Recce reared and charged.

“Recce, no!” Shouted PW.

The kirin pumped the weapon a third time and even screamed “BANG!” to scare her, only to realize the fear she was trying to cause for herself. The kirin slunk back in terror as Recce made contact with a swift forward kick to her head, launching her into a tree in a bloody impact with the hard tropical wood.

“What? Why didn’t she shoot?” PW asked.

“That type of shotgun only fires one shot. If it racks twice, it’s empty.” Explained Frosty.

“Halt!” Shouted voices further up the trail. “Hooves up, we’ve got you covered!”

“What’s the plan? Take cover, retreat, pick ‘em off?” PW took a step back.

Frosty flung her hair back. “Our cover is blown and we’re no longer maintaining stealth. We do what Night-Mares do best; light it up.”

Recce took a reed from the ground and began chewing on it. Windy looked up as hoofsteps pounded the trail. “Weapons down!” shouted the appearing pony herd.

PW looked at Recce and there was no doubting it; she was definitely smiling.

Her rifle rattled and split the air as the approaching ponies were obliterated. Recce paused her gunfire and advanced up the trail.

“C’mon!” Frosty called her assistant.

Several more ponies came down the trail. Recce fired, using three bullets to end all three lives.

“Recce’s accuracy at close range is above 100-percent, PW. She makes more double-kills than misses.” Frosty said from behind her own optic as she scanned the area.

Still more ponies ran down the trail, guns blazing but all met the same fate. Recce’s weapon made a distinct *clunk!* and she was quick to jettison the empty magazine and reloaded in seconds.

“Incoming pegasus!” Yelled PW.

Recce lifted the D16 in one hoof and fired a single shot in the right wing, causing the pegasus to crash-land at Recce’s hooves. She brought it down hard on his head and crushed it underhoof before continuing on her way, weapon raised.

The trail led them right to the water’s edge, where two ponies were already paddling their escape canoe away. Reece fired one shot into each and they slumped.

“Hey, wings, go get it! Look out for enemies.” She barked.

PW dropped his gear and took off. Not long after he saw another few arrows heading for him which he easily dodged by ducking.

He heard a few bangs behind him and turned to find Frosty firing at his remaining attackers across the cove. Windy landed, pulled the paddles in, dumped the dead bodies out, and paddled the canoe back in.

Frosty stepped out to meet him. “Are you sure this can hold both of us?”

“There’s a capacity plate here! 805 pounds for ponies, motor, and gear.” He read.

“Kitted out makes 605 for me, 150 for you. We should have exactly 50 pounds worth of margin.” She calculated, trudging through the water.

Frosty sat down in the boat, causing PW’s end to rise up significantly.

“Longhorn Largo!” Shouted Recce.

“Where?” Frosty responded.

“Spit on the right!” Called Recce, pointing at a large yellow pony.

“So, the stories were true.” Realized Frosty.

“You two get out of here. I’m going to cut some bags – and that monster – up.” Recce growled and shoved them off with all the power of a cannon.

PW looked back to find her diving back towards the wreckage, undulating low in the water like a cragodile.

The cove was only protected from the ocean by a single barrier island, so they only had to paddle half a mile around it. Once Frosty and Windy cleared the engagement zone they stored all the gear and floated into the bay.

Frosty let out a breath. “PW? How ya doing, buddy? Any injuries from all that?”

“None, besides the near drowning.” He gave a smile. “Thanks again for coming after me, 2.”

“Your performance today was fantastic, PW. I’ll request a promotion for you! You made this a huge success, discovering and being able to get into the lower entrance. And all that despite having to put up with Recce.”

He shrugged. “Thanks. Yeah, she’s a little rough.”

“I get that she didn’t know who you were at first. But when the evidence started stacking up her hubris refused to yield. Wouldn’t be the first time.” Frosty shook her head. “She has to be right until she’s not and then tends to shoot whatever made her wrong.”

“Yeah, she really hated my guts.” PW chuckled. “She looked like she was going insane in my presence.”

“Not much we can do about that. But I’ll report it to the N.C. I wouldn’t be surprised if word already got back to him. That seems to happen a lot, like there’s some crystal ball he’s using!” Laughed Frosty.

“Agreed!” PW added.

Frosty put a hand to her mane to block the sun. “There’s the spit. We’re heading for that. We can trot up the beach to the balloon.”

“Night-Sky 1!” PW gave its designation.

The canoe bottomed out in the flat sands and slid to a stop. Frosty jumped out and hauled it up onto dry land with just a single hoof.

“Gear up. I want to be out of here by sundown.” Frosty ordered, looking at the afternoon sun, doing a double-take.

“I’ll be so happy to get out of this sauna up high!” PW cried.

“I won’t – I hate flying. I hate it more than a hundred-degree temps! Alright, move it soldier!” Shouted Frosty, gently slapping PW’s rear end with her tail.

“You got it, boss!” He saluted.

“I’m not your boss, just the highest ranking pony here! For now.” Responded Frosty, looking over her shoulder at the ocean again.

PW turned. “What are you looking at?”

“It looks like some fire on the ocean surface. Do you see that too? Bright red dot?”

He squinted against the sun’s reflection and white, cirrostratus clouds.

“It’s too bright. I can’t see clearly out there…” He admitted.

“Oh, well. How long are we out from the balloon? Can you do a calculation for an ETA?” Frosty asked.

“Fifteen miles or so, at likely half that speed, 2 hours? 3 a safe bet?” He turned to her.

“That works!”

The duo paused for water. It was nice to be out of the stuffiness and insects of the jungle. PW was grabbing a canteen from Frosty when he noticed it.

“A first rate flagship!” He pointed and she turned.

“Woah…” She muttered, eyeing the wildly-colored ship.

“I’ve never seen a ship with red sails before!” PW exclaimed.

True enough, the sails were very red. Redder than his coat. Cherry-red would make an apt description.

“They must be heading towards the outpost, only to discover it’s been blown up!” Laughed Polaris.

“Yeah.” Frosty let the word trail, feeling unsettled. After another moment she cleared her throat. “Alright, break’s over. Let’s move it!” She shouted with just an ounce of impatience, storing her water.

The pair trotted off up the beach. They had only gone another few minutes before Frosty stopped.

“Another water break already?” PW asked.

“No. Something’s wrong.” Frosty muttered, staring out at the ship again.

He looked out in concern with her, noting the vessel was closer to shore.

Author's Note

To all you Recce fans, Recce WILL return later in the story, to crush MANY ponies and tons of steel.