The underground bunker was a wide area, reinforced with concrete walls that smelled of dank moss. Several low lamps provided dim illumination, casting the ponies within in eerie shadows. There were shelves stocked with supplies for a long siege—medical equipment, bottled water, canned food, a radio, and weapons. A small bathroom was tucked away in the back, from which came the incessant drip of a leaky faucet. Shining Armor slowly panned his vision across the room, mentally cataloging their numbers.

Fourteen staff members, and the Warden, whose stab wound was being treated by a medic. Ten Guards, including the medic and the sergeant, all of them wounded, but not badly. Then there was himself, and Phillip, who was currently pacing back and forth at the head of the room, staring at the closed metal door. They had batons, tasers, pepper spray, a few shotguns, two crossbows, one carbine, and three tear gas grenades.

Outside that door were dozens of armed and dangerous hostiles, most of which were armed, and likely several hostages. They had no chance of mounting a counter-assault like this.

"Sir?" Shining looked up at the voice and saw the young pegasus they had saved from the Warden's office. He was staggering a little and his eyes were a little unfocused—minor concussion—but he still stood at attention. Phillip stopped pacing and turned to face him.

"You all right, private?" Shining asked.

"I'll be fine, sir," he said. "But I thought I was going to die up there. I'm alive thanks to you two."

"No worries," Phillip said, and resumed pacing.

"We're just happy that you're all right," Shining said, giving the private a small smile before returning to seriousness. "Now that we're all safe, the next thing we need to do is call the mainland for backup," he announced, pointing to a large radio on the back shelf. "Get the radio up."

One of the Guards walked down to the shelf and plucked the microphone out of it's resting place. "Mayday, mayday. This is Clovenworth Prison calling Manehattan Precinct. We have a massive security failure. Multiple inmates rioting, multiple casualties, multiple hostages. We need assistance ASAP."

There was no reply. The Guard clicked the microphone a few times. "Manehattan Precinct, do you read?" Still nothing. "Hello, hello. Is anypony receiving this?" The only answer was a faint buzzing crackle of static.

"It...it's jammed," the Guard said in disbelief. "Something's blocking the signal!"

"That's impossible!" Warden Lockup said, his face pale from both shock and blood loss. "How did he get jamming equipment up here?"

"I'm beginning to think that very little is impossible where Zugzwang is concerned," Phillip muttered, still staring at the door.

"Are we ready?" Zugzwang asked the henchpony tinkering with the radio in the main security booth at the cellblock.

"Yes, sir," the pony said, setting down his smuggled tools. "With this, you'll be able to transmit to every radio in Equestria."

"Wunderbar," Zugzwang smiled, taking a seat at the cushioned wheeled chair. Levitating the microphone over to his mouth, he paused for a moment, considering his words carefully, going over the prepared speech one more time in his mind. Then he clicked down on the microphone and spoke.

Meanwhile, far away in Ponyville, a trio of figures was sitting on the balcony of a purple crystal castle, watching the clear night sky above.

"And that star there," Twilight was saying, pointing a hoof up at the distant, twinkling lights. "That's Altair."

"Which one?" Spike asked, squinting up into the darkness. "All I see is a bunch of stars."

"It's the bright one in the Aquila constellation," Twilight said. "You see the really bright one that has two stars on either side of it?"

"Oh, that one?" Spike pointed.

"Yeah, that one!" Twilight said in delight.

Beside them, Flash smiled softly. The night was quiet, a soft classical tune was playing from the radio in the room behind them, and it was just him, Twilight and Spike out here. It was nice, for once, to not have to worry about threats, or possible dangers, or criminals. To just spend time with her, not have to be the Guard...he loved it.

Leaning over, he gently kissed Twilight on the cheek. She let out a little giggle. "Flash! Not in front of Spike!"

"Oh, right," Flash said with a grin. "Spike, look away. I'm about to kiss Twilight again." Tilting her chin down, he kissed Twilight on the lips. She laughed as she kissed him back. Spike rolled his eyes in exasperation.

At that moment, the radio behind them began to buzz and crackle, the music coming to a screeching halt. All three heads turned towards it in confusion. "That's never happened before," Twilight said, crossing over to the radio and twiddling the dials. The same static was every station, hissing at them like a baby hydra. Then, all of a sudden, the radio went silent.

"Is it broken?" Spike asked, picking up the radio and giving it a little shake.

His question was answered a moment when a voice spoke from the radio. A Gerwhin accented voice as slick as oil, but as cold as ice water being poured down the listener's spine.

"Guten Abend, Equestria. My name is Zugzwang, and I am in control of Clovenworth Island."

The familiar voice chilled the room, everything seeming to freeze in place for a moment. Slowly, as if he were handling a bomb, Spike set the radio back down as the trio gathered around to listen, not knowing that the rest of the country was also listening in.

"The Guards are running, scared and incompetent. Prince Shining Armor is trapped here with me. Many have died already. I have several hostages, including a number of doctors and civilian workers. And if I see so much as a filly in a rowboat heading towards this island, I will not hesitate to start killing them. This is your only warning: stay away from Clovenworth Island. I will contact you again if I require anything else of you. Have a pleasant evening." And with a click, the voice signed off, leaving behind a dread silence in the air.

Back down in the bunker room, the trapped survivors had heard the same message, broadcast over the radio themselves. For several seconds, everypony could only stare at the contraption in disbelief.

"So he's not trying to escape?" Warden Lockup whispered.

"No," Phillip said, turning back to the door and resuming his pacing. "If he wanted to escape, he wouldn't have come here in the first place. There's something here he wants." Pausing, he strode to the door and opened the peephole, looking out into the hallway. "Hey...they're gone."

Shining stepped up and looked out the window with him. Sure enough, the hallway was empty: the inmates who'd been blocking the doorway had gone.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Phillip had just opened up the door and walked out into the hallway as if he were simply strolling out to take a walk. "Somepony has to see what Zugzwang's up to," he said flatly.

"It's not safe out there!" Shining declared, moving to try to block him.

"Ponies are dying out there, and you're letting it happen," Phillip said, a dangerous edge in his voice as he moved around the Prince and continued determinedly on his way. "If you want to hide down here, be my guest. I've got to do something."

Shining immediately moved to block him again, angered by both the stallion's idiotic stubbornness and the rude slight at his bravery and competence. "Finder, get back in the bunker. That is an order!"

Phillip stopped, glaring at him, speaking through his teeth. "I'm not a Guard anymore, and I'm not a citizen of the Crystal Empire. I don't take orders from you." He took a single step forward, sliding into an aggressive stance. "Get out of my way."

Shining considered the smaller stallion before him. He could try to force him to go back into the bunker and have him restrained to keep him from going out and getting himself killed. There was an army out there, armed and vicious; one stallion didn't stand a chance. But he could tell that Phil wouldn't go down without a fight, and Shining was not the kind of pony to pick fights.

But he also considered something else. He'd faced down greater threats than this—an invasion of Changelings, a thousand-year old wicked king, and a magic-stealing tyrant from Tartarus—and almost every time, he'd been forced to watch helplessly while others suffered. He was the Captain of the Royal Guard: wasn't it his duty to protect the helpless and innocent? Hadn't he taken a vow when he first put on that armor all those years ago? Hadn't he affirmed his duty, his destiny, the day he had earned his cutie mark?

He continued to glare for a moment more before letting out a sigh. "I'm going with you."

"No," Phillip said, his tone gentler, but just as firm as before. "You need to stay alive. You're more important."

"Either we both go out there, or neither of us do," Shining said, his tone final. Phillip glared at him in annoyance for a moment more, but finally seemed to relent, letting out a little grunt. "Sergeant Stormdust, I want two Guards guarding this hallway. We'll need a safe passage if we need to come back."

"Yes, sir," the sergeant nodded, assigning himself and a tough-looking, square-jawed brown earth pony to the task, both of them equipping themselves with shotguns.

One of the unicorn Guards levitated a taser, baton and spray bottle of mace over to Shining. "It's dangerous to go unprepared, Captain. Take these."

"Thanks," Shining said, placing these items in his belt, briefly cursing himself for being foolish enough to come unarmed. Then again, it was only supposed to be a quick inspection, to make sure that everything was in its place.

"Keep trying to raise the mainland on the radio," he instructed. "We'll be back soon. Keep each other safe." The Guards—his Guards, his soldiers, his responsibility—nodded in reply, standing tense and ready. Shining turned and saw that his "partner" had already disappeared. Growling in frustration, he trotted up the stairs, ignoring the ominous sound of the bunker door shutting and locking behind him.

Spotting a gray-tinged black tail ahead, he sped up until he'd caught up with Phil. "You know, the whole point of us working together is so we can watch each other's backs!"

"You watch your own arse, Captain," Phil replied impatiently. "I can take care of my own."

Both ponies scowling, they trotted up the stairs and into the main offices of the administrative building. There was not a pony to be seen amidst the overturned furniture and scattered papers, no sound but the soft wind outside and the tinkling of broken glass crushed beneath their hooves.

"Where'd everypony go?" Shining whispered without knowing why.

"That's what's worrying me," Phillip replied, also in a whisper, his eyes panning back and forth, seeing everything.

"You know, this feels like a trap," Shining said.

"It probably is," Phillip replied casually.

They reached the door to the outside. Phillip placed an ear against it, hearing nothing, and grabbed the knob. For a moment, he hesitated, glancing back at the Captain. Shining's horn lit up with magic, and he gave a tense nod.

Slowly, Phillip opened the door and the two ponies stepped out into the Hell that awaited them.

Author's Notes:

Now, Phillip, I know you're in a life and death situation, but that doesn't give you an excuse to be a jerk to the Prince-Captain.

Outnumbered and outgunned, do our two makeshift heroes stand a chance out there? Wait and see...