They Walk Among Us

Black Wesa.

Of all the places in the world, it had to be Black Wesa.

There he stood, with his four companions (and one compass) by his side as they looked at the Black Wesa facility in the middle of the desert. After around two days of walking and following the damn compass, they had finally arrived at their destination. Although it could easily be said that none of them could be too happy with it.

Plus, the journey there was not easy at all. The first thing they had to do was slip past the two guards standing right in front of the Base's door (which was easily accomplished by Bush wearing his slightly-modified by Rarity Canterlot Guard Armor and telling them to change shifts), followed by the long walk to the facility and the lack of food along the way (due to them having to share rations with Fluttershy's new pet- a little brown rabbit), and having to listen to all of Rarity's complaints about how the heat was ruining her hair and her complexion (no comment about this one, although Rainbow Dash had immediately kicked her in the 'nads when he wanted to scream at Rarity to stop whining)

And despite everything they had been through, they still had one last challenge to face. Definitely the biggest challenge, even more so considering the fact that they were all tired, hungry, and suffocating from the heat. Why did his father have to be there?

"You seem surprised." said Bush, walking up next to Steven, who was leading the group. "Do you know that place?"

"Yes." said Steven, biting his lip in worry. "That's Black Wesa."

"Black Wesa?" asked Bush. "You mean the same group of wankers who ponynapped Twilight, brainwashed Applejack, and is involved in a war against the crazy ponies we so barely escaped from?"

"That's them." said Steven, unsure as to how Bush would react.

"All right then." said Bush, relaxedly examining the enormous facility.

Steven was shocked into stone cold silence for a second or two.

"You... don't care?" asked Steven.

"Well of course I do, mate!" said Bush. "Now we know that this mission won't be a cup of tea after all, don't we? It's always important to be prepared."

Steven smiled at Bush before looking into the facility again. He was grateful for his friends, and he couldn't let them get hurt. He had to think of a plan that would get them in and out safely. But he still couldn't think of anything.

Which meant, of course, that he had to go back to the basics. He had to review the facts.

Disadvantages: 99% of all living beings there would be hostile to them; they will be terribly outnumbered; all of the soldiers will be carrying deadly, piercing weapons; his group might not have the energy and strength to fight through the whole facility while searching for his father at the same time; and, of course, there will be lots of people around, making sneaking in and out very difficult.

Advantages: Steven had been there before.

He practically knew the whole layout of the facility inside-and-out, effectively making him in charge of the situation. He had, after all, worked there for a couple of years before moving to the university, and his curious and inquisitive nature had allowed him to discover all of the secrets of the facility.

But what was the plan? There were six of them there, and four of them were ponies, making sure they would stick out inside the horsist facility. How were they going to go inside and fully explore the place, especially considering that he had no idea where Black Wesa was keeping his father in that labyrinth of corridors and rooms?

To keep the group from wating any longer, Steven quickly drew up a map of all he knew about the facility inside his head (which is, even to Steven's surprise, very much). He very clearly remembered the placement of all the rooms he had seen or been to, all of the secret passages and ventilation ducts (though he was sure the ponies of the group can't fit in there), shortcuts and hot spots they should avoid... EVERYTHING.

"Black Wesa?" asked Rainbow Dash as Bush told the rest what Steven had said. "What's the plan?"

"Um... I'm not sure if I should, um..." mumbled Fluttershy.

"It'll be fine, Fluttershy." said Rarity. "I am positive that we can do it. But there must be a plan of some sort... Isn't that right, Steven?"

Steven could feel five pairs of eyes burning a hole through the back of his neck, pressuring him to think faster. It would be much safer for them to stick together, of course, but it would be harder for them to be detected if they split up. What should he do? That place was swarming with soldiers, and if they were caught while split up, the chances for survival will be much less, since they'd have to fight their way free.

What to do?

Steven beckoned them all to gather around him, and then he created a dome barrier around the group so that they can't be seen from the outside, and so that the hot wind of the desert won't disturb what he was about to make.

"Okay, guys." said Steven. "Could you spread out a bit? I'm going to need to map out the facility first before I can think of a plan."

The group backed off the the edge of the barrier, and Steven immediately got down to work. He made a magic finger and began to draw the outlines of the facility, slowly adding in details as the drawing (no, the diagram) became more complicated. He had always been good at drawing blueprints, but the intense pressure of the situation just seemed to make it neater than any other. Pressure has always worked well for him.

In a small matter of five minutes, Steven had finished the job. And it was no less than a masterpiece.

"Okay, the main entrance is here." said Steven, pointing at the base of his diagram. "Hot spots, where many soldiers are stationed, are in all the large clearings, here, here, and here" He pointed at three different rooms spread out equally in the map.

"And where are we supposed to go?" asked Big Macintosh.

Steven didn't know how to answer that.

"Are you sure you don't know where it is exactly?" asked Steven to the compass.

"No." said the compass, invisibly hovering around Steven. "Sorry."

Steven sighed.

"I'm not exactly sure where..." said Steven. "But my compass will lead the way."

Steven, of course, had to tell them all about his compass. Where it came from, where it leads to... But he didn't tell them that it can talk, fly, turn invisible, and has a mind of its own. They were under enough stress already without having to worry about a talking compass.

"Alrighty then..." said Steven. "Anyway, the point is that there is no plan. There can't be a plan."

"So what do we do?" asked Bush.

"Panic?" asked Fluttershy.

"No, no..." said Steven. "We stick together. Although there is a less chance of being detected while split up, sticking together is all-around safer."

"Eeyup." said Big Macintosh. "Just one question."

"What?" asked Steven.

"How do we get in?" asked Big Macintosh.

"I-" said Steven, before stopping. That was a pretty good question. How were they going to go in?

"If we're lucky, then they hadn't changed their password inside since the last time i was here." said Steven.

"Wait..." said Bush. "You've been here before?"

"Yeah, back when I had two legs." said Steven. "I kinda sorta... worked here."

"You... WORKED HERE?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Steven closed his eyes and braced himself for the trashing that he would soon get from his friends. But it never came.

"That's great!' said Bush, laughing to himself. "No wonder you know the facility inside-out! You should have told us earlier, mate!"

"Great?" asked Steven, confused.

"Of course, darling!" said Rarity, whose grin was a big as the others'. "You must know all the secrets to the facility! Which means that it'll be an easier job for us."

Steven tilted his head. He had expected a scolding from his friends about not telling them this earlier, and he expected them to not trust in him anymore. But this reaction was the complete opposite. They seemed to be happy that they had him with them. He began to smile. Guess he should have expected more from his friends.

"Okay, then." said Steven, walking towards the facility door. "I'll go and try to open the door. If any patrols come your way, just beat them up. Wish me luck."

Just as he expected, there were four guards keeping watch outside the facility entrance. But these were not just any ordinary guards- these guards were very heavily armed. Unlike the guns they had been using earlier in Baltimare and the Base, these guns were positively massive. Steven had no idea how they operated, what kind of things they shoot, nothing. he had never seen those things in his life. Whatever it is, though, he hoped that he and his friends could take it. And maybe later he could study it and see how they worked, so as to learn how to stop it later on.

Now how was he going to take them out? He could use some kind of magical disguise, but then his friends wouldn't be able to go in later on. He could attack them quickly, but then he would be susceptible to whatever things they would shoot at him.He didn't want to go down this early.

Bush and Rarity definitely wouldn't be able to kill them in one shot- their helmets were just too strong to be pierced through by bullets or arrows, and they can't waste too much of their magical power right now. But what-

Wait.

There was something he wanted to try, but hadn't had the chance, or reason to. It was the perfect... No, the only safe solution. But he was not sure he could do it. Logically, of course, he should be able to do it. But he didn';t know how to. He had a vague idea in his mind, but he was didn't know how to implement it.

Well, live and let learn I guess...

He opened his eyes widely and shut it closed again, trying to make himself feel like he was one with his surroundings. He felt his fur waving around in the strong gust, and he felt himself melt into the sand, the heat and the wind. As soon as he was satisfied, he opened his eyes.

The magic had failed. He could still see himself perfectly.

he thought that he had gotten the hang of magic, and the failure to perform this one slightly disappointed him. He had gotten used to trying new types of magic and succeeding (normally in a single try), but this one didn't even come close to success. Perhaps there will still types of magic that still eluded him, or some types of magic that didn't exist at all. Or maybe invisibility just didn't suit his style of magic.

"I don't really know how to pass those guards." said Steven. "They look heavily armed, and-"

"G-G-G-G-GHOST!" shrieked Fluttershy, before hiding her trembling body behind Rainbow Dash. The usually brash and brave Rainbow Dash herself looked pretty freaked out.

"Steven?" called Bush, a pretty panicked look on his face too. Steven raised an eyebrow when he saw that despite Steven's standing right in front of Bush, the former guard pony looked to his right and to his left.

What are they doing?

"Um... Guys?" said Steven.

"Woah!" shouted Bush as he jumped a great length backwards. What was he so surprised about?

"Er... Steven?" said Big Macintosh, looking calm and collected but with a slight bit of fear in his eyes as well. He was approaching Steven's position carefully. "Are ya there?"

"Well, of course I'm here!" said Steven, managing to hold back the word 'dimwit'. He understood that Big Macintosh was raised in a humble background at all, but asking if he was there when he was RIGHT in front of him was too much.

"Because ya don't look like yer there." said Big Macintosh.

Steven looked down at his hooves. He was perfectly visible. What's not to see?

"I'm right here, Big Macintosh." said Steven, sighing. "Right in front of you."

"Where?" asked Bush.

"Nothing's in front of Big Macintosh." said Rainbow Dash.

"Steven, dear..." said Rarity. "Did you do anything that would have made you... invisible?"

Surprised, Steven fell silent.

"Er... yeah, I guess." said Steven. "But the spell failed. Like, really failed. I tho-"

Wait. Did it really fail? Sure, Steven could see himself, but then why would none of his friends be able to see him?

"It doesn't look like a failure to me." said Rainbow Dash, looking amused.

He succeeded? He was invisible now? So the spell did work!

"O-Okay, then..." said Steven. "I'll try to open the door. Just come over when I give the signal."

"And what would that be?" asked Bush.

"You'll know when you see it."

Not wanting to waste another second, Steven immediately ran towards the door. Not wanting his footprints in the sand to be seen by the guards, Steven went closer from the right of the entrance, before pouncing on the closest one. The guard he pounced on immediately lost his balance and fell back.

Steven then turned off his invisibility (not wanting his magic to run out too quickly), and then enabled his long-unused gauntlets. As soon as it was fully charged, Steven punched a hole through the guard's helmet, hopefully rendering him unconscious. The other guards, however, were immediately alerted to his presence, and they began to make a formation around Steven. Determined not to let them surround him (again), however, Steven pounced on another one and bit its metallic leg, throwing it onto another guard. Both guards fell down, and were unable to stand up for a while.

Knowing that he only had a few moments before the two guards were up and ready, Steven turned to face the last one. Unfortunately for Steven, however, the last guard had already begun shooting him (although quite recklessly, seeing that all of them had missed Steven by at least one and a half meters). The gun was shooting at a much faster rate than the ones he were used to, and they seemed to be much more powerful. Steven quickly ran through the beams, narrowly missing more than ten of them.

In the end, however, Steven managed to reach the last guard and break the gun. The guard looked at his gun, obviously bewildered, allowing Steven time to trip him and knock the breath right out of him. Steven then turned to the last two guards, one of which was already standing and helping the other up. Both were oblivious to the fact that Steven was charging at them like a rhino with a temperament problem.

"YEAAAAA!" screamed Steven, causing both soldiers to turn their heads. They struggled to get ready, but it was too late for them- Steven bowled himself, face-first, onto them before kicking both of them to the walls of the facility. Steven waited patiently as he waited for the two soldiers to stand back up again, but they didn't. They stayed stuck to the wall for a few seconds, before finally falling down with a giant crack in the back of their helmets and armor.

Satisfied, Steven quickly sent a beam of magical light into the sky. Soon later, the rest of the group came down to meet him.

"Looks like you did a good job clearing this place up." said Bush, glancing at the four unconscious guards.

"Good job indeed." said Steven. "Now what is that password?"

He barely managed to remember it. All he could remember at first was something about the facility and its slogan or something, and that it was somehow related to milkshakes. As he remembered the milkshake part, though, everything came crashing down on him.

"Black Wesa." said Steven into the voice detector next to the door. "Reaching across the room just to drink your milkshake."

Almost immediately, a loud click was heard, followed by a rumbling as the large doors began to open magnificently. The intense light from the desert began to pour into the facility, lighting up the main corridor. Lucky for the group, this facility was very much unlike the base- there are many more twists, turns, and narrow corridors than large open spaces. Although this may limit the places where they can hide, it would help them a lot when soldiers start streaming about. They wouldn't need to deal with a whole lot at a time.

"That's a pretty strange name for a science facility." said Rainbow Dash, referring to Black Wesa's slogan.

"It's pretty symbolic." said Steven. "It tells you a lot about what they do and how they do it. Plus, it's a secret government facility anyway, so no one cares what its slogan is."

Rainbow Dash seemed satisfied with the answer, and the six ponies entered the facility.

"Okay, so we're in." said Bush. "What now?"

"Oh please, Bush." said Rarity. "Give Steven a little time to think!"

Bush looked like he was about to give an angry retort, but Steven quickly shushed them before he could. He looked at the compass, and the dial told him to keep following the corridor.

"This way." said Steven. "And be quiet. we can't rush into other corridors, and we'll always need to look ahead first."

The group nodded, and Steven began following the corridor. As soon as he reached the bend, he hid behind the wall and took a peek first.

The corridor was teeming with life. Human soldiers and scientists were walking around the corridor, talking to each other and walking here and there. Since no one wanted to go outside, no one actually went to where the group was hiding, so they were safe for now.

But that wasn't the problem. The problem was how they were going to proceed. They could, of course, turn back, but that would make the whole trip be in vain. Plus, he was going to have to enter this place again later on anyway.

"There are lots of people there." said Steven. "Soldiers and scientists."

The rest of the group took a peek too, each one climbing on the other to get a better view. By the time everyone could see, Steven was already puffing heavily as he tried to hold up two stallions, one mare, and two full-grown humans on his back. He felt as if his spine would break soon. Anytime now.

"So..." said Steven, between breaths. "What do you think?"

"That's a lot of people..." said Fluttershy.

"A lot of people that have the power to kill us." said Rainbow Dash.

"I wouldn't want this trip to be of no use, though." said Rarity.

"So what're ya suggestin'?" asked Big Macintosh.

"I say we go through them." said Bush. "Quietly."

"We're too big to be sneaking around without getting caught!" said hissed Rainbow Dash. "Either we find another way, or we plow through them like there's no tomorrow."

"The problem is, Rainbow..." said Rarity. "There is going to be a tomorrow. Steven, dear, can't you just do an invisibility spell for all of us?"

"I don't know..." said Steven, still struggling to stand up with the load on his back. "I'm not sure if I'm strong enough to do it. Plus, I don't know how to check if we're actually invisible or not. I mean, when i was invisible, i could see myself very clearly."

"A tiny flaw in an otherwise flawless plan!" said Rarity, putting a hand on her forehead. He usually hated drama queens (you'd be surprised how many scientists are like that), but Rarity was one of the few lovable drama queens that can be funny at times.

"So what now?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Panic?" offered Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash sighed.

"That's the second time you've suggested that today, Fluttershy." said Rainbow Dash. "Can't you think of something else?"

"I'm sorry..." said Fluttershy. "I guess I forgot. I was busy."

"Busy doing what?" asked Rainbow Dash, her pitch higher than usual.

"Panicking..." squealed Fluttershy. Steven could hear Rainbow Dash facepalm.

"Steven, you've gotta think of something!" said Bush.

"Yeah!" said Rainbow Dash. "Since you're the one who normally comes up with the plans and all."

"I do believe what she said is right." said Rarity.

"We're sorry for pressuring you..." whispered Fluttershy.

"Eeyup." said Big Macintosh.

"Sorry, guys, but I can't really think right now." said Steven.

"Why not?"

"I'm a bit strained." said Steven. "And tired."

"Why?"

"Because all of you are F*CKING STANDING ON TOP OF ME RIGHT NOW."

Almost immediately, Steven felt a hundred pairs of eyes turn that way. Steven stated back at them. For what felt like hours, there was no action from each side. Both were still trying to comprehend why the other was looking at them.

Uh oh.

"Good job, Steven." said Rainbow Dash.

"What's the plan now?" asked Bush.

"Simple, I guess." said Steven. "Get to the other side, and um... Oh, of course. KILL EVERYONE IN THE WAY!"

"Now that's what I'm talking about." said Rainbow Dash, drawing out her two swords. "LET'S DO THIS!"

Taking that as a call for battle, the soldiers immediately prepared their weapons while the scientists ran for cover. But they weren't fast enough- before the soldiers even managed to reach their guns, half of them had either been:

1) Sliced by Rainbow Dash.

2) Hacked by Fluttershy.

3) Pierced by Rarity.

4) Splattered by Bush.

5) Disfigured by Big Macintosh.

6) Crushed by Steven.

It was their pick (Offer only available in the Black Wesa facility and all other Black Wesa- affiliated locations for a limited time only while stocks last)

"Rarity!" shouted Steven. "To your left!"

Steven saw Rarity quickly turn to her left and shoot 3 whole arrows into the soldier's chest. The soldier, after staggering a bit, fell down to the floor.

"Thank you, Steven." said Rarity, proceeding to attack even more soldiers.

Smiling, Steven bowled over even more soldiers, punching their helmets in as they fell. The soldiers, however, seemed to be very quick learners- they learned to scatter when Steven pounced on them. Despite the weight of their armor, the guards were very deft and quick, easily managing to dodge Steven's attacks. Steven, however, was faring just as well as them as their shots all missed him.

The problem, however, was the stamina factor. Steven was getting tired quickly, whereas the soldiers seemed as energetic as ever. This may be because of how they didn't need to keep punching and kicking to attack. Steven was now barely holding up, dodging the beams by a hair every time, and the soldiers seemed to notice it. They just attacked more ferociously.

Steven noticed that the others were pretty much suffering the same fate. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy was running around, out of breath, trying to reach the soldiers to attack, but they were moving just as fast as they were. Big Macintosh was trashing through a group of soldiers, but none of his strikes seemed to be of any effect to them. Rarity and Bush faring relatively well, though, but their shots barely managed to pierce through the soldiers' body armor.

He was getting exhausted. He could very barely move, let alone dodge quickly. It was getting harder to breathe for him, but the soldiers seemed fine. He felt his knees begin to tremble as they tried valiantly to hold up Steven's body. He knew that they would give in soon, but he had to postpone that moment until the latest possible time. He needed to go on. He needed to know that he gave his best.

"Come on, guys!" said Steven, struggling to keep his vision clear. "We'll get through this."

All of a sudden, there was a strange splattering sound behind Steven. Reacting quickly, Steven jump-turned, only to see the headless body of a soldier and a yellow pony floating near it. The soldier fell down with a loud 'thud', and Steven was left to comprehend how such a shy little pony could be so ruthless.

"Thanks, Fluttershy." said Steven, deciding that he didn't want to ever be on Fluttershy's bad side again.

"Jhon't wenshien itsh." said Fluttershy, her mouth full as it was clenched tightly around her battleaxe.

Steven suddenly felt a strange burst of energy inside him, which could either stem from the relief that he hadn't been killed by the soldier or the horrifying thoughts of what Fluttershy would do to him in the afterlife. Screaming loudly, Steven stood on two hooves and unleashed his magic, shooting bursts of brilliant blue tendrils from his hooves. The tendrils shot out like lightning, whipping a few soldiers in the head(until their helmets cracked open) and grabbing hold onto a few soldiers' limbs and bringing them closer to him.

As he brutally beat the soldiers his magic had brought him, Steven could finally feel how the Roper-Mare must feel. Suddenly, this whole ordeal was far too easy for him.

"Control?" said a soldier to a machine on his wrist. "We've got a problem down here at the Lobby, and we're going to need rein-"

Before he could finish those last words, however, one of Steven's tendrils grabbed ahold of his leg and threw him aside, dropping the small machine. Nodding to Bush, the stallion immediately went to the machine and began to speak to it.

"Naw, naw, Control." said Bush. "Everything's fine and peachy down here. Bobby there just had a little to much to drink."

"Very well." said a mechanic voice from the machine. "Make sure to keep... 'Bobby' out of harm's way.'

"All right." said Bush.

Steven took a look around. There were barely any soldiers left standing, and all of them were put down one way or another by his friends. They had just attacked the most fully populated room in the whole facility, and they had won. Survival was one thing, but winning? Guess he had his scary mental image of Fluttershy to thank for that.

"Well this was fun." said Rainbow Dash, sheathing both of her swords back. "Where to now?"

"This way." said Steven, pointing to a nearby door.

"I hope you're not going to lead us to another soldier-filled area." said Steven to the compass.

"I hope so too." said the compass. "I'm just a compass. I only know which direction to go, not where exactly we're supposed to go."

Unsatisfied with the answer but knowing that there was nothing he could do about it, Steven set out to another narrow corridor. The sign next to its entrance said: "Staterooms, Lounges, Armory, Holding Room."

Steven had always heard of the less-than-humane Holding Cells in this facility (he'd been there before), but the Holding Room must have been a new addition to the facility. It seemed appropriate, seeing as a Holding Room would be a good place to keep something (or someone) secretly for a long time.  And the sign simply said "Holding Room", not "Holding ROOMS". That must mean that there was only one room for storing whatever they were storing. Steven couldn't help but feel like he was supposed to go in there.

Looks like they'll have to go in to find out.

"This way." said Steven, beginning to walk down the corridor.

Like the majority of corridors in that enormous facility, this corridor was completely deserted. In fact, as far as Steven remembered, the only crowded places in this place are the Hub, the 33rd, 42nd and the 56th corridors, the interrogation rooms, the research center, the Control Center, every single clearing around the elevators. Luckily for them, though, this corridor didn't even come close to those places.

"For such an important place, there's not really much activity." said Rarity. "It's kind of depressing, really."

"Depressing doesn't even touch the surface, sister." said Steven automatically. He didn't seem to be aware of the concerned faces looking at him from behind.

"Where are we going, Steve?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I'm not entirely sure..." said Steven, scanning the entire corridor thoroughly. "But I think we're supposed to be going to some kind of Holding Room."

"H-h-holding Room?" stuttered Fluttershy.

"Maybe." said Steven, who the looked back at his friends' faces (which quickly began to smile uncertainly. Steven smiled back. "Seriously, I can't thank you guys enough for wanting to come with me. This is, like Twilight said, really dangerous."

Steven shuddered as he remembered Twilight's face as she looked at him the last time they met. He hoped with all his heart that Twilight would forgive him, although he didn't expect that she would. He HAD made her really angry.

"It's fine, Steve." said Rainbow Dash, who was now walking next to Steven in the front. "It's not like there's anything we can't handle together."

"Eeyup." said Big Macintosh, eliciting small laughter from the group.

"Turn left." said the compass.

Steven saw in front of him a crossroad- right and left. Following the compass's instruction (it had never been wrong before), he turned to the left. The sign on the walls said that left would lead them to either the Interrogation Rooms or the Holding Room.

The Interrogation Rooms.

They had to be more careful around here. Seeing as it is a place full of prisoners of war in different rooms being questioned at once, there was bound to be a lot of soldiers standing guard there as well. He just hoped that there would be no more battles and bloodshed at this point, or they'd be in deep trouble.

Steven shushed his friends (rather unnecessarily), and sneaked a peek around the corner. Just as he expected, there were a couple of soldiers there casually chatting with each other. He snapped his head back, trying to avoid being seen by the very heavily armed guards. The weapon that one of them was carrying looked no less than a grenade launcher, and he didn't want to have anything to do with THAT. And he definitely didn't want to put his friends in this kind of danger.

"Guys, this is your last chance to turn back." said Steven. "There's a couple of guards with very dangerous weapons over there, and there's definitely a lot more behind that room."

"Why would we turn back now?" asked Rainbow Dash, who was surprisingly close to laughter. "We've already gotten this far."

"Yeah, but-"

"Are ya forgettin' who we are?" asked Big Macintosh. "We're yer friends, Steven Reilly. That means that we'd take a bullet fer ya."

"I know!" said Steven, pressing his hooves onto his head. "I know... That's exactly why I can't let you come with me."

"The question is, mate," said Bush, "what are you going to do?"

What he was going to do? He wanted to go in there, save his father, and come back out all in one piece. That was what he wanted. But he knew that was not what Bush wanted to ask him about.

Not only did he have to think about the outcome itself, but also what he was willing to sacrifice in order to get it.

But he himself didn't want to turn back then. He was going to get to the bottom of this, no matter what it took. Be it his hooves or his tail, he was willing to pay any price to save his father. There was no argument there.

But what else was he willing to pay? That was the money question. Would he be willing to sacrifice his friends? No. He would die before letting his friends' lives be forcefully taken from them. Nothing was going to change that either.

"I'm going." said Steven. "But I'm going alone. There's no need for any of you to come join me. I-"

"Well, it's decided then!" said Rainbow Dash, her fists clenching on the hilts of her swords. "Let's get going."

"No, Dash!" said Steven. "I said I'm going alone."

"Well, that's just idiotic." said Rarity. "We're coming with you."

"No!" hissed Steven. "Those guards there are very heavily armed. They could kill about three of us in one shot!"

"So?" asked Rainbow Dash, lifting an eyebrow.

"SO, I don't want any of you to die!" said Steven, not quite believing that he had to spell that out to them. He angrily turned away. "This is something I have to do. But none of you need to come with me."

"Is it... really that dangerous?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Yes." said Steven, not sure if he should be glad or devastated that they finally got the point.

"All the more reason to come with you, then!" said Bush. "Now let's go kick some sorry-soldier flank!"

"We're coming with you, Steven." said Fluttershy. "Whether you like it or not. Although I'm really sorry if you don't like it. Please don't be mad."

Rainbow Dash nodded eagerly, and everyone else followed suit. Even Fluttershy had a fiery, determined (although rather scared) look in her eyes as they silently vowed to go with Steven to whatever ends he will lead them to.

Steven let out a huge sigh. He wanted to feel angry, or annoyed, but he just couldn't. Under the shadow of his mane, he was smiling. He didn't want to smile, but he couldn't help it.

He felt terrible. He wanted to tell them to go and save themselves, to go and leave him to his fate, but he just couldn't say it. He needed his friends. Much more than he'd liked to think.

"There's no changing your minds, huh?" asked Steven, still smiling as he looked up at his friends.

All of them enthusiastically shook their heads, and began to prepare their weapons for the battle to come.

Steven made a big deal of letting out another huge sigh.

"Fine." said Steven. "But remember this: It's a war zone  out there. As soon as we turn the corner, we will face about a hundred soldiers, all aiming to kill us."

"And you have a plan?" asked Rarity.

"The Holding Room is where we want to go." said Steven. "And the path there should be at the end of the room."

"Right?" Steven added silently.

"Right." confirmed the compass.

"Right." continued Steven. "Anyway, the most important thing is that we have to stick together. Do not separate from the group at all times. And another important thing to remember is that unlike before, the main goal here is NOT to kill all the soldiers. It's to get to the Holding Room as quickly as possible. Which means that we have to avoid fighting as much as possible."

"Oh!" exclaimed Fluttershy. "That's good."

"Eeyup." said Big Macintosh.

"All right, then." said Steven. "You guys ready?"

"Wait, Steven." said Rainbow Dash, quickly stepping to the front. Hesitating for a while, she grabbed hold of Steven's neck, and pulled his head towards her own.

Rainbow Dash had pulled him unawares into a kiss. Once again, Steven's thoughts became lost in time, and he felt as if his entire being had melted into nothingness. It was a feeling he was familiar with, but not one he could ever get used to.

He loved Rainbow Dash. She's pretty, smart, and brave, or in short anything that a man could ask for. Being do close to her face, Steven could once again smell the mysterious but beautiful fragrance of her rainbow-colored hair. He'd always wondered what smell that was. It was at the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't guess what it really is. He was going to have to ask her about it next time.

If there was a next time.

The reality of the situation dropped down on Steven, and he finally pulled away. Rainbow Dash stood there, smiling I uncharacteristically.

"What was that for?" asked Steven.

Steven could swear that he saw Rainbow Dash blushing cutely, she immediately tried to hide it.

"Well, you know how in books the girl always gives the guy a good luck kiss?" asked Rainbow Dash in a hot,  slightly-raspy voice. "It was something like that, except it works both ways. Plus, I don't know when we'd be able to do that again."

Steven smiled and planted a soft kiss on Rainbow Dash's cheek. She immediately began to blush again.

"Don't do that!" said Rainbow Dash playfully. "You're making me feel all sappy inside."

"We'll get though this." said Steven, smiling genuinely. "We'll all get through this. I promise you that."

His teammates nodded silently.

"Okay, then." said Steven, turning the corner. "Let's go."

And all hell broke loose.

Steven jumped on the two unsuspecting guards, pinning them down, and letting Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh finish them off. He looked up, only to see about three dozen bewildered faces staring back at him. They were not ready.

Taking this chance, Steven began to scream loudly. Just as he expected, the whole room began to erupt in chaos- the soldiers struggled to prepare their weapons and take aim at the relatively small group of Resistance members, and analysts, interrogators and the like were running around panickedly in an effort to find cover. All this, of course, made it easier for Steven's group to move forward without getting attacked at all.

"Okay, guys." said Steven. "Stay together, but be inconspicuous."

Steven's group moved silently and undetectedly, blending along with the panicked and unarmed humans. They occasionally ran into a soldier or two, but it was nothing that they can't finish off all too easily.  But good things never last, of course, and it didn't take as long as Steven had hoped for the room to clear out, leaving the group stuck with a whole bunch of heavily armed soldiers.

"FREEZE!" shouted one soldier, who began to walk towards them. He was wearing heavy black armor like the rest of the soldiers, but his helmet looked different. It was like one of those battle helmets which covered one whole head, with bits of tubing attached to the sides (from the top to the mouth) and small holes in front of the mouth to speak. The soldier's voice seemed distorted as well. That, and a couple of badges carefully painted onto the soldier's armor made Steven guess that this was one of the higher-ranked soldiers. And most probably one that he knew personally.

He didn't prepare his gun. In fact, he rather carefreely walked towards them, his underlings all carefully aiming their weapons at them. The group remained together, not daring to move at all.

And they were so close! It was just a matter of a few steps before they could turn the corner and hightail it out of there.

"State your name and intention." said the soldier, looking at Steven and guessing that he was the leader of this little ragtag group of misfits.

Steven hesitated to answer. He knew that he couldn't lie to this soldier- he would be able to see through it like clear, polished glass. And not only that, but he had no desire to speak to this particular soldier as well.

But it looked like he had no choice. He was going to have to use his special weapon one more time- the Element of Surprise.

Steven quickly gave Big Macintosh a furtive look, and the red stallion's eyes seemed to tell him that he understood. They couldn't let themselves be captured. Death would be a better date than life imprisonment in this horrible facility.

"My name is Steven Reilly." said Steven, looking into the eyes of the soldier. "And I'm here to save my father."

Almost immediately, the soldier began to stagger backwards in surprise. Taking this chance, Steven immediately leapt out towards the corridor, closely followed by Big Macintosh and the rest of his group. As he began to run through, he could hear a metallic. Pice giving out orders in the Interrogation Rooms.

"Well, what're you waiting for?" asked the higher-ranked soldier, rather frantically. "Get them!"

Steven could feel the rumbling of the soldiers running through the corridor, and he knew that he had to think fast. The corridor was straight- never a good sign if you were being chased by a bunch of people with heavy guns. The only upside was that the corridor was rather wide, although he knew that the fact alone won't help them much. Thinking fast, he immediately moved to the back of the line.

"You guys go first!" said Steven. "I'll try to hold them back!"

"Are you insane?" asked Bush. "You'll get killed!"

"I stand a better chance of keeping them back than any of you!" said Steven. "Now go!"

Nodding, Big Macintosh led the group ahead. Steven lagged behind, summoning enough energy to make a shield that covered the space behind him. Hopefully that would be enough.

 As things should work out, however, it wasn't. All of the soldiers immediately opened fire on Steven, and the shield immediately shattered as the first shot went through it. Panicking, Steven quickly conjured up another shield, but it was easily broken apart too.

And immediately after that, Steven felt a blinding pain on the right side of his head. But the intensity of the pain quickly wore off, and he felt a strange, unusual sensation in his head. It was probably just a small scratch or something. He could feel blood trickle down to his shoulders, but he couldn't let that slow him down at all. It would be the death of him.

"Are you okay?" asked his compass, still floating around his head as it tried to dodge the enemy's shots.

"I'm fine." said Steven. "Shut up."

Using the pain to make himself go even faster, Steven used up a huge portion of his energy to make the strongest shield he had ever made before and quickly turned the corner. Just as he expected, the soldier couldn't fire through his near-invulnerable shield, nor could they simply walk through it.

Attributing the intense throbbing in his head to using a very large amount of magic in a short time, he continued to ran along the clear corridor, slowing down his pace as he studied the signs next to the doors along the passage.

Boiler Room.

Power Supply.

Water Purifier.

Mess Hall No. 5

Steven stopped as he read the next sign.

Holding Room.

The door itself was much more differently designed than the others. It was much more beautified than the others, and looked as if it was much more secure, although Steven believed that this kind of security should have been attributed to the Power Supply Chamber rather than this place. This, however, meant only one thing- that something very important is being hidden in this room.

"This is the place where they're keeping my father?" asked Steven.

"Most likely, yes." said the compass.

Breathing in anticipation, Steven slowly reached towards the door. It had been slightly damage, having dents all over it, and Steven guessed that his friends must be in the room already. He really didn't know how to feel at the moment.

He hadn't seen his father for a very long time, and he could only guess how long his father hadn't seen him- for all he knew, his father might've woken up three months before he did. Preparing himself for the reunion he had been waiting for ever since the compass dream, Steven kicked the door open.

Black.

That was all he could see. Soldiers, laden in heavy black armor, we're strewn all over the room as if they had been expecting him. As soon as the door opened, they immediately prepared their guns to fire. He had been tricked.

"You've led me into a trap!" growled Steven.

"Oh... Oh no..." said the compass.

Steven saw the bodies of his friends lying around in separate places in the huge room, all of whom seemed to be unconscious. Cursing himself for bringing them into this, Steven steeled himself for battle.

"What are you doing?" demanded the compass. "Run away, while you still can!"

"Go away."'said Steven. "I don't ever want to hear your voice again."

"But-"

"GO AWAY!" growled Steven. He didn't know if the compass was still there or not, but there was no reaction at all. Gritting his teeth in anger, Steven charged towards the soldiers.

With his fury fueling his attacks, Steven powered up his gauntlets to a maximum. He punched and pounced at the soldiers all over the room, sending them flying and crashing across the room and into each other as he did. They attempted to dodge, but they couldn't. He was too fast for them.

He had led his friends into this death trap. And it was all nothing but a wild, desperate goose chase. They were all dead, all because of him. This revelation made Steven go even angrier, and his gauntlets began to transform- it was no longer the round shape that it was before, and it was no longer the brilliant blue color of his magic. It had become completely different. It became a manifestation of Steven's rage.

With white, blinding rage overcoming him, Steven felt his consciousness slip away from reality.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Uugh..."

Her head was throbbing like crazy.  She quickly put a hand on her head, using whatever energy she had left to rub it. No effect. It was still hurting badly. As badly as that time she had been affected by the Poison Joke, and was kept crashing headfirst into a bunch of different things. Walls, ceiling, windows, trees... She's crashed them all.

But this pain felt somewhat different. Not only was it more intense, but she didn't feel the pain where she normally did- in her forehead. As she moved her hand from her silky, rainbow-colored hair to the rest of her head, she found out that the pain was mostly around the back to the sides of her head, just above the base of her neck.

And then it struck her.

She had been hit. Hit by something hard, right there. She must've fell unconscious then, and she hoped that it hadn't been too long since they first came in this goddess-forsaken facility.

Big Macintosh, Bush, Rarity, and Fluttershy must've suffered through the same things, and she was pretty sure they were all still lying around somewhere. Despite her affinity for napping, Rainbow Dash had always been a light sleeper. She didn't want to be one, though.

And if they had been knocked unconscious, then...

Steven!

Where was Steven? Is he alright? She had to go warn him quickly.

Gaining her consciousness faster than before, Rainbow Dash became more aware of her surroundings, and she felt a sudden surge of power rising from within her gut.  She quickly picked herself up off of the ground and staggered toward the open door.

That was when she realized it.

Why was it so quiet in here? Why did nobody try to stop her from exiting the room? Why was the door open?

She reluctantly looked to her left, where she saw the stranger thing she had ever seen before.

It was a pony. A pony with a blindingly bright white coat, a red, fiery mane and tail, and it was floating. Floating just above the ground.

The pony was just standing there, facing a corner, its make and tail flowing in the non-existent wind. It was a strange sight for Rainbow Dash to see. It was like looking at a deity, one much more powerful than even Celestia herself.

This pony was, hands down, the most awesome things she had ever seen! Even looking at it gave her goosebumps, and that very rarely happens. She stared in awe at the beautiful pony standing in front of her like that.

But something strange struck Rainbow Dash as she continued to stare at the brilliant white pony. Instead of front hooves, the pony had...

Lances. White, long, sharp lances.

Rainbow Dash, wondering why such a holy being was doing in such a place, moved around to get a better look at what it was doing.

As she moved closer to the pony, she began to feel the heat of its fiery mane intensify. All of a sudden, her feelings of awe disappeared to be replaced by feelings of worry- where did this pony really come from? Why was it here?

Who is it?

As soon as she became conscious about this fact, all her other senses snapped back to attention as well. All of a sudden, loud, high-pitched screams filled the room, followed by a loud thud. She saw soldiers trying to back away, their guns trembling in their hands, but to no avail. The pony moved too fast for them.

This pony was their friend!

The pony raised a hoof and picked up a soldier in its hooves. The soldier was now unarmed, and was desperately trying to break away from the pony's grip. Rainbow Dash expected the pony to throw the soldier to the wall (silently hoping that the soldier will go though the wall, because that would be AWESOME), but the pony didn't do anything like that.

Instead, the pony left the soldier hanging on to his hoof, while he raised up another one- one with a magical lance covering it. The pony slowly pulled it backwards, and the soldier was trying even more desperately to escape from the pony's grasp, but to no avail. Knowing what was coming next but unable to believe it, she surprisingly found herself silently hoping that the soldier would break free and run away. But she knew that he couldn't. She knew what was coming next.

But she couldn't look away.

Right before her eyes, the pony drove his long lance into the soldier's throat. The soldier's throat sputtered blood, and the some of it began to seep down the magical lance. The soldier still struggled, but not for long. Soon enough, the soldier's hands and legs went limp, blood still flowing, and the pony heartlessly threw the soldier to the wall. There was a loud crack, and the soldier fell to the floor and didn't move.

Horrified, Rainbow Dash stepped back. The pony didn't seem to notice. All of a sudden, Rainbow Dash saw this pony in a whole new light- it suddenly looked menacing, evil, and cruel to her. After this revelation, her senses seemed to have only just come back to full life, and she saw that the pony wasn't fighting the soldiers...

It was slaughtering them.

The soldiers were all unarmed, and they were huddling in a corner as they tried to stay as far away from the pony as possible. But the pony, though knowing full well that those soldiers were already defeated, still moved to brutally kill them. But as the pony picked up another trembling soldier, however, she realized that she couldn't just stand and watch any longer.

"Hey!" screamed Rainbow Dash, running in front of the pony. "What are you doing? These-"

Rainbow Dash took one full look at the pony's face, and she fell backwards. She sat on the ground, her mouth wide, as her mind wasn't able to comprehend what she was seeing right then. That wasn't possible.

The pony... No, the monster that was brutally murdering the soldiers one by one...

Had Steven's face.

It was no doubt Steven's face. Except for the fact that it changed color, all of the features looked exactly the same. But his eyes glowing white, and his scar was glowing red, changing a face showing kindness, compassion, and hope to a face of anger, cruelty, and vengeance.

No! This wasn't possible! Steven... Steven's not like this! He would never do something like this...

And yet he was.

"Steven..." said Rainbow Dash, her lips trembling. "Steven, stop."

The brilliant white pony didn't even bother to look at her, never mind actually paying attention to what she said. The pony... Steven pulled another hoof back, and the soldier stopped moving in resignation.

"STOP!" said Rainbow Dash, pushing Steven off-balance. Steven dropped the soldier to the floor, and the soldier immediately scrambled up back to his group of friends. This left Rainbow Dash with... with Steven.

Steven immediately recovered his balance, and he turned his head to look at Rainbow Dash.

Almost immediately, the light in Steven's eyes overwhelmed Rainbow Dash, and she felt that very light get absorbed into her own self, thus blinding her to everything. She then immediately felt something sharp pierce through her shirt, scraping a bit of her skin, and lifting her body up into the air.

"Steven..." said Rainbow Dash. She still couldn't open her eyes, but she knew that Steven was the one that had lifted her up. He was going to kill her, just as he did the rest of the soldiers.

"Steven, please..." said Rainbow Dash, not even trying to struggle. "It's me, remember? It's Rainbow Dash."

If Steven had heard or even understood whatever Rainbow Dash was saying, he didn't show it. But he didn't move either.

"Steven, remember me..." said Rainbow Dash. "Remember your friends. Whatever you are... this is not you. This is not the man I fell in love with."

Almost immediately, Steven dropped Rainbow Dash. Falling to the floor with a loud 'thud', she struggled to sit up. Did it work? Did he remember?

Rainbow Dash hesitantly opened her eyes. There was no more overwhelming light. All she saw was Steven, still standing on two hooves in the same position as he would lift up something. After dropping her, Steven hadn't moved at all.

Suddenly, the light began to flash once, very brightly, before going out again. Steven dropped his hooves, and began to flail around wildly, before standing straight again. What was going on?

Immediately after regaining balance, Steven turned to look at Rainbow Dash. The white light in his eyes were gone, replaced with a blood-red light that covered the whole of his eyes. He looked menacingly at Rainbow Dash, before conjuring up another pair of lances (red this time) and lunging at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash dodged at the last minute, and the lance pierced through the solid floor. Pulling it out quickly, Steven jumped at Rainbow Dash again, who quickly managed to sidestep the attack.

Knowing that there was no other choice now, Rainbow Dash drew her swords. She was going to make Steven remember,

by fighting him. It was the only way.

Steven jumped at Rainbow Dash again, lances pointed straight at her, but Rainbow Dash swung both her swords sideways and deflected the attack. Steven also went flying to the left, her reversal knocking the balance out of him. But Steven wasn't undaunted- he wasn't even hurt. Whatever was driving Steven at the time wanted to kill Rainbow Dash.

Steven jumped back up and faced Rainbow Dash. His face was expressionless, but his eyes were full of anger. He quickly came running at Rainbow Dash, and she prepared her swords for the incoming attack.

Steven raised a lance and swung it down, but Rainbow Dash barely managed to reverse it. Pushing it back up, Rainbow Dash made a stab for Steven, but the sword completely missed the white stallion as he moved to her right. Knowing that her right was fully exposed to Steven, she quickly swung her sword down while turning to the right, blocking the lance that was just about to pierce her.

Rainbow Dash was sweating profusely. Steven really was strong. She had always thought so (although she never said it to his face), but only now, when fighting him face to face, did she truly feel the true extent of Steven's strength. She had finally understood the reality of the situation- this pony... really wanted to kill her. She couldn't, however, really accept the fact that this pony was Steven, mostly because she knew it wasn't true. This was a completely different pony, one which had taken over Steven's body.

Steven raised up both his hooves and sent them. Dashing into the floor. Immediately, a shockwave erupted and spread throughout the whole room, knocking bodies and things backwards. Rainbow Dash, being far too close to Steven, didn't manage to dodge it, and was sent flying back into the concrete wall.

"Ack!" screamed Rainbow Dash, spluttering a bit of blood. She fell to the floor, her muscles aching all over her body. Steven began to walk over to her.

Ignoring the immense pain she was feeling, Rainbow Dash slowly rose back up. Wiping the blood off of her mouth, she began to smirk.

This was fun.

Rainbow Dash's swords were in the opposite corner, having been thrown off in a completely different direction when Steven unleashed the shockwave. She knew that she couldn't run there right then, because Steven would easily catch up with her. She had to run when Steven wasn't ready.

Steven suddenly stopped. He stood up on all four hooves, his neck and his forehooves bent down. Rainbow Dash knew that stance- Steven was going to charge. It was the prefect chance.

Standing up straight and steeling herself, Rainbow Dash grinned at Steven. She then lifted an arm and wagged a finger at Steven.

"Let's go, coltfriend."

Right after that, Steven's back hooves kicked him off of the ground and propelled him towards Rainbow Dash. Quickly taking the opportunity, Rainbow Dash ran off to her swords, where Steven would take some time to follow her to. She rolled on the ground and quickly picked up her swords before standing up again.

Wiping the sweat off of her forehead, Rainbow Dash turned to look at Steven. He had recovered from the crash quickly enough, and was staring right back at her. She knew that Steven knew that charging wouldn't work- Rainbow Dash was much too quick for that. They were going to have to deck it out with their blades.

Steven quickly remade his lances, which now looked even bigger and more menacing than before. But Rainbow Dash was not going to let Steven get the first hit again- she was much too proud for that. She quickly charged at Steven, who quickly reacted by pointing his lances directly in front of Rainbow Dash.

Now, the rainbow-haired human might be a good athlete, but that didn't make her a bumbling idiot. The charging was only a feint- as soon as she was close enough, Rainbow Dash quickly kicked herself off of the ground, making her fly over Steven, and landing behind him.

"Yoo hoo!" said Rainbow Dash, attacking from behind.

But she still wasn't fast enough for Steven. Steven quickly turned around and blocked all of the attacks Rainbow Dash brought upon him, easily changing the flow of the battle. Rainbow Dash dodged his next strike by a hair, but it quickly put her off-balance, with Steven's kick finally making her fall down. Rainbow Dash quickly tried to grab her sword, but Steven had kicked that away as well. She left left defenseless against her psychopath of a coltfriend.

Rainbow Dash gulped. What was going to happen now? Was it all over?

As all these things turn out, it wasn't.

Steven had kicked her far to his right, meaning that if she leapt up and ran even more to her right (with Steven approaching from her left), she might just be able to outrun him and get her sword.

But her sword was too far away from her. Princess Luck had to be on her side if she was ever going to get that sword of hers.

Rainbow Dash took three deep breaths. Steven was approaching her from the left, and the still huddled group of soldiers was to her right. Steven had kicked her sword right in the middle of both of them, and she was afraid to take the chance of running that far that close to Steven.

But every second she deliberated her next move, Steven was coming closer. Soon, she wouldn't have the chance to escape anymore. But was there ever any chance in the first place? She was going to have to find out.

She quickly jumped up, and there was a strange, out-of-place clinking on the ground. She looked down to have a better look.

It was Steven's present. Her wings.

She didn't mean to start crying then, but she couldn't help it. Tears streamed down from her wide eyes to the floor, the silent drip-drip ringing by itself in her ears. She stared at the little steel box, her tears forming a wet circle around it. All of a sudden, she found herself firing up with energy, an unexplained determination to win forming in her heart and mind. She picked up the little box from the ground, took off her hoodie and placed it in the small spot on her back. She then turned to look at Steven, her right hand hastily wiping her eyes dry.

"I'm going to make you remember, Steven." said Rainbow Dash. "And I'll do anything it takes."

Rainbow Dash immediately willed her wings to appear, and it did. Grinning, she ran in front of Steven and jumped into flight right in front of him. Feeling the wind in her hair like she used to when she was a pegasus, she felt more comfortable- more relaxed. She easily swooped down and took the sword in her hands before flying back to Steven and flashkicked Steven's head from behind.

The power of the wings just increased the momentum of the kick, and Steven fell down flat on his face.

That should leave a mark. thought Rainbow Dash, straightening up her flying position again. She then flew down on Steven and turned him over. Steven quickly kicked up, knocking Rainbow Dash off of him. But she wasn't going to let that hurt her again- she, with lots of difficulty, managed to use the force used by Steven to kick her back to propel herself to wards him.

And with one slice of her sword, Steven stopped moving and stood still.

But he wasn't dead. Rainbow Dash made sure of that. She landed safely on two feet before walking, sword at the ready, to Steven. He was staring blankly into space, not attacking, not defending. Just standing there.

Rainbow Dash moved her eyes down to see the result of her work. She had slashed Steven's chest, and a huge red gash was now present, with a thick, golden liquid oozing out of it. She continued to stare at Steven until the stallion finally fell back, still alive but not moving.

Rainbow Dash stepped in front and placed a leg on his chest. She then pointed the tip of her sword at his throat, glaring at him as if threatening to drive it through.

There was no reaction from Steven. His bright red eyes moved down from the sword she was pointing at him back to Rainbow Dash's face, no emotions showing at all. It was as if he didn't care that Rainbow Dash could easily kill him in a matter of seconds.

Rainbow Dash looked at Steven's face and her grip began to loosen. This was NOT Steven. But just looking at his face... Just looking at it made her feel weaker. Her hands began to tremble.

Steven was still showing no emotions, and this began to trouble Rainbow Dash even more. It wasn't long until she couldn't hold it anymore.

She threw the sword aside and stepped back. She daren't look at Steven anymore.

Was he really gone?

As if to answer her question, Steven leapt up from his position and pinned Rainbow Dash on the ground. She struggled to break free, but she knew that she couldn't. Steven was just too strong.

With still no emotions on his face, Steven raised a hoof and magically shaped it into a lance. He was about to kill her, just like she did with the other soldiers.

She wasn't able to bring Steven back. She had failed.

A lone tear formed under her eye, not one of fear, not one of despair, but one of failure.

To tell the truth, she had always been afraid of death. She was always a high achiever, and she was scared to lose all of that  in a matter of seconds. But death was unavoidable. Losing her wings had somehow taught her that. Maybe it was because all of the near-death scenarios she had always found herself in, those she would've been able to escape from if not for her lack of wings.. The near-death scenarios they always find themselves in.

But dying by the hand of somepony you love... That was a different story. Rainbow Dash couldn't quite describe how it feels, but being held down with a lance pointed straight at your throat and no chance to escape at all made her feel like her insides were already falling all the way to the Underworld even though she wasn't quite dead yet. It felt terrible.

No.

This wasn't Steven. She was only a few seconds away from death, but she was going to use those few seconds to bring Steven back to consciousness. There was no way that she would let him go on like this.

"Steven..." said Rainbow Dash, gently as her voice trembled. "Steven, wake up."

Steven's eyes suddenly flashed a bright blue, but it disappeared quickly. The lance was still coming closer to her killing her. Rainbow Dash didn't squirm, nor did she try to back away.

"Steven, listen to me." said Rainbow Dash, more tears appearing from her eyes. "This isn't you."

His eyes flashed twice now, but there was still no other change. Only a few more millimeters now...

"The Steven I know is kind, funny, gentle, and the greatest stallion I could ever hope for. The one I had been secretly dreaming of since I was just a little filly." said Rainbow Dash, not caring if the real Steven could hear her or not. "That is the Steven I love."

She felt the movement of the lance slowing down, but paid no heed to it. Instead, she lifted a hand and stroked Steven's cheek. It was very warm, and yet icy cold at the same time.

"Come back to us, Steven." said Rainbow Dash, in a clear and true voice. "Come back to me."

The lance quickly pulled back, like a twitch, and Steven began to step back. His eyes were now repeatedly flashing with blue, and all parts of his body were twitching, as if something was trying to break free from his body. The blue light seemed to be trying hard to escape, but the white light seemed to keep pushing it back in.

The stallion was now sitting straight, like a statue on the floor. The body didn't move. Yet all the different parts of his body seemed to be trying to push itself out, flashing with specks of blue among the stallion's pure white fur. But it still didn't come close to success. Rainbow Dash needed to help the blue light break free.

Rainbow Dash stood up and walked to Steven. She put both her hands on his face, which now felt extremely warm to touch. Steven didn't move at all. He just sat there, his blank eyes flashing with blue all the while. Its horn also began to emit a faint blue aura.

"Steven... I know you're there." whispered Rainbow Dash. "But if you can hear me... then give me a sign."

Steven's body began to flash blue even more. However, Rainbow Dash didn't notice this and pulled him into a tight hug.

"It's always not easy to say this, Steve..." said Rainbow Dash. "But its always true."

"I love you."

Rainbow Dash quickly pulled him into a kiss, and immediately Steven's face became even hotter than before. Rainbow Dash felt like it should burn her hands, but it felt nicely warm to her touch. She didn't know why, but she couldn't care less.

At first, there was no response from Steven. Rainbow Dash, however, didn't give up. She was going to turn Steven back to normal, and hopefully it was only a matter of time. She felt her lips press against his, and she felt Steven's face getting hotter and hotter every second.

All of a sudden, there was a very bright flash of blue, which Rainbow Dash could see even through her closed eyes. She kept her lips tightly locked to his, maybe even more passionately than before. His face felt burning hot, but Rainbow Dash held on. She could feel her hair waving against the sudden gust of wind appearing from around Steven, and she felt cool air beat against her face.

All of a sudden, everything died down. The light was gone, and Steven's body was of the normal temperature again.

And she felt Steven return the kiss.

Rainbow Dash, though surprised, didn't break the kiss. Instead, she became even more passionate, eliciting the same from Steven. She felt Steven's cool breath on her nose- it had always been a comforting, wonderful sensation for her.

"I love you too." said Steven suddenly. Rainbow Dash opened her eyes.

Steven was back to normal. His eyes were the same brilliant blue, his mane the same dark blue, and his coat the same grayish blue. So much blue. It was a welcoming sight to her eyes.

"I love you so f*cking much." said Steven, his calm smile directly contrasting the profanity he was using.

Rainbow Dash laughed and hugged him. She couldn't help it, but she soon found herself crying into Steven's shoulder. She saw her tears mat his coat, and she was just about to back off when Steven put a hoof on her back and began to stroke it. She then saw him begin to cry into her shoulders as well.

"I'm so sorry..." said Steven, his voice losing the calmness that was there just a few seconds ago. "So... so sorry..."

"It's okay, Steve." said Rainbow Dash, sniffing. "It's okay..."

"No, it's not!" said Steven. "Look at your back... your arms... I hurt you... I can't believe I hurt you..."

Rainbow Dash shushed Steven, pulling back and gently placing a finger on Steven's lips. Both of them were crying together, but Steven couldn't bring himself to look into Rainbow Dash's eyes. But Rainbow Dash quickly moved his head so that they were looking into each other's eyes. What she saw shocked Rainbow Dash.

In Steven's eyes she saw a great pain- a pain that she had never seen before. It seemed as if it had been hidden,, something that he had tried to hide for a very long time. Only by looking at it, she saw all the different types of feelings that Steven was experiencing then- hurt, sadness, heartbreak, self-loathing... It was too much even for her. She could only wonder how Steven must've been feeling.

"You weren't you, Steven." said Rainbow Dash. "That wasn't you."

"No!" said Steven, looking away in anger. "That was me! A me that I wasn't strong enough to control. A me that easily took over my weak self..."

Rainbow Dash remained silent.

"I thought all of you were dead." said Steven. "That we had been lead into a trap by Discord. I was so angry... I lost control of myself."

Steven walked to the wall and leaned his head towards it. Rainbow Dash didn't move, but she saw tears dripping down onto the floor. She felt her heart wrench as she heard and felt all of the pain in Steven's voice as he told Rainbow Dash everything. She wanted to stop him, but she knew that she couldn't. For his own sake, Steven had to let this all out.

"I saw myself do horrible things..." said Steven. "Killing soldiers brutally, without even a second to consider why I was doing it. At first I thought it was just a dream... but it felt all too real. I did my best, but I just couldn't stop myself from doing anything. I had spilled a lot of blood like that..."

"And then I saw you." said Steven. Rainbow Dash's ears pricked up. "I saw you, I heard your voice... And then I saw myself fighting you. I tried to make myself stop, but I couldn't. I was too weak."

"Then I heard you calling out to me." said Steven, looking back at Rainbow Dash, his eyes red from crying so hard. "I heard you encourage me, telling me to wake up... But I was still too weak to do anything. I was trying to stop myself as hard a possible, but my hoof just kept coming closer and closer to killing you."

"And then I told you to come back." said Rainbow Dash suddenly. "Come back to us... To me."

"Yeah." said Steven, looking down guiltily. "It was too late for me to save the soldiers, but I had to do anything and everything to make sure that you are still alive. I fought back. As hard as I could. But it still wasn't enough."

"And then I came to you, and I whispered something in your ear." said Rainbow Dash, walking towards Steven.

"You told me that you loved me." said Steven. "And then..."

Rainbow Dash pulled Steven into another kiss, as if completing the sentence for him. Both of them were still crying, but it didn't matter to any of them. They were both still alive. For now, that was all that mattered.

"Come on." said Rainbow Dash, wiping her tears off her eyes. "Let's wake up the others, and get out of here as soon as possible."

Suddenly, something tapped on Rainbow Dash's shoulder. She looked back, to see a sight the she did not expect.

The group of surviving soldiers was standing right behind her. But instead of trying to kill her, or surround her (like they'd usually do), they saluted her. They remained silent, and then ran off outside the room.

"They'll probably give us a truce for a few minutes, at least." said Steven. "Give us some time to escape before calling on their superiors. You did save them, after all."

"Yeah." said Rainbow Dash, laughing. "I did, didn't I?"

Luckily for them, none of their teammates were dead. Hell, nothing was wrong with them at all, except for a little bit of dizzyness from being hit at the back of the head. They quickly shook their heads, berated Steven playfully for getting them into this mess, hugged both of them, and prepared themselves to run as fast as they could.

"According to Black Wesa's traditions, a small truce has to last for more than half an hour." said Steven. "Which would give us more than enough time to get out of this facility and out of sight. But we've spent around 10 minutes getting all of you up, so we're going to have to run off as quickly as possible."

"Right!" said the rest of the group in unison.

Rainbow Dash crunched her knuckles. Once again, she was the fastest out of the group. She looked at the still-perfect little steel box sitting on her palm and fastened it the the spot on her back.

"20 minutes." said Steven. "Ready?"

All of a sudden, the door flew open, and soldiers began to stream inside the room. They were all very heavily armed, and they all began to take aim at the small, surprised group.

"20 minutes?" asked Bush.

"They must've betrayed us and reported directly to their superiors." said Steven. "No matter. We still have to get out of here as quickly as possible."

Rainbow Dash felt her knuckles turn white as she clutched her sword's hilt very tightly. Her other sword had already been broken by Steven as he stepped on it while she was unconscious, and only this sword was left. Hopefully it'll be enough.

"Now!" screamed Steven. "Run!"

Steven quickly conjures up a shield, which appeared as a dome around them. They all began to run as a group towards the door, and soldiers were being crashed into as they hastily made for the exit.

"I can't see anything anymore!" said Steven, whose view was being blocked by the great amount of soldiers that had accumulated at the front of the shield.

"I can help, sweetie." said Rarity. Her bow began to glow, and she could see more blue auras all around them. Considering how deep in they were, Rarity must've used her gem detection spell to find out where each path led, where the dead

ends were, and where the path to the exit was. All Steven had to do was follow the path of gems that led them straight up.

"An enchanted weapon, huh?" said Bush. "I heard that those are pretty hard to come by."

"They are." said Rarity. "I had to buy this one off for half my entire fortune! But it's worth it- do you know how precious gems are in this world?"

But going to the exit wasn't going to be easy. Rainbow Dash noticed that Steven had already been tired out by the previous ordeal, and now they had to face one of the largest amounts of soldiers they had ever faced blocking their only way out. They were all shooting at Steven's shield, which was miraculously still holding up despite the fact it could only hold up against one small squad of soldiers firing at them before.

But the cost was that holding up the strain was putting a lot of strain on Steven. Rainbow Dash could not only see it in his face, but in the shield that covered them. It wasn't equally spread magic like usual, but it was very rough and uneven, some thicker and some thinner than others.

They went left, right, straight, and left again... And Steven looked close to death.

"I think I can help, Steven." said Bush. His horn also began to glow, and his magic began to shoot up into the shield, so that the shield had a brownish blue shade to it.

But even that was not enough. They were now already very close to the exit, but the intensity of the attacks from the soldiers just kept on increasing further and further. Both Bush and Steven's paces began to slow down, and beads of sweat were flowing down their bodies like mad. One of Steven's eyes were closed because of the strain, and Bush's tongue was dangling outside. They looked really tired.

And the shield burst. The soldiers that they had crashed into flew all across the room, causing chaos everywhere. Taking the chance, Rainbow Dash ran to the exit door, her friends closely behind her, and she threw the door open.

Right in front of the door was another battalion of soldiers, their guns aimed at the door as if they had known that they were coming. Cursing silently, she pulled out her sword and was ready to attack, only to be stopped by Steven.

"What?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Not yet." said Steven. "Bring them inside first."

Rainbow Dash didn't know what to say or do. But although Steven might have unreliable sources, his plans could always be counted on to work. Hey, it had never failed them before, have they?

Rainbow Dash raised both of her arms in surrender and slowly walked back down into the lobby, the soldiers from the main door slowly following her. They moved through the narrow corridor and exited to the large room, soldiers everywhere around them as they overcrowded the place.

"Urm... When do we start to fight?" asked Fluttershy.

"As soon as we get as many of them in this room as possible." said Steven. "Overcrowdedness had never helped a person."

It was now very difficult to breathe in the room, and the small group was cornered into the wall behind them. More soldiers started streaming in, until no more could fit.

"Black Wesa had always believed in strength in numbers." whispered Steven. "I believe in strength in strength. ATTACK!"

Screaming recklessly, the group began to attack the front row of soldiers. The back row started shooting at them as well, but all of their shots had been blocked by the bodies of other soldiers, making their shots hit their allies instead of the group. Not long later, half of the soldiers in the room were gone, and Rainbow Dash found herself trying to deflect even more beams of light.

She didn't dare to make a Sonic Rainboom out of them, however, because she didn't know where her friends were and didn't want them to get hit by the Sonic Rainbooms. It would kill them straight away. Instead, she focused on simply turning the beams of light back from their source.

All of a sudden, a whole group of soldiers began to fly to one direction, and Steven and his trademark gauntlets were revealed. Rainbow Dash breathed a sign of relief, glad that they were his gauntlets, and not more lances.

"You okay?" asked Steven.

"I'm fine." said Rainbow Dash. As if the Goddess herself wanted to disprove her statement, though, one beam of light shot through her sword cleanly, shattering it into bits of metal.

"Never mind.' said Rainbow Dash. "Not okay."

"Take this." said Steven, throwing a dagger he took out of his trusty saddle pack. Rainbow Dash caught it by the hilt and looked at it amusedly. "It's a jade dagger. One of the sharpest in the world. Hopefully you're as good with knives as you are with swords."

Rainbow Dash quickly threw the dagger in the air, caught it again, and threw it at the helmet of one soldier. It went through the helmet and stayed lodged in there. The soldier fell down and Rainbow Dash quickly jumped to where the body fell and retrieved the dagger again.

"Not bad." said Steven. "But try to make sure that you never find yourself unarmed."

All of a sudden, Bush's voice was heard out loud.

"Be careful, guys!" said Bush. "There are some more soldiers here carrying some strange, but sharp energy swords! They cut through my revolver cleanly in just one swipe."

"Oh my goodness!' said Fluttershy. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" said Bush. "You guys better worry about saving your own asses for now!"

Rainbow Dash slashed and stabbed all of the soldiers around her, deftly changing her footing to attack the soldiers in all directions. Steven was doing the same thing, except he was sending soldiers flying everywhere.

Rainbow Dash threw her dagger at a soldier again, and it cracked a hole in its helmet as it stabbed the soldier's face. Rainbow Dash quickly jumped to retrieve it and jumped back.

Or, at least she wanted to jump back.

One of the soldiers had held on to her long hair, and her jump was stopped mid-air as she fell down. All of the nearby soldiers immediately took aim on her.

"Rainbow Dash!" shouted Steven as he began to run towards her.

All of a sudden, something blue emerged from right in the middle of Steven's chest. Blood spluttered out everywhere, and Steven screamed in agony. Steven's hooves began to writhe in pain as he was brought to the air by whatever had just gone through his chest like that. At Steven's back was another soldier, wielding a long stick with something flat and sharp sticking out at its end. And the end was piercing through Steven's chest.

Blood began to drop from Steven's mouth, and the soldier threw his body to the ground, stepped on it, and pulled his sword-like weapon back. Steven lay there on the ground, his blood forming a puddle around his body.

"No..." said Rainbow Dash, too shocked to say anything else. "NOOOOOOO!"

Rainbow Dash ran towards Steven, but the soldier was still holding on. Without thinking, Rainbow Dash quickly gripped her dagger and in a single, fluid-like motion, slashed through and cut her hair short, making her free from the soldier's grip. She quickly ran to Steven.

He was still breathing, but barely. The energy blade had pierced through his heart, and all that was keeping him alive now was the little spark of magic he had left.

"Leave... me..." said Steven, coughing blood. "I'm... no use... anymore..."

"Don't say that." said Rainbow Dash. "We'll get you out of here, I promise."

Steven managed to let out a small, throaty chuckle.

"No, you won't." said Steven. "I can only... barely live... a few minutes more..."

Suddenly, one of the soldiers kicked both Steven and Rainbow Dash towards the corner. Steven gasped very loudly when the the kick hit the hole that the blade had made, making him spit out even more blood.

"What are you doing?" asked Rainbow Dash, standing up. "You can't torture him like that! He's-"

"Shut up, lady." said a soldier. The soldier pushed her down to the corner as well, and she found the rest of the small group there as well. Out of all of them, though, Steven was the only one who was lying down on the floor and bleeding very badly.

"Oh, no..." said Fluttershy.

"W-what happened?" asked Bush. "Did he get..."

Rainbow Dash slowly nodded, and she quickly sat down on one knee to help put pressure on both the openings, to no avail. Steven was still bleeding very badly. She then heard the cocking of many guns around her as the soldiers prepared to open fire on them.

"You assh*les have caused us so much trouble already that I won't even bother counting to three." said one soldier. "So fire at will."

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and held hands with the rest of the group as they waited for the end together.

Then there was a huge crash. There were screams everywhere, and Rainbow Dash decided to open her eyes. The birhgt desert light began to burn her eyes, and she squinted them to prevent them from hurting her any further. The rest of the group seemed to be doing the same as well.

In the bright sunlight, she could make out four silhouettes in the open. Three ponies, and one human. One of the ponies seemed like she was wearing a hat, and that pony looked like she had just bucked the whole wall of the facility open, sending debris flying everywhere.

"Nice job, Applejack." said a familiar voice. "Now where are our friends?"

Twilight!

Twilight had come to save them!

"Chen, you try to push the rest of the soldiers away." said Twilight in a commanding tone. "Adya, as soon as you see themm, quickly wrap your turban around them and bring them out here. We only have a few seconds before the rest of the soldiers come to."

There was a sudden burst of energy in the middle of the room, and all the soldiers were sent flying in all directions. Rainbow Dash could see a small human standing in the middle of the shockwave holding a stick that seemed to be twice his height. She then saw a pony which seemed to have a large forehead coming their way.

"That's how we do it in China." said the human.

"Well I'll show you how we do it in India, then!" said the pony in a strange, exotic accent.

Rainbow Dash suddenly felt something wrap itself around her body, pulling her into the open. But what freaked her out the most was that the pony that just spoke's forehead seemed to unwrap itself, and that was what pulled them towards their saviors. Bits of forehead.

"Why hello, Rainbow Dash!" said Twilight, rather snarkily. "Love the new manestyle."

"Looks real good on ya, pardner." said Applejack.

Rainbow Dash quickly pulled the two ponies into a tight hug (something which made Applejack blush the red shade of her apples), before letting go quickly.

"Thanks for coming." said Rainbow Dash. "How did you find us?"

"I felt a disturbance in the magic." said Twilight. "That is, to say, that there was a strange ripple that I could feel when using my magic. I suspected it was Steven's magic, and it turned out I was right."

"Well, thank goodness you came." said Rainbow Dash. "Steven is dying. He need your help immediately."

"WHAT?" asked Twilight, surprised. "Quick, bring me to him."

She didn't need to be brought to him, however, as the large forehead pony (turns out it was a piece of cloth wrapped around  his head. Who knew?) brought Steven over to Twilight, panic in his eyes.

"He's not going to last much longer." said the pony. "And Chen hears more soldiers coming our way. We have to go now."

Twilight bit her lower lip nervously.

"I don't know if I can teleport such a large group back to base." said Twilight. "The most I did was with three adults and three children, and even then I needed Steven's help."

"You guys... just go on." said Steven, coughing blood onto the sand. "I can't... I can't..."

"Don't be ridiculous." said Twilight. "I'm not sure i can, but I'm going to do my best to bring all of you back. If my magic isn't enough, however, then I'll volunteer to keep myself back. There's nothing any of you can do to stop me from doing that."

Rainbow Dash wanted to argue with that point, intent on volunteering herself instead for her friends, but she was much to focused on Steven. Steven couldn't speak anymore. He was much too weak to. Rainbow Dash then put a hand on his chest and looked him deeply in the eye.

"We'll get you back." said Rainbow Dash. "We'll get you back."

"Consider it payback for having saved all of our hides before." said Twilight.

"They're coming!" shouted the human.

"I have to charge my magic up first." said Twilight. "We have to run while we're at it. Steven, can you stand?"

"Are... you... kidding?" asked Steven.

"Don't worry, I've got this." said Rainbow Dash. She quickly used all her strength to carry Steven on her shoulders. She couldn't at first, but she got another boost of strength from her determination to save him and was finally able to carry him on her back.

He was very heavy. Then again, all ponies must be really heavy for humans to carry. But Rainbow Dash didn't care. She was going to get back with Steven, even if it meant breaking her back while doing so.

"Are ya okay?" asked Big Macintosh.

"I'm... fine." said Rainbow Dash. "Let's go."

Twilight looked back at her uneasily, but the sound of the soldiers marching up to the lobby was motivation enough for her to start charging up her magic and running.

"Stay close, guys!" said Twilight. "We're gonna need to be as close as possible if we want even the smallest chance to survive together."

The soldiers had reached the lobby, and they quickly noticed the now-larger Resistance Group trying to run away as fast as possible. They immediately opened fire, their shots missing them by only a hair or two.

"I might not be able to teleport all of us back." said Twilight. "So I'll just teleport you guys and I'll try to teleport myself later."

"No..." said Steven. "No... You need to focus the teleportation on yourself most of all... Twilight. It's the best chance for us... to teleport back together."

"Really?" asked Twilight.

"Yes..." said Steven. "As a scientist... I've noticed the tears in reality and the patterns of teleportation.... You have to focus on the area... closest to you, before at the last minute expanding it widely."

"I hope that works, Steven." said Twilight. "I hope you're right. I'll count from 3."

Rainbow Dash steeled herself for the uncomfortable sensation that was to follow, still finding it difficult to carry Steven on her back. She couldn't say a word.

"3..." said Twilight. Rainbow Dash felt Steven's body go rigid and tense up.

"2..." said Twilight. And with the last of his strength, Steven kicked himself off of Rainbow Dash's back, landing onto the sand and staying there, motionless.

"No, Twilight!" screamed Rainbow Dash raspily. "STOP COUNTING!"

"1!" said Twilight.

"NO!" screamed Rainbow Dash, as the soldiers began to open fire on Steven's body, making it shake around as the bullets passed through his lifeless body cleanly and easily.

And with a flash, she was gone.

________________________________________________________________________________

"It's a pony, Mr. Ramses." said the soldier. "We shot him down."

"A pony?" asked Adrian Ramses. "Just one?"

"There were... more." said the soldier uncertainly. "But they were gone too quickly for us to catch up to them."

"Very well, then." said Adrian Ramses, walking out into the desert. "Bring me to him."

"But sir..." said the soldier. "He's... dead."

"He's not." said the director. "Bring me to him."

The soldier then hesitantly brought him out into the open desert, and into the exact spot where a few scientists and soldiers were gathering round what seemed perfectly like a dead body. It wasn't breathing, it was bleeding all over, and the body was pale and cold.

But those eyes... Ramses could identify them anytime and anywhere.

He crouched down and looked at the dead pony's face. There were small, brilliant blue sparks jumping around his body, but he didn't care about all that. It was the eyes that entranced Ramses to study the pony closer. But now Ramses was sure. He was sure that this pony was none other than him.

His face broke into a grin as he stood back up.

"Steven Reilly." said Ramses, chuckling to himself. "Welcome back to Black Wesa, dear brother."