Kestral bolted upward, a shot of adrenaline forcing him up. He looked around, glaring through all the dust in the air. There were neither voices nor hoofsteps to be heard, so he calmed himself as best he could. He grabbed the rune on him, and made it disappear into a fine mist. He put his hands on the edge of the box, and pulled himself up. His vision was bleary, and his body felt unbalanced and covered in sweat, so he sat himself down for a small moment on the corner.

After a few minutes, he cracked what bones he could think to, and looked around. He was still in the same dusty room, filled with the same particles that were attacking him the moment he entered. The real difference between then and now was that now it felt a little warmer.

When he was done waking up, Kestral fumbled around until he got to the floor, and stood straight.

“Kestral.” A voice called out.

“Damn it.” He replied. “I just woke up.”

“I know.” Discord said. “I was about to wake you up myself, but then you jumped about in your sleep. Tell me; what were you dreaming about?”

“Sunshine and ladybugs.” he deadpanned.

“Ah.” He said, as if actually believing it. “And how did Celestia treat you?”

“Like an- wait, how did you know she was there?”

He gave a hopeful sigh. “Oh, I keep a very special tab on Celestia.” He said. “There's a plethora of things she might let out that could be useful. Like her diet! Did you know that she eats fish when she visits the high griffon bloodline?”

Kestral shrugged. “That doesn't surprise me. I've seen ponies get goaded into eating meat, and most of them were fine.” He paused. “A few minotaurs too, now that I think about it. And I was told they couldn't handle it.”

“Some of the frilly, fancy ones, I'm sure.” He said with distaste. “But let's get a move on, shall we?”

“Sure, sure.” He replied. He walked towards the window and opened it wide, letting in a soft breeze. The air washed back and forth as he listened. “What do you need?”

“Well, today I've got a very special mission for you!” He said excitedly. The sudden positive attitude was accompanied by bubbly giggling. “You're going snipe hunting!”

Kestral furrowed his eyebrows. “What?” He asked plainly.

“Snipe hunting!” He repeated. “You know, like back in Ponyville, with the mayor.”

“Sniping.” He corrected. “That's sniping.”

“That's what I said, yeah.” Discord replied. “Anyways, there's a caravan and escort moving in at the main gate on the north-east side of the city. They're all changelings, so just pick them all off.”

“How many of them are there?”

“Oh, just fourteen of them; nothing you can't handle.”

“Fourteen?” He asked. “You want my to take down fourteen all in a row?”

“Well, I don't expect in a row. It might be a bit hard from a high angle.”

Kestral scoffed. “I don't think I have the skill needed to take that many down within the time it takes for them to realize what's going on and scram.”

“Ooooooohhh, don't you worry about that.” He said. “I'm sure they'll be crippled with fear. Paralyzed, even. Completely incapacitated.”

He became suspicious at the wording, but didn't confront it. “Fine.” He said. “How soon will they be there?”

“In an hour's time, roughly.” He said. “I suggest you get a move on. I'll be watching this one in case one or two escape. Try not to disappoint.”

“I haven't yet, have I?” He asked. There was no reply.

Kestral lifted a tired foot and set it on the sill, then the other. He adjusted himself before stretching down and attaching himself to the wall once again. He climbed down, feigning use of the edges for support in case someone happened to be watching. He nearly put his hand on a nail he didn't see, but only grazed it with his finger. Near the bottom he hopped off, landing hard on his feet.

He checked his surroundings, making sure he wasn't being watched. With no witnesses, he swapped his regular clothing for his disguise. He adjusted the mask a little, thinking it was a little off center, and straightened his robe. With everything set, he made his way out of the alleyway. Hopefully the walk would wake him up.

Kestral kicked a pebble across the cobblestone.

The wind didn't whip as hard as it had recently. A notable improvement of the weather team, he supposed. Idle crowds moved about the street. Several groups chatted about rumors and gossip surrounding him and the changelings. Barring that, he didn't hear anything interesting.

He made his way alongside the shops, keeping the sun off him. Some distance away he saw the main gate. It was as wide as the street, and the lowest part of the arch was at least three stories tall. Two wooden columns were on the side, seemingly disconnected from the stone. He supposed they were the doors, meant to be slid into position instead of swung. At each side -left and right, that is- two guards were present. His guess was that the same number were present outside the gate as well.

Just to the side of the gate was one of the city's clock towers. This one seemed cleaner; nicer; more decorated. Where most of the others were plain wood of varying levels of degradation, this one was trimmed with gold and silver, and had stone making up much of the outer wall. The important part was that it was tall enough to peer over the wall and gate.. Kestral could easily travel up and get a good view of his targets.

He veered to the side, entering a gap between buildings, and broke out into an alley on the other side. He stood at the corner for a moment, checking his surroundings for onlookers, then removed his disguise once again.

He picked up the pace, jogging down the alley. He kept going until the houses beside him came to an end. Where the next house would have been, the tower stood. No windows or doors were present where he could have seen them. Door's on the front. He thought. Ah, well, I guess I'm just climbing, then.

He put a hand on the wall, then another, then his feet. He felt gravity shift towards the tower, and he pressed against it. He climbed up the surface, keeping an eye out for anyone coming for him. He became more worried after the realization that clock towers were meant to be looked at, but took solace in the fact he was climbing the shaded side. He picked up the pace.

He reached the top quickly enough, glad that there were no pegasai flying about. He hoisted himself up onto the catwalk, got up into a crouch, and headed to the corner. He peered around, watching over the gate and the ramped bridge beyond it.

“Perfect.” Discord said. “The changelings are almost up the mountain now. You can expect them any minute.”

“Gotchya.”

Kestral leaned against the wall and took out his rifle. He made sure the silencer was firmly attached, and that the scope was clean. He loaded as many cartridges as could fit, and closed the bolt. With his weapon prepared, he waited, looking out over the long path leading out around the mountain.

He didn't have to wait long. Soon enough, he spotted a trio of wagons come from the edge of view. They made a straight, slow line up the path, as if there wasn't any real motivation to move on. The wagon leading the others had no cover, and looked beaten and burned in some spots. It also had several disguised changelings on top, most of them with bandages. Several of the wheel in the group looked jury-rigged and ready to collapse.

He totaled up the changelings. Six were pulling the wagons, and nine were sitting in the front.

“You miscounted.” He said dryly. “There's fifteen.”

“Fifteen?” Discord asked curiously. “That's odd. I could have sworn....” He trailed off, seemingly distracted.

Kestral hovered the reticule over the leading pair. They made their way along the path, closing in on the ramp. One of the guards trotted down the ramp and stopped, waiting for the group to get to him. They did, soon enough, and the guard signaled for them to stop. The guard walked to the side of the first wagon, looking over the injured, then began questioning the ones pulling the front.

Meanwhile, Kestral was busy lining up a good shot. There wasn't any wind he had to worry about, but the guard was too close to the target for him to shoot confidently. He waited, sure that he would get the opportunity he needed.

The guard made a few gestures to the front two, then walked to the side. He charged up his horn, but a small bolt of green hit him first.

Kestral snapped his aim to the guard, hoping he didn't just let a pony die. The guard looked around at the disguised changelings, then shrugged. Relief came when the guard simply walked away.

Mind control. He thought. Or something like that. I wonder if it's too different from what they tried on me.

He aimed right at the leading pair again, ready to pull the trigger. Just before he did, though, the two in front were both consumed in green energy for less then a second, then were left in their true forms.

What the...?

Kestral watched as every changeling froze in shock. The leading pair looked at themselves, then at the guard, who was already unsheathing his sword. One changeling quickly unstrapped himself, bolting for the unicorn. Kestral flicked his aim a little, then pulled the trigger. The bullet missed the bug's head, but managed to hit just behind the wing. The bug tumbled from the pain, and the unicorn shot a bolt of magic, knocking him out completely.

The unicorn charged and fired another bolt at the other exposed changeling, who was still trying to get out of his harness.

The unicorn took a defensive stance, expecting more attacks to come, but none came. Kestral searched over the changelings, but saw none of them move.

“You're not going to shoot them?” Discord asked.

“They're not doing anything.” He replied.

A few more guards ran down the ramp, now. They approached with weapons drawn, and spaced out to watch all the changelings. Between the four soldiers, there were now two unicorns, and they both became firing bolts of magic at the bugs; first, to rid them of disguises, then, to knock them out.

He looked over them, making sure he wasn't missing anything, when he realized something.

“We're missing one.” He said, counting up the changelings again.

“What?”

“We're missing one.” He repeated. “There's only fourteen again.”

“Are you sure you didn't miscount the first time?”

“I'm sure.” He said. “The one with bandages over his whole head is gone.”

“Damn.” He cursed quietly. “You should have just shot them all when you had the chance.”

“More would have been inclined to run away.” He defended. “And I'm not too sure I want to start shooting them if they're prepared to wave the white flag.”

“How many would have surrendered previously if you simply held a knife to their neck and whispered 'boo'?”

Kestral watched the guards put the changelings away in the front cart, hauling them off somewhere into the city.

Discord went on. “I simply mean that there is a time and a place to have high regard for morals and such -a war isn't one. I brought you here to do what was needed.”

“And killing them isn't necessarily needed.” He said.

“Hmm.” Discord hummed a displeased tone. “I expect to have no more runaways.”

“Won't happen again.”

Kestral put away his rifle, and looked towards his feet. He didn't see his brass casing, so he assumed it fell to the ground. He moved back a bit, then dropped down below the walkway. He shifted gravity once again, and he slid down the wall as best he could.

He got to the ground, and searched around for that brass casing. Still, he couldn't find it. He shrugged, and decided it was a lost cause. He pushed it out of his mind and hustled back down the alley.

Hopefully, that runaway wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass.

The guard could have sworn she saw something moving up on the clocktower. There weren't supposed to be any employees there today, and she sure didn't remember one walking in the front. It was probably another pegasus finding a spot to perch and nap a while; a waste if time if she ever knew one. Still, investigating was more fun than standing around the whole day.

She beat her wings a few times, then rose into the air. She gave a nod to another guard, letting her know she'll be back.

The guard floated up and around, searching for anything suspicious. All up and down the clocktower, there was nothing. Maybe it was just her imagination. It may well have been -she's been bored all day from standing just inside the northeast gate, where nothing happens.... except for those changelings that just got brought in, but that's beside the point.

Then, something caught her eye. She looked down, and there was a glint shining from a roof. She dropped down, landing next to a chimney, and stared at it. It was a small, gold-colored cylinder, with one end pressed in. She snatched it from the crevice, looking at it. It was familiar, somehow. She looked it over, analyzing it. Before she could rack her brain for an answer, movement in the alley caught her eye. She looked over to see a tall, bipedal-

-Human?!

Her heart jumped. That metal- it's like that drawing they had to study a couple days ago! The one the human tried to kill Fluttershy with!

She dropped it and jumped into the air. She got where the other guards could see her, then put her hoof to her mouth. She whistled hard. Once, twice, then as long as she could. The other signaled and bolted for reinforcements.

The guard stared at the human, who looked at her, with what seemed like a look of surprise.

She went for him.

“THIEF!”