under my cover. Over and over again, always watching and always careful. Between these jagged hills and valleys, the light of the moon is all but blocked out. Our approach is silent, and grows slower as we gain more ground, until finally, we come to within sight of Hill 514.

We all crouch down behind a toppled stack of stones. “Okay, we’re here.” Twinkleshine says in a hard whisper. “Duke, it’s time. The way ahead is clear.”

“Alright, finally!” He whispers back. “I’ll head up the hill. I’ll let you two know when I’m ready and I’ll cover your guy’s way in.” He crawls up the hill, but after just a few feet of sneaking, he stops for a radio check to ensure all of our radios are working.

They all work. We all take a deep breath, and set our sights on victory. Duke continues his slow crawl up the rocky hillside with his binoculars and radios at the ready. Twinkle and I wait as we watch him disappear into the shroud. We both sit just next to each other in almost pitch-black darkness. The tension we feel builds the longer we wait for Duke. “Something’s not right.” Twinkle says. “This area used to be a lot more built up.”

“Well doesn’t that just sound like a promising start. Means there’s less to deal with.” I reply.

“Yeah, but it also means they’re packing up! They might have found it already!”

We wait. And wait.. And wait. There is only our chances to diminish as time stacks against us. Until finally we get a call from Duke telling us he’s in position. “Okay. I’m here. Got a great view from up here, not a lot of dudes out tonight, not as many as last time. Jax lift your head up so I can see you.” he says.

I know he won’t see me in this dark, but I raise my head anyway. “See me?”

“Uhh.. I think? Is that you? Move around!”

I stand, and move away from Twinkle. This is pointless. Never have I ever relied on such crude equipment for such a delicate operation. “See me now?”

“Uhh.. Nope, unless you turned into that boulder right there.”

“Well that’s just great.” I shove my radio back into my pocket. “Well Twinkle, we’re gunna have to move up with his cover.”

“I see some light down the road to the left, if we hurry there, Duke can pick us up.”

“What’s the rush? We got all night, we might as well wait until the moon rises over the cliffs.”

“What good would that be! The just makes us easier to spot! Come on, we need to get moving.”

I lean around the rock, looking ahead for signs of trouble. My scope reviels every last detail, nothing can hide from its electronic eyes. But all is cold and blue, not a single hint of yellow of something warm. No towers, no guards, it’s clear.

As I motion Twinkle forward, she takes off in a bold canter. Brave, but brash. Clearly she still wants to distance herself from me at the expense of teamwork. But I follow crouched behind her. After just a few softened steps, a huge blot of yellow fills my scope. A cart pulled by three equine, with eight more as passengers passes ahead of us from left to right, leaving the site. “Twinkle get down!”

But she ignores me. She only crouches down and keeps trotting. What is she doing!

The cart passes only 150 meters away. I know the darklight eyes of the equine are more keen than my own without aid. But with good luck, none in the cart ahead look our way. If they did, they might not have seen us this far, but Twinkle does not slow. Once the cart passes, I catch up to her. “What are you doing! Are you trying to get us caught!”

“We don’t have time to be slow! This place used to be way more built up than it is now. It looks like they’ve taken everything that was here down. They’ve probably already found the Element, we need to get a move on!” She keeps up her canter. Not far ahead, the road splits into a T, and we follow left to enter the compound. We stay away from the road, crawling flat on our bellies as we climb a shallow hill. The moment we crest the hill, we see it. We see the entire compound. Everything is set up just like in the briefing. The guard towers stand tall, the main gate has its two sentries, and wooden crates are scattered all along the roadside. I see another guard standing near a crate under a flickering floodlight, just across from the lowground we’re supposed to use. Light pours from the first tower, a unicorn uses his horn as a spotlight to scan the entire lowground. The terrain ahead of us drops steep, like a natural staircase all the way down until it flattens out to the lowground.

I hear Twinkle speak over the radio. “Security’s dropped a lot since last time.”

“I see it too.” says Duke. “I really hope they haven’t found it yet.”

“There’s only one way to find out. We’re moving in.”

I crawl over to Twinkleshine. “So how do you suppose we get passed the two at the main gate?”

“I don’t know. Those guards have pretty good visibility of our way in.”

“What’s wrong? You seemed pretty confident you knew what you were doing earlier.”

“Oh, stop it! This is not the time!”

“I could just use my rifle.”

“No! Look, they’re moving anyway.”

As the two guards chatter between themselves, they walk down the road away from the gate, but right our way. They follow in the same path as the cart did earlier. “Welp. That’s our ticket.” I whisper.

We keep low as they pass us, laying flat on our backs and watch them. They’re close enough I can almost hear their hushed voices. Twinkle starts breathing heavy, fearing we might be spotted. All we can do is stay still and hope they don’t look our way. But they pass, never thinking to check around.

We crawl over the hill. Now, we have our chance. We go steep step by steep step to the lowground. Our only worry is that wandering spotlight. It scans back and forth, not an inch of ground is not covered wherever its light sets. But it's our best way in, the main gate still has eyes covering it.

Twinkle hops down the first step. Her hooves hit with a hearty C-Clot! and she stops to wait for me. I, keeping in good noise discipline, set the bomb down and carefully climb down.

C-Clot! She drops to the next. Clearly different in our definitions of Stealth, but it almost seems as if she’s testing me or our luck. I’m not sure which.

We go down drop by drop, all the way to the bottom. Just as I pick up my bag for the last step, the searchlight flows our way. I freeze, seeing Twinkle right in its path. But she darts behind a stone ramp, barely saving herself. The light comes to just inches from my feet, and stops. I scoot away, holding my breath, but there’s hardly any room to move away. My heels glow faint near the light’s edge, the guard knows there’s something here. But the light swings away, no alarms are sounded, and I make the final drop.

I join Twinkle at the ramp. Before I even settle in, she’s already crawling her way up. But as she crests the ramp, she shoves herself right back down beside me, alarm and fret on her face. She breathes heavily, she had not been prepared to find a guard standing just across the road looking her way. She continues to lay there. I have no idea what's going on over the hill, but Twinkle’s unchanging expression has me concerned that she's already blown our cover. But nothing other than her breathing is heard. Still no alarms, and no shouting.

When she sees me crawling up beside her, her mood fires back to uncaring angst. I try take a peek across the road for myself. But before I even look over, Twinkle’s hard hoof clots down on my head, and she pushes us all the way back down the ramp.

“What was that for!” I whisper, wholly annoyed.

“There’s a guard right there! He's right across the road!”

“Well no shit! Sit back, I can take him out.”

“No! I’m not letting you kill him! Didn't you hear Twilight? We can’t just go around killing everypony!”

“Well how do you suggest we get passed him then?”

“I can take him myself!”

“What are you, crazy? That’ll get us spotted for sure! Stay here, I can deal with him with my weapon.” I crawl up at get ready to fire. Finally, now's my chance to put my pride and joy to use. I power down to the lowest setting, switch off circuits two through ten. At this low setting, a shot to the head will fracture his skull, and put him to bed for a nice nap. He won’t even know what hit him, might not even remember it when he wakes up.

“No no! What are you doing!” she huffs as I get set. I come up just enough for a good angle, judging all factors to land the bullet center mass on his head. I know how far he is, and I know how fast the bullet will drop. I line up for the perfect shot.

But my heart drops as I see Twickle charge across the road, in full view beneath the floodlight. She tackles the guard, he lets out a loud Oof! She holds his throat down with one hoof, gets in a few quick jabs with the other, and darts off to the shadows behind the crates. I still find myself at awe that alarm has yet to be raised.

She waves me over. I can’t believe how irrational she is! She's becoming more and more of a liability the longer this goes on!

I consider sending a round at her head myself, it might save me trouble in the future to take her out now. Something in her ego compels her to put her pride before everything else, and that could quite possibly be our downfall.

I’m already lined up for the shot. My finger rests on the trigger. It has an itch, and I so dearly want to scratch it, but I stop myself. Though I can easily follow through and say she was taken out by a guard, it wouldn't be right. Plus, I might end up needing her later. Possibly as a way to cover my ass as I escape with the Element.

I look across the road both ways, and see no one. The way across is clear. I run low, smooth, and quick across, and make it without being spotted. “What. Is your. Problem.” I say as I meet her in the shadows.

“Look, we’re fine. I took out the guard, we’re fine. And now we’re where Buddy Duke can see us.” She raises her radio. “Duke you see us? We’re just past the main gate on the far side of the road.”

“Yep! I see you now. Might wanna hide that body though, but good job taking him out. They still look like they have no idea you're here.”

“Jax hide the body.”

“What!”

“You heard me.”

“Oh no, I do not take orders from you!”

“What, do you really think I can lift him by myself!”

“FFFine.” I take the body with one hand and drag him beside us behind the crates. There aren’t any other places to hide him, this will have to do. I let go of the body, and Twinkle’s already moving away to cause more trouble. I force her hard against the crate. “Twinkle stop. Whatever you're doing, just stop. You can't keep this up and expect us to stay hidden!”

“Don't you get it! We’re almost out of time! It may not be as big a deal to you as it is to me, but we can’t just keep crawling around like you want to!”

“I get that we don't have a lot of time! But --”

“Look, if you're going to be slow and afraid like a baby and not take the right risks, then I’ll take them for you. If we run into trouble we can just fall back on your bloodthirsty instincts to cover our escape.”

“I can see you two arguing down there.” Duke says. “Get a move on!”

Twinkle trots away behind the crates. I look at her, still completely aggravated at just how irrational she is. “Heads up guys, there’s a patrol coming down the road towards you two!” Duke warns.

We shove our backs to the crates. We are well hidden, sandwiched between the cliff leading up to the excavation site, and the crates themselves. The road is just behind us. Soon we here the cart wheels rolling along. Duke keeps us filled it, it seems like they’re heading out of the compound. Good, that’s just less trouble to deal with later.

Looking up, I can see the entrance to the excavation site peeking over the cliff. From what I can tell, rather than a gate or something keeping it closed, it appears that the entrance is merely just a gap in the wall. No doubt there will be a significant number of guards on overwatch around it.

Twinkle and I wait silently side by side, listening in on the cart rolling over the road. It passes behind us, from our left to our right. “Okay, you guys are clear.” Duke says. Before we go any further, we have to cross a large gap between this crate and the next. Twinkle's up first. She checks around the corner, and sees the tail end of the cart. She looks to me, nods with certainty, and makes a silent dash across the short space. I take my turn, and just as I’m checking around the corner, I hear the cart come to a stop some ways down the road. “Uh Jax, you two need to hurry up, the cart’s stopped. Oh no, they’re getting out, I think they know something’s up because there’s no guard at the gate anymore.”

Fantastic.

I dash across. Ahead of us now is open ground. The road bears straight until it forks off to the trail, leading up the hill to the site’s entrance. Around the corner of this crate is the guard tower, set up just on the other side of the road from us. If I were to go out now with this noisy bomb on my back, it might tip off the guard in the tower. I don’t see any obstacles between here and the excavation site, so perhaps here is just as good a place as any to plant it.

As Twinkle slowly skirts down the crate, I set my backpack down, flat to the ground. In the darkness, I fumble around in search of the clips holding it closed. I find them, open the bag, and very carefully set the bomb in place. Twinkle shoots a look to me as if to say “Why here? I thought we were going to need it?” But this is exactly where I want it.

With the guards searching the area around the gate, Twinkle and I have no choice but to move forward into the open. We check our corners, paying the most attention to the guard tower that’s not even 20 meters to our left, and both crawl along beside the road. We take it as slow and quiet as we can. Our sneaking silence through the inky black raises no attention to the tower, who still keeps his focus on the low ground. Duke warns us about a guard ahead of us walking down the road.

We both stop dead, and see her coming straight at us. I ready my rifle. Through my thermals I see her, walking alone in the middle of the road just beyond the fork. She does not take the trail leading up to the site, she’s coming right at us. Twinkle and I have no option but to remain still and hope we are not discovered. If I fire now, the tower guard might hear it. I also hear the voices of the patrol behind us. “Spread out and find him!” one of them yells.

We’re boxed in.

Up ahead, halfway between us and the fork, I spot a low hanging rock. If we can get to it, we can use it to climb the cliff and avoid the hazardous trail all together. Trouble is, is that the guard ahead has full view over it. I have but one option, to finally put my rifle to use.

Twinkleshine starts crawling forward.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

“Twinkle stop! Stop right there, there’s a guard coming right for you.” I hear Duke loudly whisper into the radio. But she ignores it and continues forward. My only idea for why, is she plans to take the guard herself.

But I take aim, just over Twinkleshines head as she moves like a slug over the ground. I press a button with my thumb to get a range. She is only 40 meters away. I line the crosshair up with the guard’s chest. An impact there will minimize any vocalizations she could make as she’s hit. I wait for the right moment, but Twinkle’s own body covers most of the guard and prevents a clean shot. 35 meters. Twinkle continues forward just the same as the guard. Duke continues to try to sway her from moving, but she continues to ignore him. 30 meters. Twinkle turns her radio off. 25 meters. I see just enough over Twinkle’s head that I might make the shot. Her horn still blocks most of my view. As she crawls, it moves side to side. A perfectly timed shot will be required to not hit her on accident. Even in my annoyance with her I must prevent myself from doing so intentionally. 20 meters. It’s amazing the guard hasn’t seen us yet. She must not be paying attention.

I use the rangefinder once more and make my own corrections. This is a shot I cannot afford to miss. A red dot hovers at the guard’s chest which I use to align my crosshairs. I take the shot.

Ss-thook.

The silencer does an excellent job suppressing the weapon, but not completely. The round graces Twinkle’s mane, but finds its mark dead center in the chest of my target. In what sounds like a stifled cough, she’s knocked backwards off her hooves and she falls to the road. I throw myself on my back and take aim at the tower, now all too concerned that the guard therein may have heard us. And it would appear that he did. He waves his light around frantically in the lowground. Luckily for us, he may have heard the noise but he does not know where it came from.

With the guard tower on full alert, and the other guard now lying motionless in the wide open, Twinkle and I rush forward. We keep a watchful eye to the tower, fearing he might look our way. But with just enough luck and in just enough time, we make it to the climbing point I spotted earlier. Twinkle continues forward to the fork. I grab her back hoof. She snaps her head back with a spiteful gaze, but I direct her attention to the rock face to our right. Rather than following the undoubtedly guarded trail, we can climb these rocks and cut our distance to the excavation site more than in half. I creep up onto my feet and grip the first hand hold I can find. The rocks are low and jagged, just enough for me to find my grip and hoist myself up. I turn to assist Twinkle, who is unable to climb it on her own. She is not well suited for any kind of rocky escalation, not without my help. I yank her up beside me.

While the guards hasten with their investigation, Twinkle and I retreat up the cliff, climbing foothold by foothold towards our goal. We make it half way up, and ahead of us now is a raised concrete platform with a tarped-over fence lining its edges. It is impossible to see what is beyond. The rock face ahead is almost too sharp to climb. With that in mind, here might be our only way up the rest of the trail. Just as I reach the concrete, what Twinkle and I feared as only being inevitable happens. A horn is heard blown down below. There is shouting, the whole compound is now on high alert. Guards scurry up and down the trail and Twinkle and I press our backs to the concrete, and hope they don’t decide to look around it.

Several groups come galloping up and down the trail, cutting off our way forward. The risky, rocky cliff is now the only option. I reach back, and grasp firm to the cliff. Swinging down, I catch myself, holding as best I can with my hands and feet clinging where they fit. Twinkle makes the same move, but with nothing to grip, she slips, and falls straight over. Somehow she holds in her scream, but I see all of that fear in her frightful eyes. But I catch her by a hoof, struggling to keep my hold on practically nothing with one hand less. Her weight nearly pulls me too far, my fingers cramp, straining to keep hold. I swing her ahead of me, and her hind hooves luckily find a place for her to stand, just barely. Both of us are on our last edge. All it would take is an ill fated gust of wind to knock us off. But we slowly find our bearings, just enough to keep moving. We climb up, finding a firm place to stand just below the trails edge. Duke advises us on when and when not to move. As a patrol passes by over our heads, he stops us. But as they go, he gives the all clear and we carry on. Along the rock face we go, our backs pressed to its stabbing sheet tightly, and moving in stutters. Soon the trail above makes a sharp left. The rock face follows it, but evenly levels off just where the entrance meets the trail. We are forced to keep ourselves low to the ground the further we go on as, what used to be a sheer cliff now flattens into smoothened ground. Patrols sweep by mere meters away, completely unaware that we are just below them right at the edge. Twinkle and I both look to each other afraid, unsure of how to advance through the entrance. It’s right there, we’ve come so close and now the shining gate to our victory is within reach. But we see no way in, too many eyes cover it. Keeping my head low, I take a quick peek over the edge to see what sorts of defences and obstacles they have set up inside. The area just beyond the entrance is lit by weak torchlight. There are no obstacles, the first several meters inside are flat and open. I see behind that, is a concrete barrier. And much to my surprise, or lack thereof, that barrier is manned by a lone equine who keeps his eyes fixed on the entrance. But passing in the open in front of him, dozens of Mustang’s cronies all scurry back and forth, all frantic in their galloping to find out what’s going on. This is it. This is what is supposed to be the hardest part of the mission, getting passed the gate and into the site. And indeed difficult does it seem, as I myself see no way of getting inside while still keeping our stealth. But we’ve come so far, everything until this point has gone relatively smoothly and none of us have been discovered. There has to be a way, I refuse to give up now as I am so vigorously energized by the tension.

How could there be so many equine left in our wake? How did we miss so many? I was sure at first that we had killed them all.

Another cart patrol comes barrelling out through the gate, bolting right passed us and down the trail. As they pass I have to keep my head down, but once gone, I hear Duke coming in quietly over the radio. “Hey, it’s clear, the entrance is clear, go now! Wait - shit, they might have found me. There’s a team coming up the hill, I have to move. I’m sorry, I’ll get back to you when I can. Just stay there!”

“Duke! Duke!” Twinkle whispers hard into her radio, trying time and time again to hail him but to no avail. We look out to Hill 514, but through the darkness, we see nothing but its blackened figure against the glittering sky. Twinkle looks to me worried, as we now face a dilemma. Security at the gate is tight, but less now than any other time. Duke is now in a position to possibly be captured. We no longer have his cover to guide us. We could abort the mission altogether, Twinkle and I still have yet to be discovered, and can use what slim surprise we have left to make an escape. Or we could abandon Duke and let him fend for himself, with no clear answer to his fate. But we have to make a move now.

Twinkle and I share the same look and same thought. The only way to go is forward, without Duke. There is too much to be lost for the value of one soul. Right now, there is only one guard that overlooks the way ahead. We must move quick, our only window to make it in is sliding shut. If I can take him out, and some of the torches, we should be able to finally get in. That’s exactly what I’ll do.

I rest my rifle on the trail’s edge. It stock rests comfortably notched to my shoulder. I couldn’t have a better angle. He’s only 60 meters away. I line up the shot..

But just as all comes into place, another guard bursts onto the scene, headed right for me. He slides to a stop as I duck down. No doubt he’s seen me. I hear him trotting our way. And as I look left, I spot another guard coming back up the trail towards him. “Hey, cover me!” the guard yells. “I think I found one of them!

“Gotcha covered, go check it out!”

Here it is, our efforts to remain undetected have expired. I have no choice but to eliminate these guards, and any others that now stand in our way. To think we’ve come so far, avoided so much, and we’re not even halfway done. Only halfway to being killed, for sure.

I know Twilight gave me orders not to kill, but I have nothing else to resort to. This is not a good angle for my rifle. I slide my knife from its sheath. It had been peacefully tucked away against my belt the entire time I’ve had it. But now I must let its fangs swing free.

I hear the guard right over me. Suddenly, his head looks over the cliff, and down. Our eyes lock. Just before he yells, I swing up with the knife. It drives right into his chest. I feel his bones crack and grind against the blade. Muscles tearing and ripping as I plunge straight and deep. Warmth leaks all over my hand, running down all over my arm. The guard falls limp in and instant. I pull forward. His body comes with it, and the knife rips away as he falls over the cliff’s edge. Twinkle gasps, holding a scream in behind her hooves as we both watch him tumble and flop against the rocks. Yet again must she witness the gruesome death of one of her own, before her very eyes.

The other guard sees her brother vanish over the edge. She shines her horn light right at us. She’s too far for a knife strike. I aim my rifle one handed, and take the shot as she raises alarm. There’s an audible crack! as the bullet finds its mark against her head. Her light expires, and she too meets the same fate as she tumbles over the edge, hitting every rock on the way down.

With no one else in sight, I take my aim back to the barrier sentry. He had been alerted to the commotion, and is leaving his post to investigate. He does not see me aiming at him, cloaked in blackness. But I pause, and have an idea. No doubt there are other wandering eyes covering the gate. If I can use this guard as a distraction to divert those eyes, we just might make it inside. I power my rifle up by one circuit. It softly whirs as more power is supplied to the coils, pulling more energy from the chambered round’s battery. Just as the guard comes from behind the barrier, I take aim at his shoulder joint. Another squeeze of the trigger, and the round shreds into its target. But it does not kill him, as intended. A bright splash of red spurts from his shoulder as the bullet buries deep. He falls to the ground, his agaony can be heard by all. Two more rounds, and I knock the torches off their mounts. They extinguish in the ash, and the once lit entrance falls dark and cold.

The guard wails on the ground, yelling, screaming in a pool of his own blood. The entrance is clear, the time is now or never. Twinkle makes one more attempt to raise Duke, but no response is heard. We must press on without him. We hop up onto the trail, and crawl to the gate. Our pulses ramp up on high, our heart beats louder than our shaky breaths as we struggle to restrain ourselves from making an all out dash to get inside. We watch the guard as he flails about, his shrieks can be heard all throughout the excavation site. It’s a haunting and harrowing experience for Twinkle, having to crawl on the ground as one of her own cries out in pain not far in front of her. But we manage our way in, and take cover in the veil of an exceedingly dark corner, just to our right. We huddle in its shadow in good timing, for just as we enter the site, several other ponies come galloping to the aid of their fallen brother, who screams now dwindle as bloodloss takes its toll. They do what they can to help him, and all the while Twinkle and I watch. I, in a calmed silence, and Twinkle, in horrified distress.

About a dozen or so other ponies of all kinds, Pegasus, Unicorn and Common all converge around the fallen guard. They try in speedy desperation to calm him and stop the bleeding. He pleas to them for the pain to stop, slurring his words but begging for help. A female pegasus holds his leg down to the ground, wrapping the wound with bandages. Her hooves and mouth shake violently as she too is wrought with fear for her brother’s life. He clings to her with one hoof on her shoulder, coughing blood onto her face as she fumbles with the bandaging. The shaken pegasus tries her best to wrap the wound, blood pouring out onto her hooves. I look on, she’s doing it all wrong. Soon the cries of the guard die down, his voice becomes soft as he breathes out his last futile words. He fades away to silence, falling limp in the care of the pegasus who had been so urgent to help him. His hoof slides from her shoulder, his head tilts slowly to the side, and he too perishes in the eyes of those who cared for him. Dead in a pool of his own deep red blood.

A strong looking Common Equine leaves the group, anger on his face and vengeance in his heart. He now presses himself with finding who was responsible for this crime. It just so happens that he begins to walk our way, to a crude metal door at my side. Once more my heart drops, it’s obvious to me that he means to pass where we lay. I couldn’t possibly take out all of these guards with what low stock of ammunition I have left. There’s simply too many, and there’s bound to be more still hiding within these walls. There is but one option. The bomb, I can finally use the bomb. I slowly pull the radio from my pocket. The equine continues marching slowly towards us, just on the cusp of seeing us in the dark. I keep my gaze locked onto him, ready to possibly kill as well should he get too close. I tune the frequency to 321, press down on the talk button, and listen. Nothing. No loud pop, no horrific explosion. Seconds pass, but still not a sound is heard. The guard continues to clamber. I jam the button several times, but still nothing. I drop the radio and pull my knife from its sheath once more.

At the very moment all hope seems lost, a titanic boom blasts from outside. The focus of every last equine ahead funnels to it. I watch through the gate, brightly shimmering fragments blast out in all directions from where the bomb was planted. The chunks of burning sodium pop and crackle into pieces smaller still, all sparkling and hissing as they scatter across the ground. Everyone files out the gate to confront the new threat, leaving the dead pony where he lie.

They always were so easy to distract.

A heavy sigh of relief. My lungs fill full as if I hadn't taken a breath the whole time. Despite all the brazen risks taken by Twinkle, we have managed to breach all defences, slip passed all guards, and now may begin our hunt for the Element. But it’s only a matter of time before they figure out the bomb was a ruse.

We now have a moment to survey the area within the walls. Directly behind us, a wooden wall with a door in the middle. Behind that, a set of several poorly constructed houses. To our immediate front facing north, several concrete barriers lined up one behind the other, all the way to the far wall of the site, and leading out another entrance. Halfway between the eastern wall and the northern entrance, an old, dilapidated castle in ruins. Much of it has fallen around where it once proudly stood, leaving only the first two levels and much of its stone framework as its legacy.

Twinkle tugs at my leg. “Now’s a good time to split up.” she says. “If we stick together we’re more likely to be caught again, but we can cover more ground and find the Element faster apart.”

It’s the first time I’ve ever agreed with anything she’s said. “Right. I’ll take these houses behind us.”

“Okay, I’ll go forward and search around the castle. Keep close to your radio, but only talk if something important happens.”

With not a guard in sight, she makes a break for the far side. I come to my feet, and slowly push through the door in the wall, my rifle drawn and finger with its itch. The moment I open the door, I see the tail end of a frantic guard disappear around the corner of the farthest shanty house. A door is heard swinging open and then slamming shut. Perhaps he saw me as I made my entrance. The houses are arranged in a two by three grid, he so happened to run behind and into the one just across from the shanty directly to my left. I fully emerge through the door, letting it close quietly behind me with one hand, my rifle in the other. I hug the wall, crouched, slowly making my way along it and stopping at the corner. I peek around. It’s clear, no guards down this alley that separates the two rows of houses. Just across the gap, on the front of the shanty the pony had slipped into, another door. I hop the distance, pressing my back to the wall and listen. Listening for any noise that might allude me to the numbers inside. I hear nothing, but this is a moment I cannot ignore. Should this pony be alone I can capture him and question him. He may hold knowledge of the Element’s exact whereabouts. It’s a risky decision, as just as likely, the shanty could be a barracks, and be filled with other equine ready to strike at me the moment I breach the door. I could handle this however. They are no match for me in such close quarters.

I shimmy up to the door and bring myself to my feet. Once more I listen in, my ear against the thin wood. I hear a lone set of hooves, clotting away from the door where I stand. I grab the knob, turning it slowly. All the while I prepare myself for whatever I might meet inside. I take a deep breath. Here I go.

In a wild blaze of flowing fury, I charge into the room, blind to all senses but my instincts. I tackle him before he can even react, knife drawn and ready for anything. In an instant, I overpower him and grab his snout like a vice, pulling his neck straight up and forcing the knife against his skin. He squirms and fights, but all the futile flailing gets him nowhere as I lock him in a rear choke. He fights more, and I let him cut himself against my blade until he gets the message. All of this happens before the door could swing back shut.

“You scream, I kill you. You cooperate, I’ll let you live. Think very carefully about your next move, Equine. It could be your last.”

He still struggles in my clench. I press the knife even tighter, drawing blood from his neck until he forces himself calm.

“Now then, I have one question for you. You better spit it out without yelling. You’re here for the Element of Loyalty. Where is it.”

I release just enough pressure to let him talk. “I don’t know anything about where it’s at! We haven’t found it yet!”

“Not the answer I was looking for.” I constrict all around him, so tight that even his bones grind together. I get tighter and tighter until he’s blue in the face. “I bet you’ve already found it. Don’t think I can’t see you’re all packing up to go home. Wouldn’t it be nice to go home like everyone else? Where. Is it.”

“W-w-who are you.”

“Someone you shouldn’t trust with your life in their hands. And right now, my hands are closed around it. Now where is it.”

“I don’t knOW -”

I slide my arm under his chin and squeeze tight. “You sure you want to play this game with me?”

I hold the knife to slit his throat, cutting it as a threat. All of the sudden I’m interrupted by shouting outside. They sound close, and they’re only coming closer. With the equine still in my hold, I scoot to press my back against the wall and listen. The pony hears it too, and does all he can to cry for help. I silence him by driving the point of the knife slightly into his belly, the tip digging through his skin. He holds his breath, knowing the more he moves, the more he impales himself.

I keep my ear pressed to the wall. I hear hoofsteps clocking by outside, headed towards this very building we’re in right now. But they pass, they run right past us and down the alleyway outside. And so I press on with my own interrogation.

“Alright, that’s enough stalling.” I bring the knife back to his throat. “Where is it.”

“It’s in the castle. Bottom floor! We haven’t dug it up yet, just please let me go!”

“Now that wasn’t so hard was it?”

I let go just enough to make him think I’m about to release him. Soon as he feels free, I crank down all around, choking him until he falls blacked out.

I drop the limp corpse and sheath my knife. Once more, rifle ready, I exit the building through the door and back out into the dimly lit compound.

Bottom of the castle. Hmm, sounds pretty sketchy to me. But it’s my best lead. I’m sure I can handle whatever they throw my way. If I could make it through all of what I faced in the war, what they can trial with me now is simply childsplay.

I head down the alley to the last house. All has become too silent. But timidity will cause me more damage than boldness. Whatever may be going on, he who dares, wins.

I check around the corner. Nothing. The path to the castle is clear.

The castle is straight ahead, not more than 100 meters. A steel hill drops right down to the castle’s base. I head to the crumbling ruins, all is still silent as before.

Halfway there, a guard emerges from the 2nd floor. He sees me instantly, and without hesitation blows a horn to let all know I’m here. I quickly silence him with a chestshot, but the alarm has already been raised. I run for the castle, and behind me, two more equine come tearing around the corner to respond. I can’t keep spending ammo so frivolously, there’s got to be a way to out run them.

I make it under the castle's shadow, the two guards hot on my tail. I shoot round around the corner to see a huge whole in the castle walls. I catch its edge just as I blow by, stopping myself and without thinking, throw myself inside. Rampant unease courses through me, it was a risky move but it pays off. The two in tow pass me by, and I once again slip away as a ghost in the shadows.

Inside it is dark, and eerily silent. So quiet that I almost hear Nothing itself bouncing off the walls, filling my ears with a void in noise. It is also cold, I almost see my gray breath against the darkest black. My rifle again is my saving grace. Always at my side, and always ready to make seen what hides itself from all light.

The interior is full of scaffolding, sheets of plywood, and tools for digging. Straight ahead along the wall, a path delving deeper into the unknown. But this is where I must go. I didn’t come this far only to come this far. Whatever lies ahead will surely only bring me closer to my goal, and closer to my freedom.

I walk down the hallowing path.

It takes a sharp right turn, leading down and further underground. Certainly the point of no return. But at the bottom lay my prize. I will let nothing stop me.

Thoughts of my comrades enter my head as I tread the path invisible to light. I have not heard word nor whisper since we split, but surely if Twinkle or Duke ran into trouble, they would let it be known.. Or so I hope.

The path leads into an ever darker empty room. Each wall with is own path leading to who knows where. I stand in the middle, only able to guess which path might lead me closer to the Element. The deathly silence continues to echo in my soul. But a move must be made. I pick one path, and enter between its walls.

Out of nowhere, my scope fills with the yellow signature of a warm body. Before I even have time to pull the trigger, a telltale srinnng! of a summoned magic barrier kills the quiet. Two unicorns stand beforeme, working together to hold a layered shield to halt my advance. The other paths are quickly blocked off by the same bright blockades. It was a trap all along, I have been deceived! Though I saw this coming, my enemy knows me too well, they know my semi automatic weapon cannot fully break these powerful wards. I fire a round in futile frustration. It easily shreds the first layer apart, but the backups stall enough for it to be resummoned.

A voice rings out from behind me, filling the whole room as if spoken through a megaphone. “Well well well. Look who finally decided to quit their game of shadows.” it says in a smooth, cultured accent. I look behind me, and standing between a pair of unicorns, a deep orange pony with a suave brown mane, and an eager grin of contentment. “I’ve been expecting you, Human.”

I have no doubt in my mind that this smiling unicorn is their ring leader. This must be him. This is Prince Mustang himself.