Retribution

Soon he saw an area in the size of a small town where the snow was molten. In the center he spotted the entrance of the tunnel. He flew straight above the smoking hole and hovered there while he created a force field around himself.
Inside the force field Firebolt inflamed his mane and concentrated his magic in making a huge ball of liquid. As he gathered enough power he broke up the force field and sent the fireball through the tunnel. The enormous heat persuaded the walls of the tunnel to melt and seal it.
The ground was still glowing when Firebolt landed surrounded by a light haze of smoke. A bit exhausted he checked his equipment but couldn’t find any damages except a few burn marks. “Our job is …” he started as a large beam hit his flank and catapulted him into the still molten earth behind him. He felt a piercing pain and saw a huge bleeding gash in his flank. ”Damn! That must be a new one!” he yelled through gritted teeth, “Bring me this pony alive!”
The golden stallion tried to help himself out of the unpleasant situation. He saw a flimsy glowing in a nearby forest shortly before he got hit by another beam in the chest. “In the forest! Get him!” He shouted.
He groaned in pain as the third beam hit him from opposed direction. The flame of his mane got weaker and weaker until it died and Firebolt fell.
The two soldiers rushed towards the forest to find a unicorn with a black cloak firing beams at them. Both pulled out their combat knives and forced the unicorn into a hoof to hoof fight.
Meanwhile Apocalypse stepped besides Firebolts body. “You have failed. I closed the tunnel before your army could pass.” the wounded Pony groaned in pain.
“Ha! My army was in Equestria the whole time, you fool.” Apocalypse said as he shot another beam at the pony on the ground. Firebolt screamed in pain and his sight got blurred. The last he saw was the shape of Apocalypse.
“You will be my revenge.” He said smirking to the lifeless body as he vanished.

The soldiers forced the unicorn during the battle into the corner of an ancient ruin. Finally when they thought they got the pony, it vanished. One of the two flew straight upwards and used his magic to locate the unicorn but couldn’t find anypony except Firebolt within a few miles. “Have you located the target?” he heard from below. “No, we lost it.” He answered, “I think we should return to Firebolt.”
In the distance the two stallions saw the shape of their leader but something was strange about this sight. The shape wasn’t moving. They galloped towards the body.
One of the two created a light ball to illuminate the scenery while the other one tried to check his vital functions. He opened one of Firebolts eyes but the iris showed no reflexes. “I can’t detect any of his vital functions.” He reported the other one before he started to dig the body out of the cooled down earth.
After he uncovered the body he lifted Firebolt on his back and said: “We have to bring him back to the medical station in the base.”

Shadow Hunter returned to the control room. She went in front of the big screen on the front side of the room. She checked the status of Firebolt and his two companions. “It seems that they found the tunnel.” she thought. “Tell Firestorm that Firebolt found the tunnel and is now going to seal It.” she said to a messenger pony. The pony confirmed the order and left the room.
The mare turned around and screamed frightened. “You should not sneak up on me!” she said with a laugh after she calmed down.
“Sorry Ma’am,” the dark blue Pegasus said with a smile on his face, “but you are so jumpy.”
“Perhaps I am jumpy but I am still your boss.” she answered while she knocked her hoof at his chest and grinned.
“So, how was the jour…” the mare began until she noticed the red flashing status indicator of Firebolt.
“What the …” she yelled and shoved Night Hawk away to get a better look at the screen. The status indicator showed no vital signs. “That must be an error! Check the transmission!” she yelled as everpony in the room showed signs of stress and panic. “Check the transmission!” she yelled again. A pony at a computer answered: “I can’t locate any errors in the transmission. We receive all we need.”
“But this means we’ve lost Firebolt.” she said sadly. With her last hope she took the radio and spoke: “Firebolt can your hear me?” “…” “Can you hear me?” she repeated but still got no answer.
“Night Hawk fly out and find Firebolt!” she ordered.
“I am on my way.” he yelled as he rushed outside the building. “Hang in there Firebolt! I am coming.”
Night Hawk flew about five minutes as he detected two shapes at the horizon. When he came closer he recognized that the two ponies were the companions of Firebolt. He also realised that the two carried a body on their backs. As he looked closely he saw that the body was nopony else than Firebolt.
“What happened?” he yelled towards them.
“We got into an ambush after he closed the tunnel.” one of the stallions reported, “He got hit four times. All four shots pierced his armor.”
“But how could this be possible?” the upset Pegasus asked.
“We have no idea.”