The strike team knelt in a circle discussing their plans while Starburst lay on the ground to the side of them. He was well trussed and was going nowhere fast. The Captain was speaking to everybody, "Alright let's finalize here." Everybody had their helmets on the ground and had taken a knee on the crowns of the helmets. Andrew had used a stick to draw out the cavern system below them. The main entrance was not guarded on the outside, but there was a quartet of the wolf creatures, Starburst had called them Abominations, waiting just around the first bend in the main cavern entrance about half a League into the cave. The neck of the cave opened up into a wide, circular chamber which saw use as a 'Town Center' of sorts.

The chamber was not particularly tall but the size from side to side was impressive, according to Andrew. More than a full League from one side to the other and with the rock above supported by hewn columns every couple of Fathoms, it was sure to be a place riddled with spots to hide and duck behind. Andrew explained that the homes were small, cloth covered holes in the perimeter of the main cavern. If there was enough noise, everybody would wake up and crowd the main cavern. Andrew had also seen patrols in the main cavern and he was very clear that the strike team had absolutely no chance to get from one end of the cavern to the other without being spotted. A fully stealthy rescue was unfortunately all but out of the question. The single most substantial problem was the concern that the Bloodmages would teleport away again when the strike team began their assault. When the issue of illumination was addressed, Starburst stated that they used luminescent moss to light the most used portions of the cavern at night and lanterns during the day so that the moss could absorb the energy and light for the evening.

Mike asked the group's sole Sorcerer, "You're certain you know how Blood Magic works?"

Full Spectrum nodded emphatically, "Yeah, they use vials and flasks to study blood and for species specific rituals. If they use their own blood and throw it on you it will have the full effect. That's what makes them dangerous even if taken by surprise. Their magic can cancel out our own magic, but ours cannot cancel out theirs. It's not fair but that's the way it goes. Keeping them at a distance is our best bet."

Mike nodded and continued Full Spectrum's thought, "According to Andrew, most of them down there are Earth Ponies, we should try to avoid a direct physical confrontation. They do have crossbows, but those take time to reload. The reason they were so effective on us before is because they had time to study our armor and spot weak points. A direct hit to our breastplates isn't going to do much more than push us back. The only one that shouldn't have to worry about that will be Rose. Her armor can stop one of our shotgun blasts. The only thing she'll have to worry about is being affected by Blood Magic." He turned to the Earth Pony mare, "Are you sure you have enough ammo for this?"

Rose Thorn smiled, "Captain, if three hundred rounds aren't enough then we bit off WAY more than we can chew." She paused then corrected herself, "Ah, actually three hundred and thirty. I forgot I already have one magazine loaded."

Mike nodded then turned to his stealth specialist, "Andrew I know you don't like killing, but our primary objective is rescuing our people. All other objectives are secondary. We have to ensure that our people get out of there as quickly and safely as possible." Mike paused and looked down, taking a slow breath, "I don't like dividing the team, but we need to have somebody with Tina and Merlin when the fighting starts. Andrew, you said that all our people were in the same place?"

Andrew nodded, "Yeah." He used the stick he had drawn with to point to one of the furthest and most distant chambers in the cavern, "They're all back here in one cell. The thing isn't warded, but I heard a couple of the guards talking about how long 'the doses' would keep them asleep."

"Thornberry root extract." Starburst said, "It's commonly used to help foals sleep and to help keep asleep those who practiced with their own blood too much so they can recover. We call it 'dosing' so if they used the words 'the dose', I'm all but certain that's what they were referring to."

"Terrific," Darryl groused, "Not only do they murder and kidnap us, they also drug us with some crazy shit to keep us knocked out with no idea if it might be poison to us." He threw up his hands and shot Starburst a withering glare, "Tell me again, why you want us to try to take your sister alive?" The former Marine fingered the handle of the second of his pair of knives, the one on his belt, "You better hope somebody much more merciful than me gets to her first. If I end up facing her... I'm going to open her up like..."

"Enough Marine," Mike ordered casually, "I know you're pissed. Save it for the fighting." He turned back to Andrew, "I need you to take the guards out of commission as quietly as possible. How many were there?"

"Four," Andrew said looking down, "Too many for me to handle on my own, especially considering they're Earth Ponies armed with crossbows. I've got no chance of getting them solo."

Rose Thorn spoke up, "Do any of them have any specialized markings or any distinguishing characteristics?"

Andrew shook his head, "None. That's part of why it's going to be nearly impossible to differentiate between actual Bloodmages and civilians. Not down there."

Rose looked down at the maze like dirt drawing with creased brows, "If I gave you all my gear and just walked in there, after we took out the Abominations, could you carry it?" She gestured to one of the side passages beyond the main chamber that Andrew had stated was abandoned, "We meet here and I gear back up then we take out the guards. Between the two of us we should be able to handle it." She smirked confidently, "I'd like to see any of them match my strength."

Mike bit his lower lip, "You sure you can handle that Rose?" He asked with concern, "You're going to be without your weapon and armor until you meet back up with Andrew. Are you comfortable with that?"

Rose Thorn nodded firmly and held up her right forehoof, "I hope I'm saying this correctly," she cleared her throat and spoke in American English, "I don't need... no firepower when I'm... rockin' these... guns."

The strike team was silent for a brief moment before they broke into chuckles, "Fair enough Rose." Mike chortled, "Alright for the rest of us, Kaneesha I want you to cover us as best you can with sniper fire, Darryl you cover for her. Full Spectrum, R.J., Chris, and I will move in and get Chris to our people so he can get them out. Bobby said he would secure a number of the C.W.G. officers around the teleport pad atop City Hall. Can you 'port our people there Chris?"

Chris nodded, "As soon as I can see them."

Andrew shook his head, "What about the three dozen or so Unicorns they have down there? They're bleeding them slowly. We can't leave them there."

Starburst spoke up again, "Unicorns are hateful tribalists. If you let them free you'll be setting yourself up for a nightmare. The Unicorn royalty massacred a bunch of Bloodmage scholars like me because they couldn't stand anybody else having magic. They laughed at my sister when she went to try to go to that tribalist school of magic. The Princesses are no better. They just let the Unicorns do whatever they want."

Full Spectrum shook her head, "I don't know about the massacre you're talking about, but I did ask Catalyst about the story of a Pegasus being turned away. She said that it did happen, but as soon as she found out about it she fired the stallion who had turned students away. She said she tried to locate the Pegasus who was refused but she had disappeared." She considered Starburst briefly, "You know, it wasn't that long ago that I thought the same way you do. I hated all Kavim, but Unicorns especially. When we first arrived here there was a... misunderstanding. A bunch of Unicorns attacked us at night and killed more than sixty of us. For a long time we hated them. There was one Unicorn though who never did us any harm, Razor Wit. She tracked our movements and even helped us find food. She kept her distance, but she never did anything bad to us. Back where we come from, lots of Humans with white skin think that Humans with dark skin are all criminals or killers. The thing about hatred against an entire group is that you're almost always guaranteed to be wrong. I'm willing to be that those Unicorns down are innocent. They're probably just scared. They're no different from you or I, they just have horns."

"Yeah and they can turn you into cinders or control your mind." Starburst said bitterly.

"If the ones you have down there are innocent, would they have a right to be mad? Would they have a right to seek justice for what happened to them?" R.J. asked.

"None of them are innocent." Starburst said petulantly, "They have magic. They can do whatever they want and nobody can stop them. That's why they're evil. I wouldn't have a problem with them if they didn't look down at everypony else. The Grand Magus told us about the way they're raised to hate and kill from foalhood."

"If that were true then why did the Arch Magister and a bunch of Unicorns VOLUNTEER to teach us Humans about magic? They fought with us during the Battle For New Humansville. They fought and died with us. Where is the superiority complex there? Where is the hatred?" Andrew asked, "You just don't get it. You've been lied to all your life Starburst. A few of them might be like that but all the ones I've gotten to know are perfectly normal Ponies."

"One of my Petamines was a Unicorn." Rose Thorn said, "SHE is the one who taught me not to think poorly of other species. As far as I've seen, the only hateful ones here are Bloodmages. You use your fear and lies to justify your crimes. Open your eyes Starburst. YOU are the villain here." Rose Thorn said.

"If I were the villain, then why would I be helping you?" Starburst said hotly, "Do what you want with the Unicorns, but when they come back throwing magic at you don't come crying to me."

Kaneesha sighed and rubbed her hands over her eyes, "Come on, let's get back to planning. This discussion of morality isn't getting us any closer to rescuing our people."

Starburst laid his ears back against his head, "Oh... right. Sorry."

Mike cracked his neck, "As soon as Chris gets the prisoners away, then we focus on taking care of the rest of the Bloodmages down there and getting back out." He turned his head and spoke loudly, "Rifin, are you willing to guard Starburst until we return?"

Rifin's face creased in a frown, "I was hoping to join you, but the cavern would be far too small for me." He sighed in resignation, "I will guard our prisoner."

"Anybody I see that isn't a foal or a Human... or Rose is going to end up taking a dirt nap." Full Spectrum said ominously, "We've got a score to settle."

Mike shook his head, "Alright that's enough talk about killing, and I mean from all of you." He started with Andrew and moved around the circle locking eyes with every person, "We aren't here for revenge. We're here to accomplish a goal. If somebody gets in our way or attacks us, they pay the price, but I WILL NOT have my officers talking about slaughter. Once our people are clear, we'll go around and see who is and is not a Bloodmage." He looked at the Sorcerer, "You can read minds right?"

Full Spectrum nodded quietly, "Yeah, accurately too. It's against the law, but out here... I can do it. Don't like it though."

Mike turned back to the rest of the group, "Good. We'll round them up and have you scan every one of them. I don't care about that particular law in this case, I'm not harming innocents but I'm also not allowing dangerous Bloodmages into our town. We separate the Bloodmages out and figure out how to deal with them, but the civilians will be taken into custody and held IN HUMANE CONDITIONS until we decide what to do with them."

Mike surveyed his people, "Are we clear?" He received subdued agreement from everybody present and continued, "Good. I guess you need to get out of your armor Rose. Do you want us to walk away while you do?"

Rose shook her head, "Nah, I'm not as naturally exposed as you Humans." She began taking off her armor.

* * *

The strike team snuck down the rough hewn entrance hallway of the cavern. Everybody except Andrew was crowded around Chris. Andrew snuck down the cave throat in front of the group. Chris was proving his worth. He had confessed that he had figured out how to not only create and move large portals, but also to conform them to any surroundings like clay. He had one portal in front of the group and a second one behind them; an entrance and an exit. To anybody looking, they would have seen nothing out of the ordinary. Any individual could walk right into the front portal and step out of the back one and never know the difference. Chris had nearly created a safe pocket world all by shortening the hallway. He had chuckled and claimed it was just 'fun with portals'. After his chuckles died down he added that he had several more 'cards to play' if things got rough.

The team had agreed that once they were past the Abominations stationed in the hallway, Chris would drop the portals and the wolf things would be dealt with appropriately. Andrew had claimed the creatures were asleep and that he would let the team know when to drop the portals. His manner of communication would be an Equestrian Bit left on the floor. As such everybody's eyes were glued to the semi-smooth floor.

After what seemed like hours, Kaneesha spotted the Bit on the ground and Chris dropped the portals. The team turned back and saw the Abominations laying on the floor of the hallway asleep, two on the left and two on the right. Darryl, Mike, Chris, and Full Spectrum each moved in toward a single Abomination. Darryl silently drew the knife from his shoulder sheath and took up position in front of the one he had chosen. Mike unslung his trident, but kept his ring on for the moment. Chris and Full Spectrum both opened their screfulas.

Chris went first. He thrust out his left hand and a portal severed the head of his victim, the decapitated head rolling to the side. Full Spectrum used Change and Energy to multiply the gravity affecting her victim. Within half a second the Abomination was less than one Hoof tall from top to bottom, flattened by her magic. An idea struck Darryl suddenly and he sheathed his knife. He had used his Control and Fire before, but a new application had occurred to him. He held out his hands and opened his screfula. The air all around the team suddenly felt much warmer and the Abomination began glittering with ice crystals. Darryl smirked and motioned to Mike. Mike shook his head and stabbed his Abomination in the neck with the trident. The beast awoke instantly, but Mike shoved his body weight against the shaft of the trident and pinned the wolf like creature to the wall of the hallway and held it there until it stopped struggling.

After Mike removed his bloody trident from the dead Abomination everybody turned and shot Darryl puzzled looks. Darryl shrugged, "It just popped in there: I can Control Fire, but Fire deals with both heat and cold. I pulled out and dispersed all the heat from its body." He tapped the Abomination on the head with a clinking sound, "See, it's frozen solid."

R.J. chuckled darkly at the former Marine's newly discovered method of killing, "Turned his ass into a corpse-cicle."

Mike merely shook his head, "That isn't something to be particularly proud of, but it works." He turned to Andrew and Rose, "Good luck you two. We'll give you a twenty minute head start before we come in. Best of luck."

Andrew and Rose both threw smart salutes then turned and walked away.

* * *

As she stepped out into the main chamber of the cavern Rose Thorn was one nervous mare. She did her best not to stare at the cloth covered doorways which liberally littered the cavern. There had to be more than one hundred and fifty of them. The patrols of Earth Ponies and a few Pegasi paid her no mind as she trotted boldly toward the far left of the cavern. She continued walking as she mused on the discovery, 'According to Starburst each one of those small caves houses an entire family. How did all of Equestria miss this? How did the Peacemakers miss something like this back when they were active?' Her musing was brought to an abrupt halt when she heard the sound of a throat being cleared behind her. She had made it more than half way to the far side where the tunnel branched off toward where the prisoners were held.

She stopped and forced her posture and expression into neutrality as she turned and looked back over her right shoulder. A single dark blue Earth Pony stallion with a grass-green mane and tail was standing behind her while a Pegasus mare trotted away behind him shaking her head. Feigning innocent curiosity Rose Thorn tilted her head, "Is something wrong? Can't a girl go for a stroll when she can't sleep?"

The stallion smiled a cocky smile, "Well of course you can." Rose watched as his eyes trailed all over her body. She held her shudder in check. She knew full well that she was nearly the ideal picture of desirability for an Earth Pony. She was covered with toned muscle, she was just a tiny bit plump around the haunches, and her body was healthy and in very good shape. Subtly swallowing rising bile in her throat, she swished her tail in as flirtatious a manner as she could manage. She kept her pelvic curtain closed, but the tail swish was considered to almost be a invitation to flirt or expression of interest. It was the singularly most bawdy thing she had ever done.

Her gamble paid off as the stallion's nostrils flared and his eyes roamed her backside. He licked his lips and sidled up beside her, pressing against her left side in a very forward manner, "You know, with a body like yours you could have any stallion you wanted. Why haven't I seen you around here before?"

Rose fought down her rising panic and was forced to take another gamble, 'There were Diamond Dogs with the Bloodmages and Starburst did say that there were a bunch of Bloodmages who came in from other places recently... ooh I hope this works.' She ducked her head in feigned embarrassment, "I'm one of the new arrivals from the North. I'm still not that sleepy," she made a point of looking around at the other Bloodmage patrols walking around then turned back the the stallion pressed against her, "Maybe we can find a secluded place to talk? I have so much trouble sleeping in a bed that isn't my own. Are you a full Bloodmage or just a guard?"

The stallion smiled warmly, "Full Bloodmage my dear. I'm actually the head of the night patrol. I tend to have free reign at night and nopony will say anything if I decide to slip off and chat with such a pretty mare." He paused and looked at her more seriously, "Just to be safe, you aren't seeing anypony are you? I don't intrude on anypony's love interest."

Rose shook her head, "Nah, I'm not with anypony... yet."

The stallion smiled eagerly, "Would you like to compare notes about sanguine viscosity differentiations between various species? It's one of our specializations here. I'm not the best but I am responsible for the bottle and flask neck widening for samples from different species."

Rose forced an intrigued smile onto her features, "Sounds fine to me. Let's find a good spot first. I don't want to have a conversation about this in public. It would make me self-conscious and no offense, but I don't want us to end up in your place. Let's make it public but secluded."

The stallion smiled, "There's a passage down that way," he gestured toward where the Humans and Unicorns were being held. Rose realized he might even mean the same abandoned passageway in which she was supposed to meet Andrew. Even if it weren't, she could guide him to the correct one, 'It was the fifth one on the left.'

She forced down a fiendish smile and instead shrugged casually, "Sounds fine to me. Lead the way."

* * *

Andrew stepped further back into the abandoned passage way as Rose Thorn led a dark blue Earth Pony stallion into the deep shadows of the passage. The passageway was not illuminated by any of the moss that illuminated the main cavern and was quite low of light. The stallion led Rose ten Fathoms into the passageway then turned toward her and sat down, "So what's your name?"

Andrew snuck up behind the stallion while Rose slowly walked up in front of him and stepped just past his head. She reached her right foreleg up, slipping it around the stallion's neck and pushed herself up onto her hind legs. The stallion seemed to think he was being hugged and did not recognize the pose for a restraining hold. Rose Thorn leaned her head down and whispered into his ear, "Rose Thorn, Sergeant of the New Humansville Community Welfare Guardians. You're under arrest for treason against Equestria and her citizens. Will you come quietly or do we have to get physical?"

The stallion blinked twice as his mind took a few seconds to register what was happening. His muscles suddenly tensed under Rose's forelegs, but she was ready. Before he could do anything substantial, he felt himself pushed up onto his backside then pushed forcefully onto the floor. He tried to wiggle away, but Rose rolled her body to the left and took him with her. She pulled her right foreleg against his windpipe, cutting off his air, while her other legs wrapped around him in a vice like grip. He was helpless and on his back in half a second. He could not break free and he could not draw breath to call for help. Oddly enough the only thing going through his mind as his vision darkened from lack of oxygen was, 'I just wanted a hug.'

Rose waited for the stallion to go still then let go of him. She rolled over and checked his pulse, making sure he was alive, then bit onto his tail and drug him back into the dark recesses of the passageway. She let go of his tail and spoke to the shadows, "Come on Andrew we need to hurry. Tie him up while I get dressed. Where's my armor?"

* * *

Kaneesha slowly crept along the left wall of the throat of the entrance hallway and stopped behind a small boulder upon which she could rest her rifle. The small boulder sat right at the very edge of the main cavern giving her a full view of its entirety. She laid the rifle against the wall and quietly pulled her spare magazines from her belt pouches then set them on the ground to allow for easier retrieval. She was small enough to be difficult for the Ponies to see with their poor eyesight and with the addition of the boulder and her naturally dark skin tone against the mild shadows of the hallway behind her... she might as well be invisible.

Darryl took up position behind her and removed the shotgun from the bag he had stuffed it back into. He silently thanked Morris for the pump action and eight shell capacity of the internal magazine. The cartridges for the shotgun were unusual. The shells were made of solid steel but with a thin iron cap which was held in place with wax on the end. The shells were disturbingly loud when fired, but the effect was horrendous against flesh. Princess Luna had been willing to use her magic to make fake temporary clones of some of her Guards and use the dead flesh clones for target practice. A single shell could carve two dozen finger sized holes in the side of an Earth Pony clone body at ten Fathoms. Being a trained Marine, Darryl also double checked his pistol and mags for it then settled in to wait.

Mike stood back, away from the opening to the main cavern and pulled off his glove. He unshouldered his trident and laid it flat on the ground then admired the ring on his finger. Mike dropped the glove into one of his belt pouches then closed it. He needed to be able to pull off the ring if and when things went south. He would work the operation without a glove. He checked his pistol and chambered a round. Chris, R.J., and Full Spectrum stretched out their bodies. As long as they stayed close to their Captain and kept him safe their magic was going to be more than enough to handle an almost unlimited number of enemies. All they had to wait on was his removing the ring from his finger.

Mike finished counting out twenty minutes in his head and picked up his trident, "Time to start this party. Remember, pick your targets carefully. I do not want any dead non-combatants in this op. Am I clear? We do our best to sneak as close to the side passage as we can. Once we're inside remember the one where our friends and the Unicorns are being held is the eighth one on the right."

With a trio of silent nods they crouched down ready to enter the main cavern. Full Spectrum had no idea how to cast any sort of invisibility spells so they would have to rely on as much of their own stealth as they could. None of them held onto any substantial hope that they could make it to the prisoners without incident. Unfortunately as every seasoned soldier knows, 'no plan survives first contact with the enemy'. The Captain stepped out into the main cavern and R.J. followed. Full Spectrum came next and finally Chris stepped out at the back. Misfortune struck with startling speed and Chris accidentally scraped the metal armor on his leg against one of the stone pillars which sat on either side of the entrance to the cavern. Every single one of the fifteen patrolling guards looked up and zeroed in on Chris.

Chris suddenly felt his body fill with unimaginable power and at the same time he saw Mike's trident activate, "Fuck subtle." He uttered as the Bloodmages reached for their knives and began yelling for everybody to wake up.

The next chapter has already been sent to my fantastic editor (he received and edited this chapter in just a couple of hours...WOW). Please inform me of any and all typos.