The Sacrifice of One

[Note: Not "One" from the first chapter. He is and has been dead.]

March 28, over the river beneath Canterlot

Temperature: -37 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 8:20 A.M.

Canterlot was in the distance, the frozen city coming into view through the white haze lingering in the air. Shadow had given up trying to get out of the royal guard’s grip a while ago, Clarity and him closing in on Canterlot. Clarity had her eyes closed, her head tilted downwards. She shivered from the cold wind rushing through the air, the snow that had accumulated in her mane flowing back out into the wind. Shadow stared at the frozen river below them, the water fall coming from Canterlot still flowing peacefully into it. The blizzard around them started to grow with intensity as they approached Canterlot, the snow starting to fall heavier and the wind beginning to blow harder. Shadow looked back at the carriage the two princesses were being carried in. It started to grow out of sight as the snow fell harder, a white out coming into effect in the area around them.

There was a slight popping sound in the distance and Clarity opened her eyes. The royal guard that was carrying her’s head jerked sideways, along with the royal guard carrying Shadow’s a second later after another pop in the distance, a red mist above both of their heads. The royal guards stopped flapping their wings and they let go of Clarity and Shadow, plummeting like rocks to the frozen river below. Shadow and Clarity fell for a little bit and they started flapping their wings. The wind had grown violent, the wind howling around them as they sat in the air.

“What the hell was that?” Shadow asked, looking over at Clarity. She shrugged and she made her way over to Shadow, grabbing onto him. The two princess’s carriage flew over head, not noticing Shadow and Clarity in the white out. Clarity looked at Shadow, a confused look on her face.

“What?” Shadow asked. There was a small red dot on his face, coming from the mountains. Shadow looked past Clarity at the origin of the red dot. A red laser was coming from outside of the white out around them, going back to the mountain side. There was a faint yell, barely audible over the howl of the wind. It sounded familiar.

“Clarity, come on.” Shadow said, starting to fly in the direction of the yells. Clarity followed Shadow as they made their way over to the mountain side. As they got closer, two ponies started to come into view, a pegasi and a unicorn. They were sitting under a pine tree on a flat part of the mountain side. It was Specter and Dusk, Specter holding a sniper, the laser coming out from under the barrel of the sniper.

“That’s the second time I had to save your ass from being executed. More than that, you managed to get yourself captured by the princess. They’ll be looking for you two once they realized that you’re missing, you know.” Specter said as he flicked off the red laser pointer on his sniper.

“Psh, I was starting to think you two left without us.” Shadow said as he and Clarity set down on by the tree, a slight smirk on his face.

“This isn’t a laughing matter, Shadow. You almost got killed... again. We’re going to have to get out of here as soon as possible, there’s no doubt in my mind that they’ve already started a search.” Specter said as he slung the sniper around his body.

“What makes you think that?” Clarity asked.

“Look above you.” Specter said, pointing up to the sky. A formation of royal guards were flying through the air, their silhouettes against the limited amount of light coming through the clouds above.

“Damn, they react quick.” Shadow said, his head tilted up to the sky.

“Shadow Rider and Clarity! Give yourselves up, there is no use in hiding!” The royal guards yelled as they flew through the air, scanning the mountain sides as they looked from left to right.

“Haven’t you explained to them that you aren’t trying to kill them?” Dusk asked through her scarf.

“Hell, the princesses are as stubborn as a pile of bricks, they won’t consider a word I have to say.” Shadow said, looking back down at Specter and Dusk. The royal guards were out of sight, but their yells could still be heard in the distance over the wind.

“It won’t take long for them to find us if we just sit here. Dusk, Clarity, come here.” Specter said. Clarity and Dusk walked over to Specter. He took something out of his cloak pocket and put it in Clarity’s hoof, Clarity glancing over at Shadow for a split second. Shadow was staring out towards the whiteout, his dark blue mane flowing elegantly in the breeze. Clarity nodded at Specter and put the object in her jacket pocket. Specter closed his eyes and his horn started to glow, preparing the spell to teleport Dusk and Clarity to Cloudsdale.

“Specter, hang on for a second. I have to talk to Shadow.” Clarity said. Specter opened his eyes and nodded, the glow around his horn fading. Clarity walked over to Shadow, still staring at the white abyss around the mountain side. She sat down next to Shadow, her side brushing up against him. Shadow slightly smirked at the feeling of Clarity’s body heat through her jacket on him, remembering the times they were together.

“If we don’t make it out of this... I just want to let you know... I never stopped loving you, Shadow. Even after we broke up, I still felt like you were there... and that feeling will never die. I love you, Shadow. Nothing will ever change that.” Clarity said, pecking Shadow on his lips. Shadow put his front leg around her and pulled her closer to him, her head resting against his shoulder.

“I know... Clarity. These past days we’ve been together has shown me how much of a fool I was for leaving you, even if they have been some of the most horrid in my life. I never once thought that you weren’t perfect for me, and I’m sorry for leaving.” Shadow said. Shadow could here her sniffling a little, Clarity putting a hoof up to her eyes. Shadow smiled slightly and rested his head on hers.

“Shadow, Clarity, come on. The plan isn’t going to complete itself.” Specter said, a slightly irritated tone in his voice. Shadow sighed and let go of the white pegasi next to him, Clarity sitting up straight. Shadow and Clarity got up and walked over to Dusk and Specter. Clarity walked over next to Dusk and Specter’s horn started to glow once more, the teleportation spell forming. Clarity and Shadow stared at each other with sadness in each others eyes. An electric-like charge came from Specter’s horn and winded it’s way through the air between the two mares. Poof. Dusk and Clarity were gone from the mountain side, their hoof prints in the snow where they were standing. Shadow let out a tiny sigh and turned to look at Specter.

“Do you think they’ll be alright?” Shadow asked, a sense of wanting comfort in his voice. Specter stared at the spot Dusk and Clarity were, the red aura around his horn fading.

“I guess we’ll just have to carry out the plan and see.” Specter wasn’t too fond of the plan they had come up with, remembering the missions he had completed when he was in the Spec Ops himself. He knew something would go wrong, but he wasn’t sure what, either all of them die the process or something else along those lines. The yells of the royal guards started to come into earshot again and Specter walked next to Shadow.

“We aren’t going to get far if we just sit here. Let’s give these bastards what they deserve.” Specter said, raising his hoof in front of Shadow. Shadow nodded slightly and grabbed onto Specter’s hoof, both of them disappearing from the mountain side with a light magical poof.

______________________________________________________________________

March 28, Equestrian Saints headquarters

Temperature: -39 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 8:30 A.M.

Shadow and Specter appeared in a dark area of the Equestrian Saints facility, Shadow landing on top of an empty box. The box crushed inwards and he fell to the floor, Specter helping him up a second later.

“Nice teleporting accuracy.” Shadow whispered angrily, fixing his mane.

“Deal with it.” Specter replied. He looked around the room they were in. It was some sort of storage closet, empty and filled boxes scattered throughout the closet. The light coming from the other side of the door lit up a small portion of the room, enough for Specter and Shadow to see the outlines of the boxes and miscellaneous items around them. Specter walked over to the door and put his ear up to it. There was a faint sound of music coming from the room, along with an occasional click of a mouse on a computer followed by the sound of typing. Shadow walked up to the door and opened it slightly, taking a peak into the room on the other side of the door.

There was a stallion sitting in a chair, staring at the screen of a monitor on the desk in front of him. Shadow looked back at Specter, who nodded and quietly took out his knife. Shadow took the knife and put it in his mouth, clamping down on it with his teeth as quietly as he could. He opened the door slowly and walked out into the room. The stallion at the desk remained unaware of Shadow, lost in the sounds of orchestral music coming from the headphones he had on. Shadow walked up behind the stallion and took the knife out of his mouth. Shadow quickly reached around and covered the stallion’s mouth, brought the knife forward and yanked it back into the stallion’s neck a second later. The stallion squirmed around for a second, his attempts of yelling muffled by Shadow’s hoof on his mouth. He slowly lost life and his eyes rolled backwards, his legs dropping limp at his sides.

Shadow uncovered the stallion’s mouth and Specter picked up the stallion with his magic, bringing him into the storage closet. He lightly set the stallion down on the floor and closed the door behind him with his magic as he walked out of the closet. Specter walked up next to Shadow, who had already sat down and was typing on the keyboard in front of him.

“Alright, looks like the stallion was already in the Equestrian Saint’s information. Now, what exactly did Dusk tell you?” Shadow asked as he stared at the monitor.

“She said there was some sort of nuclear weapon that the Saints were working on, a WMD of a sort, capable of bringing down Canterlot and a few other cities by itself. The higher ranking officers and administration were the only ones to know about it completely, but some of the information trickled out from them into the operatives and lower ranking officers. There were rumors on where it was located, but Dusk was never sure if they were true. The rooms that the operatives said that they would be in would always be locked, it could be either one of them.”

“Which rooms did she say the bomb could be located in?”

“Let’s see... storage room E5... Persistence’s personal office... and I’m fairly sure that the other room was directly under the mess hall.”

“Well it obviously can’t be the storage closet, we just came out of there.” Shadow said. Specter turned to look at the door of the storage closet. The sign above the door read ‘E5’, the sign slightly tilted to the side.

“So that leaves Persistence’s office and the room under the mess hall. Do you think we could navigate our way from here?” Specter asked, turning his head back to Shadow.

“Maybe. The Saint’s facility is almost an exact replica of the Spec Ops facility. I guess they don’t let go that easily. I’m pulling up the facility’s structure right now." Shadow clicked on a file on the screen reading ‘Facility Guide’. The file came up, a three-dimensional model of the Equestrian Saints facility expanding across the screen. Shadow moved the mouse around on the screen, rotating the model around to get a better look at it.

“The room under the mess hall only has one entrance, which is through Persistence’s office. Lucky us.” Shadow said, pointing at the screen with his hoof. Specter leaned in to get a closer look, but the screen went blank. An alarm started to sound, emergency lights flashing red on the ceilings in the hallways and rooms of the facility. A voice spoke over the speakers, echoing down the facility corridors.

“Intruder alert! Intruder alert! 'Dead Eye' and former 'Dead Eye' Specter have been spotted in the facility near storage room E5! Terminate them without hesitation!”

“What!? How the hell do they know!?” Shadow yelled, looking around the room frantically.

“I think that would have something to do with it.” Specter said. His hoof was pointing at the camera attached to the ceiling of the room, staring directly at Specter and Shadow.

“Right...” Shadow said, his ears falling against his head.

“Alright, we need to get out of here. Now! Come on!” Specter said, grabbing onto the hood of Shadow’s cloak as he ran out of the door. Specter and Shadow stopped outside of the doorway and looked around; a hall in front of them, one to their right, and one to their left. The red lights that lined the hallways continued to flash, along with the obnoxiously loud alarm bell.

“Which way do we go to Persistence’s office!?” Specter yelled, frantically looking down each hallway. A group of Equestrian Saint operatives started coming down the hallway to the right of Shadow and Specter, guns slung around their bodies.

“I don’t think it matters, just run!” Shadow yelled. The Equestrian Saint operatives opened fire as Shadow and Specter ran into the hall in front of them, the bullets flying past them and down the other hallway. There was a door on the other side of the hall Shadow and Specter were running down, along with another hall to the right.

“Seal all exits and doors! Do NOT let them escape!” The voice yelled over the speakers once more. The door at the end of the hall started to seal shut, a steel shutter coming down from the top of the doorway. An Equestrian Saint operative came around the corner as Shadow and Specter neared the door. Shadow and Specter slid to a halt in front of the operative, Shadow latching onto the operative’s gun and ripping off it of it’s sling around the operative. The steel shutter came to a close at the bottom of the door as Specter ran up to it.

“A little help would be nice!” Shadow yelled as he fumbled around with the rifle in his hooves, dodging a swing from the operative next to him. Specter used his magic to pick up the operative, a red glow around Specter’s horn and the operative. The group of operatives turned the corner at the other end of the hall and started running towards Shadow and Specter.

“Shoot them!” Specter yelled. Shadow aimed at the group coming down the hallway and opened fire. The three operatives in front fell to the floor, tripping the other three behind them. Specter’s horn started to glow more intense with a red aura, along with the aura around the operative in Specter’s magical grasp, who was desperately trying to move around.

“Whatever you are going to do, do it now!” Shadow yelled, the magazine in the rifle he was holding running out. Specter let go of the grasp on the operative and the operative flung sideways through the steel shutter, the wooden door behind the steel shutter splintering into pieces as the operative flew down the hall on the other side.

“Alright, come on!” Specter yelled over the alarm sirens, running through the hole in the door. Shadow dropped the rifle and ran through the door as the operatives down the hall started to get up and grab onto their rifles. Specter used his magic to bend the steel shutter back into it’s shape as the operatives on the other side opened fire. A bullet made it through the small opening before Specter completely sealed the steel shutter back together, implanting itself into Shadow’s hind leg. Shadow yelled and he fell down on his side.

“AH, what the fuck was that!?” Shadow yelled angrily, looking at his hind leg.

“Oh shit, hang on!” Specter said, kneeling down to look at his leg. The bullet was visible through the wound, sitting in the edge of Shadow’s leg.

“Alright, I’m going to have to take the bullet out, just stay still.” Specter said quickly, taking out a pair of tweezers from his cloak pocket.

“What the hell, why do you have those!?” Shadow yelled as Specter lowered them to Shadow’s leg.

“Shut up and stay still!” Specter yelled. Shadow bit onto a chunk of his cloak as Specter extracted the bullet. Specter tossed the bullet aside, making a tiny ‘clink’ as it fell to the floor. Specter took out his knife and cut off a strip from his cloak. Specter tied the ends of the strip into a knot after wrapping it around Shadow's leg a few times.

“Alright, can you stand up?” Specter asked. Shadow got up on his front legs and applied pressure on his wounded hind leg. He winced for a second, but seemed fine.

“I can deal with it. Let’s go, they’ll find us if we sit here any longer.” Shadow said. Specter nodded and they started off down the hallway, heading deeper into the Equestrian Saints facility.

______________________________________________________________________

March 28, Equestrian Saint headquarters

Temperature: -40 degrees fahrenheit

Time: 11:05 A.M.

The alarms had stopped sounding off, the noise becoming a little much even for the operatives who had heard it for drills almost every other week. The Equestrian Saints facility was quiet, groups of operatives stationed in different areas of the facility, waiting for the two infiltrators to walk into their path. Shadow and Specter were still roaming the facility, making their way through the facility corridors to Persistence’s personal office.

Caliber turned to his two fellow operatives in front of Persistence’s office, both of them starting to walk down the hallway.

“Hey, where are you two going?” Caliber asked.

“We’re just heading down the hall for a smoke, we’ll be back in no time.”

“You know Persistence doesn’t like it when you smoke in the facility.”

“It’s not like it matters, he isn’t even here. You’ll be fine, just keep an eye out for them.” The two operatives turned the corner at the end of the hall and Caliber sighed. He longed to go back to his family in Manehattan to see his two foals, each of them only a month old when he left. He smiled at the memory of them flapping their wings beside their mother and waving goodbye as Caliber set off to the facility in the mountains. Caliber opened the watch in his uniform pocket and released the lock, a picture of him with his foals and wife resting in the watch's cover. He stared at the picture, knowing he would see them again once his time with the Equestrian Saints was over.

“I’ll be home soon, only another month and I’ll finally be released.” Caliber said quietly to himself, closing the watch and putting it back in his pocket. Caliber looked down the hallway again, starting to get a little suspicious.

“They’re usually back by now...” Caliber thought to himself. He turned to walk down the hallway, but stopped at the sound of a magical poof behind him. Caliber’s legs were swept from under him and he fell on his side, letting out a small grunt. Specter walked up to him and put his hoof on Caliber’s neck.

“You have approximately ten seconds to tell me where the bomb is before Dead Eye comes down that hallway and puts a bullet in your head.” Specter spoke in a threatening manner, slightly lifting his hoof for Caliber to speak. Caliber shifted his eyes down the hallway behind him. Shadow was walking down the hallway, a fully loaded rifle slung around his body. Caliber started to panic, trying to get Specter’s hoof off of him.

“Tell me where the bomb is! You are an Equestrian Saint officer, are you not!?” Specter yelled, looking at the insignia on Caliber’s uniform.

“I... I don’t know! Persistence, Star Gazer, and Continuum never told the lower ranking officers anything about a bomb! I don’t know anything of it!” Caliber said. Specter hesitated for a moment, ready to apply all of his force on Caliber’s neck, but the sight of something stopped him. Specter glanced to the side of the pegasi beneath him, Caliber’s pocket watch laying open on the floor. Shadow aimed the rifle in his hooves at Caliber and put his hoof on the trigger.

“Hang on, Shadow. Don’t shoot him... yet.” Specter said, turning to look at Caliber. He was still wriggling around underneath Specter’s hoof, punching Specter’s leg.

“Stop hitting me and listen if you want to live.” Specter said in a slightly less angry tone. Caliber slowly stopped punching Specter and stared at him, anger and fear in his eyes.

“Do you know the whereabouts of Persistence?” Specter asked. Caliber hesitated to answer, but was more than convinced at the sound of Shadow putting his hoof back on the trigger.

“He’s... heading to Cloudsdale as we speak, he may even be there by now. Just, let me go, I won’t be of any trouble to you two... please.” Caliber said. His eyes started to glisten slightly, only driving Specter to empathize with him more. Specter sighed and took his hoof off of Caliber’s neck. Caliber got up and grabbed his pocket watch, glancing back at Shadow for a second.

“Get out of the facility and go as far as you can if you want to live. Nearest exit is down the hall and to your left, the elevator should take you to the mountain side.” Specter said, motioning his hoof down the hall.

“Th... thank you-”

“Just go.” Specter said, giving Caliber an angry stare. Caliber nodded and bolted down the hallway, heading for the elevator.

“Why’d you let him live?” Shadow asked as he and Specter walked into Persistence’s office. Specter stayed silent for a second, staring at the picture on the wall behind Persistence’s desk.

“That’s not important right now. Let’s keep searching.” Specter said, a hint of sadness detectable in his voice. Shadow walked over to the side of the wall and examined a small lever next to the bookshelf. Shadow pushed the lever down and a hidden door next to the bookshelf opened, revealing a tunnel that twisted down under Persistence’s office.

“I may have found the bomb...” Shadow said, pointing at the entryway.

“Nice job. Time to end this once and for all.” Specter said. He followed Shadow down the curved tunnel and into a small room, a desk with papers and a lamp resting on top of it. Shadow walked up to the desk and turned on the lamp. He examined the documents sprawled across the desk, most of them about a secret operation, along with a nuclear device. Shadow picked up a sheet of paper, blue prints for the bomb.

“Oh yeah, this is it. Specter, have a look at this.” Shadow said. Specter walked up next to Shadow and examined the papers.

“Looks like they were planning some sort of attack on Canterlot.” Specter said, pointing at a document stamped with red text.

“If this bomb could level Canterlot with one blow, I’m more than convinced that it will be able to destroy the facility now.” Shadow said. Specter and Shadow turned to face the hall on the other side of the room, leading to a door at the end of it.

“Think it’s in there?” Shadow asked.

“Only one way to find out. Let’s go have a lo-” Specter was interrupted by the sound of the door upstairs flying off of its hinges.

“Search downstairs, they’re here somewhere!” A voice yelled from upstairs. The sound of hoof steps started coming down the tunnel from Persistence’s office.

“Damn it, run!” Specter yelled. Shadow and Specter dashed as fast as they could down the hallway. The operatives started running after Specter and Shadow as they reached the room, not wasting time to set up and fire at them.

“Shadow, shut the door!” Specter yelled as he slid into the room. Shadow kicked the door shut as he passed through the doorway, sliding to a stop a few feet away from it. Shadow grabbed a nearby chair and propped it against the door, the Equestrian Saint operatives pounding on the other side. Specter walked over to the box in the middle of the room and opened it. Inside sat the bomb Dusk had told them about, armed and ready to be detonated. Shadow walked over to Specter as he took apart the sides of the box to get a better look at the bomb. The pounding on the door was becoming more violent as time passed, the operatives desperately trying to stop them. Specter knelt down to the ground and examined the detonator on the bomb.

“Shit...” Specter said to himself, looking at the manual detonator.

“What?” Shadow asked.

“Somepony has tampered with it. They must have known we were coming. The remote detonator won’t work... we’ll have to set it off manually.”

“What? We’ll be killed, Clarity and Dusk still need our help!”

“I know, that’s why you’re going.” Specter said as he turned around to face Shadow. He picked up Shadow with his magic and levitated him in the air, a red glow around Specter’s horn and the slightly frightened pegasi in Specter's grasp. Shadow’s eyes bolted around the room, looking for something to help him.

“Specter, don’t do this! We can find another way!” Shadow yelled, trying to move within the grasp of Specter’s magic.

“There is no other way, Shadow. This is what I want.” Specter said.

“Listen to yourself! You are not going to survive this if you set it off manually!”

“I have spent the last six years training you, Shadow. I didn’t want my ancestor’s teachings to be forgotten after my death. You were the only one that I knew who could handle the responsibility of carrying on the title, and I’m sorry for that. You are the first ever Dead Eye to be out of my family, and I’m trusting you with the title. Out of the respect of my ancestors... please, I beg of you... pass on the Dead Eye name. I’m counting on you.” Specter said, tears starting to form in his eyes. The door behind them cracked, the Equestrian Saint operatives visible through the small hole in the door.

“Specter! Don’t do this to yourself!” Shadow yelled, tears starting to form in his eyes as well.

“I’m sorry, Shadow Rider, but it’s my time to leave. Go end the winter.” Specter said, a tear drop running down his cheek.

“SPECTER, NO-!” Shadow disappeared from the room with a teleportation spell, heading for Cloudsdale. Specter let out a sigh, almost fainting from the energy he had used to contain Shadow. Specter weakly walked over to the bomb on the floor and looked at the manual detonation. He had a smile on his face, his eyes glistening with tears as he stared at the device that would end his life.

“I can finally get away from it all...” Specter said, a misplaced sense of happiness taking over him. The door bursted open as Specter pushed the manual detonation, the operatives pouring into the room as the bomb set off. Next Chapter: Final Chapter: Dead Eye Estimated time remaining: 16 Minutes