The Pie family garage was slowly beginning to change from a bare section of the house that irregularly stored the family car and convenient place to set up speakers for Pinkie's parties.

Now, a tool rack had been mounted on the back wall, and a dozen black Sharpie outlines of the entire collection of Pinkie Pie's Airsoft guns sat above carefully positioned pegs, over which each matching weapon hung. A pair of light bulbs had been expertly placed to give the wall a sense of importance when lit, and a fish-print shower curtain was tucked off to the side for when guests were over and didn't want to see the girls' toys.

The fishies really kill the mood. Sunset thought to herself, glancing over at the armory. She was lying on her belly across one of the pillows Pinkie had strewn across the edges of the concrete floor, the broken AKM split open in front of her. She stretched the kink in her neck, then carefully drew another line on her graph paper, marking out the weapon's internal components in her hunt for the missing piece. Sunset idly turned over the removed gas regulator in her hand, checking again to see if their was anything she had missed.

And earsplitting shriek from the front yard jolted Sunset from her moment of zen, sending her scrambling to her feet and out the side door barefoot. She sprinted around the corner of the house, fully expecting to be witness to a murder, abduction or at the very least a dragon attack.

Pinkie Pie was dancing on the front doorstep, still wearing her uniform from Sugarcube Corner and clutching an Amazon delivery box. Screaming bloody murder.

"IT CAME IT CAME I GOT IT EEEEHEEHEE~!!!"

"Pinkie Pie! What the actual... Aarg!" Sunset slapped the side of the house. "You scared me half to death, and probably the neighbors, too!"

Pinkie just laughed manically, practically hugging the box. Now that she had toned it down a little, Sunset sighed and waved her over. "Come on. What's so important?"

"Cool stuff! Open the garage!" The hyperactive party-planner blurted. Sunset complied, tapping her foot and glaring as the door rumbled its way up. Pinkie Pie ducked in before it had gone halfway up and rushed to the armory wall. Reverently setting down the box, she snatched her M16A4 from its pegs. The box flew open and several smaller boxes were removed, so Sunset picked one up.

"Magpul?" She flipped it over, revealing the image of a foward vertical grip for mounting on a Picatinny rail, the kind that could be attached under the barrel of a rifle for more control. Sunset kneeled across from Pinkie Pie, looking over the other boxs. "Aimpoint? Surefire?" All big-name military suppliers. "Pinkie Pie, how did you afford all of this?"

The pink party planner couldn't stop grinning as she popped open the box with a tactical flashlight and fumbled for batteries from the locker. "I live with my parents and work, and don't buy much! You save up a lot of money that way!" Within minutes, she had figured out how to attach a holographic sight with a plastic shield in front of it to protect it from being scratched by pellets, the high-power flashlight and the vertical foregrip to the rifle's modular frame. She clicked a switch and lined up her right eye behind the new optics, and started giggling uncontrollably.

"I have got to go plaaaaay~! This is a-maze-ing!"

Sunset shook her head, bemused. "We can call around and see who's free. Applejack and I have made some more progress on the Castle." She went back over to her project on the garage floor and categorically began to pack up the pieces. "It's amazing what a difference a few battery-powered lamps can make."

Sunset looked up to see she was speaking to the Pie family car: Pinkie Pie had shot off into the house. She followed her to find Pinkie chatting on the phone already. "...really? You're super-duper sure? Ok. I'll call her next, but meet you at the Boutique if nothing changes!" Pinkie hung up and dialed again. "Hiiiiii, Rarity! Flutters just told me- no no no, she said it was a surprise and we should come to you before we go to the Castle for a quick game. Ok! I'll bring everybody! Ok! See you in a minute! Or more like eight-and-a-half minutes, it takes a while to- Hey!" Pinkie gave the phone an injured look. "She hung up on me!"

Sunset laughed. "Call Applejack, I'll call RD and we'll go pick them up."

It was a roundabout trip through Canterlot to gather everyone together, and the sky was starting to look overcast. The weatherman had reported a dry day, but Sunset had long-since learned that no meteorologist could match the intuition of even the most weather-challenged pegasus. Still, it'll keep us out of the sun at the Castle, she mused as they all piled into the Carousel Boutique.

"Good morning, dears!" Rarity called as they walked in. "I have presents for you!"

"I LOVE PRESENTS!" Pinkie Pie shrieked, zipping into the back of the boutique. Her chatter continued as she went. "I got presents today, but I bought those myself. Do those count? I think they do..."

Applejack leaned back against one of the shelves, glancing at a price tag and grimacing. "Here's t' hoping there ain't no frills on it. Ah can't say Ah do frills. 'Cept on special occasions."

Rainbow Dash laughed as Pinkie Pie came skidding back, pushing a cart. Indeed, the five boxes within were wrapped in shiny foil paper. The all clustered around as Rarity paused her stocking to watch. "I'm afraid they are not that fancy, Fluttershy helped keep me on track while I was putting them together."

Rainbow Dash had torn hers open first and pulled out the tangle of olive-drab straps, looking confused. "Not what I was... expecting. What is this?"

Sunset had her box open and was picking out everything piece by piece. "Is this a vest carrier? This is tactical gear!"

Rarity nodded as the rest of them got out their new gear. "If you recall that Diamond Dog game two weeks ago, I absolutely ruined my skirt, blouse and shoes. I put it upon myself to acquire some new clothes that are designed to get dirty, and since we already had basic protective gear, this was the next step!"

Sunset sheepishly twisted her arm around, glancing at where irreparable damage had been done to the shoulder of her prized leather jacket when she had dived across the dirt on Applejack's farm. She pulled the vest over her head; the material was thick and stiff, and would take some of the sting out of incoming pellets, with extended pads that covered her shoulders and upper-arms. The front, however, caught her attention. Between the array of magazine pouches across her chest, their was an crimson embroidered insignia: S.F.F. Underneath it was a outline of a two-tone sun symbol, stitched directly into the fabric. Even with Sunset's limited knowledge of how tailoring worked, she was able to figure it out fairly quickly.

"Rarity! You made these yourself!"

"Of course I did, darling, I had an awful lot of that horrid green around." Rarity sniffed haughtily. "It's fine for a winter fashion line, but in the early spring, ha! I had to do something with it. There is a matching belt bag for your empty magazines as well." She added as Fluttershy found hers.

Pinkie Pie giggled, looking at herself in the mirror, admiring the pink balloons under her SFF logo. "We almost seem like we know what we're doing!"

"Ain't that the truth." Applejack mused, replacing her old canvas holster with the new leather one that had been in her box. "Thanks, Rares. This is real nice."

"Awright!" Rainbow Dash finished strapping her full set of gear, and Sunset had to say, between the vest, pads and the sweatpants and sweater she was wearing she really did look somewhat professional. "Let's go shoot each other!"

"Actually..." Rarity pressed the tips of her fingers together. "Let's hold off on that for now. You see, I ran into some rather irate individuals the other day. 'Salty' is the term, I believe."

Sunset paused her re-packing of the gear, concerned at her tone. "Who? What happened?"

Rarity gave a helpless shrug. "The Diamond Dogs, yesterday afternoon. The confrontation may have ended with me stating, ahem... 'We will kick your asses any day of the week, so yes, Friday is fine.' End quote."

Sunset let that process for a second, then slowly lowered her face into her palm. "At least you had the decency to schedule it a few days out. Where at?"

"I cordially invited them to Castle Cinder-Ply. We ought to hold some advantage there. It will be classic, ah... 'Team Death Match,' last-team-standing. They insisted." Rarity informed them. Rainbow Dash punched at the air.

"Yeah! We got this! I can run circles around those lunks, just like last time!"

Applejack nodded. "Ah'd still like to get in some kind of practice, before then."

"SLEEPOVER! My place, of course!" Pinkie Pie sang.

Sunset held our her hand. "Sounds like a plan. All in?"

"I'm in." Fluttershy placed her hand over Sunset's with a surprising amount of quiet conviction.

"Solid copy!" Rainbow Dash slapped her hand down. Pinkie Pie followed suit with a giggle.

"They ain't gonna have no idea what hit'em." Applejack joined them.

"My thoughts exactly!" Rarity cried.

"WHOOOOOO~!"

With a cheer, they all threw their hands into the air.

For the fiftieth time, Sunset dropped the magazine out of the buttstock of her newly-rented FAMAS assault rifle, swapped it for one from her vest, and reinserted it, hooking her left index finger under the carrying handle to pull back the charging lever. The weapon was a "bullpup" design, meaning the magazine was inserted into the stock of the rifle behind the trigger, instead of in front like every other rifle they owned. She looked down the sights, squeezing the trigger and dry-firing it with a sharp "clack."

"Sunny, I'm all for hardcore training, but you got the muscle memory by now. Take it easy." Rainbow Dash lounged on Pinkie's couch, half-immersed in the glow of a handheld video game. Pinkie Pie had her own device, and the two had been playing some kind of game against each other for over an hour now.

"Aw, come on!" Pinkie whined, shaking her console. "I'm a higher level than you, how do you keep winning?"

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "You're only a few levels higher than me, so it comes down to picking the right strategy. If you're as awesome as I am you learn a few tricks."

Sunset rolled her eyes, quickly clearing the FAMAS and opening the battery case. She wanted a fresh charge in all of their weapons tomorrow, no malfunctions, and hopefully no jams.

She finished quickly, and heaved herself to her feet, making her way to the kitchen. Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity were huddled over a hand-drawn map of the Castle, Rarity speaking softly as she outlined her thoughts. She broke off as Sunset leaned in to watch.

"We were figuring out the best places to plant a sniper and machine-gunner to push the biggest advantage. The Castle really only has a few places." Rarity explained, tapping the map. "The top floor windows on the wings, and above the main entrance, facing the courtyard."

Sunset considered her point. "I see. We'll need to focus just as much on denying those areas as we do controlling them, though, most of the Dogs use light machine guns. Also, don't forget that they can and should move to adapt to the situation."

"We know that." Applejack muttered. "It's more to get an idea of what it will be like, fightin' with a full team at the Castle 'nstead of against each other."

"Who knows?" Fluttershy played with a strand of her hair. "It might be nice if it isn't... umm... crowded..."

"Target Rich Environment. Those are the words you're looking for." Sunset joked, patting Fluttershy gently on the back. "Good work, good idea planning this stuff out. Can I borrow that map when you're-AAAUG!"

All four of them shied away as a blinding burst of light erupted from the living room, shielding their eyes and, in Sunset's case, blinking away dark spots. It waved back and forth, revealing itself to be more of a spotlight beam, and Pinkie's voice came from behind it.

"Wow, this thing is really bright!" She clicked off the tactical light attached to her rifle, lowering the weapon and clicking it on and off at the floor a few times.

"Yeah it is! Don't point that thing at us, that kinda hurt!" The lightbulb behind Sunset flickered, and she voiced her most recent brilliant idea. "But that could be a great trick to make it hard to aim at you in a close-quarters fight! Blind 'em."

Pinkie rolled her eyes, snapping the weapon up and aiming at the refrigerator, illuminating it brightly. "Well, duh! That's the entire point! Otherwise it's just a giant 'shoot Pinkie' sign."

Sunset nodded, yawning hugely. "Hnnnnnnuh-huh. Hopefully we can stick to the main part of the building, instead of the halls. I have no doubt we're better at room clearing, but all those machine guns and marksman's rifles they carry will be a nightmare in any long stretch."

"Ah like how both team's plans really don't amount to much more than 'bullets, then figure it out as we get along'." Applejack noted. "All y'all had best get some sleep, be loaded fer bear tomorrow."

Sunset shot Applejack a baleful look for the slight at her planning skills, but agreed and headed back to her sleeping bag. Rainbow Dash was already in hers staring up at the ceiling as she slowly turned her blue-lightning rubber knife over in her fingers. Fluttershy was fast asleep, and the other girls wordlessly slipped in around the living room, careful not to disturb each other.

Pinkie Pie was the last to turn in, flicking off the lights. Within minutes everyone's breathing had steadied as they settled in. Sunset stayed awake, fighting the urge to toss and turn. Images of how tomorrow would go kept flashing through her mind, peppered with errant thoughts on distant subjects; how soon she would need to go shopping for food again, what she should do with her hair in the morning, advanced magical theory..."

"Psst. Sunset?" Rainbow Dash whispered. Sunset adjusted her head to hear her better in the darkness.

"Yeah?"

"I'm nervous."

Sunset closed her eyes against the darkness. "Me too. It's just a game, though."

"I'm nervous to." Rarity's voice came softly. Rainbow Dash groaned, probably thinking she had been the only one awake.

"Me four." Pinkie mutterd, sounding subdued. "It feels like more than a game to me."

Applejack grunted as she rolled over. "Kinda. Ah ain't gonna panic none, though."

There was a silence that seemed to agree, then Fluttershy's voice whispered, sounding sleepy.

"We'll do fine..."

Sunset grunted in agreement, rolling deeper into her sleeping bag.

Yesterday's overcast had turned into today's bad weather, and Sunset gazed at the low hanging cloud cooly as it made its way down Canterlot Mountain towards Whitetail Woods. In less than an hour, the entire Castle would be caught in the cold fog and drizzle. She turned away, flipping the earpieces of her glasses open and closed rhythmically.

"Maybe we should cancel the game?" Pinkie suggested, her tone indicating how much she liked that idea. "I mean, they're already late, maybe they just aren't coming 'cause of the weather?"

Rarity scoffed, searching her tactical vest for her phone. "Oh, they are coming. I will never let them live it down if they do not. Excuse me while I go verbally abuse some Neanderthals."

As Rarity went to the top floor in search of better cell reception, Sunset turned to look at the rest of the team, all sitting around on the cheap plastic chairs they had gathered. Fluttershy was the only one wearing a skirt and while she had at least had the sense to wear hiking boots and a sweatshirt, Sunset suspected she would be fairly miserable by the end of the match. Pinkie Pie was dressed nearly identically to Sunset; cargo pants (brown in Sunset's case, lime green in Pinkie's), a black longsleeve and their gear-caring vests, though Pinkie Pie had accented hers with a red-ribbon headband. Rainbow Dash was probably the most underdressed, wearing incredibly baggy sweatpants and a tee-shirt, both pulled tight by her web gear, shoulder-holster and kneepads. She was fighting off the cold by bouncing in place to keep her blood flowing.

Applejack dressed like she always did; jeans, boots and a plaid shirt, only replacing her normal leather vest with Rarity's olive-drab load-bearing one. She rattled slightly when she moved, having decided to carry the majority of the team's field supplies, and quickly lifted her machine gun out of the spare seat as Sunset moved to sit down.

"Thanks. Think the weather is gonna have an impact?" Sunset sat back and leaned her rented FAMAS assault rifle against the table.

Pinkie finished strapping the last of her magazines into the pouches across her chest. "I hope so! If it gets foggy enough, it'll be sooooo spooooky! That would be the best!"

"Pish. Again, if they show." Rainbow Dash snorted, rubbing her bare arms with her gloves to warm them up.

"They're coming!" Rarity sang, sliding down the handrail Applejack had installed on the stairs. She had gone the most gung-ho in the matter of preparations, wearing her tactical vest over green, black and brown multicam pants and jacket, with appropriate boots and a green-and-black tiger stripe bandana holding her hair clear of her eyes. Sunset still wanted to say something about her boots, though, as they had more than a little bit of a raised heel.

"They're coming now, they just parked and are following our little trail markers. Shall we wait for them?" Rarity adjusted her protective glasses primly.

"Yes." Sunset stood back up. "Let's. Look sharp, girls."

Rainbow Dash flicked her own goggles down, cracking her knuckles. "We cool? We cool."

Fluttershy just stood quietly, slipping her new rifle sling over her shoulder. Sunset gave her a concerned glance and led the girls out to the south end of the building.

The Diamond Dogs came staggering out of the treeline with the grace of a herd of cattle, quickly gathering themselves into a loose formation. They jogged closer, guns and gear bouncing wildly, and skidded to a halt. They each hefted their weapons, except Rover, who was a bit slow and only raised his rifle after a sharp whisper from Spot. Then held their positions.

Sunset felt the breeze whistle around inside of her mouth, and quickly shut it. "Are you posing?"

With a guilty jump, all seven assumed much more casual postures, shuffling awkwardly, as each of them muttered transparent denials. Sunset shook her head, holding up a hand. "Whatever. Seriously, I don't want to hear about it. You guys wanna start right away, or look around a little bit? Mi casa es su casa and all that, until I tell you to get lost."

"A'n don't break anything!" Applejack added.

Fido tried and failed to hide his bulk behind his brothers as Pinkie Pie jumped forward and grabbed him by the wrists. "C'mon! I'll give you a tour! This is gonna be so much fun!"

"Wonderful. Sunset, Mister Diamond... Spot Diamond, not the rest of you, good lord." Rarity moved toward the main entrance, beckoning the rest to follow. "Let's go and hash out the ground rules, then we can get started."

"Keyh heh heh, nice place you found. Not gonna lie, it's bigger than I thought!" Spot trailed after Rarity, followed by Rover, while the quadruplets started to wander away to explore. Sunset eyed them suspiciously, chewing on a strand of hair, then followed, making her way back to the entrance hall area where Rarity had taken Spot. Rarity turned and gave a slightly obvious sigh of relief when she saw Sunset, and quickly pulled her into the conversation.

"Y'see, if we play with this rule, we'll-"

"Oh Sunset! Thank goodness, where have you been?" Rarity gushed, interrupting Spot. Sunset ignored the question, half-hoping it was rhetorical and more concerned about her appearance in front of the opposing team anyway.

"SitRep." She said shortly, using the abbreviation for Situation Report, and eased her face into an unimpressed scowl.

Rarity reacted to the sudden change in demeanor perfectly, lifting her chin and stating the short version of what had occurred in Sunset's brief absence. "We have accomplished nothing except learned that Mister Spot Diamond thinks he is smart enough to trick us into playing by excessively complicated rules."

Sunset folded her arms and looked cooly at Spot, who shriveled. Without moving her gaze, Sunset spoke to Rarity. "Please tell Mister Diamond that we will be playing single-life 'Team Death Match.' The designated 'Safe' zone is in front of the main entrance under the plastic tent cover. One shot to the body or head is an elimination, two shots to the arms or legs. We do not need a handicap based on team numbers. Additionally, confirm that he and his team understand the rules and can in no way misinterpret them." She made certain that the last part had the tone of a threat.

Rarity had too much class to repeat the entire withering speech, and instead turned to Spot with an expectant smile. Spot nodded rapidly. "I-I'll tell my team."

"Wonderful!" Rarity clapped her hands, rattling her M16 on its new sling. "We shall let you start in the north wing, and we will start in the south. The building is symmetrical, except for the boiler room, but that's off limits. Safety hazard, you see. Lots of bolts and rusty bits of metal. Where was I?"

"Starting the game." Sunset deadpanned, still glaring daggers at Spot. Every squirm he gave revealed a bit more of what he was trying to think about.

Rarity nodded, humming happily. "Right! Whenever you are ready, darling."

Spot practically sprinted from the room as fast as his short legs would carry him, and Sunset stifled a giggle. Spot's body language had revealed quite a bit, some of it useful. Sunset would be looking to put as much stress on him in particular during the coming game to force hasty retreats. Rarity tittered as well, untucking her goggles from her headband and moving them down over her eyes. "Thank you for the save! Goodness, that boy is annoying, I'm not certain what I might have caved to had he carried on. That was most interesting to be on the other side of your bully- eep."

Rarity cut the word short, bringing her hand up to her mouth, but not fast enough. Sunset's eyes widened in shock as the implication struck her.

Oh no... That... That was bullying!

"I... I... but... I didn't..." Sunset felt dizzy as she tried to find something, anything redeeming to say. It was a tactical decision! Intimidation! Interrogation! Psychological warfare! I did it for the team! I did it for strategy! I...

Rarity scrambled for damage control, sounding desperate. "Please, Sunset, I didn't mean it that way! I'm sure you didn't have any intention of cruelty, it was all just part of- I know you don't have it in you to do that on purpose!"

You do have it in you, said a acidic voice in the back of Sunset's mind, almost gleefully, singing, You just did it~!

I didn't mean... Sunset's throat tightened, choking her.

But you did~!

"Sunset!" Rarity reached to get Sunset's attention, betrayed by the fearful edge in her voice.. "Sunset, please look at me!"

She complied, blandly noticing that the fashionista looked terrified. You messed up~! You messed up~!

"Sunset, please, I know you don't want to hear this, but you still can't become good overnight!" Rarity finally summed up the courage to grab Sunset firmly by the shoulders. Something else in the back of her memory caught and began turning gears again, this time powered by a faint flicker of anger.

"I- wh-what!?"

Rarity gave a gasp of relief and let go, stepping back. "Oh, thank goodness, you didn't look like you for a moment there." She raised her hands placatingly as Sunset took deep breaths, trying to get her emotions under control as the accusation burned a little brighter. "I'm sorry, Sunset, but it's true! I know you know firsthand how powerful friendship is, and how hard you try to be a good person now, but people make mistakes. And you're more at risk than anyone, remember? That was how you lived, that was what you where good at, and it was cruel of us, all of us, to take that away from you the way we did! You push yourself so hard, and you are doing so well, but we all make mistakes."

"Rarity... I still did it..." Sunset growled. Seriously, let me be angry at myself without-

"And I thought it was hilarious!" Rarity shouted, looking away in shame.

Sunset stopped herself. With that one outburst, Rarity's words suddenly carried weight, throwing them into perspective. With one last slow exhale, Sunset brought herself back to reality, turmoil under control. "We all make mistakes..."

Rapid footsteps came from both halls, and Rainbow Dash skidded into the entrance hall a split-second ahead of Applejack from the other direction.

"Yo! I heard yelling." Rainbow explained, looking worried. Rarity quickly rubbed her eyes and tried to regain her composure, head still hung.

"Y'all alright?"

Sunset put an arm around Rarity's shoulder. "Better than you'd think. Rarity? You still ready to roll?"

"Y-yes. Absolutely." Rarity said firmly. She raised her chin and slapped her hand down on the grip of her rifle firmly. "Rainbow Dash, be a dear and find Pinkie and Fluttershy, we are going to start in the south wing."

Sunset turned around slowly, faced the wall, and thunked her head into it. If it's not one thing...

"I'm not a magician!" Rarity sniped. "I can't predict exactly what they're going to do! This is a CQB environment; high stress, very chaotic. You'll just need to use your own head!"

"But that's what you're good at!" Rainbow Dash complained, again.

"I'm good at dressmaking! Strategic planning is an off hobby!"

Applejack inspected the feed of her M60. "Ah told yeh the plan would come down to 'bullets.' We might as well just charge them at this point."

"Shut up." Sunset said halfheartedly, thudding her head against the wall again. "We form fireteams, each take responsibility for an area of the castle..."

"See!" Rainbow Dash gestured wildly. "A plan! Rarity! You're fired!"

"Shut up." Sunset, Rarity and Applejack all said at the same time.

Pinkie rolled her eyes. "Jinx." She blew a raspberry. "You're all taking this way too seriously. It's about fun!"

"Winning is fun..." Fluttershy muttered.

Sunset turned back around as the other girls stared at Fluttershy. Sunset was too annoyed by the rest of them to be surprised. "Well, you're turning into a proper little psychopath. So we need to cover the entrance hall, and the top and bottom floors of each wing. Who's got what?" She asked.

"Me 'n Dash can lock down the entrance hall." Applejack volunteered.

"I got top floor! Come on, Flutters!" Pinkie Pie raised her fist and pumped it up and down like a train horn, the signal for hurry up!

Rarity stepped across the group. "Sunset and I will go through the bottom floors, then. We ought to cross the courtyard to ensue they can't get back to out starting point."

"Awesome!" Pinkie leaned out the window, taking a deep breath.

Sunset raised her hand, a thought striking her. "No, wait!"

"WE'RE READY!"

"Shoot." Sunset winced as Rainbow Dash and Applejack bolted, followed shortly their after by Pinkie Pie trailing Fluttershy by the hand. Rarity glanced at her.

"Let me guess: 'what if they just move in a big group?'" Rarity voiced Sunset's thought.

Sunset growled, shouldering her rifle and waving for Rarity to follow. "Too late now. Come on!"

Taking the lead, Sunset sprinted out the door and down the hall to the exit, slamming her shoulder into the plywood door. The crude latch gave easily and she skidded to a stop in the tall grass, pressing up against the wall and sliding down. She quickly shifted her rifle over to her other shoulder and swiveled around the corner, glancing across the ground-floor windows for threats. Rarity stepped around her with a muttered "s'cuse me," rifle up and trained on her destination as she crossed the courtyard to the north wing entrance. Sunset heaved herself up awkwardly when she reached halfway, keeping the FAMAS ready to fire and preparing to cross herself.

A second later the clatter of a electric-powered machine gun erupted from the upper floor of the north wing, and Sunset gasped as the pellets splattered around her, one glancing off of her scalp with a sharp sting. She flinched back around the corner, throwing her hand up.

"Hit!"

Rarity heard the commotion and glanced back, dropping to a knee and swinging her M16 up to the second-story windows, but too late. The shooter simply held down the trigger and swept his field of fire across the courtyard, and Rarity shrieked as she was hit several times. Sunset kept her hand up as she stepped out, searching for their attacker. She was just in time to see Rover reposition himself at the window.

"Well!" Rarity walked back to Sunset, swatting grass off of her kneepad. "That was quick and annoying. Let's hope the rest of the team does better, hmm?"

Sunset grumbled, fiddling with the fire selector on her rifle. "Let's hope they do a lot better. C'mon, safe zone's this way."

Sunset gazed blankly around at the entire team of SFF standing under the tent cover as the fog rolled in. "Wow. That was quick and brutal. What happened?"

"We got steam-rolled, tha's what happened." Applejack's grumbled. The only Diamond Dog to be hit (the one Sunset had named "Mineie") had fallen to her M60 machine gun.

"But how?" Pinkie whined. Rarity shook her head.

"C'mon! It was just bad luck, let's go again!" Rainbow Dash urged, slapping the side of her submachine gun for emphasis.

"Keyh heh heh!"

Sunset bristled as she heard Spot's distinctive cackle. The entire Diamond Dog team stepped out from the entrance hall, half-circling them.

"You can call it bad luck if you want, but you know what really happened!" Spot taunted. Sunset opened her mouth to shut him down, but she stopped herself, taking a deep breath and a step back. "Keyh! Not so tough now!"

"Hey! Don't you dare start on Sunset! If anyone let the team down..." Rainbow Dash looked around at the rest of the girls, unsure, before standing up straight. "It was probably me!"

"Don't be ridiculous, darling. I'm more to blame than you are." Rarity said.

Not to be left out, Pinkie Pie jumped in. "But I couldn't keep Fluttershy-"

"Stop!" Sunset barked, then, more quietly, "Can we not do this in front of our guests? Come on, round two."

Rover gave a satisfied smirk. "If you can make it last more than five seconds, sure."

Applejack pulled her hat lower over her eyes. "Y'all'd better move quick, then. Bring it."

Sunset led the girls back to the south wing, and very intentionally into a room that they would not be able to shout across the courtyard from. "Ok, everyone, take a knee. I know what went wrong."

"You do?" Pinkie asked, innocently surprised.

"Yes." Sunset rolled her eyes. "We suck."

The room filled with groans of disappointment, but Sunset cut them short. "We sucked worse the last time we played them, too. Remember? So what does that tell you?"

"Well, Ah guess we got lucky." Applejack observed. Sunset snapped her fingers.

"Exactly! But they aren't that much better than us, so it really just comes down to picking the right strategy." Sunset clenched her glove into a fist. "Besides, when you're as awesome as we are, we can pull off a few tricks, right?"

Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Sunny, did you just quote my-"

"Shut up!" Sunset blushed. "No! Rarity, let's hear the situation again!"

Rarity nodded. "We are short one body for team size. Castle Cinder-Ply has a simple enough layout that we've lost most home-field advantages at this point. Their team consists mostly of light machine-guns, while Fido and Moe have DMR's."

Sunset did a double-take. "Wait, what?"

Rarity blinked. "DMR's, dear, Designated Marksman's Rifles? You're the one who told me what that stood for."

"No, no. The last cousin, the one with the funny haircut, his name really is Moe? I've just been calling him that." Sunset stifled a giggle. "Sorry, carry on."

Rarity gave Sunset a odd look. "Anyway, they favor firepower over accuracy. Try not to get caught away from cover. On our side, we have a fairly even mix. Three assault rifles, a big machine gun, an SMG, and a sniper. Good flexibility, not much else. To win, we need to eliminate all seven of them before they get all of us. We have two options, basically; move in a big group and clear each section one at a time, or divide into smaller groups and take an individual section. Overall, we have to worry about the top and bottom floors of each wing, and the entrance hall and the roof over it."

"Small groups. That's what we're gonna do." Sunset stood up.

"Uh, s'cuse me, but that really didn't work out all that well last time." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

Sunset nodded. "Because we divided up wrong. We didn't act to cover each other's weaknesses. We sent a sniper to clear the top floor rooms, put a fast-attack and machine-gunner together, and the two strategists in the same group. It went to hell."

"Oh... I never thought about that." Fluttershy mumbled, wringing her hands around the barrel of her rifle.

"Ok. Rarity, you go with Applejack, and lock down the courtyard with the MG this time. Fluttershy, you'll follow the rest of us until we clear the lobby, and you'll post on the roof and make hell for anyone trying to go south. Hang back, move when you need to, bail and join AJ and Rarity if you get pressured." Sunset drew in the disturbed dust on the floor to illustrate her point. "Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash. You and I will make a fast rush straight through. We want to end up right in the thick of it before they realize what just happened, then clean up the rest."

"Umm... Would this be a good time to give out these?" Fluttershy pulled a box from her magazine pouch, handing it over to Sunset. "We kinda ran off before I could hand these out last time."

Sunset looked over the box and her eyes lit up. Tearing open the top, she revealed a set of four wireless communicators, complete with earpieces. "Cool. Thanks!"

She quickly handed them out, fitting them with batteries from Applejack's carrying vest. They gave it a quick test, dividing them between herself, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, and Sunset grinned. "It's on. Let's do this!"

Pinkie Pie gave a squee and darted from the room across the hall, leaning out the window to shout. "We're really actually ready this time! GO!" She ducked back and rejoined them as they all filed into the hall. "Wow. It got really foggy, you can't see the other side of the building!"

"We noticed." Sunset glanced down both ends of the hall, where thin mist was beginning to creep in through the windows. "Go, go!"

Rainbow Dash led the charge of Sunset's squad along the hall to the lobby, and she sprinted into the entry hall like a thunderbolt, sliding across the floor behind the main desk. Sunset went next, bringing her rifle up and laying a thick sheet of fire at the doorway to the north wing as she went. Pinkie Pie covered Fluttershy as she dashed for the stairs, and the whole lobby burst into frantic chaos as Rover ran in and was mowed down by Sunset's FAMAS as she held down the trigger. Two other Diamond Dogs poked the barrels of their guns around the corners and opened fire, forcing Sunset down behind the waist-high barricade they had placed there days ago.

Sunset swapped magazines, sending her empty one spinning across the floor. She started to peek over the top and stopped. No, always around the side. You're a smaller target that way. She shifted position and leaned, jerking back to avoid the voracious streams of pellets being flung her way.

"Shoot. I'm suppressed!"

"I got ya!" Rainbow Dash popped over the reception desk, blasting a quick burst toward the two machine guns before ducking again while Pinkie Pie took the opportunity to join her, sprinting from the stairs. The activity earned a particularly vicious blasting from the north doorway. "Woah! Maybe I don't!"

Sunset turned and kept her head low, scanning the half of the room she could see. "Watch your backs, flank incoming! Fluttershy!" Sunset clicked on her communicator. "Fluttershy, we're pinned down here, check over the edge of the rooftop and tell me if you see anyone coming."

Fluttershy didn't respond, but Sunset heard a deliberate sounding "bzzt-bzzt" of the channel being opened and closed: she had simply tapped the transmit button twice to signal without speaking. Sunset winced a more shots hit her cover with a loud clatter against the thin plywood, the the communicator buzzed again.

"East windows!" Fluttershy hissed.

Sunset skillfully lowered herself onto her belly, deploying the FAMAS's bipod and took aim, while Pinkie Pie tapped Rainbow's shoulder and pointed her the right way as well. Rainbow took one last blind potshot toward the north door before orienting herself. The two windows on the east wall where wide, but only half a meter high and slightly higher than comfortable standing height for the girls. Sunset studiously focused on the window that Pinkie and Rainbow Dash could not see, finger slowly squeezing the trigger back until it was just about to fire. The prongs of the front sight bobbed lazily over the window.

A shadow poked up, and Sunset identified the boxy shape of a machine gun as it hooked onto the leftmost edge and its wielder rose up behind it. Shifting her shoulder to swing her sights across it, she tensed her finger the last tittle bit and engaged.

She missed. The movement of her shoulder slid the buttstock down and lifted the barrel, sending the shots inches high, and by the time she had corrected it Fido had ducked back down out of sight. A beam of light and clatter of *wrrtap tap tap* followed by a male's startled cry of "Hit!" told her that Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash had been much more successful. A muffled *snap* came from the roof, and another yell of "Ow!" outside announced the second flanker's elimination.

"They're down." Fluttershy whispered through her radio. "I'm coming down to help, if I can..."

"Copy-toppy!" Pinkie chirped, then waved over the top of her cover at the north door, shouting, "Didn't work, still here! Yoo-hoo!"

Someone on the other side of Sunset's board seemed to take offense to that, and she heard something clatter into the room and thump against her wall. With an earsplitting bang, plastic BBs went bouncing in every direction. Sunset landed back down on her backside, having jumped spastically into the air at the startling noise.

"What in the name of Celestia's shiny white flank was that!" She yelled, scooting on her butt closer to her cover.

"I think it was a grenade!" Pinkie yelled back, then poked her head up and fired a few shots. "Nya nya! That missed too! Eep!"

Sunset log-rolled sideways just as Pinkie Pie's cover was nearly buried in pellets, bracing her rifle's bipod and firing an accurate stream into the Diamond Dog's arm and side that hit several times. She kept up the fire, sweeping it through the doorway until the magazine was empty. Rainbow Dash vaulted over the reception desk and shot across the room, diving through the door and sliding on her back, MP5 up and ready to fire. "It's clear! The other guy ran! Ack!"

Sunset scrambled to her feet and folded her bipod, nearly tripping on the soda-can sized orange cylinder that was the Diamond Dog's Airsoft grenade as she rushed toward the door, stopping just inside of it as Dash wriggled on her butt back through. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, got winged. Sniper at the end of the hall, don't go around the corner." Rainbow Dash rubbed her bare forearm, where the combination of cold and the hit had made a bright red mark. Sunset moved up the corner leading to the hall and fished out her makeup mirror, flipping it open and using it to scan around the corner. It was hard to see through the gathering mist, but she could clearly see the far exit was open, and an irregular shadow that may have been the shooter was crouching.

"Huh. Dash, watch out backs. Pinkie, get up here!" Sunset ordered. An experimental shot came sailing down the hall and bounced off the wall as Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy hustled over. "Pinkie, the hall is full of fog, but it's thin enough that we can see through the backlighting. Do you think the mist would diffuse your light enough to cover us as we cross to the stairwell?"

Pinkie Pie's eyes lit up, and she shifted her grip on the rifle, taking it off of her shoulder. "I can do better, we'll need to move fast and stay low! I'm on point!"

"I-I'm coming with you!" Fluttershy ducked her head as Sunset turned toward her. "If you don't mind. I can't really see much through the fog..."

"Ok. Ready?" Sunset pressed her back against the wall, Pinkie Pie on her left with her rifle at waist hight, Fluttershy on her right and Rainbow Dash just past her. "On my mark. Three, two, one... mark."

Pinkie Pie ducked low, clicking on her flashlight and then dropping her M16 to the floor, sliding it barrel-first to skitter down the hall. The tactical flashlight instantly turned the thin mist into a blinding white glow, and Pinkie dashed across the hall to the stairwell. Sunset was inches behind her when the pellets started flying by, nearly tripping on the first step. She turned around as she heard a startled squeek and caught Rainbow Dash as she dove into cover.

"Fluttershy got hit! Lucky shot." Dash informed them, disentangling herself from Sunset. Behind them, Sunset could hear the shy girl try and raise her voice to confirm it.

Pinkie Pie groaned, drawing her SOCOM pistol. "Aww... Revenge! I will have revenge!"

"Go! Clear the top floor, move down. Dash, on point." Sunset rushed up the stairs, stopping at the top and aiming down the hall. The mist was much thinner here, and she could see clearly to the end. Rainbow and Pinkie moved past her, quickly checking each classroom as they passed, shoes squeaking softly against the damp concrete. The weather had deteriorated into a soft drizzle that fell through the roofless sections further down, but the girls ignored it as they advanced. Rainbow Dash reached the far stairwell first and waved Sunset up.

"Movement below." Rainbow whispered hoarsely as she got closer. Pinkie nodded, holding her arm up in front of her face, parallel to the ground, palm out like she was trying to shade her face, and waved it up and down rapidly. Crossfire. Sunset got her meaning: there is an ambush waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

Unless...

"Rarity... Status..." Sunset muttered into her earpiece.

"One down, all clear. A few tried to come our way and we scared them off." Rarity responded cheerfully. "What do you need, darling?"

"We're at the top of the northwest stairwell. The group you headed off is below us waiting." Sunset kept her hand in front of her mouth to stop her voice from carrying. "Ruin their day."

"En-route." Rarity chuckled darkly.

Sunset flashed a quick set of signals to Pinkie and Rainbow Dash; rally here, point of entry at stairs, watch. The girls nodded and settled into ready stances on either side of the stairwell door, where Sunset joined them.

Below them, the light filtering up from the hall suddenly dimmed. It took Sunset a few moments to process the significance of this, but the meaning was very worrying. Someone turned off the light on Pinkie's rifle, at the far end of the hall! That could ruin our ambush!

"Wait five seconds, then go down!" Sunset barked, turning and sprinting down the corridor, dropping her rifle for the tiny boost to agility. She bounced off of the wall and practically flung herself down the first flight, making a perfect three point landing and drawing her pistol, aiming it down at the ground floor door. Two... one. She quickly padded her way down the last flight and into the hall.

Right behind Spot and Moe Diamond. Time seemed to slow for Sunset Shimmer as her mind and body kicked into overdrive.

Moe was checking around the corner to the lobby cautiously, and Spot was beginning to swing back toward the chaos that was erupting at the end of the hall. He caught a glimpse of Sunset emerging from the stairs as she drew her knife in her left hand and lunged for him.

Sunset quickly turned her thrust into a parry to punch away the barrel of Spot's machine gun as he tried to bring it to bear, and felt her joints bruise through the armored knuckles of her gloves. A quick reversal of the motion slashed the knife across his chest and Sunset stepped to the side, bringing her Sigma up and blasting half the magazine down the hallway.

"Hit! Ack!"

Not waiting for the rest of the results, Sunset spun away to whisk Pinkie's rifle off of the floor, raising it to the ready position and hustling down the hall. The glowing red circle-and-dot of the holographic sight bobbed in front of her vision as she went and a shadow materialized in front of her. Sunset froze, centering the dot on the threat until Applejack emerged from the fog.

"Howdy. Guess, what?" Applejack hefted her machine gun to lean casually over her shoulder. "No survivors."

Sunset indulged in a little fist-pump. Just a few minutes later, she was standing outside the tent cover.

"What, you don't want to know for sure? It's best two out of three, right?" Sunset grinned across at the defeated Dimond Dog team. She ignored the thin drizzle around her as she enjoyed the sudden and precise role-reversal.

Spot growled. "That's it. We arn't holding back this time!"

"Settled, then." Sunset smirked as a roll of distant thunder rolled through the fog and the rain started in ernest. "T-D-M, round three. Winner takes all. Let's make it quick, I want to go put on dresses and have tea parties. Set a timer, start in five minutes."

She turned away with a flip of her hair as the Diamond Dogs grumbled. The fog quickly concealed her, and she shivered. Screw the tea, I want a hot shower! This is miserable! She jogged inside and down the south hall to where the rest of the team had gathered and was busy resupplying and rearming. "So! Weather outside sucks, I'm guessing we'll be fighting room-to-room. We also found out they have a Airsoft grenade, seems like some kind of gas-powered thing. Any clever ideas?"

"I-I'll cover our backs." Fluttershy hung her head. "I'm sorry, I can't see through the fog, and I'm too slow indoors."

"You willing to go solo again? We can't afford to loose numbers." Sunset pointed out. "Oh, game starts in about thirty seconds."

Fluttershy shook her head. "I'll just hang back a bit... help if I can... This place is scary when it's-"

The timid girl was interrupted by a violent crash of thunder, causing her to squeak and duck. Sunset raised her head from where she had ducked as well.

"Stormy?" Rainbow Dash guessed. Fluttershy nodded.

"Alright, let's roll!" Sunset waved them together, taking her FAMAS from Rarity.

"Plan?" Applejack asked.

Sunset gave her a wry smile, massaging her sore knuckles. "Charge."

Rarity snorted. "You have got to be kidding me. Just... charge in?"

"Pretty much. Pinkie Pie on point, R-D behind her, me, you, Applejack followed by Fluttershy as a backup. Crash straight through." Sunset confirmed. Pinkie Pie jumped to the front of the line and hunkered down into a high crouch, rifle up and ready to run, grinning maniacally. The rest took their positions in the hall, and Sunset flicked her arm forward. "Go, go."

They set off, a swift, quiet line bristling with nervous energy. They followed the wall around to the south entrance to the lobby, where Pinkie hesitated, kneeling with her hand mirror to check the corner, and whispered back over her shoulder. Rainbow Dash nodded and leaned toward Sunset.

"Five contacts, even spread, going left."

Sunset patted her shoulder in confirmation, turning to mutter in Rarity's ear. "Five contacts, even spread, going right."

And so it was passed on. The ritual took an eternity, but as it reached the end Fluttershy nodded and flashed the ok signal.

Sunset held a deep breath, calves tensing as she leaned forward on her toes. Pinkie leaned seemed to freeze in time itself as she steeled herself for the maneuver they had all practiced. Up ahead, she head the quietest whisper in the silence from Pinkie Pie.

"Here comes the pain-train."

Then she was gone, and all hell broke loose. Sunset's vision blurred to a narrow tunnel that included the view through her sights and not much else as she dashed through the doorframe and hooked a sharp right, following the wall. She swept her aim across the room to the first boy that was not throwing his hand in the air and pulled the trigger, sweeping the stream of pellets from him to the helmet of the next target to the left, trusting that Pinkie Pie had done her job and cleared the corner they were moving toward as Applejack bounded in after her. She continued her sweep until a sharp pain revealed itself in her belly and she raised her hand, flinching away.

"Hit!"

"Hit!" Added Rarity. Applejack raised her hand as well, glancing around the room.

All four of the quadruplets had their guns lowered and hands raised, while Fido quickly cowed and whimpered "Hit, hit!" as Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash rounded on him. Fluttershy slipped into the room, doing a perfunctory sweep with her Mosin before relaxing. Sunset walked slowly out, very conscious of the standing "dead men tell no tales" rule she knew most teams played with and hoped the adrenalin had not gotten too far into the remaining three girls heads, so they could keep count. She stopped just outside the door, under the small stone overhang, to eavesdrop on the rest of the game.

"Five down!" Rainbow Dash called.

"That only leaves two! Reloading!" Pinkie Pie announced, eyes flicking between the doors to the north, south and the stairway to the roof. Sunset let out a sigh of relief that Pinkie must have heard, because she whispered loudly toward the door next. "Stop not-having trust in us, you're dead! You're not allowed to have an opinion!"

"So, where are they?" Fluttershy slowly lowered herself to a knee, setting down the bolt-action rifle and fumbling her pistol from its holster.

Rainbow Dash waved to get there attention, pointedly shaking her head as she spoke loudly and clearly. "They Prob-Ab-Ly Went Up To The Roof, Or Hung Back To Am-Bush Us La-Ter." She signaled as she walked, directing Pinkie and Fluttershy back toward the south door with an added shush-ing motion.

Just in time for the worn orange grenade to be tossed into the room from that entrance. Sunset barely had time to recognize it as a the same one that had been thrown at her before Rainbow Dash had acted. The star athlete dropped her gun and dove forward with inhuman reflexes, a multi-colored blur flying to meet the munition halfway to the ground. With a skillful swipe not unlike an open-handed volleyball dig, Dash swatted the cylinder back through the door, away from her teammates.

*PAANG!*

Rainbow Dash swore as she crashed into the floor, curling up and clutching the top of her head as shocked bellows and a huge spray of bouncing projectiles came from beyond the southern door. Sunset ran into the room, game forgotten as she slid on her kneepads to Rainbow Dash's side. Fluttershy beat her there.

"Rainbow Dash! Oh my goodness, are you all right? Did you hit your head?!"

"Aaaug! Pah!" Dash sat up and spat out a plastic pellet. "Damn that hurt! Those things are vicious! Am I bleeding?" Dash gingerly pulled aside her cheek so they could look at her gums, and Sunset shook her head. "Then I'm fine, just a face-full of Airsoft grenade. I'm sure I'm doing better than those two!"

"What was that?" Spot shrieked, stamping in fury as he screamed at his brother. "WHAT WAS THAT? How do you mess up a four-foot throw?"

Rover just shrugged, shaking his head. "I threw it right, bro. She threw it back. It was kinda awesome."

Rainbow Dash nodded smugly from the floor. "You got that right!"

Sunset facepalmed, the idea of rubbing in their swift victory, even against uneven odds and questionable weapons, was lost by her current predicament. "Rainbow Dash?"

"Yuh-huh?"

"We're gonna be hearing about this from you for weeks, arn't we?"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Pinkie Pie yelled, waving her arms so fast Sunset thought she just might take off. "DID YOU SEE THAT? THAT WAS EPIC! You're gonna be hearing it from me for months!"

Sunset groaned and brought both her gloves to her face to hide her grin. It had been pretty awesome.

Dear Miss Celestia...

Today was just a lot of fun. We got a good look at just how far we've come, and how we can work together not just by aiming at the same goal, but by playing our strengths and knowing our friend's weaknesses. I've started to come to terms with my habits and history as well: they are a part of who I am, and I don't need to be angry at myself for them, I need to work with what I have and know, just like our team.

Sunset signed the short email and pressed the send button, turning away to finish toweling off her hair. The weather outside her apartment had turned properly stormy, but inside was plenty warm, and Sunset had a thick bathrobe, fluffy towels and plenty of hot cocoa. She paused as her laptop gave a musical ping.

> From: Celestia M. Jubilaus ([email protected])
To: Sunset Shimmer ([email protected])
CC: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Shooting For Friendship SitRep 3_

I've forwarded your message to the intended recipient. You may use the attached email address, or continue sending them here, I quite enjoy reading these all the same!

Principal Celestia_ <

Sunset stared at the screen for a minute, confused, the shook her head and closed the screen. She was exhausted, and cryptic emails could wait until morning.

Life was good right now. Life was getting better.

Author's Notes:

I must request that any edits or writing recommendation be sent to me as a PM, not in the comments. Please. Otherwise I LOVE COMMENTS.

And that the second arc of Shooting For Friendship. What a ride.

If you couldn't tell, Pinkie and RD where totally playing Pokèmon. Blastoise OP, genwun4life.

The girls are getting good! And here's a fun thing: if you want to play with them, you can (kinda)! I'm accepting profiles from real-life Airsoft players to flesh out the other teams that will be appearing in this story, and you and your buddies can be a part of it. I've already accepted the entire ECSF team and a few others! PM me (comments will not be accepted, don't clutter the comments section with your personal info) to submit or ask questions.
I'm more concerned about personality and kit than how awesome you want to be, so stick to reality. I can pick out a fake pretty fast: pictures or it didn't happen.
{CLOSED}

As you may have figured out, the Diamond Dogs suck. How will SFF fare against a more dedicated group? Who will this new group be!? Can they handle the world of Airsoft?