Part 12 Virtuous Mission
 
>The carriage ride is a long, bumpy one
>Especially when you're hiding under it
>You're maybe one foot away from the ground, but at least you're hidden
>Fastened to the bottom of the carriage, there's no way you could accidently fall off, which puts your mind at ease
>It allows you to think of last night
 
>"Virtous Mission?"
>They had accepted the name, but were unsure of what that meant.
>Shit man, the memories you were feeling
>Metal Gear Solid had always been a favorite series of yours
>You couldn't help but to pay tribute to it, Snake Eater in particular
>Hopefully it wouldn't come to Snake Eater though
Yes, Virtuous Mission. This operation reminds me of a similar one that took place in my world
>Ok, so it wasn't so similar
>But you were so reminded of sneaking missions that you couldn't help the naming convention
So how is this going to work?
>Shining Armor explains. "Since our ambassador, Goodwill Wright is reporting activity in the capital, you will accompany him on his trip back to Griffdon tomorrow at 0800."
Am I to hide under the carriage?
>Blank stare. He hadn't thought of that. "Uh, yes, if you could do that, it would work better than what we had planned."
>Shit. In the words of Walter Sobchak, fucking amateurs.
>Great..let's see what else there is...
>"In that case, only Goodwill will know of your presence. You are to sneak into the castle and search for official
documents regarding their war preparations."
What if they have no records?
>Anoth blank stare.
>Fucking. Amateurs.
>"If that is the case, please investigate the 'disturbing signs' that Goodwill claims he sees and report what you find. It is vital that we know if an invasion into Equestria is inevitiable. I shudder to think what would've happened if you hadn't stopped the diamond dogs."
>Oh, yeah... You did that, didn't you. You kinda downplayed that, especially since you were intent on it being a suicide mission.
>"Continuing, if all goes according to plan, you will return with Goodwill to Canterlot three days later at 1100. You will sneak
onto the carriage as before, and report what you find."
>You could work with this.
What are the rules of engagement?
>"What?"
>FUCKING AMATEURS!
Under what circumstances may I engage the enemy?
>"Oh, that... Since this is a recon mission, deadly force is not authorized except in case of self-defense. But only on single-enemy engagements. A killing spree like in the diamond mines is unacceptable."
>They're tying your hands, and you don't like it
What happens if I am captured?
>Shining Armor looks down. Princess Celestia answers, "Your existance in our world is almost completely unknown for the time being. If you are captured, there is nothing linking you to Equestria, which is one of the reasons we prefer sending you to Shining Armor. If the Griffon King asks about you, I can claim to not know of you. Which means..."
>As she trails off, it's apparent that she doesn't want to say it. So you finish for her
Which means I will be on my own. Got it. I'll keep that in mind
>You're not bothered. It's completely logical.
>In fact, this is their first professional thought.
>Perhaps they're not fucking amateurs, just a bit misguided.
So, what are these "disturbing signs" that the ambassador is reporting?
>Shining Armor resumes talking. "He's seen more uniformed griffons around the capital, and has seen fewer ponies every day. For some reason, they're being kicked out of the city. And previously, he was granted permission to go anywhere in the castle, but finds that access to some rooms is being denied by guards that previously weren't there. That does sound suspicious, right?"
>You agree that this does sound rather unsettling
>"This concludes the briefing. Any questions, and I'll be happy to answer them before you leave."
>You all depart, one at a time.
>Going downt the stairs is a shit ton easier
>And takes less than half the time
>Maybe spending a month in the hospital without PT had something to do with that
>Look at your watch
>1900
>13 hours before you depart
>Suddenly Twilight
>"How did the meeting go?"
Better than I expected
>That's a damn lie.
>"Want to go to the garden?"
>Look at the moon
>You know, that actually sounds like a good thing
>And it probably would be best, seeing that you're going away for a little while
>The two of you walk to the garden under the moonlight
>The sun must've gone down while you were in the briefing
>Damn, this is a nice garden.
>In fact, you think it might be the most romantic place you've ever been in.
>It's a shame you gave up on love a while ago
>What the fuck airman? You're...
>Shit how old are you?
>23, I think
>That doesn't seem right, but that's the last birthday you can recall, and you don't look older than that in the mirror
>What the fuck airman? You're only 23 years old and already deciding to be foreveralone? What is your major malfunction?
>Ashley, remember?
>Forget about that bitch! Time to start life anew!
>...In Equestria, where there are only mares?
>.......you have a point. Continue as you are
>Thanks brain
>"What a wonderful night it is."
>You look up, and see the stars. You've only seen as many stars in the mountains back home
>The weather is pleasantly cool, and there's a slight breeze
>Indeed, it is a wonderful night
Eyup
>She laughs at your Big Mac impression
>"Such beautiful flowers. I wish there were more of these in Ponyville."
>She's eyeing a red...you're guessing a lily, because it's definitely not a rose
>Flowers aren't your thing
Indeed it is. What is that flower?
>"It's a lilium maritimum. They're very useful for some potions, and taste sweet."
>Bingo. It's a lily
>Fuck. You're not used to small talk, especially in this atmosphere
>What atmosphere is this anyways?
>A quick glance reveals that you and Twilight are the only ones in eye sight
>This couldn't be...could it?
>Na, not at all. Twilight just wants to hang with you. She's never shown you any hint of anything more than that.
>She is your best friend, but you suddenly begin to question how she sees you
>Are you just a specimen? No, you're her friend. Probably not as close as the other 5, but that's ok
>She picks the flower, and levitates it into her hair
>Fucking magic
>You smile at her. She smiles back.
>Oh god not another moment like this.
>You take a seat on the ground, and just look at the sky.
>Twilight joins you.
>Soon, you're laying on your back
>"So, Anon, what was that meeting about?"
>Hmm...I think I just heard "Can you give me top secret info plz?"
>Access denied
Just a little job offer from the Princess
>"What of?"
You know... stuff
>She falls silent.
>Three minutes later
>"Is it soldier stuff?"
>Damn her and her deductive mind
>No point in hiding it any longer, unless you want her deducing more stuff
Yes. I'll be gone for about three days to take care of some business...
>"Oh...ok."
>Stairing at the sky, you feel an awkward tension grow.
>"Please promise me you'll come back."
>You look at her, and see she's extremely worried about you, and might start to cry.
>Well... you're a closer friend to her than you thought.
>Still, you're a soldier. You can't make those promises
I promise I won't pull another stupid maneuver like that in this job.
>"Never again?"
>God. Damnit.
>You don't answer
>Being a soldier, you know you may have to willingly give your life for others. That just the nature of the military
>Instead, you get up
It was nice looking at the stars with you, Twilight. I look forward to doing it again. I must get ready for tomorrow. Good night
>She looks like she's about to say something. Struggling... Looks like she gave up. "Good night, Anon. Please be safe."
I will
>Liar
>Safe isn't in your vocabulary
 
>Waking up, you put on your tigerstripe
>It won't really help you sneak around, in fact, it's probably among the least effective urban camos
>Still, you don't have anything else, especially on such short notice
>You put on your knife
>You leave everything else in the room, including your firearms, although they're secured so no pony could easily stumble across them
>For a recon mission, it would be cumbersome for firearms. They make lots of noise, and besides, you haven't declared war on the griffons
>Yet.
>You snuck to the bottom of the carriage that would leave this morning with the ambassador
 
>Which brought you to now
>Fuuuck you hate this.
>Shit sucks.
>But suddenly, the carriage stops
>"Open up, and let us check your carriage"
>That's a rather different voice... is it a griffon?
>You see a different set of feet... and a pair of claws. Well shit, you didn't like that
>You hear the door opening and listen to the... well shit, there seems to be four griffons
>You listen to them inspecting your ride
>"I say, this is most upsetting!"
>"Shut up, MISTer AMBASSador!"
>He stops talking, but it's clear he's not liking this
>After a thorough search, they find nothing, and let your ride carry on
>Hehe, nobody EVER checks under the car...er..carriage
>You're fortunate that it's a rather large carraige. If it weren't, you wouldn't have been able to hide where you are now
>Huh. Roads in the city are apparently stones
>From what you can tell, the city appears to be similar to Canterlot, with citizens here and there, going about their day
>On the outside, besides the rather rough guards, nothing appears unusual
>Then again, you haven't ever been in Griffdon before, so you don't know what "normal" is for the city
>Soon, your ride comes to a complete stop.
>"Welcome back to Griffdon, Mr. Wright"
>"Thank you Gilda, although I must admit that the guards were quite aggressive this morning."
>"Is that so? I'll look into it, and make sure it doesn't happen again."
>"Thank you ever so much."
>They leave, as do the stallions that were pulling the carriage
>Gilda... You recall Rainbow Dash telling you about a griffon friend of hers, or rather who used to be a friend, named Gilda
>Is this the same one?
>You don't know. She certainly didn't speak like she sounded like in Dash's recollection.
>Then again, she was greeting the ambassador of Equestria. Completely normal for people, er, ponies...er griffons to be two-faced like that.
>You wait for about 20 minutes, until you're sure that there's no one around before you unfasten your harness
>Dropping to the ground, you feel the sweet tug of gravity and appreciate the laws of physics
>The human body was not meant for suspending from the bottom of a moving vehicle for long
>Slowly, you crawl from under the carriage
>Taking a look of your surroundings, you're still outside, and it's bright daylight
>Best to go inside
>You don't use the front door
>Instead, you stay low, using whatever cover there is to keep from being spotted
>Good thing there are bushes around
>God damn, they must love bush
>It's practically a garden of bushes
>20 minutes later, and you think you found a door for services to enter
>You slowly open the door and peak inside
>Appears to be part of a kitchen
>At least, where the food deliveries happen
>No one in there.
>Sneakysneaksneak
 
>A few hours later...
>You learn that you fucking hate doors
>Not only do they prevent you from seeing what's in the next room, they also are very suspicious when opened, and no one comes through
>On more than one occasion, a griffon opened a door you were about to open
>It nearly hit your face, but you had good enough timing to put your back against to wall to prevent being seen
>Some griffons just really opened doors hard though. Fucking A, how many had hit you as you hid behind the door?
>Fucking hallways though. There's no place to hide in those.
>So you decided to find a nice little closet to hide in for a few hours
>And now it's 2300
>It's easy enough to hide in the cleaning closet, but for around 12 hours sucks.
>SHITSUCKS
>You stretch
>Slowly open the door...
>Few, if any griffons running around at this time of the night. Good
>Looks like you can expect to only run into guards
>You sneak that shit all over the various hallways, looking for posted sentries
>Hours go by...
>Finally, you find one. There's only one guard...
>Hiding behind a corner, you knock on the wall softly
>"What was that noise?"
>He comes over to investigate
>Once he comes over, you immediately put him in a sleeper hold
Shhhh Shhh. Sweet dreams
>His body goes limp in seconds. You put his body in a closet
>Now to see what's in there
>It's an office...with tons of documents
>Shit. Time to start looking through things
>You go to the desk, and find some papers with interesting words
>...or you could just find the documents on the desk
>Fucking Amateurs.
>Even in this world, there's people...er..ponies..er..FUCKING A! Griffons
>There's griffons who have poor practices
>Read read read....
>A bunch of fancy words that basically ammounts to a planned full-scale invasion of Equestria
>Ok, why is Equestria the target all of a sudden?
>Hey idiot, there's more
>Oh, reason is...Oh you've got to be kidding me
>Princess Celestia apparently has an embargo with the Griffon Kingdom...why?
>Huh.
>Regarding an incident where a small group of griffons killed a pony couple in the Kingdom... and apparently got away with it in the Kingdom courts
>That sounds like a rather stupid reason. On the paper, it's admiting that the griffons were guilty... No, there must be an underlying reason
>Sounds like some pretty deep stuff, especially if they're giving a flimsy pretext for this war
>You fold up the paper and stick it in your boot.
>Huh. Three minutes had gone by since you entered that room
>You were DAMN lucky to have gotten this piece of intel relatively quickly
>To be honest, you weren't sure you'd find it in this castle with only three days
>Anyways, time to go
>You open the door and...
>There's another guard outside, apparently looking for his partner
>But that changed as you opened the door
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQiDzSWLIm4
>He blew a whistle
>You punched his beak, knocking him out
>Haha, glass beak
>You move. FAST
>Despite your best efforts, four griffon guards caught up with you in ten seconds flat
>You pulled out your knife and prepared yourself for CQC
>One griffon tried to crash into you
>Sidestep
>Crashed into the ground
>The other 3 took note and landed, surrounding you
>You punch one, catching it off guard
>Must not have thought you were going to attack so soon
>See out of the corner of your eye claws coming for you
>OH SHIT. Those things would not be pleasant if they hit
>Drop to the ground, foot to closest griffon's stomach
>Jump up and knee to face
>You can't believe how easily this keeps working
>Last one is determined to get you
>Worse news: You hear more of those fuckers coming
>Time to try something else
>He slashes at you
>Catch wrist, break it
>He screeches
>That wasn't a pleasant sound
>You keep bending it and move behind him
>Knife to neck
>The other guards are within eyesight
Don't come any closer! I've got your commrade right here at my merc-
>POW
>They didn't stop
>In seconds, you're disarmed with your knife flying away and you're apprehended
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwnPFryXF6g
>Clearly they were taught that the life of one guard meant nothing
>That's an effective thinking process
>Your hands are bound behind you, and you're led to a cell, stopping only for a guard to pick up your knife
>You get thrown into it, and hear the cell door slam
>MISSION FAILED