Snuggles and Heavy Weapons

Caballero's Building
Three Months Ago

"I want to meet him." Said Fleur, ignoring the invasive smell of cigarettes and mold, already part of Nino's office. "And you know how to find that person."

Nino let out a deep sigh, fidgeting with the old portraits pilled up on top of his table.

"And why, Ms. De Lis, would I happen to know this Daniel Graff?" He asked, a hint of disdain on his face.

"Because you have the ways to find every lost soul wandering the dawns of lower Canterlot." She stated, moving aside a strand of hair from her face.

"The Graff family vanished from Equestria decades ago. After all the disgrace their company caused to this world, I hardly think one of them would show up again." Nino said.

"Not all of them. I have strong evidence that at least one, lives here, in your neighborhood." Fleur stood up, started to slowly pace around the room. "Think about it, the valley has been slowly dying after the war..." She pointed to the window. "Buildings are crumbling, business closing."

"I prefer to say it's maturing like casks of whiskey in a warehouse." The stallion said.

"Accept the fact Nino, the industries are dead, your streets are disgusting. Borealis acted like virus; it took all the riches this place once had, eroded the natural reserves, and the lives of their employees, in the end, they moved away, leaving nothing but the carcass."

"Then what's the damned point now? We can't go back in time: they are gone, Borealis is dead in Equestria." Nino shook his head, spinning on his chair.

"Daniel Graff still lives. And he carries with him, what remained of his father's plans. Borealis is not dead, it's merely hibernating." In a flashing spell, a small picture of Daniel materializing in thin air.

"Find him, Nino, and I'll make sure to put Lower Canterlot in the royal investment list again."

Swiftly, the picture rested on top of Nino's table.

"I can't promise anything. Go to the bar one night. You'll eventually find the person you're looking for." He said, a thin curtain of smoke rising from his cigarette. "Nothing is gonna hurt you, babe. But keep in mind that some things are better left untouched."
Fleur stopped for a second in her tracks.

"I will."

Canterlot Hills - 2:55 AM
02/10/19

For the first time in ages, I walked through the golden lit and brightly polished streets of my old neighborhood. We had landed in a nearby square, specifically planned by some picky architect for this purpose.

Fleur's mansion wasn't very far, actually it was only a corner away from the wide courtyard where the carriages stayed. All the houses of this part of the town displayed their opulence with statuettes, towers, archways, and blooming gardens of exotic flowers.

Her mansion was no exception, In fact, the opulence was engraved on its own entrance - A golden Fleur de Lis sealed the coat of arms of her family.

"Come in!" She said, opening the massive front gates with a touch of her horn.

I followed her steps into the mansion where everything towered over our bodies, from the oak doors to the Persian tapestry hanging from the walls.

"My grandfather had a peculiar tendency to exaggerate things." Fleur said with a chuckle. "It runs in our blood, I believe."

"Oh, believe me, I know how it is..." And how I knew.

To my own luck, Fleur's house seemed to be way more quieter than the place I used to live with my father, which was also the headquarters of his conglomerate.

I never got used to the noise of rubber bullets being fired to control the frequent riots outside. It was a fact; I was doomed to live under the roof of the most hated company in Equestria.

"So, you live alone?" I asked, as we walked upstairs. The second floor seemed to be smaller, and consequently warmer than the cavernous main hall.

"My mother lived with me, but since she married a stallion from Saddle Arabia I've been mostly by myself here." Fleur said. "Oh, and the twelve servants, the two chefs, and the butler." She added, rolling her eyes and chuckling.

"What about your bodyguards?" I joked.

"Well, I don't need them." She pushed my arm playfully. "I'm a dangerous mare, Daniel."

And I would soon understand why.

Lower Canterlot, Scovill Mining Complex
Six Months Ago

Deep under the ruins of an old smelting plant , precisely - the Scovill industries - a subsidiary of Borealis responsible for extracting and refining rare materials, was the deepest mine of Equestria. Now abandoned and mostly filled by water and mining debris, there wasn't much to do or to see. The main entrance to the complex had been sealed two decades ago, leaving an ominous wall of concrete and rock in its place.

However, through an obscure emergency tunnel, I delved into the earth inside the only electrical train still on its tracks. Halfway to the mines, a small panel flashed up on the wall, as usual, I inserted the specific numerical code.

The empty train stopped with a long squeak, the lights inside flickered and for a second or so I was immersed in complete darkness. I hear something moving under the wagon, it sounded like a crane, a deep metallic noise as the platform started to rotate towards a side passage.

Lights flood the wagons again, and suddenly I am in a completely different place. There are no more mossy rock walls surrounding the train, only a long and faintly illuminated circular tunnel. Down here, It felt as if the years hadn't passed, this part of the complex was frozen in time.

"Welcome to Borealis Advanced Laboratories, make sure to present your identification card, or access code to the nearest-"

"Ah, shut the fuck up!" I groaned, ignoring the annoying speakers. It was the same thing, day after day, with or without the automated voice my mind repeated the protocol announcements.

After five minutes or so, the train slowed down, the final stop being a considerably small platform, 'Lab - 7' said the blue sign on the stainless steel wall. Home sweet home.

It may be quite absurd to live in such a place, but here, almost two miles under the city, it felt less like Equestria. Lab - 7 was my personal 'Earth Embassy', and no one really knew that such a placed existed, except maybe for the science team who worked here twenty years ago. I could have moved to Earth, yes I could. I could have started a new life somewhere else.

But I stayed behind. A coward, maybe, but it was not like I cared anymore. I fought the war with myself, but the war wouldn't stop, for the love of god.

The reinforced doors slid open as I made my way through the apartment-turned laboratory. Flasks of substances unknown to me were still displayed in most of the glass shelves and cabinets, as a memorabilia of questionable taste.

I threw my jacket over a counter, and with a sigh of relief, rested my body on the couch.

But there was something different in the decoration that day. Large flat screens covered a wall across the room, usually void and lifeless, except when I plugged my computer on it to work on something.

A green light blinked in the dark, eerily reflecting on the several mirrored surfaces nearby.

"What the hell..." I muttered, standing up almost against my will, and slowly making my way towards the screens, grabbing the control tablet halfway there.

I had a signal. The laboratory was receiving a transmission.

My eyes were dazzled by the white lights that flooded the room as I turned the equipment on. I moved an arm to cover my face, but lowered it down in shock as I saw the person on the screen.

"Briggs??" I said, staring at the old man.

"God, you are alive." He replied, pinching his glasses. "I knew you was alive."

"My heart keeps beating. It's not my fault."

"Daniel... What happened to you? Do you have any idea of how long we've been trying to find you?" He said, still not believing in my existence as much as I wasn't believing in his. "Fifteen years, Daniel."

"Why, Briggs? Give me a fucking reason to care about them." I threw the tablet aside, rubbing my face in frustration. "It's about Borealis, isn't it? It is always about it."

"The board members may keep this company running like a zombie, but it was always you - it runs in your blood."

"No, no it doesn't!" I shouted. My voice echoing through the endless corridors, and returning to my ears like ghosts.

"If there's someone in the world who can reignite Borealis, this person is you."

"Reignite Borealis?" I snorted, shaking my head. "You mean reigniting the war, isn't it? Without death we make no profit, right?" I said, pacing around adrift.

"The conflicts that happened twenty, thirty years ago are pointless now, Graff. All those fundamentalists, the groups involved in the war - they are gone." Briggs said. "The worlds have been interacting peacefully for almost two decades, new treaties were made, unicorn technology is finally being explored again. New companies arise every day."

"There's no reason to hide anymore."

I stopped, turning back at the screen. Unbuttoning my shirt, and revealing the same necklace I had when I was a kid.

"You remember this?" I asked. "You remember when my father placed this damned thing around my neck? When he uploaded the activation codes of the thermonuclear warheads? What about the automatic response in case of death or removal?" I groaned. "No reason to hide, right?"

"When your father died, the project died with him. You've probably been carrying a piece of scrap metal around your neck for fifteen years!" The old man stated, a look of concern in his face.

"I don't believe in probabilities, I believe in facts." I said.

"Then believe in yourself! Find the access code to the necklace, disable it. No one lives forever after all" He said. "You define your own destiny, Daniel. The key to fix the all the mess your father has done lies in your hands. It's up to you to find a way, or rot together with the ruins of the greatest enterprise of humankind."

With my fingers around the necklace, I stared at the screen and at the man beyond.

"Sorry Briggs... But I don't believe in humankind"