No More

"It goes deeper?" she whispered in awe.

"Yep. The infrastructure goes about two-hundred meters down."

Luna stared at him, then back down the hallway, then back at him. Her mind ran rampant with questions, and the ones she wanted to ask were too many to count. How could they have possibly constructed this in mere months?! She did not attempt the math, knowing the number would simply shut down her brain, and instead opted for a blank, if slightly astounded stare.

"You gonna be okay over there, Luna?" Liam's voice shook her from her stupor.

"Yes, I... sorry, that is quite... incredible," she said breathlessly.

Liam chuckled and massaged his wrist.

"You should've seen what we built on Earth," Liam started. He stopped and his face hardened subtly. Pain flooded his eyes, and the minute changes of his expression told Luna all she needed to know.

"Liam?" she asked, intending to snap him from his thoughts.

He nodded and swallowed, then turned to look at the doors ahead of them.

"Yeah, sorry, anyways," he gestured to a familiar set of metal slabs, "here is the central elevator. This'll take you to Levels One, Two and Four, if you have special clearance."

"Clearance?" Luna's asked in confusion.

"Yeah, here, take a look," Liam said, bringing the band around his wrist to the slabs. The metal parted in a faint hiss, revealing a more robust and elaborate elevator within. It was clear that this elevator was designed with more stringent schematics and demanding conditions. The exterior was composed of steel plates, with multiple lines of concealed arcane circuitry running throughout the entire device. Luna could feel the energy of the device before she could see it, and now closer, she could feel the connection to an immensely massive power source. Luna looked down to Liam with clear surprise.

"A magical lock! Did you create the spell?"

Liam shook his head.

"I can't use magic, remember? Peridot Beam cooked it up for us."

"Did you design it?"

Liam shook his head again.

"You're giving me too much credit here, Luna. I just tell R&D what I want, they figure it out. C'mon."

Liam stepped into the elevator and beckoned Luna forward. Her hooves crossed the threshold of the elevator shaft and she boarded. This elevator did not dip, nor shift as she made contact with the floor. Her observations were accurate; this was a much sturdier and stable machine. Liam brought his wristband to the panel set in the right side of the wall, specifically, to the dull yellow crystal. When he pulled his wrist away, the crystal glowed, the light reflecting off of the green crystal above and blue crystal below. The doors closed and Luna felt a slight change in gravity as the elevator began to descend.

"I believe Twilight would be beside herself to know what you have created down here," Luna said in admiration.

Liam's gaze was steely when he looked back up to her.

"She can't know. I don't know if I'd trust her not to take notes," he said coolly.

"Ah, yes. I had forgotten the extent eagerness for knowledge," Luna admitted. Secrecy was the word of the day.

"It's okay. I imagine I'll probably need to consult with her on something soon, project I'm working on," Liam mumbled.

Luna felt the elevator slow and stop gently, the metal doors parting to reveal an open hallway. Liam motioned to the door and Luna walked through, finding herself in yet another hallway. A stripe of dull yellow ran across the white walls of this floor, and ponies wearing gray and black vests stood guard in the hallways. Their helmets did not share the metallic sheen of the Royal Guard, instead, they had a dull gray canvas stretched tight over them. A most peculiar armor. Liam stepped beside her. Before her, on the wall was a strange symbol painted in that same yellow, a vertical stripe with a curve at the bottom, levelling out and stretching to the right horizontally. Beside it was the Equish number two.

"What is that symbol?"

Liam walked towards it and looked back to her.

"It's the English letter L, to denote level. I wanted to keep some things similar," he mumbled.

Sunny Skies, the former Guard she had seen the night before, stumbled tiredly past one of the doors and near to their position, bringing his lifeless eyes over to Liam.

"Mornin', how's it going Sunny?" Liam asked.

"Painfully," he croaked, "didn't sleep well."

"Yeah, we were out late last night," Liam added, "get some coffee in you, mess hall's up and running."

"Mhmm," he hummed detachedly. He looked up at Luna with an unchanging face.

"Hi Princess Luna," he mumbled.

"Hello."

He blinked. He blinked once more. A final blink, then a shake of his head. He stared at her, eyes more alert. The illusion had not departed, this was her. She was her, Princess Luna was right here in front of him! Again! His eyes widened in panic, looking towards Liam in shock. His wings splayed slightly.

"Oh, oh dang it! Princess Luna, I-" he fumbled his words. Luna almost laughed.

"Do not worry, you will find I am a princess no longer. You need not apologize, nor bow," she said warmly.

"Oh, I uh... I'm sorry to hear that," he said with sorry eyes as he rubbed his foreleg.

"Do not be, it was my own choice."

Sunny nodded with a polite smile and looked back to Liam.

"What're you doing on Level Two?"

Liam's head pulled back in mock offense.

"Am I not allowed to be down here?" he asked jokingly.

"It's a free country," Sunny mused, "seriously, you're normally down in Three or up in One. Something wrong?"

Liam rolled his head.

"Nah, need to speak to Lyra, and I'm giving a tour to our political refugee here," he nodded towards Luna. She shook her head.

"The mobility training mare? Researcher Heartstrings?"

"That's the one," Liam confirmed.

"Ugh... my flanks are still sore. Don't tell her I'm up, please."

Liam's eyes narrowed and the smile on his face vanished.

"Hey, Sunny?"

The pegasus noticed the sudden tonal change and went rigid, no doubt recognizing the implications from rigorous training in the Guard.

"Just because I'm your friend doesn't mean I'm not your boss. Go get your coffee and get your ass down there when you're ready," Liam growled.

"Yes sir!" Sunny said as he took off into the elevator behind them. He sheepishly grinned and brought his own band to the crystals, eyes darting back and forth between the panel Liam. The doors closed slowly and Luna struggled to contain herself, snickering and hiding her face behind a hoof. When the doors finally closed, she let out a snort. Liam's sternness and authority all but dissolved into a small smile at the sound.

"What?" he asked, cocking an ear to her.

"We- I did not know that you had this demeanor in you," she giggled.

"You find it funny?" Liam asked in faux-anger.

"I do not know, perhaps," she said with a smile, "but I do find it endearing."

Liam sighed and smiled at her.

"Har har. I'm technically your boss now, too, y'know."

Luna laughed again, her laughter fading to a chuckle.

"I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing."

"A little of both, probably," Liam said with a shrug.

A few of those researchers meandered about, likely off to find their assignments for the day. A corkboard hanging on the wall saw a congregation of many of these ponies, inspecting notes and papers pinned to the surface. She moved forward to see their activities, watching as some tore papers from the board and walked away with them in tow, be it magic, hooves or bags.

"Level Two. Light containment," Liam said as he brushed beside her, "training rooms and a few more living spaces. We've got a few artifacts on this level that are relatively safe, so long as they're left alone. Otherwise..." he trailed off ominously.

Luna looked to him and tilted her head.

"Well, let's just say it's not fun trying to put together a pony who's just exploded into a-thousand puzzle pieces," he said flatly.

"I would imagine not."

Liam pointed in the other direction.

"Down that way there's an elevator that goes to Level Three. Requires special clearance. I'll show it to you later."

"What is in Level Three?" she asked.

"Right now? Not much. We only have one containment cell finished down there, magical nullifiers built into the walls. Occupant is a little feisty," Liam said.

The idea of a magical suppression field raised alarms in Luna's mind.

"Magical nullifiers? Who is this occupant?"

"The Equestrian God of Chaos," Liam said nonchalantly.

Luna paused and reared onto Liam.

"What?! Thou hath Discord restrained down here?!"

Liam recoiled and put his hands into his pockets.

"Woah, easy. Don't worry, he can't do anything. He's not happy about that, but I do what I can to keep him entertained."

Luna mulled over the information as he alarm seeped from her. She hoped that whatever precautions Liam had taken would be adequate to keep the trickster god from doing mischief.

"That is... why does Celestia not know?"

Liam paused, his eyebrow notching upwards.

"She does, she gave him to me," Liam explained.

"He was found in a riverbed North of Canterlot, one of the valleys. Guard patrol sent word to Celestia, and the rest is history. He was... uh... uncooperative at first, but we've played a few games of blackjack and chess since then."

Luna was silent for a moment.

"I apologize for my outburst, it was surprising information."

"You're fine. I'd probably react the same, given the circumstances. If you'd like to talk to him, I can arrange that."

Luna nodded.

"Thank you, Liam."

"Okay," he said simply.

They turned and continued down the hallway, coming to a halt before a large metal door with a small window. Liam opened it and gestured for Luna to step inside. Inside was a small room with a single bed, desk, and chair. In that chair sat an alarmingly sweaty unicorn with an aquamarine coat and desaturated cyan mane. She readily chugged at a water bottle in her hoof, eyes darting over to the opened door as they came in.

"Miss Heartstrings, what have you got for me?" Liam asked of the disheveled unicorn.

Lyra gasped after her last gulp, equal parts shock and breathlessness. She managed a single word.

"Oh."

She kept her stare on Luna, who herself knew her former subjects tendency to prostrate themselves unto her. She braced for the action, but Liam quickly reoriented the situation.

"Hey, enough of that. How's the training going?"

Her wide-eyed stare melted into a wide-eyed grin. She took in a deep breath and stood from her chair, dropping onto her four hooves and moving towards Liam. Luna could smell a slightly minty shampoo in her damp mane.

"Oh! Well, we're still working on sideways movement, but I'm seeing a lot of improvement!"

Luna raised a hoof to interject.

"Improvement upon what, may I ask?"

That unhinged look in the mare's eyes seemed only to intensify.

"Well, ponies typically move quadrupedally, however," she barked excitedly, then launched herself upward as though rearing. However, she never dropped back down, instead finding herself at Liam's height on her hindlegs. Luna restrained a whinny at the abrupt motion.

"As you can see, we can learn to walk exclusively on our hind-hooves! Imagine how much more we can do with our forehooves now! Nopony has to... grab anything with their... mouths. Euck," Lyra's manic enthusiasm disappeared as she gagged, her eyes bulging. Liam folded his lips tight so as to not smile at the cartoonish expression.

"What is the reason for this transition, specifically?" Luna asked with a tilted head.

Lyra fell back down onto her hooves and brought one to gesture into the air at Liam.

"Liam, as a bipedal creature, has a much wider range of motion compared to a pony on all hooves. Upon carefully examining our hooves, he came to the conclusion that we have a similar gripping mechanic, something I too noticed upon my own studies of his hands," her eyes inevitably drifted down to his hands, which he quickly dipped back into his pockets, a lesson learned from past encounters.

"Meaning?" Luna followed.

"Meaning that if our security teams can move on their back legs, weapons like those of the griffons would be easier to wield. Bows, crossbows, that kind of thing!"

Luna eyed Liam with a cautious curiosity.

"Do we have need of those weapons?"

Liam met her eyes with a haunted look.

"Better safe than sorry," he said lowly.

"I see. Thank you, Miss Heartstrings," she said to the eccentric unicorn.

"Oh, please, call me Lyra!" she threw a hoof out towards Luna. Luna hesitantly bumped it with her own.

"It is nice to meet you, Lyra."

"Likewise!" she chirped back.

Liam coughed.

"Anything else, Lyra?"

"Uh, no sir! Not that I can, eh, recall anyway. My written report's not done yet, but I can have it to your office by the end of the day!"

"Good," he appraised.

Liam nodded and looked around her office. He opened the door for Luna and began to head out. He dipped his head back in through the door frame for one last word.

"Make sure you get some sunlight, too, you're looking kind of frazzled. Maybe a shower, too."

As the door shut behind them, Lyra brought her left foreleg up and tentatively sniffed at herself. She winced.

On the other side of the door, Liam and Luna shared a look before Liam's face exploded into a poorly restrained smile. Luna found herself smiling alongside him.

"Does that one seem-?"

"Crazy? Yeah. But she's smart, real smart," Liam affirmed.

"I see. She reminds me of Twilight Sparkle," Luna said.

"Yeah, if she couldn't stop staring at my hands," he replied sarcastically. Luna smirked.

They walked through the halls back to the elevator, some ponies stopping to begin their ceremonies, only to be gently told to get back to work. Luna found some measure of gratitude in that. As they boarded the elevator silently, Luna realized that there was one level unexplored, turning to look down to Liam.

"What is in Level Four?"

Liam paused as he moved forward to activate the crystal to Level One.

"Our generator, and some other things. You'll find out when you get your own access crystal."

Luna moved towards him in foal-like awe.

"I shall have one?" she asked quietly. She found herself staring at the band on his wrist.

"Why wouldn't you?" Liam asked back.

Luna found herself excited about the prospect, but a loud yawn quickly ripped away that sensation. Liam couldn't help but yawn in response, then shot her a glare.

"Don't do that," he yawned in muted anger.

"Do what?" Luna yawned back.

Liam rubbed his eyes and checked his watch.

"Looks like last night is catching up with us. I don't have anything going on until later this evening, so I think I'm going to head back and try to sleep some before I give you the formal intro," he said tiredly. His eyes, semi-closed, widened when he realized he still hadn't shown her where she would sleep. Before he could get onto the subject, she spoke.

"Do you mind if I join you for a nap?" she asked.

Liam felt his heartrate spike for a moment, then attempted to play cool in front of her.

"Uh, sure. Yeah, that uh, that works."

A small, dim room, with only a mattress and a shabby nightstand. The room, by even a smaller pony's standards, was already quite cramped. A small sliver of the exposed concrete floor beneath did little to soothe the oppressive starkness of the small space. And yet, this was where he slept. Supposedly.

Luna found herself staring at the saddest living quarters she had ever seen.

"Well, this is it," Liam sighed. He looked to Luna to find disbelief in her eyes.

"Y-you sleep here?"

Liam nodded.

"You could have designed a larger room for yourself, could you not?"

"I didn't want to take up any more room than needed. Also saved some on the budget, so that's a plus," he said with pursed lips. Luna looked over at the flimsy mattress, only a sheet and a pillow atop it. Liam suddenly burst into action, remembering something. He quickly darted out, leaving Luna to bask in the horror of the tiny space.

And bask she did. She noticed a small closet built into an indentation in the wall, a few spare shirts and pairs of pants hanging among jackets and ties. Brown and black shoes littered the bottom of the closet, socks stacked atop them. The socks made her pause, but she realized that he wore them under the shoes. An odd behavior, but likely not as scandalous as she'd thought.

It was no wonder why he couldn't sleep. He treated himself worse than a criminal. The dungeons of Canterlot Castle were more accommodating than this. He snapped her from her thoughts in his arrival, carrying another pillow and two blankets. He frowned when he saw the somberness of her features.

"Liam, this is hardly a room at all. This cannot be comfortable," she said softly.

Liam's mouth opened to reveal his teeth pressed together in concern, eyebrows furrowed.

"I can find you somewhere else to sleep. I'll-"

"No," she interrupted, "I am speaking of your wellbeing."

Liam paused, his features levelling out.

"I make do. You can have the bed, I'll take the floor," he said as he threw a pillow onto the small patch of concrete.

"No. Do not be foalish, we can share," she chided.

"Luna, it's not that big a bed. It's a twin," he argued.

Luna threw herself atop it, then wiggled and maneuvered herself as close as she could to the wall, leaving a human sized space for Liam at the end of the bed. Lying on her belly, she craned her head back to look at Liam in the doorway, giving him a cheeky smile.

"We make do," she said.

Liam shook his head and grumbled, retrieving the pillow and setting it beside her. She laid her head on the original pillow, taking in a deep breath. She could pick up notes of... coconut, as well as the faint smell of his hair, oils deposited on the fabric of the pillow cover, as well as something else; Liam. She found she liked the smell. She turned an eye back to look at Liam as he fumbled about with his clothes, removing his shirt and tie, placing them in the closet and removing his shoes. Underneath his buttoned shirt was another thin vest of some kind, white coloration, tucked into his pants.

"Liam?" she asked.

His eyes jumped to her and he stopped hopping in place, freezing as he tried to remove a shoe.

"Yeah?"

"Are you going to remove all of your clothes?"

Liam immediately blushed and shook his head. He wrenched off his shoe and held it in his hand.

"That's not proper to do in front of a lady," he said, jabbing the shoe into the air for emphasis. He set to work on the other shoe and Luna noticed he was wearing socks.

"Hm," Luna responded, sinking her head back into the pillow. The room went dark with a click as Liam flicked the light switch on the wall, leaving only the faint light creeping in from under the door. Luna closed her eyes and felt Liam eventually settle down next to her, sliding and reorienting on the sheets until he found a comfortable enough position. They were very close to each other, Luna's breath splaying outwards against his back. She muted the stars in her mane so that they might be unbothered by the celestial formations.

They laid there in silence for a great deal of time, and despite Luna's fatigue, she could tell that Liam was not asleep. His breathing had not slowed, nor had he moved at all since he laid down ten minutes prior. She nudged him with her nose in the dark. He looked over his shoulder at her.

"What is wrong?" she asked softly.

"Nothing," he replied.

"I can sleep elsewhere if you like."

Liam sighed, then rolled over in place to face her. His face looked very different in the dark.

"It's not that, Luna," he confessed.

Luna awaited an explanation, and after he closed his eyes and sorted through his thoughts, he spoke again.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Really sure?"

Luna nestled into the pillow deeper.

"I am certain of it. I shan't change my mind," she said.

Liam frowned, the skin around his eyes folding.

"I hoped you'd take a look at me and realize that this job... well, it's my own little Hell. But I guess I didn't explain it enough. Maybe."

Luna remained silent as he whispered, his voice, low and tight. She rolled in place to face him, her hooves at her side.

"I've already told you some about me, but I didn't really tell you about my job. Not in-depth. What kind of mistake it was. I was contacted by the Foundation straight out of University. Studied diseases there, they wanted me to keep doing that, I guess. They didn't tell me I was going to study monsters, too. Didn't make any sense to me, world's greatest and they picked... mediocrity," the last whispered word left his mouth like a whip. Luna felt her heart tighten.

"Liam," she began, but his eyes found hers in the dark.

"Let me finish, please."

Liam quieted and sorted through his thoughts as Luna watched him in sadness.

"Maybe they thought that I'd be easy to forget. Someone that could get lost in the system with minimal effort to disappear me. Worked there for five years and saw things I won't forget for the rest of my life, much as I want to. I've done things that... the logical side of my brain tries to... tries to figure a way out, but there's no escaping it. This is something that stays with you. The choices you make. It's in there," he gently put his finger to her chest.

"That's where you feel it. That pain," he croaked quietly. She could see his eyes glistening.

"I wind up in a new world, a second chance... and it's still there. It drags me back. If there's even a fraction of what we've seen out there in the world? I don't want you to have to hurt like... me. I've lost people, a lot of people, and I was a nobody, but you're a somebody. You're special. Way more than me. I don't understand why you'd do this to yourself, why you'd throw that all away. I'm twenty-seven, almost twenty-eight, and I've... done and... a-and seen things that I'll never forget. That I can't forget. I'm too far gone to go back to normality."

They shared a silence, Luna's forelegs reaching out to touch his hand near her. She rubbed at it with her hoof gently, looking him in his eyes.

"You are only twenty-seven?" she whispered.

"Yeah," he replied.

Luna thought about what to say next. A testament to his character? A professing of her admiration for him, to soothe his worries? All of these avenues did not appeal to her, so she draped a large navy wing over him, concealing them both in further darkness. Her horn glowed ever faintly in that darkness, giving them both light to look at each other. Here, beneath her wing, she could see he was wounded.

Just like she was.

"Liam, We... We already hurt like that. You know this," she whispered, then pulled him closer with her wing. He didn't resist, instead embracing her in a gentle hug, arms wrapped up her barrel and around her back. She shifted to allow his arm to move under her, then settled down, her chin resting above his head.

"Upon our banishment, so long ago, our goals hadst been misguided. We hath failed in our duties, consumed by... a mistake which may never see atonement. Twice over hath Equestria, Equus, suffered by our actions," she whispered. She pulled her head back to look at him beneath her wing, finding he was staring back at her.

"No more, Liam," she said definitively.

"The crown doth not a princess make, but mayhaps, our counsel may mend even a fraction of our sins, our efforts an aid to thine struggle. We feel... We know thou needest aid, that thine fears art compounded, that thine nights art sleepless. Thou... you do not deserve to be left alone."

"You saved me, Liam... let me repay Equestria. Let me repay you," she said softly.

Liam's lips shook and he held her tighter, pressing his face against her chest.

"So you really want to do this?" he asked quietly.

"Yes. If you will have me," she replied and stroked his back with her hoof.

"I will."

They held each other in silence for a long while as sleep slowly overcame them.

"Sorry to get all, like this," Liam murmured in her fur.

"Well, it certainly is not quite as lofty as the 'moo-vees' you have been telling me about, but I enjoy spending time with you, Liam. When you are sad, when you are serious, it matters not," she said softly.

He let out a small huff in amusement.

"Thank you, Luna. It means a lot," he whispered.

"You are very welcome, Liam."

And in that dark little room, the two of them slept.

Author's Note

Whew. That's a lot of writing, and very little editing. I hope it makes sense. Blocking all this out while sleep-deprived doesn't do well for consistent storytelling. Readers, we are nearing some big plot points. Get your fuzzies in while you can, things are going to get hairy soon. Let me know what you all think and I hope you've enjoyed this chapter.

I'll see you all for the next chapter!

Caspian