Equestrian Strife: The Immortal

by LSCultist

Equestria has fallen into a new era of disharmony after the passing of the Mane Six over two and a half centuries ago. A civil war has broken out, forcing a stallion and his companions to attempt to survive this wasteland. Will they survive and bring harmony back or will they become another number on the growing list of casualties? (Embedded version, no link folks!)

4. Chapter III: Deals

Chapter III: Deals

"Don't try to scam me, I know your game little mouse. If you want this... you can have it. You'll have to ante up, though."

The four ponies dressed in thick clothing and any other form of "armour" walked down the cold, autumn road in a disorganized group. Drawing everyone's attention to them as they bickered and talked to each other in raised voices. Their care for subtlety and stealth was obvious for how they "patrolled" the area. Apparently the PRP's training never went over on how you were supposed to patrol the area, either that or they just decided to abandon it. Whichever the decision, social skills were decided to be the most important among this group.

Which made it that much easier to follow these noisy and oblivious ponies for Rakz. He watched with a sense of disgust as they yelled at one another or spoke loudly. One of them, a yellowish buck with a brown, spiky mane, barely held back a laugh as he questioned an older, rust coloured buck with a scraggly beard.

"Alright, so tell me if I'm wrong about this. You managed to take out an entire squad of RO's in hoof-to-hoof combat and you shot down a RAF squad with... what was it you said?"

The pony with the scraggly beard scratched at his chin before replying "It was a... AR-76. Y'know, those assault carbines you can find on most of 'em Royals."

The spiky maned pony nodded his head slowly at Scruffy Beard, "You shot down a squad of RAF's, which is usually 3 to 4 ponies, with an automatic rifle? May I also include that they are harder to shoot then a whole plague of them parasprites? If I am correct, then that sir, is an act of Celestia herself and you are the ruler of Equestria!" Spiky emphasized this by mock bowing to him with a large grin.

One of the other ponies, a greyish-blue mare, was not able to hold her discipline any longer and fell over in a fit of laughter and tears. With her break came the rest, all of them ridiculing the older pony with their laughter. Even seeming to be so loud that their laughs echoed across all of the city. Scruffy Beard, seeing and hearing this mockery, deflated and turned bright red. The buck seemed to have a sound foundation that he knew that they were laughing at his story, not for the story itself but for the story being a lie. It didn't help that it was quite the extraordinary lie at the too.

"It's the t-truth you three... I'm telling ya' the truth." Scruffy Beard said weakly

This only further stimulated the three ponies laughter into a roar, which resulted in Scruffy to maintain a new silence; and to make himself as small as possible before the group. Doing so as if they were gods and he was a mere flea before them. The mare noticed this however and voiced to the other two laughing ponies what she thought of this.

"Look at the joker crawl you two, how pathetic is that? I'd say he almost regrets trying to fib to us, what do you two think?"

The buck with the spiky mane trotted to the mare and put a leg around her neck, he then pushed her head closer to Scruffy's as he spoke. "Now, now, he only lied to us to win your heart, Granite. I mean, just look at how much he desires you with those lovesick eyes. He is just waiting for some flank from you, ain't you?" Spikey gestured to Scruffy with the last sentence

This caused Scruffy to shrink even more before them somehow, looking away from the three ponies mocking him. Granite however smiled wickedly at Spikey's words, thinking of how she can arouse the humor in the air tonight. Her eyes lit up brightly when a thought appeared, her mind already plotting the cruel joke. She walked as seductively as she could to Scruffy, letting her hips swing out farther than usual as her tail swished back and forth slowly. She slid on her most tasteful smile and half closed her eyelids for extra 'oomph'. She then lifted his head up slowly till his eyes locked onto hers and then leaned her face into his, just a hairs breadth away from his lips with her lips.

"So you want a sweet piece of me? Did I hear that right?" Granite said in a low, flirtatious voice.

Scruffy's eyes popped open, seeming to drip with lust as he stared into the mares eyes, lost in them from primal needs. He nodded his head quickly and ignorantly as if he was a puppy begging for his next meal. Granite stared back into Scruffy's eyes and pursed her lips. Then her eyes darkened and her pursed lips turned to a savage grin as she brought back her right fore hoof, poising for a powerful strike. He didn't even notice the hoof as it sped towards his mouth, aiming for his pursed lips to cause major damage. She struck with enough force to throw him back and knock out a tooth. The buck howled in pain as he grabbed his bleeding mouth in both fore hooves.

"Serves you right ya' creeper. Trying to hit on on a young mare like me when your twice my age! You can go and shake yourself off because ain't nobody going to do it for you." Granite roared as she stood above the bleeding buck, laughing at his weak attempts to stand back up. Every time he would attempt to, she would pull a hoof back and slam him back into the ground with brutal force. She laughed as she did so while the buck cried in pain, shame and embarrassment with a mouth filled with blood.

Then Spikey came over and put a hoof on Granite's shoulders, stopping her from hitting the buck again. "Okay, you had your fun with Bore, it's bad enough that you messed his mouth up isn't it?"

Granite turned to Spikey with a sneer as she stepped away from Bore, leaving him to wallow in pain. "I was just beginning to have fun with him though, Stix. You know how much I love messing with poor suckers like him." She pointed at the crying Bore, with a blood smeared hoof. "Just let me mess with him a little bit more."

Stix shook his head though and pushed the mare away to inspect Bore's injuries. His mouth had a tooth missing and crimson was flowing freely from his bruised mouth where Granite had continued to berate him. He also had several bruises from where Granite had kicked him to keep him down. "If you keep beating him, then you'll probably kill him and we'll have to explain how we lost somepony when we ain't seen nobody out here. Even if you don't, somepony's gonna get questionable why he's so beat up."

Granite lowered her head with a sigh as she realized what Stix was saying was correct. "Damn it, Stix, why do ya' gotta ruin my fun with logic?" She said this jokingly though, knowing that Stix kept them all out of more trouble than what they usually get in.

"Hey, let's get him up and we'll go on back to HQ. We'll say he got mugged or something; and we came to his rescue a tad late. Ain't that right, Bore? You walked in the wrong alley and payed for it, didn't you?" Stix asked darkly

Bore shook as he stood up on weak legs, nodding pathetically in terror of another beating from Granite and pain from the one he already received.

"Good boy, now let's get back before anypony gets questionable why we've been gone for so long at HQ." Stix said with a frightening smile as the group all resumed their walk to the HQ.

Rakz followed slowly and silently behind the group, keeping his gaze mostly locked on Granite in hatred and anger. He promised to himself that he would make the mare regret having hurt Bore, nopony should ever perform such a hateful act as she did. Not without punishment at least. There must always be an equalization to everything done.

"Like you, right? You are always getting punishment for what you do? Especially since you don't ever seem to have anything happen to you after you commit your multiple counts of murder, murder, and... um... murder." Bones rasped from behind him

Rakz remained silent, not wanting to compromise his position by talking to the monster. He thought to himself that maybe if he ignored it long enough, it would go away... he thought that maybe it would go away forever!

"I will never go away, what would you do without me? You would never be tempted to commit an atrocity! You would never have someone to annoy you as much as I do if I go away!" Bones yelled while he struck a heroic pose

Rakz continued to ignore the ridiculous creature while he continued his tracking of the obnoxiously loud ponies in front of him through the dilapidated streets. Stix, now believed to be the leader of the group, looked down both roads and led them to the left. Rakz followed them to the crossroads and waited for them to make a decision of which way it could be to the PRP HQ.

"What do you even propose to achieve by following these four sad examples of ponies?" Bones asked while attempting to draw his attention away by jumping and yelling across the road in front of him.

The question went unanswered, as Rakz was not deeming to even whisper in case that these four ponies might detect him. He didn't think that they could even if he started screaming and running around but he wasn't going to take his chances. The pace he kept also showed his mindset for wanting to stay incognito. As he was 100 feet away from the group at all times, allowing him to hear their conversation but remain undetected. Yet, his attention was still slightly drawn away by the creature that continued to whoop and yell while prancing across the streets.

Why do you have to be such a nuisance? Rakz mentally asked the creature.

"You don't like it? Well, I guess your days just gonna be awful. 'Cuz I quite enjoy annoying you. Really, you should give it a try." Bones laughed as he jumped over the stoic stallion

Rakz shook his head in disgust at Bones, clearly not caring for the creatures company. Then his full attention reasserted itself on the four ponies as Stix broke off from the group.

"You three wait here, I have to go take a leak." Stix yelled out while he trotted to an alleyway to do his business

"Yep, ya' heard him, Granite, wait here. So don't try to go peeking at Stix over there while he does his personal business." the other buck, a brightly coloured purplish one, said with a bump of his hip to Granite's

Granite turned to the other buck with a face filling with red. "It was once, once I did that, Berry. So get off my case or I'll do you up like I did to Bore..."

"...in his dreams, right? You'll give me everything I ever wanted?" Berry said with a wriggle of his eyebrows

Granite's face turned redder but it also turned into a furious frown, looking as if she wanted to kill the buck. Berry however just chuckled and leaned against the grey, chipping wall for comfort. He then drew out a cigarette from a pouch on his wool coat and lit it, smoking the cancer stick. Comfort seemed to be a higher priority on this pony's agenda over health. Of course, justice and equality seemed to be a higher priority for another specific pony, one who was much darker in colour and mindset then Berry.

Stix stood at the entrance of the alleyway, listening to the two ponies before deciding to answer the call of nature. He walked in but not by himself, a spectre had followed him into the dark and cold alleyway. He sighed as the great pressure in his bladder was released, this was the last act he had committed before a cold terror filled the recesses of his mind. This feeling only continued for another second before everything fell into a warm darkness with an intense pain that at one second was there at the base of the back of his neck; and was gone the next. His limp body fell into his own puddle, darkening his yellowish coat to a much darker tone.

"It's magic time..." Bones muttered while Rakz flipped the dead buck over, with magic of course so that he did not get any urine or blood on him, and observed his features.

A quick burst of dark purple light seemed to skim over the dead buck, as if scanning him, before returning to the dark stallions horn. Then a green light, what appeared to be a "fire", engulfed

Rakz for a brief second before leaving the alley in its dark depths once again. The pony that still breathed however, had changed in features. Instead of a dark coat, his coat had changed to that of the dead one, with it however, came the loss of his horn. As the dead buck was an earth pony and this would most likely cause the alert that this wasn't Stix if they saw him with a horn. That was not the only change, as his hair was done up in the same style as Stix's with the same cutiemark of a baseball bat with a spike through it.

Now the only difference between the dead Stix and the living "Stix" was that the living one had a long, billowing cloak that covered his features. As much as the living one would hate to do it, he was forced to lose his precious cloak to dawn the filthy clothes and weapons of the dead one. He did it quickly, folding his cloak in a cranny in the wall where it would be difficult to find it and pulled on the leather barding of the buck on the ground. Using his hooves to shake it of some of the filth on it. Then he took the flimsy shotgun off of the ground where he set it and strapped it to his back after checking it for how much ammo it carried. It may have been flimsy but at least it held five 12 gauge shells in it, all buckshot.

Then he heard hoofsteps from behind him and spun quickly to the sound with a feeling of alarm in the back of his head.

"Hey, Stix, you alright in there? You've been in there for quite a while and I was just wondering if you need help with something." Granite yelled out just from the corner of the alleyway

"Help him out? I'd bet you'd love to help him out." Berry yelled out, snickering afterwards

"Shut up, you hair-brained moron! Nopony wants your shit." Granite yelled back with what must have been a red face

The Stix imposter stayed silent for a brief time as he analyzed on how to respond; and in finding his response, walked out with a cocky attitude and a grin. Green fire appeared behind him where Bones followed closely behind while examining Stix's appearance.

"Shit just got magical... and I think I like it that way." Bones chuckled

Stix walked out of the alleyway and looked over at an embarrassed, slowing slightly on her flank for the sake of keeping his identity false. His gaze finally fell on her eyes and he stared at her for a good few seconds with a cocky grin before responding to her previous question.

"Sorry, I had more to leak then I thought I did, didn't know I was that amazing at that too... how many more things will I master?"

Granite sighed and looked down while she trotted back towards Berry, mumbling something about how all bucks were the same or something along those lines. Stix let go of the breath he did not know he was holding and walked over to the group of ponies. So far, so good, thought Stix.

"Until you kill somepony for justice or whatever makes you feel better at bedtime, or maybe you'll just lose control of the spell and everypony will see you for who you are?" Bones said with a sick smile

Stix shook his head as he took the lead of the group and started to trot right through the crossroads, in the direction of the PRP HQ. He stopped though when he noticed the lack of hooves behind him, he spun towards the group in case they had somehow found out his identity and were about to open fire. Instead, he saw all of them staring strangely at him, all except Bore of course.

"What are all of you waiting for? Winter Wrap Up? Let's get moving before somepony gets pissy about where we are." Stix yelled back, turning back around and walking away again with the sound of approaching hooves behind him.

When they finally reached him, Granite walked up to him and leaned in on the buck precariously close. He stared at the mare with a raised eyebrow and she scooted a few feet from him. They continued to walk in silence for a few more minutes before Berry broke it with his loud voice and a nudge to Stix's side.

"Hey, what's wrong with ya' bud? You seem to be awfully quiet, you ain't never like that. Did staring at your piss really upset you that much?"

Stix responded by staring him in the eyes with a feeling of cold dread that seemed to pour out of the eyes into everyone around him. Berry couldn't place it; but these eyes seemed different to him, almost like a strangers eyes. Instead of a sort of cheerful glint from his eyes like usual, they seemed dangerous, filled with experiences that Berry didn't want to know about. Berry shrank from those eyes and scuttled away from Stix to the back of the group.

"I'm not really feeling the mood for being loud, how about we just walk in silence for now? My heads just... all fogged up right now." Stix said to the entire group, actually able to tell the truth over the lie he had planned to use as an alternative. His head was foggy, very foggy from the effects of the spell. Any unicorn is able to perform the spell he had but... it has a side effect. To his knowledge, Stix had no idea if any unicorn could ever adapt to this. It would be quite the oddity if they could.

They walked in this cold silence once again, not wanting to talk incase it upset Stix and partially because they were afraid of that dread that seemed to be oppressing them at all moments. The only moments a sound was made was when Bore tripped face first into the road, spurring a raucous laughter from Berry and Granite before Stix stared them both down. Sedating their laughter and leaving the message that if they made another peep, he would make them wish they hadn't.

Granite looked suspiciously at the buck, unsure of what was different about him but knowing that something was. For some reason, ever since he had left the alley, there was this cold dread that had built around the group. She had never felt this way around him before. As she had always had a thought of what could happen if she had decided to try her luck and hook up with Stix. The only feelings she usually had with him is a hot, erotic feeling. Instead, now she feels fear broiling through her very veins. The urge to turn tail and bolt in any direction that led away from this buck was powerful but she managed to override the urge.

Berry voiced what Granite was thinking, clearly not caring much for how Stix may react. "Does anypony else feel that? It's like winter is breathing on us... but with something sinister and dark before it. Can't quite place it."

Stix turned to the buck. staring him directly in the eyes with a darkness that threatened to envelop the buck's sanity and life. This shut the buck up quickly, if not instantly, stopping any conversations that might have began or continued. It continued in this dark silence until they arrived at their location. All of them dropped into a relaxed figure as they saw the building, all except for Stix who looked around him. Noticing the multiple ponies on top of the buildings around them, looking down at the streets with scopes.

He was sure that they would discover his ruse and open fire on him immediately. His body was poised to jump out of the way and drag one of the fools into the snipers cross hairs. It was just a survival instinct that had proved to insure that his life was not a short one as so many were in these dark times.

"Hey, Stix, you gonna go and talk to the door guard so that we won't freeze our asses out here? I mean... if that's what you want, of course." Berry said with a slight whimper

Stix looked back at him with a raised eyebrow and walked slowly up to the door, locking his peripherals on the sniper that was watching them on the building next to them. Sure that the second he knocked on the door that his brains would be scattered across the cracked, dirty road like a jar of jam against a speeding baseball. He raised his hoof and knocked on the door, tensing up as the slot in the door slid open to reveal a pair of light brown eyes. They seemed to gaze over the buck for a few seconds before turning to gaze upon the rest of the group.

"Erm, you guys are late, ya' know that? By like, a lot of time. Maybe an hour or so if you ask me. Think that Sunny is gonna be a little pissed, 'specially since it don't seem you have anything worth two shits on you." the eyes spoke forth from the slot in the door, clearly a buck's voice.

"We had a confrontation with some little a-holes over at 14th. Bore here didn't exactly get the smallest brunt if you can't tell. So, how about you just let us in and we won't discuss to Sunny how you refused to let us in for medical assistance?" Stix offered smoothly with a slight smile as he gazed deeply into the other buck's eyes, unintentionally poking and prodding at the buck's head without him knowing it.

The buck seemed to sweat around the eyes as he locked onto Stix's eyes, unable to pull away from the thread that was keeping them locked together. Transmitting all of the darkness that festered in Stix to the other buck. Then Stix blinked and all of a sudden, the link was shattered. Leaving the buck gasping and panting on the other side of the door as he slid down out of exhaustion and fear of the darkness he had attempted to fend off desperately in his mind, only to be surrounded by its enveloping dread.

"So, is he not letting us in since he just disappeared?" Berry asked Stix with a faint feeling of the darkness that had ebbed off the strange acting buck. He did not enjoy the darkness's company when it was at that level, he did not want to know what it would be like if he received the full brunt of it.

"He'll let us in, he's just taking his damned time." Stix replied, spitting on the door in frustration.

The group waited a whole minute, waiting for the door to open, Berry was about to voice his opinion on the situation when he was interrupted by the sound of a latch being slid out of its hold from behind the metal door. The door than creeped open to show the buck who had opened the door for them. His figure was tense and exasperated, as if he had just gone through a great ordeal. This could also be told by the amount of sweat that was pouring off of his panting body. Berry was unsure what Stix had done to this buck but he was sure he did not want to experience it.

"Come on, let's get inside before I get frostbite on my hooves." Stix spat out as he pushed the exasperated buck out of the way and trotted down the hall, not waiting for the others to enter. They quickly pursued however as the cold wind gusted strongly against their sides. Berry taking the lead as usual by Stix.

"Hey, Stix, you want to go report in to Sunny about what we "found"? 'Cuz I personally do not want to deal with that. Well, maybe deal with her in a different way but definitely not in telling her what went down. Unless it's her going down of course." Berry said with a big smile on his face as he imagined what he spoke of.

Stix looked at him and shook his head, not understanding how some ponies could be so primitive. Listening only to their "needs" and "wants". It was quite sickening to him actually, if anything.

"Right, 'cuz you never listen to your urges, do you? Like eating, pissing, drinking, sleeping... killing?" Bones chuckled next to his ear

Stix shook his head as if to shake the creature from reality, attracting everyponies attention close to him with peculiar looks. Then Stix's attention was locked onto a mare gasping in front of him, concentrated on what appeared to be him. The buck prepared himself for an attack, only to have the mare rush past him to Bore, where she began to examine the buck without any consent.

"Dear Celestia, what happened to this stallion? It looked like he was trampled several times by a pair of hooves!" the mare exclaimed, turning her gaze slowly to the group that had just entered the building recently. It was clear that she was suspicious of them and that this was the first time that this group had showed up with a single pony hurt with wounds that appeared to be from hooves.

Berry attempted to speak but only sputtered, giving Stix enough time to cover the group... as much as he rather not do so. "We were walking down 14th when I told Bore to go examine the alley for anything scavengable. Unfortunately, we did not know of the ponies that laid in wait for us. There were two of them but they were doped up on some heavy stuff, must have been Stranded. They muffled Bore's yells at first but he was able to scream for help before they muffled him again. We tried to help him as much as we could but the bastards had already done the damage."

"Sorry about the teeth by the way, we couldn't seem to find any. I think the attackers thought they were drugs and, well... ate them. I hope you can do something for him, I'd rather not have one of my squaddies be unable to chew their food." Stix said this all with what appeared to be true emotions to the mare, tripping her off of her original suspicion to believe that two Stranded had actually done this.

"Thanks for helping him, we'll give him a morphine shot and see how he does after that. Unfortunately, we can't really fix his teeth since there aren't any there to fix. Hope you can learn how to chew without your front teeth because unless you can find a magical dentist that is how your life will live out to be. Come on, follow me to medical." the mare said with a leg to Bore, the buck followed her as they headed to wherever medical was.

Berry walked up to Stix with an open mouth, unable to comprehend what had just occurred. Granite sat back with relatively the same expression, it was clear that the "old" Stix had not been good at covering their trails. Now however, the "new" Stix seemed to be good at everything, lying, manipulating, silencing, and shocking others.

"I'm not sure when you began to be good at lying, Stix, but I wish you would have started that awhile ago. 'Cuz we wouldn't be where we are today if ya' did." Berry said with a gaping mouth

"Let's just go and report this into Sunny before anything else happens. I'd like to talk to Olive about something."

Berry's face quickly went from an expression of excitement to one of misunderstanding as he attempted to kindle what he just heard. "Umm... did you just say that you wanted to talk with Olive? Olive, the taskmaster for all of Manehattan?"

Stix nodded his head, unable to tell what the big problem with that was. Berry quickly solved this for him.

"You can't just walk in and talk to Olive, she asks for you and than you can talk to her. If you just barge in without permission you'll get your ass kicked harder than a what a bullet can do. I think you may want to rethink your plan, Stix. 'Cuz it sucks a lot of apples." Berry said with unnecessary motions of his legs.

I guess if you're just some lackey of the PRP, you're expected to hold some level of respect to the taskmaster. How quaint, I always just barged in and did whatever the hell I wanted. Oh well, guess I'll just have to go by their rules... for now. Stix thought to himself, knowing that he would have to follow the rules in order to get out alive.

The group descended down a hallway with multiple ponies walking past them in the opposite direction. All of them seeming to take a furtive glimpse at Stix, turning their gaze quickly away after seeing his eyes. Exactly how the rest of the group had reacted first when looking into his eyes. Soon enough, however, Stix found himself walking down the hall by himself without the sound of others walking behind him to accompany him. He turned slowly, expecting the barrel of a firearm to be aimed at him, only to find Granite and Berry turned around, walking the other direction.

"Hey, where you two headed? You know Sunny is this way, right?" Stix yelled out to the two ponies.

Granite turned to Stix with a disgusted look on her face, "Yeah, we know. But I ain't catching myself once in that room with... her. You can go on ahead and tell her what shit hit the fan, us two are just gonna head to the commons for a quick bite while you get yelled out. Sorry bud, but you are after all the one "in charge"." with that, both of them turned and began to trot to the mess hall for what could be their last meal if plans didn't go as Stix wanted them to.

Stix trotted away from the group, even more suspicious of his surroundings, expecting the two ponies to inform Olive that he was not Stix; but an infiltrator here to cause "harm". He was hoping however that this was just his paranoia of everything and anything. As his trust went about as far as he could grip the idea of an all-powerful being that could raise and lift the sun and moon. It was just not perceivable to him, as nopony should be that powerful.

Then his thoughts were dashed away as a pony stepped out of the doorway in front of him, forcing him to jump around the pony with amazing agility and speed. He flipped around to catch a sight of the pony, in case they were armed and ready to spray the wall with his brains. Only to find a very surprised looking mare. He quickly looked her over, trying to notice any intention of causing harm to him. In finding none, he relaxed his body only slightly and made a small curtsy with his hoof in a show of apology.

The mare dropped her surprised expression and made the same curtsy with a golden hoof that seem to radiate light itself. Her entire coat appeared to have this perceptual distortion, even her hair, a orangish-yellow mane, seemed to radiate heat. It was as if her entire body was a ray of light and heat, her very eyes gave off a warmth from them in their static blue spheres. There was not a single part of her that didn't radiate warmth and light, from her cutiemark of a sun on a horizon, that must have been rising by her aura, to the tip of her golden horn. Even in Stix's mind, this was the most gorgeous sight he had ever seen.

However, experience in sedating all of his urges and manifesting a true spectres mind had given him the ability to merely shrug off the sight of this beauty. Allowing him to keep an expression of carelessness as he quickly thought of how the scenario would proceed. It seemed that this was a useless endeavor however as the mare proceeded first.

"Stix? Hmm... I can't help but notice that you aren't staring at my flank the entire time. In fact, it is quite astounding that you even apologized for something that was not your fault in any form. I had expected you to make some immature joke about how "I'd bump that" or something along that line. What ordeal have you gone through that has repressed your instant remarks?"

Stix flipped through his brain for whatever her name was, quickly finding it in the recesses of his thoughts. "Well, it's like I was re-birthed in some sense to tell the truth. If I had caused you any strife in the past, I apologize, as that was not my self doing so. Very sorry for any harm done, Ms. Sunny."

Sunny stared at him with an expression that seemed to say "Just who the hell are you?". It was unknown whether she believed the impostor or not, but it was clear that she was confused at what was occurring. Hopefully, this will work to my advantage, Stix thought to himself.

"Hm, well, I accept your apology. I also expect you to show this kind of respect to your superior more often than what you usually did, else you may find yourself with the others who don't in the "cellar". Understood?" Sunny smirked slightly

"I understand completely, no misconceptions whatsoever."

She looked at him for a few more seconds before walking back into the room she came out from, gesturing for him to follow her in. He did so without any hesitation, keeping his view on the back of her head instead of her rump like the "old" Stix would have done before his "renewal". He looked around the room, inspecting it for any escape routes or any major threats. The only escape routes seemed to be the door from which he came from and besides one guard standing at attention by the door, there were no major threats. If he had to, he could easily dispose of everypony in this room. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to, though.

Sunny sat down in the chair behind the beat up metal desk and gestured for him to take a seat on the old wooden chair in front of the desk. He did so and waited for her to say whatever she had led him in here for. The thought that she was going to discuss why he was here and how he got in in the first place seemed like the most likely choice. The fear that she had discovered his identity only grew more and more as she looked through papers in front of her. Finally, she took out a pen and began to write on a slip of paper as she spoke to him.

"Do you know why you are here, Sgt. Stix?"

"To serve the people of Equestria so that they may experience a greater life of peace and equality. As this is why we all serve I am sure." Stix replied with fake honour and pride

This took the mare aback, not expecting this answer, she was now oblivious on where to go from here. Her cool quickly gathered itself again, however, and she reasserted herself over the situation. "I am glad to hear a new enthusiasm for your duty. However, I meant why you are in my office. If you could please answer that question for me."

Stix pondered it, not sure at first why he was in here. His mind quickly wondered to a choice and he decided to risk it. "I believe it is so that you may debrief me on our patrol through our designated area. Am I correct or have I made a mistake, ma'am?"

She smiled at this, finding it humerous in someway. "No, you are very correct. Which only astounds me further. So, how about you save us the time and go ahead and give me your debriefing. By the sound of Bags at the front, it seems you discovered nothing but a teammate with a few missing teeth and many, many bruises. Mind telling me why?" Her expression changed from one of enjoyment to one of suspicion and authority.

"There was nothing to acquire and we had never spotted any RO squads ma'am, the only thing we did discover were two stranded having their "fun" with Bore. We attempted to help Bore as soon as we discovered what had occurred but we were slightly too slow. In our vain attempts, he was wounded. One of the nurses had gotten to him when we entered the building, he now resides in medical as we speak." Stix shot off with the demeanor that she was his true superior and he was nothing more than a grunt.

Her expression fell back into a smile and she sat back, chuckling slightly to herself. She wondered how many more surprises did Stix have for her today. "Alright, your story sounds straight to me. I think you're good to go. I hope this state of yours remains, your new personality is quite enjoyable."

Stix sat up from his chair, saluting her before turning and leaving. He managed to reach the doorway before Sunny called his name. As usual, he expected to turn around to a firearm pointing for a brain painter. To his enjoyment, she held out a packet to him in an aura of orange magic.

"Take this packet to Lime Quarter will you? It is very dire that you do so, do not read it or open it; and do not remain in the room as he opens it. Understood, or have you decided to flip your attitude on me?" Sunny looked down at him, expecting him to flip and piss her off. Yet, the buck grabbed the envelope in his mouth and saluted to her once again, leaving the room with his back straight and a sense of honour that coiled around him.

When he was finally gone, she grabbed her shoulders and shivered at the frost that had seemed to fill the room when he was in here. There was something very different about that buck, not just his attitude or his sense of duty; but his very being seemed to have changed to something much more... dark. Even his eyes seemed different, instead of his usual blue eyes they were more of a dark blue filled with pain and anger. It just didn't seem right to her.

Stix walked down the hallway, only to stop by a crevice in the wall just large enough for two ponies to squeeze into. He did so, dropping the note on the floor and opening it to find the same slip of paper that she had been writing on earlier. He read it quickly, expecting a supply request or something else; but was shocked to find what he read. It had nothing whatsoever to do with the PRP officials business... in fact, it only had to deal with Sunny and Lime Quarter. He almost felt ashamed to read it, as it was personal business. Yet, he read it anyways.

Dear Lime Quarter

I am unable to wait to see you once again, as the last time we had been together was one of the most enlightening experiences in my entire life. Never have I had such a thrilling moment as I had with you. The wait is just killing me, my legs can barely keep still when my mind roams to you. It is like some presence has possessed me... and that presence is you. This probably sounds very cheap but it is coming from the heart. Please, tell me when we may meet again. It is the only thing that keeps me working without me having a break down.

Shall we meet at the old apartment on 2nd and Ody street? I am not very confident with my knowledge of locations in this city as I am but a lieutenant and you are the quartermaster of all of Manehattan. Surely, you must know every nook and cranny in this cesspool. If you have a sense of a "better" location, please inform me and I shall gladly meet you there with all of my heart.

Please, love, I must see, smell, and embrace you once again.

Love Sunny

Stix quickly closed the note after reading it all, ensuring that it looked like the note was never opened from its packet. He wouldn't want Lime to get suspicious of him after all, how would it feel if he failed this far in his mission just because of a stupid love note? The thought seemed to actually sicken the buck, as he didn't think that his "luck" was yet extinguished. Yet, he knew better, as there was always a high chance of his espionage being discovered. Hopefully, it wouldn't happen before he dealt with Olive.

The buck walked down the hallway to a door with a single guard by it, he nodded to the mare standing guard and knocked rapidly on the wooden frame of the door. There was no reply after five seconds, so he rapped on the door once again. When there was no reply once more, the guard began to look slightly troubled, beginning to move out of her position to open the door with her key. Stix, however, pushed her aside and knocked one last time. Finally, a groggy buck's voice answered from behind the door.

"Alright, I hear you. I'm coming to unlock the door, just give me a second please."

There was the sound of keys jingling and a lock clicking from behind the door. Then the door opened up to the exhausted appearance of a Lime Quarter with dozens of papers sticking out of his saddlebags. Clearly, he had been heavily at work for the past few days, as it looked as if sleep was never a requirement for this buck. It looks like Olive was wrong about Lime, he didn't slack in his work, there was too damn much to go through. Stix thought to himself as he saluted to his "superior".

Lime gestured for him to lower his salute and walked to a large square table in the center of the room covered in papers, clipboards, and pencils. Stix followed, dropping the letter on the table for Lime to notice. The pegasus seemed to not realize that Stix had walked in however, as he leaned forward on the table and drooped his face down to it. Falling to sleep almost immediately once his eyes closed. This would do fine for Stix, he just had to deliver this letter and than find a way inside Olive's office. Which came to him quickly as he turned around and began to head out the room.

He stopped though when Lime's voice broke the silence, asking him to come back here. He did so without hesitation, looking the tired pegasus in the eyes. Unsure if the pegasus even knew where he was; but he seemed to know what was going on. He gestured for Stix to pick up the letter and to give it to him. Stix quickly did so, moving to head out again, when Lime asked him a question. Halting him from his mission.

"What is your name, soldier? Who is this letter from?"

"I am Sgt. Stix, sir, and the letter is from Lieutenant Sunny, sir. I am unsure of why she wanted to give it to you; but I assume it is for necessary purposes. Such as requesting more firearms and ammo or whatnot." Stix called off like a real soldier, throwing almost only lies at the tired pegasus.

Lime nodded at this, most likely believing any lie anypony would tell him. Stix was sure that if he said he was a three-headed-acid-breathing-chipmunk that Lime would believe him.

"You may go now... wait, no, I have something for you to do. I need you to tell me, how does this look on me?" Lime asked as he pulled up a half-eaten bagel and put it on top of his head like a hat.

Stix, acting like a true soldier replied immediately with a lie. "It looks fantastic, sir, the best hat I've ever seen in my life. May I go now, sir?"

Lime nodded to his request, drifting off back to sleep immediately. It was actually quite silly to the buck how fast Lime could drift off. The pegasus surely must not have had sleep for over days. Even though the PRP had a choke hold on all of Manehattan, able to lock the RO out from having totalian power from mostly any block, they were still being taxed beyond their limits. How strange that their fight has not let up since day one in this wretched excuse of a city. Stix thought to himself as he trotted out the room to the staircase that would lead to Olive's office.

He continued this path until he climbed up four stories, finally coming to the hallway that would lead him to Olive's office. When he finally came upon the door to her office, he was not surprised to see an increase in her guard rotunda. As usually there was only but one guard sitting out the office, there seemed to be two outside and another two inside. The two inside being able to be located by how the shadows played across the thick glass of the metal door, showing two silhouettes that stood vigilant through the window. The instant that Stix stopped in front of the door, the two guards outside lowered their rifles to block his entrance.

"You may not enter this room without the permission of Major Olive Branch. What is your name, soldier?" a buck in actual Kevlar said in a deep throaty boom.

"Sgt. Stix, sir, reporting from my squadron of the news we had discovered on our patrol route. So, if you would, please remove yourself from the door so that I may speak to the Major of this." Stix spoke with an upraised eyebrow

"I am afraid we can not do so, Sgt., as that may be reported in to your patrol officer." the other guard, a mare, retorted

"I'm afraid that this information is only for Olive's ears. I do not trust my lieutenant to carry it out properly as I do the Major." Stix spat back with a fake tide of rage slowly rising up

The guards however, kept their weapons in his path. Not even allowing him a view through the window anymore. "I'm not going to repeat myself Sgt., remove yourself from the premises voluntarily or we will. Understood, or do I have use my weapon to beat it into you?" the buck yelled out in a fury himself, it seemed he was easily frustrated by those that didn't follow orders or knew the rules.

Stix heard voices from the inside of the office and took the moment to raise the situation. "I ain't movin till my hooves are cold and limp! This info is for only Olive, herself, if you want me to report to the Lt. than I guess we'll all get murdered in our sleep. Probably by you!" the buck poked the other buck roughly, actually pushing him into the wall. This, however, only angered the guard further. The guard dropped his rifle and began to step forward towards Stix, clearly meaning to beat the disobedient pony until he was nothing more than a twitching pile of gore.

Yet, before a blow could be dealt by either bucks, the door slammed open to reveal a proud standing mare in officer's garments. Her gaze locked instantly on the intruder, which would be Stix. Clearly estimating what weapons he might carry and just who the hell he was. Both guards slammed back into the wall with a salute to her when the door opened, almost bringing a smile to Stix's face. He found it amusing how docile these ponies were whenever a superior was in their premises.

"Just what the hell is going on? Why am I hearing yelling from out here and why is this pony here? Why is he not moving when he should be?" Olive Branch roared in the ears of the two guards.

The mare answered first for the two guards, "He would not move when asked, ma'am, Dots was about to move him from the area when the situation escalated."

Olive turned to her and walked up to her until she was a hairs breadth away from the mare, then the yelling continued. "So, why the fuck is he still here? Why is he even here in the first place?"

The mare stuttered a few times before finally answering the questions. "He is reporting that he had acquired information on his daily patrol route that only you may hear. He refuses to dispatch it to his designated patrol officer, ma'am."

She than turned to Stix and repeated to him what she did to the mare. "Who the hell are you and why are you here?"

Stix answered immediately without any fear, regret, or hesitation. "I am Sgt. Stix, ma'am. I had been hoping to give you extremely important information that dealt with the safety of the entire PRP branch in Manehattan and the lives of dozens in this building, ma'am."

Olive seemed a bit taken aback at how cool he reacted but she thought that she could easily beat him into submission like she did the guards. "I have already received the info on your patrol from Sunny, Sgt.; and personally, I find it pretty sad that you had nothing to report to her. Yet, now here you are, saying you have something to report? I don't fucking believe it for one second. I think you're just a goddess damned retard who is trying to attract some attention 'cuz mommy and daddy didn't love you enough as a wee moron. Am I right, idjit?"

Stix's rage, a real rage rather than the false rage he uses to help cover his identity, flustered up. Threatening to break out into an action that would definitely lead to the death of this mare. He controlled it, however, suppressing his urge to maim Olive. "Ma'am, I did not trust the Lt. to carry this info out as I believe that she could bring harm to the entire structure."

At this, Olive seemed to lose her anger and adapted an expression of confusion. "Sgt., what are you talking about? What exactly is endangering us that made you want to chance it and talk to me?"

"May we speak in your office, ma'am? I do not feel safe exposing this info in a possibly insecure location."

Olive looked at him for a good few seconds before turning around and trotting into her office, gesturing for the guards to return to their normal post. "Come on, tell me what you know."

Stix followed her into the room, closing the door behind him,where she gestured for him to sit down. When he shook his head, stating that he would rather sit, she asked her guards to leave the room and take the other two to secure the hallway 50 feet from here. She than asked what was so important that he had to bother her.

"We believe that there is an intruder, ma'am. As we had discovered one of our own people dead in an alleyway not far from here with all of his gear missing." Stix answered the question with a faint smile growing on his face. Actually telling the truth for once.

"Interesting, so you think that there is an intruder why? Just because you discovered a dead soldier does not mean somepony infiltrated us."

"Well, we also discovered the same pony who we found dead in the building earlier on my way to Sunny, ma'am. I know the original was dead, I checked his pulse. Yet, how is there somepony walking around when they died... not to mention he was wearing the same gear? I would have stopped them but I didn't realize it was them till it was too late."

Olive's face turned to one of extreme confusion as Stix spoke, not quite understanding how this could be happening. "So, somepony you discovered dead not but an hour ago is now walking around the building? So, how is that even possible?"

Stix attempted to reply immediately but his mind was becoming strained. It seemed that he had been performing this spell for far too long as beads of sweat began to pop out on his brow and rolled down. He could almost feel a static running through his body, the sign of magic overuse and that his guise was going to be dropped soon. He knew he would have to get this over with quickly... yet, a certain part of his mind continued to push him to make this ruse last. To entertain himself with it.

"T-they are believed to have used some spell to manipulate their figure to match his, ma'am." Stix began to quiver on his knees, barely able to stand any further as the magic began to tap into his reserves. If he had his cloak, he would have been able to use a tonic to refresh his strength in order to continue the spell but he was forced to work quickly by the other ponies.

"Well, get on with it than, Sgt. Just who the hay is it that has infiltrated our security?"

Stix's expression of pain dissolved with a pop and a sizzle of purple light from a horn that had mysteriously appeared on Stix's head. Yet, it was no longer his head, in a green fiery light the head dissolved into a dark grey smirk with dark blue eyes that seemed to pierce Olive's mind, rummaging in it for nothing more than to show that he could. She attempted to move away from the buck but her legs refused to cooperate, Holding her in place as she stared deep into this monsters eyes. All she could muster was a terrified glance as the monster stood at their full erect height, shadowing over the small mare in its darkness.

"I'm afraid that the intruder is me, ma'am... sorry to say though, that they had not been discovered in time to save you from a most terrible death." Rakz said with a cold lust as he trotted slowly towards Olive with his head tilted slightly to the right to give him an enhanced look of pure insanity. Bones appeared behind Olive and put both hooves over her shoulders with a sick smile, enjoying the sight of its twisted partner.

Rakz was however, still drained from his efforts in disguising himself and could feel its effects. His entire mind was clouded and felt drained, the thought of escaping this building had left his mind when he lost control of his spell. Now, all he wanted to do was watch Olive writhe in pain for her actions, to feel her hot blood flow on his skin. He knew that he had lost; but he had no care for it. The only reason he had sneaked in here was to deal with her and here he was, in front of her with the opportunity to finish it all. This bitch doesn't deserve what is coming to her; but it is all I can offer. So, let her writhe. Rakz thought with great glee as he drew out the combat knife on the uniform that he still wore from Stix's body.

Olive finally caught herself enough to realize what was happening and began scrambling backwards as fast as her hooves would carry her. Her attempts were naught however, as she came to a sudden stop against the thick wall behind her not but a foot from where she originally sat. The thought that she was going to die on this exact wall did not enter her mind, only the mindset that at all measures she must escape this lunatic's grasp. No matter how many people she must throw in ways harm, as long as she was the one on top at the end of all the bloodshed.

The stallion with an odd tick in his step and a lack of sanity in his eyes could read this, only feeding his lust to paint the wall with her precious life fluids. Of course, he would have to insure that she could not scream before hoof or he would not be able to enjoy this as much. When she opened her mouth to scream for help, he lunged over the desk on the reserves of strength that still lingered in him and slammed her head into the wall, keeping her silent as her head recoiled in pain and confusion. She attempted to do it again but he repeated the act, than brought the knife to bear at her throat.

"Open your mouth again without my consent and your last sight will be of a stream of red from your neck." Rakz whispered with a sadistic smile into her ear

She only struggled further at this, cutting herself slightly on the knife with every twitch, convulse, and flex of her body. She knew that it was useless to struggle against the Death's Envoy, struggling with him was like trying to fight a hydra with your bare hooves. It was impossible to win in the end no matter how much damage you caused. Yet, she still tried as her mind would not relent to defeat. This for some reason threw an even more sadistic light in his eyes, however. He put more tension on the knife, cutting her deeper as trickles of crimson beaded down her throat.

"That's right, Rakz, just give in to your lust. Let it control you and kill the bitch. You know you want to and it is exactly what you need." Bones said with great glee at the thought of seeing the room red instead of white.

The stallion almost agreed with the creature, digging ever more deeply into her throat, than something clicked on in his head and his eyes returned to their former state. Still a dark blue, but no longer dilated to the point where there were no more irises. He had taken back bits of his sanity... but for how much longer? The thought disturbed him and he refused to believe that he would fall to it. Olive saw this sight in his eyes but didn't make anything of it as she continued to struggle without any future ahead for her by doing so. She just couldn't give up, it wasn't part of her agenda.

Rakz pulled back on the knife and allowed her to grab her neck in two hooves, cupping it with exasperated breaths. Once her breathing had calmed, she opened her mouth wide to scream, only to feel the cold steel grate into her throat once more. Her mouth closed involuntarily and she lost all strength to fight him. Her mind had finally fallen to the monster, not quite accepting her fate but not fighting it either. Why fight what you could not win against? She had never lived by this before in her life but she decided now was a good time to start.

Rakz leaned in by her ear and raised the knife from her throat to her eye with a small wisp of the magic that remained, ready to kill her instantaneously if he must.

"If you scream, I swear that I will put so many bleeding holes in your head. Cooperate, and you may leave this situation with your life, what do you have to say?" Rakz said slowly with his sanity held back together as a disappointed looking Bones dissolved back into the air.

Olive took a large gulp of air before shaking her head with her hooves rubbing at the cuts on her throat. At this point, she would do anything possible to leave this room with her life still intact inside her.

"Good, so that means you won't scream, struggle, or cause me any more trouble? Or do I have to "re-evaluate" the situation?" Rakz inquired as he fiddled with the knife in both forehooves.

She shook her head slowly, comprehending fully that she had no control of how this situation may lead. It was all in Rakz's hooves, in Death's hooves one may have said at this moment.

A faint smile returned to his mouth as her action slowly moved through his eyesight, only moving this slowly as his brain had garnished the capability to receive and send information two times faster than any regular pony could. It had helped him majorly in his survival and allowed him to assess a pony's mind with every action they performed before they were even complete with it. "Good, I wouldn't want to tarnish you anymore than I already have. Else, I wouldn't be able to acquire what I desire."

Her face stiffened at this, quickly thinking that she would be raped and there was nothing she could ever do about it but lie there and take it from him. If she were to struggle, her life would end before she even knew she was stuck with a much different feeling prick. Of course, this was just how anypony survived in this world now. You just assumed everypony was out there to give you the old stick up the cahoots. Fortunately, Rakz had never felt an urge to do so and never planned on satisfying those primal urges. He only wanted one thing in this world and that was justice for everypony that had ever wrought pain on others for their own desire.

"Now, let's begin our little "Q&A" shall we. How about a simple little trial first, how does that sound to you? Would you like to start with some simple questions like what is your name is?" Rakz said as he pulled the chair by Olive's desk around and sat in it, patiently waiting for the mare to respond.

She just looked at him for a period of time before slowly nodding her head in fear of how he would react. That was good, however, as he wanted to instill fear in her. Not hope, salvation, happiness, anger, depression, or hate. Pure, instinctual fear that would force her to tell him anything and everything he wanted to know. It had always worked for him, so why would it not work now?

"Good, good, let's begin shall we? What is your name, ma'am?" Rakz asked with his best smile.

Once again, she hesitated for a long period before answering. When she did answer, it was a barely conceivable stutter. "O-Olive B-Branch,"

Rakz nodded to this, rubbing a hoof at his chin where at least a stubble of hair should have been growing unruly but never had even though he had never remembered using a razor in his entire life. Not even his mane or tail had ever grown past their current length, always maintaining the same length and width no matter how much time he gave it. It perturbed him how odd his body acted, he could never quite place it when his body had began this but he knew that it had definitely been longer than a dozen years or so.

"Okay, this is a great start, Olive. I believe if you continue like so that you will be able to leave this room in no time! Now, on to question number two. What is your eye, mane/tail, coat, and magical essence spectrum's?" Rakz asked with a kind voice, enforcing a "friendly" environment as his strength began to quickly return. Another oddity to him, as he had learned at some time that it took days for a unicorns magic to return to full strength after depleting themselves. Yet, he managed to return to his basic potential in but an hour after being depleted.

"M-my eye colour is brown, mane and t-tail are b-blonde, coat i-is orange... a-and my essence i-is green." Her stutter seemed to be dispersing with every sentence. It was obvious that she was becoming acquainted with her situation... Rakz knew that this would change instantaneously once he began the "true" Q&A.

"I'm glad to see you telling the truth... now, one last question before we truly begin. How much service time on the field do you believe you had fulfilled? And please, only combat time. I do not need to know how much time you served sitting around, that would be very quaint to my objectives for today." Rakz now sat cross-legged in the chair while rubbing at his chin with a peculiar look on his face as he examined how Olive spoke, moved, breathed, blinked, looked, any and all actions were being recorded by his massive memory.

Olive almost answered the question as soon as it was given, the truth in her words were obvious but Rakz was shocked she had known it so well. His expression stayed the same however as it must. "Roughly around 200+ hours... I had seen much blood and pain on the field. Something I'm sure you can relate to since for years every second of your life has been for survival. Am I correct, sir?" She played a grievous look but he wasn't buying it. He knew that she was attempting to play the pity card on him and he knew that she had nothing over him. Now he knew what her poker face and her bluff face was.

It was her wrong move and now it was his turn to play his cards.

He picked her up by the neck with just his two hooves alone, slamming her into the wall with enough force to actually crack the plaster on the wall. She groaned in agony from this and attempted to scream in pain but her mouth was covered in an aura of dark purple magic that began to slowly suffocate her. "You don't have shit on me! You understand this, 'cuz I'm not your little protege who had gone through the same mud as you. You haven't seen a single thing that I have in all of your life in one day of my survival." Rakz whispered in a played rage by her ear

Her fear began to reacquaint itself as she realized she had lost all control of the situation once again. She began to retaliate again but soon slowed in her attempts as air was cut off from her lungs. She could feel a deep burning sensation and began to black out when all of a sudden the vice grip on her mouth dispersed, allowing her to breathe in a large gulp of air and fight the blackness that threatened to envelop her.

"I'm going to ask you a question, Olive. No more simple questions, and I swear, if you do not answer with the truth. I will turn your body into a nightmare of pain and torment. So I'd advise that you refrain from trying to play me like a fool you snide little bitch!" Rakz enforced his point by levitating his long, slender dark blade up to her head and slamming it into the wall not but an eyelash from her face.

She shook in exasperation and fear once again as she fought to take the situation back into her hooves. Yet, a major part of her head repeatedly told her that she was going to die here and she had no power over it. "R-Rakz... p-please don't do this!" Olive begged with what appeared to Rakz to be nothing more than forced tears down her cheek. She had been given the chance to control the situation and had lost it when she played her foolish bluff. Now her life was back in his hooves and he had the chance to paint her in her own blood.

"Are you seriously commanding me at a moment like this? oh, this is just delicious. Shut up and don't talk unless I ask you a question. If you talk, I will cause great pain through you. So mind what you say or you may find your dream of escaping this room intact will be greatly diminished to a shamble of a chance." Rakz barely contained himself from screaming in the mare's ears in his attempt to spread a fear that would grip every part of her body.

"So, let's begin with our first question, shall we? It's real simple and I know you have the knowledge I want for it. Why the hay is there an order to kill me? Remember, the truth holds back the pain." He enforced this point by increasing the pressure of his hooves on her shoulders, resulting in a grunt of pain from her closed muzzle. "Come on, you can talk. Just tell me what I want to know and you won't be a blood stain on the shitty floor."

"O-okay, I'll tell you. I-I was afraid that you were going to bring Latch in somewhere we didn't know about and... and... drag information from him yourself. He k-knew too much and had to be dealt with... same as you. There was just too much at stake, don't you understand, Rakz?" Olive answered with a rising pain in her eyes as Rakz dug his hooves in further and further. She was telling the truth but he just wanted to show that she was to be quick with what she said. He did after all have to get this over with before the guards came back to figure out why it was so silent.

"Good to hear the truth... in fact, you told me even more than what I deemed you to say. The questions aren't over however, we still have more to be discussed. For instance, what was so goddesdamned important that you had to assign the entire city of Manehattan to kill me? Is it really worth that many lives?"

She hesitated before speaking, a sign that she could be telling a lie to him. "We were afraid that he would give you access to the archives and that we would lose every... ah!" a scream of pain echoed from her throat as Rakz brought her head forward and slammed it into the wall. He quickly covered her mouth with a hoof and slammed her head into the desk, splintering the wood underneath with the impact. Then the doors lock glistened in purple and it clicked shut. All of this was done due to the lie she had told, attempting to bluff him once again. He would have none of this.

"Did I not tell you to not tell a lie? Tell the goddessdamned truth right now!" He continued to whisper in her ear, hoping that the guards hadn't heard her scream but he was sure that they had indeed heard it.

"O-okay... they were sent to insure... t-that you didn't take him into custody for a reward from the RO." He saw that this too was a lie and reacted by slamming her head into the desk again, splintering it further and drawing blood from where the wood stabbed into her face. Sure enough, blood began to trickle from her mouth where blunt trauma had most likely jarred a tooth or two loose from her gums. Then he heard the sound of hooves trotting his way and knew that the guards had heard the scream, which meant it was time to go into overdrive.

"Lies, all of it! Tell me the truth or I will break your damned horn off easier than me breaking a twig with my hoof. I can guarantee that you won't be able to do much magic without a source to cast it from." He put a hoof over her horn and began to put great pressure on it until he could hear her scream in great agony. He wanted the guards to hear him now, there was no point in wasting in his energy on this filth suppressing her screams.

"Ah... p-please, stop! I-I-I-I'll tell the t-truth, just stoooooooooooooooooooop!" She howled in horrible screams as her horn began to reach the splintering point. Then the pressure was relieved slightly and she was capable of speaking without great rivers of pain filling her mind. She began to cough ruggedly, blood descending on the desk all over with every fit.

He could now hear the pounding of the guards hooves on the door as they tried to batter it down to get to him and her.

"Then tell me the truth and your horn won't fly off in dozens of irreparable shards!" Rakz yelled in a fury with his hoof over her horn, ready to snap it into shards with one stomp.

"They were sent to kill you soley. You had become an unreliable source and had to be dealt with. Latch had nothing, he was nothing more than a diversion while our teams crept up on you and painted you red." Olive yelled this at the top of her lungs, thinking that this would never reach the monster's ears. It did however; leaving a devastating blow on his mind.

What? Latch didn't know anything? Not a single scrap of info? He was nothing more than a chicken being used to lure in the wolf... and it worked. Which meant I had... murdered Latch in cold blood. There was no saving him in that, only killing him because he was a loose thread for Olive. He had most likely been offered a promotion to usurp her mad power reign... and... and I had stopped it without knowing it. I had kept the PRP from gaining a capable leader all because I could not spot the signs? What have I done?!

Olive took this chance when Rakz was thinking of his regrets to slip from his grasp. She rolled off her desk underneath and quickly grabbed the heavy caliber pistol that sat in the bottom drawer of the desk. When she rolled back from under the desk to aim up at where he was just a moment ago, she saw nothing but the chipped ceiling. Then the feeling of hooves wrapping around her neck appeared and she knew that she had once again made the wrong move. Suddenly she was thrown up and hit the ceiling with devastating force, causing her to almost black out. Her last sight was the floor speeding towards her, right before she impacted it and felt a nasty crunch through her body.

Rakz discontinued his levitation spell on the barely breathing Olive, turning to the window in front of him just as the door broke down from the guards hooves. He levitated up the desk and slammed it through the glass, shattering everywhere. His spell wasn't done yet, he intended to deal with these pesky worker bees. The glass shards were surrounded in purple before they could even fall and were shot backwards towards the guards, missing him by the tip of his hairs. He did not watch as the glass hit the guards, killing three out of the four sooner or later from main arteries being sliced open. There was no time to do that. Instead, he had already made his descent through the gaping hole in the wall when the glass had impacted the guards.

Unfortunately, this descent was over four stories high, if he had hit the ground without slowing himself down he would have died almost instantaneously. Well enough for him, he was a very skilled unicorn. His entire body was covered in a purple aura while he was falling. This only slowed him momentarily as he did not want to put any more strain on his horn. Speed was also a necessity for him if he wanted to leave this area with his life intact. When he was leveled at around 15 feet, he released the spell and hit the ground with all four hooves. Then he rolled forward and hit the wall of the alley he had descended to with all four hooves, pushing himself off of it to level himself out. He landed off the wall and galloped down the alley to the badly maintained road where drops of water began to fall.

His run took him to another alley just across from him when a loud blaring sound began to echo through the streets. Damn, they activated the alarm. Who the hay did that? I thought I had incapacitated all of the ponies in that room. He did not ponder this thought as he bolted out of the alley and stuck to the wall as he ran. Soon enough he had arrived on the road he had planned on using to leave, instilling a slight hope that he still had the chance to survive this. That was when his right hind leg exploded into a cyclone of fire and pain as a loud crack filled the wet air. He toppled on his face with a scream and looked at his leg to see it almost disconnected from its bones and sinew by what must have been a snipers bullet. Most likely a .308 by the amount of damage done to his leg.

This didn't stop him though, he wrapped the injured leg in his magic and began to gallop to the closest alley. The pain was only increased by twofold due to this, erecting a massive howl of pain from his lungs. If this continued, his escape would be halted very quickly. All of this was void to him, however, as a bullet blasted through the road just past his head. These weren't some chump shots, they knew what they were doing with those rifles. He reached the alley and jumped through it just as a round blew a chunk out of the corner of the alley. It was a close call for him but he had made it to the alley and gotten past the snipers view. Which gave him enough time to check his injury.

When he looked down at it once again, his expression was one of pain but joy as he watched a purplish light fill the wound and slowly mend it. As the bone and sinew grew back with his muscle, the chunks of debris that had caught in it were pushed out when his coat began to appear once again on his hind leg. Now that the wound was partially healed after the long minute of suffering from it doing so, his mind returned to its former topic. Of how to escape with his brains intact.

Then the sound of hooves galloping down the road filled his ears and he had no time to ponder it. He jumped to his hooves and ran down the alley, turning around its sharp curve with amazing agility and leaving the alley just as the ponies chasing him reached the alley. He began to gallop down the road but not in the straight pattern that he had before. Instead, he ran in a wavy pattern in an attempt to misguide any more snipers aims. He was glad he did so when a round impacted heavily where he had just been. The bullet would have most likely blown his head away if he had ran straight. He kept this up as he reached the next main road, 14th street he believed, as more rounds slammed into the road next to him.

He ran down it, grabbing the water, that now heavily descended, by him in his magic; and wrapped it in a circle around his body. This would help disguise him as he ran, making him a near impossible target to hit as he galloped down the road as fast as his hooves could carry him. Which was an amazing speed, as he ran past everything in a blur. The only time he stopped was when he reached the next main road, Mane street, which was over a half mile down from where he had entered 14th. This was not where he was headed though, not yet, he turned to an alley and ran down it. Stopping by a crook in the wall where wet fabric hanged out barely. The fabric was wrapped in his hooves and pulled out. He unfolded it and began to shake it clean of the filth of the alley.

When he thought it was as clean as it could be, he stripped off the bloody rags that he now wore and donned the cloak. There was a tiny prick of pride in him when he had it on, he was glad to be wearing it instead of those filthy rags that the PRP calls barding. Now, his escape from this wretched area would be much easier.

Then all of this was thrown out of his head as a series of explosions boomed through the air, sending water that was falling in every direction. He could not see them but he could hear them and knew they were close. Are they seriously bombing me? What the fuck, they want to kill me that much?! Rakz thought as the feeling of leaving this area as a burning lump at terminal velocity reached him. He was hoping it would not come to that.

When he left the alley, he was shocked to see a armoured blue vehicle with a heavy caliber machine gun drive past him. It was not alone however, five more were following it also. He was unsure of what they were doing here but he knew that they weren't his friends. Now the Royal Army is jumping in on this action? Am I just the most wanted pony that ever lived? He had wished he had not thought that, as he knew what would come with that.

"You just wish buddy ol' pal. You're too secretive to have ever had a bounty on you by the RO. By the way, you might want to run 'cuz I think that those last three jeeps noticed you when you stepped out momentarily." Bones rasped with a slight cackle afterwards

Just as it said that, one of the RO jeeps in the back stopped and began to swiftly drive backwards. The pony manning the gun on top of it turned to aim at him. "Really, what gives you that thought?" Rakz didn't give the creature time to respond as he bolted out of the alley to the door on the building to his right. He reached it just as the loud cracking of the gun filled the air, causing massive holes to appear in the road and walls next to him. He grabbed the door handle with his magic but was unable to open the door. Which meant his luck had run out and those guns were soon to turn him into Swiss cheese.

Then a rocket raced past him and impacted the very back jeep, blowing off its bumper and killing the gunner with the shrapnel of the rocket and bumper. The jeep slid to a stop and began to move forward when another rocket smacked into it from the top, blowing its innards out from the bottom and killing everypony inside. The other jeeps caught the message and quickly sped forward, missing rockets by only a few inches.

Hmm, maybe my luck is still going strong? Rakz's thought was junked as soon as bullets began to ping around him from the rooftop and behind him. He began to gallop to the building across from him as RO ponies moved up from down the street, fighting the PRP ponies on top of the buildings and attempting to shoot Rakz down. The RO ponies must have known they were going to lose but they seemed to just want to deal enough damage before bailing out on this mission. He arrived at the door of the building as the RO squad reached him, slamming to the side of the building as a PRP pony kicked the door open and began shooting buck shots out of the doorway, killing two RO ponies and wounding another.

When Rakz heard the clicking of an empty gun and saw that the RO ponies had hit cover, he spun into the doorway and grabbed the pony with the empty shotgun by the head in both forehooves and spun them to the right and left as fast as he could. A resounding crack popped from the pony and he watched as they crumpled to the ground without knowing what had just happened. He didn't wait for the body to completely hit the ground though, he spun from the body with his two black blades flashing out in magic, cutting the throats of the twelve ponies that stood in the room in a flurry of blood and gunshots. It had only been ten seconds when the bodies fell to the ground twitching in their own blood. Then the moment was distilled by the RO ponies charging in screaming with their guns bared on him.

Rakz levitated up the dying PRP ponies and used them as shields, absorbing the bullets as he galloped to the stairs and began his mad race to the top of the building. The RO ponies followed quickly, shooting repeatedly into the now dead PRP ponies that were being used as shields. Yet, when Rakz reached the next floor he found PRP ponies waiting for him and instinctively jumped over the group with his blades flashing once again. His objective was to only maim these ponies in order to relieve their attention on him and reassert it on the squad of RO ponies coming up the stairs. His planning worked as he heard the screams of the RO ponies as they met the hail of gunfire that awaited them. Still though, he had a feeling that this would not stop them.

He couldn't wait to find out if he was wrong or right. His ascent carried him to the top of the building after several more encounters with the PRP militia, maiming instead of killing them at every moment. When he finally reached the top, he opened the door and rolled to the side as a pony with a sniper rifle fired into the doorway used to reach the top. The bullet glided through the inside of a PRP pony that was attempting to chase him down, killing the pony instantly. The sniper realized what he had done and only paid heed to his action. Rakz took his opportunity to slide his blades through the ribs of the sniper, smiling as they fell into their own puddle of blood that quickly formed.

"Look who got the last laugh now, asshole. You blast my leg, I fucking kill you. That's how it works." Rakz screamed at the top of his lungs while the blades slid out of the sniper and he ran to the edge of the building to inspect where he could escape. He looked down to see a scene that had become common in this era of pony life.

There were fights all over the area where the PRP defended themselves from the massive RO assault. It appeared that it was going well for the PRP as the RO began to swiftly lose the ground they had attained. It didn't help of course that they were being fired on by the PRP from behind, in front, and above them. In fact, some were met with fire from below also. As charges went off from under the pavement, destroying jeeps or scattering the gibbets of the unlucky souls that had been standing over the charges. Some met fire from where PRP ponies had came out of the sewer grates with machine guns rattling death. There were also explosions raining all over from what looked like mortar fire. It was unclear which side was firing the mortars but it could be both as each side was receiving devastating blows from the shells. There were also fires breaking out from the explosions all over the area, setting the unfortunate in it on fire. It was a bloody sight of chaos.

"Who the hay said that war was fun?" Rakz said in disgust

He began to turn around when he felt a massive pressure underneath him, feeling it as it ripped the cement underneath him apart. The energy of this pressure, which was most likely from an explosive, sent him high into the air, spinning out of control and descending towards the ground at high enough speed to have all his bones turned into dust. The only thought that ran through his head was that he must save himself, anyway he could. As he still had unfinished business to be dealt with. He wrapped himself in an aura of magic, slowing his descent just before he smacked into the ground at near terminal velocity. Being the pony he was, he had been exercised in taking the worst of pains but this... this was not what he had ever been exercised in.

He did not black out instantly, but he felt all of his bones shatter as the ground met him with open arms of pavement. His body twitched and spasmed uncontrollably as blood foamed out of his mouth. Somewhere far away he could hear shouting and what must have been guns firing all around him. He was unsure where though as his vision began to black out with specks of red in it that must have been from where his own blood had been thrown up into his eyes. Then he felt a slight sensation of being dragged as a group of ponies surrounded him and began to shoot at the retreating RO squads. He was unsure of why he was being saved but it wouldn't matter for long as his life ebbed out faster and faster. It wouldn't be long till the void met him and pulled him into its embrace.

"I-I'm coming L-Latch..." Rakz whispered to himself with a fit of coughs racking his body, spurting up massive amounts of blood from his mouth. "I'll b-be there s-soon eno-ugh."

Then everything fell into a darkness

The fields of grass blew in the cool breeze of the crisp autumn afternoon with red, yellow, and orange leaves trailing the wind in its grace. The flowers that grew in the fields had yet to begin to wilt from the cold of the incoming winter scheduled to occur in a week. The insects and animals that skittered through the grass fields, scampered through the trees, and buzzed through the air had stopped these actions over a week ago in preparation for the oncoming winter. That did not stop the two ponies that sat in the open air of the grass fields on a checkered picnic blanket from enjoying their afternoon.

The white mare with a black mane enjoyed it the most, of course she was able to actually comprehend how beautiful this afternoon was. The grey colt with a white mane would enjoy it just as much if he wasn't nine years old and wondering why he wasn't running a mock with the friends he had just met from Ponyville two days ago.

The silence of the autumn afternoon was broken by the white mare's sweet voice. "So honey, how are you enjoying your day so far?"

The grey colt held his silence for a good while before comprehending that the gorgeous mare was speaking to him.

"Yes, mama. It's very pretty out today but..." the grey colt was saying in a small voice before choking out on his last word.

The mare nuzzled the side of the colt's head gently and told him that he could tell her anything.

"Well, its just that... where are all the animals? Are they... you know?" he colt asked fearing the answer.

The mare looked at him with a confused look but quickly understood what he was saying. "Oh no, honey, the birds are gone but not the way you think they are. They are flying South to enjoy the warmth of the sun down there then enjoy the sun that will be shining through clouds mostly. They do not do so well in the winter air." She said this with a sweet smile on her face, it was enough to make the colt break his damper mood and enjoy the autumn afternoon.

"Where's daddy?" the colt wondered why his father wasn't here to enjoy the afternoon.

"He's in the running of the leafs, he can't stay away from a good race. Especially one he has won for the past three years."

The colt wondered what it was like to run with so many ponies and be the odd one out that wins, better yet, he wondered what it was like to have every pony staring at you after you win. He would have to give it a try when he was of age to run it... which wouldn't be until he had gotten his cutiemark.

Something he had been trying to achieve with his new friends for two days straight! They had tried everything their little foal brains could comprehend, from baking and building to skating and skiing (which was quite difficult when there was no snow). It was beginning to feel like he would never get his cutiemark, he was going to be a blank flank for the rest of his life! A thought that made him angry since he would only receive more ridicule from his classmates.

"Why are you so silent all of a sudden, honey?" the mare asked in her sweet voice.

"I'm just... thinking." the colt responded.

"Thinking about what? Is something wrong?" She asked with a worried expression.

"Its just that... what if I never get my cutiemark? What if I'm a blank flank forever!?" He began to canter in a circle at the thought of this.

"This again? You'll get your cutiemark one day, honey, don't worry about it. It'll happen naturally at what you're best at."

The colt thought of what his mother said and gazed back at a memory of her and his father telling him of how they got their cutiemarks and when they got them. He remembered that his father had been the first one in his class but that his mother had been the last one in her class to acquire hers. Something the colt was learning might be his fate.

"Yeah, but I'm like one of the only ponies in my class that doesn't have their cutiemarks!" the colt yelled out with a pouty face.

"Oh, please, stop worrying about it and just let time do its work. Okay?"

"Yes, I understand."

"Good." the mare leaned in and kissed the colt on the forehead as her horn lit up in a field of sparkly blue magic.

The colt wondered why she was using magic but was interrupted as a pile of leaves fell on him in a haze of red, orange, and yellow. The colt shook his coat of leafs and then looked at the mare that was laughing at what she had just pulled off. He concentrated and scrunched up his face as he attempted to lift the small pile of leaves behind her in a field of magic.

"What are you trying to do?" the mare asked with a quizzical express as she looked around herself for anything in a field of magic.

The colt didn't respond as he wrapped a spluttering field of purple around the pile of leaves and lifted it above the ground. The mare looked at it and squeaked in delight as she comprehended that her colt had done his first act of magic voluntarily. The colt was unable to maintain the magic though and dropped the pile of leaves onto the ground with a gasp.

"Good job honey! You finally did magic!" She said excitedly as she began hopping around the colt. "You did it! You did it! You did it!"

The colt was not smiling though, he had been unable to lift the pile of leaves ten feet and dump it on his mother. Who had done the same act without even concentrating on it. Something that brought a dark rain cloud over the part of his brain that was happy. The mare saw the colt only deepen in sadness after the achievement.

"What is wrong, honey?"

The colt was about to tell her what was wrong when a loud report from a gunshot broke the silent autumn afternoon. The mare looked at where the sound had come from and frowned as she began galloping the way it had come from.

"Please don't let it be him, please Celestia don't let it be him."

"Hey, he's waking up, ma'am. Looks like the sap is still alive. Damn, I owe you ten bits, Jem." a deep throaty voice said from the darkness that began to disperse from Rakz's vision.

Rakz awoke to find himself in a sterile white room with the sound of moaning filling the room from every point. The moaning only echoed in his head, causing great pains that made him want to cradle his head. When he tried to move he found that he was unable to move his legs. He inspected his legs and found them cuffed to the floor itself. Clearly, whoever had saved him knew that they might be in danger and didn't want to risk it. He inspected the rest of the room and found that it was filled with injured ponies that moaned and moaned about the pain... all of them seeming to wear the PRP emblem of a hoof surrounded by olive branches.

"Shit..." He simply muttered as he felt a heavy presence on his forehead. He did not have to see what it was, he knew it was a gun ready to blow his brains out if he tried to resist his now believed to be captors instead of saviors.

"Shit, is right. I'd say you're in it deep right now, Rakz ol' buddy." a very familiar voice said from behind the presence on his skull was.

He looked up to see a mare's face with a smirk that didn't seem right, as if there were teeth missing in it. The only thought that ran through his head though was how he could escape this. To which his mind replied, I haven't got a clue.

"Well, Olive, it looks like you got me where you want. Why not just deal your cards now and turn me into paste?" Rakz asked, not fearing the death that he knew would come soon enough. He had learned long ago that death should not be feared but embraced.

She laughed at this, moving to his side to make her an easier view. Which meant that she wasn't holding the gun but two burly bucks that would probably pull the trigger without a moments hesitation were holding him at gunpoint. "Oh no, why would I do that? Why would I capture you when I could have just offed you when you were unconscious? Which, by the way, is incredible. You broke everything in your body and should have died right there; but somehow you were still going. We didn't even offer you any medical assistance and all of your innards healed themselves. It was possibly the grandest sight I have ever laid my eyes on. Makes me think that you really may be death itself!"

Even he seemed astounded by this, as he did not know the limitations to how far his body could regenerate. Apparently, everything could as long as he was alive. Can I even die? If I can survive that, could I survive anything? The thought scared him, he wasn't sure why but he never thought that he would trot forever through this world. He didn't even think he'd trot for longer than another year on his current path. Of course, he hid this all from her, not wanting to have her tramp his one card.

"Not death, just Death's Envoy. He'd rather not have me retire so soon when there are so many more naughty ponies out there." He said with a cool smile

Olive shook her head in disgust at this and hit him across the face with a hoof. "Shut your mouth you fool, you're not allowed to talk unless I say so. Now that we have that part covered... how about we jump to some "Q&A" as you like to call it." She said this with a sick smile, clearly intending to do to him what he did to her.

"How about we do some "shut the fuck up and make me a sandwich" time?" He was unable to laugh at his own joke as she struck him across the face again.

"I said shut up, so shut up you impudent maggot! I'd rather not deal with this right now, so let's just cut to business."

"That would be?"

She smiled at this, which only perturbed him ever more. Something seemed very off about her. "Glad you asked. See, we have someone who we don't need anymore. They've become very tiresome and I think they need a good old nap for their bones. A agent you may take a liking to... of course, if you accept the job."

He stared at her with a blank expression for a long second before breaking into a burst of laughter that lasted till she struck him once more.

"What is so funny?" She asked with an angry expression.

"You want me to work for you again when you tried to kill me and still are? Are you effing with me, 'cuz it was pretty hilarious?" He asked with tears coming from his eyes from laughter

"Oh, so you decline do you? Wonderful, then I'll just get what I want and you'll watch the world burn slowly." She said this with glee, hoping for this answer.

Rakz's face was now an expression of confusion, not understanding how that could have been the answer she wanted. "Wait, what happens if I decline?"

She perked up even more when this question was asked and leaned in to whisper into Rakz's ear. "I give in to the demands of the Princesses and give them all the info I know on the PRP. They find Command, kill all of the PRP and all who they thought supported them. Resulting in countless deaths and I get rich. While everyone is dead or dying, I live in a castle and take baths in melted down bits just for shits and giggles."

Rakz's mouth fell open at this, not realizing that if he blindly declined that the world would quite literally burn. She was forcing his hand... possibly playing a bluff. It worked though; and that's all she wanted. "Fine, If that's what you want... I guess I can't decline and leave you to murder everypony in Equestria. You win, Olive." His head drooped in defeat at these words

Olive smiled in utter glee and grabbed him by the head. "Oh, thank you very much for accepting. I promise, you won't regret it."

Somehow, he doubted this.

(Author's Note: As usual, thanks goes out to Kkat and Somber for inspiration; and to those who gave me advice on my stories. That means you, Max. And remember to comment and watch on whatever sites this is released on.)