Two Hooves

“Red- Red wake the fuck up we have questions for you!” Red Field’s shoulders were sore from the night before and they stung as Blackout rolled him over. Blackout held the AP-5 up with one hoof. “First off: What the hell is this?”

“What the hell happened on your train ride? Did you take fire?” Wildcat asked.

“What did Luna have to say to that dog?” Locked Breech stood a respectful distance from Red Field’s cot.

“Did you shoot anyone?” Asked Full Wing.

Red Field told them. He told them of Avogadro’s passive warnings to Luna and of her apparent agreement with him. Even after all of the suspect events and statements of the night; one sentence held all of their attention.

“What does she mean by ‘enough ponies’?” Asked Chesterfield.

“Fuck me if I don’t like her now.” Said Blackout, shaking his head.

“She’s talking about baiting these Wraiths to come and attack us directly since we’ve haven’t found who we’re looking for down here.” Locked Breech said.

“We don’t even know who the fuck they are, or if they have anything to do with the Blast.” Wildcat said.

“Does she mean we’re bait?” Full Wing asked.

“We need to tell Bombs Away.” Said Locked Breech. “None of this is authorized.”

“He’s not going to take kindly to that.” Chesterfield said.

“He’d better not.” Said Locked Breech as he left the room.

A sinking feeling grew in Red Field’s stomach, and he suddenly thought that perhaps he shouldn’t have spoken about the ride. Luna thought him a trusted assistant. But he was a UAT first, and not even a trusted assistant ought to keep such a dark strategy a secret.

Locked Breech and Blackout went to find Bombs Away. The sinking feeling grew as their hoofsteps faded down the hall and Red Field got out of bed.

“So that Avocado guy really gave you this?” Asked Wildcat as he toyed with the rifle.

“Yeah.” Red Field said, starting to pace.

“It looks expensive.” Said Chesterfield. “What does he do that got him so rich?”

“I don’t know.” Red Field said. Should he go with Locked Breech to clarify the story?

Locked Breech returned after only a few minutes. Recon swarmed around him and he waved them off and took a seat at the table. Blackout and Wildcat asked what happened and Chesterfield asked if he should be praying for anything.

“Bombs Away confronted Luna.” He looked at Red Field, which only scared Red Field more. “You did the right thing by telling us. Bombs said so. He’s had issues with Luna from the start.”

“What happened?” Full Wing asked.

“She shoved him and told him it was no business of his.” Locked Breech said. “And he called her a shifty immoralist. They ordered everypony out of the barracks.” Red Field regretted saying anything, he regretted it instantly and completely and Locked Breech saw this. “We’re in communication with the guys on the floor above. They say that both of them went down to the basement to discuss how to proceed with the investigation. They haven’t heard anything yet, which is a good thing. They’ll let us know once anything changes.” He grew quiet to show he recognized the silence might not signify a good thing.

“It’s not like Bombs Away and the rest of the brass didn’t have issues with her from the get go.” Chesterfield said. “Seems like they were just sating her this entire time, waiting for some actual leads to come up.”

“She’s cold.” Blackout said. “Bombs Away knows that; even for him, it’s too cold.”

“Oh and there’s the part where we don’t actually know what her authority is.” Wildcat said.

“She’s a Princess.” Locked Breech said.

“What authority did she have that wasn’t delegated by Celestia?” Blackout asked. “She was an enemy of the state not so long ago.”

“The fuck is Twilight in all of this?” Asked Wildcat. “She’s the Goddamn Queen, she gave an order to have Luna arrested.”

“Luna carried a letter of endorsement from Queen Twilight. She showed it to us the night she showed up.” Locked Breech said. “We verified it before allowing her to propose action.”

“Oh, really?” Blackout said. “I suppose that’s a bit convenient.”

“She also had Sombra’s crown.” Said Locked Breech. “According to her, she immediately left after the Blast to hunt him down. According to her, she’s spent the last year tracking down all of the usual suspects and killing them.”

“According to her.” Said Chesterfield. Something popped above the typewriter and Locked Breech snatched a letter from the air. He unrolled it and Recon crowded around him.

“Heading down to the basement with bullshit question to check on them.” Said the note. Locked Breech began typing a reply.

“Jesus Christ, this isn’t good.” Said Wildcat.

“Red, you and Full Wing follow me. You two have interacted with her more than anypony else.” Locked Breech tore off the letter and sent it. “If we’re introducing anyone into whatever’s going on down there, it’s you two.”

If anypony should attempt to interrupt the altercation between the two leaders, it ought to be somepony unaffiliated, as opposed to the pony who initiated the altercation in the first place.

Red Field tried to think of a way to express his disagreement and general terror with the idea as they left. He looked back into their quarters. Chesterfield sat atop his bed, with his head bowed. Blackout peered out of the window with one hoof on his pistol.

Everypony was terrified with the idea.

Red Field said nothing as they crossed to the officers’ barracks.

Inside the assembly room in the officers’ barracks waited a group of four UAT captains. They stood near the hallway leading to the basement.

“These two have spent more time around her than anypony else.” Locked Breech pushed Red Field and Full Wing forward. “We’ve got them if need be.”

“Breech, we might be dealing with a hostage situation, or worse.” Said one of the captains. “We’ve got an excuse to interrupt their talk, but there’s no telling what she’s up to.”

“She’s a rational pony, we can deescalate whatever might be going on.” Said Locked Breech. “Don’t put her against a wall.” Red Field looked down the hallway. The same light blue glow rose up from the stairs.

“Keyword is advocate.” Said another captain. “As soon as we drop the keyword we’re on secure and neutralize.”

Locked Breech looked down the hallway.

“We need to exercise discretion; we’re going to be walking a thin line and it’ll go south if we fall back to force.” Locked Breech sounded as close to desperate as he had in the entire time Red Field had known him.

“What if I come down and say we need Bombs Away to help us unload some gear?” Said Full Wing. Red Field was still watching the stairs, steeped in the terror of what might happen, or be happening. The group was still disagreeing on the proper course of action, and so only Red Field saw Luna emerge out of the gloom and up the stairs.

Luna looked normal. Her face was drawn into a slight frown, her steps were decided and her gait unhurried. She saw Red Field. She kept her eyes on him as she drew near. She was about midway through the hall when Red Field saw Bombs Away behind her.

The stoic stallion still chomped down on his cigar, although now it was lit. He looked considerably more stressed than she did. Luna paused about a meter from the stallions. None of them had noticed her and she smiled a bit as Red Field continued to gaze at her in trepidation.

“Madam.” Locked Breech said.

“I can guess.” She said. “I’ll address that now.” The other stallions watched her warily, though Luna didn’t appear to care. “With regard to the continuing investigation into the Conspiracy,” she stepped to the side, allowing Bombs Away to stand beside her, “Bombs Away will be leading you. I will stay on as an advisor and lead on a more macro scale.”

“Is this correct sir?” Asked one of the captains. Bombs Away nodded.

“We’re going back to the playbook for this, the Princess and her assistant will take a more advisory role.” He took a long draught from his cigar. “You can explain the rest,” he said to Luna, “I’m going to get into contact with the rest of Gale Force and let them know.” Bombs Away pushed through the captains.

“We will wait until the intelligence agencies in Cantorlot produce viable leads before we act again.” She sounded calm, if disappointed. “I suggest you speak with your commander if you want more details, as he is now in charge.” Luna said before exiting the barracks.

“Gentleponies, we’ll be taking this a bit slower from now on.” Bombs Away said as he typed a message to the base back in Equestria. “If we get a lead on that slaughterhouse dog, we’ll take him out. Otherwise, it’s back to sitting on your hooves.”

The Asymmetrical Warfare Department grew as sullen and withdrawn as Luna with the change of leadership. A week passed and the agency gave the ponies nothing. Luna and Nacht remained together, and Red Field sometimes saw her speaking with Bombs Away. She seemed more like a quiet Princess.

One morning as Red Field and Blackout jogged around the base, Blackout swore and came to a dead stop.

“Have you met the other UAT snipers yet?” He asked.

There were other snipers?

Red Field shook his head. Blackout picked his canteen up and started toward their barracks.

“Damn, how did we forget to do that? You probably should meet them.” Midlothian and Belligerence were the only snipers Red Field knew and they didn’t form any kind of stereotype. He followed Blackout into the barracks, wondering what kind of ponies shared his job.

“Hang on.” Said Blackout. A few ponies sat around in the staging room, mostly reading, eating, or napping and Blackout looked over them before approaching a red unicorn. “Hey, Mars, can you grab the other three snipers and bring them down here? I got our guy and he wants to meet them.”

“Why would I do that?” Asked the pony without looking up from his book.

“So I don’t kick your fuckin’ head in, that’s why.” Said Blackout. “I gotta shower and I don’t want to go dicking around through all of the rooms looking for them.”

“Always go to dicking do you?” Mars asked and Blackout gave him a kick.

“Get me the other snipers, jackoff.” Said Blackout. Mars smacked Blackout’s hoof. He glanced over at Red Field.

“Oh I remember you.” He said. “You’re that chess pony right?”

“Yes sir.” Said Red Field.

“You got a sniper look.” Said Mars as he went off to find the other snipers.

“Okay, you have fun. I’m going to shower.” Said Blackout. “I’ll let Breech know you got all of your organization stuff done with them.”

Red Field was trying to figure out what interpersonal organization he had to do in his solitary position and didn’t see the two dark red unicorns and zebra descend the stairs.

Belligerence hadn’t said anything about organizing with other snipers.

“Yo, somebody said something about someone being a sniper.” Said one of the unicorns.

“Uh, I am.” Said Red Field. He’d never seen a zebra before and he spent the first few moments of their acquaintance staring at the striped equine.

“You’re Red Field?” Asked the zebra.

“Yes.”

“Well then.” Said one of the unicorns in a cryptic but distantly disappointed tone.

“Red Field, what’s up?” The zebra held out his hoof for a brohoof.

He talked as though they had met before.

“Do I know you?” Red Field asked. The zebra laughed and clopped Red Field’s hoof.

“Not exactly, I’m Horus, second UAT sniper. We were going to come see you back at base, but then you shipped out for Mohs.”

“Oh, I’m very sorry.”

“Let me explain.” Horus said. He pointed to the two unicorns. “That’s third sniper Parker and fourth sniper Hale.” He pointed to Red Field. “And as you know, you’re first sniper.” Before Red Field could ask what such a term meant, Hale spoke.

“Hey, Red, where’s your rifle?”

“It’s still being constructed.” Red Field said.

“What are you using in the interim?” Asked Horus.

“DMR.”

“Damn that’s shitty.” Parker said. “I’ve got an accurized upper you can swap. I’ll grab that.”

“So you trained with Belligerence?” Horus asked as Parker ventured back upstairs.

“Yes.”

“I don’t think he talks about us since meeting us is part of UAT basic.” Said Horus, having noticed Red Field’s confusion. “We’ll fill you in about it.” They walked to an empty table and Horus pulled out a chair for Red Field. “UAT has one sniper for every ten ponies. That’s the rough ratio at least. Command likes to keep multiple snipers around for overwatch.”

“I was in the chariot above you when you took that farm.” Hale said.

“We’re attached to a team but we provide general support whenever we have to.” Horus said. “That’s where the first, second, third and fourth sniper thing comes in.”

“You get to pick who does what job.” Parker returned with the upper receiver of a DMR. This receiver had a longer barrel and instead of a full-length rail system, had a series of long lightening cuts on the fore-end. “This is the format Site’s changing all of the DMRs to. It’s already zeroed; you can just drop it on your lower.” Red Field stood and took the receiver, having no idea this were all a prank or if he was actually in a position of authority.

“Thank you.” He said.

“Yeah no problem.” Said Parker.

“Is this really the first time you’ve heard of us?” Asked Hale.

“Uh, yes.” Red Field said. “Is there any reason I’m first sniper?”

“You’re Midlothian’s replacement.” Said Horus. “Recon sniper is always first sniper.”

“Don’t let the power go to your head.” Said Parker. “We’ll like you a lot better that way.”

“Legend enjoyed his reputation quite a bit,” Hale said with a laugh, “that’s what Midlothian called himself. He was a great sniper but that motherfucker liked everypony within ten miles to know. If you can do his job half as good as he did, we should have no trouble. But for God’s sake talk about something other than your best shots if you’re going to fill his shoes.”

“Red Field isn’t Midlothian.” Said Horus over Hale. “I’m sorry,” he said to Red Field, “we’ve all been anxious to meet you since Midlothian retired.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know if I’m good enough to be first sniper.” Said Red Field.

“Belligerence seemed to think you are since he put you in Midlothian’s spot.” Said Parker. “Now how about you tell us about yourself?”

The other three snipers were fascinated with Red Field, and before long he began to grow comfortable around them. Parker spoke more than either of the others and he was most fascinated with Red Field’s Cutie Mark and accompanying approach to life. Hale only cared about Red Field’s training and experience, however he seemed to approve of both. Horus seemed a blend of the pair’s personalities and of the three acted the most like a normal pony.

“You ever do the MOA all day challenge?” Asked Hale. Red Field shook his head and Horus laughed.

“You’re a little colt, we need to get you out to the range so we can rightly make fun of your shooting.” Said Horus. The zebra reminded Red Field slightly of Chesterfield.

“You think you can outshoot me?” Red Field asked.

“Oh no.” Parker said. “MOA all day means you shoot until you break one minute. Last guy to still be shooting a minute wins.”

“Let’s not forget who’s got the record for longest string under a minute.” Said Hale.

“Wait, what about Red’s spotter? Do they have to alternate or something?” Asked Parker.

“Oh shit that’s right, you actually have a spotter. Only first sniper has a dedicated spotter,” Hale said, “Midlothian never used his spotter so we forgot about him.”

“Who did you pick?” Asked Horus. “I thought somepony said it was someone from your old barracks in basic.”

“A Pegasus named Full Wing.” Red Field said.

“Shit you shoulda brought him.” Said Parker. “He as geeky as you?”

“We could just go grab him.” Horus said. “He should meet us too.”

“Fuck that, why don’t we just go to the range?” Said Hale. “We still need to see how Red shoots.”

“I’m up for that.” Said Parker.

They went to recover Full Wing. Without so much as a knock on the door, the three snipers entered Recon’s quarters. The Pegasus had his hooves behind his head and was chewing some bubblegum.

“This him?” Parker crossed the room and pointed to Full Wing. “You Red’s spotter?”

“That’s me.” Said Full Wing, rising and offering his hoof. “Who are you?”

“What’s your longest shot?” Asked Parker.

“Uh-”

“’Cause I don’t shake hooves with ponies under eight hundred meters.” Parker said soberly and Full Wing laughed.

“How many shots have you crunched the numbers on?” Asked Hale, approaching Full Wing.

“Hey he’s just as new to this as Red so don’t run him through the wringer.” Horus said.

“Oh look it’s Midlothian’s little army.” Said Wildcat as he returned to their room.

“Yeah you barely remember us since Legend pony did everything.” Hale said.

“Oh yeah, Red.” Parker said. “We need to also talk about how you’ll be dividing up the assignments. Midlothian was pretty sketchy on having a hard and fast rule.”

“And we need to grill this colt on everything.” Hale said, motioning to Full Wing.

“What the hell is that?” Horus spotted the cased AP-5 under Red Field’s bed. He slid the case out and opened it. “Motherfucker are you serious?” Horus knelt and picked up the rifle. He drew back the bolt and let it drop. “What even is this?”

“Red, where did you get that?” Asked Parker.

“It’s an AP-5. Where the hell did you get this?” Said Hale.

“No shit?” Parker yanked the rifle from Hale and scrutinized it. “The specs for these disappeared a long time ago- who made this?”

“Well, let’s shoot it.” Said Hale, removing one of the magazines.

“Let’s take that to the range, along with Red and his spotter and we can get shit done out there.” Said Horus. “Red, grab your gear and meet us by one of the chariots in five, we’ll make this a range day.”

“Sure.” Said the first sniper.

Red Field explained as much as he knew about the three other snipers as he and Full Wing packed their gear. Nervous as Red Field was about being interrogated, he was much more worried about the treatment Full Wing would receive. Full Wing shook his mane out of his eyes and shrugged as Red Field reminded him of all of the ballistic tables he was supposed to know. Red Field guessed they would hit Full Wing on his math skills as well and he tried to conceive of a mnemonic to make sure Full Wing got his answers correctly and expediently.

“I got this all the time back in high school.” Full Wing said. “Dudes always trying to trip you up and get you to make a mistake.” He tossed a few more boxes of ammo into his backpack before slinging it over his shoulder. “Don’t worry dude, I know how to handle guys like this. They aren’t going to get me to choke.”

Outside, Parker, Hale, and Horus were rummaging through their respective rifle cases and backpacks, making sure they’d packed everything. Full Wing carried the ammo, spotting gear and Red Field’s DMR.

Red Field toted the AP-5.

Horus and Parker took the front of the chariot while Hale sat across from Red Field and Full Wing. As they began to take off, Red Field saw Nacht crossing the compound between the officers’ quarters and the Gmales’ barracks.

“So where did you say you got this thing?” Asked Hale.

“Avogadro, the dog who owned the train, gave it to me.” Red Field said.

“For free?” Asked Hale. “This thing has got to be worth at least twenty thousand bits.”

“More than that.” Said Parker. “They don’t make ‘em anymore.”

“Guess he took a liking to you.” Said Horus.

“Hope we do too.” Said Parker.

Red Field hadn’t known the base had a firing range. They flew for only five minutes, in a diagonal route up the mountain. The trees of Mountain Eight were cleared along a stretch of flat ground extending a several hundred meters. A few benches stood in a line at one end of the range.

“What are we thinking for range?” Asked Hale as they removed their weapons.

“Hundred? Let’s start with that then move out.” Horus set his rifle case next to a bench and took a seat. “Red, you’re up first.”

The AP-5 had a good trigger and thanks to a hefty buffer system and recoil spring, kicked much less than its single shot predecessor. Red Field hadn’t shot for absolute accuracy in some time and felt strange aligning the crosshairs with a crisp black dot at an exact distance. He shot three quarters of a minute with the meaty rifle, which mostly ingratiated him to the other snipers.

Red Field had been counting on being able to keep his partner from actually firing a weapon for as long as they were in Mohs. But after a magazine from Red Field, the rest of the ponies ordered Full Wing to match Red Field’s performance. Seating himself behind the AP-5 and listening attentively to Red Field’s brief and whispered instructions on how to at least shoot a decent group, Full Wing riddled the target with holes. After two minutes, the tattered paper flagged in the wind.

The rifle sluggishly slid back into Full Wing’s shoulder and kicked out a steaming brass case. The paper target jumped back a few inches, then swung down into the ground as the left two-by-four holding it upright snapped.

“Jesus!” Said Parker, beginning to laugh finally. “Let’s call it quits with that one.”

“Uh, heh, sorry about that.” Full Wing said, setting the rifle down. “I’ll go out there and fix that.”

“Full Wing.” Horus was still looking out at the wrecked target stand. “Why exactly did you want to be a spotter?”

“Well I didn’t exactly think I’d have to do much shooting. I really thought I’d just be doing spotting, you know like the math and stuff.”

“You sure don’t look like a math pony.” Hale said. “How fast can you range shots?”

“Uh, I don’t know.” Said Full Wing and Red Field knew he should say something.

“What was your motivation for trying out for this job?” Parker asked.

“Er, well, Red and I got to be good friends during Beast. He’s a really good teacher, and well, he inspired me you know? Like if I’m being honest, six months ago I wouldn’t have even thought I could be a soldier, now I’m trying to do one of the hardest soldier jobs ever.” All three looked at one another, as if they clearly needed to say something but had no idea where to start.

“He and I have good cohesion.” Red Field said.

“So why didn’t you both quit and do your queer tutoring sessions back at home?” Hale asked.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Asked Full Wing.

“It sounds like you think being a UAT spotter is like playing varsity on your high school football team.” Horus said. “You’re both new to this and none of us are comfortable with our first sniper having a spotter who can’t shoot for shit and who didn’t care about being a soldier six months ago. Sniping isn’t a sport, hell it’s not even being a clopper.”

Full Wing opened his mouth to say something but Hale waved him off.

“Red, you want to step in and explain this?” Said Hale.

“Full Wing has shown himself to be a solid pony in what I’ve trusted him with.” Said Red Field.

“I don’t give a shit about how solid he is; I want to know he’ll do the job he’s paid to do. None of us have spotters because it’s a waste of resources for all but the best snipers. Your spotter is supposed to supplement your abilities so you can do your job as first sniper.” Said Parker.

“He and I have performed well in all of our engagements thus far.” Red Field said.

“Let me guess, you do the math, shooting and camouflage and he eats the crayons?” Parker said.

“Hey dude!” Said Full Wing.

“Stop talking like a colt.” Parker said.

“Quiet all of you.” Red Field said. “Belligerence made me first sniper so if you have a problem with that, tough shit.” They turned their attention to him. “Full Wing and I work well as a team, and I don’t care how little you think of him or me, our actions are objectively valid. Once we get into the field, then you can critique us, not on the range.” He paused, then began packing up the AP-5. “We’re done here.”

“So that’s it, just tell us to shove it?” Asked Horus.

“Sure.” Said the first sniper.

They were right about Full Wing. He’d made an emotional decision in his anger against Flashpoint and only now was he realizing the gravity of his choice.

Red Field and Full Wing sat next to one another on the flight back. Red Field nudged Full Wing and held out his hoof. Full Wing nodded and gave his hoof a gentle knock. Red Field was going to defend Full Wing, like he’d defended everything else. Hale sat across from them and looked up as the pair brohoofed.

“Looks like we’re off to a great start.” Hale said, before looking down at his hooves again.

They landed back in the base in just under an hour. Full Wing took hold of the AP-5 case before Red Field could pick it up.

“I got this dude.” He said, slinging the case over his shoulder. “It’s cool.”

The other three snipers went to the officers’ quarters. Red Field watched them, then ran a hoof through his mane. They couldn’t get rid of Full Wing without due cause.

“How was your playdate?” Asked Wildcat as the two returned to Recon’s quarters. The room was empty save for him.

“Fine, still getting to know one another.” Red Field said. Full Wing dumped the case under Red Field’s bed and sat down on his own cot.

“You two okay?” Wildcat asked.

“Yeah, just hadn’t been shooting in a while.” Red Field said.

“Breech and Cat are out talking with Bombs Away, I guess we might have a lead on the bad guys.” Wildcat said.

“Cool.” Red Field removed his book on calculating shots from his bag and brought it over to Full Wing.

“Thanks.” Full Wing said.

“I’ll give you a test tomorrow or something.” Said Red Field.

“Are you going to make Hale work for his position of most accurate sniper?” Wildcat asked. “I’m guessing he told you how he has the best recorded group out of everypony.”

“Full Wing is.” Red Field said. “Full Wing is going to outshoot all three of them, we’ll have to work out some sort of tie between him and me.” He picked up his own notebook and started reviewing his range card for the base.

Writing Two Hooves didn’t take place in a vacuum of interest. I chose to write Two Hooves because the story is in my blood. Two Hooves is not a work of fiction, so I cannot speak with certainty about the thoughts and motivations of each character. But I can speak with certainty about Red Field. He is more than the central figure of my research. Without him, I wouldn’t have an office in Cantorlot or even a home.

A few days passed without word from the Asymmetrical Warfare Department and Red Field trained Full Wing as much as he could. Full Wing made substantial progress in such a short period of time. But as hard as he tried not to compare both ponies, Red Field could tell Siplinski learned much faster than Full Wing.

“So Parker told me about your range day.” Said Blackout as they finished their morning run. “Don’t worry; they’re assholes to anybody new. That’s how they were with Midlothian, then he showed all of them.”

“Thanks.” Red Field said. “I think the issue is with Full Wing though.”

“Yeah, so I heard.” Blackout took a drink from his canteen and wiped his mouth. “That colt’s your responsibility Red. Don’t let him get anypony killed.”

“He’s learning.” Red Field said. “And I know he’s capable.”

“I’m not going to rat you out to Breech, because this isn’t really a rat-worthy situation. But you need to keep everypony you’re responsible for safe. If Full isn’t going to do what he needs to, you have to cover his ass until he can.”

“I will.” Said Red Field.

“Oh yeah, I heard Bombs Away is getting sick of the dogs and I’m pretty sure we’ll be getting rid of those two soon.”

Fo rarely left the barracks after Luna’s demotion. The Gmales had barely been useful with Luna’s command and under Bombs Away’s supervision, they would likely go nowhere.

Red Field felt sorry for them. Being away from Fo’s acerbic personality helped Red Field remember Fo was still a peacekeeper in a country not tending toward peace.

“Yo, Blackout.” One of Enduring Freedom’s ponies, the one with a blue mane, a red body and a white tail, jogged over to them from the officers’ quarters.

“Inland, what’s up?” Said Blackout.

“Do you guys know where we can find some translators for dog-speak?”

“Uh, I have no idea, why?” Said Blackout.

“A group of those G-dudes cops or whoever needs our assistance down in some village. They say they need help with crowd control. Bombs Away wants us to get a few ‘translator’ dogs for P.R. He’s worked up about putting guys into a crowd of pissed-off dogs.”

“We have those Gmales on base.” Said Blackout. “They’d work.”

“Yeah that’s exactly what he doesn’t want.” Said Inland. “He’s gonna have my ass if I say that’s our only option.”

“Dunno what to tell you then. They’re our only contact for that shit.” Said Blackout.

“Can you come over and tell him that?” Asked Inland, looking toward the officers’ barracks.

“For Christ’s sake.” Blackout threw his canteen to Red Field. “Let’s go.”

Red Field went back to their quarters and reviewed Full Wing’s progress on range estimation. About ten minutes later he heard shouting. Red Field went to the window and saw Bombs Away and two officers knocking on the door of the dogs’ barracks. He caught the phrase “untrustworthy mongrels” from Bombs Away.

Natick answered.

Bombs Away asked him something and Natick replied in the positive. Bombs Away pointed down the mountain and Natick explained something. Bombs Away pointed at Natick with what looked like a gesture of threat and Natick pointed back at Bombs Away. One of the officers stepped between them and asked Natick something. Natick pointed at Red Field, who wasn’t aware Natick could even see him. Red Field shrank down as the three ponies looked at him. Bombs Away motioned for him to come down.

“Soldier, have you worked with those dogs?” Asked Bombs Away as Red Field neared them. Red Field nodded. “Are they good company?” Red Field hesitated. Bombs Away stepped closer to Red Field and Red Field saw Natick was watching from him. “Would you be willing to put your life in their paws?” Red Field hesitated more deeply. “Because we need someone to go down to a murder scene and help direct rioters and apparently those dogs are the only ones we have for the job.”

“Yes sir, I would.” Said Red Field after a second.

“Good, get the rest of your squad and go help them with whatever fresh fuck they’ve gotten into.”

Red Field sat next to Natick, who sat beside Full Wing. Fo sat in the cockpit, giving directions to Locked Breech. They flew toward the valley in the center of the Rail Mountains.

“Why the hell is this such a big deal?” Asked Wildcat. “One murder?”

“Probably a Grimdark.” Said Natick. “What info do you have?”

“Not a lot.” Said Blackout. “Gmales down there just found a dead dog and called us right away.”

“Must be a Grimdark then.” Natick said. “Can’t be Faceless Male if it’s just one though.”

“Who?” Asked Chesterfield.

“He’s a former doctor who got charged with sexual assault. He disappeared a decade ago and he’s gotten a reputation for attacking people and-” Natick shrugged to imply the rest of Faceless Male’s crime.

“Sprinkles, they said it’s somebody named Sprinkles. They said the murder is ‘consistent with his methods’.” Blackout read from a brief he’d fished out of his pocket. “The hell does that mean?”

“Who the hell is Sprinkles?” Asked Wildcat. “Sounds like a sex pervert.”

Natick took a moment to respond.

“Sprinkles is one of the more, infamous Grimdarks- more infamous than they normally are I should say. He’s just a serial killer. I can’t exactly say how he got so well known. He gets mixed responses from people. The FFS is always trying to keep people from making a scene whenever he kills someone.”

“What the hell do you mean ‘mixed responses’?” Asked Blackout.

“Grab your gear and get ready to move.” Locked Breech called back to them. “We’re landing.”

“He’s, flamboyant.” Said Natick.

The village was tiny. Only about six shacks of homes built on a space of level rock about the size of a tennis court comprised the village. Most of the homes had their doors open, but Red Field saw no one within the tiny settlement.

Two Gmales stood outside of the door of a kennel. Red Field guessed they were Admonishers considering they both carried light machine guns and stood half a meter taller than Fo and Natick. A few of the heavily equipped Underdogs had accompanied the FFS when they’d descended to collect the remains of Fo’s squadmates.

“Where’s the crowd?” Locked Breech asked one.

“You’re the backup?” Asked one of the Admonishers.

“We’re here for crowd control.” Said Blackout.

“How many of you are there?” Asked the other.

“I’m captain Locked Breech of the UAT.” Said Locked Breech. “This is my squad, we were told to come here to help control a crowd.”

“There will be a crowd soon enough.” Said the first. “Gmale, do you speak yiff?” He asked Fo.

“Of course.” Fo sounded as if wanted to ingratiate himself to the pair.

“Then you need to talk to the villagers and tell them this was a mafia hit.” The Admonisher stuck a finger to their left. “There’s a few more kennels down the path that way.”

“Got it, with me Natick.” Said Fo, straightening his vest and walking toward the nearest house.

“Excuse me what is going on here?” Asked Locked Breech. “What is this?”

“I thought we were clear over the radio” Said the Admonisher. He looked up and down the street before stepping closer to Locked Breech. “This was a murder by Sprinkles. We’re lucky it’s out in the sticks but all it takes is one lookie-loo and soon a whole shitload of reporters, perverts and assholes show up and start asking questions.”

“Isn’t that their job?” Wildcat asked. “The reporters?”

“Blaming the government? Depends on who you ask.” Said the Admonisher. “At any rate we don’t need to deal with that nonsense.”

“I don’t understand, are we-” Began Locked Breech.

“Take your ponies,” Said the Admonisher, “set them up around the kennel. If anyone tries to get by you, shoot them in the face. If anyone tries to tunnel under, shoot them in the face.”

“That’s it?” Locked Breech asked.

“You want to help with the investigation?” Asked the Admonisher. “Go inside and see if they need any help.”

“Blackout, Chess, Cat, on perimeter.” Said Locked Breech. “Full Wing and Red, follow me.”

He walked between the two dogs and opened the door to the kennel.

An eerie quality of the smell of death is its diversity. Notably, those smelling death for the first time have a curiously varied impression of the aroma. My associates in the college of mortuary science tell me this unidentifiable smell is not related to any one chemical compound found in corpses. From what they gather, the odor’s amorphous quality likely has its origin in an emotional response to the odor of blood.

Red Field thought he smelled fruit ripening. He only occasionally ate fruit back in Rockvale, and as his eyes adjusted to the darkness within the kennel, he thought he smelled the sweet, fatty ethylene rising from an unseen bunch of bananas. The kennel was made for one dog and a single lantern set in the middle of the floor cast a pathetic glow over the occupants of the room.

“Is that cocoa?” Asked Full Wing. His voice filled the silence and a pair of dogs sitting on folding chairs on the opposite side of the room looked up.

Something lay between them.

Red Field’s eyes adjusted to the blackness.

The dog lay on his back, his arms outstretched in a T. A jerking circle of black, dried blood covered the bed and ran up the wall. The mush of a stomach and liver were heaped atop the body. The dog’s skin was peeled back and the red curves of his muscles lay exposed like a science diagram.

The dog’s mouth was opened in a silent cry. Its yellow teeth were drilled and cracked apart and blood had clotted at the back of its throat. Red Field saw the dog’s fingers and whimpered. They were snapped and twisted and the fur of the knuckles had rubbed off. Needles stuck out from under its nails. The dog’s eyes had been torn out and Red Field saw they were placed atop the dog’s chest, both looking down at the annihilated body.

“Full Wing, go out and support the others.” Locked Breech grabbed Full Wing by the mane and pulled him back to the door.

“What? Hang on I can’t see-”

Locked Breech opened the door and cast him out. Red Field stared at the dog, his eyes watering.

“Are you with the FFS?” One of the two dogs stood and approached Red Field.

“UATs. We’re from Equestria.” Said Locked Breech.

“I know you guys.” Said the dog. “I’m detective Phillips, that’s author Boll.” He said, pointing to the other dog.

“The killer did that?” Asked Locked Breech, pointing to the tortured dog.

“No, we think he did this to himself.” Said Boll.

“Yes, this is the work of Sprinkles.” Said Phillips. “Don’t know if you’re familiar with him.”

“No.” Said Locked Breech.

“He showed up about a decade ago.” Said Phillips. “Don’t know much about him except that he’s a bit of a sadist.”

“He’s probably a doctor or a med student, given how much he knows about physiology and nerves.” Boll stood and walked to the ponies. “We’ve been following Sprinkles for a while.”

“Boll and I are a writer-slash-investigator team assigned to Sprinkles’ case.” Said Phillips.

“Writer?” Asked Red Field.

“Yup, I write fiction.” Said Boll. “I’m currently writing the short tragedy of that guy right there.” He pointed to the dead dog. “Friend met a guy who knew a guy in the mob. This clownshoe decides to offer his services- he’s got no family so he doesn’t worry much and wants to make a couple bits on the side. Well he got in just deep enough for someone to realize they could frame him for a killing.” Boll smacked his lips and Red Field realized he was chewing gum. “Clownshoe is framed for killing a dog from a rival syndicate.” Boll shrugged and held up his paws in a “whaddyagonnado?” motion. “Mafia forgets it ever happened and the moral is ‘don’t fuck with the mob unless you know what you’re doing’.”

“What does that have to do with Sprinkles?” Asked Locked Breech.

“Nothing, that’s the point.” Boll said.

“The reason we need someone to write stories for Sprinkles’ killings is the same reason we need crowd control at every scene.” Phillips said. “Sprinkles has a number of fans and they look for souvenirs and otherwise fuck with the scene.”

“Plus there’s other sick fucks out there who want to meet him and they show up at his crime scenes to look for him. And did we mention that a ton of people think we’re framing him?” Said Boll. He poked Locked Breech in the chest. “You and your ponies are going to help stop any of that from happening. You’re a mafia task force from Mountain Four. You’re here to check out the body and look for clues. Your boys outside’ll act as extra muscle, being that you’re some tight-lipped government goons looking for a promotion.”

“Excuse me, you’re saying we’re fabricating the story?” Locked Breech asked. “Why are we here to control a crowd?”

“We aren’t doing anything but trying to preserve a tiny sliver of sanity for this country. You ponies tell your story to anyone who shows up. If your acting’s good, there won’t be a crowd to control.” Said Phillips.

Boll’s gum smelled of rich cherry. It mingled with the aroma of death and Red Field felt sick within a few minutes. Locked Breech took a seat by the door. He sat with his rifle propped up beside him. Red Field stood in the middle of the room. He’d barely moved since he’d seen the dead dog. He didn’t want to get any closer, but couldn’t muster the resolve to move away.

“Used those pliers again.” Said Phillips, rolling the corpse’s head to the side.

“The mob just bought a few tools from the local hardware store.” Said Boll, annotating his page.

“Neighbor said the door was open. He smelled something off and peeked inside.” Said Phillips.

“Mob doesn’t care about letting in drafts.” Boll said, the gum slapping around his teeth. “You made sure we paid him?”

“Yeah.” Phillips put his paw under his chin. “Do you remember that last Underdog he grabbed? The one down in the tunnels? He didn't rip that guy's nuts off did he?”

“Naw.” Said Boll. “Been a couple months since he’s done anything to anybody’s junk.”

“What does that have to do with catching this guy?” Asked Locked Breech irritably.

“Just means some of the rest of the Department of Justice was off base when they said he was developing a sexual drive.” Said Boll. “A couple guys thought he was changing his M.O.” He jabbed his pen into his chest. “I didn’t. I didn’t think he was just randomly going to start showing signs of getting off. Sprinkles is the blank Grimdark, he’s been that way for as long as he’s been around.”

“What does that mean?” Asked Locked Breech.

“We know something about every Grimdark. Faceless Male leaves pictures of his obese self on all of his crime scenes. Hell, we’ve got all of his files and records from back when he was still practicing medicine. Nowadays we don’t run into him much and he’s probably dead from old age. Stabby has polycoria, we know he’s a meter or shorter, he kills no more than one person every twenty-four hours and only people who whistle for him. The other GDs have files.” He pointed to the mangled dog. “Sprinkles might be a female, or dead and this is done by a copycat or he’s one dog with twenty assistants for all we know.”

“How do you know his name is Sprinkles?” Asked Red Field.

Phillips and Boll looked at one another.

“Well, that’s just what everybody calls him.” Said Boll. “His fans say his name is Sprinkles.”

“Why does he have fans?” Asked Red Field.

“Because there are dumb teen girls, emo teen girls, emo teen fags.” Said Boll, blowing a bubble and popping it with his teeth. “Most of ‘em get scared off when they see what he actually does, but there’s still a bunch who think he’s just ‘misunderstood’. And all of the anarchist shitbrains want to have coffee with him.”

Red Field beheld the body again, wondering how anyone could want to meet the creature responsible for such suffering.

“Plenty of Equestrian criminals have fans.” Said Boll. “It’s not just a Mohs thing.”

“You just don’t have Grimdarks like Sprinkles.” Said Phillips. “That’s why dogs like us work to keep him out of the spotlight.”

Red Field took a seat beside Locked Breech and for the next half hour, all four sat in silence while Boll and Phillips continued to poke at the disintegrated body. Red Field’s mouth felt as if it were full of spit, and he swallowed continuously to try to remove the sensation. The smell of death kept him from thinking about anything but the horror of Mohs’ endless parade of psychosis and violence. He wasn’t surprised such a sick being would have sicker fans in such a terrible country. Yet Red Field still felt shocked anyone could feel anything but disgust and fright at such a scene.

“Breech.” Said Blackout. Locked Breech had set his radio to an outdoor volume and the sudden noise startled Red Field. The two dogs looked up as well. “We got a few hooligans out here messing with the two mods. Permission to go hooves on?”

Red Field could hear a muffled argument through the door.

“Negative.” Locked Breech stood. “Let me deal with them.” He picked up his rifle and opened the door. Three male teen dogs were berating the two Admonishers and Blackout, who stood by the entrance.

Red Field could hear Locked Breech sigh as the door closed.

“What are they paying you ponies?” Asked Boll as the quiet returned to the room.

“Nothing, this is just an agreement of aid between Equestria and Mohs.” Said Red Field.

“Uh-huh.” Said Phillips. “So what are you getting in return for dealing with shit like this?”

“We’re repaying Mohs for letting us operate out of a base on one of your mountains.”

“Why the hell would Equestria care about our country?” Asked Boll.

“You’re looking for whoever killed Celestia aren’t you?” Said Phillips.

“Of course, don’t know how I didn’t think of that.” Said Boll, tapping his pen against his head.

“How do you know about the Blast?” Asked Red Field.

“The what?” Asked Phillips. “Oh, the bombing. Never knew you called it something.” He snorted. “Just because Equestria doesn’t pay attention to Mohs doesn’t mean we don’t pay attention to you.”

“Red get out here.” Locked Breech said through Red Field’s radio.

“Get out there and keep the peace.” Said Boll as Red Field turned to leave.

“How many ponies you got in there?” An Underdog’s finger nearly jabbed into Red Field’s nostril as one of the onlookers pointed into the doorway.

“I said back off!” Blackout slapped the dog’s paw away. Six dogs, all adolescent males, now stood in front of the kennel. They formed a semicircle around the door. Red Field was still having difficulty evaluating diamond dogs, since they all tended to scare him. However, the six sounded like they’d get along well with the Aples.

“It’s Sprinkles isn’t it?” One said. “Why else would you have so many officers here?”

“The FFS are currently conducting an investigation.” Said Locked Breech. “Allow them to make an official statement.”

“So what are you here for, bitch pony?” Asked one of the six.

“Shut your cock holster.” Said one of the Admonishers.

“What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch?” Asked the dog. “I’ll have you know I-”

“He said shut your cocksucking orifice.” Said the other. “Now get the back.”

“What are you going to do?” The dog had his arms outstretched in a display of imagined impunity when the Admonisher slapped him across the face and knocked him to the ground. The other teens snarled as the Admonishers drew their weapons.

“Fuck these guys, that’s gotta be Sprinkles in there.” Said the fallen dog as he picked himself up. “They’d never give us this much shit for some small-town murder in there. You just told us what we needed to know.”

“Anytime, I’ll slap your dumb ass around all day.” Said the Admonisher. The teen leaned forward and crouched slightly. Locked Breech unholstered his pistol as the other two Underdogs caught their companion.

“Hold on, let’s get the others.” Said one.

The three bolted out of the village.

“Red, head inside and see if they need any help. We need to get this moving.” Said Locked Breech. “Blackout, get the chariot prepped for dustoff.”

Red Field ducked back into the kennel.

“All clear?” Asked Phillips, looking up from the dead dog’s feet. “Sounds pretty quiet out there.”

“How soon can you be done?” Red Field asked. “There are more civilians coming.”

“Not soon.” Said Boll. A wallet, journal, and photo album were strewn at his feet and he was still writing into his notebook. “I have to combine all of this schmoe’s real life info with the riveting narrative I’m penning.”

“We shouldn’t be more than an hour.” Said Phillips. “You said they were just going to get some more friends to gawk?”

“I don’t know who they’re bringing.” Said Red Field. “Is there any way I can help you get this done quicker?”

“Just stall ‘em, say we think it might be Sprinkles, but we’re really not sure. We have this in paw but we like to be thorough.” Said Phillips with a dismissive wave. Red Field, worrying over the exchange between the investigators and the crowd control, turned and headed back outside. One of the mods stood with his machine gun in one paw, radioing in a request for support.

“Red, what did they say?” Asked Locked Breech.

“Under an hour.” Said Red Field.

“Breech that’s too long.” Said Chesterfield.

“Yeah I know I know.” Locked Breech said. “Chess, take Cat and watch the other side of the kennel, they might try to tunnel inside. Red, you and Full Wing go find Fo and let him know we might need his help soon.” Full Wing, who’d been avoiding the accusatory gaze of the teens by standing behind one of the Admonishers, gave Red Field a tap on the shoulder.

“Let’s head out dude, I’ve been standing around way too long.”

He and Red Field searched the tiny village for Fo. The buildings stood empty. Either Fo had successfully kept the dogs indoors, or they were preparing for a riot. Red Field, not wanting to intrude any more than he had to, attempted to survey each windowless kennel for the Gmales without knocking. Full Wing groaned and adjusted his pack.

“Dude my back is killing me. We’ve just been standing around.” Red Field didn’t answer as he peered into the open door of a kennel. “So what did it look like? Was it gross?”

“Yeah.”

“Dude, describe.”

“I can’t right now.”

“Dude, I can handle it.”

“Full Wing we need to find Fo and Natick.” Said Red Field. “Those thugs are bringing more of their friends back and that’s not what we want.”

“Don’t let them scare you. I knew guys like that back home. Trust me, they’re not bringing anybody back, they just said that so they didn’t look like total pussies.” Full Wing peeked in the door of the kennel. “Hey Fo, you in here?” No one responded. “Dude’s probably jacking off somewhere.” Red Field moved to the next kennel. “Those Admin dudes are badass!” Full Wing said. “They were arguing with those punks like the whole time you were inside. One of them said he wished he could just pop them all.” Red Field had checked half of the kennels and hoped he wouldn’t have to venture too far from the rest of Recon to find Fo.

Full Wing called him back to one of the kennels.

“Dude’s just sleeping in there.” Said Full Wing, pointing inside. Red Field squinted into the room, and after a moment, saw the lumpy pile of grey fur holding a shotgun. Fo laid on a yoga mat too small for him and his head was propped up against the corner of the structure.

Red Field gave him a nudge.

“Huh?” Fo looked around. “Oh, you. Are we done?”

“Why are you sleeping in here?” Red Field asked. Fo rubbed his face.

“The villagers were already scared, so Natick took them down to another village about a kilometer from here.”

“So you just decided to take a nap?” Asked Full Wing. Fo nodded.

“Yep, we did our job.” Said Fo as he cracked his neck and got up. “Are we heading out now?”

“No, we need you to come back to the crime scene and help us. There are some dogs coming back to cause trouble.” Red Field said.

“Were they Wraiths?” Asked Fo, checking to see his shotgun was loaded.

“I don’t know who they were.” Said Red Field.

“Well it doesn’t matter.” Said Fo. “They’ll bring some. If there’s going to be a riot I want to make sure Natick doesn’t get mobbed trying to get back.” He pointed at Red Field. “Make sure your boss doesn’t fly off without us.”

“You’re supposed to come back with us.” Red Field said as Fo dashed from the kennel.

Locked Breech wasn’t surprised by Fo’s response and he ordered the sniper team onto perimeter duty. Red Field and Full Wing took positions outside of the kennel alongside the two Admonishers. Locked Breech began radioing their status to the base when they heard shouting. A crowd of ten diamond dogs descended on the village from further up the mountain.

“Copy that, we’ve made contact with the locals.” Locked Breech said. One of the Admonishers stepped toward the crowd as it neared.

“Nobody past here; this is your only warning!”

“I just want to get photos.” Three members of the crowd were females and one of them held up an old camera. “That’s all.”

“Keep your sick shit at home, this is a crime scene.” Said the Admonisher.

“Hey man, we’re not causing any trouble, we just want to look.” Said an Underdog with a garbage bag under his arm. Red Field saw that the teens who’d harassed them earlier were not among the group and he began to look around for them.

“Hey bro, can you tell me if Sprinkles killed that guy in there?” Someone poked Red Field’s shoulder. Before Red Field could respond, one of the Admonishers gave the offending dog a kick in the gut, knocking him to his haunches.

“I said back off!” Said the Admonisher.

“Come on, let us in.” Said one of the females. “We’re not going to paw off or anything, we just want to take a few pictures.”

“Breech we got contact to the rear.” Called Chesterfield from the opposite side of the building. “I said you’re to stay back ten meters or we will respond with deadly force!”

“Red, you and Full stay here.” Locked Breech said, hurrying around the corner.

“Hey, we’ll help you get rid of everyone else who shows up. Just let us take one picture.” Said one of the females.

“You aren’t getting in.” Said Red Field as forcefully as he could.

“What do you want a picture for?” Asked Full Wing.

“Don’t talk to them.” Said the Admonisher. “You kids can stay, but I don’t want to hear-” The Admonisher swung his rifle toward one of the empty kennels. “Get out here! I see you there!” He shouted.

“Oh God! Don’t shoot!” Called a voice from within.

“Get out here now! Show me your paws!” Said the Admonisher. A short Scilicite carrying a notebook and pencil thrust his paws out of the door before walking into view.

“I’m just here to ask some questions!” He said. “I didn’t mean any harm.”

“You won’t get in, these guys are stonewalling us.” Said one of the females. The dog carrying the notebook swallowed and approached the Admonisher.

“I wanted to know if there’s any information you’re releasing from your investigation.” He said. “I’m a bit of a novice investigator and I’d like to do a write up on this.”

“We aren’t releasing any information at this time.” Said one of the Admonishers. “We don’t even know if this was the work of Sprinkles, just keep your distance and don’t cause a commotion.”

The fans of Sprinkles grumbled and took a few steps back. One of the females began to further implore the Admonisher to let them in while the novice investigator began notating the scene. Red Field realized he was sweating and had his rifle off of safe.

“Red! Can you see Fo?” Locked Breech said from the opposite side of the kennel.

“No, not yet.” He said.

“Stay in front with Full Wing, use discretion but you’re cleared to engage.” Red Field began to breathe quickly as the shouting grew from the other side of the building. He heard pawsteps over his left shoulder and turned to see the same teens who’d accosted them upon their arrival, making their way out of the woods. They were watching him and evidently had been trying to sneak toward him.

“Hey!” Red Field shouted. “What do you think you’re doing?” He called in terror. There were another two dogs with the teens and he saw that both wore blue nametags.

“Just bringing some interested parties.” Said one of the teens. The two dogs with nametages were adult Scilicites and watched the ponies closely. They stopped at the edge of the woods and eyed Red Field. Slung under their shoulders were shortened Molots with underfolding stocks.

“Get over here and stand in front!” Shouted Red Field. “And paws where we can see them!” Not knowing the laws about open carry in Mohs or even what his authority was, Red Field could do nothing save watch the two.

“Geez, you’re certainly scared of a few kids.” Said one of the teens. “Especially after acting all cocky before.”

“Shut your mouth.” Said the Admonisher. “And you two.” He pointed at the adults, who’d since approached the kennel. “Get out of here. No Wraiths at crime scenes.”

“No.” Said one so disinterestedly the teens and a few of Sprinkles’ fans snickered. The dog rolled his eyes and waited for the crowd to quiet before speaking again. “How much to open that door? We just hired somebody that says they’re Sprinkles and we need to verify something.”

“Come on man, don’t let that bitch in if you won’t let us in!” Said one of Sprinkles’ fans.

“That would be bribery and disclosure of classified information.” Said the amateur investigator. “I’ll have to report on that.”

“All of you shut up!” Said the Admonisher. “That door is not opening!”

The door opened and Boll peeked his head outside. He frownd, then stepped out. Boll carried his notebook tucked under his arm and spat out his gum into the dirt.

“This it?” He asked. “I heard there was a crowd.” In the silence they heard Locked Breech shout for someone to stay back and Boll smiled. “I knew there was more!” Giving the Admonisher a poke on the shoulder, he flicked his thumb in the direction of the shouting. “Can we get whoever’s makin’ a stink back there to come ‘round here? I’m ready to lay out what we know.”

About twenty more diamond dogs shuffled around the side of the building, along with the Admonisher and the rest of Recon. About half of the dogs wore nametags and a clear air of hatred accompanied them as they mingled with the rest of the crowd. Some of the dogs with nametags carried Molots at low ready and Locked Breech and Chesterfield kept their carbines trained on the dogs.

“Look, there’s more of us than there are of you.” Said someone from within the throng. “Now why don’t you just let us in? Sprinkles is gone, this is just a crime scene.”

“Sprinkles was never here.” Said Boll. All eyes came to rest on the writer. “You’re a bunch of dipweeds if you think he was anywhere near here. This was a mob hit.”

“What a load of shit.” Said a dog wearing a nametag.

“That guy’s name is Gears.” Said Boll, pointing inside. “He knew a guy named Carbon Fiber who we believe knew a member of the Deep Thirteen Mafia, you know, the guys who run most of the yellow shipments in Mohs. The neighbor who called this in saw this,” Boll held up a photo of a dead dog. Red Field saw it wasn’t a photo of the dog inside of the kennel, but a less mutilated corpse posed in a dark backdrop, “notice how they ripped out his teeth.” Boll said, folding the photo and tossing it to one of the fans. “They did the same thing to that pony who fucked up their last shipment of yellow, you know, the one from the Union,” Boll shrugged, “only this guy probably didn’t do anything, he’d’ve been too new. We think somebody from Deep Thirteen implicated Gears here in a hit on a rival group, to keep themselves safe from the blowback. Since he had some connections, the story stuck.” Boll pulled a pair of pliers from the breast pocket of his vest. “No pawprints.” He pointed to the amateur investigator. “Doesn’t Sprinkles always leave prints?” The dog nodded and Boll tossed him the pliers. “Why don’t you give those a good dusting if you don’t believe me?” Boll pointed to dog who’d attempted to bribe the Admonishers. “You hired a guy who claims to be Sprinkles? Tell me, how many times has Sprinkles ever contacted anyone about anything for any reason? Now take that number and divide it by the number of assholes who’d pretend to be him for a premium position in your growing empire and you should get the odds that that’s really him.”

“This is all hearsay until we see inside.” Said the Wraith.

“Be my guest.” Said Boll, opening the door with a flick of his paw. “I love disappointing people, so you pervs and revolutionaries can peep around as much as you’d like.” Red Field was so taken in by Boll’s story he turned his head to see how Boll and Phillip had disguised the body to resemble the one in the picture. The crowed moved closer to see inside the dark kennel. The Admonishers looked at one another and began to step aside.

Red Field heard a noise which finally undid his nerves. He shouted for everyone to stop. Red Field brought his rifle to his shoulder as he heard the stiff safety of the Molot snap to full-auto. The crowd was still moving forward as the two Wraiths drew their rifles back at him.

“You fired how many rounds?”

“Thirteen.” Red Field said. “My magazine is right over there.” He pointed to his rifle which sat by the others in the corner of the assembly room.

“I believe you.” Khyber noted the number and continued to the next question. “Please state your target and the intended outcome of your shooting.”

“I fired on the first dog I saw with a rifle.” Said Red Field. “I didn’t have time to identify which one of them had taken their weapon off of safe first.”

“You’re not on trial here.” Said Khyber. “We’re just trying to figure out exactly what happened.”

“You want to know what happened?” Asked Bombs Away. “You had armed terrorists a meter from my ponies, threatening violence and readying their weapons and we responded with force.”

“Sir, my intent here is not to accuse anyone of anything.” Said Khyber. “Every time there’s a shooting or an event involving the FFS, we fill out these forms.”

“How about you fill out one that tells me why you let those insurgents roam around with guns, bullying everyone they meet?” Asked Bombs Away.

Khyber cleared his throat.

“Thank you, Red Field, I think that’s all we need from you.” He pressed the pages of his forms together. “I will submit these and let you know if I will need anything else from you.”

“Listen to me son, we didn’t do anything wrong.” Said Bombs Away. “Precisely what are you going to tell them?”

“The truth.” Khyber said. He nodded to Red Field. “That the Wraiths attempted to push their way into an active investigation and were seen with weapons. The two Admonishers said mostly the same thing.”

“They were aggressive, belligerent and were readying to fight when we opened fire.” Chesterfield said.

“That has been recorded.” Khyber sounded like he was trying to avoid incurring the indignation of anyone else. “Along with the injuries and testimony of author Boll and investigator Phillips.”

“What about the Admin? The one who was hit in the abdomen?” Asked Locked Breech. “How is his condition?”

“I don’t know, I will check.” Said Khyber. “But regarding the shooting, I would say you ponies clearly acted within the boundaries of the law. The FFS already have a laundry list of crimes and infractions pinned to the Wraiths, and this incident is only going to further their criminal status.”

“How come you let them roam free?” Asked Bombs Away. “And with guns.”

“Mohs presents its own challenges in terms of policing.” Said Khyber. “We need to consider our resources, the threat that the Wraiths pose, and the potential loss of public image attacking them outright might entail.”

“You’re letting your public relations stand in the way of doing your job?” Blackout asked.

“I will get these forms sent in to the office of internal investigation and let you if I have to follow up.” Khyber said. “Thank you for your time, I will be in touch.” Recon watched him gather his forms and walk swiftly to the door.

“That dog is a candy-ass desk jockey.” Said Bombs Away. He looked back at Recon team. “I’m glad you ponies are safe; that’s all that matters. If we get another call like that, I’m not sending out anypony. We’ll be shelving you for a bit, you’ve had several engagements in the past few weeks and we have plenty of UATs to deal with whatever nonsense the FFS throws at us.”

“Yes sir.” Said Locked Breech.

“Get some rest, if that candy-ass comes back, I’ll deal with him.” Said Bombs Away.

“Thank you sir.” Said Locked Breech. Recon got up and started to shuffle to their quarters.

“Oh, Red, a word?” Said Bombs Away. Red Field returned to the table. Bombs Away waited until the other members of Recon were climbing the stairs. “I hear you shot first. I’m just checking to make sure that candy-ass or any of the other dogs didn’t give you a hard time for that.” Red Field shook his head. “Good, good.” Said Bombs Away. “With the way they talk about these terrorists, it’s a wonder they even have the heart to call them terrorists and not just ‘misunderstood individuals’.” Bombs Away gave Red Field’s shoulder a shake. “You took out terrorists, it was a good shoot. Don’t think anything but that. If things had turned out worse, I might have pinned a medal on you.”

“Thank you sir.” Said Red Field.

“You did good soldier, don’t let anything these dogs say get to your head.”

The shooting had lasted less than eight seconds. After the dust settled, he’d seen the remaining dogs fleeing into the woods. Red Field had watched as the Admins had shot down all but one of them. He’d watched one of the teens crawling away after a bullet severed his spine. He’d also seen Blackout nearly draw his rifle on the pair of overbuilt Gmales after they anchor-shot the paralyzed dog.

Red Field had showered once they returned to base. He’d washed off the chalky black carbon from his body. The Wraith he’d shot had drawn his weapon and fired a burst which had passed between Red Field and Full Wing. Red Field had stood so close to the muzzle of the rifle its gases had dusted him with carbon. He’d felt the contortion of the air as the bullets twisted past him.

Only a day had passed since the shooting and Red Field’s ears still buzzed in a flat tone.

The humming stayed in his body. Red Field hadn’t said much since he returned to base. He’d set down his rifle and waited with the rest of Recon for Khyber to arrive. His insides felt like jelly, wobbling and jittering endlessly.

He walked back up to their quarters and laid down for the night. Red Field did not sleep.

Nopony had said much after the shooting. Locked Breech had informed them they needed to review the RoE on crowd control, but that they’d done as well as could be expected.

After breakfast, Blackout told Red Field to follow him. In the yard, a few UATs were gearing up to go after whatever leads the Asymmetric Warfare Department had provided. Blackout walked around them and to the gate.

“I’m sick of these fuckin’ walls.” He said, slinging a KKAT over his shoulder. “Hopefully we won’t get jumped.” He said as he started to run. Red Field jogged after him, his steps punctuating the humming.

The two jogged down the trail leading toward the small store they’d protected when they’d first arrived in Mohs. The morning air was crisp and clear and the sunlight was a dusty mist filtering through the trees. A cool breeze swept the needles at Red Field’s hooves and kept him from heating up. Even in his numb state, Red Field could feel the voiceless beauty of the mountain. They ran for ten minutes, then Blackout slowed to a stop.

“Goddamn, I’m a little surprised nobody else said it.” He said as Red Field caught up to him.

“What?” Asked Red Field.

“You saved us.”

“Oh.” Said Red Field.

“Chess and I were busy trying to keep the crowd back that it took us a second to get our guns up.” He gave Red Field a slap on the shoulder, which hurt. “You had your gun up and already had two rounds downrange when I looked up.” Blackout adjusted the sling on his rifle. “That was some fucked up shit. These diggers are all crazy; a crazy killer brings crazies to his murder and those crazies bring some more crazies and they try to take us all out.” He shook his head. “Not sure who was worse, those Wraith clowns or the Admins.” He waited for Red Field to say something. Blackout poked Red Field’s shoulder, softer this time. “Look, I know exactly how you’re feeling right now. Maybe not perfectly, but I know you don’t feel right inside. Nobody who shoots first ever feels right once it’s over.”

“I know I did the right thing.” Said Red Field. “But that doesn’t matter to my mind I guess, all I feel is that I started something that got a lot of people killed.”

“Well you did.” Blackout said. “And right or wrong, any normal pony is going to feel pretty shitty about that.”

“I guess so.” Red Field said, looking down the mountain.

“You know why I’m such an asshole?” Blackout asked. Red Field wasn’t sure how to respond to what sounded like a rhetorical question. “It’s the best way to live if you do this job. UAT is the kind of job where you shoot dogs, kids, old folks, anybody- in some of the most fucked up ways imaginable. Don’t know what it is about evil but it sure likes using people who don’t look like bad guys. Your brain doesn’t handle that kind of thing too well.” He dropped to four hooves. “Look Red, you don’t talk too much and that’s a good thing. But you’re going to get a lot more messed up stuff, and as gay as it sounds, I care about you and want to make sure you can deal with it.”

“Locked Breech told me-”

“Probably told you you need to cry or write a letter to your parents or something.” Said Blackout. “He told me the same thing after our first deployment. And maybe that’s a good thing, but I stopped crying years ago, it just breaks you up if you do it too much.”

“What do you want me to do?” Red Field asked impatiently.

“Be an asshole.” Said Blackout. “What happened back in that village was nobody’s fault but the assholes’ who got shot. They made you shoot them. They pushed you to shoot them and now you feel like shit ‘cause your brain can’t justify that. You can cry if it helps, but you’re a smart pony and stupid shit like that pisses you off more than it makes you sad.”

“Yeah, so?” Asked Red Field.

“Say it.” Blackout said.

“Say what?!” Asked Red Field.

“Say how stupid it was that those dogs did that. Say how dumb it was that they were dicking with something that was none of their business, that they tried to-”

“They could have done a hundred different things that would have gotten them the result they wanted!” Red Field said. “I know that Goddamn it.”

“But you haven’t said it out loud.” Said Blackout. Red Field slapped a tear on his cheek.

“They put themselves in danger, the others around them, and us. They initiated everything.” Red Field said. “Fuck this place and these stupid diggers.”

“And those Admins, what about that shit?” Asked Blackout.

“Well I don’t know.” Red Field said. “It’s clear that they acted outside of the bounds of their jurisdiction, though I would extend-”

“They shot an unarmed kid in the back.” Blackout said. “You think that’s right?”

“I don’t know. They know more about the potential threats than we do.” Said Red Field. He shook his head. “Fuck them.”

“Fuck all of the evil people that make us hurt for doing our job.” Said Blackout. Red Field slapped another tear and felt the others recede. He spat a bit of mucus into the pine needles at his hooves. “Do you feel better?”

The humming stayed in Red Field’s ears, but it had left his gut.

“A bit.”

“Good, let’s keep running.” Blackout began to jog again, and this time, Red Field ran beside him. Red Field wondered if this was what it was like to have an older brother.

They rounded a bend in the path and the small store came into view. Blackout slowed.

“Let’s just head back.” He said. The pair turned back.

“Hello!” Called someone.

“Fuck.” Said Blackout. They both looked back. The forest sat empty, no one stood near the store, and the two ponies were alone on the path.

“The fuck?” Blackout pulled the rifle into his shoulder.

“Hey there!” A dog crawled out from under the store and waved. “Sorry if I scared you!” Said the shopkeeper. “I was just working on getting a nest of spiders out from under the floor.” He started to walk toward them. “Have you come back for that reward I promised?”

“No, we were just out running.” Said Blackout. “We’ll be on our way.”

“Well come on inside.” The storekeeper pointed back at his small shack. “I got some flowers in there that I know you ponies would love.”

“No thanks, it’s fine.” Blackout said.

“It’ll just take me a minute to dig them out, I had them ordered after you saved the place.” Said the dog.

“That’s all right, we need to get going.” Said Blackout.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Said the dog. “I don’t want to make you do anything you’re uncomfortable with. I can go grab them and bring them out here if that would be easier.”

“Sure, fine.” Said Blackout. “Just make it quick.” The dog disappeared into his store and Blackout slung his rifle. “Christ, it’s like half of them are sane and the other half are fucked in the head.”

“The trouble is telling them apart.” Said Red Field.

“Heh, right.” Said Blackout. “Let’s just take the shit and toss it once we get back to base.” The dog reemerged from the shack, carrying a small paper bag. He ran to them, his glasses bouncing atop his grey muzzle.

“The supply catalogue called it a ‘pastel variety pack’.” He said as he reached the pair. “I don’t know much about what you eat, so I just got what sounded nice.” He held the bag out to them. “It’s insulting I suppose: You save my life and I get you some flowers.”

“Oh it’s no trouble.” Said Blackout. “Thank you.”

“Try whatever’s inside.” Said the storekeeper. “Otherwise I’ll worry that I got the wrong thing.”

“That’s fine.” Blackout said. “We’ll share this with our guys back at base.”

“I’ll eat some first.” Said the dog. “Here.” He took the bag and pulled a pink orchid out of the bag. To Red Field’s surprise, the flower looked quite fresh and appetizing. The dog inserted the flower into his mouth and chewed it. He grimaced, then grinned at the two. “I don’t know what it’s supposed to taste like. But it doesn’t taste like chicken.” He looked into the bag. “There’s a few more of those, and some yellow ones, and I think that’s a rose.”

“Rose?” Blackout took the bag and reached inside. He removed some rose petals. He held them up to the light and gave them a sniff before popping them into his mouth. He held the bag out to Red Field. “Save some for me.”

Red Field took the bag and lifted out a few pink flowers. Red Field had only eaten flowers a few times in his life, as Rockvale’s soil was a hostile environment to everything but cabbage and rocks. He swallowed the flowers and looked into the bag for more.

“I take it this was a good choice.” The dog said.

“Yeah, thank you.” Blackout took a few more blooms from the bag.

“Well it was the least I could do.” Said the storekeeper. “I heard about what happened down in that little village a few days ago.” He said. “I think it’s absolutely terrible. It’s bad enough that we have a killer like that.” He shook his head. “But that he’s treated like a celebrity is just sickening.”

“It was pretty fucked up.” Said Blackout.

“I heard the Wraiths showed up.” Said the dog.

“Yeah, they showed up with guns.” Said Red Field.

“I remember when Mohs wasn’t this crazy.”

“What was it like?” Red Field asked.

“There weren’t so many tunnels. We didn’t get into so many fights. I think it was because we all lived on the surface like you, and the tunnels were just for business.”

“We haven’t gone down any tunnels and we still see fucked up dogs everywhere.” Said Blackout.

“And that’s because of the tunnels.” The dog said with sudden gravity. “Everything bad in Mohs comes from dogs staying too long down there and losing their minds and then bringing that crazy up with them.” He removed his glasses and slipped them into the pocket on his vest. “I sound like an old mutt don’t I, ranting about the good old days.” He said with a smile. “Maybe it’s just the new normal.”

“None of what we’ve seen has been normal.” Said Blackout.

“Things’ve been crazy lately.” He said. “There’s all this anger, the Wraiths hate everything, and the FFS aren’t doing themselves any favors by shooting so many people.” He sighed. “You ponies need to bring some sanity to the policing. If we could just get some dogs who think like you on the Gmale force, the Wraiths and everyone like them would find some other dumb cause to commit to.”

“You think there’s any reasoning with those terrorists?” Asked Blackout.

The storekeeper sighed again.

“Well, no. But the point is that you don’t give them anything they can use against you. Probably half of their members are young guys who get mad at seeing the Gmales commit so many crimes.”

“There’s always a few people like that in shitholes.” Blackout said as they walked back to the base. “We were in Gryphon territory a few years back. Some college dropout shitbird was always hanging around our FOB, whining for change. Finally when we got hit with a VBIED, he jumped in to help us.” Blackout pointed to his chest. “I had a chunk of shrapnel right here, and he helped Chess carry me out of the barracks and to the chariot. People are pieces of shit mostly, but war and crazy shit like that can show their good side.” He shrugged. “I always think of that guy whenever something fucked up happens. Helps me remember not everyone is as shitty as they look.”

Chesterfield and Wildcat fought over who got the remainder of the flowers until Locked Breech forced them to give some to Full Wing. Wildcat surrendered the bag to Full Wing, then glared at Red Field and Blackout.

“You fuckers ate like two thirds of the bag.” He said.

“Yeah well if you’d get off your fat ass and come out jogging maybe you’d’ve gotten some.” Said Blackout.

“You said that store owner gave you that?” Asked Locked Breech.

“Yeah,” said Blackout, “nice guy. He almost made me forget about when Fo killed those two kids.”

“I hope the storekeepers or whoever they have down at that trading post are as nice to Enduring Freedom.” Said Chesterfield.

“Where’s Freedom headed?” Asked Blackout.

“A market in the valley.” Said Locked Breech. “They got a call about someone selling what looked like scrubbed royal guard armor.”

“Who’s QRT?” Asked Blackout.

“Single Stack and his guys I think.” Locked Breech was reading a book on early equestrian cavalry and he had his hooves on the table. “Then every other team and then us. Bombs Away said we’re off duty for the rest of the week.”

“I know.” Blackout said. “Just wondering.”

Red Field nudged Full Wing, who sat atop his bed munching the flowers, to move over. He pointed to the binder on shot calculation.

“Aw come on dude, it’s vacation.” Said Full Wing.

He and Red Field covered humidity and wind values over the course of the next hour. Full Wing had grown more attentive since he’d realized his ineptitude, but he still distracted easily. Red Field was attempting to show him the increased wind drift from a lighter bullet when they heard some ponies running to a chariot. Wildcat looked out of the window as the chariot took off.

“Single Stack and his boys.” Wildcat said.

“If it’s a group arrest then they probably need more hooves.” Said Locked Breech. “Or if they’re moving far they’ll need more help.” He continued to read and Red Field returned back to teaching Full Wing.

Another hour passed and they heard the raspy voices of the Gmales as they marched out of the barracks.

“This sort of thing never happens in Laissez-Faire.” Said Fo in a grumbling tone. He and Natick went to the center of the yard.

“Cat, what’s going on?” Blackout asked.

“Fo’s getting in the chariot with it looks like- Red Wings.” The chariot took off swiftly and a cloud of dust drifted through the window.

“They probably need translators.” Locked Breech said, not looking up from his book.

“Yeah I know.” Said Blackout. He stood and stretched out his back.

“If you want to tell Bombs Away to put us back on duty, be my guest.” Said Locked Breech. “Tell him right to his face too, that’s an order.”

“Hey, I didn’t say anything!” Blackout said with a little laugh. “Can’t help it if I’m a little worried about a bunch of our guys out in some weird market, especially if they need backup.”

“Is this the horny shower romance worrying for his lover or the insecure second-in-command downplaying the abilities of the other UATs?” Asked Wildcat.

“Hey fuck you too!” Said Blackout. “If anyone’s going to be in a shower romance it’d be Chess.”

“Hey! What did I do?” Asked Chesterfield.

“Nothing, that’s the problem.” Said Blackout, starting to laugh. “I’ve seen your socks, they’re all clean and soft as driven snow and you take like five second showers so I guess I’m just wondering where it all goes.”

“Can we please refrain from talking about masturbatory habits for just, a day?” Asked Locked Breech. “This is why I don’t associate with you outside of Gale Force.” He shook his head. “Go back to complaining about the diamond dogs or something.”

Everypony began to laugh and Blackout returned to his bed, pronouncing curses on everypony.

Half an hour later, as Wildcat was starting to make lunch, the radio atop the table crackled.

“Recon team this is Enduring Freedom.” Said the radio. “Recon team you better fuckin’ be there.”

“This is Breech.” Locked Breech said, tossing his book atop the table.

“Breech, we’re pinned down here.” Said Enduring Freedom. Red Field dropped the pen he was using to illustrate the lesson to Full Wing. “Hey, come here and tell him what he needs to know.” Said Enduring Freedom to someone on the other end.

The radio scuffled and scratched for a few seconds.

“Hello, is this the sniper pony?” Asked Fo.

“No, this is his commanding officer.” Said Locked Breech. “What’s going on?”

“I need to talk to the sniper pony.” Fo said. “Put him on.” Locked Breech gestured for Red Field and Red Field bolted to the table.

“He’s here.” Said Locked Breech. “What’s going on?”

“Sniper pony, we’re in a bazaar, it’s very urbany. There’s about six snipers shooting at us.” Said Fo.

“Breech we think it’s more like two.” Said Enduring Freedom.

“Well you don’t live here.” Said Fo. “Anyway, we need you to come down here and get them sniper pony.”

“Do you have any more information on where the shooters are?” Red Field asked. “What’s the terrain?”

“If I could see them, then why wouldn’t I kill them?” Fo asked.

“For fuck’s sake.” Enduring Freedom said. “Breech, we’re inside of a single-story store. Stack and his guys are pinned too. The snipers are in elevated positions, inside of two hundred meters we think. We need you guys to deal with them. We’ve got one injured but stable.”

“Freedom we’re on our way.” Locked Breech stood from the table as he holstered the radio. “Red, Full, you’re up.”

They mounted their chariot in under two minutes. As Red Field slid his rifle case below his seat, he saw Parker, Hale, and Horus at their own chariots.

Horus saw Red Field.

“Any specific orders first sniper?” He asked. None of his former aggravation with Red Field and Full Wing showed and he spoke with sobriety.

“Uh, no. Where are you going?” Red Field asked.

“We’re on overwatch.” Said Horus.

“Do you want us to do overlapping fire with you on the ground?” Asked Hale as he climbed into his chariot.

“Uh, no, just do what you normally do.” Said Red Field, unable to recall how to use the other three snipers. Parker and Hale looked at one another and Hale shook his head slightly.

“Red, you got a plan on how to take these guys?” Asked Locked Breech, pulling the chariot up suddenly.

“Let me see the map.” Red Field had no idea where they were going or where to start with his plan.

He was countersniping- the most dangerous of his responsibilities. He had to get every step of the process right.

“Here’s the place. I think that cliff right there would be a good place to set up.” Full Wing held a map out to him. He’d circled the little bazaar and pointed the pen to a cliff about two hundred meters from the edge of the market.

“Thanks.” Red Field said, taking the map. “Breech, land us here.” He passed the map up to the cockpit. Red Field took a deep breath and let it out slowly, beginning to thaw the panic.

“Red, I don’t mean to pressure you, but we do have a casualty out there. Deal with these guys.” Said Blackout.

Red Field took another breath and worked at his refrozen mind.

They landed in just under eight minutes; Red Field involuntarily counted the seconds of the trip. The chariot landed in thick trees, snapping and tearing branches off as it descended. Chesterfield tossed Red Field a flare as the sniper team climbed out.

“Pop this when you need extraction.”

“Where are you going?” Red Field asked.

“We’re moving to your twelve, opposite side of the town. There’s dense forest and we’re going to try and get a view on our guys.” Blackout said. “Red call out anyone you see, sniper or not.”

The chariot whipped back up through the trees, leaving the pair alone. Full Wing held out his compass.

“The ridge is this way.” He said. “Are you good?”

“Absolutely.” He said with a fervor he hoped would crack the ice in his mind. He followed Full Wing through the trees.

Countersniping meant profiling the other shooters. But profiling took weeks.

Red Field could think about nothing save for the unknown number of dogs hidden somewhere ahead of him.

They crept through the woods for a few minutes before Red Field caught a glimpse of distant buildings between the trees. Within a minute, the trees started to thin as they neared the edge of the cliff.

Red Field grabbed Full Wing and pulled him down.

“Set up right here.” He said. Full Wing looked around.

“Here?” Full Wing asked.

“Right here.” Red Field said, laying prone. “Get the spotting scope up, get a killflash on it.” He set the DMR atop its bipod and pulled it into his shoulder. Sliding just a few more meters forward, Red Field brought the market into focus.

About twenty shops comprised the market. The bazaar was built into a space between the buildings. Tables, stands and boxes were all overturned from the sudden exodus. Red Field spotted two dogs sitting on the edge of the bazaar.

They sat atop a pair of barrels, playing cards. Neither was armed, and one took a leisurely swig from a soda bottle before pointing to a flush.

“Do you want me to range that cart in the middle first?” Full Wing somehow startled Red Field.

“What? Yeah, do that.” Red Field began to check the windows of the buildings. A gunshot cracked and both ponies huddled to the ground. Red Field’s head froze over in a panic. The gunshot was within two hundred meters of them.

Red Field searched several more windows. The pair of card-playing dogs looked toward the cliff where Red Field and Full Wing laid. One squinted toward the base of cliff. The other tapped his shoulder and pointed to the game.

“We need to move up.” Red Field whispered. “He’s under us.”

The ground sloped downward toward the ledge of the cliff and pebbles and twigs, dislodged by the pair’s movement, rolled toward the precipice. Red Field rose to his hooves and motioned for Full Wing to do the same. They crept to within a meter of the edge and Red Field could almost see the base of the cliff. Beneath them lay a field of grass which led all the way to the wall of the market. The shooter had picked an area with good camouflage, but was very close to his target. His weapon, lack of marksmanship, or ignorance of sniping brought him to that position.

Red saw nothing save for a few boulders and trees amidst the grass. Full Wing leaned past him and Red Field pushed him back. Between the height of the grass and its ripple in the wind, they’d never spot the other shooter before they were spotted.

“Red, I got-” Red Field muted his radio, as if Hale’s voice would have been audible to whoever was below them.

“Yeah, just do what you need to do.” He said quietly. “We’re looking for someone close. In the field under us. If you see them, take them out.”

A bullet popped into the field and both ponies dove to the ground.

“Red, come in, you there?” Hale asked impatiently through Full Wing’s radio.

“I heard a shot land somewhere in front of me.” Red Field said.

“That was me, firing down on that field.” Said Hale. “Did you hear what I said? I said I spotted something moving in that field and I need you to check it out.”

“Did you hit it?” Red Field asked.

“Yeah, it’s not moving now. I need you to check on what I hit.” Red Field and Full Wing looked at one another, then crept forward.

“Where was it?” Red Field asked.

“Jesus Christ, look at the fucking boulder with the stripe, at your two.”

Red Field saw nothing but grass surrounding a boulder.

“What did it look like?” He asked.

“Grey, about the size of a dog.” Said Hale. “Couldn’t see a gun.” Full Wing gave Red Field the spotting scope. Red Field looked at the patch of ground again. He caught a slice of grey fur through a gap in the grass.

“Yeah, there’s a dog there.” He said.

“Okay hang on.” Said Hale. Red Field continued to watch the fur.

“That guy was way too close.” Red Field said as the ground where the dog was laying exploded in a puff of dirt. Red Field saw an arm turning in the cloud of shredded grass.

“Hit him with HE.” Said Hale. “God damn that was a good shot.” Hale’s chariot banked away from the town. “Okay Red, since you probably didn’t hear, Single Stack says he took fire from your twelve, from inside the tree line.” Red Field looked out at the treeline. It stood on the other side of the field and was probably eight hundred meters away. “Me and the other guys are circling around to watch that field in front of you. We can’t see into the trees, so it’s on you to get whoever’s in there.”

“What about anyone around me?” Red Field asked.

“We’ll handle it.” Said Hale. “Find that asshole in the trees.”

Red Field and Full Wing moved to the cliff again. This time Red Field looked straight ahead and into the distant trees. He lifted his binoculars and scanned the woods.

Red Field’s heart rate sank over the next hour. The chariots continued to circle overhead, but no one fired any more shots. The ponies in the town radioed out their status and the UATs made plans to withdraw once night fell. Full Wing ranged out a few landmarks and started a range card.

As the afternoon went on, the sunlight shifted and illuminated the woods opposite them. Red Field saw nothing but trees, brush, and other trees.

“He probably moved.” Full Wing said.

“Probably.” Red Field said. He reached the end of his field of fire and reset his view.

“Who do you think this guy is?” Full Wing asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Do you think it’s someone from the Conspiracy?”

“I don’t know, probably.” Said Red Field. “Just- you have to be quiet.”

“Red, we’re moving up through the trees.” Locked Breech said. “Stack’s guys have cleared the town and the market. We’ve got a couple more teams sweeping the woods around the town and we’re going to push up to the field. Horus said the field looks clear and we’re going to make an extraction once we get these woods cleared. We’ll be at the field in another fifteen.”

“Sounds good.” Said Red Field. “Start by that oak with the hornet’s nest and sweep to the left.” He said after seeing Full Wing had finished his range card and was now eating a granola bar.

“You think he’s still out there?” Asked Full Wing.

“I don’t know, probably not.” Red Field said. “But I don’t want to take any chances.”

“Naw, I got you dude.” Full Wing said, looking down the spotting scope again. “Oh, funny.”

“What?”

“Just those two dudes playing cards. They picked up one of those food stands that got knocked over and they’re eating from it.” Said Full Wing. “You said start by that big oak?”

Another fifteen minutes passed. Locked Breech and the rest of recon came into view amidst the trees. The team walked in a wide line through the woods. Red Field felt odd seeing them from such a distance, when they couldn’t see him.

“You guys are about eighty meters from the edge of the field.” He said.

“Yeah thanks Red, we can see that.” Said Wildcat.

“Least he can see us, that’s something.” Said Blackout.

Red Field muted his radio again.

The team was twenty meters from the edge of the forest and Red Field was watching Locked Breech when Full Wing nudged him.

“Hey, what’s that?” He asked. “Four paces to the left of the patch of ferns, like under that moss.”

“What?” Red Field asked.

“Under the moss, it looks like something grey.” Even at twenty-four times magnification, Red Field could barely make out the miniscule patch of moss, much less an unspecified “thing” “under” the moss.

“What’s it look like?” He asked.

“Like, maybe like a knife or something.” Full Wing said. “It’s like under the moss.”

“Is it sticking out?”

“Yeah, no, like, it’s like sitting underneath the moss.”

“How can you see it then?”

“I’m saying it’s under the moss, but sticking out.”

“How far out is it sticking?”

“Like just a bit.” Full Wing said, adjusting the magnification on the spotting scope to one-hundred times magnification.

“I have no way of seeing it.” Red Field said, trying to keep his temper.

“Here, take a look.” Full Wing said, pushing the scope to him.

“I’m staying on the gun. If that thing moves, tell me.”

“Okay dude.” Full Wing sounded like he was trying to keep his temper as well, which made Red Field angrier.

Recon team reached the end of the woods and began to advance into the field toward the market. Red Field searched the grass ahead of them.

“I can’t really describe stuff well, I’m sorry okay.” Full Wing said. “It’s just like- oh my God that’s a gun! Red, at the moss!” Red Field snapped back to the moss. It rose off of the ground by half a meter.

Red Field ranged the moss at eight hundred and thirty meters. Wind speed was three kilometers an hour at full value. He hadn’t checked the air pressure or humidity. Red Field lifted the crosshair up and to the right.

He’d forgotten hearing protection, but Red Field felt and heard nothing as the rifle recoiled. The scope jumped up and he pulled the crosshair back down.

“I’m fine, get their guy to the medevac.” Locked Breech said, holding the bandage against his shoulder.

Red Field and Full Wing jumped out of the chariot and ran to him as he sat atop one of the barrels where the card playing dogs had been sitting. The tan pony bent forward and groaned as Wildcat taped down the bandage.

“I’m fine.” Locked Breech said, sounding more annoyed than afraid of the pain. “You must have shot simultaneously.” He gave a rough laugh as Wildcat cinched another strip of tape onto the bandage. “What the hell were you waiting for?”

“Full Wing saw him.” Red Field said. “I was watching ahead of you guys.”

“Heh, I’d rather take on a dozen snipers ahead of me than one behind me.” Locked Breech said. He smiled and held out his hoof for a brohoof. “You did good Red.”

“Are you sure?” Red Field asked.

“You hit that guy in less than a second.” Full Wing said. “Plus I was like ten meters off on the range card.”

“You feel bad about that?” Locked Breech asked.

“What? Oh, uh, shit, yeah sorry.” Full Wing said.

“I’ll put you down for even more basic training when we get back.” Said Locked Breech with a smile. “For now, go see if you can help Freedom’s guys get that armor out of that store. That’s what we’re here for.”

“Yes sir.” Said Full Wing, dashing off to one of the stores. Red Field looked around at the market. Dogs were already returning to selling and arguing over their wares. He saw some blood from where one of Single Stack’s ponies had been shot.

“How is the guy who got hit?” Red Field asked.

“Just sent him off on the medevac.” Said Locked Breech. “Took a hit to the leg, but he seemed okay.”

“So it was just the two of them then?” Asked Wildcat. “Sounded like there were three.”

Red Field had no idea how many snipers had been firing at them. After shooting the dog, Red Field had searched the woods a few more times, then gotten the call from Blackout for extraction. Hale and Horus had continued to watch from overhead, and Parker went to study the body of the dog Red Field had killed.

“Yeah, Langley’s team and the other guys just cleared the surrounding area.” Said Locked Breech. “Shit, how long does it take for them to get the armor?” Fo and Natick emerged from the store, carrying a golden breastplate between them. A few of Enduring Freedom’s ponies carried the rest of the armor. Enduring Freedom and the store owner followed them outside. Locked Breech flagged them down. "Hey!” Locked Breech called to Enduring Freedom. “You got me shot, this means it’s my deal next time we play five card draw.”

“That’s not a fair reparation.” Said Enduring Freedom as he walked over to them. “We’ll have to have a third party brought in.”

“Gentleponies, I am very sorry this happened.” The store owner, an old dog with an almost-white muzzle said. “Someone mailed me this armor for sale, I recognized it from the contraband list from the FFS and gave you a call. I didn’t know it would cause you any danger.”

“Yeah it’s fine.” Enduring Freedom said. “We had mechanical trouble when we landed so we called in Stack’s guys for repairs. We called in Fo since we needed help finding a place that sells magic parts.”

“What went down?” Asked Wildcat.

“Something in the drive spell was binding.” Said Enduring Freedom.

“This sounds a lot like an ambush.” Said Locked Breech.

“Yeah, we’re pretty sure it was.” Said Enduring Freedom. “We cleared the market and got all of the civvies in those buildings. One or two of them got hit.”

“This is a quiet market- we don’t sell guns.” Said the dog.

“You said the armor was mailed to you?” Asked Locked Breech.

“Yes, it’s a common thing to do when selling heavy merchandise.” Said the dog.

“People can just anonymously sell anything wherever.” Said Enduring Freedom. “It’s going to make tracing this a lot harder.”

“Can you get us the letter that was attached to the armor?” Asked Locked Breech.

“Yes of course.” The dog hurried back to his store. Enduring Freedom sighed and ran his hoof through his mane.

“We need a new course of action. Somebody, maybe that Bonemeal guy, is fucking with us.” He said.

“Bombs will probably have us go covert from now on.” Said Locked Breech. “He doesn’t like ops like this at all.”

“Could have been a lot worse.” Said Enduring Freedom. He pointed to Red Field. “Thanks to this pony here and the other snipers, we came out pretty much okay.”

“Thank you sir.” Said Red Field. Another chariot landed in the market, knocking over a few carts and prompting some angry barks from the vendors.

Parker jumped out of the chariot, carrying an old wooden rifle.

“Got the rifle of the guy you shoot.” He said to Red Field.

The rifle was almost a meter and a half long. The barrel was smeared with rust and scratches and the stock was finished in the peeling red of shellac. The machining on the receiver had more chatter than a meeting of the Prayer Mares and the stock had the ergonomics of a cactus. The gangly rifle wore a puny scope with a tiny objective lens.

“What is that?” Asked Locked Breech.

“1891 Rim Lock.” Said Red Field. Only one of the books in Rockvale had mentioned firearms made by diamond dogs and had only dedicated a minor paragraph to the 1891 Rim Lock. The Rim Lock had been one of the first canine rifles to shoot a smokeless cartridge. It was a century and a half old. Who still had such a weapon?

“The bore is okay,” said Parker, “But even the cheapest hitmen can usually afford better than this.”

“Cheap gun, cheap shooter.” Said Enduring Freedom. “That Bonemeal guy didn’t have a lot of money right?”

“But how did he know we’d be here to set up an ambush?” Asked Red Field.

“We’ll figure that out. Where is that guy’s body?” Locked Breech said.

“Horus is looking him over now.” Said Parker. “Hale blew up the other guy, so there’s not much to find.” He chuckled a little at the last part and everyone besides Red Field had a laugh.

“Where’d you hit that guy Red?” Asked Wildcat. Red Field hadn’t the slightest idea.

“Right on the jaw, knocked his whole lower set of teeth out.” Said Parker.

“Well damn, eight-hundred-meter headshot for your first shot.” Said Enduring Freedom. “That’s better than Midlothian.” He hit Red Field on the shoulder.

Red Field tried to smile, trying not to imagine a dog missing its lower jaw.

“Hey, somebody tell that asshole we’re over here.” Wildcat said, pointing to the storekeeper, who was walking across the market toward the chariot where Full Wing and Single Stack’s ponies were loading the armor.

The dog dropped to his knees and fell onto his face. Red Field said something and pointed at him. Something light, like sand, hit his foreleg and face. He squinted as he looked to what had hit him.

Parker collapsed onto the white cobblestone of the market. His throat was a mince of muscle and bits of bone. Blood gurgled from his opened arteries and veins. His eyes looked to his left, they had pushed out of his skull by a few centimeters. His chest rose and fell in several shuddering gasps, pumping blood onto the white stone. Red Field tasted Parker’s blood in his mouth.