Jaze and his two friends had been searching fruitlessly for hours. They had found all manner of rooms; from a cafeteria, to several restrooms, and even many barracks-style rooms with thousands of beds awaiting someone to sleep in them. The problem was that there were not enough traitorous humans to fill all the beds, so the Colonel’s mind was forced to wonder just where the extra bodies were going to come from. Even more troubling was that the beds seemed to be too small for an adult, and the assassin’s mind churned with all the implications of their discoveries.

The few things they didn’t find were the foals, their friends, or any kind of resistance. Each second that passed without seeing someone else made the dark-haired man’s mind conjure up images of ambushes and other nasty surprises. But nothing had happened yet, and his anxiety continued to grow.

Another turn of the hall ways brought him to a series of evenly spaced doors on his left. The hallway was a dead end, so Jaze moved to the first door and touched the button next to it, stepping inside as it slid open, pistol held high and ready. As the door flashed shut behind him, his silver eyes scanned the room he had found. As with the rest of the base, its walls were a stark white, but after that the similarity ended. Three waist-high black-topped tables with odd stains on their surfaces standing in a row took up the center of the room while the edges of the room had glass-faced, metal cabinets holding beakers of various chemicals, tons of lab equipment from microscopes to dissection kits, and other strange implements that the soldier could not give a name. A few of the cabinets held various types of saws, both hand and powered, as well as other large, sharp instruments. On the right wall was a door leading to the next room.

To his left in a corner a stood a tall, metal bookshelf, almost over flowing with a mass of papers. He ignored the rest of the room and walked towards the mess, hoping to find some clue as to what had been going on. He holstered his gun and ruffled through the various articles. Most were incomprehensible graphs and data, a few were equally unreadable shorthand notes, but one form caught his eye. It was a thick document, at least ten pages stapled at the corner to keep them together, buried underneath a stack of other documents that seemed to be more of the raw data. Jaze threw a quick glance around the room before pulling out the essay. Its title identified it as a report of some form of experiment, and the soldier glanced at the first page in curiosity.

On each new planet humanity colonizes there are new flora and fauna to behold. Every new creature has great potential, either for good or ill. But each new species that has been found is always unintelligent. Never before has another intelligent race been found by any explorers of a new world, until now. Not just one, but several species have been observed on this new planet, though the dominant form seems to be a type of equine similar to a pony from Earth with some distinct differences.

Jaze’s eyes widened as he realized that Carn had to have been spying on several of the other races besides the Equestrians. Even though he was dead, knowing Carn had been gathering intelligence on so many spoke of some grander scheme that filled the scarred soldier with worry. What that plan could be, the Colonel didn’t know, but he was glad that the insane man’s plans had been stopped with his death. The dark-haired man skipped down several paragraphs to get through the exposition of the paper and picked up at a random place:

The next specimen is of the winged variety, taken after the attack of their city made of clouds. Like the rest of the specimens euthanized during the conflict, this one suffered extensive damage; most notably to the cranium having taken two separate gunshot wounds that obliterated much of the head. The rest of the body was intact, however, and dissection was carried out before rigor mortis could set in fully. The specimen, a female of orange coat, was spread out in preparation for dissection before a single cut was made starting at the base of the neck to just above the groin…

A wave of nausea overcame the silver-eyed soldier as he realized what he was reading. Sickness slowly turned to anger as his vision reddened and his grip on the paper tightened. That anyone could treat the dead of Cloudsdale with such cold-heartedness made the man’s blood boil. He managed to calm himself enough to keep reading, though he once more skipped ahead to avoid the ruthless descriptions that had been written and read only the last few paragraphs:

It is believed that while these equines appearance is like that of those from Earth, they are vastly different. Their organ structure, for example, is more closely related to that of a human’s and even seems as if these equines could be omnivorous. In fact, a few of the examined specimens were found to have ingested eggs, though predominantly they are herbivorous. Even their DNA is immensely different, having fewer chromosomal pairs and matching the human number of twenty-three.

The original purpose of this experiment, however, was to examine ways of giving mechanical additions to an equine subject, most specifically modifications to the brain. As shown with subject 009, stable modifications are nigh impossible and the subject is only still alive through the use of life supporting machines, though she has stated that she is in great pain on several occasions. The other ten subjects have all either expired, or become functionally brain-dead and been terminated.

It is believed the failure is caused by a very slight change of brain chemistry and structure; though the equines’ brains are close enough to that of a human’s that additions will be possible with further study. The differences causes rejection of cybernetic limbs, and more often than not the body reacts violently to the chemicals needed to ensure the limb’s proper functioning. This violent reaction usually destroys the brain or shuts down the nervous system, with visible rashes and sores being less common though observed.

In conclusion, the equines will be viable candidates for the project provided necessary modifications to the systems are made. What those changes will be, and how long it will take is unclear, but further testing will further the understanding of the equines’ physiology. More specimens are needed in better condition than have been previously used. Suggest collecting specimens peacefully then using lethal injection to preserve the bodies for testing.

Anger once more raged unchecked through Jaze’s mind, and he stomped over to the trio of tables in the center of the room. The table tops, as he suspected, were stained with blood that had been hastily scrubbed away. His hand lay on the table as fury stormed in his eyes. Trying to get his emotions under control was a losing battle, and his anger grew as he realized what was going to happen to the foals that had been brought here.

“You sick bastards!” Jaze screamed as he grabbed and threw the table into the cabinets in a blind rage. He immediately regretted it when a loud crash of breaking glass rang out and probably alerted every being around to where he was. Despite the fact he may get killed, the Colonel desperately wished for someone to come investigate the noise so he could have someone to unleash his pent up fury upon.

A sound brought the scarred man spinning towards the door on the right of the room. It was almost nonexistent, but he was just barely able to catch it. He retrieved his weapon from the cabinet and moved next to the metal door, pressing his ear against it in an attempt to make out the sound a bit better.

It was a pained, female voice that croaked, still barely audible, “H-hello? Is anypony there? P-please, can somepony please h-help me?” He could hear the tears in her voice as she spoke, and knew voice had to belong to the mare that had been mentioned in the report. His hand reached out and hit the open button for the portal, and stepped into the next room as it opened before him.

This room seemed to be some form of medical bay. It had medical equipment strewn all over, with a single operating table in the center that had a large light above it to keep the patient well lit. But nopony seemed to have been in this room, and Jaze looked up to see another door, this one already held open.

Past the metal frame was what looked to be a patients’ recovery room from any sickbay or camp medic tent in any army throughout history. Several beds were lined up and down both sides with curtains that could be drawn around the patients to give some modicum of privacy. All of the beds stood empty with the exception of the last one on the left, which had its curtains drawn.

Jaze moved towards the hidden bed, and groans made their way to his ears. Someone was definitely behind the curtains, and whoever it was obviously wish she wasn’t there. As he moved closer to the hidden form, sniffles began making themselves heard as well as a low beeping as of medical equipment. Every step he took felt like a mile; he needed to reach the bed to help the poor soul, but he almost feverishly wished he didn’t have to look. He took slow, cautious steps, trying to keep quiet as he inched closer.

“I can hear you, what is it now?” the mare asked in her pained voice, “More tests? Please, you can’t do this! I just want it to end; I want to see my husband and my baby again.” The silver-eyed soldier gave one last glance around before wrapping his hand around the curtains and giving them a quick yank. “Oh thank Celestia; you’re not one of those doctors.”

“No, I’m not.” Jaze whispered as he looked her over. Her mane had been shaved away, and atop her head was a long scar that ran from her forehead all the way to the back of her skull. The right eye was concealed beneath a black patch, while the other was red-rimmed and bloodshot. Continuing down from her face, her injuries only got worse. One foreleg was wrapped in a cast, obviously broken, and her ribs too had been tightly bound. The good leg had a pair of hoses jammed into it which were connected to a blood circulator. A small mask covered her nose to force air into and out of her lungs, though it kept her mouth free to be able to speak. Yet another machine monitored her heartbeat,

Her snow-white coat was messed from days without being cleaned, and peeking out from behind her back were the nubs of her wings tightly bound in white linen. Seeing those wings made him realize who the mare was; his face twisted into a mask of sadness and pain at the wretched creature looking up at him, her identity weighing heavily on his mind.

“Why do you look so familiar?” the mare asked hesitantly, “I have seen you somewhere…” She trailed off as she tried to place his face, but the exertion was obviously painful and Jaze wished to spare her more torment.

“Of course you have,” The scarred soldier’s voice was low and choked with emotion, and he knelt next to the white mare’s bed “I was the one who took Zephyr from you at Cloudsdale.”

For a brief moment confusion filled the mother’s one good eye before understanding brought tears of relief to her eyes, “Zephyr, my baby? She’s okay?”

“She sure is,” Jaze beamed, though his eyes threatened to tear up as well, “and she misses you terribly. She’ll be glad to see you again.”

A look of deep sadness filled the mare’s eyes and she began to sob, “I c-can’t go back to h-her like th-this. It’d break her heart!” She turned her blue eyes, an exact match to her daughter’s, to the machines next to her, “I c-can’t even l-leave this bed; w-without these machines I would d-die. And it h-hurts so b-bad, everything hurts.”

“How did you survive?” the dark-haired assassin asked in wonder, “The last thing I saw was you getting shot in your wings…”

“My wings wouldn’t let me fly, but the slowed me enough that when I hit a tall tree on the way down it only broke most of my bones. These cruel things found me, half dead, and brought me here.” A hoof came up to his arm as pain and fear filled her eyes, “As soon as I woke up, they started doing horrible experiments to me and the other’s they had found. The rest of them all died, but they hooked me up to this stuff and kept me alive.” A sudden thought crossed her mind and made her shudder, “I am alive right? Or did I die and this is my punishment?”

“Don’t worry, you’re alive and we can fix this.” Jaze let an encouraging smile creep across his face, “The StarSide Marine Corps has some of the best doctors in the known universe, and now we have unicorn doctors with magic. There’s nothing that we couldn’t fix.”

“They put something in my head.” she admitted, terror causing her voice to quake, “I don’t know what it’s supposed to do, but what if it makes me go crazy and hurt somepony? What if I hurt Zephyr?”

Jaze forced his smile to stay in place, “Come on, just listen to me. Zephyr needs you, and seeing you again would make her the happiest little filly in the world.”

“She would be terrified of me!” the mare screamed in anguish, “I look like a monster, and for all I know they made me one! And everything hurts so bad; I feel like my brain is on fire!” Her voice became soft and pleading, “Please, just finish me. Turn off the machines and let this pain stop. I just want everything to end; I don’t want any more pain.”

“No,” he responded quickly, “you’ve got a filly to look after who wants nothing more than to see her mother again. You owe it to her to try at least.”

“I did try! But I am too weak, and I can’t let her see what’s happened to me. Better to let her remember me as I was and not as I am.” Her tone became even more pleading, “She’s barely three, do you think she would understand? And what if I were to die in front of her again? She couldn’t handle it! Please, just let it end. Turn off the machine and walk away.”

“No.” At his simple statement, ire flared in the broken pegasus’s eyes, but before she could say a word he continued. “I won’t just turn off the machines; you’ve gone through enough already. If I have to do it, then it’s going to be as quick as I can make it.”

A sigh of relief crossed her lips as the mare relaxed, “Thank you, now I can join Cross Winds.”

Jaze’s pistol rested against the side of her head, his finger creaking on the trigger, “Don’t worry, it’ll be quick and you won’t feel a thing…”

A single gunshot rang out from nearby and made Dmitri jump in surprise. He had heard the sounds of battle coming from a ways down the hall, but this closer shot had him worried. Applejack had finished her section quickly and was helping him to search his, though it seemed to spread on and on indefinitely. But now he feared what had happened to one of his friends and decided that he needed to find them.

Before he could move a man came, sprinting and huffing for breath, around the corner with the fillies in tow. One was a unicorn, another a pegasus, and the final one was an earth filly. The man slid to a stop a few feet away from the young pilot, who had brought up his gun and had it trained on his chest. The man had false green eyes, graying brown hair, and slowly put his hands up in a sign of defeat to show they were empty. The young ponies milled around behind the graying man, peeking out from behind his legs to stare in wide eyed wonder at the gun-wielding soldier.

Sands waved with his gun to away from the other man and growled, “Send them over, and I won’t turn your face to mush.”

Bright green eyes stared at him unafraid and he whispered to the ponies behind his legs, “Go on, do what he says girls.” As the three ponies hung their heads and moved away, he continued, “You’re not going to hurt them, are you?”

“What? Of course not, why would we when we came here to rescue them?!” Dmitri turned back down the hall and yelled as loud as he could, “Applejack! I found three of the kids!”

The earth filly perked up at hearing the name, and her mouth broke into a wide smile while her eyes shined with happiness and she cried out, “Wait, Applejack?! Ya mean mah sister’s here?!”

“So you’re Applejack’s sister huh?” Sands said as he gave a grin, “Applebloom, right? Don’t worry, she’ll be here soon.” He turned his gaze back to the man standing a few feet away, “And as for you, no sudden moves. I really don’t want these girls to see what you look like on the inside, traitor.”

“Hang on a second,” the green-eyed man said confusedly, “you’re one of the intruders, aren’t you?”

“Uh, duh genius.” mocked the pilot, “What did you think?”

“But I, I thought,” the grayed man slapped a hand to his face in realization, “I done goofed.”

“What do you mean you ‘done goofed’?”

“I thought you were here to kill me for dropping that Cye trooper.” the fake-eyed man admitted, wincing at his own stupidity.

Applebloom stopped halfway between the two men and asked with wide, imploring eyes, “Yer not gonna hurt Cameron are ya mister? He’s a nice un’, he did save us from that one metal feller before.”

Dmitri glanced down to the young earth filly, and then down to another two pairs of puppy dog eyes staring up from his legs. He heaved a sigh and let his guns sink toward the ground, “I guess that I don’t have to, since you brought these three here. If,” he added as the other man’s face became hopeful, “and only if you tell us where the rest of the little ones are. And where Rainbow Dash is; she’s a light blue pony with a rainbow mane tail.”

“The kids’re nearby,” Cameron nodded down the hall, “just up thataway in fact. The other one should be somewhere around here I think. If you give me a minute, we can…” He trailed of as the tramp of heavy, metal feet thundered through the hall. Pale-faced terror gripped the two-time traitor and yelled, “Damn! They’re coming; we need to get the hell away, now!”

“Girls, go! Down the hall, NOW!” Dmitri screamed to the three fillies as he brought his submachine gun up, “I’ll…”

He wasn’t even able to finish before a trio of Cye troopers standing abreast sprang around the corner the four had just come from. Their guns came up and let loose a storm of death into the hall. For Cameron, there was no chance; he caught most of the rounds with his back and fell to the ground with a pained scream. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo screamed at the gunfire and ran at a dead sprint for the end of the hall where Applejack had just appeared. But Applebloom had turned at the dying man’s scream and watched in horror at the slowly spreading red pool surrounding him and his pained spasms.

Pure, primal instinct drove Sands to jump forward and tackle the young filly frozen in the hall as the android soldiers brought their rifles down to fire at the young pony. The pilot slammed into Applebloom and rolled away from where they had been; rifles barked angrily and the young man screamed in pain when a round hit just above his left knee. Intense, burning pain spread up the limb and brought a curse to his lips. His eyes rose to see the mechanical troops taking careful aim at him and the pony in his arms, and he knew that there was no way he could take them down before he became a red stain on the wall.

“DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH MY SISTER!” Applejack bellowed as she charged down the hall toward her gun wielding foes in a seething rage. She leapt the last few feet over Cameron’s still form; when her fore-hooves hit the ground she spun and channeled every ounce of momentum and strength into a rage-powered kick aimed square into the chest of the Cye trooper on the left.

The powerful blow crumpled its chest like foil and sent it flying back several feet to break apart on the wall. The other two troopers started what seemed to be slow turns with their guns raised to put the new threat down, but the furious orange storm wouldn’t abate so easily. Her gauntleted hoof dipped down and connected to her blade to yank it from its sheath. The blade’s arc carried it into the middle of the Cye trooper standing closest to her; the sword crushed and cut into the metal soldier and flung it into the next trooper in line, who was knocked to the ground.

As the last android tried to climb back to its feet, but Applejack was already standing over it. She reared up and let her free hoof join the one connected to her sword. With an inarticulate shout, she brought the metal down on her opponent and cleaved it from its left shoulder to its right hip. The now-useless hunk of metal and wiring settled to the ground on what was left of its back. An unsatisfied orange mare glared down at the fallen robot before turning and bringing a strong hind-hoof down on its head, crushing it into an unrecognizable lump of metal bits.

She turned towards the wounded soldier laying against the wall. Her usually warm, friendly face was dark and angry, though as soon as she saw the trembling pony in the human’s arms she regained a bit of her usual manner. The orange mare sat back on her haunches and held her forelegs out to the other with a gentle smile.

Little Applebloom stared at her sister, the only thing that seemed real to her in the middle of a world gone crazy. Tears filled her young eyes, and she broke away from the injured pilot’s grip to dash into the other pony’s tender embrace. Soft sobs rose from her as she buried her face in the cold metal plate on the older mare’s chest.

“Shh,” Applejack cooed softly, “s’alrigh’ little un’. Ah’m here, yer gonna be alrigh’.”

“C-Cameron,” the filly bawled, “i-is h-he…?”

The armored pony turned and looked to the form sprawled in the hall. He wasn’t moving, not even his chest appeared to be rising with breath. She looked back down to the young one staring up at her with tear-reddened eyes and gave her head a short shake. Wails rose from the young pony and she squeezed her sister in a tight hug. From the chest plate of the gold hued armor she asked, “B-but he w-wasn’t a b-bad g-guy! G-good g-guys ain’t supposed t’ d-die!”

“Sometimes,” Sands groaned in pain from where he was leaned against the wall, “bad things happen to good people. And good things happen to bad people.”

Applejack caught the pain in his voice and let her eyes roam down to the wound in his leg staining his pants crimson. “Oh Dmitri!”she yelled, “Yer hurt! Why didn’ ya say sumthin’?”

“I’ll be fine.” he assured the worried mare as he tried to climb to his feet. He managed to get standing, but as soon as he put any pressure on his leg it crumbled and brought him back to the floor.

“No ya ain’t. We gotta stop the bleedin’ or yer not gonna make it anywhere.”

The wounded pilot grimaced, “You’re right, no choice is there?”

He checked to hall to make sure they were safe before he took off his helmet. Next he fumbled with the straps to his body armor before finally managing to loosen it enough to pull it and his outer-coat over his head and leave him in the hall with just a simple, grey shirt covering his upper body. The undershirt he tore in half; folding one half and laying it over the bloody, painful mess.

“Hold that there would you?” he asked the mare as he started tearing the other half of his shirt into long strips for bandages. She obligingly placed her hoof on the makeshift patch to keep it from falling off and winced in sympathy when he jerked with pain. Soon, the cloth was stained red, and the mare’s heart ached for the young man. If he hadn’t had helped her sister, he wouldn’t have gotten shot.

He took the strips he had made and tied them end to end to make one long strip which he began winding around the wound and the makeshift patch to stem the flow of blood. The gray cloth turned red as the man tried to climb to his feet once more, and was just able to stand without toppling over. He looked down to the pony and gave a drawn smile, “I’ll be okay ‘til we get home, I think.”

Applejack stood up and wrapped her forelegs around his neck in a thankful hug, and gave his cheek a quick peck of gratitude, “Thanks a bunch. If it weren’t fer ya, Applebloom woulda gotten hurt.” She fell back to all fours and gathered the fillies to her and herded them down the hall, leaving behind a very confused soldier staring after her.

The comm unit in his ear buzzed and Vincent’s voice crackled through it, “Come on, someone answer dammit!”

Dmitri’s hand flew to the unit in his ear and he quickly called, “Vincent! I hear you! It’s Dmitri.”

Relief flooded the voice in the comm, “Finally! Been flicking through channels trying to reach someone for several minutes.” Disdain replaced relief as he added, “Wouldn’t have minded a different person though.”

Applejack stared back at him from up the hall with a hopeful look on her face as Sands asked, “Where are you guys? We’ve been all over and haven’t found you. Was it you guys doing the shooting we heard?”

“Prolly, but we’ve been done for a while. I’ve been cycling channels on this POS comm since.” Vincent answered.

Dmitri glanced back to the still forms sprawled in the passage. “We ran into a bit of trouble ourselves.” he acknowledged sadly. The sandy-haired man gave his head a quick shake to chase away the regret starting to enter it before adding, “We did manage to find three of the foals, me and Applejack did. We need to find Jaze still; I think he found a bit of trouble too.”

“That’s all you did, find three of the ponies?” Vincent mocked, “We’ve got the rest, found ‘em while I tried to raise someone. And we destroyed a jammer, which is why you and I can have this little chat.”

Shelby’s voice suddenly echoed down the hall, “MARCO!”

Dmitri laughed, and added, “Thank you Shelby, I can find you now.”

The boisterous women’s voice replied in amusement, “Good, now get your butt over here rookie, and try to bring our wayward Colonel with ya.”

“Actually boy, meet us at the elevator out of here.” Vincent ordered, “That way we can get out of here as soon as we meet up.”

“Roger that Vincent. I’ll meet you there.” His hand fell from the comm and he looked to where Applejack had taken the three ponies up the hall. She had her head poked around an unexplored hallway.

He drew a breath and hollered, “Hey, we need to find Jaze and get going. Vincent and his group found the foals, so we need to get back to them and get the foals out. Not to mention we still have to find Rainbow Dash.”

“Yeah, about that…” the armored mare called back, “Ah saw somepony all shady lookin’ come outta one’a these here rooms. Maybe that’s something?”

Dmitri limped down the hall with one hand on his left thigh to steady the limb and the other holding his submachine gun in a tight grip. Every time his left foot hit the floor he winced from the angry hole in his leg sending another dose of hot pain up his body. By the time he reached the side hall he was panting from the strain, but he refused Applejack’s silent offer of help with a quick shake of his head. He looked down the hall; it seemed normal enough.

He threw out of the corner of his mouth, “Maybe, maybe not. I’ll check it out; you get this bunch with the rest of the kids.”

“But Dmitri, yer…”

“I’m the one with the gun, and don’t forget I only got hurt because I jumped forward like an idiot.” He flashed his teeth in a quick smile, “I can take care of myself. Don’t worry, I’ll be just fine.”

Applejack looked down to the three fillies clustered around her, each with eyes wider than the last. A hand landed on her shoulders and drew her eyes back to the pilot’s. He wore a slight, confident smirk that managed to put her at ease and allow her to say, “Alrigh’, Ah’ll go.” She stood and shoved a hoof into his chest forcefully to punctuate each word as she hissed, “But, ya, better, come, back, safe! Ya, hear?”

His hand rubbed at the sore spot while a short chuckle escaped his best attempts to hold it in, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back before you know it. With Dash.”

She gave a nod and turned down the hall to leave with the three stunned fillies in tow, heading towards where they had heard Shelby’s voice. Sands watched them get around the first corner before turning back to the hall he had yet to explore. No one was moving down it now, but he had to assume that the sounds of gunfire would draw someone to investigate sooner or later. It was a hall like every other, blank white walls a few doors spaced evenly down each side.

The pilot’s gun was at the ready as he stepped into the hall and made his way to the first door on the left wall. Another keypad was next to the door, though this one beamed a bright green light. Touching a button on the keypad made the door open to reveal a closet full of cleaning supplies. Finding a piece of normalcy in the middle of a mechanical enemy’s base brought him up short for a second, but he didn’t have time to admire this new finding. He stepped back, let the door slide shut, and moved on to the next door.

This door too was unlocked and opened onto what could only be a break room. Chairs and couches were arranged around several low tables. A few of the tables had the remains of hastily consumed meals and card games. But nothing to help him find his missing cyan friend. So he stepped back out again to move on. A door a few feet down the hall on the right had a locked keypad next to it; he hoped that it being locked was a sign of something important behind it. He moved down and stood in front of the door, staring at it and praying for it to contain what he was looking for. Placing his ear against the door yielded the sound of someone whimpering.

Hope and fear filled the sandy-haired young man as he turned his attention to the keypad. Prying it open allowed him to find another line to connect directly to the computer. He spooled out a length of the cord and plugged it into the jack at the back of his neck, all the while hoping it wasn’t another rigged door.

The hall around him spun and faded away to be replaced by a computerized world. The entirety of the world consisted of a dark blue floor floating in black space. Looking down showed his seemingly-naked body as a translucent lavender, the edges of which were blurred and softened. He looked around to try and find the unlocking program. Across from where he had appeared was a black object as tall as him. He hadn’t noticed it at first because it blended in with its back ground, but a slight flicker from inside gave it away. He smiled as he moved next the thing. “Okay.” he whispered out loud to himself, “Let’s get this open.”

His arm came up from his side, and he slowly slid his arm deep into the black obelisk. The other arm soon joined the first; he took a deep breath and gently began prying the object open. It gave only reluctantly to reveal a brightly lit, pulsating gray core. A smirk touched his lips as he reached a hand out to grab the center light. As his ghostly, lavender fingers closed around the gray orb, it changed to a bright, happy green and allowed him to easily pull it from the center of the obelisk.

As soon as the orb left its housing the obelisk turned the same green as its core and began to warm to a pleasant temperature. The core itself fizzled out of computerized existence, and Dmitri felt hope rise in his chest with the orb’s disappearance. He gave one last, quick look around to be sure he hadn’t missed a trick before he began to leave.

A deep breath later he found himself back in the real world accompanied by a sense of vertigo. He quickly yanked the cord out of his neck; a jolt of pain went up his spine as he set the keypad back into the wall, noting with satisfaction that the light had turned green. Getting the pad back together only took a moment and he was quick to thumb the door open.

It opened to reveal a darkened room with a single bright light illuminating a single, mostly cyan figure stained with blood and chained at her legs so they were spread out to each corner of the table. Bile rose in his throat as he stared at the ruined wreck of the once proud athlete. Cuts roamed across her body with no apparent order and ugly purple bruises shone through the fur of her face. Both of her lips had been split by someone’s knuckles and one of her wings was stuck out at an odd, painful-looking angle. As he moved closer to the still form he noticed the smell of burnt hair, and he suddenly realized that several spots had been burned until they stood out in angry red patches.

Jaw clenched and gun held in a tight fist, Sands made his way quietly to the unmoving pony. Not even her chest seemed to rise and fall with her breathing, and he feared the worst for her. As he stepped within the small circle of light that spilled onto the floor from the over head light, he managed to see that her chest was moving, though only just. Her eyes were clenched tight, though her lids moved restlessly.

“Hey Dash,” he whispered, “wake up girl. We have to get outta here.” He removed the chains binding her limbs and let them clatter to the floor loudly.

Rainbow Dash let out a loud groan and curled into a tight ball. She delicately cracked open one eye to stare at her rescuer with a look of pain and confusion. Pain quickly consumed her and she mumbled, “Can’t be; gotta be seein’ things.”

Dmitri took the pained pegasus’ shoulders in his arms and gave them a small shake while he whispered, “Come on, wake up. It’s me; I’m here and we can leave now. But you gotta wake up.”

“Sands?” she asked in a befuddled voice, “Is it really you?”

“Damn right it is, now are you going to get up?”

“It hurts man, it hurts bad.” whimpered the rainbow-maned pony, “He tried, but I didn’t let him.” Tears welled up behind clenched eyes as she wrapped her forelegs around his shoulders, “It was so hard; he hurt me so much…” Fury suddenly filled her eyes as she whispered, “But I didn’t give him nothing! You believe me right?”

“Of course I believe you, now let’s get you home.”

“Mmm,” Dash murmured tiredly, “can’t wait…”

“And just what do you think you’re doing in here, hmm?” a cold, deadly voice asked from behind near the door. The pilot slowly turned back toward the voice to see a man with robotic-looking eyes hidden behind glasses and scars covering every inch of exposed skin standing with a smirk on his face. Shivers ran down his spine as he stared at the man in the door; already he could tell that the leering man was not someone whom he would wish to know.

The man pushed off from the door and asked again with a harsher tone, “I said, what are you doing here?”

“I’m getting my friend out of here.” Dmitri spoke confidently, but silently he prayed for the man to just walk away.

The bespectacled man’s grin somehow managed to grow even larger despite the lack of merriment on his face. Coldness that gripped the soul radiated out from the strange cyborg as he replied in a tone of mocking surprise, “Oh! So you’re the one who caused all that racket! I was wondering who interrupted my work.”

“Work?” asked the pilot, but he got the feeling he really didn’t want to know.

“Where are your manners?” His voice held the scolding tone of a mother berating an uppity child, “You should ask a man his name before demanding answers from him.” Before he could get a reply, the strange man continued, “My name is Victor, but you can call me Dr. Kanan. And you can see my work for yourself on the table behind you.”

Dmitri’s eyes went back to his groaning friend, and a sickening hate took hold of his mind. Burning rage filled him to the point that his hands shook and his knuckles turned white from gripping the submachine gun in his hands. He glared death toward the grinning tormentor and hissed, “You’re the one that did that to Dash?”

“Of course, it’s my job.” Victor made to take a step closer, but the sandy-haired young man brought his gun up to train it on his chest. The doctor’s sneer never faltered as he waggled a finger, “Now now, I’m not going to try anything. I’m an old man and you’re a bright young buck, and a soldier to boot! I know if I try anything, you’d have no reason not to send me to an early grave.”

The older man circled around slowly until he was standing beside Sands, but a few feet away. The pilot had kept the gun trained on the scarred doctor’s chest as he moved, though something stopped him from pulling the trigger. Robotic eyes regarded the mare clutching herself pitifully coolly and the first truly happy grin appeared on his face, “But I doubt you will kill me if I don’t attack you.”

“What makes you say that?” Dmitri growled, “I could kill you right now, but I’m feeling generous. I’ll take you in and let you hang for what you’ve done.”

“Oh please, you couldn’t kill me. It’s not your nature.” Grin firmly in place, Victor began to lecture, “I’ve seen men and women like you before. You’re the upstanding, noble type that doesn’t want to get their hands really dirty. Sure, you could kill someone that attacked you, or a friend in your view, but not without motivating provocation. You’d rather just let ‘the system’ handle criminals instead of doing what needs to be done.” He took a few steps nearer to the young soldier, stopping just outside of arms reach, “I know you won’t kill me, you even feel bad for killing those you do in self-defense.”

Sands’ gun wavered from the mad doctor’s chest slightly as the words struck home. No matter what he told himself the words rang true. Fingers tightened on the trigger but couldn’t put the last bit of pressure to wipe the sneer from the scar-covered man’s face. Finally, he released the tension from his arms and sighed. He felt almost trance-like as he turned an eye inward to examine his own feelings.

Finally the sandy-haired young man admitted, “I may not be able to kill you outright, but I can make damn sure you don’t get away. You will be punished for your crimes.”

“I knew it, you couldn’t…” Kanan stopped with a gasp of sudden pain and his back arched away from something at his back. The torturer turned, and Sands caught sight of a silver handled scalpel buried deep in his back. Behind the stabbed man stood Dash, leaned against her table with a look of grim satisfaction and hate on her face.

Surprise filled Victor’s face, surprise that turned to rage as he saw his killer. Hands reached out and wrapped tightly around her throat, all thoughts abandoned as he wished nothing more than vengeance. The pony could only gasp and fight back with what little strength remained in her limbs, though it was a feeble attempt that had no effect on the crazed doctor.

But the attack broke Dmitri out of his reverie; gun raised high he lunged towards the grappling combatants. His gun whipped down to the dying man’s head, striking the side of it hard enough that the blue-eyed youth’s hands numbed. The first blow knocked Kanan’s grip loose, and a second knocked him flat on the ground. The scarred-cyborg managed to rise up on one elbow and looked up to find a muzzle aimed right at his head.

Hate once more filled the young man’s eyes as he snarled, “Hope you like warm weather.” Kanan tried to raise a hand, maybe to beg for mercy. Dmitri never gave him the chance. He squeezed the trigger briefly and sent a single round right between the torturer’s robotic eyes. His head snapped back and he was dead before the shell casing clattered to the floor.

Sands searched to find a sliver of pity or regret, but all he found was a sickening hate. A groan made him spin and kneel in time to catch Dash as she fell. She gave him a weak smile as she recovered and whispered, “I’m sorry, that was stupid. I shoulda just let ya take him in for trial or whatever, but I had to do it myself ya know? I didn’t wanna risk him getting away, I couldn’t’ve taken that.”

“I know, don’t worry about it.” Dmitri threw a quick glance to the prostrate form, “No way he’s going anywhere, now let’s get you outta here. Let’s go home.”

“Home,” The pained pony spoke the word lovingly, and she finally felt real hope swell for the first time since she had been captured, “I’d like that a lot.”

He nodded and straightened to help the mare find her hooves. She was wobbly at first, but she shrugged off his helping hands, saying he was hurt too. Pain did rage in his wounded leg, but he did his best to ignore it. His injury seemed paltry next to what the pony had suffered through, and he felt guilty for even thinking he knew what pain was.

They turned back to the door to see a cream-colored unicorn stallion with a deep red mane and tail staring at the slain man. Ruby eyes bulged in fear as he caught the young man’s eyes, and the unicorn seemed frozen in place. Dmitri gave a brief, encouraging smile and said, “Hey, don’t know where you came from or how you managed to escape, but we’re getting outta here. You can come along with us, we’ll get you out.”

“You, you killed, he’s…” the unicorn stammered as his eyes passed between the dead man and his killer.

Dash’s eyes flashed recognition, and she whispered, “Don’t let him escape, I know that voice.”

Sands brought up his weapon and pointed it at the pony in the door, but confusion furrowed his brow. He looked down and asked out of the side of his mouth, “What, who is he?”

“He’s the one that sold out everypony.”

The youth was too tired for anger as he took a firmer grip on his weapon. He could almost taste the fear as the pony’s attention went to the weapon now pointed in his direction. Despite his wish for it to just be over, Sands put on his best glare and growled. “Don’t move, or I’ll drop you. You’re coming with us.”

Silence filled the room as Jaze yanked the curtains closed around the occupied bed. Flecks of blood colored his hands, and a sink tucked away in a corner served to remove the last vestiges of the mare’s life from his. Her smile, her relief, at the very end was the only thing he tried to keep in his mind as water ran red into the drain. A few towels were stashed under the sink, and he used one to dry off his hands before tossing it into the sink.

Illness settled in his stomach in spite of his best attempts to force it away. The images from just a moment ago were burned into his retinas and assaulted him anytime he so much as blinked. He tried to force down any thought at all, but nothing worked. Nothing could change what he had done, and he knew it. He slammed a fist into the wall in front of him in frustration. All the ability he supposedly had, and he couldn’t save a single life.

A terrible thought struck him, one that filled him with sickening dread. What would he tell Zephyr, how could he even face her? He had been given another chance to save the filly’s mother, and he had let it slip through his fingers. Bitter tears fought to escape his eyes as his hands wrapped around the edges of the sink, though he managed to fight them back.

Rapid tapping noises like metal being clapped together brought him around to see one of the gangly, assassin-type androids barreling down the rows of beds toward him. It was ducked low with both of its wrist-blades extended and held out to its sides in preparation for a quick kill. Jaze realized he had dropped his gun at some point, and he barely had time to yank out Sairugi before the robot was on top of him.

It raised its blades high and dropped them down in one inhumanly fluid move. The Colonel held his sword above him at an angle to block the strikes; they fell in quick succession and felt like hammer strikes from on high as they bounced off his angled weapon. The android wasted no time and launched a lightning-fast slash aimed at the left side of his exposed ribs. He launched himself away and tucked into a roll, coming to his feet well outside the android’s range.

A bluish-silver glow enveloped his hand as the scarred soldier reached out with his magic and took hold on one of the unoccupied beds. He threw it at the robot’s head with an inarticulate scream of rage. He hoped that the unexpected move would bring a quick end to the fight, but his hopes were dashed when a wrist-blade neatly bisected the bed.

His foe didn’t even slow and closed in as Jaze took his sword in a firm, two handed grip. The android swept its blade down diagonally at his neck, and metal crashed into metal as the raven-haired man brought up his own weapon to meet it. Shock rippled up the human’s arms from the savage blow. Before the ring of steel had even faded the robotic assassin swept his blade in a flat arc at his thigh.

Jaze leapt back away from the blade and lunged forward as soon as his feet hit the floor. The curved blade looked like flowing mercury as he brought it up aimed between the android’s legs. His foe crossed its blades, caught the katana, and stopped it cold. The robot lunged forward with its weight behind one of its shoulders aimed at the Colonel’s chest; the heavy blow knocked the breath from his lungs and made him stagger back a few steps before he could catch himself.

He dove back again to avoid a pair of crossed strikes as he tried to catch his breath, once more springing to his feet from a tight roll. Sweat poured down his face and he was already panting from the fight. Knowing that time was not an ally in this fight, his bluish-silver eyes urgently searched for some way to finish it. The beds once more caught his eye, and his hands came up once more. The aura of magic surrounded his hands; energy charged the air and magic surrounded the empty cots. A smirk touched the assassin’s lips and brought all the beds together to smash into the robotic-menace.

It didn’t even try to block. Instead, it leapt and stuck to the ceiling, glaring down at its prey with bright red eyes. Somehow the freakish machine could cling to walls. The beds crashed together into a pile underneath it as it stared at the stunned man in a way that seemed almost mocking, for a machine. The android assassin took two steps along the ceiling and pushed off towards the scarred soldier with its blades ready to spear him.

Jaze spun around the attack and continued until he was standing behind his opponent. His blade held parallel to the floor, he threw his weight behind the sword and lunged to stab his foe in the back. The android dropped into a deep squat, and in one quick motion spun and swept the human’s legs from under him. A grunt of pain escaped Jaze’s lips as he fell on his side and was forced to roll away along the floor. He found his feet with his back to the pile of beds.

The android pressed the attack by throwing out a series of quick slashes aimed at the silver-eyed man’s head, neck, and chest. He managed to block or avoid most of the blows, though one skirted along his breastplate without so much as scratching the enchanted metal. His arms were starting to tire from the near-constant impact of sword-on-sword, and he knew that he couldn’t let the fight drag on any longer. He brought his sword up and snapped it down at the android with all the strength in his two-handed grip. Metal rang brightly as the android stumbled back several steps from the blow.

The door leading to the hall caught his attention, and soon he had dashed past his foe to reach the hall. He hoped to gain a bit of breathing room, but he could feel the metal monstrosity hot on his heels. Stepping back into the stark hallway, he spun and brought his sword in a sweeping arc at the robot’s legs. It easily blocked the wild strike and countered by slapping the flat of its blade against the Colonel’s wrist.

Sairugi was knocked out of Jaze’s hands from the powerful blow. The robot’s wrist-blade retracted as it grabbed the soldier and slammed him into the wall across from the door. Struggling proved useless as metal eyes lifelessly studied the armor protecting its foe. The Colonel couldn’t draw breath past the metal hand at his throat and his vision receded until all he could see was his foe planning his death. He glared as best he could at the android, silently urging it to get on with it. A slender metal arm drew back, the blade held flat and aimed square at his chest.

Trixie’s hooves pounded against the floor as she sprinted down the blank hall. Her breath was ragged from running and she was nearly spent. She had heard the clash of metal and hoped it was Jaze. The sound of battle had started quiet but had grown louder as she drew closer. Nothing mattered more to her than finding the source of the commotion.

Even the air felt like it was against her and was purposefully thickening to slow her down. She ground her teeth in frustration; she knew she was exhausting herself but she couldn’t slow down even if her life depended on it. Every breath burned in her lungs while sweat rolled down her face and into her eyes.

From somewhere up ahead she could hear the clash of swords getting louder until it finally reached a crescendo and was silenced. The battle seemed like it had come from just around the corner. She poured every bit of speed into her hooves as she could and managed to make it around to see a slender Cye assassin pulling its arm back to stab Jaze. Panic seized the azure unicorn and she screamed, high and keening, “JAZE!”

As the battling pair turned to see what had made the noise, the magician realized she only had one choice. Her horn began to glow as she took careful aim at the cybernetic assassin. Brief, disjointed images of the fight in the rain tried to force themselves to the fore of her mind and stop her use of magic, but she replaced those hated memories with the tableau before her. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the android making a move toward her as though it were moving through water. But it was far too late.

A single, bright blue bolt of magical energy shot from her horn and slammed into the arm that had been poised to end her love. The mechanical appendage boiled and peeled away in the searing heat of the powerful blast, leaving the robot with a smoking wreck of tangled metal where an arm had been before. The whole right side of the thing was burned black. It barely reacted to the loss of one of its limbs, the only thing it did was drop who it had been holding. The Colonel slid down the wall and fell to his side where he lay gasping.

Jaze gasped as his airway was released and blessed oxygen flowed back into his lungs, giving strength to his limbs and clearing away the cloud that had settled on his vision. Sairugi lay right next to him only a few inches away. His hand almost instinctually found the sword’s hilt and brought it closer to his body. A clawed, metal foot entered his view when the android took a bold step toward the new threat.

Eyes clear once more he looked up just in time to see another bolt of blue energy strike his opponent’s other arm and remove it in the same, destructive fashion. He climbed to his feet, a relieved sigh escaping his lips. The now-defenseless android stood its ground as the scarred man turned to glare at it. Sairugi flashed as it removed the robot’s head; the inanimate hunk of metal fell to the ground like unsupported sand as the Colonel sheathed his blade.

He began to turn back to the pony that had saved him, but was knocked to the ground by an azure blur before he could even turn halfway. A pair of soft, furred lips crashed needfully to his as the mare’s forelegs wormed around his neck. Once more he couldn’t breathe from something wrapped around his neck, though this time it was an altogether more enjoyable experience. His face warmed, and he even managed to convince himself that it was only the after effects of the magic that had passed so close to his face.

Tension slowly eased from the soldier’s shoulders the longer she held him in her embrace. Fear, anger, sadness, regret; everything faded away and gave in to simple joy. His hand came up to cradle the back of her head tenderly while the other was pressed between her shoulders. Tears burned on his face, though he couldn’t be sure if they were hers or his own.

After a brief eternity, the young mare broke the contact to give him an almost dazed stare. A soft smile eased across her face; a smile that was matched by the scarred man. His arms enfolded her and held her close. He tried to convey all his love through the simple touch, and he could feel the same effort from the limbs around his neck. For just a brief moment, the pair forgot where they were and who they were.

Trixie buried her face in her soldier’s chest, and hot, wet tears of relief rolled down her cheeks. No matter what she tried the tears wouldn’t stop. Sobs racked her body, and she desperately clutched the soldier holding her as if he would vanish. A thumb brushed her tears away as a voice whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry; I’m not going anywhere.”

“Oh Jaze!” she wailed, “I thought you dead!”

A finger brought her eyes up to his, full of love “How could I die with someone like you waiting on me?”

Before she could say anything more, the comm unit in the Colonel’s ear buzzed to life and Vincent’s worried voice nearly begged, “Come on Jaze, I know you’re out there. That Dmitri kid said you were still alive; answer dammit!”

Jaze gave the pony on his chest a sheepish grin before putting a finger to the comm and answering the call, “Vincent, good to hear from you.”

“God dammit Jaze!” the large soldier practically screamed, “I’ve been trying to reach your sorry ass forever! Where the hell have you been?”

The assassin’s eyes passed from Trixie, to the blackened android, and finally to the door he had just come through. “It’d take too long to explain. Just know that I’ve been busy.”

“Well quit working so hard and make your way back to the elevator. We’ve got the kids and your pony friend, plus someone you’re really gonna wanna meet.”

“Sounds like a date Vin, be there in five.” The Colonel shut off his comm and smiled at the pony still perched on top of him, “I think we should get moving; they’re waiting on us.”

Trixie fixed him with a serious stare and whispered, “I’m not moving until you promise you won’t leave me like that again.”

“I couldn’t leave you if I tried, Trix,” he promised with a smile. “I care too much about you.”

She nodded and pulled herself off his chest. The young Colonel rolled to his feet; his eyes went back to the fallen robot. A cheeky grin spread across his face as he stared at the scrapped android, a grin that made the young mare nervous. She waited on him to say something, to explain his smile, but as time passed he only smiled wider.

Finally she could take it no longer and asked in a frustrated voice, “What?”

“You used magic.” Jaze accused, smile still firmly on his face.

Confusion furrowed her brow as she asked again, “What?” Her eyes moved down to the slightly-smoking cybernetic assassin and realization dawned on her. She let her lips spread into a confident smile and said, “I guess I did.”

The scarred man knelt and wrapped his arms around her neck in a tight hug, and his cheek was pressed to hers. “Thank you,” he whispered warmly, “I’d be lost without you, in more ways than one.” He quickly stood and said, “Okay, let’s get out of here. Parents are probably worried sick about their foals by now.”

The elevator dinged open in front of the mass in the hall just as Jaze and Trixie reached them. The fillies and colts were talking in hushed, excited voices about the heroes that had saved them. A few recognized Twilight and were amazed that a book worm could fight at all, let alone with alien weapons. Those that knew her swarmed around the lavender unicorn and begged to be told stories of how she had learned her skills. Instead, she lectured all of them on how violence was an absolute last resort. The young ponies listened to her speaking with wide, star-struck eyes, and none dared to interrupt.

Applejack was checking her young sister’s health for the hundredth time, much to the filly’s chagrin. The pair held a heated, though whispered, argument about the older sister’s fussiness, with Applebloom trying to force away her sister’s hooves and Applejack unwilling to let go.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stood with Rainbow Dash, helping the athlete to stay on her hooves. The cyan mare hated that she needed help, especially from ponies so young, but she could barely stand, let alone move. The younger pegasus stared at Dash’s broken wing with a look of sympathy for her hero. A few feet away Sands leaned against a wall to take pressure off his leg while Shelby checked his hastily made bandages.

Vincent stared at the sandy-haired youth as he stood guard over the traitorous unicorn, and a storm of different emotions raged through him. On the one hand the kid was a cyborg and instinct made the large soldier hesitant to trust him. But on the other, the younger man had been nothing but helpful; he had even taken a bullet for one of the young ones. No matter what the ex-farmboy thought, the kid wasn’t against them. And it burned him to know that he had been so wrong.

He looked up to see Jaze walking towards him with a confused look on his face. Silver eyes passed between the larger man and the stallion under his gun. The young Colonel stood in front of them without saying a word, though questions swarmed on his face.

Vincent looked down at the fearful unicorn and growled, “This is the one who sold us out Jaze. He had a hand, er, hoof, in everything that’s happened.”

The cream-colored stallion looked up to the Colonel apologetically and said, “I didn’t know that any of this would happen, they just took me and said they’d kill me if I didn’t help! You’ve got to believe me!”

“That’s the stupidest lie I ever heard!” Dash called from her place between her young supports, “You cut some kinda deal with these guys, now you’re just tryin’ to cover your rump!”

Nervousness filled the ruby-haired unicorn at being caught, and he tried to weasel his way out, “No, you misunderstand, I…” He stopped when a gleaming blade pressed lightly to his throat; he stilled his movement and forced himself to quit breathing as a pair of cold, silver eyes regarded him emotionlessly.

“Just shut up, don’t even try to talk your way out of this.” Jaze looked around at the gathered foals, searching for one amongst the milling crow. But little Zephyr was nowhere to be found; he turned back to Vincent and asked, “Where’s Zephyr? She’s a little, gray pegasus filly.”

“They took her away when we escaped!” Sweetie Belle called out from next to Rainbow.

“Yeah, one ‘a them metal fellers took ‘er off somewheres.” Applebloom added.

“Cameron said she was ‘special’, and that somepony wanted to see her!” Scootaloo finished.

The assassin fixed a heartless glare on the unicorn, who gulped against the blade at his throat. The Colonel’s voice was low and deadly as he said, “Do you know anything about this?”

The pony looked at the sword, and waited for the pressure to leave his jugular before answering, “I know where the commander’s office is, but if I take you there he’ll kill me!”

“And if you don’t, I will kill you.” He leaned down to the unicorn’s level and whispered, “I’ll cut you a deal, you lead me to his office and I’ll give you a two day head start before I let anyone go after you.”

For a moment, the unicorn looked like he would bolt. Vincent tapped his SMG to the pony’s shoulder and gave a brief shake of his head, and from the dangerous glint in the large man’s eyes the stallion knew he wouldn’t get far. So he gave one last look around and said defeatedly, “Deal.”

“Okay, then that’s settled.” Jaze stood up and looked his large friend in the eye, “We need to get the wounded and the kids out of here. I doubt we could reach anyone from underground, so I want you to go up to surface level and call for extraction. Tell them to be fast, but do it right; I don’t want to lose anyone on this. Take Dash, Dmitri, and AJ with you. Shelby, Twilight, Trixie, and I are going to go get Zephyr; we’ll meet you back at base for drinks.” He raised an eyebrow and added, “Got it, Warrant Officer?”

Vincent looked to his love, and wished deeply that he could go with her. But the split made sense, and he wasn’t one to disobey orders, even if those orders came from a friend, and his friend had made it quite clear that it was an order. So he bit back his protests and said, “I see, you just want some alone time with the ladies. Don’t worry, I’ll get everyone out.”

“Good.” Jaze turned and looked down at the still terrified ruby-haired stallion, “Lead the way. But try anything, and you’ll die first.”

The cream-colored pony gulped, “Yes sir, I won’t try anything.”

The scarred man nodded before saying to the rest of the group, “Okay, let’s go, and make it quick.” He turned to leave, but spun back to his large friend and quickly asked, “Oh before I go, can I borrow a little ammo?” He lifted his submachine gun on its sling and gave it brief shake with the explanation, “I’m dry.”

“Sure, here.” Vincent reached into an ammo pack at the small of his back. His face suddenly wrinkled in shame and he produced a few magazines, as well as an apple-sized object.

Seeing the round item in his friend’s hand made Jaze glare at the large soldier and say, “Vin, is that a…”

“EMP grenade?” The farmboy’s face colored and he gave an embarrassed smile, “Yeeeeaah, and I’ve got a couple more.” His eyes fell to the floor in humiliation, “I forgot I had ‘em.”

One of the scarred soldier’s eyebrows raised as he slowly asked in a bitingly sarcastic tone, “You do realize where those might, just might have come in handy right?”

Vincent winced at the remark, “Eh, yessir.”

Deciding to spare his forgetful friend any further embarrassment, Jaze snagged the magazines from his friend’s hand and said, “This means you get to buy the drinks.” After the large soldier nodded, the Colonel called out, “Let’s get this done, I’m sick of this place.”

Shelby moved next to her fiancé, giving the side of his head a quick slap before prodding the traitorous stallion with her gun. The ruby-eyed pony trudged down the left hand hall a few feet before the woman pulled him up short to wait for the others. Jaze and Trixie picked their way through the foals to stand next to them, the young assassin turning and calling out, “Twilight, let’s go!”

Twilight nodded to the young Colonel, but moved closer to Rainbow Dash. Seeing the various wounds coloring her fur nearly brought the lavender unicorn to tears. But the same confident smirk still graced the pegasus’ lips as ever; she was still the same pony. Twilight wrapped her hurt friend’s neck in a hug, still biting back tears. A hoof reached back and awkwardly patted her back in what the other hoped was a comforting matter.

“Don’t worry Twilight.” Dash kept her voice confident and reassuring as she hugged her friend with one leg, “I’ll be just fine once I get home and get some rest.” She pushed her lavender friend away and gave a smile, full of pain despite her words, “And get some food. I’m starving!”

Twilight couldn’t help but laugh at her friend’s eagerness. She stepped back and tried to give a watery, confident smile of her own, “You better fill up, because there’s a few things I would like to say to you when we get back.”

The athlete winced, thinking of just how long this lecture was going to be. The lavender magician turned and made her way toward the others already trotting down the hall. The traitorous unicorn was at the fore, leading the group. Looking at him made the young mare realize she had seen him before, wearing the regalia of the Royal Guard in Canterlot. She had never spoken with him, but just knowing that one of the elite protectors of Equestria would willingly fall in with one of the biggest threats faced by pony-kind, or Gaia in general, made the bookworm want to scream in frustration. Trixie must have known he was a Guard as well, as she had a death-glare fixed on the stallion that he was studiously ignoring.

The ruby-haired stallion led them through the twists and turns of the hall, keeping his pace at a quick nervous trot. Shelby’s gun was not quite aimed at him, but it was close enough at hand that there could be no chance of escape. Each member of the rescue team had their eyes glued to the surrounding halls, just waiting for something to jump out from round a corner and try to slaughter them. But nothing happened, and seconds ticked by into minutes with only clack of boots and hooves to break the silence.

Far too soon for Twilight, they had threaded through the maze to come to a dead end with a single door lavishly decorated with what looked like gold inlays. The closer they got, the more nervous the leading stallion became. Until at last he would take not a step further and merely pointed at the door.

“That’s his office there can I go now please?” the stallion asked in one quick breath without pausing. Jaze’s eyes flashed between the door and the traitorous pony, before he finally nodded. The cream-colored unicorn turned and galloped back the way they had came without pausing to give thanks.

Shelby watched him with anger in her eyes before she dropped into a crouch and brought her gun to her shoulder. She had the sights trained on the running stallion, and growled, “I can still drop him from here Jaze. Just give me the word.”

A hand fell on the barrel of her weapon and forced it down. She looked up to see silver eyes regarding her emotionlessly. Somehow, the lack of anger was more terrifying than blinding rage, and she felt a shiver go up her spine. The chills got worse when he said, “No, I’ll keep my word and give him a two-day lead. But after that, all bets are off.”

A low whooshing noise brought the pair around, and caused everyone to bring up their weapons. The door had opened, and a sinister voice echoed from inside, “Come in boy, I haven’t got all day.”

Jaze’s face paled. He recognized that voice, but it was impossible. Everything he knew told him it was. He had to be mistaken, had to be. But Trixie confirmed his fears when she looked to him with horrified eyes and let out a terrified whisper, “Jaze, that sounded like…”

The Colonel cut her off with a nod and rushed through the door, all thoughts of caution forgotten. The azure pony charged in after him, leaving Twilight and Shelby behind in the hall. They each looked to the other in confusion before shrugging and stepping through the doorway themselves.

A large, square room spread out before them. An ornately-carved wooden chair sat stood between them and a matching desk; the high back of the chair blocked its occupant from view, but they could hear someone sniffling softly from the other side of the tall wooden seat. A series of view screens hooked to cameras all throughout the base flashed off, one by one as the chair turned around.

Zephyr was sitting and softly crying on the lap of the last person Jaze would have expected. His eyes had changed after the fragments from an exploding grenade tore them apart, the same grenade that had cost the dark-haired assassin his left hand. Whereas before only his irises had been dark, now the entire eye, white and all, were as black as starless space. Along with his eyes, his skin now had the same pallid whiteness usually reserved for a corpse. But other than that, the man sitting and smiling at the group arrayed before him looked no worse for wear after being stabbed through the heart.

His cruel smile grew as he saw the terror in the scarred soldier’s face. Mirthless laughter escaped his lips, a cold laughter that sent a deep thrill of fear through everyone who heard it. The longer he looked at the stunned young man staring at him, the harder he laughed until he was sure to shake apart from the deep guffaws.

Trixie finally found her tongue enough to choke out, “But you, you died! I saw…”

“You’re absolutely right.” the graying madman said with a smile, “I did die out there in the rain. But I have transcended death itself.” He turned his attention back to Jaze, who was still riveted in place from shock, “And now I am back to continue our little game, boy.”

The young Colonel swallowed past the lump in his throat, and forced his dry lips to speak the other man’s name, “Carn.”