The Conversion Bureau: A Dark In the Light
The moon shone sharp and clear in a cloudless sky. There was no sound except for the footsteps of the patrolling security ponies. Beams of watery light played over the seemingly nondescript warehouse ringed with barbed wire fencing and situated in the middle of New Everfree, just at the dimensional border between Nova Terra and Earth. In all, it was very similar to the warehouses that one would find outside Fillydelphia, Bridlehem or any other large Equestrian city – save for its odd location in the middle of the woods.
***
About a hundred meters away from the warehouse, a duo was busy surveying the area. The light of the moon revealed what made up the duo – a tall male Human, and a gold colored Unicorn mare.
“So this is our target,” the man whispered, peering through his binoculars. He tried to ignore the tingling that moved all over his body like thousands of tiny bugs and the warmth from his pockets. Even with the two field absorption gems on his person, the thaumic radiation that permeated Equestria still produced a sensation not unlike that of standing directly underneath a high-tension power line. Of course, without those gems, he’d be dead in mere seconds – the MOPP suit and respirator he wore was useless against thaumic radiation.
“Say again?” the mare replied.
“Forget it, Golden Needle,” he said with a sigh – not that she would have heard. Normally the respirators had a small radio that allowed one to communicate with others but the interference caused by thaumic radiation rendered them almost useless. He raised his binoculars to his eyes as he watched for the signal to move in.
Bushes behind him rustled, hinting at the presence of his comrades.
***
An orange Earth Pony guard trotted into the small control booth inside the warehouse and kicked the door shut behind him. He peered out the window Another guard, this one a bulky Unicorn, munched on some hay fries and gave a sigh as he swallowed his bite of food.
“Rough day?” the Earth Pony asked.
The Unicorn sighed as his horn flared to life with an orange aura and the newspaper he was reading folded up and landed in the garbage can. “Bucking Humans, I don’t understand what the hay is wrong with them.”
“What? The HLF blew up one of the serum convoys?”
The Unicorn scowled. “Ya think? I’ll be glad once those savage apes are extinct or converted.”
The Earth Pony shrugged and peered out the window overlooking the warehouse floor. Ponies were hauling carts laden with drums containing the ponification serum. Several pony sized armored crates were stacked by the rear door, ready for delivery to conversion bureaus around Earth. He scowled as he laid eyes on the operation.
“So what are you thinking about?” the Unicorn asked.
“Why are we even doing this?” The Earth Pony mentally scolded himself for blowing his cover.
The Unicorn facehoofed. “Really? Didn’t you read the pamphlets from Canterlot? That barrier’s spreading; Celestia’s tried everything she can to stop it and she’s failed. And the magic that we take for granted is lethal to Humans. If they don’t ponify; they’ll die. I don’t know about you, but I think saving others from death is the right thing to do.”
The Earth Pony clenched his jaw as he listened to his companion. I’ve seen what that potion does. And Celestia trying to stop the barrier? Load of horse apples. He thought.
The Earth Pony looked out the rear window where he saw the shimmering blue dome that protected the facility from attacks. He then looked over at the Unicorn, who had his back turned to him. A flash of lime green magic and a deadly seven inch knife silently slid out of the “Earth Pony’s” right foreleg.
There was a brief scream and a gurgle as the levitating blade sliced through the unsuspecting Unicorn’s throat. The “Earth Pony” wiped his knife off on the dying Unicorn’s cerulean coat and slid the knife back into his foreleg. He looked through the window that overlooked the warehouse floor. Nopony saw him. Good. He then found the copper leylines that led from the console to the shield generators. He quickly sliced through them, producing a shower of golden magic that hissed and crackled as the sparks danced on the hardwood floor. He looked out the nearby window and saw that the energy shield had vanished. The “Earth Pony” smiled and then exited the room as he headed out to “investigate” the failure of the shield. None of the workers he passed were any the wiser as to what transpired in that room.
***
Outside the factory, two Unicorns wielding enchanted crossbows flanked the closed entrance gate.
A pair of binoculars floated in the air next to her crossbow as one of the guards scanned for threats. She had been on high alert ever since the barrier went down. It could be just a simple equipment failure or something much worse.
Her ears twitched as she heard something rustling in the distance. It was the last thing she heard as shortly thereafter, a .338 round blew off the top of her head. The binoculars and crossbow dropped onto the bloody grass.
Her companion twitched as she swept her crossbow around, looking for any threats. She then saw something gleaming in the bushes surrounding the factory. But before she could react to it, a .338 round tore through her chest, pulping her heart and lungs in one lethal strike.
***
“Got ‘em,” a MOPP suit clad figure said, as it worked the bolt on its Sako TRG42 rifle. The woman inside the suit ignored the sweat that drenched her clothing. Even in cool weather, the MOPP suits were quite uncomfortable; in a hot summer evening like today, they were positively unbearable.
The spotter, a magenta Pegasus stallion with a telescope cutie mark, peered through his tripod mounted rangefinder. He was about to say “no more targets” until he spotted another pony exiting the guardhouse. Training the viewfinder on his new target, he was treated to a multitude of green numbers and letters scrolling across his field of view. He then called out windage, distance and any other relevant data.
The sniper nodded, adjusted her night vision scope and drew a bead on the target’s side. She took a breath and then held it as she squeezed the trigger. The rifle bucked against her shoulder as the bullet sped out of the barrel. Just a second later, the pony dropped as if struck by a bolt of lightning. “Any more targets?”
The stallion looked through his magitech rangefinder (a heavily modified telescope that belonged to Luna) and shook his head. “All clear.” Suddenly, he spotted an orange Earth Pony walking out of the factory. When he trained the rangefinder on the pony, green letters reading “Instar – Changeling – Infiltration Specialist” appeared over the pony. He smiled; Instar had done it again.
***
Instar – still in her Earth Pony disguise – trotted into the guardhouse near the gate. She stepped over the guard, who lay in a puddle of spilled apple cider. A broken mug lay by his left foreleg and a hay sandwich with a bite taken out of it lay next to his right foreleg.
The Changeling smirked; she reminded herself to thank the Zebra alchemists for the fast acting knockout drops. Looking around to make sure nopony was present; she pressed the button on the table to open the gate.
She then looked out into the distance, her eyes flashing green. A pause then another flash. She repeated this twice and then trotted out the gate, paying no heed to the two dead ponies.
***
Golden Needle saw the flashes of green light from the front gate guardhouse. She levitated her own set of binoculars out of her saddlebags and trained them on the flashes of green light. Thanks to the IFF enchantment on it, she immediately knew it was Instar. “Move out!” she barked. “Remember, we’re here to gather intel and destroy the warehouse. If anypony tries to stop you, kill them.”
The man needed no further prompting to grab the Remington 870 shotgun slung over his right shoulder and charge forward with his fellow operatives right behind him.
***
Inside the warehouse, everypony was going about their routine as usual. Due to the shield failure, security was heightened. The most obvious aspect was that armored Pegasi and Unicorns equipped with enchanted crossbows patrolled the aisles. In addition, the warehouse’s heavy steel doors had been bolted shut.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” a pony said as he pulled a carriage containing a full crate of ponification serum – enough for 1,200 doses – over to the loading dock.
His companion, who was hauling a cart full of empty beakers, simply rolled his eyes. “Really. You read a newspaper account of an HLF attack on a serum convoy on Earth and think the HLF’s gonna attack us. They can’t come here! The magic will kill them.”
“I dunno. Humans are pretty bucking resourceful. But we’re ready for them.”
***
The assault team – consisting of two Diamond Dogs clad in full enchanted plate mail and armed with crossbows and two types of bolts (an enchanted gem tipped bolt designed for slicing through armor and what was essentially a miniature fragmentation grenade); Golden Needle; a powerfully built Unicorn and two Humans – was gathered just inside the gate. There were no guards – just bloody bodies – thanks to the unerring aim of the team’s sniper, Carson Almaya and her Pegasus spotter Farsight.
Golden Needle looked around. “You know the drill. Breach door, deploy flashbangs, neutralize hostiles and plant charges.”
Everyone present nodded as they made for the heavy steel door. The two Diamond Dogs and the two Humans each flanked the door with their weapons at the ready.
Golden Needle looked at the large red Unicorn standing next to her. Unlike Golden Needle, the red Unicorn wore armor that covered her neck, flanks, torso and most of her head. “Anne Foe,” Golden Needle said. “Prepare to breach.”
The two Humans pulled flashbangs off the bandoliers they wore across their chest. Anne, the red Unicorn, levitated four linear shaped charges from her saddlebags and stuck them onto the door. As she linked the charges with detcord, everyone kept an eye out for possible threats.
“Done!” Anne said. Everyone moved a few meters off to the side. “Breaching!” Anne’s horn flared a brilliant red and the four charges detonated with a sharp crack. Almost immediately, a large section of the door fell inward.
The two soldiers with the flashbangs pulled the pins on the grenades and tossed them into the warehouse.
***
The moment the door was breached, pandemonium broke out. The workers nearest the door had fled, leaving only the guards.
Suddenly, a gentle clink followed by another echoed through the warehouse as a two cylindrical objects rolled through the breached door. The guard cursed as he tried to kick the object away. But it was too late; it detonated with a blinding flash and a thunderous boom.
“Buck! My eyes!” a Pegasus guard shouted. She tried to land but thanks to the intense light she couldn’t see and flew into a shelf, knocking down a box of vials, which buried her under an avalanche of goods.
All around, guards were complaining about their flash-blinded eyes or their ringing ears.
***
“Go! Go! Go!” Golden Needle shouted. At her words, the operatives streamed through the destroyed door. Gunfire tore through the warehouse as they swiftly cut down the disoriented guards.
The mare stepped over the headless body of a guard who had taken a 12-gauge slug to the head at close range. She then glanced around the warehouse. All she saw were crates of what she assumed to be serum. She then nodded and the group of six operatives split into two parties of three.
***
The man with the shotgun panted deeply as he jogged alongside Golden Needle. He could feel the sweat practically sloshing in his boots as he continued his jog. Nevertheless, he tried his best to ignore it.
Suddenly, Golden Needle stopped in front of a door. The man and the Diamond Dog flanked the door as she turned around and bucked the door as hard as possible, taking it straight off its hinges. Almost immediately, what looked like an elongated blue laser flew out of the room, barely grazing her horn. She immediately charged her horn and fired an orange bolt of magic at an armored Pegasus who had ambushed her.
“Traitor!” the Pegasus shouted as he ducked behind the desk to reload his crossbow – the “laser” was actually an enchanted armor piercing bolt. The energy burst blew a small hole in the desk but did little else.
The Diamond Dog immediately rushed in and fired his own armor piercing bolt, the glowing silver projectile sliced through the wood desk, eliciting a scream of agony as the bolt struck home. The man followed and swept the room with his shotgun while his companion recocked his crossbow.
Golden Needle kicked down a closet door. All she found were various cleaning supplies. She telekinetically grabbed all the cleaning supplies and threw them aside as she probed for any possible hiding spots. Finding none, she stood guard near the door while the Diamond Dog and the Human ransacked the room.
The man went up to the desk and put a slug into the gravely wounded pony. He then quickly opened all the drawers, throwing quills, inkpots and blank scrolls onto the reddening white carpet. He smiled as he found a scroll detailing their next potion shipment to Earth. He tossed the ledger to Golden Needle who put it in her saddlebags.
He turned to Golden Needle and nodded. The mare nodded in reply. “Roy!” she barked. “Next office!”
Roy, their Diamond Dog arbalist, pocketed a ruby necklace he took from the dead Pegasus and followed the two out of the room.
***
Anne was busy attaching a two and a half foot long black cylinder on top of an armored crate full of ponification serum. Sweat poured down her forehead as she tried to get the device’s four anchoring claws to cling to the heavy metal plating (she had already learned that the armor was nonmagnetic). The device in question was an L-649 explosive charge, designed to pierce concrete or steel bunkers and kill everyone inside. This was achieved by a two stage design – an explosively formed penetrator for the first stage and a fragmentation grenade for the second stage. Upon detonation, the first stage went off, the explosive forging a copper disc into a hypersonic molten dart that sliced through armor like butter. Milliseconds later, the second stage would propel the grenade through the hole. Anything that avoided the white hot copper dart and accompanying shrapnel would then have their bodies ripped apart by the combination of the grenade’s blast and the thousands of high velocity steel balls now flying through the air. Of course, Anne had found them perfect for destroying the delivery crates – one charge could turn the contents of a standard serum delivery crate into a mess of broken glass and serum.
Anne swore as the claws failed to find purchase again. She levitated out a roll of duct tape and taped the charge in place. “Duct tape solves everything – even planting explosives,” she said with a chuckle. Luckily, she made sure that the proper standoff distance was achieved.
“Anne! You done?” a man armed with a M249 SAW light machine gun shouted.
“Eeyup! Only two more crates to go.” She then saw something move out of the corner of her eyes. “Johnson! Get down!”
Johnson – the man with M249 – threw himself to the ground just as a vial flew overhead and shattered on a nearby serum crate, splashing him with the sticky purple liquid. He muttered a few curses and wiped the concoction off the faceplate of his respirator with his free hand. A quick flick of his wrist sent the ponification serum spattering on the floor, the violet droplets shimmering and twinkling like stars in the night sky. He scowled and looked for the pony who had thrown the vial. All he saw was the rafters of the warehouse and the shelves holding beakers.
The Diamond Dog arbalist was scanning the area for any threats. “No ponies here. Odd,” he said as he looked around.
“I don’t like it,” Johnson muttered, hefting his M249. His finger twitched as he scanned around the deserted warehouse. “We better get moving before the Celestians get here.”
He was interrupted from his reverie by Anne’s voice. “Okay, I got the charges set! Now let’s set the demolition charges and get the fuck out of here!”
Johnson looked at the three crates. All of them had the black cylinders duct taped on them. Each cylinder was linked to the other by red plastic tubes – detcord.
***
“Roy! Get down!” Golden Needle shouted as her horn flared orange. The Diamond Dog grunted as he was pushed to the floor, two armor piercing bolts slicing through the doorjamb.
Roy shook his head to clear it and raised his crossbow. He looked around the room, seeing nothing but an ornate wood desk with several scrolls on it and an equally ornate chair. Suddenly, his ears pricked up and swiveled towards the desk. The Diamond Dog raised his weapon to his shoulder and took aim down the crude iron sights. He squeezed the trigger; as the bolt sped down the small groove in the crossbow, the crystal tip grazed a small gem set in the groove. This brief contact was all that was required to activate the crystal, sheathing the bolt in raw thaumic energy and allowing it to slice through almost any sort of personal armor.
He swore as the bolt sliced through the table and embedded itself in the rear wall. Almost immediately two Pegasi emerged from behind the desk with their crossbows at the ready.
Roy’s heart leapt into his throat as he hurled himself through the door while unleashing a remarkable array of profanities. The two blue bolts carved neat gouges in the doorjamb as they flew through the air. As he lay prone on the warehouse floor, he frantically tried to recock his crossbow.
Golden Needle leapt into the room with her horn ablaze with an orange light. A roar echoed through the room as a thunderbolt struck one of the Pegasi, instantly killing her.
Roy wrinkled his nose at the odor of burnt flesh and ozone that hung in the air. Before the mare could fire off a second thunderbolt, the man burst into the room and pumped two slugs into the Pegasus just before he could fire off another shot, the twin gunshots rivaling the sound of Golden Needle’s lightning strike.
The smell of burnt smokeless powder issuing from the smoking green shell casings that rolled towards Roy’s prone form made him cough.
Roy pulled himself to his feet and nodded at the man. The man frowned as he saw the closet door move slightly. Seemingly on instinct, he raised his shotgun to his shoulder and fired several rounds through the door. As fist sized holes began to appear on the door, blood seeped under it, staining the white carpet. The Diamond Dog and Unicorn flanked the closet door as the man reloaded his weapon.
“Damn it, Zachary! Reload faster!” Golden Needle shouted, grinding her hoof on the ground.
Zachary’s twitching fingers managed to slide the last shell into his gun. He turned to Golden Needle who flung open the door with a burst of telekinesis. There, he saw a bright orange Unicorn on the ground. He approached the downed pony and gently poked it with the muzzle of his gun. No response. The man looked around the closet – all that was inside were writing supplies: scrolls, inkwells, quills and more.
Soon, the air was filled with a whirlwind of papers and other office supplies as Golden Needle used her magic to ransack the closet. “Nothing,” she said, letting the supplies drop onto the stained carpet.
“Well now what?” Roy demanded.
“We’re done.” Suddenly, with a flash of green light, a scroll materialized in front of the mare. She quickly unrolled it and read it. A flash of orange light quickly reduced it to a pile of ash on the ground. “All right, Anne’s set the charges, so let’s get ready to blow this dump.”
“In more ways than one,” Zachary muttered.
Golden Needle ignored Zachary’s words as she galloped out of the demolished room. Zachary shrugged and followed the mare. In contrast, Roy waited until he was sure the two were out of earshot.
He smiled underneath his full helmet as he looked at the three dead ponies. His first target was the Pegasus killed by the lightning strike. He ignored the odor of burnt flesh as his metal gauntleted hands examined the charred corpse for any valuables. The second target was the Pegasus killed by Zachary. The Diamond Dog muttered a few swears under his breath as he realized this pony also had no valuables. His final target was the Unicorn in the closet. He then punched the door, which splintered into fragments under the heavy blow. Oh well. He thought. There’s always next time.
He then exited the office and made his way to the blown open entrance.
***
FOB Manticore – 20 kilometers away
The air was abuzz with activity as black-armored Pegasi hooked themselves up to chariots. Ordnanceponies and ordnancemen worked under the glow of powerful floodlights as they hoisted boxes of .50 caliber cartridges into the chariots where additional workers quickly fed the belt into the M2 heavy machine guns mounted on the sides of the chariot.
As soon as the ground crew was finished loading the weapons, several faceless, armored, bipedal figures strapped themselves into gun mounts of the chariots. With the deep whoosh of Pegasi wings, the chariots took to the skies.
One of the ordnancemen looked at the departing chariots, their midnight blue bodies nearly invisible against the night sky. He sighed as he trudged back to the barracks to catch some much deserved sleep – and to get out of the MOPP suit before he broiled to death in it.
***
Everfree Serum Warehouse
“Well, shit,” Golden Needle said as she peered out from behind the destroyed door. In the light of the moon and the glow of the enemy Unicorn’s horns, she could see over fifty Celestians. Pinpoints of sparkling purple light twinkled at the end of the crossbows wielded by the equine soldiers.
Johnson clutched his M249 in a deathgrip as he peered around the ruined door. He unleashed a muffled string of profanities as one of the bolts narrowly missed his head. He then looked at the bolt wedged in the heavy metal door. He scowled as he saw the glowing purple liquid drip onto the floor.
“Attention members of the Selenian Rebellion! Surrender yourselves and you will not be harmed! Resist and we will use deadly force!”
Zachary stuck a hand out from behind the door and flipped the middle finger to the group of Celestians.
Johnson checked the ammunition of his M249. “What do we do now?”
Golden Needle levitated out a parchment from her saddlebags. A short flash of orange light and the parchment vanished. “Well, we do hold a relatively fortified position. The only entrance is this door. Hopefully, we can hold out until our ride arrives.”
Anne smiled as two claymore mines floated out from her saddlebags. “And you know what that means…”
“Good. Anne, set them up. Everyone else; set up overlapping fields of fire.”
Anne levitated the two mines and attached them to crates in front of the door. The two Diamond Dog arbalists quickly ducked behind some crates and loaded their crossbows with the explosive tipped bolts. Johnson and Zachary took cover behind some other crates.
The golden mare looked around to ensure everything was set up. She was about to speak when the Celestians repeated their demand.
“Attention! Members of the Selenian Rebellion! Repeat, lay down your weapons and surrender peacefully! You are outnumbered!”
In reply the two Diamond Dogs fired their crossbows. Twin explosions rang through the night as the bolts struck home. Screams of pain soon followed as shrapnel tore at exposed flesh like ravenous parasprites.
And then, chaos erupted. The Celestians opened fire with their crossbows; potion infused bolts formed an almost solid wall of wood and steel. The sound of the projectiles pinging off the metal door soon became deafening.
Roy swore as one of the bolts pierced his armored breastplate, knocking the wind out of him. Luckily, the armor slowed it down enough so it didn’t actually break his skin. He wrapped his metal clad paw around the bolt and pulled it out of his armor. He ducked down as he frantically recocked his crossbow.
Anne said nothing as she watched the Celestians split into three groups – one headed straight for the door and the others headed to the sides. “Golden! They’re going to flank us!”
“I know,” Golden Needle said. “Johnson! Zachary! Roy! Marl! Cover the flanks!” Those mentioned immediately moved to their new positions. Both she and Anne set up positions so their arcs of fire overlapped. The two Humans and Diamond Dogs set their positions so that it was nearly impossible to approach in any direction without taking fire.
Anne said nothing as she watched the central group approach the ruined door. Her heart thudded in her chest as her horn hissed and spit like the lit fuse that was her cutie mark. When the group was less than twenty meters away, her horn flared up in an intense red flash. The group of Celestians she saw in front of the door vanished with a smoky roar as the two claymores detonated, spewing steel balls every which way. When the smoke cleared, she could see the majority of the soldiers on the ground. Some of them had limbs ripped off by the storm of steel. Others had shrapnel embedded in them. And a few had been torn to pieces.
Several of the Unicorn soldiers marched forward, a shimmering blue shield projected in front of their horns.
“Anne! Do you have any more explosives?” Golden Needle shouted over the ringing in her ears.
“Fresh out!” Anne replied as two blue bolts of magic soared overhead, scorching some crates. She returned fire with her own red bolts of magic which splashed harmlessly against the shields of the Unicorns.
***
Marl and Johnson were watching the warehouse wall. Sparks streamed from a thin red line on the metal wall as the Celestians used their magic to cut through the wall.
Johnson swallowed in an attempt to rehydrate his parched throat. His fingers clenched around the trigger of his light machine gun.
Marl wasn’t any better off. His paws twitched as he held his crossbow ready.
And then it happened; a massive clang echoed through the warehouse as the Unicorns finished cutting through the wall. On reflex, Johnson held down the trigger of his weapon. A stream of 5.56 mm bullets tore through the air and ripped through the light metal armor that the Celestians favored. He flinched as a blue bolt of magic narrowly missed his head. Several of the soldiers were cut down by the surprise assault but the Unicorns present soon deployed their shields. Johnson’s bullets harmlessly splashed off the shields. Several of the Unicorns laughed at the feeble attempt to pierce their shielding.
The Human swore as he detached his last flashbang from his bandolier. “Laugh at this, sunfuckers!” he muttered, using the derogatory term for Celestians. He pulled the pin and lobbed it at the feet of the approaching Unicorns.
One of the Unicorns tried to kick it away but was too late. The device exploded with a flash of light rivaling Celestia’s own sun in intensity. All of the Unicorns dropped their shields as their eyes were seared by the intense light.
Johnson – thankful for the tinted lenses on his respirator – took this opportunity to gun down the Unicorns – leaving behind only the earth ponies and the Pegasi. Suddenly, two a crossbow bolt pierced the crate next to him. He looked upwards and saw two Pegasi; both of them had the edges of their wings sheathed in steel and were trying to recock their crossbows.
He immediately dropped his SAW and drew a Colt 1911 from a hip holster. Suddenly, a crossbow bolt flew between them and detonated, sending shrapnel into their wings and bodies. With cries of pain, the two Pegasi landed and tried to limp away. Johnson would have none of that; he swiftly drew a bead on the two wounded ponies and put two bullets from his pistol into them.
The man turned to the side and saw Marl recocking his crossbow. He turned to the breach, the Pegasi and earth ponies were making their way in. He holstered his pistol and grabbed his SAW, gunning down anypony in the gold armor of the Celestians.
Just when there were only a few more ponies left, he heard the worst sound possible. The click of his gun going empty. He peered over the crate. The earth ponies and Pegasi continued.
He dropped the empty weapon and drew his pistol. “Well, we’re fucked,” he muttered. A nearby explosion signaled that Marl had fired his explosive bolt.
***
Golden Needle cursed as a crossbow bolt nicked her flank. She had no way of piercing their shields with her bolts of magic. A piece of parchment materialized in front of her face. She smiled as she read its contents.
Suddenly, the air was filled with the roar of heavy machine gun fire. She peeked over the crate and saw an astonishing sight. White beams of searchlights played over the grounds as streams of red tracer fire poured from the sky like a waterfall of death. Small bursts of dirt erupted as the bullets tore into the soft ground. Most of the Celestians had the sense to flee. Those foolish enough to try and attack the chariots or Pegasi pulling them were quickly torn apart by the gunners. Soon, the Celestians – their numbers reduced – retreated.
The gold mare lobbed a smoke grenade out the door. Columns of orange smoke wafted into the air. Two of the larger chariots circled around and landed. “Come on!” she shouted, galloping out the warehouse.
Anne immediately galloped out the door and headed for the first chariot. She ignored the bumpy ground, wet with blood and other bodily fluids.
Marl was next to follow. He had Johnson’s gun and his own crossbow slung across his back. Johnson’s arm was draped over his shoulder. The man winced with each step he took – no thanks to the two crossbow bolts sticking out of his thigh.
The Diamond Dog and one of the gunners helped lift Johnson onto the first chariot where they lay him on the wooden floor.
Golden Needle looked around. Her heart raced as she looked around. The Celestians could be back with reinforcements at any moment and then they’d be in serious trouble. “Where’s Zachary and Roy!”
As if on cue, Zachary jogged out of the warehouse and headed for the second chariot. As soon as he had both feet in the chariot, he promptly collapsed of exhaustion. Roy was the next to follow. As was usual for him, he had a trophy – the bloodied helmet of a Celestian Unicorn.
Golden Needle looked around and saw a MOPP suit clad figure and a magenta Pegasus running towards them. She quickly grabbed her binoculars and trained them on the two figures. She sighed in relief as the IFF enchantment in them revealed the two as Carson Almaya and Farsight. “Get in!” she shouted.
The two clambered onto the chariot. Farsight sighed in relief. “I am so bucking lucky right now. The Celestians passed over Carson and me.”
“Should’ve shot them.”
“Carson ran out of ammo after nailing a couple Unicorns.” Farsight then looked around. “Hey anypony seen Instar?”
The left black Pegasi vanished in a flash of green light, revealing the Changeling infiltration specialist. “You called?” she said with a smirk.
Farsight blanched. “Erm, glad to see you’re okay!”
Instar morphed back into her Pegasus form. “Whatever. If everyone’s done here! Let’s move!”
Golden Needle did a quick count of everyone in the two nearby chariots. Satisfied that everyone was accounted for, she gave the order for takeoff. The vehicle lurched slightly as it began to rise. She sighed as the chariot rose higher into the sky, letting the cool wind blow against her sweaty mane and coat. She looked at Johnson and Zachary with a sigh; thanks to the Celestians’ proclivity to use potion based weapons against Humans, they had to be sealed up in those MOPP suits or they risked being ponified and being turned against their former friends. She hoped one day, they’d be able to experience life in Equestria as it truly was intended to be enjoyed. “Anne, the charges.”
Anne looked back at the rapidly receding warehouse. Her horn flared an intense red. An ear splitting roar echoed through New Everfree as over four hundred pounds of C4 reduced the warehouse to rubble. She gazed upon the rising column of smoke, lit by the full moon and smiled.
***
Zachary sat in a pool of his own sweat as he took in the night scenery. His shotgun lay across his lap. He looked at the purple droplets that speckled his gloved hands. He had seen this material in bulk; it was eerily beautiful – a viscous amethyst fluid that coruscated with the light of a thousand stars and undulated as if alive. But it also heralded the death of Humanity. It was Equestria’s hemlock to Earth’s Socrates.
He gave one last look to his potion spattered hands. This beautiful, yet lethal elixir had its own effect on him. It was what put him in this chariot as an operative of the Selenian Rebellion — also referred to as the SR.
