I waited and waited for what was to come out of the rift. After what seemed to be several seconds, a piercing, bone-chilling war-cry sounded out from the portal.

Briefly after the roar ended, a lone man emerged out of the depths of the vortex. This man was clad in a grey suit, and his entire head, save for the face, was veiled by some sort of red fabric. He also appears to be equipped with a pair of black goggles. In his hands was what appeared to be an AK; the traditional, wooden variant, it seems.

I recognized him as one of Vaas' pirates from the third installment of the Far Cry series. "Ah. My next army will be the pirates. Amusing. Does that mean I get the right to blurt out the definition of insanity every once in a while now?" I mused myself.

After the pirate landed, he begins to inspect his surroundings. He muttered audibly to himself, noting the several rubble and missing walls, "Damn. Some kind of wild party went on here." Spotting me, he greeted, "Ah! You must be our new boss!" His voice sounded with a Somalian accent. He stretches his hands towards me, prompting me to shake it.

Agreeing to the gesture, I reached out to his hands and shook it. Much to my surprise, his hand was moist with what appears to be crude, black oil. Instinctively, I expressed my repulsion by drawing back my hand.

Seeing my dismay, he quickly apologized. "Oh, sorry there, boss," he said as he casually wiped off the oil using the fabric of his pants, staining it. He continued, "I was fixing up my gun a while back."

I nodded. "I see." Suddenly, more and more pirates emerged from the portal. Seeing that I was having a conversation with their fellow pirate, they decided not to interrupt. This was surprisingly respectful of them. I guess Vaas, their former 'boss,' made them somewhat disciplined. "Very well... Er, sorry. I didn't catch your name."

"My name is Amiin, but you can call me Min," the pirate answered.

"Very well, Min." I bowed slightly out of courtesy. "Anyways, we can't linger here. There are some bastards wanting my head on a platter."

"Damn. Already?" Min questioned, his arms slightly outstretched and his hands opened wide. "I expected for us to have a little break before we actually shooting some poor bastard in the face," he said.

He continued, "So, do we have an escape plan?"

I sighed. "No. Unfortunately not- wait, no. I actually might have one," I said as I recalled spotting an immobilized train earlier. Approaching one of the many windows, I searched for the train. In the distance, I saw the train; still in the same exact position since last time.

"See that train?" I asked as I pointed at it. "I've not a clue why it's still here. I suspected every single train has been used to evacuate the non-fighters, but if I had to guess, it's that the drivers are dead."

Min nodded in acknowledgement. "Ah. I see. You're planning to hijack it. A well-thought of plan of escape."

I snapped my fingers. "Bingo." I turned around to face the band of pirates formulating around me. "Now then. Does anybody here know how to drive a train?" I asked.

A single pirate raised his hand as he spoke out, "I do. I had to steer one when my friends and I were robbing one." The pirate chuckled. "Heh. Good times."

I've not a clue on how a pirate would end up stealing from a train. I stayed my tongue as it was probably best to save the questions later. Pointing my hand towards him, I ordered, "Good. You come with me. We're going to need a driver."

The entire floor shook as an explosion blasted from somewhere inside the castle. This castle must be wired up with explosive material, or something. Rubble and bits of glass from the windows fell to the floor as the explosions continued. Suddenly, a particularly strong blast resonated the castle with much force. Staggering, I leaned my hands on the wall to support myself from falling.

Min questioned, "Boss, what the hell did you do to this place?"

"Nothing. I did nothing," I said as I frantically looked around for a method of escape. In technicality, that wasn't a lie. I truly did nothing. "My previous army, on the other hand," I regained my composure as the blasts finally stopped, "completely wrecked the place."

"Previous army?" Min repeated, somewhat befuddled, judging by that curious glance he's giving me.

"I don't think you'll get it if I told you." I shrugged. "Listen, I just want to get out of here as fast as possible, and I don't think navigating through this maze of a castle would be the best way of doing that."

Looking at the edge of the windowsill, I contemplated of jumping out in order to escape. Unfortunately, we were several feet away from the ground--I think I can even see the town that I was in from here. I'd definitely break several bones, if not kill myself entirely if I attempted to jump out of here.

"Please tell me you see a way to get out of here much quicker," I pleaded.

"No. Unfortunately not, my friend." I looked downwards, contemplating defeat. There was not much to do now. The entirety of this castle is probably brimmed with guards, and those two sisters are probably waking up anytime soon.

Once they wake up... I shudder to imagine what they'll do if they corner me.

Suddenly, falling out of the portal was several gliders. Each glider made a clanging noise as they impacted the floor. Glider after glider emerged from the portal, forming a mound of gliders.

He pointed towards the flight equipment as I just merely stood there, my jaw still agape. Pointing out to the growing heap, he stated, "But we do have those gliders."

I turned to Min, nearly collapsing down to the ground to cry tears of joy. "Thank you! Thank you! You are a god-sent," I said profusely as I reached out for the pile of gliders. I paused a stray thought suddenly struck me. Turning my head to face Min, I asked him, "Why only gliders though?"

He grimaced as he replied to me, "Some A-hole broke most of our stuff, and everything else that wasn't broken couldn't fit in the damned hole." I simply nodded to this answer.

Turning to face my band of pirates, I raised my voice, preparing to usher them a command. "Alright there's not enough gliders here for each one of us. I want all of you to head down to the exit of this castle." I pointed at the staircase that was thankfully not blockaded by the several debris lying about.

I continued, "There is going to be some... resistance as you head down. I want you to take as much prisoners as possible. Your gunfire should be more than enough to dissuade them from running away. Bring back the prisoners to the train, you hear me?" I pointed towards a nearby train that was motionless in the distance.

I was met with a handful of nods from my pirate crew. "Great. Those that want to go ahead and start shooting things, I suggest you navigate through the castle." The majority of them started descending the staircase and through corridors of this massive castle.

"We need to make an improvised drop-off point," I said as I scanned the area. "Alright, I need some explosives. Who here have any?" My question was answered as several of them simply threw some C4 on the floor of where I stood.

"You know how those things work, right?" one of the pirates asked. I couldn't tell by his tone if he was worried, or just simply curious.

Holding the plastic explosive in my hands, I turned to him. "Sure. Sure. Just plant them somewhere, press the button on the detonator, and it should detonate. Right?"

He raised his arms, forming his hands into a thumbs up. Nodding at the gesture, he took that as a prompt for him to leave. He armed his assault rifle before descending into the corridors.

"Though, I must ask," I waved around the C4, "Isn't it a bit dangerous to just throw these around?"

One of the pirates simply didn't care as he just raised their hands. "Hey. We use them to stick our beer most of the time. Completely safe." Not exactly reassuring, but amusing to know nonetheless.

Merely rolling my eyes to display my disapproval at their careless handling, I made my way to a particularly large wall.

I particularly adored this wall for one reason; it had a very massive, well-detailing painting. But I also somewhat loathed it. Why? Because Celestia and Luna were featured as the main characters in this certain painting. With a slight grimace, I latched the C4 onto the surface of the painting.

I muttered, "Sorry, but I have to destroy this painting."

Sure, I might be seconds away from completely annihilating several weeks--if not months of work, but I can't find anywhere else to place these bombs.

Crouching down, I fumbled with the C4. I placed it on the wall, expecting to latch on to it, or something of the sorts. Unfortunately, it simply plopped down to the floor. "I... I should have expected something like this."

I picked up the explosive once more. Once again, I placed it on the wall, expecting it to stick. Much to my bad luck, I was met with the same result; the explosive failing to stick.

Sighing, I stood up. Walking away from the explosives. "Doing the exact same thing over and over again is..." in an absent-mind, I trailed off, not bother to finish that quote.

Turning to face the pile of C4 attached to the distant walls, I made sure that they were nowhere near the cache of gliders. "Alright," I open my hand wide, "who has the detonator?"

"Here it is," someone said and tossed a metallic, black rectangle with an antenna on it. Attached to it was a switch.

"Simple enough," I muttered as I squeezed the trigger.

Nothing happened. The bomb was still laying on the floor, still intact. Suddenly, a pirate spoke up. "Old damned things. Try it again-" before he could finish, the C4 finally exploded.

A deafening blast echoed from the halls as a large fireball engulfed the whole portion of the castle where the C4 were planted. A shroud of dust prevented anyone from seeing beyond it. Shortly after, the wall of dust dissipated, allowing me to see through it.

Replacing the wall was now a gigantic tear. Bits of dirt streamed down from its edge. The floor beneath it was charred. The walls that were not within its blast distance now have several cracks on them as a result from the shock-wave.

"Alright!" I raise my hand in triumph as my pirates clapped for me. Basking in a moment of fanfare, I ordered them, "Everybody, hang on tight to a glider, we're gonna get the hell out of here!" Sprinting towards the nearest glider I could find, I dragged it towards the breach.

Soon enough, each one of my men were equipping themselves with the gliders. "You guys might want to get ready to shoot at things," I said as I pointed towards the several ponies clad in armor scattered throughout the streets.

"What the hell?" One of the pirates asked as if infuriated, "You think a few of those midget horses with spears can do us in? Boss, stop dicking around."

Edging close to the ledge, I turned back to reply, "I know what these midget horses are capable of. Trust me. They can shoot laser beams at you." A few of them chuckled, dismissing my warning. To be fair, it really does feel like I'm blurting out nonsense.

"Fine," I said as I reared backwards, preparing to jump. "Just shoot the bloody ponies, got it?"

"Sure, sure," one of them spoke out. "I was wondering how much their golden 'armor' would cost. It'd probably cost someone back home a fortune." Chuckling ominously, the pirate left.

A tremor was felt through the entire castle as a rogue explosion emanated from somewhere in the lower depths of the castle.

The blast was no doubt caused by the other pirates. If they're resorting to explosives, does that mean those ponies are actually proving themselves as a threat?!

Stepping back a few more steps, I prepared the glider. "Hopefully this thing will hold," I said, noting the worn condition of this glider.

The wings had no tear, but some of its fabric was faltering, seeing that there are bits of it having strings protruding from it. I could also see some darker patches of it scattered all around through it. "You know what they say. Karpe Diem," I murmured to myself with a weak smile.

"Alright," I muttered to myself, "I think I've placed enough space between me and the edge." Taking a deep breath, I burst into a sprint.

My footsteps echoed throughout the ruined hallways as I inched closer to escape. Running as fast as I could as I heaved the glider above me, I saw the ledge finally being inches away from me.

I felt myself grow tense as I prepared myself for the jump. Finally, I leaped into the air. The cool air grazed me, somewhat soothing me as I soared through the air, my pirates threading through the air with their own gliders closely behind me.

I felt a sense of immense thrill build up inside me. 'Things are going rather well.'

A smile was forming on my face. Thinking that it was best to scout around the town to check for anything of importance, my eyes darted around the city.

However, my eyes grew wide as I saw the horrors on the horizon. Ruined houses, still ablaze, were scattered throughout the outer layer of the city.

Whole houses were deformed, scorched chunks of stone. Mangled bodies were pinned to the walls, leaving a grim reminder for anybody unfortunate enough to witness its gratuitous violence. Finally the roads were paved with bits of bones.

Needless to say, my smile vanished almost instantly.

I can't comprehend how the inner sector of the city is more... relatively untouched? The houses here suffer little to no damage at all.

There were a few broken windows and doors, but there were no fires visible on them. I suppose that the number of necromorphs decreasing as they advanced through the city was a factor to this?

Disregarding that thought, I focused more on the train and getting out of here. A blinding light going so fast as if it was going to break the sound barrier passed by me, surprising me.

I was more startled as a sudden searing sensation was felt briefly on my right shoulder, accompanied by an almost instant sizzling sound. "What the hell!?" Suddenly, blinding pillars of energy barraged at me. I struggled as beam after beam of light passed by me.

I heard an unearthly scream sound out from behind me. A sudden urge of both horror and curiosity overwhelmed me, daring me to look back. Hesitant, I did so. I was disgusted at the sight of one of my men staring at a stump on where his right arm is supposed to be.

He winced, and cried out distorted curses. I grew increasingly sorry for him as I witnessed his suffering. Suddenly, I could see his grip on the handle of the glider loosen.

Before I could even cry out a scream, he lost grip and began to plummet. Diving to the ground at a probably deadly velocity, he screamed. His screaming seemed to intensify as seconds passed.

Not being able to bear the gruesome sight, I averted my eyes. Soon enough, his screaming has ended. No doubt that he's dead on the ground now.

Shaking my head as if to dispel the trauma, I looked back forwards. Just as I finished turning my head around, I was met with the hard texture of the ground. My foot struck the ground with as little grace as possible. I felt myself stumbling to the ground.

Barely managing to avoid falling down to the ground completely, I regained my composure. Trying to move my body, I was startled to find out that I was paralyzed by the trauma. The scene of him falling down to the ground kept looping in my mind.

Suddenly, an arrow bolted just inches away from my face, snapping me out of my trance. Eyes widening in surprise, I dove to the ground.

Bits of dirt flew high as I landed. Looking frantically for a weapon, I was relieved that there was a cross-bow just within my reach. Darting for it with my hands, I deftly aimed it at the archer attacking me.

My gaze met his. He had an expression brimming with fear. His jaw was agape, his eyes widened with terror as I pointed the tip of the weapon at him. His movement was paused. His hoof were on his bow, an arrow held tight in his other hoof.

Seeing that he is just about seconds away from firing away at me for a second time, I instinctively pulled the trigger. The bolt whizzed through the air and directly into his throat. Blood blossomed from his mouth as if it was a flower as he slumped to the ground.

For some reason... I am more disgusted and horrified than the last time I did this. 'The adrenaline coursing through me previously... it made me ignore the fact that I was taking lives.'

I was brought back to reality by the sound of thudding. Looking back, I was relieved to see my pirates reaching a safe landing.

"Boss! What the hell?!" Min approached me hastily with his assault rifle gripped on his hands. A face of disbelief was embedded on his head. "They can actually shoot lasers? I thought you were just joking!"

I shrugged. "Now's not the time for this! We have to get out of here!" I said as I sprinted for the train. As I bolted through the bloody battlefield, screams and stray projectiles filled the skirmish before me. It seems that the other group of pirates have made it out of the castle.

"Funny... To think that this was a place filled with sunshine and rainbows..." I jumped over a corpse of a pony that was in my way.

I had the misfortune to look at it just in time before I passed over it. Its face was gone and his body was blackened by smoke. An explosive's doing, obviously.

"Now the sunshine is blotted with smoke from the fires burning the buildings, and the rainbows are streaming from the decapitated corpses