Red Fern was like a sack of fish that had not been properly tied up for shipment, and now there was fish all over the floor. Sooner or later, one of those fish would flop its way across the deck and slide back into the ocean. The only real question was when exactly that would be.

The group, now five ponies strong not counting Red Fern who was undoubtedly their prisoner, was huddled around in the darkened hall, their flashlights being more than sufficient to illuminate their surroundings. Red Fern had told them everything he knew. Why he was here. What his job had been. And of course, why he had bailed last second.

The earth pony had been far too terrified to tell anything but the truth, especially after being forced to his knees before the thestral that just stared at him menacingly, by the pegasus among them.

"Tell him everything you just told us," Foxtrot had demanded, his weapon leveled at the back of Red Fern's head.

Initially Red had stuttered, not knowing what to start with, but his ability to speak was quickly found after hearing the sound of the inner workings of the gun as it was cocked. And so, like the sad sack he was, he spilled his fish all over the deck.

Nightfall stood slowly. The effects of the flashbang were not entirely gone, but he managed. At first he was entirely silent and then he slowly began to pace as he thought. Everyone watched him, all eyes glued to his thoughtful expression. "Show us," he finally said.

Before Red Fern could even say a word, he was grabbed by the shoulder and yanked upwards onto his hooves, before being shoved forward and being motioned to to start walking. He swallowed hard, still fully aware of the gun barrels pointed directly at him, each one capable of taking his life in an instant should he try anything stupid. He elected that he would not and began leading his captors to the tunnel entrance as promised.

The short trek was entirely silent, the only sound present being their hoof steps and the faint barely audible noise that their snow suits made as they moved. At the end, they were presented with the same ugly tile that they had stumbled across only minutes before. It was another locker room, this one mirroring the other exactly with only two exceptions. One was that there was no pile of bodies present in the showers and two was that a large hole had been bored through the wall opposite the entrance.

"Ta da," Red Fern said nervously, hoping to whatever god there was that he wasnt about to be executed. "There's your tunnel. Right where I said it would be. Actually, now that I think about it, I dont think I did actually tell you where it was but you get what I'm saying, right? I did say I would help you guys though. I did say that. And I have."

As Red Fern babbled on, his nerves not allowing him to stop talking, Nightfall and Paper slowly approached the hole in the wall. Bits of dirt and concrete littered the ground around the entrance along with broken shards of tile, all of it having crumbled outward and pushing the lockers aside.

"This would have taken some seriously heavy equipment," Paper noted, running a hoof along one of the tunnel walls. "They started from somewhere inside. You can tell because of the way the lockers are pushed outward instead of in."

As Paper continued to inspect the tunnel, three gun barrels were leveled at the opening, prepared to fire should anything jump out at them. Nothing did though, and they were left only with the haunting silence, a silence that was interrupted by Red and his need to keep talking.

"So, I did good, right? I showed you what you wanted. That counts for something."

"You're right," Nightfall spoke, not even bothering to face his prisoner. "You showed us exactly what we wanted. How do I know this isn't a trap?"

Red Fern went deathly quiet as his breath caught in his throat and his body began to tremble. Nightfall walked up to him and stared him straight in the eye for more than a prolonged moment. "I- I-" He couldn't even finish a thought as the thestral stared him down.

"Let him go," Nightfall suddenly said, much to everyone's surprise.

"What?"

"You heard me, Foxtrot. He's not lying to us. If he was, I'd know."

Foxtrot sighed in annoyance, having very much hoped to be allowed to push the earth pony further. Regardless of his wishes, he stepped back and allowed Red Fern to pass unchallenged.

Despite the surprise of everyone present, there were none more surprised, and by extension relieved, than Red Fern himself. "So... you mean I can go?"

"Yes," Nightfall answered calmly.

Silence fell yet again and Red Fern looked at the ponies surrounding him. "Um... okay then." Before he could even take one step back, he was suddenly yanked forward by his collar and thrown against the wall, his back hooves suspended mere inches off the ground.

"You listen to me and you listen well," Nightfall began in a dark threatening tone that sent a wave of shocking chills through Red Fern's spine. "When you have left, you will go directly to the Initiative base just west of the city. When you get there, you will go straight through the front gates and comply with any order you are given. You will then tell them that you were sent by a thestral named Nightfall and request to speak with a pony by the name of Stalwart Banner. You will tell him EVERYTHING you just told me and then speak no more of it to anyone. Afterwards, if I see you in this city ever again, I will gut you where you stand. Do you understand me!?"

"Yes, yes, yes," Red Fern cried, now trembling like he had been locked in an icebox. "Stalwart Banner. I swear on my life that I'll find him!"

"And?"

"And I'll tell him everything!" Red Fern was dropped and he fell to his knees.

"Good," Nightfall said simply, pointing down the way from which they had come. "Now go."

With little more than a fear filled whimper, Red Fern slowly crawled away from the group of ponies before clambering to his hooves, stumbling several times before managing to run away.

Nightfall let out a heavy sigh, his gaze casting downwards as he leaned against the wall, the sound of Red Fern's quick hoof steps getting fainter and fainter in his ears. A million thoughts raced through his head and a small feeling of guilt rose in his chest. He was quick to fight it off as he grabbed his rifle and motioned for Bastion and Foxtrot to take the lead into the tunnel.

As Bastion and Foxtrot cautiously proceeded forward, followed closely by Paper and Nightfall, Star Mist brought up the rear, keeping her sights on the entrance before turning and catching up with the others.

"You did the right thing," Star Mist whispered to Nightfall after allowing her NVGs to fall over her eyes.

Nightfall sighed. "I sure hope so," he said, as he proceeded head first into the dark tunnel.

One hoof in front of the other. Their progress was slow and cautious, each member of the group feeling as if their next step would be their last. As they slowly followed the tunnel, the dirt eventually gave way to concrete, stone, and the still sounds of standing water. A sewer. Their short trek had brought them into the dark underground sewage system.

Foxtrot looked down at the murky brown water below them in disgust. Thin chunks of ice quietly floated in place, having gone undisturbed for a great deal of time. He complained to himself under his breath as one by one they each jumped down into the chest high water. Though it was freezing, their snow suits kept them warm and dry.

"I dont even want to know what's under here," Bastion whispered after feeling his hooves sink to the bottom. The floor beneath him felt soft and uneven, giving way just slightly under his weight.

"Any organic matter would be long gone by now," Paper pointed out. "This is probably all run off from the snow that melts."

Foxtrot brought one hoof up out of the water, but quickly wished he hadn't after seeing that it was now covered in a black sludge. "The snow... melts?" he questioned, having only ever known temperatures below freezing.

Paper nodded. "In some places it does."

Nightfall remained silent, not bothering to comment his own thoughts. Star Mist followed his lead and remained quiet as well, patiently waiting for his orders, which came in the form of a wave of his hoof, a signal to keep moving forward.

For what felt like forever, the group trudged on through the water, their weapons and gear having been placed on their backs just above the water line. The only thing they were left with was the silence. There wasnt even the faint whistling of a draft. The dark concrete that surrounded them was rough and showed signs of decay and stress. Long cracks ran along the walls and ceiling, and discarded bricks laid in piles on the edge where it was too thin or dangerous to walk.

As they moved on, it strangely seemed as if the water was getting warmer and ice was no longer present. One look at the temperature gauges on their wrist displays showed that this was indeed the case. At first it had seemed like an anomaly, one that they all took notice of, but as they came to a large intersection, this occurrence was explained.

There, in the center of the chamber, was a pole about as tall as a pony with a single red crystal affixed to the top. Despite showing up as a bright white in the green filter of their NVGs, it glowed only faintly, casting an eerie light on the ceiling and walls.

"Is that...?"

"A fire crystal? Yes," Nightfall answered Paper, holding a hoof up to the little red gem. It was still burning hot. "It's fresh," he said, bringing his hoof down and shaking away the heat.

"Which means that someone was here recently," Foxtrot pointed out, readying his weapon instinctively. He was followed by Bastion and Star Mist, each of them covering one of the three other tunnels.

Paper instead joined Nightfall at the pole and took the crystal up in his magic, eyeing it curiously. "They probably put these down here to keep the windigos out. It would explain why there aren't any nests down here."

"Smart," Nightfall commented. He thought for a moment before continuing. "They've probably got this entire sewer lined with crystals just like these. Red Fern was telling the truth. They're using the underground to traverse the city."

"Sewers, maintenance tunnels, subway lines. They could go anywhere they wanted and we'd never be able to find them," Paper said as the possibilities began to run through his head. "How are we supposed to track them? We cant follow a trail of crystals if they're just scattered about evenly."

Nightfall slowly walked to one of the far walls and ran his hoof along it until he reached the corner. At first glance it appeared that the bricks had simply crumbled, but further investigation revealed something else. "We dont have to," Nightfall said, taking a loose brick from the wall. "Look, these bricks have been removed."

Stepping back, a clearer picture was presented to them. "You're right," Paper said, noticing long white markings that had been scratched along the walls. "They used the bricks to carve their route into the walls."

"They're road signs," Star said.

"Exactly," Nightfall confirmed. "All we have to do is follow the trail."

It was not a good idea to stalk the snowed over streets of Manehattan during the night. Windigos and ice wolves were a constant threat, but rumor always had it that much worse things went bump in the night. Wraiths were the common belief and no one ever really dared to try and disprove that theory out of fear. As for Striker, fear was not a quality he was well acquainted with, having never given much mind to rumors that were often spread over campfires. Despite not believing in these fairytales, he was more than relieved to not be traveling alone, something that he had never quite liked.

Grace, a gryphon from far off in the East, whom he had been friends with ever since beginning work for the IGS, accompanied him on this current outing. She had been spending a great deal of time in the southern districts, helping him to find out whatever they could about these mercenaries that currently threatened the Initiative, while he himself had searched the north for signs of their missing ranger team.

Now together again, their search had brought them to the city center where the trail had quite literally gone cold.

"Nothing... again," Grace grumbled, brushing the snow from her bundled up wings. She was getting very tired of chasing shadows. There were certainly signs of activity in this sector, no fresh snow having yet come to cover up the hoof prints. She counted at least twenty sets, but no ponies were around except for her partner.

"Well something happened here," Striker began, taking note of the spent casings that littered the ground. He sighed after finding that they had already grown cold, an indication that whoever was here was far off now and that tracking them would be useless. Not that they really could. All the hoof prints went back into the buildings where the floor was not covered in snow.

Grace took a few more laps around the scene in search of clues, before turning back to Striker. "We're wasting our time here," she said. "It's already getting dark and soon we wont be able to see anything at all. We should find a place to camp before midnight."

"Agreed," Striker said, dropping the casing he held and looking to the horizon. The sun was long gone and only its glow barely remained. The high council that controlled its orbit was right on schedule, just as it always was. No surprise there. He remembered having once requested that the sun be brought up early in order to disrupt a smuggling operation that was active during the night. It was a great plan that would have caught the crooks out in the open with no cover, but his idea had been shot down.

Ridiculous, they had called him. "Such things can not be tampered with," he remembered one of his superiors telling him. He had been as bold to reply with "Why not?"

His superiors had never given him an answer to that question, mostly because, and he was quite certain of this, they themselves didnt even know. As far as they were concerned, he was just that one low level agent who always had some crazy idea.

Grace was the same way, or at least he liked to think she was. Under self-exile from her homeland, she had crossed the sea and fell in with the Equestrian Intelligence Gathering Service, dedicating herself and her talents to its cause. She had spent her entire life as a soldier so it only seemed inevitable that she would end up where she was. It was funny really, how if she had never been dishonorably discharged, she would have never come to Equestria. She wouldn't be here in this city. She wouldn't be trying to save lives of ponies she had never even met before.

"I'm thinking we put some distance between us and this place and then set up camp in the high rises," Grace said, regrouping with Striker.

"Works for me," Striker replied.

And with that, they were off, leaving the scene of... whatever had happened behind them. There were no answers for them there. Tons of spent casings and hoof prints, but nothing to hint at what actually happened. No bodies, no blood pools. For all they know, the ponies who were there were just shooting into the air wildly.

So with more questions than answers, they continued onward through the dark streets of Manehattan. Cutting through buildings where they could and trudging on through the snow that covered everything, until finally they found themselves a place to rest for the night.

The logs crackled as the fire sputtered to life, the flame of a match having taken to the kindling and producing a small campfire inside the building, high up above the snowed over streets. The flames engulfed the room in a bright orange light, that cast long shadows across every wall. They had been careful with their placement of the fire, finding a place where the light would not be visible from outside.

Deep inside this interior room, it was now just warm enough to be comfortable, or at least as comfortable as one could be. The sound of ice wolves occasionally howling in the distance still sent a chill down Grace's spine, her eyes glancing over to the exits suddenly and her body growing stiff, before her gaze came back to the fire before her as she tried to find some comfort.

"Dont worry about them," Striker said suddenly, having noticed Grace tensing up whenever a long distant howl reached their ears. "They wont find us all the way up here."

Grace sighed heavily, before looking up to offer Striker a reluctant, but genuine smile. "You sound pretty sure of that," she said.

"I am," he said confidently. He looked toward the exit as one more howl came. "I'll take watch for the night," he said, gathering his gear and weapons and heading for the door.

Rounding another corner with his weapon drawn, Nightfall kept low, his head just above the water line as he waved the others to follow. They had found three more crystals and were quickly beginning to understand how these tunnels worked. For the most part, they were only normal sewers, with only a few side tunnels having been bored straight through the stone walls and into the subways.

It had been a long and quiet trek, as they slowly mapped out the system. Paper was extra careful to keep his notebooks dry, carrying them in a waterproof pouch and taking them out only when they stopped at an intersection. He was slowly beginning to get a bigger picture, having overlaid a map of the city on his own sketch. They had been walking for hours now and if his estimates were correct, they were somewhere near the east coast, only a few blocks over from the ocean.

In the darkness, they suddenly stopped again as Nightfall raised a hoof, signaling for them all to hunker down.

"Hold here," Nightfall ordered, before taking a few slow steps forward and raising his rifle once more. He was quiet for an extended moment, closing his eyes and listening to whatever sounds he could make out in the distance. "I'll be back," he said.

"Where are you going?!" Bastion exclaimed in a whisper.

"There's someone ahead," Nightfall said simply.

Everyone exchanged blank looks as their thestral friend moved forward and vanished into the darkness, beyond the green haze of their NVGs and through the void.

"What the hell is he doing?" Foxtrot complained, shifting his stance to cover their rear and leveling his rifle down the way they came.

"I have no idea," Bastion whispered.

Paper just stared out into the abyss before them, a terrible feeling coming over him as he watched Nightfall disappear.

"Trust him," Star Mist said, drawing attention to herself suddenly.

"We trust him," Bastion assured her. "He knows what he's doing."

Foxtrot gave them both a skeptical look. "He does know what he's doing, right?"

In a worried tone, Star Mist only answered with, "I hope so."

Further ahead, Nightfall remained low and out of site, being careful not to make too much noise as he moved through the water and minding the thin sheets of ice that floated around him. Had it not been for the waterproof layer in his suite, stalking someone like this would have been impossible. Around him, he could hear the faint sound of voices echoing off the walls, ones that only he and his thestral ears could hear.

Now he was much closer, having left his teammates behind, and the voices were much more clear. It was laughter, no doubt about that.

"Too easy," he was able to make out in the distance.

He dared to venture closer, more voices now becoming clear.

"They dont stand a chance," another voice sounded, this one coming from the next intersection over. "And here I thought windigos were supposed to be dangerous."

With that voice, came a faint light that only grew stronger as it exited one of the side tunnels.

Nightfall quickly dove downward, all but the top half of his head now full submerged in the water as a group of ponies passed.

"Hey now, dont get too cocky," the lead pony said as he stepped out into the intersection, a fire gem lantern attached to his hip. "We had superior firepower that time around. The worst thing you can do is under estimate them."

"Pfft, whatever, old man," another pony said, stepping into view. "We got this."

Six more ponies passed by, none of them in Initiative uniform. Instead, they wore advanced combat rigs, each one being much more personalized that what was usually seen in the Initiative. They were mercenaries, no doubt about it. All eight of them passed through the intersection, none of them aware of Nightfall's presence as they carelessly talked out loud to themselves.

Disappearing down a tunnel, they were gone as soon as they had come, their voices now dissipating back into faint echoes.

It was probably a stupid idea, but he needed to know where they were going. It was too good of an opportunity. He followed them, remaining low and keeping just far enough the whole time. The few minutes that passed felt like an eternity, as he winded down the tunnels and took note of every twist and turn.

He kept low, remaining hidden in the water and watching carefully as the mercenaries continued onward. They talked and laughed amongst themselves, entirely unaware that they were being watched. Nightfall's progress was slow, every muscle in his body remaining tense as the stalked his prey. It would only take one of them to spot him and then it would be all over. He couldn't let that happen. They couldn't even be allowed to know that these tunnels had been found. Despite the cold temperature, he could feel sweat pouring from his brow.

And then, just like that, the group disappeared.

"What the hell?" Nightfall wondered to himself as he stood up out of the water and approached the position where the mercenaries had been. It was a dead end, a brick wall that greeted and told him that there was no where left to go, and yet still somehow the mercenaries had seemed to phase straight through it.

He tested the bricks, placing a hoof against them to find that they were indeed solid. At first, he was confused, but a moment of thought was all it took for him to figure it out. He knew this trick and now it all made sense.

Nightfall returned to his team, all four of them standing close with their weapons drawn in varying directions. Star Mist felt a wave of relief wash over her as the thestral became visible once again in her green tinted view. At first, no one said anything. Then Nightfall spoke.

"I found it," he said, as if the whole situation had been resolved. "Paper, do these tunnels follow the streets exactly?"

"Uh, yeah, more or less," Paper answered, not having expected the question so suddenly. "Why?"

"I'll explain later," Nightfall said. "Right now, we need to get to the surface. Can you show me exactly where we are on the map?"

Paper pulled out two large sheets, one a map of the city, the other an overlay that he had drawn by hoof showing their approximate route through the sewers. "We're here," the unicorn said, pointing to a spot on the map only a few blocks west of the east coast. "Our route through the tunnels took us clear across the city... or at least it should have."

Nightfall inspected the map carefully, before taking a pencil from Paper and making a few marks of his own. "Here, let me see that," he said. He drew a few lines, drawing the path he had taken during his short pursuit, only to find that they lead straight to the ocean, or at least pretty damn close to it. "What's this here?" he asked, pointing to a large building on the coast.

"Looks like a warehouse of some sort," Paper answered. "Probably storage for the shipping yards back in the day." Paper had barely finished speaking when Nightfall had already began to walk off. "Where are we going?"

"Up," Nightfall answered simply, waving for everyone to follow. "Like I said, I'll explain soon. Just not here."

And with that, they began to retrace their steps, exiting out the sewers the way they had come, through the water and tunnels.

"I take it we have a solid objective now?" Bastion inquired.

"Yes," Nightfall confirmed. "There was a group of mercs ahead. I followed them and I think I know where they're main base is. We can discuss it once we get topside."

"Are we going to have to walk all the way back?" Foxtrot complained. "That's going to take too long."

Before anyone could silence Foxtrot, Paper spoke up from the rear of the group. "According to the map, there should be a subway tunnel that runs parallel to the sewer line a block down. They're connected via maintenance and the station should give us street access."

"Assuming it isn't completely snowed over," Foxtrot replied.

"If they're using these tunnels to move about the city undetected," Star Mist began, "then it's likely that they've already cleared out the snow for surface access and there hasn't been a storm in a few days."

"Good."

Grace couldn't sleep. How could she with everything that was going on? She felt as if she was running around in circles, forever chasing something that she could never actually catch. It was these kinds of times that lead only to dreams about teeth falling out or being lost in a maze. And so, she remained awake, the last smoldering embers of their now dying campfire being the only thing to keep her company.

Through tired eyes she stared up to the ceiling, it being barely visible through the hazy darkness. After what seemed like an eternity, she had had enough of it and decided to take a short walk.

"Where are you going?" Striker asked, watching his griffon friend walk past him at his lookout post.

"Out," Grace replied.

"Cant sleep?"

Grace sighed, before doubling back and taking a seat next to Striker, laying her own weapon next to his. "You ever feel like you're running as fast as you can and not going anywhere?" she asked in a somewhat annoyed tone. Before Striker could even give a suitable answer, she continued. "We've been chasing shadows for nearly a week now and what have we come up with? A whole lot of nothing. I came here, because I thought this assignment would get my mind off of everything, but it's been a disaster. I've had too much time to think."

"You want some action?" Striker inquired.

"I want anything that will give me something to do," Grace answered. "I cant stand all this... nothing!"

"Careful what you wish for," Striker warned. "You might get exactly what you want."

"So I've been told," Grace mumbled. She sighed a final time, a long white cloud escaping her beak before she finally decided to stand and head out as she had originally intended.

It was a short walk, one that only took Grace down a few floors, into the empty, quiet stillness off the dead building. She wasnt sure what this place had been in it's time, but the wide open spaces told her that it was likely an office building, much like many of the other structures that surrounded it. Then again, any dry wall was long gone, the insides having been gutted by the elements a long time ago, so there really was no way to know for sure.

She needed this. There was too much on her mind all at once. What had gone wrong. What could go wrong. And most of all, her own failures. She had hoped that this city would take her mind off of the last six months and give her a new purpose. What a fool she had been to think that she would find salvation in the ribcage of a long lost society. Still, being able to study and speculate about what was left was a welcome distraction from her usual worries.

"Don't. Move. A muscle," a voice whispered slowly and menacingly from behind.

Every feather and hair stood on end as Grace felt a cold gun barrel pressed against the back of her head, just daring her to make a move so it could end her life. A chill ran through her spine and cold sweat poured from every inch of her body as her mind raced. Damn.

Unfortunately for her, a distraction was just that, a distraction, something to take ones focus from what they should have been paying attention to. And because of it, she had been snuck up on.

Sitting down, Grace's talons were slowly raised into the air. "Dont shoot," she replied. "We can talk about this."

"I was hoping you'd say something like that," a voice sounded as four more ponies entered the room, "but now that I'm getting a good look at you, I can see there's no need for all this." The pony in front, no doubt the leader of the small band, stepped forward and removed his helmet. A thestral. An outsider like her.

"For the love of god, Foxtrot," one of the other ponies said in annoyance, removing his own helmet to reveal a crimson earth pony. "You can put that away. Can't you see she's with us?"

"I was just making sure," Foxtrot said, much to the irritation of the others, before lowering his gun and joining them.

A wave of relief washed over Grace at seeing the ponies before her. They all wore the same snow camo suites with only slight differences to accommodate for their differing loadouts. That was not the important part though. Rather, it was the patches that adorned each of their shoulders with that unmistakable navy blue lettering.

"Oh, thank god," Grace said, as a great deal of pressure was lifted from her body. "You're TRST."

"And you're IGS, right?" Nightfall responded, pointing to the patch that adorned Grace's own shoulder. "What are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Grace replied. "Last I checked the ranger teams had been recalled. You wouldn't happen to be the fifth, would you?"

"No," Nightfall replied with a shake of his head. "We're team one. We were... dispatched to investigate hostile presence in the city."

"Right..." Grace said, not believing a word that she was being fed. "You snuck out, didn't you?"

"Aw, man," Paper complained. "Is it that obvious?"

Grace only responded to that with a small chuckle. "My partner is upstairs. We can talk about it up there."

"His name wouldn't happen to be Striker, is it?" Nightfall asked.

"That's him," Grace answered. "I'm sure he'll be glad to see you guys. We've had shit for luck on our end."

Reassembling a blown apart focusing crystal filled to the brim with unstable magic was like trying to defuse a bomb. If you weren't quick enough, the timer would hit zero, and if you rushed it you risked crossing a wire and causing it to explode early. In this case, that bomb was capable of doing any number of things. Sending someone through time, teleporting them into a rock, or just straight vaporizing them were the leading theories.

Despite the tedious and difficult work, Mythic's hooves were steady and his magic was strong, the aura of his magic steadily lifting a set of tongs from a work bench and carefully picking up a shard the size of a softball. It slowly began to vibrate with greater and greater intensity as it grew closer to the piece in which it belonged to, small arcs of arcane energy shooting between them every second.

As the shard made contact, two more unicorns quickly went to work, firing thin and precise beams from their horns along the cracks while Etcher closely observed through a series of lenses. "Stop," he said suddenly, holding up a hoof, after they had been at it for several long minutes. The preparation phase alone had taken hours and they couldn't afford for this to not work.

The beams of magic ceased and everyone watched nervously as the fissure cooled, turning from a bright hot orange back into a pearly translucent white. A sigh of relief was let out by all present when nothing happened. Etcher looked back through the lenses at the now connected crystal shards as everyone waited in anticipation. The room was deathly quiet, each one of them knowing that if the shards were not properly aligned, they would have to separate the two pieces and start from scratch, a task that could prove to be even more dangerous.

Finally, Etcher removed his eye from the lenses and spoke. "We're good. We have a clean connection."

Paper Cut scraped the bottom of his boot across the wall repeatedly, doing his best to rid the rubber of the black sludge that was now frozen to it. Little by little it all came off in thin black icy chips, the bits that were stuck in the crevices of the shoe's tread pattern requiring a knife to be picked out, a slow and rather annoying process that Foxtrot followed suit in, but only stopped shortly after starting to give the unicorn a strange look.

"What?" Paper asked, noticing Foxtrot's weird gaze. "Can I help you?"

"You do realize you're a unicorn, right?" the pegasus said, motioning towards the horn that sat proudly atop Paper's head.

Paper initially only responded with a look of confusion. Of course he knew this. What did it have to do with... "Oh," he suddenly gasped as the realization came to him. With a quick flash of magic, the black and unsavory gunk slid straight off his boots. Foxtrot only had to hold up his own hooves before the same was done, the mystery goop now sitting in a frozen pile on the ground, which they quickly swept into the corner of the room where it would likely sit for another hundred or so years.

While Paper and Foxtrot finished up, Nightfall was already at work with the others.

"Underground," Agent Striker said, rolling the word around in his mouth after having heard it several times now. Nightfall had told him everything about how the mercenaries had been moving throughout the city just under their hooves. "Underground," he repeated once more as he inspected the map of the city that Nightfall had spread out on the ground. "Yes, that would certainly make sense. If what you say is true and they did manage to clear the windigos out, that network would be more than capable of taking them anywhere they needed to go in the city." He took out a marker of his own and drew 'X's over a few places. "These are all the spots where we've found evidence of activity. Spent brass casings and explosives residue mostly. There are access points to the subway lines nearby all of them."

"Which is exactly why you havent been able to track them," Nightfall said. "They've been using the underground to mask their movements. Now, I believe their base is somewhere around here." He circled several buildings along the east coast in the shipping yards.

"You still havent explained to us how you're so certain of this," Foxtrot spoke up, joining the rest of the group. There was now seven of them. Foxtrot, Paper, and Star Mist. Bastion, Striker, and Grace. And finally, of course, there was Nightfall in the center, around whom they were all gathered.

"You're right," Nightfall said. And so he explained, where he had gone and what he had seen. "The wall they came to," he said after getting to that part, "was solid, no doubt about it, but I dont think it was real."

"A barrier then," Striker said. "They're often used to hide hidden passages. Look and feel exactly like the real thing, except you can pass right through them if you have a key."

"Exactly," Nightfall confirmed.

"A key?" Star Mist questioned. "Where are we going to get a key for a magic wall?"

"It wouldn't be a key in the traditional sense," Bastion said. "Rather it would be some object with a corresponding enchantment. Most guard armor has a few enchanted strips sewn into the lining. Barrier keys are just one of the things that come standard."

"Except not every barrier can accept the same key," Striker added.

"So... how exactly are we supposed to get our hooves on a key?" Star Mist asked. "Red Fern didnt exactly mention anything about a barrier or a key."

"Dammit!" Foxtrot exclaimed. "We never should have let that bastard go! He played us!"

"Calm down," Bastion said dismissively. "He didnt play us. It's likely that he never knew either. He was a worker, remember? Hired on to do menial labor. He was far too scared to try and pull anything."

"Or," Foxtrot suggested, "we played right into his hooves. He put on an act and we fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker."

Paper and Bastion both gave the defiant pegasus a look of bemusement, before looking to Nightfall and back to Foxtrot. "No, I dont think we did," Paper replied, more than certain that Nightfall would never fall for such a trick.

"It's going to be dangerous regardless of whether you use their secret entrance or not. What exactly do you plan on doing once you're in?" Grace asked. "This is potentially the main base of a well equipped mercenary group that has already made it more than clear that they're willing to kill every last one of us if we get in their way."

"That's why we wont give them the chance," Foxtrot answered. "I say we get every capable body gathered outside, then hit them hard and fast, barrier be damned. We'll attack from every angle and smother them before they even know their on fire."

Grace cracked her talons with several audible pops. "I wouldn't mind getting some payback."

"I dont know if that's such a good idea," Paper said. "Feels like we would just be begging for more casualties. You cant forget that the MSAD mages could be in there too."

"We're going to lose more ponies no matter what we do. It's inevitable," Foxtrot claimed. "This might not be the safest way, but it's the quickest. We've been knocked down. If we dont get back up, they'll have free reign of this entire city."

"I have to agree with Foxtrot on this one," Nightfall said suddenly, causing everyone to look somewhat surprised, Foxtrot most of all. "To an extent," he added, taking notice of everyone's reaction. "Paper and Bastion are right about this. If we go in full force, we risk losing more ponies than we can afford and we have no idea what kind of tricks these guys may still have up their sleeves, but we're also trapped in this city because of them. They need to go."

"Nightfall," Bastion said. "If we commit troops to an attack on this base and it flops, they'll come after us. Not just us, but everyone back at the Project outpost. They think we're crippled. That's the only reason they havent wiped us out already. If we stir the shit, it's going to turn into a real storm and I cant have that on my conscience."

"Which is why we're going to have to do this on our own," Nightfall replied.

"We're so dead," Foxtrot muttered.

"We just need a plan."

"If it's a plan you need," Striker began, making a show of having come up with something. "Then I think I have just the idea you might be looking for."

Grace threw a talon over her eyes, joining Foxtrot in his cynicism. "Oh no."

"Hear me out," Striker pleaded. "We've been scouring this city block by block for any sign of your still missing fifth ranger team and all we ever come across is expended ordinance... spent casings mostly. If they're using mostly conventional weaponry, then it means they have to have a stockpile of munitions somewhere. If you can get in and rescue your people, we can blow their stockpile. We'll need some kind of diversion to draw them out into the city first, of course, but losing them in the snow shouldn't be too hard. That should get us the window we need."

Grace suddenly looked at Striker like he had just solved an unsolvable equation, before sighing. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but, Striker, I do believe that is actually a fairly decent plan." It was true. Given Striker's track record with "grand schemes" she really couldn't believe that she was agreeing with him. "Now if only all your other plans could be as solid," she added under her breath.

"I like it," Nightfall said simply. "But it doesn't get us anywhere with getting the MSAD out."

"I'm always down for a hot extraction," Foxtrot said, seeming more than eager to jump headlong into a firefight, perhaps a little too eager.

"No," Bastion began shaking his head. "Our priority has to be getting them out safe. This isnt a victory at any cost kind of mission."

"It's like Nightfall said, we need them gone, Bastion," Foxtrot challenged. "We save, what, a few mages and our problems suddenly vanish? No. Their objective was the MSAD and they aren't just going to let them go. They only way we stop them from counter attacking is to stop them before they can start."

"Which is why we're blowing their stockpile, Foxtrot," Bastion growled, annoyance further growing in his tone. He sighed and gave the pegasus a deathly serious look. "We are not soldiers, this isnt an army, and we are not at war. We win by living, by getting everyone out."

Foxtrot backed off, realizing that this was not something that could be negotiated. "Fine," he finally said. "But we cant just stop after this is over. We have to keep hitting them or else we risk getting hit ourselves."

"Agreed," Striker said, stepping forward and holding up the map. "Grace and I can arrange for a small scale guerilla campaign. We've got a guy in the north that we can call down to help us keep these mercs off balance for a little bit, just until people on your end can figure out what you want to do. As for the task at hoof, we'll need to do some recon before settling on anything, confirm that the MSAD mages are in fact being held here and that this isnt just an outpost."

"I can get you a bird's eye view on this place," Grace began. "I'll see what I can see from the sky, but we wont know exactly what we're walking into unless we can get someone on the inside."

"I can make that happen," Nightfall said. "Foxtrot, Bastion, Paper, Star. I'll have you guys set up on the outside, prepare to make some noise if things go sideways so I can get out."

"Wait, wait, wait," Star protested, suddenly stepping up to Nightfall. He could see that drastically worried look in her eyes, just behind her visor which hid the color of her irises. It was that same look she had had when he told her that he was being blackmailed and that they would have to wait just a little longer.

"You're going in alone?!" Star continued, a slight amount of frantic panic in her tone.

"We'll go back to the Project and get a snowsuit from one of those dead mercs," Nightfall said as if it were the simplest thing in the world. "We can sew up any holes and wash out the blood and I'll blend right in. With some luck one of them will have a key for that barrier and I should be able to walk right in and find what we're looking for without any fuss. Coupled with any navigational data Grace can get me from the air, this should be quick and over with before there's time to stir up trouble."

"I can go with you," Striker added confidently. "I've been tracking these guys for some time now, but havent had any confrontations yet. As far I know, they're not even aware the IGS has a presence in this city. I can back you up, plus two ponies looks less suspicious than a lone stranger stumbling in. All we need is a cover story."

"See?" Nightfall said, turning back to Star Mist. "Easy as that."

"No!" Star said, stepping out in front of the thestral before he could walk off. "It's not. Nightfall, they know your name. They are actively looking for you and the second they figure out it's you you're dead."

"No one else can do this, Star," Nightfall said calming, knowing full and well the actual mare that was under the helmet and that she was just worried about him. "A griffon would stand out," he continued pointing to Grace. "And everyone else here except for Striker is on that same hit list. This is a risk I have to take."

"You're going to get yourself killed," Star Mist muttered, that look in her eyes now having intensified, her pupils shrinking to pin pricks and strain clearly visible.

"For the love of god, Star. Why do even care so much?" Foxtrot complained, more than ready to get the show on the road by now. They had been standing around for far too long and he couldn't help but feel that they were wasting time at this point.

Nightfall shot Foxtrot a dirty look that the pegasus didnt quite understand, but he shut his mouth regardless and let the thestral deal with it. "I'll be okay."

"No, you guys have to listen to me," Star almost shouted. "There is someone on the inside. You talked to the prisoner back at the Project. You know we dont know who we can trust. What if you run into someone who actually knows you? What if they recognize your voice or... or your slitted eyes? You have to remember, you're not going to have that tinted visor while you're in there." It was very clear to Nightfall at this point that this was no longer Star Mist talking. Meadow Spring was now in full control and she was grasping at straws.

Nightfall glanced upwards, seeing the edge of the tinted visor the was currently retracted up over his forehead. He was the only batpony in the entirety of the TRST and consequently the only one with a special visor. Without it, his emerald eyes, that shown like the moon in the darkness were clear as day, something he had not even considered. He opened his mouth to say something, but was beat to the punch.

"She's got a good point," Bastion said.

"What's this about a mole in the TRST?" Grace asked, having heard the entirety of the conversation.

"We captured and interrogated one of the mercenaries from the attack on the Project," Foxtrot explained. "Long story short, someone in the Initiative is giving them information and they have a bounty on each of our heads."

"It's why they've been hunting down the ranger teams," Nightfall added. "There was some miscommunication and they were never able to determine which team we were in so they went after all of them."

"That's bad," Striker said. As much as Foxtrot wanted to reply with something along the lines of "No shit," he kept quiet. "If they're going after ranger teams, then we need to get this done before they mount another attack."

"We're not so sure there's going to be one."

"What do you mean?"

Nightfall sighed. "We've been doing a little digging. It seems like there was a bit of a power shift within their ranks recently. As far as I can tell, they were originally only after us, but now all they care about are the crystal fragment. It's probably why they took the MSAD mages in the first place."

"Hmm, I see."

"Yeah, this is great," Foxtrot suddenly interjected, sarcasm practically spewing forth like water from a broken fire hydrant. "I'm so glad that we're all getting up to speed on the ins and outs and that we all understand the complexity of our current situation, but how the hell are we supposed to get into that base if our most experienced infiltrator is a no go?"

Everyone was quiet, no one seeming to have an answer. It was all just as Nightfall had said earlier. Sending in any one of them was too much of a risk and a griffon would stand out. With every second of silence, it looked more and more like Striker would have to do this on his own.

"I'll do it," Star Mist said abruptly, drawing several confused gazes her way.

"You'll what?" Foxtrot asked, not entirely sure if he was hearing what he thought he was.

"I'll do it," Star Mist repeated.

Nightfall was about to say something, but never got it out before the straps on her helmet were most of the way undone. With a short series of clicks and pops, the helmet's lower plating fell open before it was lifted up and away and deposited on the ground at the mare's hooves. "They dont know all of us," Meadow Spring said, trying her best to sound confident. She gave only a sheepish smile, before realizing that everyone was staring at her in utter bewilderment.

"Okay, that makes a lot of sense now," Bastion said, remembering the conversation that they had had the previous day.

"Meadow Spring?" Paper piped up. He had been sitting in the corner with his notepad nearly this entire time, opting to write down everything that was being planned and leave the decision making to his more experienced peers. By now, his notepad was a mess, having had to erase several large section before deciding it was better to just scrap the sheet of paper and start over on the next one, especially now that the plan was being turned on its head.

"Hey guys," Meadow said, both happy that she was no longer having to keep secrets from her friends and amused at their reactions.

"Would someone mind telling us what's going on?" Grace asked, now somewhat annoyed by the fact that her and Striker were constantly having to play catch up with whatever all this was supposed to be.

"Striker, Grace. This is Meadow Spring," Nightfall introduced. Grace and Striker both offered the mare a friendly wave. "She snuck aboard this mission." He turned to Meadow and raised his voice just enough for everyone to hear him and know that he was dead serious. "And she will not be going on a recon mission into the heart of an enemy encampment."

"Nightfall, I'm the only one here who's name isnt on the roster," Meadow began. "There's no way for anyone to even know that I'm here or what I look like. I'm the only other pony who can do this without putting everything at risk."

"If she's our best option, then she should be the one to go in," Striker said, not really caring for what reasons Nightfall didnt want her to go. "She wont be alone either."

"I'm with Meadow as well," Grace said. "We cant afford to mess this up."

Nightfall lowered a mildly angry gaze over at the IGS agents and then back to Meadow, none of whom showed any sign of changing their minds. He was outnumbered on this and he knew that she was the only viable option for this mission. Despite that, he couldn't bring himself to allow it. He wouldn't put her in that situation. He would never forgive himself.

"It's decided then," Foxtrot said. "My vote goes to her. If she's been able to hide her identity this whole time, then she should do just fine."

Meadow wasnt entirely ready to hear Foxtrot backing her up for once, but it was appreciated. She could do this. She knew she could. She didnt like the look that Nightfall was giving her, but he would have to get over it. This was their only option.

"Can we talk for second?" Nightfall asked, his expression softening and his tone turning to one only of worry.

To say the least, Meadow had not expected this. She knew how stubborn he was when he had his mind set on something, especially something like this. With just a nod, the two stepped out of the room and into the next corridor over.

"You've got to be kidding me," Nightfall said before Meadow could even compose herself. He placed both hooves on her shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes. "Meadow Spring, you cant just volunteer for something like this. What ever happened to "I promise I'll keep my head down?" Whatever happened to not taking unnecessary risks?"

"What ever happened to "I trust you?"" Meadow countered. "You were about to take the exact same risk and now you're scolding me for doing it?"

"It's different," Nightfall claimed as if it really were. In truth he knew it really wasnt, but the analytical side of him that was in constant control while out on mission was quickly beginning to give way as his emotions took over.

"No it isnt, Nightfall," Meadow corrected. "We both know I have less of a chance of getting caught. It's the smart thing to do."

Meadow had expected the thestral to counter and was prepared to argue back, but he didnt. Instead, Nightfall grew dead silent, a worried frown adorning his face as he just stared at her like it was the last time he would ever see her. His hooves had fallen from her shoulders and now rested lightly on her own, caressing them slowly as his brain grinded away, battling itself as it tried to come to terms with what needed to be done. Finally, he sighed, placing his head on hers. "Be careful," he whispered as their touch quickly grew into a hug.

"I will," Meadow replied. "I promise."

Author's Notes:

I've hit a point in the story where small details play a very important role in how the story will unfold later on, so chapters are taking a bit longer than I'd like, but I'm making sure everything lines up.