Title:           [SiE] Chapter 5
Author:          ArchertheUnknown
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/fqNcAcwe
First Edit:      Tuesday 18th of September 2012 08:49:50 PM CDT
Last Edit:       Tuesday 18th of September 2012 08:49:50 PM CDT

> You immediately draw your USP and aim it that the approaching shadow.
“Not one step closer!”
> The figure stops. You can’t really see the shape or face of the alicorn thanks to the low light conditions.
> Its smaller than Celestia, and the voice is different.
> “We only wish to talk, please do not be afraid of us.”
“You can talk to me from there. Who are you and what do you want?”
> “Who we are not of importance, who you are however is VERY important. Our sister has been very worried these past few days, about some disturbance in the natural order of things.”
> The Alicorn picker her hoof up to take a step and you click the safety off.
“Don’t make me kill you.”
> She sets it back down gently where it was.
> “Forgive our mistake. We only wish to help you, would you accept our help?”
“Who is we?! There is only one of you!”
> “It’s the traditional voice of the royal court, but please, take these items. You may find them useful.”
> Her horn glows faintly. “We have been observing you. Your skills are unseen in Equestria, Celestia may fear you but I respect you.”
> A wooden box is floated over to you and placed in front of your feet in the snow.
> “Guard these things as you would your life, or failing that, the lives of the people in the town. You may find them useful in freeing the ponies that the savages captured.”
“How did you know about that?”
> “I watched your discussion.”
> You visibly cringe a bit.
 
> “Do not fear, unlike Celestia we see a need for such unpleasantness in desperate times. We can only hope that your work today can show her this.”
> She turns to walk away as you lower the pistol.
“Wait.”
> The figure stops.
“Why are you helping me?”
> “Because we understand our sister’s fear, she fears for her kingdom and the lives of those who inhabit these lands. Your intuition was not misplaced; she did have plans to imprison you. You do not need to be imprisoned; we need you out here so you can help us.”
“So I am part of some prophecy now?”
> “Far from a prophecy, no one could predict the events you have set in motion. Even we have difficulty understanding the gravity of this occurrence. All we know is that it is better to befriend you than have you as an enemy.”
“Well Celestia is convinced I’m evil, how do you intend to work around that?”
> “Patience, soon you will understand. We will talk again at a later time and hopefully on better terms. Consider my gift to you a sign of goodwill; all I ask in return is that you do go free those that the Diamond Dogs have enslaved.”
“Why should I help you? How do I know you’re not just going to get rid of me when I become inconvenient?”
> “Nothing is really binding you to help us, nor do you have any real reason to do so. We remember your first night here; you said something that gave us a great deal of insight to what kind of being you truly are.”
 
> The figure hesitates to say anything for a moment. “Noble be man, merciful and good? Was that it?”
“Yeah… for that alone sets him apart from every other creature on earth”
> “We do not really understand the context of this line, but at the same time we sense a connection between the line and you.”
“It was more of a sarcastic comment at the time.”
> “We understand that as well, you voiced what you wished to be. This is your chance to become what you want to be. What you have wanted to be for a long time.”
“You seem to act like you know me rather well.”
> “We cannot say we do, but we can at least say we can relate to you. I must be going; you have things to attend to as well as I. Please, consider my offer.”
> With that, the figure faded into the darkness and the light from the moon appeared to grow brighter.
> You blink a few times.
“Did that really just happen?”
> You look down and see the small wooden box at your feet; you bend down picking it up and dusting the snow off of it. The weight of it immediately grabs your attention.
> You quickly inspect the edge of the lid out of habit.
> No wires, no switches, no chemical smell.
> Lifting the lid your eye immediately falls upon an assortment of objects but a few catch your eye immediately.
> A small cloth bag, a large black gemstone, a small glowing orb, a metal pin of some kind, and a piece of paper.
 
“Great, more useless crap to carry around. Thanks for a lot of fucking nothi-”
> But then, you notice something you have been looking for this whole time.
> With a certain feeling of gratitude you pull the map and the compass from the box.
> You shut the box and open the map and immediately you notice this is no ordinary map.
> The entire map seems three dimensional, the mountains stand tall and proud on the paper, while the villages and townships have representations of buildings.
>Then you notice a small red dot outside a town. Upon concentrating on it further you see…
“Is that me?”
> You inch your paper closer and closer to the paper to see a small likeness to yourself staring at a map.
> The figure takes five steps forward just as you do.
> Exactly when you do.
> Your smile broadens as you realize that the map is capable of tracking the movement of everything.
“Now how do you work?”
> You flip the paper over a few times, look at the edges, and feel around the projections of the landscape.
> Nothing. Just…nothing…
> Fucking magic, how does it work?
> The guys in R&D at Langley would shit themselves in joy if they could pull something like this off.
> If you could make it zoom in…
> It zooms out automatically.
> Neat.
 
> Armed with your new map and compass you set out towards the tallest mountain.
> But carrying this box is annoying.
> You decide a nearby stand of dead trees would suffice as a good place to look over your new belongings.
> Sitting down with your back to a tree you open the box again.
> Reaching in you grab the paper, it’s sealed with a purple wax stamp. The symbol it bears is of a moon.
> Breaking the seal you begin to read the letter.
> “The contents of this box are as follows: Ten thousand Bits, one conduit gem, one projection gem, one seal of the royal court, one lunar map and one compass.”
> Lunar map? You glace back at the folded map in your hand and shrug.
> You pick up the small metal pin and examine it. The wax seal had the same symbol as the pin did a crescent moon with three stars that shined with the moonlight’s reflection.
> Maybe it would come in handy later along with the map and compass.
> You stare at the two gemstones a moment, unsure of what to do with them.
> Inspecting the black gem closer you notice it starts to glow slightly. As you look closer into the center it glows a ruby color and becomes extremely hot and you drop it into the snow where it hisses as it melts the ice.
> The glow immediately fades and the gem becomes cool to the touch.
> You open an empty pouch on your vest and drop the two gems inside.
 
> Typically when someone gives you a seal or symbol of authority, it’s meant to be kept a secret until the absolute dire need arises for it to be displayed.
> You pop open the false heel of your boot and put the seal inside along with the map and compass.
> Replacing the heel you stand and look towards the mountain.
> Yeah, that was going to be a fun walk.
*Two hours later.*
> The familiar green tint of your night vision goggles once again dominated your vision, as the once abundant moonlight had been hidden behind dark and heavy cloud cover.
> The strange part is that while you knew Pegasi weather teams could control the weather, you didn’t know if the wind still had the power to move clouds around.
> Well who in the hell could have known you were out here? No one, that who. Except that Alicorn. Could Alicorns move clouds?
> The mountain’s base is surrounded with a settlement of some type. Dog buildings probably.
> You pull the binoculars out and scan the dark camp.
> The camp however is not inhabited by dogs.
> You watch as two diamond dogs throw a foal into a pit.
> This was where the captives were held.
> Your job just got a lot easier, with the ponies outside you could easily free them.
> Then again, you know how cold it is out here and realize the prisoners are more than likely in a severely weakened state.
> Scratch that, job just got harder again.
 
> You notice the dogs have roaming foot patrols outside the camp and guards armed with what looks like bows and arrows on the walls.
> The foot patrols you could deal with, the wall guards would probably slaughter the prisoners if they thought escape was imminent.
> Needless to say, you didn’t want any ponies to die tonight so you would have to find a way to get the guards out of play.
> The M-14 could easily hit them from here, but bodies would have to fall somewhere.
> More than likely the second they see a dead body they will liquidate them.
> When the odds are stacked against you…
“You cheat.”
> You smile a bit at the long accepted words.
> It was the trademark of a veteran spy, being able to turn an environment against the enemy and the exploit the confusion.
> Some explosives would come in handy right about now.
> You notice a few lanterns strewn about the walls. Oil lanterns you assume.
> That might come in handy later.
> Reaching to your back, you pull a length of rope from it along with a spare anchor hook.
> You had your way in now.