Winter's Wrath

by Chief Big Tree

Chapters

Operation "Revival"
An Unexpected Visit
Second Attempt
Defiance
Ghosts of the Past
Insanity
Regret
Reveal
Capture
The Sacrifice of One
A Helpful Hoof
Final Chapter: Dead Eye

Operation "Revival"

December 24, in the mountain range outside of Canterlot

Temperature: -40 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 12:01 A.M.

“Pull the trigger damn it!” Six yelled over the radio, straining to fight back against the royal guard. Three sweated profusely, shaking with nervousness. His hoof on the trigger, his eye looking down the scope, the crosshair on Luna’s head, Three inhaled.

And pulled the trigger.

______________________________________________________________________

Operation “Revival”: Recruitments

==Lieutenant Colonel Shadow “Dead Eye” Rider > Professional sharpshooter. Can spot movement exceptionally well from all distances. Taken down numerous high value targets with ease in past missions. Can handle extreme conditions exceptionally well. Recruited as primary sharpshooter for the operation. (TYPE) Earth Pony (SEX) Male

Given # for operation: Three

Profile:

-Name: Shadow Rider > Name changed before enrollment in Equestrian Spec Ops. Birth name unknown.

Born and raised in Manehattan.

Father: Deceased three months after “Dead Eye”’s birth. Cause unknown.

Mother: Alive, but in hospital for terminal conditions. Not expected to last unless mission is completed.

Spec Ops Training:

-Mentor: Specter, former title holder of “Dead Eye” > Deceased due to the relentless conditions of the winter. Current “Dead Eye” carries out his missions. All major operations successful. One minor operation failure.

-Targets Assassinated and Major Operations completed:

Operation “Sand Man” > Successful public assassination of Ibex Empire leader.

X Weapon of choice: (Fire arm) Remington 700 Sniper Rifle, Bolt action

Operation “Last Breath” > Successful assassination of Germaney General of Army.

X Weapon of choice: (Improvisation/ Other) Water inhalation with no help [drown]

Operation “Pushing Daisies”: > Successful assassination of Cervidas Admiral of Navy.

X Weapon of choice: (Blade) Standard Spec Ops issued knife, 10.3” double sided blade

Operation “Revival” > To Be Announced

X Weapon of choice: To Be Announced

==Major NAME REMOVED > Served Equestrian Military for two years before enrollment in Equestrian Spec Ops. Also worked at the major Manehattan hospital, excellent in medical areas. Unskilled in fire arms area, may need assistance. Medical unit dispatched for operation. (TYPE) Pegasus (SEX) Female

Given # for operation: Four

Profile: CONFIDENTIAL

Spec Ops Training: CONFIDENTIAL

==Colonel NAME REMOVED > Mentally unstable, also suffers panic attacks under pressure. However, able to control these attacks exceptionally well. May need medical attention if attacks get out of hoof. Appears normal while suppressing mental fluctuations. Weapon specialist. (TYPE) Earth Pony (SEX) Male

Given # for operation: Two

Profile: CONFIDENTIAL

Spec Ops Training: CONFIDENTIAL

==Captain NAME REMOVED > Very strong in mental concentration. Eye sight is exceptionally well, able to spot a rabbit at thirty miles distant with no ocular assistance. Secondary sharpshooter assigned to operation. (TYPE) Pegasus (SEX) Female

Given # for operation: Six

Profile: CONFIDENTIAL

Spec Ops Training: CONFIDENTIAL

==Brigadier General NAME REMOVED > Deals with pressure exceptionally well. Expert in examining explosives and other complicate obstructions. However, eye sight is restrained, objects at twenty feet in distance too blurry to identify without ocular assistance from either contacts or glasses. Prefers contacts, says they are less likely to lose. Carries around a pair of glasses in case something goes wrong with contacts. (TYPE) Earth Pony (SEX) Female

Given # for operation: Five

Profile: CONFIDENTIAL

Spec Ops Training: CONFIDENTIAL

==Lieutenant Colonel NAME REMOVED > Exceptionally stealthy and guile. Expert in interrogating and pain inducement without fatal injuries. Uses magic to mask movements and maneuver through an area silently. However, prefers a blade as primary weapon, says they are far more silent and stealthy. Team members agree with this opinion, though they are not sure that it is enough to deal with some more elaborate situations. (TYPE) Unicorn (SEX) Male

Given # for operation: One

Profile: CONFIDENTIAL

Spec Ops Training: CONFIDENTIAL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Operation “Revival” > Current Objective

-Task: Successfully assassinate Princess Luna

Details: Princess Luna is staying in the royal castle tonight. Her room is heavily guarded, preventing any type of private assassination. Take down of the target will have to be public. Assassination will take place tomorrow during the meeting. “Dead Eye”, # Three for operation, is assigned as Primary shooter with NAME REMOVED, # Six for operation, as secondary shooter. Four other ponies are being taken along with them if any obstructions in the mission occur. They are being dropped of at Ponyville and will have to continue on hoof from there.

Status of operation: In progress, awaiting report from the team

______________________________________________________________________

December 23, just outside of Ponyville

Temperature: -36 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 11:27 P.M.

“How much longer until the town?” Three asked the stallion pulling the carriage along the snowy road.

“About a minute more. That’s it up there.” The stallion said through his face mask and heavy jacket, motioning his head in front of him. There was a town in the distance, barely able to see in the whiteout from the snow. The town the mission was assigned to was the royal city, Canterlot. The team was being taken to Ponyville, in which they would have to walk to Canterlot from there.

The winter take over had been raging on for a year now, the ponies of Ponyville creating underground gardens to grow their food. Other towns and cities in Equestria had also begun to grow food underground, trying to maintain enough for everypony to have. Few cities are surviving and thriving in the harsh conditions of the winter.

Princess Luna had been called to the royal palace for a meeting with Princess Celestia and six other ponies. The six ponies were known as the ones who had rid Princess Luna of her evil intentions a year earlier. The winter take over had been growing in strength ever since then, each day getting progressively worse than the last.

The terrain outside of the town was completely covered in snow and ice, gigantic heaps of snow accumulating over the course of the out-of-control winter. The night sky was blocked out by clouds above, almost no light getting through what so ever. The snow descending from the sky was not helping either, every direction a white haze. The light from Ponyville in the distance was just enough for it to be spotted from a distance. The town was surrounded in an orange glow, flicking as the torches lit through Ponyville flowed vividly in the wind. The road the carriage was being pulled along was bumpy and icy, preventing a comfy and cozy ride they were promised by the Spec Ops administration. The lit torches in and on top of the carriage flickered as they continued down the road to Ponyville.

“What is the status of the arrival in Ponyville?” Spec Ops Administration asked through Three’s headset.

“We're are not too far from the town. Everypony in the team seems to be alright.” Three said, putting a hoof up to his ear.

“Good. Debriefing will start as soon as you’re all listening.” Administration said. Three put his hoof up and motioned for the team to turn on their headsets.

“As you all know, Three and Six are the assigned shooters for the operation. Failure in the mission will not be acceptable. If both Three and Six miss, go to Plan B. If all fails and Plan B is not successful in completing the mission, retreat from the area immediately and do not to get captured. Come back to headquarters if mission fails, your failure in the mission will be dealt with once you get here. You will have to travel on hoof from Ponyville to Canterlot, so dress warm and don’t get frost bite, the operation may require all of you to attend it. Good luck.” Administration said through the team’s headsets. The team turned off their headsets.

“You heard him, ponies. Lets go in, take out the target, and get out. There will be no screw ups, got that?” Three said. The team nodded.

“Good.” Three said. He looked over at Two. He was staring out the window intently, lightly chewing on the tip of his hoof.

“Two, you alright?” Three asked. Two realized what he was doing and stopped chewing on his hoof, wiping the saliva off.

“Yeah, sorry, I’m fine. Let it slip a little.” Two said, regaining composure.

“Just make sure that it doesn’t slip too much during the mission.” Three said. He turned his head to look out the window. They were nearing Ponyville, the fire of the torches dimly lighting the area as they came closer. The stallion pulling the station wagon stopped as they came up to the train station.

“This is it, Ponyville.” The stallion said, taking off the harness around his body. The team gathered their stuff and hopped out of the carriage, landing in the snow on the ground. The town roads were covered with snow, hoof prints going in different directions around the town. The blizzard had died down slightly, the wind becoming less violent, providing a decently clear view of the houses and shops across the street from them.

“Where is the hotel we booked reservations at?” Three asked Five.

“Just across the street, right there.” She said, pointing a hoof straight ahead of them. The hotel looked like a stable structure, a slightly duller color than the rest of the buildings around it.

“Let’s get going then, I’m freezing over here.” Four said, her teeth jittering. Three dropped the carriage fee in the stallion’s hoof and the team started walking towards the hotel. The snow around the hotel had been cleared, providing a nice entryway for the door. The awning above the doorway had accumulated a large amount of snow, the fabric sagging down a little. Three pushed the door open and walked inside. The team walked up to the desk and One rang the bell, making a cheery ‘ching’ noise.

“Just a second!” A gentle voice said from the back room behind the desk. A bright orange earth pony came out from the door a moment later, a festive red and white hat on her head.

“May I help you?” She asked.

“We’re here for our rooms, we made reservations last week. My name is Shadow Rider.” Three said. The reception pony nodded and opened a book, names neatly ordered in a chart.

“Shadow... Rider... here you are! Rooms one, two, and three. Here are your keys and enjoy your stay!” The pony said, handing three keys to Three. He nodded and One grabbed the keys, levitating them in the air with magic. They walked to the left and down a flight of stairs, leading to a hallway lined with festive lights along the walls.

“Administration grouped us into rooms in pairs. They made the decision who was partnering with who, so don’t get mad at me. Two, you’re with One.” Three said, looking at a note that he kept in his jacket pocket.

“Aw come on, I have to be with the looney bin?” One said, a hint of complaining in his voice. Two looked at One crossly.

“Can it, One, you get what you get. Four, you’re with Five, and you’re with me, Six. Get some shut eye, ponies. We have a long walk ahead of us tomorrow.” Three said. The team nodded and One gave them their keys. The team split up and walked to their separate rooms. Three unlocked the door to the room and walked inside, Six following shortly after. Three took off his jacket and set it down on the chair resting against the wall.

“How do you think the mission is going to turn out?” Six asked, setting her jacket down on another chair next to the radiator.

“I think it’ll be fine. We go to the designated shooting zone, set up, wait for the Princesses and the ponies to get there, and execute the target. It isn’t that elaborate.” Three said, sitting down on the bed. Six walked up to the side of the bed and put a hoof on Three’s shoulder.

“You know... we could always... let off some steam before the mission...” Six said, a hint of seductiveness in her voice.

“I thought we were through, Six.” Three said, brushing her hoof off of his shoulder.

“Oh come on, just because we broke up doesn’t mean we can’t... ‘fool around’? Just like old times...” Six said, starting to climb on top of Three. Three lightly pushed her off and got up.

“Get some sleep, Six. You don’t want to be getting tired when the mission starts.” Three said, laying a blanket on the floor.

“Can’t we just-”

“Goodnight, Six.” Three pulled a blanket over him and put his head down on the pillow. Six folded her fore legs in a pouting manner and laid down on the bed. Six sighed and blew out the candle, pulling the blanket over her.

The mission would start bright and early the next day.

______________________________________________________________________

December 24, hotel inside Ponyville

Temperature: -10 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 7:29 A.M.

Three opened his eyes. The sunlight coming through the window near the top of the wall lit up the hotel room. Three got up and looked over at Six. She was still asleep, snoring lightly with the blanket partially over her mouth. Three sighed and looked at the clock. Seven thirty A.M.

“We should probably get going in half an hour or so, it’s quite a walk from here.” Three thought to himself. Three put on his jacket and walked up to the side of the bed.

“Six, start getting ready, we’re leaving once everyone is ready.” Three said, shaking Six lightly. Six opened her eyes and sat up in the bed.

“What? What is it?” Six asked, rubbing her eyes.

“Get ready to leave for the mission. It’s going to take quite a while to walk from here.” Three said, walking away from the bed.

“Where are you going?” Six asked, turning to look at Three.

“I’m going to wake up the others. Come on, get up and get ready.” Three said as he shut the door. Six sighed and got off the bed.

“He acts like we never had anything between us...” Six said, gathering her things and putting on her jacket.

Three walked up to the room Two and One were sleeping in. He tapped on the door with his hoof.

“Get up you two, we’re heading out in a bit.” Three said. A slight mumbling came from the room and the sound of blankets being moved around.

“Let’s go. We don’t want to be late for our own mission.” Three said, tapping on the door again, harder than last time.

“Alright, alright, calm down. We’re getting up.” One said from inside the room. Three walked away from the door and up to the room Five and Four were staying in.

“Five, Four, we’re heading out-” Three said, lifting his hoof up to knock on the door. The door opened, Five standing in the doorway and Four standing on a chair, looking out the window.

“Oh, good, you’re both up. Get your stuff together and head to the lobby. One, Two, Six, and myself will be out there in a bit.” Three said. Five nodded and shut the door as Three walked back to his room. Six was putting her headset on as Three walked in the room.

“Shadow...” Six said as Three put his headset on.

“We’re on a mission, Six, try your best to stick to the numbers.” Three said.

“...Three. Do you ever think about... you know, getting back together?” Six said, crossing her two front hooves. Three adjusted his headset and sighed.

“We can discuss this when the mission is over, Six. Come on.” Three said, starting to walk towards the door.

“Shadow, wait.” Six said, running up behind him and grabbing his hoof. Three stopped and turned to face Six.

“I want to talk about it now. I can’t get you out my head, Shadow. I miss you.” Six said, staring into Three’s eyes. Three only looked at her with a blank stare. Three took his hoof out of Six’s and started walking out the door. Six walked out into the hallway as Three walked up the stairs to the lobby. Six sighed and walked after him as One and Two came out of their room, fully geared.

Three walked up to Five and Four, who were waiting by the doors of the lobby. The reception pony was sitting behind the desk, reading a large book. Three walked up to the desk and set the key down. One, Two, and Six came up the stairs, One putting the key down on the desk. They walked over to Five and Four.

“It’s going to take almost the whole day to get up there in time. The meeting is starting at midnight, we need to get there before then so we can set up and be ready to take the shot. In case something goes wrong and one of us are lost in a white out during the walk, use your headset to inform us that you have been left behind. We’ll stop, turn off our headsets, and yell as loud as we can. If you can hear us, go in the direction of our yells. May everypony make it out safe, and the mission be completed. Let’s head out.” Three said to the others. The team nodded and they walked outside into the winter landscape.

The blizzard from last night had calmed down, the air clear with only a light snowfall. Ponies in the town were shoveling snow out in the streets, pegasi flying over head in an attempt to clear the skies. The torches on the street were put out, the sun light coming through tiny holes in the clouds providing enough light for the town. Night turned on his headset.

“Administration, this is Three. We are beginning the walk to Canterlot. What is the status of Princess Luna?” Three asked, putting a hoof up to the ear piece.

“She is still sleeping. She will be being guarded the whole day, so don’t get any ideas about doing the assassination early. The meeting starts at midnight, don’t be late for it or you’ll miss the shot.” Administration said.

“Understood, Three out.” Three said, switching off the feed from Administration. Three ran to catch up with the others as they walked along the roads for the path to Canterlot.

______________________________________________________________________

December 24, designated sniping spot for operation

Temperature: -34 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 11:34 P.M.

“Six, set up your sniper. Be ready to shoot if I miss.” Three said, walking up to the sniping area. Six had gone ahead of the rest of the team, making sure that the meeting didn’t go under any changes in the time it was supposed to be at. The cave was dry and untouched by the snow, icicles forming on the top edge of the cave. The hole in the cave over looking the palace provided the perfect sniping position. The main palace hall was in the distance, the door to The Elements of Harmony being guarded by several royal guards as Princess Celestia stared out the window at the snowy landscape outside.

“Are Five and Four setting up Plan B?” Six asked, unfolding the bipod on her sniper and setting it on the ground.

“Yes, they’re below the hall right now setting up the explosives.” Three said, taking his sniper off of him and setting it on the ground.

“What happened to One and Two?” Six asked, aiming down the sniper scope.

“They were lost in the blizzard. They couldn’t make it.” Three said, unfolding the bipod on his sniper and setting it against a ledge on the cave.

“What do you mean they couldn’t make it? You tried to help them, didn’t you?” Six asked. She got up from the ground and turned to face Three.

“There was nothing we could do, they were already a mile away from us when we realized they were gone.” Three said, putting a clip into his sniper.

“Did you even bother to search for them!?” Six yelled.

“They’re gone. Let’s just leave it at that.” Three said, looking through the scope.

“You act like the mission is more important than the lives that are assigned to it!” Six yelled. Three took his eye off the scope and turned to Six.

“I decide between the difference between life and death with one single action that I take. Does it look like I value life? Does it look like I could give a damn about life and death!?” Three yelled as he got up.

“What about the mission you failed!? The one mission you couldn’t accomplish, what about that!? What did you feel when you decided to let the target live!?”

“She was a foal, a new born foal that administration expected me to kill in order to start a war! A foal, administration wanted me to kill a foal, a life that had experienced nothing other than its parent's love! Would you expect me to take that away!?” Three yelled, stomping a hoof on the ground, the ground cracking and small rocks falling from the roof of the cave. Six stood speechless. Three steadied his breathing and walked back over to his sniper.

“Administration... wanted you to-” Six started to say.

“They gave me the exact order to eliminate the life of the leader of Germaney’s new born daughter as a declaration of war.”

“Why didn’t you do it?”

“Even I have limitations on what is right and what is wrong. Killing a foal just wasn’t right in my book.” Three said. Six sat down beside her sniper.

“Let’s just get back to the mission.” Three said.

“Three, come in Three!” Five said through Three’s headset.

“What is it, Five? What’s wrong?” Three asked.

“The royal guards have found us! They took Four and they’ve been interrogating her. They know where you are and what you are about to do! They haven’t informed Princess Luna yet, she’s just outside of the palace hall! Take the shot, Thre-” The sound of a blunt object hitting against something came from Five’s headset and everything went silent.

“Five? Five!? Damn it.” Three said.

“What is it? What happened to Five and Four?” Six asked.

“They’ve been taken by the royal guards. We have exactly one minute until we are able to take the shot, get at your sniper and be ready to shoot if I miss.” Three said, laying down and aiming down the sniper scope.

“What about Five and Four!? We have to help them!”

“There’s no helping them if we want to complete the mission! Get at your sniper and get ready!”

“No. I’m going to go help them, whether you like it or not.” Six said, starting to walk to the exit of the cave.

“Six, get back here!” Three yelled. Six continued to walk towards the exit. The sound of flapping wings came from outside the cave as a royal guard ascended from below, heading for Six.

“Six, NO!” Three yelled. The royal guard landed in front of Six and grabbed her by the wings.

“Three, Luna is walking through the main hall, don’t worry about me, take the shot!” Six yelled, pushing the royal guard away from her. Three hesitantly went back to his sniper and aimed down the scope. Luna was beginning to enter the main hall. Three steadied his fore legs and put the crosshair on Luna’s head.

“Go, pull the trigger!” Six yelled, dodging a swipe from the royal guard’s hoof. Something held Three back. Three thought about what he was about to do. If he pulled the trigger, he would be killing one of the two remaining alicorns in the world and Princess Celestia’s dearest sister. But if he didn’t pull the trigger, the winter take over would rage on for centuries, ponies everywhere freezing to death in the harsh conditions of the winter’s wrath.

“Pull the trigger damn it!” Six yelled over the radio, straining to fight back against the royal guard. Three sweated profusely, shaking with nervousness. His hoof on the trigger, his eye looking down the scope, the crosshair on Luna’s head, Three inhaled.

And pulled the trigger.

The sound of explosives being prepared came from the cave. There was a small red dot glowing on top of Three's sniper, just above the trigger. Three looked up from the scope and looked around the cave. Explosives that had been disguised as rocks in the cave were armed and ready to explode. Three’s mouth curved into a smirk as the explosives set of.

______________________________________________________________________

Operation “Revival” AKA “Dead Stop”: Recruitments

==Major NAME REMOVED

Given #: Four

-Status: Accused of treason, being executed tomorrow at dawn

==Colonel NAME REMOVED

Given #: Two

-Status: Deceased, found frozen in the middle of the mountains

==Captain NAME REMOVED

Given #: Six

-Status: Deceased, killed in explosion from pre-placed explosives in the cave

==Brigadier General NAME REMOVED

Given #: Five

-Status: Deceased, blow taken to the head by royal guard was fatal

==Lieutenant Colonel NAME REMOVED

Give #: One

-Status: Found alive in cave three miles off course. Executed when he was found

==Lieutenant Colonel Shadow “Dead Eye” Rider

Given #: Three

-Status: Body not found, but believed to be killed in blast from pre-placed explosives

Operation “Revival” AKA “Dead Stop” > Current Objective

-Task: Successfully lead Shadow “Dead Eye” Rider to his own death

Details: Explosives will be set in the designated sniping area before hoof as well as a remote detonator being placed in Three’s sniper. Other members of the team do not know of the actual purpose of the operation. If their lives are lost, then let it be so. Execution of Shadow “Dead Eye” Rider will take place at midnight on December 24. Units in Cloudsdale will release the prisoners and continue the normal season cycles.

Status of operation: Successful

______________________________________________________________________

December 24, Administration office in Equestrian Spec Ops headquarters

Temperature: -39 degrees

Time: 5:12 A.M.

“You are sure that the operation was a success?” Administration asked through the headset.

“We searched the area for Shadow Rider, no sign of him anywhere. Even if he did survive the blast, he’s more than likely frozen like an icicle in the ice lands.” The search team said through Administration’s headset.

“Good. Return to base and release the units in Cloudsdale, tell them to come home. The winter is over.” Administration said.

The stallion in administration took his headset off and put it on the desk. He rubbed his face, tired from being up all night waiting for the operation to be completed. He looked over at a picture on the desk of Shadow Rider.

“No hard feelings, Shadow Rider. The “Dead Eye” name is just too deadly to be continued any longer.” The stallion said, raising a red marker up to the picture.

The sound of a gun clicking came from behind the stallion.

“No hard feelings. Just returning the favor.” Shadow Rider said.

And pulled the trigger.

An Unexpected Visit

An Unexpected Visit

[By the way, Clarity = Six (not her age), if anyone is wondering]

Three months had passed since the operation to terminate Shadow “Dead Eye” Rider. The winter still rages on, and Luna still refuses to discontinue the day and night cycle. Luna and Celestia were informed of the Spec Ops’s operation a day afterwards, and they didn’t let it go unpunished. The Equestrian Spec Ops was disbanded a week later under the direct order of the two princesses.

But that didn’t mean it was over.

The operatives that were in the Equestrian Spec Ops were enraged by the action, and formed a new organization, executing any pony who knew about their operations without hesitation. They were known as The Equestrian Saints, a group of highly trained killers that only wanted one thing to come out of Equestria. The death of the two Princesses.

______________________________________________________________________

[Three months earlier]

December 24, Administration office in Equestrian Spec Ops headquarters

Temperature: -39 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 5:13 A.M.

Shadow Rider pushed the administration officer off the chair and onto the floor. The blood on the screens of the cameras ran down the monitors as Shadow Rider sat down. He wiped the blood off the screen with a rag on the desk and tossed it aside.

“These bastards turning against their own operatives. If they want a war, they’ll have a war.” Shadow Rider said, typing on the keyboard. He opened up the file on Operation “Revival” AKA “Dead Stop”. The file appeared on the screen through the smears of blood wiped across it. Shadow began to read the actual intentions of the operation.

“Units in Cloudsdale will release the prisoners and continue the normal season cycles? No... The Spec Ops can’t be the ones making the winter this way...” Shadow Rider said, reading the real operation details. The stallions headset came on, the search team contacting him. Shadow Rider picked up the headset and put it on.

“Administration? Is anyone there? We heard a gun shot, what happened?” The search team asked. Shadow Rider looked over at the stallion he had shot.

“Everything is fine, I thought I heard something.” Shadow said, impersonating Administration’s voice almost perfectly.

“Oh, well then. A little bit of an over reaction?” The search team asked in a slightly teasing manner.

“Come back to Administration headquarters, we have something to celebrate the succession of the operation. It’s a surprise” Shadow Rider said, a slight smirk on his face.

“Oh, a surprise? Well, we will be back as soon as we can.” Search team said, turning off their headsets.

“A surprise indeed...” Shadow said, taking off the headset and putting it on the stallion’s head.

______________________________________________________________________

Time: 5:48 A.M., Administration office in headquarters

The search team came through the doors to the administration office.

“So, what’s this surprise we are-” One of the search team stallions said. They stopped in the doorway at the sight of the administration stallion laying on the floor, a bullet hole in the back of his head. They ran up to him and took off the headset.

“Who the hell did this?” One of the other stallions asked, looking at the lifeless stallion on the floor. Another walked up to the monitor and opened the file that was minimized. It was the operation details, but the screen said it had been edited.

“Go ahead, open it.” The stallion looking at the administration stallion said. The other search team members walked up to the screen and read the details as it opened.

"When you realize that your own ponies want you dead, don't expect things to turn out well. -”Dead Eye” " The text in the operation details said. Multiple beeping sounds came from all around the room as pre-placed explosives were being armed for detonation.

“Dead Eye you son of a-” One of the stallions started to say, but was cut off by the explosion of over three hundred pounds of explosives setting off.

______________________________________________________________________

[Three months later]

March 23, inside the royal Canterlot palace hall

Temperature: -26 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 9:32 P.M.

The royal guards standing at the end of the hall watched as a hooded stallion walked through the doors of the palace hall.

“That’s far enough, stay where you are.” One of the royal guards said as the stallion stopped halfway in the hall. The stained glass windows portrayed their art on the floor of the hall as the sun came through a hole in the clouds. The winter’s relentless behavior still raged on, many more ponies freezing or starving to death in the harsh conditions. Celestia stood in between the two guards, watching as the stallion took off his hood. Shadow Rider looked up at the guards and Celestia.

“You! You are the stallion that attempted to assassinate Princess Luna three months earlier, are you not?” The other royal guard said, fixing his gaze on Shadow Rider.

“A simple hello would’ve been nice, but yes, that would be me.” Shadow Rider said.

“You have no business here, leave at-” The royal guard was cut off by Celestia raising her wing in front of him.

“Now, now, let’s hear what he has to say. What is your purpose here?” Celestia asked, lowering her wing.

“This is the place to recruit to be Luna’s personal guard, is it not?” Shadow Rider asked, taking off the cloak around his body. The cloak reveled a sniper, a Remington 700 bolt action, the sniper Shadow had used to terminate the Ibex Empire’s leader. The royal guards started to walk towards Shadow to arrest him, but Celestia lifted her wings in front of them.

“It’s alright, stallions. There is no need for alarm.” Celestia said. The royal guards stepped back into their positions hesitantly and Celestia lowered her wings. Shadow put the sniper down on the ground and looked up at Celestia and the royal guards.

“So you are here to recruit to be Luna’s personal guard?” Celestia asked.

“Yes, your highness.” Shadow replied.

“And you are also the one who tried to assassinate her, and would have if the mission hadn’t have gone hay-wire?”

“Yes.”

“And you expect a position at the side of the very same alicorn you tried to kill?”

“Yes. I will do my best at ensuring her safety.”

Celestia’s mouth curved into a smile.

“Then let us see if you can prove your worth.” Celestia said.

“But... Princess! This is the stallion that tried to KILL Luna, not protect her! You are putting your sister’s life on the line!” The royal guards said.

“I realize that, but he did stay loyal to the mission he was supposed to complete. If he could have stayed loyal to a mission of such importance, there is no doubt that he can with-hold himself on a mission such as protecting Luna.” Celestia said. The royal guards sighed and walked out in front of the stand they were behind.

“If you agree to the test we are about to perform, you are accepting that you are willing to protect Princess Luna, be at her side when she asks of you, and make sure that she is not in any way fatally wounded. If you fail to maintain her safety and something should happen to her, you will be executed. If you do pass this test, you will become Princess Luna’s personal guard under the judgment of Princess Celestia. Do you accept the terms of this task?” The royal guards said.

“I accept them.” Shadow Rider replied.

“Then let us begin.” Celestia said. Her horn glowed with a purple aura, along with the windows, a magical barrier preventing any damage to be dealt to them. The royal guards adjusted their helmets and glared at Shadow Rider. Shadow waited as the royal guards charged at him.

______________________________________________________________________

March 23, inside royal Canterlot palace hall

Temperature: -30 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 10:19 P.M.

Shadow landed back on the ground after delivering the final blow to the first royal guard. The royal guard fell to the floor, battered and bruised from the unrelenting force of Shadow’s attacks. The other royal guard was getting up, bleeding from the nose and mouth. Shadow dashed over to the royal guard and jumped into the air, turning himself around and extending his back legs into the royal guards head. The royal guard flew backwards from the force of Shadow’s drop kick as Shadow landed back on his hooves. The royal guards both lay on the floor, unconscious and beaten. Shadow turned to face Celestia, almost unscathed by the battle between him and the royal guards, Shadow bleeding from the mouth slightly.

“I underestimated you, "Dead Eye". It appears that you can handle yourself quite well in hoof to hoof combat. Most of the other former Dead Eyes couldn't last in a hoof fight.” Celestia said, letting go of the magical barriers around the windows.

“I aim to do my best at what I do.” Shadow said, bowing to Celestia.

“I will have the royal guards get medical attention after we are through, so do not worry about them. Now, if you will come with me, Shadow Rider.” Celestia said as she walked up to Shadow. Celestia and Shadow walked back into the palace entrance and to the right of the hall doors, a single flight of stairs with an elegant red carpet along it leading to a hallway in the palace.

“Princess Luna will be waiting in her room for you. There is no doubt that she will have you as her personal guard.” Celestia said. Shadow nodded as he started to walk up the steps. He turned the corner to face a hallway, fitted with exotic plants in well decorated pots lining the hallway to a door at the end of it. Two of Luna’s royal guards were standing at the end of the hallway, watching as Shadow walked down the hall. They stuck their wings out in front of Shadow as he walked up to the doors.

“And what do you think you are doing here? You had your chance to assassinate Luna, you will not be given another one. Leave immediately.” One of the guards said.

“If you don’t intend on getting your ass beat like the other two royal guards out there, I suggest you let me through.” Shadow Rider said.

“Let him in.” Luna said from within the room. The royal guards looked at each other and slowly lowered their wings. Shadow walked through the doors and shut them behind him. Luna was standing on the balcony over looking the snowy mountains, a light snowfall coming down on the balcony.

“Dead Eye, is that right?” Luna asked as she looked out at the mountains.

“That would be my title, yes.” Shadow said, starting to walk to Luna.

“That’s far enough.” Luna said as she turned to face him. Shadow stopped where he was, Luna looking at him with a slightly angry expression.

“It was you who tried to assassinate me in order to end the winter, am I correct?” Luna asked, starting to walk slowly towards Shadow Rider.

“That would be me, your highness.” Shadow Rider said.

“And what made you want to be my personal guardian, a “Guardian Angel”, if you will?”

“Redemption and revenge, ma’am. The Equestrian Spec Ops tried to eliminate me, and I will do anything in my power to seek revenge on them. No doubt that the new Spec Ops, The Equestrian Saints, have already tried to assassinate you, have they not?”

“Indeed they have, the bunch of outlaws, they are. In what way are you trying to seek revenge on them, might I ask?”

“I will act as a counter sniper for you, an assassin that will terminate the lives of the Equestrian Saint’s operatives and others that attempt to kill you. It is a benefit to each of us, you get your protection, and I get my revenge.” Luna paused and walked away from Shadow and over to her dresser. There was a picture of her and her sister together on it, Luna picking it up with her magic and looking at it.

“How do I know that I can trust you with my life and you won’t turn on me?” Luna asked as she put the picture back down on the dresser.

“To quote the terms of the task of protecting you, ‘If you fail to maintain her safety and something should happen to her, you will be executed’. Also, as long as I live, I get the chance to wreak havoc among the Equestrian Saints. I’m not much of a good use dead, now am I? I think those are fairly solid reassurances that I won’t take a gun to the back of your head and pull the trigger... not that I couldn’t.” Shadow Rider said. Luna smiled at Shadow Rider’s last remark. She walked over to him and put one of her hooves on his head.

“You’ll do just fine.” She said, taking off her hoof off of him and walking back to her bed.

“When do I start?” Shadow Rider asked, fixing his mane slightly.

“Come to the palace at seven o’clock tomorrow morning. You’ll be staying in Canterlot from now on, I’ll have a house paid for you, a stallion will be waiting downstairs to take you to your home with your things. I have a meeting with Celestia and the six ponies again tomorrow in Ponyville tomorrow, and I have heard rumors of the Equestrian Saints setting up an operation to terminate me. Looks like you might just be getting the outcome of this that you expected a little early. See you tomorrow, Shadow. You are dismissed.” Luna said. Shadow bowed at Luna and walked out of the doors of her room. The royal guards looked at him with hatred in their eyes as Shadow went out of view down the hallway.

______________________________________________________________________

March 23, Shadow “Dead Eye” Rider’s new home

Temperature: -32 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 10:43 P.M.

The stallion and Shadow walked up to a vividly colored house not too far away from the royal palace. The weather outside was violent, the wind changing in different directions quickly and a heavy snowfall coming down on Canterlot. The candles and torches in the house lit up the area in front of the house through the windows, frost forming on the edges of the glass.

“This is it, Dead Eye, your new home. It’s being paid for by Luna herself, so do not worry about the expenses. Congratulations on becoming her guard, a lot of ponies had failed the test before you.” The stallion said. He started to walk away and Shadow opened the door to his new house. The interior of house had a warming feeling, a nice set of furniture in the main room and a lit fireplace on the wall to the left. Multiple paintings hung up on the walls, each of a different landscape of Equestria. The stairs on the other side of the room led to an elegant bedroom upstairs, a single bed with a nightstand and dresser next to it. A kitchen was placed in the door to the right, fitted with a large assortment of kitchen appliances and plenty of food.

Shadow set his sniper next to the door and walked over to the fireplace.

“This sure beats the hell out of Manehattan housing.” Shadow thought to himself as he set his hooded cloak down next to the fire place. Shadow laid down on the rug in front of the fire place and sighed.

“But something is missing about it...” Shadow thought to himself.

______________________________________________________________________

[Four years before Operation “Revival”]

February 24, Manehattan, house of Shadow Rider and Clarity

Temperature: 10 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 7:24 P.M.

Shadow Rider opened the door to the house and walked inside.

“Clarity, I’m home! What’s that delicious smell?” Shadow Rider asked as he set his jacket on the hook on the wall.

“I’m cooking up some of those fancy grasses and legumes you got from the market yesterday, and I have to say, they look amazing, if I say so myself!” Clarity said from the kitchen, a slight sizzling noise coming from the kitchen.

“I can’t wait. So what are the plans for tonight?” Shadow asked as he walked into the kitchen. Clarity was wearing a white apron, her wings holding up the straps.

“Well, it is our anniversary, so I thought maybe we would eat... spend some time together... and go “off to bed”... if you know what I’m saying...” Clarity said, a hint of seductiveness in her voice as she ran a hoof across Shadow’s chin.

“I think I get it alright...” Shadow said, lightly kissing Clarity.

“But, before that... what did you get me!? I know what you do when you when you “get extra practice from Specter!” Clarity said, bouncing up and down slightly.

“You know I don’t like to spoil surprises. It’ll have to wait.” Shadow Rider said.

“Oh come on, please?” Clarity asked, grabbing Shadow’s hoof. Shadow smiled and stared into Clarity’s eyes.

“Sometimes it makes me wonder how some stallion like me ended up with somepony as perfect as you.” Shadow Rider said, pressing his nose against Clarity’s.

“Oh stop it, you know how I get when you do this...” Clarity said, blushing as she stared into Shadow’s eyes.

______________________________________________________________________

[Four years before Operation “Revival”]

February 24, Manehattan, house of Shadow Rider and Clarity

Temperature: 8 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 9:26 P.M.

Shadow Rider and Clarity laid in front of the fire place, holding each other’s hooves as they stared at the ceiling and talked to each other.

“...it was hard work, but eventually my aim just came naturally and I moved on to the next part of training, fire arms.” Shadow Rider said, Clarity’s head on his shoulder.

“What are you working on now?” Clarity asked, rubbing her head against Shadow’s face, her mane sprawled across the floor.

“Mainly working on steadying my hooves when I get nervous. It’s hard to control, if you ask me, but Specter seems to understand.” Shadow Rider said. Clarity sighed happily and put her front right leg over Shadow and turned his head towards her.

“You know... it’s not too late to have some fun...” Clarity said, putting her other hoof on Shadow’s hind leg.

“Oh! Before that... I have something for you.” Shadow said, taking out long black box from behind him.

“Happy anniversary.” Shadow said, opening the box to reveal a silver necklace fitted with a medium-sized finely cut diamond in the middle and two smaller finely cut rubies on each side of the diamond.

“Oh my... Shadow! It’s lovely! Thank you so much!” Clarity said as Shadow put the box in her hooves.

“You’re oh so welcome, Clarity.” Shadow said. Clarity put the box down on the couch behind her and kissed Shadow.

“I’m sorry, but I wasn’t able to get you anything...” Clarity said.

“Don’t worry about it. The love you’ve shown me today is already enough as it is.” Shadow said. Clarity slowly climbed on top of Shadow, her hind legs on each side of his body. Her wings popped up, both of them sticking up in the air.

“Don’t think I’ve showed all of my love yet...” Clarity said, putting her front hooves on Shadow’s front legs.

______________________________________________________________________

March 24, Shadow “Dead Eye” Rider’s new home

Temperature: -39 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 6:24 A.M.

Shadow opened his eyes, the fire in the fire place still burning vividly. His cloak was laying on the floor, dried from laying out all night, a tiny puddle next to it. The sun was coming over the horizon in the distance, the clouds turning a bright pink in the sky. The storm last night had calmed a little, the wind still blowing hard outside and snow coming down onto the royal city. Shadow got up and rubbed his eyes.

“Get out of my head...” Shadow said groggily to himself, tapping against his head lightly with his hoof. Shadow sighed and looked over at the clock on the wall. Six twenty six in the morning.

“I should probably get going soon, don’t want to be executed because I wasn’t there to protect her.” Shadow thought to himself as he put his cloak on. Shadow took his sniper from beside the door and walked out into the winter landscape. The road was covered in snow and ice, Shadow walking carefully as he walked through the streets. Unicorns walked through the streets in between shops, sharply dressed even in conditions like these. Shadow walked up to the palace doors and pushed them open, the royal guards watching him from the corner of their eye’s as he walked through the doors. The palace entrance was empty, Celestia had left earlier to meet the ponies in Ponyville. Luna walked out from the hallway up the stairs and looked down at Shadow.

“Ah, you’re here. Shall we get going then?” Luna asked. Shadow nodded and Luna walked down to him.

“I’m relying on you to keep me safe. No pony knows if the rumors of the operation are true, but if they are, you’ll be there, won’t you?” Luna asked as they walked out of the palace doors.

“I can assure you that if I get the chance to put a bullet in one of their head’s, you won’t be expecting to see them around any longer.” Shadow said, putting on a mask around his nose and mouth.

“Then prove it to me.” Luna said. Shadow and Luna walked up to the carriage in front of the royal palace, the two royal guards that were standing outside of the door now attached to the carriage with harnesses. Shadow and Luna got in the carriage and the royal guards lifted off the ground, heading for Ponyville. A haunting feeling came over Shadow as they flew over the winter landscape. The sun peaked through a hole in the clouds, revealing Ponyville in the distance through the fog and snow.

“Something just doesn’t feel right about this... but what?” Shadow thought to himself.

Second Attempt

Second Attempt

March 24, border of Ponyville

Temperature: -38 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 6:49 A.M.

Luna and Shadow landed down outside of Ponyville, a puff of snow coming off as they hopped off the carriage. The guards started to take the harnesses attached to the carriage off.

“That won’t be necessary, stallions. I want to make sure that Dead Eye, here, can actually do what he is intended to do. Go back to the palace, we will be back when the meeting is over.” Luna said. The royal guards glared at Shadow as he walked with Luna into the white haze surrounding them.

“Luna is crazy for trusting him, he tried to kill her, how can she possibly even consider putting her life in his hooves?” One of the royal guards said as he put the harness back on.

“It has me confused too, but we have our orders from the princess, let’s just head back to the palace.” The other Royal guard said. They took off from the ground and started flying back to Canterlot, the wind blowing heavily and snow falling down hard on Ponyville.

______________________________________________________________________

“So you don’t know if the Saints are actually setting up an assassination?” Shadow asked Luna as they walked through the streets of Ponyville. A small amount of ponies wandered the streets, almost all of them wearing a heavy winter jacket. The snow and wind had let up a bit, the houses and other buildings now visible through the snowfall.

“I have only heard that they are rumors, but if it is an actual event they are planning, then I’ll have you at my side.” Luna said.

“Alright then. Where is the meeting taking place?”

“One of the six ponies’ house, Miss Twilight Sparkle, I believe. That’s it up there.” Luna said. A large tree stood at the end of the street, a slight glow coming from the candles lit inside of it. Luna walked up to the door and knocked on it.

“Come in, Luna.” Celestia said from inside. A slight giggling came from inside as Luna opened the door, but seized as Shadow stepped into the tree house. The six ponies and Celestia were standing in a circle in the middle of the room, a small table in the middle of the ring with refreshments on it. The six ponies stared at Shadow Rider intently as he walked over to the window at the bottom of the stairs.

“Ah, Shadow. It’s nice to see you again. I suspect you have been keeping my sister safe?” Celestia asked as Shadow took off his cloak and hung it from a hook on the wall. Shadow’s sniper was slung around his body, a full magazine in it.

“It’s my first day on the job, Princess Celestia. You’ll get a first hoof demonstration of my abilities if the rumors about the assassination are true.” Shadow said, siting down on the steps and looking out the window. The six ponies looked back at Luna in slight surprise.

“You mean the Equestrian Saints are going to try again? Luna, what are doing here, it’s dangerous!” Twilight Sparkle said, turning her head to Luna.

“The was a meeting planned today and I saw to be here as I intended. Besides, I have the notorious “Dead Eye” to help prevent anything from happening to me.” Luna said, motioning her head over to Shadow. The ponies turned again to Shadow, who was lost in thought as he stared out the window at the snowy landscape.

“You mean... that’s the stallion that tried to...” Applejack started to say.

“Yes. That would be the stallion that attempted to take Luna’s life away. But, despite his actions, he seems to be looking for redemption and revenge by joining the royal guard service as a personal guard for Luna. He may only be an earth-pony, but he seems to be more capable at defending anything than the royal guards. Well armed with the fastest reaction times I have ever seen, as accurate as the sniper rifles he uses, and stronger than more than two of our royal guards, he sure carries out the “Dead Eye” name. I’m sure he’ll be a perfect guard for Luna.” Celestia said. The ponies stared at Shadow with amazement and anger. He was the one that would have killed Luna if the sniper hadn’t have been tampered with, but he was also one of the most elite ponies in the art of stealth, accuracy, and strength. Shadow still stared out the window, looking at something through the scope of his sniper.

“Now then, shall we get the meeting underway?” Celestia asked. The ponies nodded and turned back to the table.

“Luna, you are causing hundreds, thousands of ponies to starve and freeze to death! We need the sun to melt the snow and ice, all you need to do is prolong that sun exposure to the world so it can melt. For the sake of the pony race, can you just give us that?” Celestia asked.

“I know that I am causing the winter to continue like this, but I refuse to stop the day and night cycle! You stripped me of the night’s power and have given it back to me. I intend to see that it does not miss a single cycle as long as I am in control of it!” Luna said.

“Can one of you toss me a book?” Shadow asked nonchalantly, ignoring the argument between the two sisters. Twilight used her magic to lightly throw a book over at Shadow. He lifted a hoof up and caught the book, nodding at Twilight in thanks.

“Luna, you cannot let this rage on any further, the winter has to end or else everypony will die!” Celestia said. Luna turned away from Celestia.

“Luna, please, all we ask is a few weeks, just to melt the snow and ice. Nothing more.” Rainbow Dash said. Luna stood in silence for a moment.

“...I... I cannot... Night has been my only responsibility, and I let it slip out of hoof by letting it’s power take over me... I will see to it that I am in full control of it for as long as I live!” Luna yelled.

“Luna get down!” Shadow yelled. A bullet raced past Shadow’s head and planted itself in the floor next to Luna, who jumped to side after the bullet landed. Celestia, Luna, and the six ponies got down on the floor and covered their heads. Shadow fired a bullet out the window. The bullet soared through the air and a red mist appeared in the distance, followed by a distant grunting noise. A silhouette in the distance whipped backwards and fell from the tree it was in.

“Luna, stay here. I’m going to go check on our little assassin...” Shadow said as he quickly put his cloak on.

“What!? What if they come in here!?” Rarity yelled, uncovering one of her eyes and looking over at Shadow.

“Don’t worry, they’re not going far...” Shadow said, as he put on his face mask. He walked out the door and slammed it behind him.

“Revenge is sweet...” Shadow thought to himself as he ran towards the edge of the Everfree forest.

______________________________________________________________________

Shadow walked up to the tree that the sniper was in. A trail of blood was in the snow, leading further into the Everfree forest.

“You’re mine now.” Shadow said quietly. He followed the smears in the snow from the assassin dragging itself along the ground, a trail of blood mixed in with the snow. An extra indent was in the snow along the trail, the outline of a wing being dragged along. The snow fall was suppressed in the forest, only a thin layer falling from the leaves in the heavy canopy above. Shadow stopped walking and looked up from the trail of blood. A pegasus laid against the tree, holding her shoulder. Blood was coming from the hole in her jacket, flowing down the sleeve and on to the forest floor. She had a mask on her face, heavy puffs of breath coming from it. Her wing was slightly clipped, a small chunk taken out of the edge of her left wing.

“You should be lucky that I missed intentionally, or your head would be all over the ground and in the leaves of the tree back there. “ Shadow said as he slowly walked up to the injured pegasus. Shadow knelt down and put his face in front of the pegasi’s face, puffs of breath coming from his face mask.

“You have the eyes of someone I used to work with. Simple and innocent, the eyes of a pony bred for helping others, not war.” Shadow said. The pegasus watched as Shadow took out his knife from it’s sheath. Shadow thrusted the knife into the tree trunk behind her, the knife handle sticking out next to her head. The pegasus flinched and stared at Shadow angrily. Shadow chuckled to himself lightly.

“Feel that? The surge of adrenaline going through your veins? I feel it every time I take out a target, right before the trigger goes back.” Shadow said. The pegasus kept silent, staring at Shadow.

“Before I kill you, let’s have a look at that pretty little face of yours...” Shadow said. He lifted his hoof up to the pegasi’s face mask and pulled it down.

Shadow’s eyes widen and he stood in awe, not able to breathe. The pegasi stared at Shadow.

“...Number... Four?” Shadow said, the words barely coming out of his mouth. Four’s eyes also opened wide, realizing who had almost taken her life.

“Three?” Four said, watching as Shadow backed up from her.

“No... you... you were executed for treason! How are you... alive? I thought I was the only one to come out of the operation!” Shadow said, stopping as he backed up into a tree.

“I thought you were dead, as well! How did YOU survive?” Four asked as Shadow took off his face mask. Shadow put a hoof on his forehead and sat down, overwhelmed that she was alive.

“I think we both owe each other an explanation...” Shadow said, shifting his eyes up to Four.

______________________________________________________________________

March 24, inside the border of Everfree forest and Ponyville

Temperature: -30 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 7:27 A.M.

Shadow wrapped a bandage around Four’s shoulder and around the injured part of her wing.

“I’m sorry. If I had known it was you I wouldn’t have fired.” Shadow said as he tied the bandages together.

“It’s alright, I should just be happy that you decided to miss.” Four said, looking back and smiling at Shadow.

“So what is your name? I never really got to know it.” Shadow asked, tearing off the excess of the bandage on her shoulder.

“Dusk. My name is Dusk.” She said as she got up, Shadow helping her. Dusk put pressure on her leg and lifted it up almost immediately.

“Ouch... You really know how to place a shot, don’t you?” Dusk said, smiling weakly.

“Sorry about that. I don’t think you would be able to fly, at least right now, would you?” Shadow asked, looking at her wing.

“Probably not, you got it pretty good.” She said, flapping it up and down weakly. Shadow walked over to the tree and took the knife out of the trunk.

“You really want to strike fear into the heart of your victims before you kill them, don’t you?” Dusk asked as Shadow put his knife back in it’s sheath.

“Hell, I thought I was actually going to kill you and finally get some sort of revenge against the Spec Ops. Speaking of, why exactly did you join the Equestrian Saints?” Shadow asked, squinting slightly as Dusk.

“They were the ones that rescued me at the execution. I wasn’t just going to walk away from the ponies that saved my life.” Dusk said. Shadow laughed slightly.

“What’s so funny?” Dusk asked.

“Did you ever wonder why the mission went hay-wire, and that it ended up killing almost all of us?”

“Not really, no. I thought the Princesses had set up a trap for us, or, that’s what the Saints told me...”

“They lied to us. They told us that in order to stop the winter, we would need to kill Luna. While that may be true, the mission was a set up. The operation wasn’t meant for Luna. It was meant for me.”

“...The Spec Ops... wanted to kill... you?”

“They said that the Dead Eye name was too deadly to be carried on any further, that it would be too much of a risk to let me live any longer. They wanted to discontinue the Dead Eye name by killing the last known one to possess it, me. You five were just expendables, variables that were supposed to make me believe that the operation was actually an operation and not just a trap.”

“Well, it looks like they haven’t stopped trying...”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“The details of the mission weren’t to kill Luna. They were to kill her guard.”

______________________________________________________________________

[7 hours earlier]

March 24, administration office in Equestrian Saint’s headquarters

Temperature: -40 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 12:27 A.M.

Dusk walked into the office of administration.

“You wanted to see me, sir?” Dusk asked as she walked up to the edge of the desk at the other side of the room. The stallion looked up from his paper work at her.

“Ah, yes. I called you here for an operation. You are one of the six that were assigned to Operation “Revival” a few months back, are you not?” The stallion asked.

“Um... yes I am, but what does that-”

“Good. You will be going in solo to assassinate Princess Luna’s personal guard. We got word that he was recruited not too long ago.”

“Sir, if I could... maybe be told why I am doing this alone, rather, doing this in the first place?”

“That is confidential and not for the operatives to know. The meeting between the six ponies, Celestia, Luna and her guard will take place at 7:00 A.M. in Ponyville. They will be in one of the six ponies’ house, the house of Twilight Sparkle, we believe. You will be expected to complete the mission without detection. If you proceed to fail the operation, your failure will be dealt with when you return to headquarters. Here is the paper work, good luck.” The stallion handed Dusk a thin folder.

“Sir, couldn’t you just tell me who it is I am shooting, and why I am doing it? I am a medic, not a sharpshooter.” Dusk said, taking the folder from the stallion.

“You will be told that after the operation has been completed. Do not let any pony know about this operation. If we figure out that you have been telling non-operatives and others outside of the Saints, you will be dealt with accordingly. You are dismissed.” Dusk rolled the folder and put it in her jacket pocket.

“Why is administration being so secretive about the operation?” Dusk thought to herself as she walked out of the administration office.

______________________________________________________________________

March 24, inside the border of Everfree forest and Ponyville

Temperature: -30 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 7:29 A.M.

“...and now I’m here with a bandage around my shoulder and a clipped wing.” Dusk said, moving her wing up and down.

“I should’ve known recruiting for Luna’s guard would have brought a lot of attention towards myself.” Shadow said. Dusk walked over to the tree she was sitting against and picked up her sniper.

“When the Saints find out I didn’t kill you, I can tell you now, they aren’t going to be happy. I can’t go back, Shadow, you have to help me!” Dusk said with a slight sense of pleading in her voice, walking up to him. Shadow stood in thought. The Saints would eventually find out that Dusk had failed the mission, and no doubt that they would come after her. A chance for revenge.

“Come into Ponyville with me, the princesses and ponies won’t know that you were the assassin. As for the Saints, you can leave them to me.” Shadow said.

“Oh thank you, Shadow. I owe my life to you.” Dusk said, putting a hoof on Shadow’s chin.

“Don’t get too attached, Dusk. You are a part of the Saints, just remember that.” Shadow said, lightly hitting Dusk’s hoof away. Shadow started walking along the path that he followed. Dusk walked after him, heading back into the winter landscape.

______________________________________________________________________

Shadow kicked open the door, the door hitting the wall with a slam. The ponies and the two princesses jumped at the sound of it, turning to face the door. They were sitting in a circle around the table. Shadow and Dusk walked in, Dusk wearing Shadow’s cloak. Her wing was tucked into it, the bandage around her wing and shoulder not visible.

“Sorry about that.” Shadow said as he put his sniper against the wall.

“Who is this?” Luna asked, pointing at Dusk.

“An old friend of mine, we used to work together. She’s new to Ponyville.” Shadow said. Dusk meekly waved at the group in the middle of the room.

“What about the assassin?” Celestia asked.

“You can be sure that you won’t be seeing him again. The Saints’ll think twice next time they plan an operation.” Shadow said. The ponies and two princesses sighed with relief.

“You didn’t actually... kill him, did you?” Fluttershy asked as she got up. Shadow shifted his eyes over to Dusk and smiled slightly.

“Let’s just say he won’t be getting put on any missions soon.” Shadow said, slightly nodding at Dusk.

“That’s a relief. Even though the assassin is... not going to be seen around any time soon, I still think it is too dangerous to be here. Celestia, if we are done here, could I go back to the palace?” Luna asked.

“That is fine, Luna. Dusk, do you need a place to stay?” Celestia asked, turning to Dusk.

“She can stay with me, your highness.” Shadow said.

“Then that problem is settled. The royal guards will be here to pick you three up and take you back to Canterlot, I will stay here in Ponyville for a while.” Celestia said.

“Sounds good to me. Come on, Shadow.” Luna said as she walked out the door. Shadow and Dusk waved goodbye to Celestia and the ponies and followed Luna.

“You realize the Saints are going to try to kill you when they find out that the operation wasn’t completed.” Dusk whispered to Shadow.

“That’s what I’m planning on...” Shadow said.

______________________________________________________________________

March 24, inside Luna’s bedroom in the royal palace

Temperature: -43 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 8:03 P.M.

After arriving in Canterlot, Shadow and Dusk were asked to stay with Luna for the remainder of the day to make sure that she was safe. The winter landscape outside was calm, a tiny snowfall coming down on Canterlot.

“Shadow, Dusk, I think you can go home now. If the guards ask, tell them I sent you out.” Luna said from her bed.

“Yes ma’am. Will I be needed tomorrow?” Shadow asked as he got up off the floor.

“No, you can take the day off. I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere.” Luna said.

“Then I will see you next time you need me. Come on, Dusk.” Shadow said, motioning his hoof for Dusk to follow. Dusk got up off the chair in the corner and followed Shadow out of Luna’s room.

“You’d think she’d be a little scared that some pony just tried to take her life.” Dusk said as they walked down the hallway.

“She may not be expressing it, but I can tell from the look in her eyes that she was trembling inside...” Shadow said.

______________________________________________________________________

Shadow pushed the door to his house open, the cold air from outside rushing into the living room.

“Make yourself at home. I haven’t moved anything around, so do whatever you want with the place. Just try not to destroy it completely.” Shadow said as he set his sniper against the wall next to the door.

“Wow, Canterlot does a pretty good job with their housing.” Dusk said as she admired one of the painting on the wall. Dusk took the cloak around her off and set it down next to the fireplace. Shadow was putting wood into the fireplace, taking fire wood from the stack next to it. Dusk put a hoof on Shadow’s hind leg.

“What are you doing, Dusk?” Shadow asked, shifting his eyes over to her.

“Oh nothing...” Dusk said. She lifted her hoof up higher on his leg. Shadow hit her hoof away and continued to put the wood in the fireplace.

“Oh come on, you and Clarity are over, aren’t you two? You know I’ve always found that aim of yours attractive...” Dusk said. A feeling of anger spiked in Shadow’s mind and his heartbeat grew faster.

“Clarity is dead, Dusk. Try not to bring her up...” Shadow said as he dropped a match in the fireplace.

“Dead? I think you are mistaken, Shadow.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Dusk paused for a second.

“She’s not dead, Shadow. She’s a Saint operative.”

Shadow stood in shock.

“Clarity... is alive?”

______________________________________________________________________

March 24, administration office in Equestrian Saint’s headquarters

Temperature: -42 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 8:05 P.M.

“Miss Clarity. Nice to see you again.” The stallion behind the desk said.

“I was called here for an operation, is that right?” Clarity asked, walking up to the edge of the desk.

“Yes. Dusk has not returned from her operation, so we assume that she has deserted.”

“What do you want me to do about it?”

“We want you to kill Dusk.”

“Is that it? Just a simple assassination?

“We also believe that your ex-boyfriend, Shadow "Dead Eye" Rider, is with her. We want you to kill them both.”

“Shadow is alive? Why was I not told this!?”

“We figured it was best that you didn’t find out. You will be-”

“No! I will not do this! I cannot kill them both!” Clarity slammed her hoof down on the desk.

“If you refuse, you do realize the consequences.”

Clarity stopped and stared at the stallion at the sound of a gun clicking behind her.

“You will be leaving in two days. We look forward to the succession of the mission.”

Defiance

Defiance

March 26, Shadow “Dead Eye” Rider’s home

Temperature: -30 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 9:02 A.M.

Shadow walked upstairs. Dusk was on the bed on her side, the blanket covering the bottom half of her head. She was snoring lightly, the blanket moving back and forth in front of her mouth. Shadow walked up next to the bed and shook her lightly.

“Dusk, wake up.” Shadow whispered. Dusk’s eyes opened slowly and she yawned.

“What?” She asked, rubbing her eyes.

“Luna asked for my assistance with something. Come on, come with me.” Shadow said, walking over to the balcony. He opened the curtains, the light of the sun pouring into the room. Dusk grunted and shielded her eyes.

“Why? I’m warm under here.” Dusk said, putting her head under the blankets.

“Come on, let’s go.” Shadow said as he walked downstairs. Dusk pushed the blanket off of herself and she stretched. The snow outside was falling lightly, the wind calm, only a few light gusts. There were a few holes in the clouds above, the sun barely peaking through them on the horizon. Dusk got up off the bed and walked down stairs. Shadow was putting more firewood in the fire place.

“Alright, I’ll come. When are we going?” Dusk said as she walked over to her jacket on the couch.

“In a little bit. Put your jacket on” Shadow said. He walked over to his cloak and put it on. Shadow grabbed his sniper and slung it around his body, the sniper resting on his side. Shadow pushed the door open, a slight winter breeze coming into the house.

“Let’s go.” Shadow said. Dusk walked up next to him and they started for the palace.

“What does Luna need your help for?” Dusk asked.

“I don’t know, she sent one of the royal guards to the house a while ago to request for my assistance. I’m sure she’s fine.” Shadow said. They walked up to the palace doors, two royal guards standing on each side of them.

“Princess Luna is upstairs in her room. She is awaiting your arrival.” One of the guards said. Shadow nodded and pushed the door open. The main entrance of the palace was empty, the banners on the walls swaying as a cold breeze rushed into the palace. Shadow and Dusk walked inside and walked up the main stairs. There were slight indentations of hoof prints in the carpet leading from the doors of the palace hall up the stairs to Luna’s room.

“Hang on a second.” Shadow said. The doors of the palace hall were slightly open. Shadow looked inside the palace hall. The window closest to the left was shattered, pieces of glass laying on the floor.

“Son of a...” Shadow thought to himself.

“What is it?” Dusk asked, walking up behind Shadow. Shadow Rider walked up to the window and looked out of it. The balcony doors of Luna’s room were closed, a sheet covering the glass.

“They’re going to try and kill Luna so I will be executed...” Shadow said quietly.

“Dusk, come on!” Shadow said as he ran out back into the palace entrance. Dusk and Shadow ran up the stairs and down the hallway to Luna’s room. Shadow stopped in front of the door and motioned for Dusk to keep quiet. Shadow took out his knife from under his cloak and kicked the door open. Luna was sitting on her bed, pointing nervously to the right of Shadow. Shadow’s vision flashed as a bat hit the back of his head. He fell to the floor, disoriented. A pegasus walked up behind Shadow and put a knife to his throat.

“I’m... sorry, Shadow, but-” The pegasus said. Dusk tackled the pegasus, both of them rolling away from Shadow. The knife in the pegasi’s hoof dropped in front of Shadow, laying on the floor beside his neck. Dusk and the pegasus stopped rolling, Dusk holding down the pegasi’s front legs. The pegasi’s mask fell off as they were rolling, Clarity staring at Dusk.

“...Clarity? What are you doing here?” Dusk asked. Shadow got up and walked over to Clarity, slightly struggling to get loose of Dusk’s grip.

“They sent you?” Shadow said, looking at Clarity.

“Shadow... I didn’t want to, but they had me at gun point, I couldn’t-” Clarity said quickly.

“It’s alright, Clarity, I understand. Dusk, let her go.” Shadow said.

“What? But she just tried to kill you!” Dusk said.

“Let her go.” Shadow said. Dusk sighed and got off of Clarity. Clarity got up and brushed herself off. Shadow walked over to Luna, who was sitting on her bed, watching Clarity.

“Are you alright?” Shadow asked.

“Yeah... I’m fine. What is happening? The pegasus you call Clarity came in and held me at gun point!” Luna said, pointing at Clarity.

“I think Clarity can explain that. Would you mind sharing with us?” Shadow said, turning to Clarity.

“The Equestrian Saints gave me the order to kill both you and Dusk. They held a gun to my head, I didn’t want to, but they would’ve killed me if I hadn’t accepted the mission! I’m sorry, Shadow, Dusk, and Luna.” Clarity said. Two royal guards came in through the doorway to Luna’s room.

“What was all the commotion?” One of them asked.

“This pegasus was sent from the Equestrian Saints. I want her interrogated, take her away, guards.” Luna said. The royal guards started to walk to Clarity, but were stopped by Shadow standing in front of them.

“Move aside. We will handle this.” The royal guards said.

“No. You won’t.” Shadow said briefly. Shadow whipped around and his back legs rammed into the royal guard on the right’s head. The royal guard fell into the other one, who was pushed to the ground. The other royal guard was unconscious. Shadow lifted up his hoof and brought it down on the conscious guard’s head.

“Shadow! What are you doing!?” Luna yelled.

“I’m not going to let any of your guards touch her. Leave her to me.” Shadow said, starting to walk over to Clarity. Shadow stopped in his tracks, a blue glow around his neck. Luna used her magic to grab hold of Shadow and turn him to face her.

“Do you dare defy my orders!? You were put under my supervision as a personal guard, you will follow my orders!” Luna yelled. Clarity pulled out her pistol and aimed it at Luna.

“Put him down!” Clarity yelled. Luna used her magic to launch a chair in the corner of the room at Clarity. The chair broke apart as it ran into Clarity, who was flung backwards, unconscious. She flung back into Dusk, who was brought with her as they flew out of the balcony door. They were both unconscious as they fell from the Canterlot palace.

“DUSK, CLARITY! Let go of me!” Shadow yelled. Shadow grabbed hold of his knife from the ground and threw it at Luna. The knife stuck in her leg and Luna screamed in pain, letting go of her grip on Shadow. The sound of hoof steps came from the hallway.

“They’ll have me executed for what I just did, I have to get out of here.” Shadow thought to himself. Shadow ran to the balcony and jumped off, falling after Clarity and Dusk. Gun shots flared in Luna’s room, the bullets soaring past Shadow as he fell.

______________________________________________________________________

Shadow opened his eyes. He was buried in snow, a pocket of air around his head. Shadow moved around, digging at the snow around him. Shadow dug his way back up to the surface of the snow. Shadow stopped and looked around him. The weather had become violent, the wind whipping back and forth and a heavy snowfall coming down on the mountains' base. The Canterlot palace was out of sight, the whiteout around Shadow making everything a blur.

“Clarity! Dusk!” Shadow yelled as he got up. His cloak was soaking wet, Shadow tearing it off of himself and tossing it aside. There were two holes in the snow a few feet ahead of him. Shadow walked along the top of the snow over to the holes. Nothing was in them, only indentations in the snow.

“Damn it, where the hell-” Shadow thought to himself. Shadow suddenly felt dizzy, an overwhelming feeling coming over him. Shadow fell on his side, making an indent in the snow. A pegasus popped out from under a pile of snow, holding a tranquilizer gun. He reloaded the gun and put it at his side.

“I have the three targets. Bringing them back to base now.” The pegasus said through his headset.

______________________________________________________________________

March 26, administration office in Equestrian Saints headquarters

Temperature: -38 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 7:58 P.M.

Shadow’s eyes opened slowly, his vision a blur. He looked around the room. Clarity and Dusk were sitting against the wall, their hooves tied. Shadow tried to move, but he was tied to the floor, chains attached to his two front hooves.

“Ah, he’s awake.” The stallion behind the desk said. Shadow’s vision regained focus and he looked over at the desk. The administration stallion was getting up from his chair and walking over to Clarity and Dusk. They were both unconscious still, propped against the wall.

“Did you really think that you would be able to go against the Spec Ops and expect to live?” The stallion asked, starting to walk towards Shadow. Shadow Rider started to move, but the click of multiple guns being prepared stopped him.

“Did you really think that you could just... walk away?” The stallion said again, putting a hoof on Shadow’s face. The stallion knelt down and put his face in front of Shadow.

“There is no escape. Once you become a Spec Ops operative, there is no leaving.” The stallion said, smirking a little. Shadow spat in the stallion’s face. The stallion got up and whipped the spit off.

“But of course, because of you, the Spec Ops is disbanded. If you would’ve just kept your mouth shut about the operation, maybe you would still have dignity and you wouldn’t be know worldwide as a traitor. But you just HAD to go and crush everything. It was bad enough that you drove a bullet in the head of the last administration stallion, but you just took it one step further in almost destroying the whole facility.” The stallion said, tipping over a decoration on his desk.

“I did what was going to happen eventually. Some pony would have let the information slip.” Shadow said.

“Yes, while that may be true, we would still have the Spec Ops facility back and my brother would still be alive if you hadn’t have done what you did.” The stallion said. Shadow sat in silence. The administration stallion sighed and walked back over to Shadow.

“Have you ever been to the facility ever since you destroyed it, Shadow? It’s a fuckin’ mess, I can tell you. The whole place is practically destroyed and most of the exits were blocked off. All the operatives that were alive and trapped inside starved to death, most of them turning to cannibalism on the other survivors. We’ve sent some of our operatives in about a month or two ago to retrieve the information that was lost.” The stallion said. He stopped and looked at Shadow.

“Do you believe in ghosts, Dead Eye?” The stallion asked.

“I can’t say that I do.” Shadow replied. The stallion laughed.

“Then can you explain why we got fucked up messages back from the teams? Can you explain WHY we heard the sounds of grown stallions screaming like little fillies over the radio at... ‘spirits’ that they claimed to see? CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHY THEY NEVER CAME BACK!?” The stallion yelled. Shadow sat in silence again. The stallion chuckled slightly, putting a hoof up to his face.

“The noises we heard from those transmissions will never leave our minds.” The stallion said. Clarity and Dusk slowly awakened, groaning slightly.

“And so the other two come to join the party.” The stallion said. He walked back behind his desk and sat down.

“Do you know why I am bringing this up, Dead Eye?” The stallion asked.

“I haven’t got a clue.” Shadow replied.

“Because you three are getting a first hoof experience of it. Take them to the facility.” The stallion said. The Equestrian Saint operatives knocked Shadow, Dusk, and Clarity out cold again.

“Make sure they don’t get out alive.”

Ghosts of the Past

Ghosts of the Past

[Author Note: The Equestrian Spec Ops facility was built entirely underground aside from a few corridors and rooms above ground to disguise it from normal society]

March 27, abandoned Equestrian Spec Ops facility

Temperature: -31 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 9:02 P.M.

Shadow’s eyes opened slowly. The area around him was destroyed, all sorts of debris sprawled across the floor. The room was familiar through all of the destruction.

“The... administration office in the Equestrian Spec Ops facility?” Shadow thought to himself as he got up. The sound of hoofs steps came from in the distance, but slowly faded away into the darkness of the facility. Shadow walked over to the lantern on the floor and picked it up, putting the handle around his neck. There was a headset next to it. It was blinking, a message coming through. Shadow picked it up and put it on.

“You’re awake, good.” The administration stallion said through the headset.

“What did you do with Dusk and Clarity!?” Shadow yelled, his voice echoing in the abandoned facility halls. The sound of hoof steps grew in volume again, fading away a second later.

“I suggest you keep your voice down. You wouldn’t want them to find you.” The administration stallion said.

“Who? What are you talking about?” Shadow said quietly, looking around him.

“The facility has become quite... mysterious ever since you set off the explosives. As you can tell already, the only light source is that lantern of yours. I also suggest you keep that lit, the spirits aren’t too fond of ponies invading their darkness.”

“Stop toying with me, what did you do with Dusk and Clarity?”

“You’ll have to find that out yourself. The facility is quite large, you should probably get moving, they don’t have much time.” The stallion said.

“Hang on a second, wait!” Shadow said. The headset only gave back static. Shadow lifted the mic from his mouth and pointed the lantern around the area. The facility was dark, nothing visible a few meters from the light of the lantern.

“I didn’t think the explosives would do this much damage.” Shadow thought to himself. Although the facility was destroyed and the heating systems malfunctioned, the cold air from the surface was not able to get down to the lower levels of the facility. Shadow walked out of the administration office and out into the Spec Ops facility hallways. The halls were long and dark, seeming to go on for miles in the darkness. An eerie sensation came over Shadow as he looked down the corridors. The headset he had on beeped, another message coming through. Shadow put the mic in front of his mouth.

“Shadow, are you there?” A voice said through the headset. The voice was different from the administration stallion’s voice.

“Who is this?” Shadow asked, looking down the other hallway. The voice sighed in relief.

“Good, you’re alive. Now listen carefully. The facility is dangerous, whatever you do, do not let that lantern go out, the spirits will find you that way.”

“Wait, what are you talking about? What spirits?”

“They are extremely hostile, they will not hesitate to kill any pony or anything, in particular you. If you see one, you run. Even though you have a light source, that doesn’t mean you are completely safe.”

“Hang on, slow down!”

“Do not get close to them, they will see you, and they will take you. The light is the only thing keeping you alive.”

“Hey, wait a moment!”

“Don’t do anything to attract attention to yourself. Keep vocal communication with anything minimal. Stay out of sight, it’ll save your life. The light keeps you hidden, so you don’t have to completely avoid them. There is a box of matches in the bottom of the lantern, use them sparingly. Good luck, you’ll need it.”

“Wait!” Shadow said. The radio went silent, static coming through again. Shadow turned the headset off and put the mic up again. He turned around to start going through the facility, but stopped. A faint glow was coming from down the hallway, growing in intensity in the distance. A faint fog started to form down the hallways, growing denser as the light got closer. The silhouette of a pony was in the fog and light, walking towards Shadow. A cold breeze moved through the hallway, and the lantern went out. The silhouette stopped and stared at Shadow. Shadow stood in shock, not knowing what to do. He frantically opened the compartment on the bottom of the lantern and took out a match. The silhouette started to walk closer, the glow starting to become within reach of Shadow. He felt a feeling of isolation and terror as the glow got closer, the cold air becoming increasingly frigid as the silhouette got closer. Barely audible whispers came into earshot.

“Take him... he is the one...” They spoke out. Shadow’s heart pounded as he lit the match. The light from the match flared and the silhouette stopped. It moved its head left and right and started to walked back in the direction it came. Shadow let out a sigh of relief as the glow, cold air, and whispers faded away with the silhouette down the hall. Shadow put the match into the lantern and it lit up.

“They can’t see through light...” Shadow thought to himself, staring down the hallway. The hall was dark again, the only light coming from the lantern. Shadow turned around and started walking down the hallway further into the facility.

“Clarity and Dusk are down here, I’ve got to find them.” Shadow thought to himself as he walked. The halls made twists and turns, some of them blocked off from the explosives that Shadow had set off. The atmosphere was eerie, the occasional sound of hoof steps growing and fading in the darkness.

______________________________________________________________________

Shadow came to a large area, tables and lunch trays scattered across the floor.

“The mess hall. I really did some damage on the facility, didn’t I.” Shadow said to himself quietly. The ceiling of the mess hall had giant holes in it, the debris laying on the ground, tables crushed beneath. The other exit of the mess hall was blocked by a chunk of the ceiling. Shadow started to walk, but immediately stopped. There were multiple glows in the room above the mess hall, streams of an eerie icy blue light cutting their way through the dark into the area below.

“They must know I’m here...” Shadow thought to himself. Shadow looked around the mess hall. The serving line for the operatives didn’t have any streams of light on it, a perfect route to sneak past. Shadow quietly walked behind the serving line counters and worked his way around the debris on the floor. The lights from the spirits in the room above moved around aimlessly, wondering the area. Shadow worked his way to the door on the other side of the room and stopped at the chunk of the ceiling blocking the doorway. Shadow put his front hooves on the debris and pushed, his back legs sliding slightly. The sound of something falling on the ground came from the mess hall. A spirit fell through one of the holes, looking around the mess hall. Shadow pushed harder, the debris blocking the door moving slightly. A cold breeze filled the room as two other spirits fell into the mess hall, the glow around them lighting the area they were in. Shadow pushed harder.

The debris rolled away from the door and slammed against the floor. The spirits turned to look at Shadow, the glow around them gaining a slight red tint. Shadow kicked the door open and ran out into the hallway, dashing down the hall to the right. He stopped in front of a door on the left of the hallway and pushed it open, closing it as he ran inside. He propped himself against the wall next to the door and let out a sigh. The sound of three sets of hoof steps came from the hallway. Shadow steadied his breathing, his breath visible as the glow from the spirits passed by the door. Shadow looked through the window on the door. Two of the spirits had passed.

The other was standing in front of the door. Shadow quickly ducked back down and backed up from the door, hiding behind a desk close to the wall. The door slowly opened, the cold air intensifying as the spirit walked inside. Shadow blocked the lantern as a gust of wind came off of the spirit, the flame inside the lantern flickering. Shadow looked over the desk. The spirit was visible now, not just a silhouette against the glow. It had no pupils or irises, its eyes blank and lifeless. Its mane and tail were falling out, only a few strands of hair sticking out. It’s mouth looked as if it had been stitched together. It's coat was a light and icy blue, scratches along its legs and body. Shadow shuttered at the sight of it and ducked back behind the desk.

“Where did he go...?” A faint whisper said as the spirit walked around the room. Shadow slowly crept his way around the desk and along the wall, making his way to the door. The spirit had its back turned to him, looking left and right at the walls. Shadow pushed the door open lightly and quietly walked into the hallway. A cold breeze came down the hallway, and the light in the lantern went out. Something stopped Shadow as he started to walk, a feeling of deep paranoia and isolation. He strained to turn his head back to the room, his eyelids being forced open. The spirit was staring at him, its eyes and the glow around it turning red.

“We will never forgive... he will pay...” A whisper said as the spirit walked closer to Shadow. Shadow’s heart pumped faster as the air became more frigid around him, the spirit slowly walking closer. The glow was pure red, encircling Shadow as the spirit walked in front of him. Shadow tried to run away, but was frozen in the place he stood, not able to move a muscle.

“He will pay for what he did... he will never leave...” A whisper said. The spirit raised a hoof to Shadow’s face. Shadow gasped for air, the spirit’s icy touch draining Shadow of life. The edges of his vision started to close in, the darkness taking over. Shadow could start to hear bone chilling screams filling his mind, scratching away at his sanity. A light from down the hall emerged and the spirit stopped. It took its hoof off of Shadow’s face and looked around. Shadow fell to the floor, his eyes staring off into the darkness beyond the light.

“He got away... we will find him...” A whisper said. The spirit started to walk away in the opposite direction of the light and disappeared into the darkness, the glow around it turning back to a cold blue. The light walked closer to Shadow and set down on the ground, the flame inside the lantern flickering as the cold air subsided.

“Shadow! Are you alright?” Dusk asked, shaking Shadow lightly. His eyes dilated, moving around to look at the hallway as he returned to consciousness.

“Wha... what happened?” Shadow asked, putting a hoof to his head.

“You tell me, all I saw was you standing in front of a silhouette with a shocked look on your face. Where are we?” Dusk asked. Shadow got up and re-lit his lantern, Dusk's and his lantern lighting the area around them.

“Remember the old Spec Ops facility?” Shadow asked.

“Do you mean... this is the old Spec Ops? What happened, its barely recognizable.” Dusk said, looking at the hallway. Shadow stayed silent for a second.

“Lets just say I got the revenge I wanted at the time.” Shadow said, looking down the hallway behind him.

“Where is Clarity?” Dusk asked.

“That’s what I’m trying to find out. The administration stallion sent us here as a death sentence, but I am not going to let that happen. It’s been a while, but I can still find my way around the facility. I think the operative quarters are just down the hallway, we can start to search for Clarity there. Do you have any matches with you?” Shadow asked, starting to walk down the hallway.

“Yeah, I think so.” Dusk said, tilting her head to look at the bottom of the lantern as she walked along side Shadow.

“Good, then I think administration gave us the same things. Let’s only hope Clarity has a source of light, too.” Shadow said.

______________________________________________________________________

Shadow and Dusk came to the entrance of the bathrooms, which would lead to the operative living quarters. Shadow pushed the door open carefully and peaked his head inside. There was a faint glow coming from inside one of the stalls, and icy breeze coming from the bottom of the stall. Shadow motioned his hoof for Dusk to follow quietly as he slowly walked inside. They crept their way along the floor, trying to make as little noise as possible. Shadow fought to ignore the feeling of fear and horror as he passed by the stall, the frigid air blowing against him. Dusk followed afterwards, letting out a quiet sigh of relief as she passed through the glow. They made their way to the other side of the bathroom, a half destroyed door barely hanging on its hinges in front of them. Shadow lifted the door off of the frame and set it lightly on the ground, peaking back at the stall. The glow was still coming from the stall, flowing in an eerily majestic way. Shadow and Dusk walked into the operative living quarters. They walked away from the bathroom and further into the living quarters.

“That was a little close.” Dusk said, looking around the room. The room was barely touched by the explosives, only a few holes in the walls and ceiling. Most of the beds were turned over, the pillows ripped apart, some of them stained with blood.

“It doesn’t look like she’s here.” Dusk said, poking at a pillow on the floor.

“Hang on, look at this.” Shadow said. He was holding a journal, owned by one of the former operatives of the Equestrian Spec Ops. Shadow started to read the journal.

“Day Three. We’ve been trapped inside the facility for three days. We’re all scared, no pony knows what happened or how it happened. The exits of the facility have been blocked off by debris, no pony able to move it out of the way. The ten of us have navigated our way to the food storage. This should last us a while, but I’m not sure how long.” The first page read. Shadow flipped ahead a few pages.

“Day twelve. We are running low on rations, three of us have already starved. The water has been cut, the pipes destroyed in the blasts. We sent a team down to where the water was cut off around two days ago, hoping that the area would have some water in it. We haven’t heard from them since.” Shadow flipped ahead a few more pages.

“Day twenty two. The things we have heard from the halls... I can’t begin to describe them. Screams of pain and horror, sounds of bones being snapped and ripped off from flesh, I... don’t know how much longer I can go. There are three of us now, we are held up in the operative living quarters. I think the other two are planning something... I don’t know what. I know they are, I’m not going to let them get me.” Shadow flipped ahead a few pages and Dusk put a hoof up to her mouth. The words were written in blood, the page wrinkled and ripped in places.

“Day thirty. It’s just me now. The screams have stopped, the only sound I hear is the occasional dripping of the blood from the ceiling. I... I couldn’t stand what I had done. I’m writing with blood and bone, my quill and and ink had gone missing. I see things in the hallways, strange glows and a cold breeze coming from them. I’m going to see what they are, they seem nice.” Shadow closed the journal and dropped it on the floor.

“How could they do this to themselves?” Dusk said, looking at the journal on the floor.

“I can only imagine what made them go insane like this. I almost feel bad.” Shadow said. He walked over to the end of the room and pushed open the door, the door creaking quietly as it slowly opened. The hallway it revealed was pitch black, the area in front of Shadow lit up by the light of his lantern.

“Dusk, in here.” Shadow said, motioning his hoof for her to come. Dusk walked over to Shadow and they stepped into the hallway. The hallway was silent aside from Shadow and Dusk’s hoof steps as they walked along. The hall seemed to go on forever, no end in sight as they continued on. The walls started to gain distinct scratches on them, the scratches peeling off the paint on the walls. There were streaks of blood along the floor and walls, more and more blood stains appearing as they walked along. They came to a halt at a door.

The door was a bright red, the color of the blood that surrounded it. Shadow lifted his hoof up and lightly pushed the door open. The door slowly opened, revealing the room inside. The room was not recognizable any more as the storage room it used to be. The walls, ceiling, and floor was painted with blood, strange symbols traced into the blood stains on the floor and walls. The boxes and other storage equipment were torn apart and out in a circle around the room, most of it burnt. Dusk and Shadow stood in shock, the display in front of them overwhelming. The sound of faint hoof steps came down the hall behind them, growing in volume as a faint glow pierced through the darkness.

“Dusk, shut the door.” Shadow said as he walked further into the room. Dusk quietly shut the door and followed Shadow into the middle of the room. There was another journal in the center of the circle, a knife next to it. Shadow picked up the journal and opened it, only three pages left in the journal. The writing was written in blood.

“She got away, but not without me getting a little sample from her. I think I'm the only one left, the others are gone. I lost my other journal a while ago, I just found this one not too long ago. The Spec Ops came in here again to retrieve their information about a month ago. They didn’t make it.” The journal said.

“The blood is still wet. This must have been recent.” Shadow said, poking at the page. The blood smeared across the page, making the writing a blur.

“You don’t think...” Dusk started to say, looking at the page.

“I’m not sure.” Shadow said. He dropped the journal and walked back over to the door. The glow down the hallway was gone.

“We’re going to have to start looking for her harder.” Shadow said, starting to run down the hallway with Dusk.

Insanity

Insanity

[This chapter does get a bit... disturbing]

March 24, abandoned Equestrian Spec Ops facility

Temperature: -39 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 12:09 A.M.

Shadow and Dusk slowed to a halt as the entered the target range. The targets down the range were ravaged, torn apart and scattered across the floor. The ceiling, walls, and floor were stained with blood. Dusk and Night’s lanterns lit up the room, no signs of spirits any where.

“Clarity doesn’t seem to be in here either...” Shadow said, looking down the range. There was a half loaded pistol in the booth along with its holster. Shadow picked the pistol and its holster and put it around his hind leg.

“Come on, lets search somewhere else.” Dusk said. Dusk started to walk to the door, but both of the doors slammed shut. The speakers cracked on, a low buzzing sound occupying the speakers.

“What the hell is going on?” Shadow asked, looking quickly around the room.

“And where did you think you were going?” A voice said over the speakers.

“What are you doing? Who are you?” Shadow asked.

“That is nothing of concern. You should be more worried about your friend Clarity.” The voice spoke. Muffled screams came from in the background of the speakers.  “What did you do to her!?” Shadow yelled.

“Now, now, you wouldn’t want them to find you, so I suggest you keep your mouth shut if you want to live.” The voice said.

“Let us out of here!” Shadow yelled again.

“If that’s the way you want to play, then so be it.” The voice said. The vents in the shooting range slid open and the sound of rushing air came from deep within them. Shadow and Dusk ran over to one of the doors and pulled at it. The door stayed shut, not budging the slightest bit. They both started to feel dazed, an overwhelming sensation taking over them. They both fell to the floor, Dusk unconscious. Shadow crawled around on the floor and reached up to the door. The door opened slowly, revealing an earth pony standing on the other side with a lantern around his neck. The earth pony walked up to Shadow and brought a hoof down on him, knocking Shadow unconscious.

______________________________________________________________________

Shadow opened his eyes, his vision blurry. The lantern next to him flickered in the slowly moving air. Shadow got up and looked around. He was at the end of a hallway, the wall behind him looking as if it had been made from scratch. Shadow’s headset came on, a message coming through. He lowered the mic down to his mouth and accepted the message.

“Don’t bother knocking the wall down, its reinforced from the other side.” A voice said in Shadow’s headset.

“What did you do with Dusk!?” Shadow yelled. The sound of hoof steps came from the other side of the wall and slowly faded.

“You really don’t learn do you? Anyways, if you want to live, I suggest you move forward, they’ll find you if you just sit there.” The voice said. Shadow’s headset gave back static, nothing coming through. Shadow flipped his headset off and raised the mic from his mouth. He looked down the hallway. The hall was pitch black beyond the light, nothing visible in the black abyss. Shadow hesitantly started walking, his hoof steps echoing down the hall. The paint on the walls started to show signs of pealing as Shadow walked down the hall. The sound of rushing air came from the vents on the walls. Shadow kept walking. Quiet whispers started to come into earshot as Shadow continued on. He started to feel paranoid, as if something was watching him. Shadow ignored the feeling and he pressed forward. The edge of the light from his lantern began to show a door at the end of the hallway. The door was rusty, claw marks scratched across it. Shadow walked up to the door and stared at it. The door seemed to move back and forth. The whispers had grown in volume, strange phrases muttered through the commotion. Shadow pushed the door lightly, the door creaking as it slowly opened. A cold rush of air came from the room. Shadow walked into the room and looked around.

“What the...” Shadow said. There were bodies of ponies strung from their hind legs hanging from the ceiling. Their skin was cut or peeled off, the muscle underneath frozen. The freezer room was completely dark, the only thing visible in the room were the ponies in the range of Shadow’s lantern. Something rushed past behind Shadow and he quickly turned around. A few of the ponies that were strung from the ceiling were swaying back and forth. Shadow walked up to one of them and looked at a sliver necklace around one of their necks. He lifted the tags at the end of the necklace up and looked at them.

“These are Equestrian Spec Ops dog tags... are these the operatives that were trapped?” Shadow thought to himself.

“I suggest you keep that lantern a bit dim and be quiet, you wouldn’t want her to find you.” A voice said from over Shadow’s headset. Shadow didn’t bother saying anything, he only looked around the room nervously. Hoof steps in the distance came and faded again and again. Shadow breathed heavily, his breath visible with each exhale in the cold air. He hesitantly started walking, trying to make his hoof steps as quiet as possible. Shadow frantically looked around as he walked on, his heart pounding. Shadow brushed against the ponies hanging from the ceiling as he continued on, the chains holding them up rattling. The light from Shadow’s lantern started to outline something and he stopped walking. The mare in front of him stared in the opposite direction, not knowing that Shadow as there. Shadow was about to say something, but stopped as the pony turned around. The mare’s eyelids were stitched shut, cuts along her body and face. She had a harness around her neck, spikes sticking out from it. The spikes had blood on them, the blood frozen. Shadow noticed that the ponies strung from the ceiling had small punctures in them. Shadow stayed silent, staring at the mare. The mare stayed silent, staring blindly in Shadow’s direction. Her lips quivered, as if she were trying to say something.

“I... I haven’t eaten in days... the meat on these ponies... I... can’t eat anymore...” The mare spoke, slowly starting to walk towards Shadow. Shadow turned around and started to run. The sound of hoof steps started after him. Shadow kept running, the bodies of the ponies hanging from the ceiling moving out of the way as Shadow ran into them. Shadow came to a halt at a door, different than the one he entered in. Shadow grabbed the handle and pulled. The hoof steps behind him grew closer. Shadow pushed against the wall next to the door and the door flung open. He ran through the doorway and slammed the door. He turned around and backed away from the door slowly. The mare on the other side of the door scratched at it, muffled yells coming from the other side. Shadow let out a sigh of relief and turned around. Another hallway.

“Good job, you managed to make it out of the test alive, more than that you managed to make it out un-scathed.” A voice said over Shadow’s headset. Shadow lowered the mic to his mouth.

“What the fuck is wrong with you!? You stitch a helpless mares’ eyes shut and put her in a fucking freezer!? And for what, for a fucking test!?” Shadow yelled. The headset gave off static. Shadow swore again and lifted the mic from his mouth. He looked down the hallway, a black abyss beyond the edge of his lantern. Something started to emerge from the darkness beyond the lantern’s light. A shrill scream grew to almost deafening volume as the mare ran towards Shadow from the darkness. Shadow quickly took out the gun he had picked up earlier and looked back up, aiming down the hallway. The mare was gone, no sign of her ever being there.

“What the hell was that...?” Shadow said quietly, still staring down the hall. Shadow shook his head in confusion and put the gun back in its holster. He started to walk down the hallway, moving on to the next test.

______________________________________________________________________

Shadow stopped in front of a large door, leading to the Spec Ops meeting hall. The vents on the walls still had the sound of rushing air coming through them. A trail of blood led under the door into the meeting hall, hoof prints along side the blood trail. Shadow pushed the door open and looked inside. There was lit lantern on the other side of the room, lighting up the area around it. There was a pegasus laying on the floor, her hooves tied together, along with her wings tied to her body. It was Dusk, she was unconscious. The area between Shadow’s lantern and the lantern across the room was pitch black.

“Be careful stepping across, you never know when one of those beams will break.” A voice said through Shadow’s headset. Shadow walked a little bit into the room and looked at the floor. The floor had been destroyed, wooden beams making pathways along the holes in the floor. There were multiple pathways, three wooden planks stretching across each hole. Shadow looked down into the holes in the floor. There were spirits wandering aimlessly below, their glow an icy blue as they walked past each other, bumping into the pillars holding up the remaining parts of the meeting hall floor. Shadow started to walk across the first hole, taking the wooden beam in the middle. The beam creaked as Shadow walked across, making his way to the other section of the remaining floor. Shadow jumped from the wooden beam and landed on the chuck of the floor, the wooden beams rocking back and forth.

Shadow examined the next three wooden beams. The one on the right had a crack in the middle of it, the one in the middle was barely on the chunk of floor, and the one on the left was covered in a liquid that was dripping from the ceiling of the meeting hall. Shadow hesitantly stepped on the middle one, but took his hoof off of it as the beam fell to the area below, landing next to a spirit. Shadow walked over to the wooden beam on the right and started to walk across. The beam creaked and cracked as he slowly made his way across. Shadow jumped from the end of the beam and it broke, the beam breaking in half and falling into the room below.

Shadow let out a sigh of relief and looked up. He had made it to the other side of the meeting hall, Dusk laying on the floor to the right of him.

“Dusk, Dusk! Wake up!” Shadow said quietly. Dusk’s eyes opened slowly and she looked around. She started to say something, but Shadow covered her mouth, pointing to the room below the meeting hall. She looked down and realized why. Shadow untied the ropes around her hooves and Dusk stood up, putting the lantern around her neck. Shadow and Dusk quietly walked over to the door and pushed it open. They walked through and closed the door as quietly as possible. It led to another hallway, the hall pitch black beyond both of their lanterns.

“What is going on? What the hell was that?” Dusk asked, pointing at the door.

“I’m going to fucking murder some pony, that is what is going on. Come on, we still have to find Clarity.” Shadow said as he started to walk down the hallway. Dusk followed Shadow, continuing through the facility.

______________________________________________________________________

Dusk and Shadow arrived at the Equestrian Spec Ops surveillance room. Shadow took out his pistol and looked at Dusk. She nodded and Shadow kicked the door open, the door flying off its hinges and falling onto the floor. Dusk dashed into the room and looked around. The surveillance cameras showed on the screens, nothing in the halls they watched. Dusk turned around to say something to Shadow, but was halted by something grabbing her. An earth pony’s front leg was around Dusk’s neck, both Dusk and the earth pony standing on their hind legs. Shadow lifted the pistol into the air and aimed slightly past Dusk.

“Woah, there, you wouldn’t want your friend here to die, now, would you?” The earth pony said, raising a knife to Dusk’s throat. Shadow stood still, aiming the gun at the earth pony.

“Where is Clarity?” Shadow asked. Clarity was sitting in the corner, watching the display in front of her, her hooves tied together and her wings strapped to her body.

“Your other friend? She’s right over there.” The earth pony said, pointing to the corner with his knife. Shadow aimed at the knife and fired, the knife flying out of the earth pony’s hoof. Shadow aim at the earth pony and fired again, the bullet going into the earth pony’s hind leg. The earth pony let go of Dusk and Dusk ran away over to Clarity. Shadow walked up to the injured stallion, who looked up at him. He chuckled to himself quietly, holding onto his hind leg. Shadow raised the gun up and aimed at the stallion, the gun pointing straight between the stallion’s eyes.

“How can you live like this? You killed all of those operatives, skinned them, and put a mare in there with them, helpless with no escape because she can’t see. What the hell made you do this?” Shadow asked. The stallion chuckled quietly again.

“Insanity can make you do mess up things... I sat there in the first few days, hoping that somepony would come and find us, bring us back to the surface. But it slowly dawned on all of us that no pony was going to come for us, and that drove some of the remaining operatives insane. Some of them actually started to believe that this was meant to happen, that we were part of some... fucked up experiment that the Spec Ops was planning. As you can see by my journal entries, insanity took me over only a month into our entrapment, realizing that I was going to die here. I figured... you know, why not make my last moments fun? Let’s put the remaining operatives into a obstacle course... have some fun with them before they go. I set up those canisters over there to the vents and let the hallucinogen flow through the vents to make the course a little more... entertaining. The Spec Ops was working on the final product to be used as a bio-chemical weapon, and those were just the prototype samples. Who knew that it would carry on this far? That I would finally find the stallion that caused all of this, caused all of the torture, all of the bloodshed, all of the fucked up things that happened after you, Dead Eye, decided to destroy and disband the Spec Ops. Who knew that I would be able to put the stallion that put us in this prison in the same situations that we faced every day we were down here? We all hated you as we sat in there... waiting on false hopes.” The stallion said.

______________________________________________________________________

Three months we were stuck in this hellish place, waiting for some pony, any pony to come and help us. Little did we know, nothing was coming. We would be stuck down here, helpless, only delaying our inevitable death in this facility. But some started to lose it. They started to go insane, not wanting to accept the fact that we were trapped. They broke off from the groups we had formed in the facility and became animals, hunting and feeding on the operatives that still had their sanity. The other nine operatives I was with started to lose it as well, letting go of what was real and what was created in this hell-ish place. But there would be something else that would even further increase the hostility and insanity. The spirits.

The operatives that had lost their lives... came back, their spirits not able to escape from the facility, so they stayed here, and further tormented us. We had already lost three of us by the time the first spirits showed, starved or died of dehydration because of the low amount of rations. Soon the only source of water was the blood that coursed through the remaining operatives veins. More and more of the operatives that were alive turned to cannibalism, hunting down their fellow operatives and killing them in cold blood so they could eat. There were three of us left by that time, scared for our lives of the sounds that came from the halls. They didn’t last long, both of the operatives that I was with either lost or taken by the insane operatives. I didn’t bother finding another surviving group, I knew they would just die along with the rest of us. Insanity started to take over me as the sounds from the halls came to a halt, the eerie quietness of the facility wearing away at my sanity. I thought to myself in the last moments of sanity, ‘Why not have some fun?’.

I set up the course you had to go through only a month ago, finding the remaining operatives and putting them to the test. It was joyful to watch them suffer, laying in the room below the meeting room with broken limbs, having their life sucked out by the spirits, to watch them eaten alive by the mare in the freezer room, to watch them die at my will. When the Saint operatives came, they didn’t stand a chance against the spirits, all of them being taken by them and trapped in here for an eternity. The only thing they wanted was to kill you, Dead Eye, for what you had done to us, for trapping us in this facility, leaving us to turn on each other and die off, trapped in here forever. Light just became a blind spot for them when it appeared. The operatives that were alive were mistaken as you, and they were robbed of their life because of you.

You, Dead Eye, caused all of this, and there is no undoing it.

______________________________________________________________________

“But look where we are now, the same stallion that caused this ordeal is here to end it. So come on, go ahead and-” The stallion said. Shadow pulled the trigger, the bullet flying from the pistol and into the stallion. The stallion’s head jerked back and he fell to the floor.

“You don’t need to tell me to put a bullet between your eyes, that was coming either way.” Shadow said. He dropped the gun and looked over at Clarity and Dusk. They were both watching Shadow, slightly afraid. Shadow sighed and looked back at the surveillance cameras.

“I think it’s time we got out of this place.” Shadow said. Dusk and Clarity nodded and Dusk untied the ropes around Clarity’s hooves. They got up and walked over to Shadow.

“Don’t you think it was a little harsh shooting him?” Dusk said, looking down at the stallion.

“For what he had been through and what he had done, something told me that he wanted to die.” Shadow said as he started to walk out the door, Clarity and Dusk following him. But it wasn’t over yet. There was still the matter of getting out... alive.

Regret

Regret

March 27, abandoned Equestrian Spec Ops facility

Temperature: -42 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 4:19 A.M.

“Shadow, do you even remember where the elevator is?” Dusk asked Shadow as they walked around the facility. The stallion that Shadow had killed was the last of the surviving Equestrian Spec Ops operatives, all of the survivors of the explosion now deceased. Their spirits, however, still remained in the facility, still searching on and on for Shadow Rider.

“I’m fairly sure that the elevator out should be...” Shadow said. He slowed to a stopped and started at the mess before him. The elevator shaft had collapsed in the explosions, only a bottomless pit that led deeper into the facility. The area further up the elevator shaft was blocked by debris, nothing getting past.

“...right...here...” Shadow said, a disappointed tone in his voice.

“Great, not what?” Clarity asked.

“Hold it right there!” A voice yelled from behind the three. Dusk, Shadow, and Clarity whipped around. There was a group of seven Equestrian Saint operatives aiming their guns at Dusk, Shadow, and Clarity, their hooves on the triggers of their rifles. The flashlights on their guns pierced the darkness, brighter than the lanterns that Dusk, Shadow, and Clarity had. Dusk and Clarity got in an offensive stance.

“Calm down, girls, we’re out numbered and out gunned. Do as they say.” Shadow said quietly. Clarity and Dusk stood up straight and waited as the group walked toward them.

“Administration wants you dead, we’re just making sure that happens.” One of them said. There was a sudden sound of something being whipped through the air, and three of the Equestrian Saint operatives fell to the floor, a knife in each of their necks.

“What the hell?” One of the other operatives said, taking out one of the knives. The three operatives were dead, bleeding on the floor.

“Where did these come from?” Another operative asked. Two more knives flew form the darkness of the hallway, implanting themselves into two of the other operatives.

“What is going on!? Where are these coming from!?” Another operative said, aiming his flashlight down the hallway. Another knife flew from the darkness, the knife piercing the operative that was looking frantically down the hallway’s skull. The other operative started to back up and bumped into Shadow. Shadow grabbed him by the hind legs and pulled his legs from under him. The operative flew backwards and latched on to the elevator shaft’s doorway, kicking his hind legs to try and get up.

“Don’t... don’t do this! Please!” The operative yelled, nervously looking down the elevator shaft.

“If you weren’t part of the Equestrian Saints, I might reconsider. What a shame, I was almost going to let you go.” Shadow said. He kicked the operatives’ hooves from the elevator shaft’s doorway and the operative fell into the black abyss below, his screams echoing in the darkness of the facility. A faint ‘splat’ came from below, the light of the operatives’ flashlight long gone at the bottom of the elevator shaft. Shadow looked back up at the hallway and picked up a rifle the operatives had, aiming the flashlight down the hallway.

“You’re lucky I was able to find you in time or else it would be your ass would be down the elevator shaft rather than the operative you just killed.” The unicorn said as he emerged from the dark. He was wearing a cloak and face mask, the hood on the cloak over his head, hiding his body structure and face.

“Well I’ll be damned, if it isn’t my little guardian.” Shadow said.

“Who?” Clarity and Dusk asked. The unicorn walked up to them and looked at Clarity.

“This is the unicorn that warned me about the Saint’s operation to terminate Dusk and myself.” Shadow said.

“And you would be dead without me. I see you managed to get captured anyways. What the hell were you thinking when you jumped off the balcony? You couldn’t even see the ground clear from up there, you could’ve landed on a patch of grass and broken your legs other than having your fall cushioned by snow.”

“Yeah, yeah, but what else did you want me to do, stay in Luna’s room and get shot to death?”

“Alright, cool it, Shadow, unless you want your ass handed to you. You’re just lucky that I decided to not let you come down here without any help. It was a pain in the ass to send transmissions to you without the Saints hearing, but it worked out. At least, up to now, we still need to get out. Alive, that is. Do you remember any other exits?” The unicorn asked, looking back down the hallway. Dusk and Clarity each picked up a rifle from the ground and a few extra clips off of the dead Saint operatives.

“We already checked the other direct exits from the facility. They’re all blocked, we wouldn’t be able to move all of the debris out of the way, just the four of us. How did you get in here, couldn’t we just get out there?” Shadow asked.

“The whole area is surrounded by Saint operatives, we wouldn’t be able to get out without them noticing us, I almost got caught myself getting in. The squad that found you just a second earlier was sent down about an hour ago from there. I would have to assume that the way I got in is the only way to get out.”

“Well then we better get going.” Shadow said.

“What? Are you crazy? You just heard him, we’ll get spotted right away and shot on sight!” Clarity said.

“It is the only way of getting out of the facility, all of the other exits are blocked off. Unless you want to go insane like the Spec Ops operatives, then I suggest we get moving before they send down more groups to search for us.” Shadow said as he started to walk away with the unicorn. Dusk and Clarity glanced at each other.

“Let’s go!” Shadow yelled from down the hallway. The rifle was hanging from his body, the flashlight pointing out in front of him. Dusk and Clarity shrugged and followed them, the rifles slung around their bodies lighting the way.

______________________________________________________________________

“Which way do we go?” Clarity asked, looking down the hallways. There was a split path in the corridors, one leading to the left, the other to the right.

“Umm...” Shadow said, glancing at the hallway to the left.

“You were a Spec Ops operative for how many years?” The unicorn asked through his face mask.

“Shut your mouth, its been three months, do you expect me to remember every twist and turn in this damn facility? This place is gigantic.” Shadow said, glancing down the hallway to the right.

“Where do you think that these hallways lead?” Dusk asked.

“With the explosions altering the interior of the facility, who knows. One could be a dead end, the other could lead to the exit.” Shadow said.

“There’s only one way to find out. Let’s split up, two of us go down one hall, the other two down the other hall.” The unicorn said.

“Are you sure? For all we know, one of these could lead us to our death.” Clarity said.

“It looks like we don’t have any other choice.” Shadow said, turning back to the other three.

“Dusk, come with me down the left hallway. Shadow, Clarity, you two can go right. If anything goes wrong, I have my headset set to receive calls from your headset, Shadow. Remember, we aren’t out of the facility yet, watch your back for spirits and Saint operatives alike.” The unicorn said. Shadow and Clarity nodded and they started walking down the hallway as Dusk and the unicorn started walking down the other.

“And, Shadow, try not to get killed. I don’t want Clarity crying on my shoulder because you let your guard down.” The unicorn said through Shadow’s headset. Shadow glanced at Clarity with a slight smirk on his face and put the mic down to his mouth.

“We’ll be fine. Good luck.” Shadow said. He switched off his headset and lifted the mic up from his mouth.

“What’d he have to say?” Clarity asked, tilting her head to look at Shadow.

“Nothing...” Shadow said, staring into the black abyss that awaited them ahead.

______________________________________________________________________

A faint voice in the distance spoke out as Shadow and Clarity made their way through the terminal room of the facility. There were two Equestrian Saint operatives on the other side of the room, walking along side each other, their flashlights lighting the area around them. Shadow and Clarity got down and crawled their way around the cubicles, turning their flashlights off as they made their way through the room.

“Did you get anything back from Alpha?” One of the operatives asked.

“Nah, I’m not getting anything. What do supposed is going on down there?” The other operative asked.

“Hell, who knows. With the transmissions administration got back from the team they sent down a month ago, anything could’ve happened.”

“Yeah, this place gives me the fuckin’ creeps.” The two operatives sat down against the wall next to the door on the other side of the room, setting their rifles aside. Shadow and Clarity stopped as they reached the cubicle across the room from the operatives, the door only a few feet away. Clarity started to crawl her way to the door, but was stopped by Shadow putting his hoof out in front of her. Clarity hesitantly crawled back behind the cubicle.

“Hold up a second.” One of the operatives said as he got up. He grabbed his rifle and pointed it at the other side of the room where Clarity and Shadow had entered.

“What? What did you see?” The other operative asked.

“Look, over there. Do you see it?” The operative that was standing up said. Shadow suddenly realized what was going on. He had forgotten to unhook the hallucinogen that the last surviving Spec Ops operative had set up in the facility. Shadow started to notice the sound of rushing air through the vents around the room.

“What? I don’t see anything.” The operative that was sitting said as he got up.

“She... she needs help! We have to help her, come on!” The other operative said as he ran through the cubicles.

“Hey, wait a second! There isn’t anything over there, get your ass back here! Ah son of a bitch, wait for me!” The operative said as he ran after his partner. They both ran out of the room and into the halls, their hoof steps slowly going out of ear shot a second later. Shadow and Clarity got up.

“What was that all about?” Clarity asked, staring back at the door and turning her flashlight back on. Shadow was about to say something as his headset came on, the unicorn trying to contact him. Shadow turned on his mic and put it down to his mouth.

“What is i-” Shadow started to say. He was cut off by the sound of Dusk crying hysterically at something.

“Shadow, Dusk is... hallucinating, see keeps saying she sees her mother. She won’t budge, what the hell is going on?” The unicorn asked. Shadow sighed.

“I may have left something on that is flowing through the vents at this very second, and has been since we arrived in the facility.”

“Well what the fuck is it? Dusk is losing it.”

“A hallucinogen, the last survivor of the explosives went insane and tampered with the Spec Ops’ experiment of a bio-chemical weapon. He set the gas out in the course he set up and I think it’s leaking to the rest of the facility.”

“Did you even bother to turn it off!?”

“I forgot about it, alright! Now, listen, tell Dusk that it isn’t real. Do anything to snap her out of it. Clarity and I haven’t found the exit yet, so keep going.”

“Alright, I’ll try.” The unicorn said. Shadow turn off his mic and lifted it from his mouth.

“Are they going to be alright?” Clarity asked.

“...I’m not sure.” Shadow said.

“Well... we have to go find them, they could be in trouble!”

“Clarity, there would be no way we could find them. We have to keep moving forward and find the exit.”

“They need our help, Shadow, you heard Dusk!”

“I am not going back just to find out that Dusk was fine! She’s just hallucinating, she’ll be alright.”

“Do you ever think about anypony other than yourself!? What about Five, Two, and One!? Did you ever bother to help them either!? For all we know, they could be alive if we had gone and helped them!”

“I did what I was assigned to do on the mission!”

“You should have paid more attention to the lives that were at risk! Your mother died because of you 'completing' the mission!” Clarity yelled at the top of her lungs.

Shadow lost control of his anger. He picked up his hoof and swung at Clarity as hard as he could. Clarity’s head jerked sideways and she fell to the floor.

“She is dead because of the conditions of the winter! I had nothing to do with it! Do you think I wanted her to die!? Do you!?” Shadow yelled. Clarity looked up at Shadow with fear in her eyes, holding her face with her hoof. Shadow steadied his breathing and backed away, realizing what he did. His eyes started to fill with tears, a drop falling to the floor as he backed up into the door.

“Clarity... I’m... I’m so sorry...” Shadow said. He started to walk towards her, but Clarity scooted backwards. She got up quickly and stared at Shadow, who only exchanged a look of sorrow and fear with her.

“You’re not the stallion I loved...” Clarity said, tears forming in her eyes. She turned and ran to the other side of the room and out the door. Shadow only stared as she went out of sight, Clarity going to find Dusk and the unicorn. Shadow sat down and stared at his hoof, a little drop of blood on it.

“What is happening to me...?” Shadow said quietly to himself.

______________________________________________________________________

[Six months before Operation “Revival”]

June 21, Equestrian Spec Ops operative private quarters

Temperature: -22 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 1:09 A.M.

Clarity made her way down the halls to Shadow’s room from hers. The hallways were lit up by the torches on the walls, the light flickering as Clarity walked by. Heavy and light snores came from the rooms that lined the hall, most of the operatives sleeping. The hallway was empty, Clarity’s hoof steps echoing as she made her way to Shadow’s room. It was Shadow’s birthday, Clarity carrying a specially made knife she had created as a gift for Shadow around her hind leg. Clarity stopped in front of Shadow’s room door and she lightly knocked on it. Shadow’s light snores gave Clarity the impression that he was asleep.

She carefully pushed the door open and walked inside. Shadow was asleep on his bed, facing the door, the blanket messily on top of him. Clarity smiled and walked inside, gently closing the door behind her. She walked over to Shadow’s desk and set the knife down on it. Clarity took the time to admire the picture Shadow had of her and him, watching the sunset on their five year anniversary last fall.

The winter had grown to an ever-lasting blizzard by now, the conditions above ground worsening with every day. The Spec Ops team that was sent up to Cloudsdale was still up there, what they were doing was unknown to the Spec Ops operatives. Clarity walked over to Shadow’s bed and carefully crawled in next to him. Clarity put her front leg over Shadow and poked at his nose. Shadow grunted slightly and he rolled over, not knowing that Clarity was there. He opened his eyes to find Clarity staring at him, a smile on her face.

“Oh what the-!” Shadow yelled, falling off the bed a moment later. He landed on the ground with a hard thud, Clarity giggling at the sight of his hind legs sticking up in the air. She pulled her way over to the side of the bed and put her head between Shadow’s back hooves.

“Happy birthday, Shadow Rider.” Clarity said softly, looking down at him. Shadow tilted his head to look at her and chuckled to himself. He put his head back and glanced at the clock on his desk.

“A little early, don’t you think?” Shadow said jokingly, putting a hoof on his head.

“It’s never too early to wish my coltfriend a happy birthday. You should just be glad I didn’t do what I did last time.” Clarity said, giggling to herself. Shadow laughed at the thought of being barraged with ten pillows to the face again.

“Yeah... I guess I should.” Shadow said as he got up. Clarity held out her front legs to Shadow, an innocent smile on her face. Shadow smiled and laid down next to her, Clarity resting her head against Shadow’s.

“I don’t know what I would be without you, Clarity.” Shadow said, kissing Clarity lightly.

Clarity didn’t say anything. She only smiled at his remark.

Reveal

Reveal

March 27, abandoned Equestrian Spec Ops facility

Temperature: -45 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 6:21 A.M.

Clarity stopped running and propped herself against the wall. She had been running for a while now, finally deciding to stop. She put a hoof up to her face again, wincing at the pain. She looked at her hoof. A little drop of blood was on it, Clarity wiping it off on the floor. More tears fell from her eyes as she stood in the hallway, her flashlight pointing into the dark stretch ahead of her.

“Clarity, is that... you?” A voice asked from behind her. Clarity turned around to find Dusk and the unicorn standing behind her.

“Dusk! You’re alright!” Clarity said. She ran up to Dusk and hugged her, Dusk putting her front leg around Clarity.

“What happened to your face?” Dusk asked as Clarity let go of her. Clarity remembered Shadow’s actions.

“We... ran into a couple of Equestrian Saint operatives. I managed to get hit, but we came out alright.” Clarity said, trying to stick to the partial truth.

“Where is Shadow?” The unicorn asked, looking past Clarity.

“We got separated a few minutes ago. I don’t know where he is.” Clarity said.

“Where were you two last together?”

“Back a bit down the hallway.” Clarity said, pointing down the hall behind the unicorn and Dusk.

“Let’s go search for him then. Dusk and I found the end of the path we took. A dead end, so we started walking the path that you and Shadow took. Anyways, let’s get going. Shadow won’t last long on his own.” The unicorn said. Clarity and Dusk nodded and the three started walking down the hallway back to the room Shadow was in.

______________________________________________________________________

Dusk, Clarity, and the unicorn walked into the terminal room. They walked to the other side of the room and looked around. Shadow was gone, the only evidence of him being there was that the door was open.

“He’s gone.” Clarity said, peaking her head through the doorway.

“Where does he think he is going? He’s all alone, he is in serious danger.” Dusk said as she walked into the stairwell through the door. The area below was caved in, a long drop to the bottom of the stairs.

“Well, looks like he only had one option. Up. Come on, maybe we can catch up to him.” The unicorn said. Dusk and Clarity followed the unicorn as he started ascending the stairs. There was a clod breeze coming from the area above and a faint light at the top of the stairwell. A distant voice came from the top of the stairwell, addressing Dusk, Clarity, the unicorn.

“You three! Stay where you are or we will open fire!” The voice said the sound of hoof steps coming down the stairs made Dusk panic, looking around for an escape route.

“Don’t even think about it, Dusk. We’re not going to be able to get out of this one.” The unicorn said. Dusk steadied her breathing and waited as the hoof steps got louder. A group of twenty Equestrian Saints came into view, all of them pointing their guns at Dusk, Clarity, and the unicorn.

“Drop your weapons and come up the stairs slowly! Try anything and we will fire upon you!” One of them yelled. Dusk and Clarity took the rifles off from around their bodies and pushed them down the stairs.

“Alright, now come up the stairs and do not resist. You will be dealt with once administration gets here.” The operative said. Dusk, Clarity, and the unicorn climbed the stairs and were taken by the Equestrian Saints operatives. Clarity looked around as they were taken to the exit of the facility by the Saints operatives.

“Shadow, where are you?” Clarity thought to herself.

______________________________________________________________________

March 27, exit of the abandoned Equestrian Spec Ops facility

Temperature: -38 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 6:52 A.M.

Clarity and Dusk sat in the corner of the room built into the side of the cave, their hooves tied as they waited for administration to get to the facility. The unicorn was sitting in the other corner, his face mask and cloak still on. The weather was fair, a slight breeze every now and then and a light snow fall over the ice lands. Canterlot could be seen from the window of the room, the sun rising on the horizon just past it. A carriage rolled into the cave, three stallions sitting in the carriage. The doors to the carriage opened and they stepped out onto the floor of the cave. Clarity and Dusk watched as they walked into the room they were in, standing on the other side of the room. A group of Equestrian Saint operatives followed them in, watching Clarity and Dusk.

“Dusk and Clarity. I see you managed to make it this far without getting killed. The facility is quite a sight, isn’t it? I should’ve warned you about the remaining operatives, that was very rude of me, please forgive me about that.” The administration stallion said. The other two administration stallions stood quietly, watching as the other looked out the window.

“But, as long as your going to be dying here. I might as well reveal our names to you. It’s the least I can do in your last moments.” The administration stallion said as he walked away from the window and over to Dusk and Clarity.

“Persistence, do you really think that-” One of the other administration stallions said. He quickly covered his mouth at what he just let slip out of his mouth. Persistence sighed and walked back to the other administration stallions.

“As you just heard, my name is Persistence.” Persistence said, hitting the administration stallion on the side.

“This is Star Gazer, who is in charge of the details of the operations, along with Continuum here at my right, who is in charge of approving the operations and other such things.” Persistence said.

“Do you really think it’s a good idea to just tell them our identities?” Continuum asked as Persistence walked over to Clarity and Dusk.

“They’ll be dead in a minute, why not let them learn some stuff before they go?” Persistence said, putting his hoof on Clarity’s cheek. Clarity moved her head out of the way and Persistence walked back to the other administration stallions.

“I would have to assume that Dead Eye is still down in the facility. Or is that statement incorrect? Why don’t you tell me, Clarity.” Persistence said as he took out a pistol.

“The last time we saw him was before your operatives took us. We don’t know where he is.” Clarity said. Persistence walked over to the unicorn and put the pistol to his head. The unicorn didn’t move, his face covered with his face mask and cloak hood.

“Unless you want your friend here to die, then I suggest you tell me. Where is Shadow Rider?” Persistence asked.

“Persistence, that’s enough. You are about to execute a civilian, I demand you stop this instant!” Star Gazer yelled.

“Not until I get an answer.” Persistence said, staring at Clarity.

“I’m telling you, I don’t know!” Clarity yelled.

“WHERE IS SHADOW RIDER!?”

“I don’t kn-!” Clarity said. She was cut off by Persistence pulling the trigger. Clarity stopped and stared at the unicorn, a bullet through his skull. Dusk and Clarity were speechless. Persistence put his pistol back and its holster and lightly chuckled to himself.

“A simple question.” Persistence said. He knelt down to look at the unicorn. The cloak he was wearing was covering his face, the face mask slightly down.

“Now, let’s see who our little mystery unicorn is.” Persistence said as he lifted the cloak from the unicorn’s face. The unicorn’s eyes were blank, no pupil or iris in either eye. Persistence gave the sight a confused look and he pulled down the unicorn’s face mask. There were no facial features, only a smooth surface in the shape of a unicorn’s head.

“What the hell is this?” Persistence said, poking at the decoy in front of him. The window on the other side of the room smashed open as Shadow and the unicorn jumped through, a rope guiding them from the over hang above the cave. They opened fire on the Equestrian Saint operatives that were behind Continuum and Star Gazer, all of them falling to the floor dead. They quickly dropped their guns and they both grabbed one of the administration ponies by the neck, Shadow and the unicorn each holding a knife to their hostages’ throats. Their knives already had blood on them, Shadow’s knife slightly dripping from the tip of the blade. The unicorn’s cloak hood had fallen backwards, revealing his messy white mane and dark red eyes, his face mask still covering his other facial features. A chill suddenly went down Clarity’s spine.

“Is that...?” Clarity thought to herself. The unicorn used his magic to slam the door shut as Persistence tried to run, his face smacking into the wood. Dusk glanced out the window looking out into the cave. All of the Equestrian Saint operatives that were out there were laying on the ground, dead, their throats slit open.

“Don’t even THINK about leaving. You’re going to give us some answers or your fellow administration officers get it.” Shadow said, glaring at Persistence with hate in his eyes. Persistence leaped for his gun next to the unicorn’s decoy. The gun flew backwards with a red aura around it, landing next to the unicorn as he let go of his magical grip on the gun. The red aura around his horn faded, the slight hum of magic fading in volume. Persistence glared at Shadow and the unicorn as they held onto Continuum and Star Gazer.

“Are the Saint the ones causing the winter to be this way?” Shadow said in a threatening voice.

“You really just don’t know when to stop, do you?” Persistence said as he got up from the ground, wiping himself off. The unicorn used his magic to levitate a shard of glass in the air and he moved it over in front of Persistence’s neck.

“Answer the question. Are the Saints the ones making the winter this way?” Shadow said again, his voice slightly more stern. Persistence’s mouth curved into a smirk.

“You read the details of Operation “Revival”, or should I say, “Dead Stop”, didn’t you?” Persistence said, staring at Shadow.

“ANSWER THE QUESTION!” Shadow yelled, bringing the knife he was holding closer to Continuum’s throat. Persistence paused for a second, thinking of a way to escape. He sighed and looked out the window behind Shadow and the unicorn, Canterlot barely visible in the distance through the snowfall.

“I didn’t want to do it, but “Revival” wouldn’t have gone the way it did if I hadn’t.” Persistence said.

______________________________________________________________________

The winter was a set up, a decoy to make you believe that Operation “Revival” was an actual mission. Once we got started, there was no going back. The three of us ordered five hundred of the Spec Ops operatives to Cloudsdale. Their orders were to force the workers in the weather stations to continuously create snow with no delay. Any pegasus that refused was shot on sight, we couldn’t allow the winter to end before “Revival”. The pegasi that tried to fly out of Cloudsdale to tell the other nations what was happening were either taken back by force or shot, the orders coming directly from us. Any information that got out of Cloudsdale were lies, a cover to make the ponies below in Equestria and the rest of the world believe that everything was fine.

Little did they know, Cloudsdale had turned into a prison, the pegasi that inhabited it forced to work until the operatives told them to switch roles. At this very moment, the operatives up in Cloudsdale are waiting for the order from Continuum, Star Gazer, and myself to come back down and return Cloudsdale to its normal ways. This can all end if you are willing to pay the price, Dead Eye.

______________________________________________________________________

“And what would that price be?” Shadow asked, kicking Continuum as he tried to wriggle his way out of Shadow’s grip.

“Your life. The sole purposed of the winter was to trick you into thinking that Operation “Revival” was legitimate. It could all have ended if you had died. But you didn’t, and because of that, the winter still continues on today.” Persistence said.

“So now you are just using the winter as a tool to guilt me into letting myself be killed!? Do you realize what is going on out there!? Ponies are freezing to death, starving, fighting for survival, all because you failed to kill me!?”

“The Dead Eye name is the most deadly in all the world! It has claimed over seven hundred lives with only five successors to the name! If it continues any longer, that list can multiply by several times, all it takes is the teachings of the skills the name comes with! Your mentor was the first active Dead Eye in twenty five years, and he had already eliminated one hundred targets within his first year of training! Do you see why this can’t go on any longer!?”

“My teachings to Shadow were to carry on the Dead Eye name in honor of my great-great-grandfather, the first ever Dead Eye. I was not about to let his work die for nothing!” The unicorn yelled as he took off his face mask. The face mask landed next to Dusk, a voice alterer stitched onto the fabric. Shadow stood in awe at who had been helping him for the past three days.

“Specter...?” Shadow and Clarity said as they both stared at him, the words barely coming out of their mouths. Shadow and Clarity believed that Specter had passed away after he gave Shadow his final lesson, supposedly dying from the conditions of the winter only a day later.

“I went into hiding to finally get away from all the killing. I knew that if I stayed with Shadow and continued teaching him, I would have to stare death in the face again and let him take another life at my disposal. I couldn’t stand to see another life being taken by the single pull of trigger, I had to get away from it. But, despite all my efforts, I keep getting pulled back in. I hope you can understand, Shadow.” Specter said.

“You left me to become death’s messenger... just so you could get away from it all?” Shadow said.

“Now you see why the Dead eye name is unforgivable. Once you embrace it, there is no going back.” Persistence said. Shadow turned back to Persistence, Continuum still tight in his grip.

“I understand the consequences of holding the Dead Eye name, but it is no reason to make thousands and thousands of ponies die because of one stallion. I will give you one warning before I slit your fellow officer’s throat. Take the operatives out of Cloudsdale and end this.” Shadow said, bringing the knife closer to Continuum’s neck.

“You know that’s not going to happen.” Persistence said.

“Then so be it.” Shadow and Specter shoved their knives into Continuum and Star Gazer’s necks and cut sideways, Shadow and Specter putting a hoof over their victim’s mouths. Persistence winced at the sight of his partners losing their life as they fell onto the ground in a pool of blood.

“You realize this won’t go without consequences.” Persistence said, looking back up from his deceased co-administration stallions. Persistence grabbed a flash bang from the dead Equestrian Saint operative next to him and pulled the pin, throwing it into the middle of the room. The flash bang bursted, Shadow, Specter, Dusk, and Clarity’s vision turning to a blur. Shadow stumbled along the floor for a while and he regained composure, quickly looking around the room. Persistence was gone, the door of the room flung wide open.

“Damn it, he got away.” Shadow said to himself. He stood up straight and walked over to Specter, Dusk, and Clarity. Specter was beginning to untie Dusk and Shadow knelt down to untie Clarity. She showed some resistance, but settled down as Shadow untied her. Clarity got up after Shadow as done and she walked out into the cave. Shadow looked down at Specter, a slightly pleading look on his face.

“Alright, I can explain everything later. Go talk to her.” Specter said, motioning his head to the door. Shadow nodded and quickly walked after Clarity. She was standing at the edge of the cave, looking out at Canterlot. Shadow walked up next to her.

“Clarity... I really am sorry about-” Shadow started to say.

“No, I’m the one that should be sorry. I should’ve just kept my mouth shut about your mother. I’m sorry I ever mentioned her.” Clarity said, her eyes starting to water. Shadow put his front leg around Clarity and they sat down.

“I still want to apologize. I shouldn’t have let my anger take me over. Do you think you can forgive me?”

“You know I could never stay angry at you Shadow. Besides, I’ve gotten worse injuries while on missions.” Clarity said with a slight smile on her face, looking at Shadow. Shadow turned Clarity’s head slightly to examine the wound. Shadow took his hoof off of her face and Clarity turned back to look out at the ice lands.

“What are we going to do about Persistence? You realize he’s not going to take the operatives out of Cloudsdale just because you and Specter killed his fellow administration officers.” Clarity said.

“Yeah, but he won’t be able to think clearly with Star Gazer and Continuum gone.” Shadow said. They both took a moment to admire the winter landscape outside of the cave. Although it had killed thousands of ponies, something about it was peaceful as Shadow watched the snow flakes fall from the sky.

“Looks like we’re going to have to take them out of Cloudsdale ourselves.”

Capture

Capture

March 27, home of Twilight Sparkle

Temperature: -42 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 12:38 P.M.

A knock on Twilight Sparkle’s door made her jump a little as she sat down to read her book. Twilight sighed and walked over to the door.

“Who is it?” Twilight asked cheerily as she opened the door. Her question was soon answered as the door revealed Shadow Rider, bags filled with miscellaneous items in it around his neck. Twilight stared at Shadow, a slightly horrified look on her face.

“Surprised?” Shadow asked, a smirk on his face as he stood in the doorway.

“You... You! You’re the one that assaulted Luna!” Twilight said as she back away from the door.

“Yes, I may have taken some actions that I regret, but they were necessary. Now, listen to me, I need you to -” Shadow started to say, but was interrupted by Twilight.

“No! I will not do anything for you! Get out!” Twilight yelled, throwing the book she was about to read at Shadow with magic. The book flew through the air and hit Shadow in the face, the book landing on the floor with a thud.

“Ow! Damn it, listen to me!” Shadow yelled, putting a hoof against his closed eye.

“No! Go, get out of my house!” Twilight backed up against the wall and continued to throw books at him, Shadow managing to block some of them with his hoof before they made contact with him.

“QUIT IT!!” Shadow yelled at the top of his lungs. Twilight stopped throwing books and stared angrily at Shadow. She had a book ready at her side, her horn and the book glowing with a purple aura. Shadow took the book on top of his head and threw it on the ground, landing with a puff of dust in the pile of books at his hooves.

“All I want is one favor, I’ll be out of your mane after that.” Shadow said, his hoof still raised in case Twilight decided to hurl one last book at him. Twilight hesitated to answer, afraid of what his favor might be.

“Fine. Make any sudden movements, though, you know what’s coming.” Twilight said, bouncing the book up and down in the air.

“Good. Now, tell me if I’m mistaken, but you are the unicorn that gave your friend a set of temporary wings about a year back, are you not?” Shadow asked as he set down the bags he was carrying on the floor.

“Yes, that would be me, what of it?” Twilight asked. The confused look on her face grew even more so at the sight of what was in the bags. Bones, muscle tissue, feathers, and other odd things spilt onto the floor as Shadow tipped them over.

“I just need you to give me wings.” Shadow said, looking back up at Twilight.

“And why would I do that?” Twilight asked.

“Unless you want me to waste an hour explaining why-”

“I’ve got all the time in the world. Shoot.” Twilight said. Shadow stared angrily at Twilight for a second and he sighed.

______________________________________________________________________

“And if you want the winter to keep going, be my guest. But if you want to stop all the suffering that is going on, you will help me.” Shadow said as he wrapped up his explanation. Twilight sat in thought for a second and looked at Shadow.

“Do you really think it’ll work?” Twilight asked, setting down the book.

“There’s no use in not trying.” Shadow said. Twilight paused for a second again and walked over to the pile of things that Shadow had in his bags, inspecting them to see if everything was there.

“Alright then, let’s get started.” Twilight said, looking back up at Shadow with a determined smirk on her face. Shadow nodded and he waited for Twilight to start the spell. Twilight’s horn glowed intensely, multiple layers of magical aura forming around her horn. Shadow was slowly lifted into the air, looking around worriedly as he wondered if this was supposed to be happening. Twilight showed signs of physical strain, closing her eyes and concentrating on the complicated spell she was performing.

The items that Shadow had brought were absorbed into two magical streams that started to twirl around him. The streams made a cocoon around Shadow, the worried look on his face growing even more so as they closed around his face. The streams encased him completely, a glowing blue cocoon of magic surrounding him. The magical streams around Shadow glowed with a majestic purple aura as the metallic blue ribbons of magic around him continued to levitate Shadow in the air. A dark blue sphere released from Twilight’s horn, floating in the air as it headed for the cocoon that contained Shadow. It stopped in between Twilight and Shadow, stationary in the air, Twilight still concentrating on the spell. The sphere sparked violently and erupted, a bright flash coming from the sphere. Twilight was flung backwards, landing in the pile of books she had thrown at Shadow.

Dazed, she got up and looked back over at him. Shadow was still levitating in the air, his new wings flapping up and down gently. Shadow opened his eyes and observed his newly made wings. They were the same color as his coat, the feathers moving back and forth as Shadow’s wings flapped up and down. Twilight panted, smiling at her work. Shadow stopped flapping his wings and he lowered to the ground.

“Nice work, Twilight. These are perfect.” Shadow said, walking over to her. Twilight nodded happily, still regaining her strength.

“When can I expect to see the winter over?” Twilight asked as Shadow walked over to the door. Shadow retracted his wings and put his cloak over them as he opened the door. He looked up at the sky, the thick layer of clouds above creating a shield against the sun’s light.

“Don’t get your hopes up too much, Twilight Sparkle. We haven’t even started.” Shadow said as he shut the door behind him.

______________________________________________________________________

March 27, Ponyville hotel

Temperature: -45 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 8:03 P.M.

Shadow and Clarity walked in the entrance of the hotel, the bell on the door ringing as they walked in. A bright orange earth pony was sitting behind the reception desk, reading a large book on the desk in front of her. She looked up from the book and waited as Shadow and Clarity walked up to the other side of the desk. Both of their manes were in a different style, Shadow having blue contacts in and Clarity having yellow contacts in, trying to hide their true identities. Wanted posters were hung up all over Ponyville; Dusk, Clarity, and Shadow the stars of all of them. Shadow made holes in his cloak for his wings to fit through, Shadow making sure that they were visible.

“Name, please?” The reception pony asked cheerily, opening the hotel log.

“Mist Roller.” Shadow said, refraining from saying his real name. Clarity nervously glanced at the wanted poster behind the reception desk on the wall, hoping that their disguises would hide them.

“Here you are! Room number eleven, it’s just up the stairs to your left. Here is your key and enjoy your stay!” The reception pony said, handing the key to Shadow. He grabbed it and put it in the pocket of his cloak, nodding in thanks at the reception pony. Shadow and Clarity walked up the stairs and stopped in front of their room. Shadow unlocked the door and they both walked inside. Clarity sighed in relief as she sat down on the bed.

“I thought for sure that she was going to recognize us.” Clarity said, taking the mane band out of her mane and setting it on the nightstand next to the bed. Shadow took his sniper out from under his cloak and propped it against the wall and put his pistol on the table next to the wall. Shadow shook his head, returning his dark blue mane back to it’s normal state. He took out his contacts, his eyes returning to their golden yellow hue. Clarity stared at Shadow as he took off his cloak, his almost-white blue coat seemingly reflecting off of the light from the candle on the nightstand. Clarity sighed and rolled on her back. Shadow shifted his eyes to Clarity as he put his cloak on the chair, Clarity’s dark blue eyes staring at the ceiling. Her long black tail and mane were sprawled across the bed. Her white coat had an orange tint to it, the light of the candle having the same effect against the light as Shadow’s. Something inside Shadow sparked and his wings popped up, Shadow quickly retracting them, his face turning slightly red. Clarity looked at him from the side of her vision, a slight smirk on his face. Shadow walked over to the bed and laid down next to Clarity, moving her mane and tail out of the way.

“I thought you said we were over.” Clarity said with a slight mocking tone in her voice, putting one of her hooves on top of Shadow’s.

“I know I did... but something inside me just can’t live without you.” Shadow said, grabbing Clarity’s hoof. Clarity smiled and put her head against Shadow.

“Do you really think we will be able to do this?”

“Do what?”

“Bring down the Equestrian Saints.” Clarity said. Shadow sighed and paused for a second. There was an extreme risk in the plan that Shadow, Dusk, Clarity, and Specter had come up with. It could go one way or the other, work as they planned or fall apart in the first seconds.

“I want to be honest with you, Clarity, but I can’t guarantee anything. Four ponies to bring down a whole organization, it’s not the best plan, but somepony has to rise against them, and that pony might as well be us.” Shadow said. Clarity sighed and rolled over on top of Shadow, Clarity staring into his eyes.

“You know... we still have some time before it gets too late...” Clarity said. Shadow’s wings popped up again, horizontal with the bed, along with Clarity’s a second later, sticking up in the air. Clarity smirked and sat up, her hind legs on each side of Shadow.

______________________________________________________________________

March 27, Equestrian Saints headquarters

Temperature: -43 degrees

Time: 8:23 P.M.

Persistence sat down behind his desk and put a hoof up to his head. His mind was racing furiously, thinking of how he would be able to continue the Saints without Continuum and Star Gazer. Thinking of it only made him angry, the thought that the same stallion that brought down the Equestrian Spec Ops was in the process of bringing down the Equestrian Saints. Persistence let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair.

“I won’t let him live.. brother. I’ll make sure that he pays for what he did to you.” Persistence said as he stared at the ceiling. There was a knock on the door of Persistence’s office and Persistence leaned forward in his chair.

“Come in.” Persistence said. An Equestrian Saint officer walked into the room and up to Persistence’s desk, a picture levitating in the air in front of him with a magical aura around it and his horn. He put it down on the desk in front of him and Persistence leaned forward to look at it. It was a picture of Shadow and Clarity in their disguises just outside of the hotel in Ponyville.

“Who are these?” Persistence asked, looking up at the officer.

“We’ve gotten reports from the operatives stationed in Ponyville that they are Dead Eye and Clarity. Dead Eye was given wings by the unicorn that lives in the library, Twilight Sparkle, we believe her name is. Would you like us to send in operatives to retrieve them?” The officer asked. Persistence sat in thought for a second.

“Sir?” The officer said.

“Get me a quill and parchment.” Persistence said, a slight smirk on his face.

“May I ask what for?”

“Don’t ask why, just go get it.” The officer nodded and walked out of the room. He came back a second later with ink, a quill, and parchment levitating around him.

“Write down exactly what I say.” Persistence said. The officer nodded and dipped the quill in ink, waiting for Persistence to speak.

“You’re not getting away this time, Dead Eye...” Persistence thought to himself, a slight smirk on his face.

______________________________________________________________________

March 28, Ponyville hotel

Temperature: -40 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 8:08 A.M.

The door burst open, almost sending it off of its hinges as three royal guards ran into the room. Shadow and Clarity jolted awake, quickly siting up in the bed.

“Grab them! Make sure they don’t get away!” One of the royal guards said. One of the royal guards grabbed Shadow as he was running for his pistol on the table, Shadow falling on his face as the royal guard latched onto his hind leg. The other grabbed Clarity and pulled her off the bed, Clarity’s back hoof ramming into the guards face. The royal guard grabbed her front legs and set her down on the ground next to Shadow. They royal guards held them in place as Clarity and Shadow struggled to get out of their grasps. They both stopped as they heard two sets of hoof steps coming up the stairs just outside of the door. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna walked into the room, glaring at Shadow and Clarity as they walked in front of them. Shadow and Clarity remained silent, watching as the princesses looked down at them. Luna had a cast on her hind leg, Luna staring at Shadow with anger in her eyes.

“Shadow ‘Dead Eye’ Rider and Clarity, we have received a letter that you would be here. Unfortunately, we did not get the name of the sender, but at least we have you in custody. You are both wanted for attempting to terminate the life of my sister. You will be taken to the Canterlot royal garden where you will both be executed.” Celestia said. Shadow yelled in anger and frustration.

“We are trying to help you! Do you think I still take orders from the Spec Ops, rather, the Saints!? They tried to kill me, I am far from being on their side!” He yelled, trying to get loose of the royal guard’s grasp.

“Your actions would prove otherwise. Take them to the garden.” Celestia stepped out of the way of the door and the royal guards dragged Shadow and Clarity away.

“Listen to me, we are not the enemy! Let go of us! Celestia!” Shadow yelled as they exited the hotel. Celestia and Luna followed after them to the carriage awaiting the two princesses outside, Shadow and Clarity being carried by the royal guards off in the distance. The display attracted a lot of attention, the ponies of Ponyville watching as Celestia and Luna got in their carriage. The royal guards pulling the carriage lifted off the ground, heading back for Canterlot.

The Sacrifice of One

The Sacrifice of One

[Note: Not "One" from the first chapter. He is and has been dead.]

March 28, over the river beneath Canterlot

Temperature: -37 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 8:20 A.M.

Canterlot was in the distance, the frozen city coming into view through the white haze lingering in the air. Shadow had given up trying to get out of the royal guard’s grip a while ago, Clarity and him closing in on Canterlot. Clarity had her eyes closed, her head tilted downwards. She shivered from the cold wind rushing through the air, the snow that had accumulated in her mane flowing back out into the wind. Shadow stared at the frozen river below them, the water fall coming from Canterlot still flowing peacefully into it. The blizzard around them started to grow with intensity as they approached Canterlot, the snow starting to fall heavier and the wind beginning to blow harder. Shadow looked back at the carriage the two princesses were being carried in. It started to grow out of sight as the snow fell harder, a white out coming into effect in the area around them.

There was a slight popping sound in the distance and Clarity opened her eyes. The royal guard that was carrying her’s head jerked sideways, along with the royal guard carrying Shadow’s a second later after another pop in the distance, a red mist above both of their heads. The royal guards stopped flapping their wings and they let go of Clarity and Shadow, plummeting like rocks to the frozen river below. Shadow and Clarity fell for a little bit and they started flapping their wings. The wind had grown violent, the wind howling around them as they sat in the air.

“What the hell was that?” Shadow asked, looking over at Clarity. She shrugged and she made her way over to Shadow, grabbing onto him. The two princess’s carriage flew over head, not noticing Shadow and Clarity in the white out. Clarity looked at Shadow, a confused look on her face.

“What?” Shadow asked. There was a small red dot on his face, coming from the mountains. Shadow looked past Clarity at the origin of the red dot. A red laser was coming from outside of the white out around them, going back to the mountain side. There was a faint yell, barely audible over the howl of the wind. It sounded familiar.

“Clarity, come on.” Shadow said, starting to fly in the direction of the yells. Clarity followed Shadow as they made their way over to the mountain side. As they got closer, two ponies started to come into view, a pegasi and a unicorn. They were sitting under a pine tree on a flat part of the mountain side. It was Specter and Dusk, Specter holding a sniper, the laser coming out from under the barrel of the sniper.

“That’s the second time I had to save your ass from being executed. More than that, you managed to get yourself captured by the princess. They’ll be looking for you two once they realized that you’re missing, you know.” Specter said as he flicked off the red laser pointer on his sniper.

“Psh, I was starting to think you two left without us.” Shadow said as he and Clarity set down on by the tree, a slight smirk on his face.

“This isn’t a laughing matter, Shadow. You almost got killed... again. We’re going to have to get out of here as soon as possible, there’s no doubt in my mind that they’ve already started a search.” Specter said as he slung the sniper around his body.

“What makes you think that?” Clarity asked.

“Look above you.” Specter said, pointing up to the sky. A formation of royal guards were flying through the air, their silhouettes against the limited amount of light coming through the clouds above.

“Damn, they react quick.” Shadow said, his head tilted up to the sky.

“Shadow Rider and Clarity! Give yourselves up, there is no use in hiding!” The royal guards yelled as they flew through the air, scanning the mountain sides as they looked from left to right.

“Haven’t you explained to them that you aren’t trying to kill them?” Dusk asked through her scarf.

“Hell, the princesses are as stubborn as a pile of bricks, they won’t consider a word I have to say.” Shadow said, looking back down at Specter and Dusk. The royal guards were out of sight, but their yells could still be heard in the distance over the wind.

“It won’t take long for them to find us if we just sit here. Dusk, Clarity, come here.” Specter said. Clarity and Dusk walked over to Specter. He took something out of his cloak pocket and put it in Clarity’s hoof, Clarity glancing over at Shadow for a split second. Shadow was staring out towards the whiteout, his dark blue mane flowing elegantly in the breeze. Clarity nodded at Specter and put the object in her jacket pocket. Specter closed his eyes and his horn started to glow, preparing the spell to teleport Dusk and Clarity to Cloudsdale.

“Specter, hang on for a second. I have to talk to Shadow.” Clarity said. Specter opened his eyes and nodded, the glow around his horn fading. Clarity walked over to Shadow, still staring at the white abyss around the mountain side. She sat down next to Shadow, her side brushing up against him. Shadow slightly smirked at the feeling of Clarity’s body heat through her jacket on him, remembering the times they were together.

“If we don’t make it out of this... I just want to let you know... I never stopped loving you, Shadow. Even after we broke up, I still felt like you were there... and that feeling will never die. I love you, Shadow. Nothing will ever change that.” Clarity said, pecking Shadow on his lips. Shadow put his front leg around her and pulled her closer to him, her head resting against his shoulder.

“I know... Clarity. These past days we’ve been together has shown me how much of a fool I was for leaving you, even if they have been some of the most horrid in my life. I never once thought that you weren’t perfect for me, and I’m sorry for leaving.” Shadow said. Shadow could here her sniffling a little, Clarity putting a hoof up to her eyes. Shadow smiled slightly and rested his head on hers.

“Shadow, Clarity, come on. The plan isn’t going to complete itself.” Specter said, a slightly irritated tone in his voice. Shadow sighed and let go of the white pegasi next to him, Clarity sitting up straight. Shadow and Clarity got up and walked over to Dusk and Specter. Clarity walked over next to Dusk and Specter’s horn started to glow once more, the teleportation spell forming. Clarity and Shadow stared at each other with sadness in each others eyes. An electric-like charge came from Specter’s horn and winded it’s way through the air between the two mares. Poof. Dusk and Clarity were gone from the mountain side, their hoof prints in the snow where they were standing. Shadow let out a tiny sigh and turned to look at Specter.

“Do you think they’ll be alright?” Shadow asked, a sense of wanting comfort in his voice. Specter stared at the spot Dusk and Clarity were, the red aura around his horn fading.

“I guess we’ll just have to carry out the plan and see.” Specter wasn’t too fond of the plan they had come up with, remembering the missions he had completed when he was in the Spec Ops himself. He knew something would go wrong, but he wasn’t sure what, either all of them die the process or something else along those lines. The yells of the royal guards started to come into earshot again and Specter walked next to Shadow.

“We aren’t going to get far if we just sit here. Let’s give these bastards what they deserve.” Specter said, raising his hoof in front of Shadow. Shadow nodded slightly and grabbed onto Specter’s hoof, both of them disappearing from the mountain side with a light magical poof.

______________________________________________________________________

March 28, Equestrian Saints headquarters

Temperature: -39 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 8:30 A.M.

Shadow and Specter appeared in a dark area of the Equestrian Saints facility, Shadow landing on top of an empty box. The box crushed inwards and he fell to the floor, Specter helping him up a second later.

“Nice teleporting accuracy.” Shadow whispered angrily, fixing his mane.

“Deal with it.” Specter replied. He looked around the room they were in. It was some sort of storage closet, empty and filled boxes scattered throughout the closet. The light coming from the other side of the door lit up a small portion of the room, enough for Specter and Shadow to see the outlines of the boxes and miscellaneous items around them. Specter walked over to the door and put his ear up to it. There was a faint sound of music coming from the room, along with an occasional click of a mouse on a computer followed by the sound of typing. Shadow walked up to the door and opened it slightly, taking a peak into the room on the other side of the door.

There was a stallion sitting in a chair, staring at the screen of a monitor on the desk in front of him. Shadow looked back at Specter, who nodded and quietly took out his knife. Shadow took the knife and put it in his mouth, clamping down on it with his teeth as quietly as he could. He opened the door slowly and walked out into the room. The stallion at the desk remained unaware of Shadow, lost in the sounds of orchestral music coming from the headphones he had on. Shadow walked up behind the stallion and took the knife out of his mouth. Shadow quickly reached around and covered the stallion’s mouth, brought the knife forward and yanked it back into the stallion’s neck a second later. The stallion squirmed around for a second, his attempts of yelling muffled by Shadow’s hoof on his mouth. He slowly lost life and his eyes rolled backwards, his legs dropping limp at his sides.

Shadow uncovered the stallion’s mouth and Specter picked up the stallion with his magic, bringing him into the storage closet. He lightly set the stallion down on the floor and closed the door behind him with his magic as he walked out of the closet. Specter walked up next to Shadow, who had already sat down and was typing on the keyboard in front of him.

“Alright, looks like the stallion was already in the Equestrian Saint’s information. Now, what exactly did Dusk tell you?” Shadow asked as he stared at the monitor.

“She said there was some sort of nuclear weapon that the Saints were working on, a WMD of a sort, capable of bringing down Canterlot and a few other cities by itself. The higher ranking officers and administration were the only ones to know about it completely, but some of the information trickled out from them into the operatives and lower ranking officers. There were rumors on where it was located, but Dusk was never sure if they were true. The rooms that the operatives said that they would be in would always be locked, it could be either one of them.”

“Which rooms did she say the bomb could be located in?”

“Let’s see... storage room E5... Persistence’s personal office... and I’m fairly sure that the other room was directly under the mess hall.”

“Well it obviously can’t be the storage closet, we just came out of there.” Shadow said. Specter turned to look at the door of the storage closet. The sign above the door read ‘E5’, the sign slightly tilted to the side.

“So that leaves Persistence’s office and the room under the mess hall. Do you think we could navigate our way from here?” Specter asked, turning his head back to Shadow.

“Maybe. The Saint’s facility is almost an exact replica of the Spec Ops facility. I guess they don’t let go that easily. I’m pulling up the facility’s structure right now." Shadow clicked on a file on the screen reading ‘Facility Guide’. The file came up, a three-dimensional model of the Equestrian Saints facility expanding across the screen. Shadow moved the mouse around on the screen, rotating the model around to get a better look at it.

“The room under the mess hall only has one entrance, which is through Persistence’s office. Lucky us.” Shadow said, pointing at the screen with his hoof. Specter leaned in to get a closer look, but the screen went blank. An alarm started to sound, emergency lights flashing red on the ceilings in the hallways and rooms of the facility. A voice spoke over the speakers, echoing down the facility corridors.

“Intruder alert! Intruder alert! 'Dead Eye' and former 'Dead Eye' Specter have been spotted in the facility near storage room E5! Terminate them without hesitation!”

“What!? How the hell do they know!?” Shadow yelled, looking around the room frantically.

“I think that would have something to do with it.” Specter said. His hoof was pointing at the camera attached to the ceiling of the room, staring directly at Specter and Shadow.

“Right...” Shadow said, his ears falling against his head.

“Alright, we need to get out of here. Now! Come on!” Specter said, grabbing onto the hood of Shadow’s cloak as he ran out of the door. Specter and Shadow stopped outside of the doorway and looked around; a hall in front of them, one to their right, and one to their left. The red lights that lined the hallways continued to flash, along with the obnoxiously loud alarm bell.

“Which way do we go to Persistence’s office!?” Specter yelled, frantically looking down each hallway. A group of Equestrian Saint operatives started coming down the hallway to the right of Shadow and Specter, guns slung around their bodies.

“I don’t think it matters, just run!” Shadow yelled. The Equestrian Saint operatives opened fire as Shadow and Specter ran into the hall in front of them, the bullets flying past them and down the other hallway. There was a door on the other side of the hall Shadow and Specter were running down, along with another hall to the right.

“Seal all exits and doors! Do NOT let them escape!” The voice yelled over the speakers once more. The door at the end of the hall started to seal shut, a steel shutter coming down from the top of the doorway. An Equestrian Saint operative came around the corner as Shadow and Specter neared the door. Shadow and Specter slid to a halt in front of the operative, Shadow latching onto the operative’s gun and ripping off it of it’s sling around the operative. The steel shutter came to a close at the bottom of the door as Specter ran up to it.

“A little help would be nice!” Shadow yelled as he fumbled around with the rifle in his hooves, dodging a swing from the operative next to him. Specter used his magic to pick up the operative, a red glow around Specter’s horn and the operative. The group of operatives turned the corner at the other end of the hall and started running towards Shadow and Specter.

“Shoot them!” Specter yelled. Shadow aimed at the group coming down the hallway and opened fire. The three operatives in front fell to the floor, tripping the other three behind them. Specter’s horn started to glow more intense with a red aura, along with the aura around the operative in Specter’s magical grasp, who was desperately trying to move around.

“Whatever you are going to do, do it now!” Shadow yelled, the magazine in the rifle he was holding running out. Specter let go of the grasp on the operative and the operative flung sideways through the steel shutter, the wooden door behind the steel shutter splintering into pieces as the operative flew down the hall on the other side.

“Alright, come on!” Specter yelled over the alarm sirens, running through the hole in the door. Shadow dropped the rifle and ran through the door as the operatives down the hall started to get up and grab onto their rifles. Specter used his magic to bend the steel shutter back into it’s shape as the operatives on the other side opened fire. A bullet made it through the small opening before Specter completely sealed the steel shutter back together, implanting itself into Shadow’s hind leg. Shadow yelled and he fell down on his side.

“AH, what the fuck was that!?” Shadow yelled angrily, looking at his hind leg.

“Oh shit, hang on!” Specter said, kneeling down to look at his leg. The bullet was visible through the wound, sitting in the edge of Shadow’s leg.

“Alright, I’m going to have to take the bullet out, just stay still.” Specter said quickly, taking out a pair of tweezers from his cloak pocket.

“What the hell, why do you have those!?” Shadow yelled as Specter lowered them to Shadow’s leg.

“Shut up and stay still!” Specter yelled. Shadow bit onto a chunk of his cloak as Specter extracted the bullet. Specter tossed the bullet aside, making a tiny ‘clink’ as it fell to the floor. Specter took out his knife and cut off a strip from his cloak. Specter tied the ends of the strip into a knot after wrapping it around Shadow's leg a few times.

“Alright, can you stand up?” Specter asked. Shadow got up on his front legs and applied pressure on his wounded hind leg. He winced for a second, but seemed fine.

“I can deal with it. Let’s go, they’ll find us if we sit here any longer.” Shadow said. Specter nodded and they started off down the hallway, heading deeper into the Equestrian Saints facility.

______________________________________________________________________

March 28, Equestrian Saint headquarters

Temperature: -40 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 11:05 A.M.

The alarms had stopped sounding off, the noise becoming a little much even for the operatives who had heard it for drills almost every other week. The Equestrian Saints facility was quiet, groups of operatives stationed in different areas of the facility, waiting for the two infiltrators to walk into their path. Shadow and Specter were still roaming the facility, making their way through the facility corridors to Persistence’s personal office.

Caliber turned to his two fellow operatives in front of Persistence’s office, both of them starting to walk down the hallway.

“Hey, where are you two going?” Caliber asked.

“We’re just heading down the hall for a smoke, we’ll be back in no time.”

“You know Persistence doesn’t like it when you smoke in the facility.”

“It’s not like it matters, he isn’t even here. You’ll be fine, just keep an eye out for them.” The two operatives turned the corner at the end of the hall and Caliber sighed. He longed to go back to his family in Manehattan to see his two foals, each of them only a month old when he left. He smiled at the memory of them flapping their wings beside their mother and waving goodbye as Caliber set off to the facility in the mountains. Caliber opened the watch in his uniform pocket and released the lock, a picture of him with his foals and wife resting in the watch's cover. He stared at the picture, knowing he would see them again once his time with the Equestrian Saints was over.

“I’ll be home soon, only another month and I’ll finally be released.” Caliber said quietly to himself, closing the watch and putting it back in his pocket. Caliber looked down the hallway again, starting to get a little suspicious.

“They’re usually back by now...” Caliber thought to himself. He turned to walk down the hallway, but stopped at the sound of a magical poof behind him. Caliber’s legs were swept from under him and he fell on his side, letting out a small grunt. Specter walked up to him and put his hoof on Caliber’s neck.

“You have approximately ten seconds to tell me where the bomb is before Dead Eye comes down that hallway and puts a bullet in your head.” Specter spoke in a threatening manner, slightly lifting his hoof for Caliber to speak. Caliber shifted his eyes down the hallway behind him. Shadow was walking down the hallway, a fully loaded rifle slung around his body. Caliber started to panic, trying to get Specter’s hoof off of him.

“Tell me where the bomb is! You are an Equestrian Saint officer, are you not!?” Specter yelled, looking at the insignia on Caliber’s uniform.

“I... I don’t know! Persistence, Star Gazer, and Continuum never told the lower ranking officers anything about a bomb! I don’t know anything of it!” Caliber said. Specter hesitated for a moment, ready to apply all of his force on Caliber’s neck, but the sight of something stopped him. Specter glanced to the side of the pegasi beneath him, Caliber’s pocket watch laying open on the floor. Shadow aimed the rifle in his hooves at Caliber and put his hoof on the trigger.

“Hang on, Shadow. Don’t shoot him... yet.” Specter said, turning to look at Caliber. He was still wriggling around underneath Specter’s hoof, punching Specter’s leg.

“Stop hitting me and listen if you want to live.” Specter said in a slightly less angry tone. Caliber slowly stopped punching Specter and stared at him, anger and fear in his eyes.

“Do you know the whereabouts of Persistence?” Specter asked. Caliber hesitated to answer, but was more than convinced at the sound of Shadow putting his hoof back on the trigger.

“He’s... heading to Cloudsdale as we speak, he may even be there by now. Just, let me go, I won’t be of any trouble to you two... please.” Caliber said. His eyes started to glisten slightly, only driving Specter to empathize with him more. Specter sighed and took his hoof off of Caliber’s neck. Caliber got up and grabbed his pocket watch, glancing back at Shadow for a second.

“Get out of the facility and go as far as you can if you want to live. Nearest exit is down the hall and to your left, the elevator should take you to the mountain side.” Specter said, motioning his hoof down the hall.

“Th... thank you-”

“Just go.” Specter said, giving Caliber an angry stare. Caliber nodded and bolted down the hallway, heading for the elevator.

“Why’d you let him live?” Shadow asked as he and Specter walked into Persistence’s office. Specter stayed silent for a second, staring at the picture on the wall behind Persistence’s desk.

“That’s not important right now. Let’s keep searching.” Specter said, a hint of sadness detectable in his voice. Shadow walked over to the side of the wall and examined a small lever next to the bookshelf. Shadow pushed the lever down and a hidden door next to the bookshelf opened, revealing a tunnel that twisted down under Persistence’s office.

“I may have found the bomb...” Shadow said, pointing at the entryway.

“Nice job. Time to end this once and for all.” Specter said. He followed Shadow down the curved tunnel and into a small room, a desk with papers and a lamp resting on top of it. Shadow walked up to the desk and turned on the lamp. He examined the documents sprawled across the desk, most of them about a secret operation, along with a nuclear device. Shadow picked up a sheet of paper, blue prints for the bomb.

“Oh yeah, this is it. Specter, have a look at this.” Shadow said. Specter walked up next to Shadow and examined the papers.

“Looks like they were planning some sort of attack on Canterlot.” Specter said, pointing at a document stamped with red text.

“If this bomb could level Canterlot with one blow, I’m more than convinced that it will be able to destroy the facility now.” Shadow said. Specter and Shadow turned to face the hall on the other side of the room, leading to a door at the end of it.

“Think it’s in there?” Shadow asked.

“Only one way to find out. Let’s go have a lo-” Specter was interrupted by the sound of the door upstairs flying off of its hinges.

“Search downstairs, they’re here somewhere!” A voice yelled from upstairs. The sound of hoof steps started coming down the tunnel from Persistence’s office.

“Damn it, run!” Specter yelled. Shadow and Specter dashed as fast as they could down the hallway. The operatives started running after Specter and Shadow as they reached the room, not wasting time to set up and fire at them.

“Shadow, shut the door!” Specter yelled as he slid into the room. Shadow kicked the door shut as he passed through the doorway, sliding to a stop a few feet away from it. Shadow grabbed a nearby chair and propped it against the door, the Equestrian Saint operatives pounding on the other side. Specter walked over to the box in the middle of the room and opened it. Inside sat the bomb Dusk had told them about, armed and ready to be detonated. Shadow walked over to Specter as he took apart the sides of the box to get a better look at the bomb. The pounding on the door was becoming more violent as time passed, the operatives desperately trying to stop them. Specter knelt down to the ground and examined the detonator on the bomb.

“Shit...” Specter said to himself, looking at the manual detonator.

“What?” Shadow asked.

“Somepony has tampered with it. They must have known we were coming. The remote detonator won’t work... we’ll have to set it off manually.”

“What? We’ll be killed, Clarity and Dusk still need our help!”

“I know, that’s why you’re going.” Specter said as he turned around to face Shadow. He picked up Shadow with his magic and levitated him in the air, a red glow around Specter’s horn and the slightly frightened pegasi in Specter's grasp. Shadow’s eyes bolted around the room, looking for something to help him.

“Specter, don’t do this! We can find another way!” Shadow yelled, trying to move within the grasp of Specter’s magic.

“There is no other way, Shadow. This is what I want.” Specter said.

“Listen to yourself! You are not going to survive this if you set it off manually!”

“I have spent the last six years training you, Shadow. I didn’t want my ancestor’s teachings to be forgotten after my death. You were the only one that I knew who could handle the responsibility of carrying on the title, and I’m sorry for that. You are the first ever Dead Eye to be out of my family, and I’m trusting you with the title. Out of the respect of my ancestors... please, I beg of you... pass on the Dead Eye name. I’m counting on you.” Specter said, tears starting to form in his eyes. The door behind them cracked, the Equestrian Saint operatives visible through the small hole in the door.

“Specter! Don’t do this to yourself!” Shadow yelled, tears starting to form in his eyes as well.

“I’m sorry, Shadow Rider, but it’s my time to leave. Go end the winter.” Specter said, a tear drop running down his cheek.

“SPECTER, NO-!” Shadow disappeared from the room with a teleportation spell, heading for Cloudsdale. Specter let out a sigh, almost fainting from the energy he had used to contain Shadow. Specter weakly walked over to the bomb on the floor and looked at the manual detonation. He had a smile on his face, his eyes glistening with tears as he stared at the device that would end his life.

“I can finally get away from it all...” Specter said, a misplaced sense of happiness taking over him. The door bursted open as Specter pushed the manual detonation, the operatives pouring into the room as the bomb set off.

A Helpful Hoof

A Helpful Hoof

March 24, Shadow “Dead Eye” Rider’s new home

Temperature: -43 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 8:06 P.M.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me this earlier!?” Shadow yelled at Dusk.

“I- I didn’t think it was important!” Dusk said, backing up as Shadow walked closer to her.

“Didn’t think it was important? She and I may be broken up, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t... isn’t...” Shadow’s train of thought stopped and he sat down on the floor. He put his hoof up to his head and stared at the rug beneath him, lightly brushing it with his hoof.

“Shadow, I’m sorry, I just-” Dusk started to say.

“It’s fine, Dusk.” Shadow said as he got up. He walked back over to the fire place and Dusk walked up next to him.

“What about the other operatives that were with us?” Shadow asked, staring into the fire.

“They’re dead, Shadow. Two froze in the ice lands, One is missing to the Equestrian Saint’s knowledge, and the blow that Five took to the head was fatal. It’s just us now. You, me, and Clarity.” Dusk said, putting a hoof on Shadow’s shoulder. Shadow sighed and closed his eyes.

“Let’s just get some sleep, Dusk. You can take the bed upstairs, I’ll stay down here.”

“Alright. Good night, Shadow.” Dusk said as she walked upstairs. Shadow laid down on the rug in front of the fire place and looked at the fire. It flickered around lively, the heat from it radiating onto Shadow’s body. Shadow closed his eyes and dosed off into sleep.

______________________________________________________________________

[One year before Operation “Revival”]

December 21, mess hall in Equestrian Spec Ops headquarters

Temperature: -20 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 10:39 P.M.

“Have you noticed the weather lately? It’s a lot colder than it was last year this time around.” Shadow said after swallowing a mouthful of food.

“Yeah, administration sent a large team up to Cloudsdale about two weeks ago to check out what was going on. Administration is waiting for a progress report from them.” Clarity said. The mess hall was packed with Equestrian Spec Ops operatives, the smell of a poorly cooked dinner coming from it. Shadow looked over at the table to his right. A group of mare Equestrian operatives were staring over at Shadow, whispering amongst themselves and giggling. He sighed and turned back to his food.

“That aim of yours is quite the attention attracter, isn’t it?” Clarity asked jokingly, poking at Shadow’s face as he leaned forward to get a bite at his food.

“I’d think you would be upset that I’m getting these kind of looks from other mares.” Shadow said with a slight smile, lightly pushing Clarity’s hoof out of his face.

“Please, if they try anything, you know what’ll happen.” Clarity said, lightly tapping at her back legs.

“No need for violence, Clarity. Just let them be.” Shadow said. The speakers in the mess hall came on and the commotion died down.

“Dead Eye, come to the administration office. Repeat, Dead Eye, come to the administration office.” The stallion said through the speakers. A quiet ‘oo’ came from the operatives in the mess hall.

“Probably another assignment. See you around, Clarity.” Shadow said, lightly kissing Clarity as he got up.

______________________________________________________________________

Shadow Rider walked into the administration office and walked up to the desk.

“Dead Eye, we have another assignment for you.” The stallion said as he took out a folder.

“What now? I just got back from Cervidas, what could you possibly have for me?” Shadow asked as he grabbed the folder. The stallion quickly took it back and set it down on the desk.

“You are heading back to Germaney for another operation. With the success of your assignment of assassinating Germaney General of the Army, you are going back for another mission.”

“Alright. What is the mission objective?”

“You will be leaving tomorrow night to Germaney. Your task is to assassinate the target and get out as quickly as possible. The target will be in the guest room of the Germaney central building, just next to the leader of Germaney’s room.”

“Do I have the right to know who the target is, or is this one of your classified missions again?”

“That is all the information that is to be given. Failure in the-”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Just give me the paperwork and I’ll start getting my things together.” Shadow said as he put his hoof out. The stallion put the folder in Shadow’s hoof and Shadow put in his jacket pocket.

“Why the hell do they always have to be so damn secretive about their operations all the time?” Shadow thought to himself as he walked out of the office.

______________________________________________________________________

“What do you mean tomorrow night? You just got back from Cervidas!” Clarity said as she walked along side Shadow down the hallway.

“Yeah, I know, but if I don’t take the assignment they’re going to kick my ass and throw me out of the Spec Ops. I’ll be back when the mission is over and we can spend more time together, does that sound alright?” Shadow asked as he stopped in front of the door to his room.

“Oh... I just wish they wouldn’t put you to work so much. I miss you when you’re gone.” Clarity said, putting a hoof on Shadow’s cheek.

“I miss you too. I have to get packing, so get some rest. I love you.” Shadow said. He kissed Clarity good night and walked into his room.

______________________________________________________________________

[Three days later]

December 24, entrance of the Equestrian Spec Ops headquarters

Temperature: -20 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 9:46 P.M.

The entrance doors of the Spec Ops headquarters building slammed open as Shadow fell through them. He was beaten badly, spitting blood as he fell on the floor. The operatives in the entrance stopped and stared as two of the Equestrian Spec Ops officers walked up to him.

“Keep moving!” One of them yelled as the other one grabbed Shadow Rider. The operatives quickly dispersed out of the area and the two officers dragged Shadow out of the entrance. They dragged him to the administration office and threw him in. Shadow slid into the middle of the room and came to a stop.

“Well. I see that the mission was a failure. How did this come to be?” The stallion asked as he got up from his desk. Shadow Rider didn’t answer, he only breathed heavily on the floor, occasionally coughing. The stallion walked over to Shadow Rider and knelt down.

“How did the mission fail?” He asked again, a bit more stern than last time.

“Did you really... expect me to... kill a... foal?” Shadow said weakly.

“Your task was to complete the mission, not go in and do what you think is right.” Shadow laid quietly. The stallion sighed and got up.

“Although you failed your mission, you won’t be getting the boot. There is a very high-risk operation that we are thinking that you might be needed. You’ve noticed that the weather is getting out of control, have you not?” The stallion said, turning back to face Shadow. Shadow nodded slightly.

“Well, it’s predicted to not let up. The winter is getting progressively worse and there is no telling when it is going to stop. When the time and conditions are right, we will give the operation details to a small team. Expect to be on it. You are dismissed, go to the medical bay.” The stallion said as he walked back to his desk. Shadow Rider got up slowly and limped out of the administration office.

______________________________________________________________________

The doors to the medical bay swung open and Clarity ran in. Shadow was sitting on the other side of the room and looked up at Clarity. His eye was bruised, his was mouth was bleeding, and his right back leg was slightly bent in the direction it wasn’t supposed to be.

“Shadow! What happened!?” Clarity said as she ran up to him. She looked at his wounds as she got closer.

“The mission didn’t go over. I got my ass handed to me when I came back.” Shadow said, pointing at his hind leg.

“What? What went wrong?” Clarity asked, examining his hind leg. Shadow paused for a second.

“Just leave it be. I should be thankful that they didn’t decide to completely break it.”

“Oh, I’m just glad they didn’t kill you.” Clarity knelt forward and wrapped her front legs around Shadow.

“I’ll be fine.” Shadow said, putting one of his front legs around her.

______________________________________________________________________

March 25, Shadow “Dead Eye” Rider’s home

Temperature: -41 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 7:27 A.M.

Shadow opened his eyes. The fire in the fire place was gone, a slight cold sensation coming over Shadow as he got up. The sun in the distance was rising, the thick cloud layer in the sky turning a vivid pink. The snow was coming down lightly outside, the wind only sending a few gusts across the ice lands from time to time. The torches on the streets of Canterlot were being put out by heavily dressed unicorns. Shadow walked into the kitchen and looked out at the mountains. They were completely covered in snow, a small group of pegasi in the distance flying around above the mountains. He walked back out into the living room and opened the front door, a cold breeze rushing into the house. A newspaper was laying on the front step and Shadow picked it up, closing the door afterwards. He walked over to the couch and sat down, opening the newspaper are starting to read it. There was a knock on the door and Shadow got up. He opened the door to find a young filly standing in front of him, a unicorns’ horn jutting from her head.

“May I help you?” Shadow asked, looking down at the filly.

“A unicorn told me to come here and tell you to meet him at the Canterlot gate in three hours. He said to come alone. He also told me to give you this.” The filly said, taking something out of her jacket pocket. The filly put her hoof out, a necklace laying in her hoof.

“This... is Clarity’s... the necklace I gave her for our anniversary four years ago.” Shadow thought to himself.

“Thank you.” Shadow said, taking the necklace out of the filly’s hoof. The filly nodded and walked away. Shadow closed the door and looked at the necklace.

“Where in the hell did he get this?” Shadow thought to himself.

______________________________________________________________________

March 25, Canterlot entrance

Temperature: -37 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 10:40 A.M.

Shadow’s cloak flowed around in the wind as a strong gust blew over the ice lands. Shadow stepped out onto the draw bridge.

“You’re late.” A grey unicorn said to the right of Shadow. He was leaning against the Canterlot walls, looking over at Shadow. He had a mask and a cloak on with the hood up, his face not visible. Shadow walked over to him and put down his hood.

“I see you managed to survive the blast, along with Clarity.” The unicorn said.

“How do you know about that?” Shadow asked.

“It’s not that hard to not know about it, everypony was talking about it ever since the news got out that there was a failed attempt of an assassination against Luna.” The unicorn said. Shadow took the necklace out of his cloak pocket and held it out in front of the unicorn.

“Where did you get this?” Shadow asked.

“At the bottom of the mountain side. Clarity must have lost it when the explosives went off.” The unicorn said.

“What were you doing at the bottom of the mountains?”

“Just passing by at the same time you happened to set of the explosives.” The unicorn said. Shadow put the necklace back in his cloak pocket.

“Why did you tell me to come here?” Shadow asked.

“You and Dusk are in danger. The Equestrian Saints are sending one of their operatives to eliminate both of you tomorrow. I suggest keeping your guard up, I’m not exactly sure about who they’re sending.” The unicorn said. He turned around and started to walk away.

“Hey, wait a second! Who are you!?” Shadow yelled.

“Just a helpful hoof.” The unicorn said. A light poof came from where the unicorn was standing and he disappeared. Shadow Rider stood in silence, the howl of the wind around him.

“Who the hell...?” Shadow thought to himself as he stared at the ice lands.

______________________________________________________________________

March 25, Shadow “Dead Eye” Rider’s home

Temperature: -34 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 12:03 P.M.

Shadow pushed open the door, a gust of cold air and snow rushing into the living room. Dusk was putting fire wood in the fire place.

“What took you so long? You left two hours ago.” Dusk asked as she dropped a match on the wood. The fire ignited, a burst of fire almost touching Dusk.

“I had to take care of something after I left the store.” Shadow said as he hung his cloak on the hook next to the door.

“Shadow.” Dusk said, turning away from the fire.

“What.” Shadow said briefly.

“I’m... sorry about last night. I really should have told you earli-”

“I said to leave it alone. I’m not going to blame you for your own feelings.” Shadow said as he walked into the kitchen. Shadow walked over to the window and stared out at the mountains again. The weather had picked up, the wind whipping snow around the ice lands. Dusk walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge.

“Dusk.” Shadow said. Dusk looked up over the fridge door at Shadow.

“...Never mind.” Shadow said. Dusk went back to the fridge. Shadow walked back out into the living room, the warmth of the fire passing by as he walked over to the door. He grabbed his sniper and opened the door, putting on his cloak.

“Where are you going?” Dusk asked, peeking her head out from the kitchen.

“I’m just going out for a walk. I’ll be back later.”

“With your sniper?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Shadow walked out the door and shut it behind him. The cold winds hit Shadow’s face as he walked out into the streets of Canterlot. Shadow put his face mask up and started to walk towards the exit of Canterlot.

______________________________________________________________________

March 25, the mountain range outside of Canterlot

Temperature: -29 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 2:31 P.M.

The sun was blocked out by the thick layer of clouds above the mountains, a heavy snowfall coming down. Canterlot was barely visible in the distance, unicorns walking through the streets from shelter to shelter. Shadow looked around the path he was on. The mountains were quiet, the wind howling and the snow falling on the ground. The area was peaceful, a small over hang on the path protecting against the winds.

“Did you bring it?” A voice said. Shadow looked behind him. The unicorn he had met before was standing there, his face mask and hood covering his face.

“Yeah. Might I ask why?” Shadow said, taking his sniper out from under his cloak.

“To test if your aim is still good.” The unicorn said.

“Are you kidding me? I just shot a former operative of the Equestrian Spec Ops in a minor whiteout, and you want to test if my aim is good?”

“A lucky shot. Your helpful mistake of breathing assisted you.”

“So you’ve been watching me now.”

“It’s been three months since you have even pulled the trigger. If you want to live through the Saint’s operations, I suggest you start practicing. Look out over there.” The unicorn said, pointing out at the mountain range to the right of Canterlot. Shadow shook his head slightly and aim down the scope of his sniper.

“There is a small target sticking out on top of the over hang. Shoot it.” The unicorn said. Shadow scanned the over hang. A small black and red target was sticking out of the snow, swaying back and forth in the wind. Shadow focused on the target and inhaled. He pulled the trigger and the bullet soared through the air. The bullet barely clipped the target, a small bullet hole in the edge of the target.

“There, I hit it, is that good enough for you?” Shadow said, looking back over where the unicorn was. The unicorn was gone. Shadow looked around. There was no sign of the the him anywhere. There was a faint sound of hoof steps behind Shadow. Shadow quickly got up and whipped around, aiming his sniper out in front of him. The tip of the sniper rested in between the unicorn’s eyes, the unicorn standing still.

“What are you trying to do?” Shadow asked. The unicorn stood silent. Shadow lifted his sniper up and the hood of the cloak fell behind the unicorn’s head. The unicorn’s eyes were blank, no pupils or iris. The unicorn disappeared with a poof, a dust fading into the wind and the cloak and face mask falling to the ground. Shadow’s legs were swept from under him, Shadow landing on his side. His sniper was kicked away from him, hitting the side of the mountain.

“Expect the unexpected. It’ll save your life one day.” The unicorn said as he walked away from Shadow. Shadow Rider got up and glared at the unicorn. He walked over to his sniper and picked it up.

“How the hell did you create that replica of yourself?” Shadow asked, slinging the sniper around his body.

“It was a little trick I picked up a few years back. Now, let’s get on with the other tests.” The unicorn said.

______________________________________________________________________

March 25, Shadow “Dead Eye” Rider’s home

Temperature: -37 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 11:10 P.M.

The door opened slowly and Shadow Rider walked in. Dusk was sitting down on the couch reading a book.

“Where were you? I was starting to get worried.” Dusk asked, putting the book down on the table in front of the couch.

“I had a meeting with somepony. Nothing of concern, don’t worry about it.” Shadow said as he set his sniper against the wall. Shadow walked upstairs and opened the glass doors to the balcony. He sat down and stared out at the ice lands, Ponyville barely within visible distance. The orange glow around Ponyville flickered in the wind. Dusk walked upstairs and out onto the balcony next to Shadow. The clouds above had cleared slightly, the moon visible through a small hole in the clouds.

“Kinda Makes you wonder when the winter is going to let up.” Dusk said as she sat down next to Shadow. Dusk set down a cup of hot chocolate next to Shadow, Dusk having one in her hoof. Shadow and Dusk sat in silence for a moment, listening to the snow fall on the ground.

“There’s no telling. It’s just a matter of time.” Shadow said, picking up the cup. Dusk and Shadow sat on the balcony, the wind blowing gently around the winter landscape.

Final Chapter: Dead Eye

Final Chapter: Dead Eye

[Note: When I say stomach, I mean the general area, not her actual stomach. That would be silly]

March 28, outskirts of Cloudsdale

Temperature: -38 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 11:28 A.M.

Shadow materialized in the air, landing on a small cloud beneath him. Shadow got up and looked down at the mountains below. There was a faint sound of an explosion in the distance, and Shadow’s heart sank.

“Specter...” Shadow said quietly to himself, staring off into the blizzard. Shadow turned around to face the city in the sky behind him, Cloudsdale. The city of clouds appeared normal, but there was no pegasi visible in or around the city from where Shadow was standing. Shadow glanced back at the mountain ranges for a second, hesitating to see the aftermath Specter’s sacrifice, but Dusk and Clarity were still in need of assistance. Shadow lifted off the cloud he was on as he flapped his wings, taking the cloud with him as cover in case an Equestrian Saint operative should see him. He held the cloud out in front of him as he flew closer to the city.

The sounds of machines running started to come into earshot as Shadow neared the edge of the city. Shadow lowered himself and set down on a cloud attached to Cloudsdale, planting the cloud he was carrying down in front of him. Shadow peaked over the top of the cloud. The city was silent aside from the sounds of distant machines operating, producing clouds for the winter. A lone Equestrian Saint operative walked out from one of the cloud structures next to the platform Shadow was sitting on, a cigarette in his mouth. Shadow dove under the cloud he was on and made his way under the area the operative was. Shadow reached up through the cloud and grabbed onto the operative’s hind legs, pulling the operative down to him. Shadow quickly covered the pegasi’s mouth and put his other leg around the operative’s neck. The operative desperately tried to slip out of Shadow’s grasp, waving his front legs randomly in the air.

“Stop moving around and keep quiet if you want to live.” Shadow said quietly in the operative’s ear. The operative put his front legs at his sides and stared out in front of him at the underside of Cloudsdale.

“There are two pegasi in the city that are not from Cloudsdale, do you know where they are?” Shadow asked. He partially lifted his hoof off of the operative’s mouth to allow him to speak. The operative started to yell for help, but was interrupted by Shadow covering his mouth again. Shadow grabbed the operative’s wing and twisted it sideways, a sickening crack coming from the wing. The operative moaned in pain, muffled by Shadow’s hoof.

“Try anything like that again and I rip it off. Where are the two pegasi?” Shadow asked again sternly, grabbing ahold of the operative’s wing again and partially uncovering the operative’s mouth. The operative hesitated to answer.

“We... sent a search team for them a little bit ago... we’ve already lost contact with most of the operatives in Cloudsdale...” The operative spoke quietly, his voice quivering with fear.

“So you don’t know of their exact location?”

“Well... they are somewhere-” Shadow twisted the operative’s wing again, another crack coming from the wing.

“AH-... they have been... spotted around the weather factory...”

“When?”

“Around... two minutes ago... please, let me go.”

“Oh you’re getting let go alright...” Shadow let go of the operative’s wing and grabbed his knife. He covered the operative’s mouth again and stuck the knife into the operative’s neck. The operative’s eyes opened wide and they rolled back in his head. Shadow released the operative and he fell to the mountains below, a trail of blood following him down. Shadow wiped off his knife on his cloak and put it back in its sheath around his hind leg.

“The weather factory...” Shadow thought to himself. He raised himself up, sticking his head out from the foundation layer of Cloudsdale. He could see the weather station in the distance through the heavy snow fall. Shadow cautiously raised back up onto the foundation layer of clouds and looked around again. There was still no pony in sight, the pathway to the weather factory clear. For now.

______________________________________________________________________

Shadow came up to the entrance of the weather factory. Clouds were pouring out of the ceiling of the factory, billowing into the atmosphere. Shadow walked up to the entrance of the snow flake room and the door opened. He peered inside, no pony in sight. Shadow shrugged slightly and walked into the room. The posts where the snow flakes were made were abandoned, a copious amount of snow flakes on the floor and work tables. A blinding light came on from the ceiling of the room, followed by the sound of multiple guns being prepared to fire. Shadow raised his hoof to cover his eyes.

“Well, well, well. Look what we have here.” A voice said. Shadow lowered his hoof to see who it was. Persistence came out from behind the pillar on the other side of the room, staring angrily at Shadow as he came into view. Persistence had a spell on him that allowed him to stand on clouds.

“So you managed to find the bomb. I would only have to assume that you detonated it, we are not getting any reports from headquarters. Where is Specter?” Persistence asked, looking past Shadow. Shadow stayed silent, glaring at Persistence.

“He didn’t make it.” Shadow said finally.

“...Well, that’s one problem out of the way for now. Bring them out.” Persistence said to the operatives in the room. Clarity and Dusk were pushed out from behind the other pillars in the room.

“You were so close, Dead Eye, but in the end, I will always win.” Persistence said with a hint of smugness in his voice, a smirk on his face. Persistence and the operatives in the room guided Dusk and Clarity over to Shadow.

“Let’s go for a little stroll before I put a bullet in each of your heads. Shall we?” Persistence said, motioning his hoof towards the door behind Shadow. The three captives turned around and started walking down the bridge from the weather factory back to the main Cloudsdale area.

“Shadow... I’m sorry, they took us by surprise.” Clarity said.

“It’s not your fault... this was bound to happen anyways... but, hell, we gave it our best shot, didn’t we?” Shadow said, a slightl smile on his face. Clarity’s mouth curved into a smirk as they arrived at the end of bridge.

“Walk over to the edge of the cloud.” Persistence ordered. Clarity, Shadow, and Dusk walked over to the left side of the cloud, a straight drop into the mountains from where they were. Persistence walked up behind Shadow and took his pistol out from it’s holster around Shadow’s hind leg.

“In case you get any ideas.” Persistence walked back over to the operatives and one of them handed him another pistol. He cocked the gun back and aimed it at Shadow.

Persistence’s fore leg was jerked sideways, the force of a bullet making Persistence drop the pistol in his hooves.

“What the hell!?” Persistence yelled, turning to look at the group of operatives he was with. Three of the operatives were laying on their sides, their necks slit open. Caliber was aiming his rifle at Persistence, the tip of the gun smoking.

“Warrant Officer Caliber, I order you to put that weapon down!” Persistence said as he got up, trying to ignore the pain as best as he could. Shadow, Clarity, and Dusk turned around to face Persistence. Caliber shifted his eyes to Shadow, slightly nodding at him.

“I’m afraid that’s not going to happen, sir.” Caliber said, looking back at Persistence.

“Then I guess I’ll have to make you by force.” Persistence raised his hoof in the air and signaled at a building in the distance. Caliber turned to look at where Persistence was signaling, only to have his head jerk sideways, a bullet racing into his head after a distant crack of a sniper in the distance. Caliber fell to the floor, a bullet hole in the side of his head.

“Dusk, Clarity, run!” Shadow yelled. The three pegasi launched off of the cloud with a powerful swing of their wings, heading in different directions.

“Shoot them!” Persistence yelled through his headset as he picked up the pistol from the cloud. More cracks of a sniper firing came from the distance, the bullets aiming for the three pegasi flying through the air. Dusk and Clarity came together and started flying back towards the weather factory to get out of the line of fire. Shadow started heading for the building the sniper was in, Persistence chasing after him on the clouds below. The sniper continued to fire at Shadow as he maneuvered through the air. Shadow dived down at the building and tackled the sniper. They rolled off of the edge of the cloud and onto another cloud below the building. Shadow got up and ran at the sniper as he regained his composer, the sniper trying to get a grip on the pistol around his hind leg. The sniper jumped over Shadow with the help of his wings, Shadow running beneath him.

Shadow slid to a stop and looked up at the sniper. He was falling towards Shadow, his hoof out in front of him. Shadow backed away and the sniper landed back on the cloud, his hoof landing where Shadow was. Shadow ducked as the sniper jumped at him, the sniper jumping over Shadow. The sniper turned around as Shadow swung at him with his hoof. The sniper held up his hoof and Shadow’s swing stopped against it, the sniper kicking Shadow with his hind leg a second later. Shadow stumbled backwards, a bit of blood falling out of his mouth. He ran towards the sniper and dodged out of the way of the bullet flying out of the sniper’s pistol.

Shadow hit the pistol out of the sniper’s hooves and it fell off of the cloud. Shadow latched onto the sniper’s wings and kicked the sniper’s body with all of his force. The sniper’s wings snapped off, a spray of blood coming from each ripping point. The sniper yelled in pain and he flew backwards from Shadow’s kick, following his pistol down towards the mountains. Shadow gave a disgusted look at the wings in his hooves and he threw them off of the cloud.

A faint yell came from the distance behind Shadow, followed by the crack of a gun shot. Shadow turned around quickly and stuck his wing out, the bullet implanting in his wing. Shadow yelled in pain and stumbled backwards a little.

“You KILL my brother!” Persistence yelled as he came into view from the white out around them, a pistol in his hooves aimed at Shadow. The tip of the gun was smoking slightly, the smoke dissipating into the wind.

“You DISBAND the Spec Ops!” Persistence pulled the trigger again as he got closer. Shadow lifted his other wing and the bullet stopped against the bones inside of his wing. Shadow yelled in pain again and stumbled backwards further, his back hoof scraping against the edge of the cloud they were standing on. Shadow glanced behind him and looked down, a straight drop into the mountains below from Cloudsdale. Shadow looked back up at Persistence. He was standing right in front of Shadow, the tip of the pistol almost touching Shadow’s head, Persistence ready to pull the trigger.

“And yet here you are, disbanding the Saints. While you may have destroyed the Saints headquarters and Dusk and Clarity killed all of the remaining operatives in Cloudsdale, that doesn’t mean I won’t stop to bring you down. You won’t be surviving this time.” Persistence said. Shadow quickly lifted his hoof up and hit Persistence’s hoof out of the way, the gun firing only a second later. The gun flew out of Persistence’s hoof, falling from Cloudsdale.

“You are not getting away!” Persistence yelled. He kicked off from the cloud and tackled Shadow. They both fell from the cloud they were on, plummeting to the snow covered mountains below. Faint yells came from the distance, Clarity and Dusk jumping off the cloud and diving after the two stallions. Shadow and Persistence continued to fight as they fell, both of them swinging their hooves at the other as they descended towards the mountains. Clarity and Dusk slowly gained on them as the mountains drew closer, diving as fast as they could. Shadow grabbed onto Persistence and twisted around, holding him out in front of him as they fell into snow covered mountains.

______________________________________________________________________

Shadow dug his way back up to the surface of the snow, frantically looking around as he resurfaced.

“Dusk, Clarity, where-!” Shadow started to say. He stopped at the sight of Persistence holding a gun to Dusk’s head, his other leg around Clarity’s neck. He was holding Shadow’s pistol, his hoof on the trigger, ready to fire.

“Why can’t you just die already!? While my brother may have failed to kill you, I will not let you escape!” Persistence yelled. A loud rumbling sound came from the distance and Shadow looked at Clarity, who was pointing higher up at the mountain. Persistence, Dusk, and Shadow turned their heads to look where Clarity was pointing. An avalanche could be seen higher up in the mountain, racing down the mountain side towards the four ponies. Persistence let go of Clarity and he started to run down the side of the mountain, occasionally slipping.

“I think he has the right idea right now, RUN!” Shadow yelled at the top of his lungs. Dusk, Clarity, and Shadow began to descend down the mountain side, the avalanche quickly gaining on them. They didn’t get very far before the avalanche had caught up to them, the avalanche swallowing them whole as it continued to tumble down the mountain.

______________________________________________________________________

March 28, base of the mountains below Cloudsdale

Temperature: -34 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 11:57 A.M.

Clarity opened her eyes, the cold air and light making her squint. The sun was high in the sky, the cloud layer above the mountains blocking the sun’s light. Clarity was partially covered in snow, brushing it off of herself as she got up. Clarity had made it out of the way of the avalanche, the others somewhere higher up in the mountains.

“...Shadow! Where are you!?” Clarity yelled, putting her hoof up to protect against the strong winds. There was no answer. Clarity started to walk up the mountain’s base. The click of a gun came from behind her and Clarity slowly turned around. Persistence stood a few meters behind Clarity, aiming Shadow’s pistol at her. The strong winds kicked up massive amounts of snow, barely anything visible past Persistence.

“I never should have let you into the Saints. Something inside me told me that this would happen, but I didn’t want to listen to myself. You were one of the best operatives in the Spec Ops, but now you’re worthless in my eyes.” Persistence said. He put his hoof on the trigger, and fired.

Clarity flinched slightly, but nothing hit her. Persistence looked at the gun, a confused expression on his face. It had a red light on the top of it, and the gun handle bursted. Persistence’s front legs flew backwards and he fell to the ground. Clarity stood in shock, not sure about what had just happened. She walked over to Persistence. His front hooves were gone, the snow around him stained with blood as he laid on the ground, breathing heavily. A puff of snow came from a few feet away from Clarity and Shadow stood up from the snow he was buried under.

“Shadow! You’re alive!” Clarity said as Shadow walked closer. He stopped in front of Persistence and looked down at him.

“Shadow... you... how...” Persistence said through the pain of his hooves blown off and the shrapnel from the gun in his body.

“Just a little trick I picked up from the Spec Ops. Your brother taught me that one.” Shadow said. Persistence glared weakly at Shadow and he fell limp. Clarity put her front leg around Shadow.

“How did you know he was going to take your gun?” Clarity asked.

“Persistence wasn’t exactly the best at thinking things through. I knew he would’ve saw something special in using my gun to kill either one of us.” Shadow said.

“So what do we do now?” Clarity asked, looking at Shadow.

“Well... the Equestrian Saints are done for, the winter can finally come to an end, and both of the princesses are safe and... mostly unharmed. I think we can finally go home.” Shadow said, turning to face Clarity. She took her leg off of Shadow and they started walking back to Canterlot, Cloudsdale high in the sky above them.

“Dead Eye!” A voice called out from behind Clarity and Shadow. They turned around to find the sniper Shadow had thought he killed standing by Persistence’s body, aiming a rifle at them.

“Don’t think you’re getting out of this alive.” The sniper said. Shadow quickly dashed in front of Clarity as the sniper fired the rifle. Five of the shots soared through the air and fell into Shadow, the other bullets landing in the snow around them.

“NO!!” Clarity yelled. The sniper stopped shooting and his gun clicked, running out of ammo in the rifle. Clarity took out her pistol and opened fire on the sniper. The sniper fell to the ground, multiple shots implanted into his head. Clarity dropped her pistol and looked at Shadow, who was laying on the ground, the five shots laying in his body.

“Shadow! Shadow, look at me.” Clarity said quickly, lightly shaking Shadow Rider. Shadow opened his eyes weakly and looked at Clarity, tears forming in her eyes. Clarity exchanged a sad look with him, a feeling of sorrow building inside of her.

“Clarity... I’m sorry...” Shadow said, reaching to put a hoof on her. Clarity bent down, Shadow’s hoof brushing against her face. Shadow’s lips quivered a little, trying to form into a smile at the feeling of Clarity.

“For what?” Clarity asked, sniffling.

“For the times... I broke your heart...” Shadow said, his eyes starting to water.

“Shadow... I... I don’t know what to say...” Clarity said, her tears falling into the snow.

“You don’t have to... say anything...” Shadow said. Clarity sniffled and held onto Shadow’s other hoof.

“I love you... ” Clarity spoke through her tears. Shadow tightened his grip on her hoof and muttered the last words he would speak.

“I love you... Clarity...” His hoof fell from Clarity, a puff of snow coming off of the ground. Shadow’s eyes closed and he fell limp, slipping from life. Clarity cried harder, her tears falling onto Shadow’s coat. She wiped her eyes, trying to stop the tears from flowing. Clarity opened her eyes and looked down at Shadow. He wasn’t breathing, Shadow laying lifeless in the snow around them. The snow falling on the mountains started to lighten up, the pegasi in Cloudsdale finally beginning to end the winter. Clarity looked up at the sky, the clouds slowly fading away and the snow fall slowly disappearing. The sun came into view as the clouds dissipated and faded away, the warmth of the sun making contact with the ground after over a year of the winter.

“Goodbye... Shadow Rider...” Clarity said through her tears.

______________________________________________________________________

The Equestrian Saints had been defeated; Shadow Rider, Dusk, Clarity, and Specter bringing them to a stop. With the Equestrian Saints gone, the princesses were finally safe and Cloudsdale could return to normal, the weather returning to its normal cycles through the seasons. Dusk was found a day later after the avalanche by Clarity, buried in the snow. She was alive and grateful to have been found. When the news reached Luna and Celestia that Shadow had died saving Clarity and helping bring the Equestrian Saints to an end, something inside them felt sorry, even if he had turned against them. Dusk and Clarity were let go of their ‘criminal’ charges in respect of Shadow. His sacrifice to save Clarity’s life would not go unnoticed. With all that Shadow Rider had taught Clarity over their relationship and afterwards, Clarity was given the title of “Dead Eye”. Although the Equestrian Saints were defeated, a war was brewing between the other nations and Equestria. Dusk joined the Equestrian military, hoping to help end the conflict between the nations. Although new feuds began to form, Equestria was restored back to normal.

The winter’s wrath was finally over.

______________________________________________________________________

[Six months later]

September 27, Canterlot royal palace garden

Temperature: 63 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 12:07 P.M.

Clarity walked through the entrance of the palace garden, the orange and red leaves on the trees swaying back and forth in the gentle breeze. The moon was high above the garden, a few clouds moving their way across the clear night sky. Clarity set down the bouquet she was carrying down in front of Shadow’s grave. Roses, the first type of flower Shadow had ever gotten Clarity for her birthday. Clarity sat down and looked at the headstone that stuck up from the ground.

“Shadow Rider. His actions will never be forgotten.” The words engraved in the stone read. Tears started to swell in Clarity’s eyes, reminiscing on the days they were together and thinking of what could have been if he hadn’t have passed away.

“I miss you... Shadow. But, hey, at least I get permission into the garden so I can see you.” Clarity said, laughing weakly to herself. The smile on her face quickly faded as she looked back up at the headstone. Clarity tilted her head up at the moon, a small cloud moving in front of it.

“Dusk is in Germaney right now, she wasn’t able to make it here with me, but I’m sure she misses you too.” Clarity said, looking back down at the grave. Clarity sniffled and wiped the tears away from her eyes.

“I just wish you could have lasted a bit longer to see your foal grow up.” Clarity said, looking down at her stomach. She took something off of her hind leg and set it down in front of her.

“Before Dusk and I left for Cloudsdale... Specter gave me this. He said he found it at the base of the mountain after the explosion during Operation “Revival”. He told me to give it to you when the mission was over... It was buried in the snow under the avalanche, I found it when I went back for Dusk.” Clarity said. She took the knife out of the sheath and stuck it in the dirt in front of the headstone. It was the knife Clarity had made Shadow for his birthday, Shadow’s last birthday while he was with Clarity. More tears fell from her eyes, Clarity wiping them away a second later.

“I should be getting home... it’s getting pretty late.” Clarity said as she got up. Clarity turned around and started to walk to the exit of the garden. She stopped at the entrance of the garden to look back at Shadow’s grave.

“Thank you...”

The End