Rose and Andrew stood over the dead bodies of the four Bloodmage guards who had been assigned to watch the kidnapped prisoners in their cells. Rose sat down and lifted her forehooves then ejected the empty magazine from her leg-mounted weapon. One end of the magazine clattered onto the floor while the other end splattered into the pooling blood on the ground. She slapped a second one into the magazine well of her gun then pulled back the bolt to chamber the first round. She forced her eyes away from the dead bodies and examined the environment surrounding she and her partner. The guards had been standing in front of a hallway which held individual cells extending far down into the dark recesses of the cave. All was still silent back in the main chamber, the attack had not yet begun.

"Let's get into good positions while we wait. If any Bloodmages come to us, I'll distract them and pin them down while you deal with them from the shadows. You have a pistol so then let's get them into a... what did Darryl call it? A crosseye fire?" Rose Thorn asked.

"Crossfire you mean?" Andrew asked, "Yeah that's a good idea. I'll take one side of the hallway and you take the other."

Rose shook her head as she trotted off to the left side of the hallway, "No, one of us needs to check the cells to double check and make sure our people haven't been moved."

Andrew shrugged and ambled over to the closest cell. Peeking through the iron bars he saw Tina Pho lying on the ground within the confines of the one square Fathom cell. She was hooked up to an I.V. bag which was laying on the floor nearby, but instead of draining fluid into her body, it was slowly draining it out. Andrew began to worry, Merlin was nowhere to be seen. Worriedly dashing to the next cell and peeking inside, he let out his worries in a huff of air. Merlin lay within the cell, naked on the floor, but with no I.V. in him. Andrew narrowed his eyes and was able to discern the rise and fall of the baby's chest. He was alive, if likely very cold.

Andrew ran back to where Rose Thorn had concealed herself and took up his position on the opposite side of the hallway, "They're here alright. I guess we just sit around until the at..." Andrew was cut off by the sound of gunfire and screaming, "Guess that answers my question." He drew his pistol and double checked to make sure he had a full mag, "Keep your eyes peeled Rose. I'm willing to bet things are about to get nasty."

* * *

A scattered blast of metal ripped through the chest of an Earth Pony mare as she tried to bull rush Darryl and Kaneesha. The balls of shot tore through the mare's tough skin and shredded her insides. The force of the blast threw her off her hooves and back into the mare behind her. Another mare screamed in agony as a bullet from Kaneesha's rifle pierced through her left eye and out through her right one.

Darryl cycled the pump on his black-powder shotgun and chambered the next round, "Fucking smoke!" he hissed as he lined up his next shot on a Diamond Dog who had just emerged from behind one of the many curtains. The Dog took a full blast equivalent of 00-Buck to the head, splattering blood, brains, and gore onto the curtain behind it. The smoke up where the Marine was standing was quickly becoming troublesome, but Darryl just followed any movement he could make out, 'There aren't any civilians out here yet. Hell, if I woke up to this I'd probably just curl up deeper in bed...' he fired off another at a Pegasus mare, pulping her left wing, and reconsidered his thought, 'Nah, who am I kidding, I'd be running toward the action just like any Jar-Head.' Kaneesha had already put down two more Bloodmages by the time Darryl cycled in the next shell.

R.J. was floating roughly one Hoof above the floor. He lowered his right hand from where he had thrown a lightning bolt into the side of an Earth Pony's head. The stallion had spasmed for a few seconds then dropped like a rock. A crossbow bolt whizzed past the side of R.J.'s head and the shooter stepped back behind the cover of a nearby pillar to reload. She fumbled with the mechanism of her crossbow but didn't have time to reload. A rustle of fabric next to her left ear made her look up... just in time to feel a hand descend onto her head. She twitched violently as R.J. ran the equivalent of several dozen amps through the top of her head. A Pegasus mare caught him by surprise with a solid kick to the gut. His body flew backward head first with the Pegasus mare following him on the wing. R.J. tilted his body forward and reached out his arms before the mare had any time to react. He gripped her right foreleg and pumped electricity through her body then spun in mid air and let go.

The mare flew through the air and impacted one of the pillars, hitting right in the middle of her back. Not giving her any time to recover, and already knowing how resistant Pegasi were to blunt force impacts, R.J. sailed in and began delivering a punishing series of electrified punches and kicks to the mare's face, chest, and gut. He stopped and grabbed the mare by the throat, then ran all the electricity he could, through her body. Her feathers burst into flame and her eyeballs smoldered, bulged, then popped as smoke poured out of her mouth and nostrils. R.J. threw her corpse down and turned to look for his next target.

Mike fired off four shots from his pistol at one charging mare. Three rounds opened the front of her chest and the fourth took her right in the mouth. She let lose with a gurgling dying scream as a Diamond Dog, not three Fathoms away, cut her leg and threw the blood at the Captain. He dropped his pistol and ducked behind a pillar. The blood droplets splattered against the stone, but Mike was not content to hide. He dashed out from behind the pillar gripping his trident tightly. In one swift motion he cut the Dog in half at the waist and the follow through sliced her head from her shoulders. A horrific impact to his back sent the Captain sprawling forward, his trident flying from his grasp in the process. His left shoulder struck a pillar with a loud crunch and red hot pain lanced through his whole left arm. He slumped to the ground, managing to turn around just in time to duck as a pair of hooves struck the pillar against which he was leaning. The rock exploded into pea gravel in a cloud of dust. With his head turned to the side, Mike saw his pistol.

In an action which bordered on reflex, he opened his screfula and flexed his fingers into the proper position. The gun flew into his hand, but he was holding the barrel and not the grip. As the mare reared back to kick at him again, Mike brought the grip of the pistol down right between the mare's raised legs. The mare's forelegs gave out and her body dropped to the ground as her vagina spasmed wildly from the painful impact. Not wasting any time, Mike spun the gun in his hand, reached around and emptied the rest of the magazine into the back of the mare's head.

Full Spectrum dashed over to the Captain, her screfula already opened, "Stay still, I'll heal you!"

Mike felt burning heat and frigid cold surge through his left shoulder and arm, "How are we doing?" he asked grunting in pain.

"Already have a bunch down, but there's more popping out of the stonework." She released her grip on his shoulder, "There, good to go!" She stood guard over him while he staggered to his feet.

She spotted a Zebra, the first one she had seen aside from Oriana. The Zebra stallion already had his leg cut and flung out toward her. She reached for her favorite Noun and reversed the direction and Energy of the space between her and the Zebra. A quarter of a second later the stallion let out a howl of agony and seemed to melt. Full Spectrum watched with horrified fascination, 'Huh, looks like he turned his own blood into acid or something... damn, that would have killed me for sure.' Motion out of her left eye caught her attention as three Earth Ponies fired their crossbows at her. She already had her Energy ready and threw out her hands. The crossbow bolts missed both she and the Captain as she redirected their energy. She followed it up by using Control Plants to warp the wooden crossbows and had them wrap around the necks of the unfortunate Kavim.

Chris hated doing what he was doing. With each second more and more bodies joined those who had already gone down. A screaming orange Pegasus stallion flew toward him and Chris' left hand shot out. His body was bisected almost perfectly as his portal sliced the stallion in half, from muzzle to tail. The two halves landed on the floor with a wet squelching sound and Chris saw a group of what looked to be at least ten Earth Ponies gathering together. They all had crossbows and were forming up into a type of firing line, 'Hope the Vortex Vacuum isn't as messy as the last Bloodmage I had to kill. I wasn't expecting to have to use the Vacuum Vortex tonight. Just wait till they see some of the nastier tricks Luna helped me with.'

Chris' left hand shot out toward the Earth Ponies while his right extended toward the unseen sky. He had seen it plenty of times and he already knew where the sky was. The Vortex Vacuum opened up as a spinning portal behind the Earth Ponies and all the air in the main cavern suddenly rushed toward the portal with gale-force ferocity. The other end of the portal was in the vacuum of space. The Earth Ponies were caught off guard and off balance. They were pulled off their hooves and thrown backward into the spinning portal. The razor edges of the portal ground them up like a blender in half a second, but the gibbage-and-bits were sucked into the portal, leaving no mess behind. Chris let the portal go but motion in the right side of his peripheral vision caught his attention. He turned and his hand was already flying out when he suddenly pulled it back.

A lone Earth Pony stallion had a pair of foals on his back and was running toward the exit hallway where Darryl and Kaneesha were stationed. Words ripped their way out of his mouth before he even registered the thought, "Civilians in the crowd! Civilians in the crowd!"

Darryl turned and zeroed in on the stallion running toward his position. His eyes never registered it, but his passive sense told him there were two fillies on the stallion's back. He felt Kaneesha turn and aim toward the stallion, she had no way of seeing the fillies. Darryl slapped the woman's rifle down with a yell of, "Civilians, let them go!"

The stallion put out his legs and skidded to a halt as he spotted Darryl and Kaneesha. His eyes were wide with fear and Darryl could hear the two fillies crying loudly from his back. The Marine lowered his shotgun and motioned for them to pass, "Come on! Move before you get killed!" The stallion looked down the hallway and then back at Darryl several times in seeming confusion before he swallowed hard and darted past.

The situation was becoming increasingly confusing for the team as Pegasi and Earth Ponies carrying foals emerged from their homes and ran toward the exit. They intermingled with the Bloodmages and identifying a target became next to impossible. Seeing their chance to make their move, Mike whistled sharply, "To the prisoners! Come on!"

A second call rang out in the cavern, "They're going for the Unicorns! Stop them! Block the hallway!"

Chris pulled up right next to Mike and Full Spectrum as the woman held out her hands toward a trio of Bloodmages wielding crossbows. All three burst into flames screaming and within a few heartbeats, were reduced to ashes. Chris looked ahead toward the passageway they needed to get to and saw no less than twenty Earth Ponies and Pegasi standing or hoovering in the way, with at least that same number barreling down the hallway toward the cells. The ones blocking the way had their crossbows out and many legs were already cut, ready to use their fel magic. Chris didn't dare use his Vortex Vacuum with so many civilians so close by. Using it near the middle of the cavern on a bunch of hostiles was one thing, but there were civilians too close to risk it and he had made Luna a promise that he would never intentionally harm any creature with his magic unless all affected creatures were trying to do him harm.

With a deafening crack, a series of lightning bolts strafed across the Bloodmages' line and half a second later a second one joined the first, then a third and fourth added their power. Chris followed the stream of lightning back to R.J. first then to Full Spectrum. With four bolts of continuous lightning zig-zagging back and forth across their ranks, the Bloodmages' bodies scorched and crackled as hair and flesh burnt and charred. The entire line of Kavim collapsed within a few breaths and the lightning bolts ceased. The team dashed forward leaping, or in R.J.'s case, flying over the bodies. They had to get to Rose and Andrew before the Bloodmages overwhelmed them.

Darryl saw the rest of the team run down the hallway and squared his shoulders, "It's just us two now! They'll be back when our people are safely away!" The civilians were too intermingled with the Bloodmages and Darryl didn't dare use his shotgun for fear of hitting a foal or protecting parent. He dropped the shotgun and drew his pistol, "Pick your shots carefully! We can't hit the civilians! Bring down the ones wielding crossbows or knives!" He sighted down at a Diamond Dog who was charging toward their position with its claws out.

* * *

The hallway near the prisoners was not ideal as far as defensible positions went, but it was all Rose Thorn and Andrew Masonete had. The sounds of Darryl's shotgun and the screams of pain and fear had diminished after what could only have been peals of thunder echoing through the stony corridors. The sounds of galloping hooves alerted her and Andrew to the fact that they had to soon entertain the wrong kind of company. Rose backed away from the mouth of the hallway and braced her legs. She raised her right foreleg and sighted down the barrel of her gun. She tried to force her breathing to slow down, but the adrenaline was too intense and she had to settle for a slightly shaky aim.

"Just pick your targets and bring them down as you see them. Don't worry about me." Andrew hissed to her quietly.

Rose grunted in response as the hoof steps closed in on them. As the first Pony, a Pegasus mare, rounded the corner Rose opened up on her with a tightly controlled burst of gunfire. The gyrojet rounds peppered the mare and she went down with an ear piercing scream. She had one hole in her left cheek, one in her chest, and her right wing was all but torn off. Ignoring the screaming, writhing Pegasus on the ground, Rose picked out her next target, a Diamond Dog bitch, and fired again. The Dog took the shots to her chest and stomach but kept coming. Rose fired a second burst and one of the rounds pierced the Diamond Dog in the lower jaw. Her muzzle exploded in a shower of blood and teeth, but Rose was already sighting down the next one.

Again and again she fired as the Bloodmages came closer and closer. She could hear the sound of Andrew firing his gun as often as he could, but it wasn't enough. With eleven Bloodmages less than two Fathoms away, Rose pulled on the trigger to open up with fully automatic fire... only to have the gun click empty.

Steeling herself for the probability of death, Rose Thorn launched herself bodily toward the oncoming Bloodmages with a terrible screaming bellow.

* * *

Midnight Haze saw that the battle was lost and if any of them were to survive they had to withdraw as quickly as possible, "Retreat! Get whatever prisoners you can and retreat!"

She ignored the Earth Pony mare who was fighting like a monster and instead zeroed in on the Human that everybody seemed to be ignoring. His attention was elsewhere, trying to pick off the Bloodmages who were fighting with the mare, and did not notice the Pegasus mare with bloody hooves flying up to his blind side. She aimed and uttered a few words then threw her blood.

The Human took the full force of the hit to his back and head and went flying like a sack of potatoes, 'Too bad I didn't have time to use Bloody Death.' She then turned her attention to the cells, 'The little one should keep for a long while and he's the most powerful.'

* * *

With a clear line of sight to the passageway which led to the cells, Chris opened a pair of portals and ran through, way ahead of the others. Motion caught his eye and he spotted the same Pegasus mare from the attack, Midnight Haze. She was holding Merlin in one hoof and using the other to draw a circle on the floor with a piece of chalk. Without a moment to lose, Chris opened up a portal right behind her and stepped through. He misjudged how close he was and ended up bumping right into Midnight Haze' backside. She spun around, dropped Merlin, and almost finished speaking the words, ending with, "Huh?" Instead of what she meant to say.

The circle lit up and the Pegasus and Chris vanished. Merlin had rolled out of the circle, but Chris and Midnight Haze were gone.

The next chapter is almost ready. Stay tuned for an unusual turn. SLAY ALL TYPOS!