CHAPTER 19: THE FIRST SHOT

How much is one going to give for freedom? For one's ideals. A heart, a life, his soul or more. In the end though, the cost of freedom is much more than that, and that is something we will never truly understand.

The cool wind blew hard in the early morning in Ironhoof City. The city never slept, and in some way or another, it was always busy, always moving. Emperor Vladimir stood out in the small iron railed balcony of his tower, the wind blowing his fresh new mane in the wind as he gazed at the faintly glowing city around him. Like always, the top halves of the buildings were lit, while the bottom halves remained dark and mysterious. His dark green eyes looking intensely at the whole of the city endlessly. Never blinking. Never moving. Just staring. Thinking deeply to himself.

He had cut his mane the night before, rather than the old curtain mane that hung down his neck and head, he removed it and made a new style for himself. His new mane was made into a ponytail with shorter bangs in the front of his head that parted ways shortly down the middle. He rather enjoyed his new look, it made him feel younger, stronger, and more confident with himself as opposed to his older, more hideous look.

There was a small stand next to him with a hole in it and a terminal next to the hole. In this opening was a large bottle of wine. Red wine, and a very fine old brew that was older than he was.

It was still early dawn, and light had still not shown itself to the world. And as the morning progressed the wind became more calm and tame with the starting of the new day. All the while he continued to think. He blinked for the first time in a few minutes as he felt a sudden, but sharp pain emerge from inside his head. With a quick and urgent motion he grabbed the wine bottle with a kinetic field from his horn and quickly gulped a single swig of the wine. Within second the pain subsided. He put the wine back down into its place and sighed stressfully whilst rubbing his head with one hoof gently.

"What am I going to do..." He moaned, "I try, and try, yet they still seem to happen..."

He levitated the wine over to him as he looked at the label upon the front. "Is this what it has come down to..."

"Yes, you know it to be true." A dark masked hissing voice cooed to him.

He turned around to look behind him in panic and saw a black shadow like alicorn standing right behind him. It's features were distorted, and blurred, but it's soul piercing blank white eyes stood out clearly of all the few features the specter had.

Vladimir frowned at the figure. "It's you again..."

The shadowy creature moved to his side, chuckling to itself. "It would seem so."

"What is it you want this time?"

The creature reeled back and mockingly stated, "Me? Wanting something from you? Never!"

"Answer the damn question." He grunted.

The specter shook its head disapprovingly. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Red, my dear boy, is that the way you to talk to a friend? I mean, what would your mother think of you using such harsh words?"

He turned his head to the shadow, "Is this what your purpose is? To taunt me?"

"Well, yes and no. My purpose is to remind you of what you are, Little Red. And to ensure you live out your... Full potential out in the wastes. Though it is fun to see you squirm when you get nostalgic."

Vladimir turned away and looked down in saddening thought. "T-that name..."

"Yes, Little Red, your mother liked that name, though personally I think it sounds stupid. What about Crimson Red? Oh, now that's a name! Nothing like that idiotic name your mother and father gave you-"

"You watch what you say, you demon spawn!" He snapped, "If you dare speak about them that way again I'll-"

"You'll do what?" He purred intriguingly. "Hit me? Sentence me to be crucified like all those pegasi you killed during the purging? Or would you rather have me gutted like those traders you so willingly killed?"

He put his hooves to his ears to block out the voice of the shadow. "No! I- I didn't mean too, I... I hated them! They needed to die! T-they, they took my.. My... Shut up! Leave! Leave me alone!"

"I'll never leave, so long as you live." The shadow put its head close to his hoof covered ear and whispered, "How does it feel, Little Red, to be alone?"

In rage, Vladimir flailed his hoof at the shadow. "Leave me alone!" He shouted seeing as nothing was there.

In demented anger, he panted heavily, looking nervously around the little area around him. He rubbed the back of his neck before taking a quick sip of the wine next to him. Shuffling groggily he went over to the railing on the edge of the balcony and leaned against it as he tried to calm down and relax.

He breathed in and out slowly as he examined the area around him once more. This wasn't the first time he had seen whatever the thing was. Not till recently had it happened to him, till he started seeing the apparition. For most of the time, he heard it only as a voice. The kind of voice one hears only in the farthest reaches of their mind. Though most times, it would come and go within minutes, and it’s new more physical visitings lasted longer.

It was all in his head, or at least he thought it was. Though, he found the only thing to delay, and prevent at times the sudden headaches and spectral moments was red wine. He wasn't too sure as to why it worked, but it did and that was all that mattered to him.

A Legion soldier stepped out onto the balcony from inside the building. He looked to his emperor and saluted him sharply before speaking. "Are you alright sir? You look a bit pale."

Vladimir was still breathing heavily to calm himself down, however he tried his best to lighten his breathing to appear more calm. "Y-yes, I'm fine. What is it?"

"On the main line, Lieutenant Covert of the Arkcannon perimeter, wishes to speak with you on the terminal, sir."

Straightening himself up, he nodded to the soldier. "Is that all you wish to tell me?"

"Do you require more wine, sir?"

"No, now please get out. I want to speak with him alone."

The soldier bowed graciously to him before leaving. "Yes, m'lord."

The soldier left, going back inside, leaving the emperor alone on the balcony once more. He turned to the terminal on the small stand that was next to his wine and turned it on. For a moment though, as he stared at the now working screen of the small computer, he looked around him once more curiously to make sure that he was alone. After he finished scanning the area behind him he went back to the terminal and switched it the the main channel his Lieutenant was on.

It took a second for the terminal to switch over to the main channel, but once it did, he could hear the Lieutenant clearly. "Yes, what is it Lieutenant, and please do speak quickly."

"Yes, m'lord, I will try."

"Good." He stated bluntly, "Now, what is it?"

The Lieutenant spoke with urgency in his tone. "It is the Captain, sir. He doesn't seem well, I have mutually agreed with his decisions, but I truly believe he is no longer mentally capable of leading."

"How so?" The emperor purred sourly.

The Lieutenant lowered his voice as if he were in an almost whisper like volume. "He has sentenced many to death in the town that don't need to die. He punishes those who have broken small laws you created, he destroys and questions your actions and orders. He has even spoke of treason, m'lord."

Deep inside his chest, the emperor felt a sense of fear touch his heart at the word treason. "Are you sure of this? How dare he even consider that!"

"Yes, sir, it is true. In fact, he is even more determined to take the town on his own now that he believes some guardians reside in the town."

He put his hooves to the sides of his head as he felt panic and anger build and fester inside himself. "What the hell is that bastard of a pony think he is doing! If I knew that keeping him out of action this long would affect him this much, I would have never put him in that position."

"I understand sir, but we must act fast if we are to ensure your plans aren't jeopardized."

Vladimir sat down on the balcony floor and leaned forward toward the terminal screen thinking to himself quietly. He heard a faint shuffling noise come from the Lieutenants end as if he had saw something from behind him. "What was that?" The Lieutenant grunted curiously.

"What is the matter, Lieutenant?"

"N-nothing, m'lord... Just the wind..." He said in an unsure manner.

The emperor didn't reply to him but instead took a second to think. But the more he thought, the more his thoughts burned, and with his hooves he tried to rub the pain away as he thought. It was like rational thinking was lost and he felt the burning become worse and worse, till the pain became searing and horrific. He took the wine next to him and drank some of it quickly to get rid of the pain.

"M'lord? Are you there? How should I proceed?" The Lieutenant asked quietly.

His voice sounded off as the emperor heard the dark mysterious voice once more whisper in his ear. "Kill him, show that insolent captain who is god and who is the peasant. Only then can you prove your dominance..."

The pain left his mind as he glared with a determined anger at the screen. "Let him know his mistake, but watch him, for I will deal with him myself... And I'll properly show this town what the true meaning of fear is. However, if he steps too far out of line, take him and I'll see he is punished for all his accounts..."

The Lieutenant was, in a way, shocked at his change in tone and replied. "Y-yes, sir, I'll see to it, please though he plans to attack, or prepare to attack soon."

"Very well." He cooed with a slight insane chortle. "But what you don't understand is that there are far more terrible things one can do to punish one as insolent as him..."

The Lieutenant wasn't sure if he was talking to him or to another. "Sir? Are you addressing me?"

"Shut up!" He snapped. "It doesn't concern the Lieutenant, he is loyal! I, and only I can decide that!"

The Lieutenant's tone sounded worried as he tried to speak to him. "I-I will carry out your orders sir... Please, try and rest... Perhaps you should let me handle him instead-"

"No! Nononono! I'll choose his fate! I am god! Only I can decide his fate!" He shouted madly at the Lieutenant.

"...V-very well sir... I’ll report on the matter later if need be. Covert out."

Like that, his voice went silent as he left the conversation. Once again though, Vladimir sat there, breathing madly, his mane frazzled as he reflected how he acted. He looked down onto his hooves with fear and confusion.

"Oh, what fun it is to mess with your mind!" The voice hummed, "I can't wait to see what you do to him... It will be, spectacular... Oh what fun! Oh, what fun!"

"B-but that wasn't me..." Vladimir whimpered.

"But of course it was, dear boy! Have I ever lied to you?" Said the bodiless voice.

He put his hooves down and looked to the sky for just a brief moment, and in a quiet gentle tone in his voice he said, "No..."

Neo was asleep, very asleep. The kind of peaceful rest that one would have on a lazy slow day. And at that moment, hardly anything could wake him. Well, at least, he could have wished that was the case, because Adam opened the door to their room in the inn. The light from the doorway leaked into the dark silent room his older slept in, and with a smile, he turned on the single light that illuminated the small room.

"Wake up brother, you've slept in long enough!" Adam called, coming over to his older siblings bedside.

Neo's eyes peaked open before he hissed in agitation, whilst quickly covering his eyes with his forelegs. Instantly he felt a soreness develop in his head. "The light! It burns!" He moaned in agony.

Adam sat down on the edge of his bed and helped him sit up with his hooves still protecting his eyes from the dim light that supposedly hurt his eyes. Neo's head soreness slowly subsided as he sat up, however he refused to take his hooves off his eyes.

Adam put a hoof on his mechanical foreleg as he spoke to him in a reassuring way. "Brother, please open your eyes. Red Glare, the Sheriff, and Mayor want you to see the defenses we've set up earlier this morning."

"No Adam, my eyes. Can't I just, you know... Go blindfolded?" Neo suggested.

Adam gave him a playful sarcastic glare. "You had five ciders last night..."

Neo put his hooves down with a rather dumbfounded look while keeping his eyes closed, "Really? Because I'm pretty sure it was a hundred..."

Adam put a hoof on his older brother’s shoulder, trying to speak as reassuring as possible. "Just try and open one eye."

"Are you kidding me? And risk my eyes frying like cooked meat? Nope, no way." He protested.

Adam frowned at him, yet he still retained his reassuring tone. "Brother, don't be stubborn. You can't help if you can't see."

Neo sighed. "Are you sure it was just five?"

Adam nodded, and gave him a kind smile once more. "Just open them slowly, and one at a time. Like taking foal steps."

Neo was unsure of the current situation, but he trusted his brother, even if he wasn't any kind of medic. "...Fine," He grunted.

He slowly opened his left eye, and even though it stung his eye, he continued to open it. Once it was open, the pain gradually subsided. And with the other, he did the same, same stinging sensation, and the same feeling of regret. He really didn't want to get up, even if he didn't get anything done.

His eyes were fully open and blinking, and though the stinging slowly died down, he still wasn't happy he had to get up. "Was that so hard?" Adam snickered at him in a playful manner.

Neo folded his forelegs swallowing up his pride. "No..." He muttered.

Adam chuckled and got off the bed he sat on and motioned his head for his brother to come with him. "Come on, brother, we've got a long day ahead of us. And I heard Cherry might be with her mom checking the defenses, and they have food with them."

He raised an eyebrow at him, "Well, when you put it that way..." He said with a small leap from his bed and a quick rub of his eyes.

Neo put on his duster and rolled up the sleeve on the leg his Pipbuck rests on before grabbing his bags and his head rag. They both walked down the stairs of the inn, and once they were at the main floor of the building, Adam pointed out the number cider mugs where he sat last night. Neo just chuckled awkwardly, and shrugged, retaining his embarrassed grin. Once Adam was done pointing out the few ciders he had the night before, they went through the saloon like doors of the inn and stepped out into the main dirt road of the town.

What surprised Neo was just how busy everyone was. All the town folks seemed content with what they were doing as they ran boarding up windows, preparing positions in case of an attack. Even on the second story of buildings there were ponies preparing upper battle positions. Colts and fillies even helped with small things as they fumbled and chuckled as they performed simpler tasks around the town.

Near the main gate of the town, the Mayor, her daughter, Red Glare, and the Sheriff, stood holding weapons while surrounded by several other ponies listening to them speak. Neo followed his brother as they approached the group ahead of them. Neo was surprised though; they had got so much done in one morning. It was clear that these ponies were driven, driven by the wonderful and promising hope of freedom.

As they approached Neo noticed a large rope made into a large half circle that went around the inner section of the main gate. Inside the area the rope covered was small almost unnoticeable lumps of dirt. Though it didn't seem important, it was still an odd thing that hadn't been there before.

Red Glare and the other town officials stood at the mid center of the group with him speaking to the small group. "Once the mines go off, you'll have to focus on the remaining iron wagon drivers. If they get too close to the main hall, we won't last much longer. But, the key factor to remember here, is that we are just trying to give the digging team time. That is, of course, if the Legion attacks us while we're still digging. If all does not go well, we need to fall back to the barricade in the center of town, from there, we should have a decent fortified position where we can continue to buy us time. Now, first things first, we need to get that barricade started. So, go into your homes, find whatever you can and pile it outside in the street near the middle of town. Once we’ve got that all together, we can start building the actual barricade. Until that’s done, you have no more orders, I’ll call you all back when you’re done.”

As the two came up to the group, the Mayor dismissed the talk and sent them to go to finish setting up their positions. Red Glare and the other officials saw them coming up to them and greeted them. "I see you've got Neo up." The Mayor said.

Neo gave them a faint sheepish stare. "Yeah..."

"It took a little convincing, but I got him up." Adam stated proudly.

"Well I'm glad he's up." Red Glare stated sternly. "We've come a fair ways away from our old occupational days. Though thanks to Neo, Cherry, and the rest of the group we can eat for a few days."

"What about the weapons, and where is the food, Adam?" Neo asked.

“Oh... Well, they’re really not giving it out... Yeah sorry, but it was the only way I figured you’d get up.”

Neo just rolled his eyes at him and tried to forget that food was gloriously waiting for him. The other ponies didn’t pay any mind to the two, and Red Glare instead went about answering Neo’s question.

"From the data you gave us on the whereabouts of the weapons, we showed the Mayor and she gave us the green light to retrieve them. I sent a few ponies to get them, and hopefully, there is something good. Or else we might be a few guns short, and a little low on ammo."

"What about this rope? What's it for?"

Adam put his hoof high in the air as he eagerly wanted to answer the question. "Go ahead Adam." Cherry told him with a smile.

"Well, it took me a few minutes, but once you learn how signals work it's not that hard to set up remote detonated mines."

Neo looked at him oddly, with a single eyebrow raised at his statement. "Remote activated mines?"

"Yep," Adam squeaked with pride. "This rope marks the zone the mines are in. Once trouble comes though, we'll remove it and we can remotely activate them from the town hall."

The Sheriff took a step forward and added, "Not only that, but they'll blow em’ iron wagons to smithereens if'n they get too close fer comfort."

"So far though, the defense seems to be well placed for now. We're just touching things up while we wait for the recovery team to bring back the weapons under the raider settlement." Red said levitating a gun out its holster and spinning it in the air impressively.

Red Glare put the gun back in its place and nodded to the others. "Neo, Adam, Cherry, it would be a load of help if you go into the digging site and check on the miners. That's the one place we haven't checked on yet today, and from what I hear though they've dug pretty far in the little time they've been digging."

"As for me and the rest of us," Red glare sighed tiredly looking to the Mayor and Sheriff. "We need to check on the barricade supplies, and if all goes well we may not need a center barricade."

With a tip from the Sheriff’s hat and a nod from the other two Red Glare said, “Good luck checking on them, and tell Iron Vain I said hi, will ya?” It didn’t take long after he had said that to take the Mayor and the Sheriff off to check on the barricade supplies. This left the three others alone.

Neo turned around to the town hall and gave a out a small relieving sigh, “Well, I guess we’ve got stuff to do... Guess we better get started. The sooner we get do this the sooner we can eat.”

Adam and Cherry chuckled to themselves. “Let’s just go, you can think of food later, brother.”

After Adam had said that, the three ponies made their way down the street to the town hall. Cherry had taken the lead and was taking them to where the tunnel was being dug.

On the dirt road and all over the town, ponies ran and trotted taking chairs, tables, and other random assorted items with them as they went in all sorts of different directions around town. There were two two story buildings across from each other, and the three took it into account as they watched ponies in the windows setup what seemed to be bombing stations. As the three walked up the street a small colt, with a young filly at his side came up to them. They had blue and red striped bands tied to their forelegs with large old metal pots which acted as creative but childish helmets on top their small heads.

"Cherry, cherry!" The colt yelled in an excited manner.

She and the two brothers paused for a moment as they watched them come up to Cherry. "Hello Tale. Hello Tattle." She said in a calming warm tone to them.

The small orange coated colt had a small saddle bag on his side that looked stuffed. His expression was vibrant as he and the filly hoped in excitement. "Look what we're helping mother with! They’re Coalition bands, and all that extra fabric she had from scavenging is being use to make them!"

She leaned down to them with a motherly smile. "My my my! You sure have been busy this morning. Did you make these all by yourselves?"

The little colt puffed his chest out and gave her a cocky grin. "You bet! Me and my little sis did this all by ourselves! Mom says it'll help ponies when we fight the Legion!"

Cherry gave him a stern look. "If we fight the Legion. And are you being truthful about this?"

Retaining the same boastful look the little colt boasted, "I ain't lying! Right sis-Oww!" She nudged him hard into his left foreleg, which caused him to lose his boastful spirit.

"Tell her the truth, Tattle!" His little sister demanded.

He rubbed his sore foreleg with a agitated expression. "Well, mom helped... But only a little!" He added.

Cherry chuckled at them. "Well, just don't around telling ponies you did all the work, your mother must be working equally as hard and others need to know."

Tattle stopped rubbing his foreleg and with a nod from his sister they each took bands from the bag the colt was carrying. "Here," Tale said, "Take one, mother wants everypony in town to have one."

Adam took the band and tied it to his left foreleg, and with a smile and a pat on the fillies pot covered heads he thanked her. The colt gave a band to Cherry before she tied hers to one of her forelegs. And as the filly came up to Neo with a cute innocent smile. Neo looked down at her uneasily.

The closer she got to him the more she reminded him of Lu. The filly he had put down, the one who had called him big brother. His eyes got wide as she looked up at him curiously. "Are you okay, mister?" The little filly asked Neo.

His heart rate increased as those eyes stared into his, like a flash of his life went before him he saw it all again. The mad evil pony who stood there. Smiling, chuckling madly as he stood in front of the monster he had created. The world became muffled as he blinked trying to force the thought out of his mind. "Brother..." He heard faintly, and then in an almost booming voice he snapped out of his trance. "Brother!" Adam called waving a hoof in front of his face.

The filly cocked her head to one side puzzled at how he was acting. "Here you go, mister, I hope you aren't sick." She said tieing the band to his left foreleg.

Cherry thanked them and the two young ones dashed off to finish giving ponies the bands they had made for the town. Adam went up to his brother and looked at him with curiosity. "Are you okay? What was that? You just kind of... Stood there."

"You had a really shocked expression too, like you saw a ghost or something." Cherry added.

Neo shook his head and gulped quickly to subside the tension in his body. "No, it was nothing... I'm fine." He replied in a somber tone.

"Alright," Cherry stated unsurely. "Lets go check on the miners, then we can help with the rest of the town." Cherry said striding off towards the town hall at the center of town.

Before Neo or Adam went to follow her, Adam went over to his brother and looked him in the eyes with a stare that spoke for itself. Though Neo heard nothing from his brother, he could tell he knew, even to some degree, what might of happened.

"You thought about her, didn't you?"

Neo shook his head and started walking to the town hall. "...I don't want to talk about it.” He softly said in a depressed tone of voice.

Adam stood there for a moment before and spoke to his brother. Neo paused and turned his head to his younger brother, not looking at him directly.

Adam took a deep breath and sighed. "Brother, I didn't think that this would have affected you this much... And you're not the only one who misses her."

Neo looked down onto the ground for a moment before looking to his brother. With sad, almost blank eyes Neo spoke, "I know, Adam." He turned his head back to the direction of the town hall.

"I miss her..." He stated mournfully before hurrying to join Cherry.

Adam shook his head and looked up at the pale grey cloudy sky above with a deep unknowing feeling inside him. "Mom, what would you do in this situation?"

The inside of the town hall was dim with pale light as the three entered the structure. The windows were boarded and the door fortified by planks and smaller metal poles. The once empty main room was now filled with tools and supplies for digging. Early in the morning, some of the miners had brought them up from the mine. They did so secretly, though as soon as they were done, they returned to work on the tunnel below.

There was an empty drawer that was used to barricade a small door on the other side of the building. Its drawer was open, and as the three passed it, Cherry went over to it and looked inside out of curiosity. It had a small wrapped up old flag inside, and a small old piece of parchment with a little writing on it laying there undisturbed.

Neo still felt bad inside, he should have controlled himself. Now, he was left following them with a feeling of guilt and regret. Though it was not unbearable, it was still present, and that is what bothered him. Adam tried to let it go and move on. He hoped his brother would just let the feeling move on too and focus on the task ahead of them.

Neo blinked at Cherry as she stood over the opened drawer while examining the contents inside. Adam came up next to his older brother and went to see what she was looking at. The two brothers looked inside the empty old oak drawer box and watched her pull out the old flag.

"What is it?" Adam asked looking over the dark blue red striped flag she held.

"Heh," She chuckled briefly, whilst looking at it nostalgically. "It's one of the old coalition flags we used to fly over the town. I thought the Legion had burned them all..."

Neo looked at the curious flag she held before turning his attention to the piece of parchment in the box. He levitated it up to his face and read it. "They're song lyrics. To some kind of hymn..."

Adam went over to his brother and read the writing on parchment. "They are, but why are they in the drawer?"

"Here," Cherry said calmly taking and looking at the paper herself. "Oh, it's just an old thing the coalition used to sing, the guards used to sing it sometimes... It would be probably be better if we leave these things here. We need to go and check on the miners."

"You sure you don't want to look at this stuff a little longer?" Adam asked in surprise of her decision.

Neo turned to away from the two ponies who stood over the items in the box with the intent of completing their assigned task. "She's right, let’s just get this job done. We can always come back for it."

Adam went over to join his brother at his side, "He's right, come on, we've got the rest of the day, let just get this out of the way first."

She put the things back down into the box, with a glimmer of sadness in her eyes. "Yeah, I'm coming." Once she had replied she went over to the two brothers, who had already started to leave the room, to check on the miners. Though, as she went to leave the room to the cellar door into the lower section of the town, she could not help herself to stop, and look back at the things they had looked at in the drawer box. Even if it was just a moment, she just looked at it with an old sadness before going down to where the miners were working.

But, as the cellar door closed, the main entry door to the town hall creaked open as Tattle and Tale poked their heads inside the dim room. They both stuck their heads through the small crack in the door and scanned the room cautiously.

"You think we're supposed to be in here while the grownups work?" Tale asked nervously.

Tattle gave her a puzzled forceful look. "Of course we're supposed to go in, mom said we need to give everypony a band. She said it would help spread," They both stepped inside as he tried to think how to pronounce a word. "More... Morals... Morales?"

"Morale?" Tale stated conclusively.

"Yeah, that's it. I knew how to say it."

"...No, you didn't."

"Yeah-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Tale thought of a way to outsmart her older brother, and smirked in a sly like manner at him. "Did too!"

And in a boastful tone Tattle said, "Did not!"

She just smiled at him for a moment, giving him a winning expression. "...Wait..." The small colt said realizing what he had just said.

"That isn't fair! You cheated!'

"Nope, there are no rules to arguments. Just who's wrong, and who's right." Tale taunted him.

He pouted and lowered his head with his ears folded back. "You're lucky you caught me off guard."

"You're always off guard." She mocked him with a cocky snicker.

"Am not!" He retaliated in defense.

"Are we going to go there again?"

"..." He thought about it for a moment. "...No..."

"Good, now let's focus. How do we get into the mines the grownups talked about. After all, they're going to need bands too!" The little filly said searching the room.

The little colt just nodded to her with a content and dull look. He still didn't like the fact she outsmarted him. But they were on a mission, and they wanted to find where the miners were so he needed to join his sister in the search for the miner ponies.

Tale came over to the opened drawer towards the end of the room and look curiously down at it. She called her brother to come over and look at the odd things she had found inside the little wooden container. She took the old flag inside it and carefully examined it.

"What'd you find, sis?" The colt asked looking at the flag himself.

"I don't know, but it looks like one of those flags we used to have wave over our town."

Then the little colt had a small light bulb spark to life in his mind as an idea took form. "Hey! Maybe the Mayor doesn’t know about this flag, and imagine how much morale it will spread!"

The little filly put a hoof to her chin as she thought, "Yeah! That's a great idea!"

"Good, I'll stuff it in my bag for later, and we'll show her." Tattle proclaimed putting the flag roughly in his small saddlebag.

But just then, Tale noticed the small parchment inside the box. "Huh? What is this?" She said picking it up and reading the words written on it.

Tattle noticed what his sister was doing and eagerly poked his head over her shoulder to get a look at the paper she was reading. On the parchment, the words were lyrics. Lyrics to the hymn of the Steel Hoof Coalition. The song on the parchment read:

Do you hear the ponies cry,
Crying a lone and heartfelt tune,
It is the tune of lonely ponies in the dark without a light.

Do you hear the ponies rise,
Rising their arms up to the cause,
the cause of angry ponies that will surely win the night!

Do you listen to the tune,
The tune of distant cheers,
it is the sound of ponies marching for today the bullets bite!

Do you hear the ponies cheer!
Cheering on the edge of days long gone,
it is the future that they fight for tomorrow's dawn!

They both smiled at each other and put the paper in Tattles bag, "This is cool! I never knew they had a song. We should learn it, and show mom! And the mayor will be, like, really proud of us and stuff!"

She nodded with her excitement building. "It'll be so cool Tattle! She might even let us be part of the guard ponies!"

Tattle made his way to the door with his anticipation building. "Let's go now! The sooner, the better, right?"

"But what about the miners? Don't we still need to give them bands too?"

The colt rolled his eyes. "We've got all day, we'll do it later. Right now, let's go learn this song, and find a stick or pole for the flag."

Tale felt a little unsure with the idea, but a large portion of her wanted to go with her brother and impress the Mayor and their mother. So, she let her interest in the song and flag overtake her as she caught up with her brother. "You're right, we've got all day. I don't think they're going anywhere either, plus, we have tomorrow, right?"

"Yup!" Her brother stated opening the door for them. "And the Mayor will be super happy when we show what we've learned!" And with that, he went outside with his sister and closed the town hall door behind them.

The way down below the town was dark and musty, with the smell of damp dirt in the air. And as they came down the dirt incline which lead down they saw a dime yellow light glowing at the bottom of the path. At the bottom was a huge almost oval shaped tunnel that stretched widely across from wall to wall. And the tunnel went so far forward that the end was difficult to see.

All three of them looked in marvel and awe at what the miners had accomplished in such little time, and to think they still had much more ground to cover. To make their visit quick, they all galloped down the long cave the diggers had created and as they went along, they noticed small lights nailed to the tunnel wall and along the ceiling were small round silver disks. The disks, had small green and red blinking lights at the center. These odd things puzzled Adam. He had researched about the diggers before, but this was something he hadn't seen before. But then again, it was possible that the miners put the disks there and not the diggers.

It took a few minutes of galloping, but they finally found the three diggers and the sixteen or so miners working on the tunnel wall in front of them. As the diggers moved forward a bit, a large tube at the end of the machine reached up to the tunnel ceiling and with a loud hiss of steam it pressed itself onto the top of the tunnel and retracted itself leaving the small metal disk behind.

Adam paused to look at the machines work, to Adam it was like watching a miracle happen before him. And it amazed him so much, so he just sat there and stared at the machines in awe as they worked. Neo patted him on the back before they went to the miners. "Take it in. It was your idea."

Adam stood up and shook his head, snapping out of his awed trance. "Yeah, it's a little shocking to see the whole thing unfold so clearly..."

Neo just calmly smiled at him before one of the miners noticed them. It was Iron Vain and he looked as if he were expecting someone to come down. He had an iron mining helmet which supported a small light on the front with a pair of old working goggles dangling from his neck.

"Well, I was getting worried for a moment. Before I came back down from last night the Mayor said she'd send somepony down a long time ago."

"We're sorry about that, Iron Vain, but we hit a few tiny little things along the way." Cherry said in a shy manner.

"Heh," Iron Vain shrugged. "At least you came down, work has been a little slower now that we've hit a small quartz vein. But progress is coming along well."

Adam looked over to the drills, eyeing them impressively while they dug. "I can see, and the books didn't lie when they said these things could dig! Look how far you've got in one night!"

"Yep," Iron Vain said while adjusting his mining hat, "We're getting closer to the perimeter every hour. Soon, we'll be home free, and we can leave that town and it's issues behind us."

Iron Vain looked back to the diggers and scanned them, calculating something in his mind. "And based on the speed and ground we're hauling, we should get out of here in two days."

"Heh," Adam rubbed the back of his head for a moment feeling proud about himself. "See, I can do the math."

"Yup, and boy can't I wait to get out of here. And it's thanks to you, Neo and Cherry, we've got something to eat every now and again while we work."

Cherry smiled at him with a gentle nod. "So, is there anything I should report to the surface?"

Iron Vain rubbed his chin with a hoof in deep thought. "Well... I can't think of anything at the moment, the recycling systems on these babies are a little old and unstable, and the disk supports won't last us more than a few more days. But we'll be out of here before they become real problems."

Neo stepped in with a puzzling stare at the miner. "Recycling systems?"

"Yup, these babies couldn't run without them!"

Adam looked up to his older brother, "Here, let me explain. The biggest issue with digging is the large amount of dirt you have to relocate while digging. Though most machines just chunk dirt back, these drills not only dig but disintegrate the dirt into a fine magically charged white powder."

He pointed to the tips of the machines and distinctly pointed out the small, almost unnoticeable sparks coming from the diggers drills. "The ends have filter vacuums that suck up the stuff, then it gets recycled into energy and sent back out as dust."

"Not too much dust, and the method isn't the kindest on the engines. But this is the way we've had to do it without consuming wood, or a valuable fuel source." Iron Vain added.

"As for the discs," Adam continued. "I'm not sure what those are. Didn't you say something about them being tunnel supports?"

Iron Vain nodded. "I sure did. Those things magically hold up the tunnels ceiling, and every now and again we need to place another to support the tunnel."

"How come they aren't in the books I read? I thought the field manuals, and construction book listed all the features?"

"Well kid, they aren't there ‘cause they aren't included with the basic model. These drills had them on as an attachment when we found them. Before the Legion came, we would take the discs and support tunnels as we mined in unstable areas."

"Hey, boss!" One of the digger operator ponies called out.

Iron Vain turned toward the digger and called back. "What is it Mac? I'm talkin’ here!"

"Yeah, but we need one more guy helpin’ us on this thing!"

Iron Vain just looked back at his visitors and smiled shyly at them before yelling back to his work pony in an agitated tone. "Just get it workin’, I'll come over there myself after I'm done!"

The worker pony just gave him a disapproving stare before going back to his work. "Anyway, things are running smoothly down here. Once the next shift later comes, I can help topside with preparation of the town’s defenses."

"Well, thank you, Iron Vain. Watch after the miners down here, we wouldn't want something to happen." Cherry cooed hopefully.

He waved his hoof at her playfully. "Pfft, we've got it covered down here. I haven't had one accident while digging, and I don't plan on having my first anytime soon."

"Just stay careful anyway." Adam commented.

"Heh, I wi-" He paused as he noticed a pegasus mare with one wing bolting down the tunnel. "Breeze Heart? What they hay is she doin, down here?"

Neo looked at her oddly, "Isn't that the pegasus from when we got here?"

"Yeah, what is she doing down here?" Adam asked.

The rest of the group turned to her as she homed in on their position with a worry in her eyes. "Guys! Guys! The weapon retrieving team is back, and the whole raider town is gone!"

They all looked at her in shock. "What do you mean, gone?

She panted heavily for a moment as she caught her breath from the sprint she had made. "They found the weapons, but the whole town was completely razed! The whole raider town burned to the ground! They also found the tens of raiders in pits dying, dead, or completely mutilated. They found one pony, who was alive but found beat up in a cage. He wasn't a raider, and he begged for help so the guys are bringing him to the clinic."

The two brothers looked at themselves in terrified confusion for a moment before looking back at the one winged pegasus. "What does this have to do with us?" Neo asked.

Neo and Adam felt a small shock of fear run down their necks for a brief moment. "Red Glare also asked he see you immediately, it's about the weapons they found."

Cherry stepped in and answered for the two Brothers. "Fine, take us to where Red Glare is, Iron Vain, get back to working on the tunnel, and Adam and Neo let’s go."

The pegasus took another second to catch her breath for a moment before motioning them to hurry with her back to the surface. As they left, Iron Vain waved to them and called down the tunnel. "Good luck! The best of wishes from the miners!"

As they were running Neo thought to himself as he felt fear and an exhilarating sensation of determination. What happened? What could be wrong with the weapons? This doesn't make any sense! I can't just keep asking questions, I need to just focus on finding out what’s going on once we're up there. I hope that what Red Glare has to say is good, because I have a feeling that things are going to get a hell of alot worse.

Lieutenant Covert stepped outside his tent into the cool outside air. He quickly scouted the area around him for suspicious behavior. As it would seem, Legion ponies went about their day in the camp, though what he did notice was ponies gathering weapons and armor together. Even if it wasn't a huge thing to be concerned about, he still thought it odd for the men to be acting that way. Though, he needed to check on the Captain who was at the main tent. He wanted to inform him that the emperor was coming to help address the rebellion in Arkcannon, and he hoped that the news would change his mind on attacking the town.

As he marched his way to the Captain's tent, he could hear the sound of the Captain yelling out to someone in his tent. The Lieutenant didn't want to disturb, nor let him be aware of his presence. So he moved silently over to the side of the Captains tent and placed an ear to the tent wall and listened to what was being said inside.

"Why isn't it working!"

"I'm sorry sir, but the blueprints that mercenary gave us didn't detail the fuel these things run on."

"I. Don't. Care! I plan to arm the troops and move out to the town today! If you and your sorry ass can't get the damn thing running by the time this army moves out, I'll gut you and eat your insides!"

The pony the Captain was speaking to had a fierce tremble in his voice as he stuttered a reply. "Y-yes, sir... I'll look into it s-sir."

"You better." He growled at the pony inside the tent.

Though after a few seconds he heard the flap to the inside of the tent flap open as the nervous armored soldier stepped outside. The soldier took a deep breath to calm the nervousness and went off to complete his task.

The Lieutenant curiously trotted over to the tent before quickly jumping back behind the side wall as another soldier came up to the tent. But before he entered he suspiciously scanned the area before going inside the Captain tent.

The Lieutenant who suspected something might not be right put his ear to the tent wall once more and listened. "What is it now!"

"Sir, it's me, I completed the task you asked of me."

"Oh, private it's you... I thought for a moment it was that stuttering foal Latch Key."

"Yes sir, and I listened in on the Lieutenants conversation with the emperor, sir."

There was a hint of pleasure in his voice as he responded to the Private. "Oh? And what is it they were talking about."

"They spoke of your actions sir, and said that you are committing treason, sir."

There was a brief pause from the Captain. "What! He talked of me and treason! I am the Captain, not him! And what I plan to do will start a new age for this section of the province! I am the loyal one! ME! NOT HIM!" He roared in fury whilst panting heavily.

"...What should we do, sir?"

The Captain took one last calming breath before answer. "Let's keep it under wraps. Let him think he's going to win, then, I'll see to it that the Lieutenant suffers for his crime against me when the best moment arises."

"Is that your final orders, sir?"

"Yes, yes. You've done well, Private, and you have rightfully earned that promotion I promised you. But only when the Lieutenant has been punished will I grant you your reward."

The was a quick rustle from the sound of armored barding rubbing against itself as if the soldier inside has saluted to him. "Very well, sir, I will help the others prepare for tonight, sir."

"Very good, Private, very good... Now, leave... I've got planning to do, and the spy we’ve got inside the town has lost communications with me. And we've got no clue as to how their defenses are set up if they have any at all."

He could hear the armor of the soldier inside the tent move as he assumed that he saluted the Captain. Shortly though, the soldier came outside the tent and looked around the area quickly before strolling off back into camp. The Lieutenant needed to follow him, and if he told the other soldiers that he was a traitor, the whole situation might not be salvageable. So he acted decisively, and took off for the soldier who had told Captain Cyrus of his and the Emperor's intentions.

At first, he calmly followed the soldier once he was at a fair distance away to not draw attention to himself. But as he moved closer, he picked up the speed of his walk to that of a quiet trot. He homed in on him with a plan that he hoped would fix the whole mess Cyrus was about to put the whole perimeter in.

He came from his side and grabbed the unsuspecting soldier, and took him over to an empty tent to the side of them. He shoved him inside the tent and closed the tent flap behind him. The soldier stood there, looking at the eyes of a determined loyal subordinate. The soldier scrambled to get himself together as he nervously tried to get a grip on his current status.

"O-Oh, well, sir it's... Uh, w-what can I help you with... Uh, sir?"

"Silence, you traitorous dog!" The Lieutenant hissed at him trying to keep his voice in a quiet tone.

The soldier reacted instinctively and snapped to attention. "Y-yes, sir..." He whimpered.

The Lieutenant looked down at him disapprovingly. “I overheard your little... Chat with the Captain.”

He came up next to the stiff soldier and swung his foreleg around the soldier in a friendly manner. “What you are doing with the Captain might be seen as treason in the eyes of our lord.”

The soldier himself looked bewildered at him. "I’m not sure what you mean, sir."

“The hell you do!” He barked.

The soldier flinched as the Lieutenant cooled off from his outburst. “Listen, as you know, our emperor is coming. If he were to find out you helped our Captain with treason. Oh I can’t dare imagine what he might do to you!” He whispered in a almost sing song tone.

“L-like what?”

“Well, for one, you might be crucified. Or you could be gutted, ground, beaten to death, hooves removed and thrown into the wasteland or-”

“Please, sir!” The soldier interjected nervously.

“But I would be more than willing to give you... A second chance, if you will.”

The soldier thought about it for a moment and nodded to him. “If I help bring the Captain down, will I be forgiven?”

The Lieutenant patted the soldiers breastplate softly. “Why, of course you will! Not only that, but I can smell a promotion to whoever helped bring him down as well.”

The soldier nodded in thought as the Lieutenant proposed his deal to him. “The only thing I need from you is to get the other troops to help when I give them the signal to take him down.”

The armor clad pony thought deeply on the matter for a moment longer, “Is that all, sir?”

“Yes.”

The unsure look on the pony’s face was present and clear as he thought hard on the subject. The Lieutenant eyed him with a tempting smile. "Well? All it will take is for you to tell the others."

With a relieving sigh the soldier straightened himself and saluted the Lieutenant. "In the true name of the Legion, I will serve only the faithful in this Legion."

"Good," The Lieutenant took out an old pocket watch from one of the pockets in his armor and quickly glanced at it. "Now, what are your orders?"

"To aid you in taking down Captain Cyrus, sir."

"And what did you not hear?"

"Hear what sir?"

The gave him the same pleased smile. "Excellent. Now go inform the others, and tell them not to act until I give them order to apprehend him."

With a quick salute he agreed. "Yes, sir!"

The Lieutenant and the soldier left the tent, while the soldier made his way back into camp the Lieutenant looked once more at his pocket watch. "Hopefully, the Emperor won't make it here too late."

"Lieutenant!" He heard the Captain scream to him as he stood there in front of the tent.

He looked at him, and hoped. Hoped he wasn't calling him for the reason he was thinking of. The Captain though approached him with an excited, yet pleased aura about him.

"Lieutenant! I've had a stroke of genius! I figure from the information our spy we've set up inside the town that their defenses are not yet up to defensive standards. Though I haven’t been able to contact her as of late, it might be possible the Reckoning might be above this part of the province."

The Lieutenant let out a mental relieving sigh, "I see, this wouldn't be the first time the Reckoning has been over in this part of the province. So, do you plan to go through with an attack? I spoke to the Emperor early today, and he plans to help take care of the matter himself."

The Captain turned his back at the stallion. He thought hard on the matter for a moment, and with a slow almost unnatural turn he grinned at him. "Let him come... It won't ruin my plans. Nope. Not. One. Bit... Heh..."

The Lieutenant already knew of his plans, and everypony in the whole perimeter could tell what he was planning. But, something inside him still hungered for him to ask. With a rather curious raised eyebrow he ask, "Is there something on your mind... Sir?"

In an almost devious chortle he coughed. "Yes. We’ll attack. You see, that town has not only defied me, but the whole of the Legion! His majesty chose me. Me, of all the others to be the one to discipline this town... Yet, he wants me to sit here and watch them... H-heh... I don't like it when we don't do anything... Day after day it's just SITTING!"

The lieutenant gazed at him with worry as he tried to salvage the situation. "B-but sir, shouldn't we think about this? Wait for his majesty instea-"

"No!" He boomed, "He'll see what I did, me! He'll reward me, yes! Like on the border, I'll be embraced by our god as a hero. A hero!"

"T-Th... Then what are your orders, sir? When do you plan to attack?"

He had wide eyes. Eyes which bear no intention of reason filled the void where his soul should have been. "Huh... When to attack... We're going to attack the town tonight... Yes, that should work very well."

The Lieutenant had become very cautious of his actions, and in his mind his conscious screamed to take him down and stop him. Then again, a wall of fear built itself inside him. Fear that had managed to build a thick wall around him, preventing him from acting. Though he did not show it, he was struggling to make the decision.

He asked in a firm posture. "S-should I order the snipers to prepare a-along with the other troops, sir?" Though his fear could be clearly heard in his voice, he still hesitated on acting.

"No. Order the wagons, troops, and mortar team to prepare... I want to get down and personal with them..."

"But wouldn't the mortar team contradict that order... S-sir..."

He looked at him in a confused manner with his grin completely gone. He leaned forward to him, keeping the same bewildered terrifying stare at him as he towered over him. "What was that you said?" He whispered on the edge of insanity.

The Lieutenant could take it anymore as he felt fear overcome him, he look to the ground in fear. "N-nothing, sir..."

He lowered himself back down to eye level with him with his grin slowly returning. "I thought so..."

"I'll go get the troops inform, sir... W-when will the attack be again, sir?"

His eyes became more calmer as he smiled gently at the lieutenant. "I have often wondered what it must be like to die... I'd always imagined it to be glorious."

The statement confused the Lieutenant, at this point all he knew was that he could stop the Captain yet. "W-what, sir?"

He turned his back and chuckled briefly. "Just prepare the troops, Lieutenant, we attack tonight before the sun completely lowers."

"Y-yes sir."

With a rather weak and pitiful salute, the Lieutenant turned to complete his ordered assignment. Even if he knew he didn't need to do it, his emotions drove his thoughts as he did what he was told. But just as he started to walk off towards the center of camp, the Captain purred something to him which froze his movement for a brief moment.

"I can tell the coming battle will hold... Interesting things for us both." He said nothing more and continued on to his tent humming to himself.

The Lieutenant blinked for a moment as he thought about those words. He was stuck in pure fear, for he saw his own death as he stood there. He shook his head rapidly trying to loosen fears grip on him before going to gather the troops. But if he didn't stop the Captain, and tear down this wall in his mind not only would the town suffer, but so would he.

Neo, Adam, and Cherry, along with Breeze Heart, dashed as fast as they could to the clinic. They were all tired from the mad and sudden sprint to see what the issue was with the weapons and this survivor pony. As they approached the clinic, they saw some of the volunteer militia ponies from earlier standing outside on the porch of the medical building.

They slowed their speed as they came up to the porch before stopping and asking what had happened.

The stallion just shrugged and said what he knew about the matter. "All I know is that they brought some stallion with a note clipped to his neck and a blindfolded around his eyes into the clinic."

"Is that it? Has he said who he is, or what happened?" Neo asked urgently.

The militia pony in his simplistic leather barding shook his head. "Nope, though the guy does look beat up a bit. And he kept yelling fuck once he woke up when Red and the Sheriff brought him in."

Though there weren't many ponies, minus Lucy, that Neo and Adam could think of who would just shout fuck consistently. They still nodded to them in satisfaction. "Alright, thanks. Is Red Glare in there? I need to talk about the weapons the salvage team brought back."

"I'll also need to talk to him about it." Cherry added.

The militia pony just moved over to the side with a nod toward the door. "Head in, he's inside. They said they found him in a cage beat up bad, he was mumbling about a slaver and the Legion beating him or something. I gotta tell you though, once he woke up, he was as feisty as a hyped up filly on sugar."

His response was shocking to both Neo and Cherry as they thought about who the survivor could be. There were slaves and other raiders that could have seen their little trick they pulled back at the ruins. In the off chance it was somepony like the raider they dealt with, things could get bad fast. They all went over to the entrance of the clinic, but before entering, Adam stopped and thanked the pony for his help, and with a generous grin the militia pony went back to his lazy guard duty.

Inside the clinic, Red Glare, the sheriff and two other clinic workers tried their best to restrain the pony the team had found. He whipped around furiously in a chair as the clinic ponies tried their best to hold him still while applying a bandage to a small bleeding wound on his neck. Meanwhile the survivor pony spewed out horrible profanity at them.

"Stay the fuck away from me! Don't you dare fuckin’ touch me! I'll get out of here, and I'll fuck each and every one of your skulls till you can't think no more!"

In an instant, Neo and Cherry could tell who the pony they were trying to take care of was. But, he looked different. His mane was shorter, he had fresh scars and bruises all over his body, yet personality wise he didn't seem to mind nor care about these things.

"Oh sweet goddesses in heaven, are you serious..." Cherry said in a bafflement.

Neo face hoofed. "You've got to be kidding with me. Is this some sick joke or something?"

Adam looked up to him. "What is it about him that surprises you two?"

"Adam," Neo said in a almost shameful tone of voice. "That pony over there is one of the head raiders we got the supplies from... For some stupid reason though, he's right there..."

"And here I thought we wouldn't see him again..." Cherry grunted in frustration.

The raider stiffened up and quieted down as he heard Neo and Cherry’s voices. The clinic ponies were relieved at his sudden halt in retaliation and seized the opportunity to finish operating on him. "Is that you, slaver? Cause if that is you, I want these fucking pansies to untie me and let me kill your sorry ass!"

Red Glare ignored his statement and instead looked to see who he was addressing. He had a delightful look about him as he saw the three ponies he had sent for next to the entrance of the clinic. "Ah, you made it. Not a moment too soon either. This guy has been giving me trouble for the past five minutes."

Cherry rolled her eyes. "I thought so, he gave us a fair amount of trouble at the Arkcannon ruins."

He stiffened again as he heard her voice, and in a wooing like tone he spoke out to her. "Oh? If it isn't my little slave. How about you help your master out of here. Then, we'll find ourselves a real good spot to serve me, and if you do well I'll even let you-"

Cherry interrupted him and trotted over to his childishly grinning face and smacked it once with tremendous force. Though the raider didn't seem to notice at all the pain she had inflicted on him. "Oooh, kitty got a bite! I like it! Now do-"

"Just shoot him! Somepony please shoot him, I can't stand it anymore!" Cherry interjected.

The raider himself realized that she was serious about shooting him and struggled more to get himself free from his bindings. "Whoa there, girl! Shooting me won't do you much good when the Legion rolls out and tears this town apart!"

Everypony in the room stopped what they were doing and looked at him with shock. It was Red Glare who stepped up first to speak. "Heh, you really want to get out, don't you? Using an excuse as stupid as that won't help your situation."

The raider relaxed himself in the chair and gave him a devilish smile. "Take it as you want. I don't care, you're the ones who aren't going to heed my words. And when they find me, and I tell them I did my job, I'll be free to go while you fucking morons burn! Hahaha!"

Neo came up to him and put himself close to the raiders face, looking at his blindfolded eyes. "If you're so confident about that, we'll just have to change you up a bit. By the time we're done, the Legion won't know the difference between you, and us."

The raider frowned instantly at him as he struggled madly to get free. "Fuck no, man! I'm not going to stay here! Let me go! I'm not going to die in this pansy ass town!"

Neo just smirked at him and shrugged. "Well, too bad. Looks like we might just have to keep you here, and we're not even sure you're telling the truth so, why should we worry? Plus, it'll be fun making you look all pretty like a little foal!"

Everyone in the room understood what he was going at, and if they could fool him once they could do so again. Cherry stepped in and played along. "Oh yes! I have some nice bows, and even a little dress you can use! It's a wonderful shade of violet and I think it would look amazing on you!"

"Please... Fucking let me go! It's the truth I tells ya, it's the truth!" He wailed compulsively.

Neo stopped his teasing and let Red glare come up to him. "Are the Legion actually coming? Yes, or no?"

The raider was struggling in his seat while he answered. "Are you fucking kidding me? That dumbass Legion Captain gave me a whole lecture on the subject alone before he got his boys to beat the shit outta me and put me in one of our slave cages!"

Adam looked at him carefully and asked him a question of his own. "Alright, if you are telling the truth then answer this. What did he look like?"

"What the Legion boss guy? You know, I'm a sick fuck, but that guy is a psycho. He wore some kind of Legion coat thing, with a weird little hat. Made him look all important like, and he had this insane smile, like some demented drugged up drinkin’ buddy of mine. I tell you though, that fuck just told me all that shit. Told me to tell slaver over there that they’re coming. Then he tied me up, and blindfolded me. Then that dumbass bastard got his stupid little fucks to beat the livin’ shit outta me! But he'd said he’d let me pass the perimeter if I did this. Then your guys came by, and saw me. Busted me out of that damn cage and brought be here. Though some kind of rock or some shit hit me on the way out or somethin’...”

Adam turned away from him without saying another word. He thought about what the raider had said, and took into great consideration that he was telling the truth. Even if he was a pony whose whole purpose in life was to lie.

"I think he's telling the truth." Adam stated.

"What!?!" Cherry yelled in surprise.

"Adam," Neo said putting a hoof on his shoulder. "This guy is messed up, he'll say anything to get out."

"But everything he's said matches the way the team found him. It also explains the injuries, and we all saw what the captain looked like when we first came here. I believe him, even if there’s a chance he’s lying."

"Let's just kill the sad fuck!" Breeze Heart exclaimed from the corner of the room.

"Calm down, Breeze! We need to think about this." Red Glare replied in a restraining tone.

Adam looked at the raider and though he knew how foul and corrupt the pony was. Taking his life for no reason, other than how legitimate his statements were, made him no better than the raider. Adam motioned his older brother to follow him, and Neo came over to him and listened to what he had to say.

"I need you to cut him free."

Cherry and a few of the others in the room glanced at him oddly. Even Neo was a little hesitant on the action he wanted. "Adam," Neo said looking into his eyes, "Are you sure you want me to do that?"

His younger brother nodded to him confidently.

Neo nodded and sighed. "Alright then, I trust you... But if things turn sour, I don’t know what might happen."

Neo looked towards Red Glare and held his hooves in the air as if he was going to catch something. "Red Glare, give me a gun."

Red Glare tossed the small hunting rifle he had at his side to Neo who caught and levitated it at his side as he approached the raider. He unsheathed the blade in his mechanical foreleg and cut the raider free, though he did not remove his blindfold.

The raider hopped out of the chair and stretched himself out feeling his joints loosen. "Much better, I thought you'd see it my way. Now to get this fucking blindfold off."

Neo put the end of the gun to his head as he reached for the blindfold on his face. "Don't take it off." Neo said sternly.

He felt the cold metal of the barrels end touch his fur as he slowly put his hooves back down. "Alright, slaver... Just calm the fuck down... We don't want that thing to go off..."

Adam just went up to him looked him over before looking to the clinic ponies. "Do you think he could walk one thousand paces in his condition?"

Both clinic ponies looked at each other in uncertain stares. "Sure, but why do you ask?"

Adam smiled at them and motioned for his Brother and Red Glare to follow him. "Red Glare, take the raider and follow me, brother, keep that on him and make sure he doesn't do anything brash."

Neo confidently nodded at him and readied the rifle as Red Glare took him and pushed the raider towards Adam. He lead them over to the exit of the clinic and back out into the dry wasteland air. As they made their way outside everypony in the clinic and outside either watched them shove and push the raider along, or followed them to see what they were going to do with him.

As the raider tumbled and fell, he swore consistently at Neo and Red Glare. "Fuck you two! Fucking stop it! I'm warning you, if you fucks keep jerking me around like this, I'll- Hey! Fucking stop!"

Adam had lead them all down to the town gate, and over the deactivated mine zone along it. He nodded to one of the ponies who understood what was going on and opened the gate for them. The gate screeched and squealed as the old metal of the gate worked to open it.

The raider became antsy at their sudden halt. "What the fuck are you doing? Why did you stop! Hey! I'm talking to you!"

Adam came up to him and in a serious tone he said, "Walk one thousand paces forward, don't take off the blindfold till you reach one thousand. If you do, we have a sniper on the wall ready to take you out." Though there was no sniper, the threat of an imaginary one was just as scary. But what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Sort of.

"B-but I can't fucking see? And I can't even count straight while fumbling around like a fucking idiot!"

"You seem to understand what you need to do, and that's good enough for me. If you want to be free, here's your chance. I'll start counting to five if you don't start, the sniper will shoot you, okay?"

He spit in his general direction. "I'm not taking orders from a fucking kid!"

"One." Adam started.

"Fuck you!"

"Two."

"Fuck you!"

"Three."

"..."

"Four."

"Fucking stop! Fine!"

"Remember, a thousand paces." Adam reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah... Whatever. Just know if I ever run across you guys ever again... I'll fuckin’ kill you."

"Fiv-"

"No! Okay, I'm going! I'm going!" He cried taking his first step.

The Raider felt his hooves around carefully as he tried his best to move on his own with no sight. The whole group of townsfolk watched him for a moment as he counted to himself, generally making his way into the wastes. After awhile though, Red Glare ordered the gate to close and turned to the group of ponies amassed around the gate.

As the gate finally closed, Neo gave one of the militia ponies the hunting rifle and looked at Red Glare as he stared out into the small crowd before him.

His tone was dark, and sad as he regretfully told the ponies before him of the news they had just received. "I regret what I'm about to say, but it's something you all need to know... A horrifying truth, and one I hoped was not true."

He paused for a moment. "The Legion is coming... And by the way the raider we had found acted; I would say they're coming soon..."

There was a murmur of confusion and uncertainty spread throughout the crowd. "But the Legion doesn't know we're doing anything! How could they know?" One pony exclaimed inside the crowd.

"I don't know..." Red Glare said with the shake of his head. "But they do, and they are coming."

The ponies in the crowd whispered to each other in a disoriented manner as fear picked up.

"What if the Legion comes in an hour!"

"What if we aren't ready for an attack?!"

"What about the children! Will they be safe?"

Neo, Adam, and some of the other town officials calmed the crowd down. Neo spoke next out to the crowd to reassure them that everything would be alright. "Now, please, the last thing we need to do is panic. We foresaw this, and we've done our best to prepare."

"He's right!" Breeze Heart said coming out of the crowd and turning to them. "For weeks now, we've seen loved ones die for the enjoyment of that bastard Captain! For too long have we sat idly as they came here and took what we worked so hard to earn!"

Several ponies nodded in agreement as they listened to her.

"And when they come, they’ll hear the voice of the ponies who cry out in anger and resistance! We have the weapons, brave ponies, and food and that is more than enough to kick their sorry asses back to Ironhoof, where they belong! We're a ready town, and the blood of free will and determination runs through us. But if we stand here, cowering below them, we have already lost! Look around you, we haven’t lost and we’ll die before we let them think they can win!"

Several of the crowd raised their hooves up in an up roaring agreement. "So, don't ask what will happen, except what will happen! Because when they march at our front door, we'll be ready! Because the passion of freedom is ours, and ours alone! And that, is a weapon no army of the Legion could ever have!"

In a glorious cheer the whole crowd shouted in unison a glorious chant of victory as Breeze Heart raised her hoof high into the air and screamed, "We will not be slaves again! Do you hear me, Cyrus? The Legion will fall!"

The town officials looked at Breeze Heart who looked upon the group with pride. With a gentle pat on the back from Cherry, Red Glare, Neo, and the sheriff they all thanked her for her speech.

Neo nodded to the group and spoke up, "We still need to work hard though. If we really try, we can make it out of here before the Legion can come. I've seen you work, and I can tell you that, within another day and night, we can make it. But remember, we still need to be vigilant. Keep that in mind."

Red Glare motioned his hooves for the crowd to move on. "Let's all get back to work, everypony. We'll keep a lookout for the Legion, but let's not lose sight of what needs to be done."

In a murmuring agreement the crowd dissolved as ponies went back to preparing the town for the now evident attack. Even Breeze Heart went her own way as she returned to helping prepare a barricade in the center of the town. Red Glare sighed heavily and rubbed the back of his neck in an unsure manner. "That could have got out of hoof real fast..."

Cherry came up to him and placed a hoof on his shoulder. "I understand, the last thing we need is for ponies to panic."

"I know," Red Glare sighed. "But with all that's going on, I'm not sure we'd be able to hold an attack if it came."

"I'm not sure how well we would either, but giving these folks hope is the best thing we can do for them at the moment." Neo added.

Adam smiled to Red Glare merrily. "But it can't be all that bad, after all, those weapons and things you guys brought back should help us."

Red Glare just looked down, not daring to make eye contact with Adam. "The weapons you guys brought back will help... Right?" Adam asked in a unsure tone.

Red Glare did not say a word, but rather he started walking along the side of the wall making his way to a large wooden wagon. The wagon had an old tattered cloth covering the top section of it, with old metal wells, and several small carvings on it’s side.

Neo, Cherry, and Adam along with the other town officials followed him over to the old wooden wagon that was parked crookedly to the side. With his mouth, Red Glare ripped back the cloth so that it floated in the air for a brief moment before landing on the ground softly.

The whole group looked inside the wagon that had all the salvaged gear inside, and what was inside shocked them. All that was inside, were several leather armored barding chest pieces, hunting rifles, and a few machine guns, one gatling gun, and five grenades. There was little ammunition included, just scattered bullets of multiple different kinds of weapons, and to add on, it didn't even look like some of the weapons were in the best of condition.

Neo grit his teeth and turned his head away from the supplies the ponies had brought back. He didn't dare look at what little they had brought back. "What happened? What happened!?! We went in there and I was sure they would get rid of half their weapons. Half!"

Adam went up to him and tried his best to comfort him. "It's not that bad. It could be much worse, brother. We need to be happy with what we're given, not with what we expect to be given."

After a quick pat on the back Adam went into the small stash of weapons and pulled out two of the leather chest pieces and put one on himself. With it under his duster, he already felt more prepared for battle.

"See. The armor is in decent condition. Just come over here and try it on."

Cherry nodded to Adam. "I do agree with Neo that I was expecting more... But you're right, what we have is what we have. We can't change it."

Neo sighed and looked to Cherry a moment before looking over to his little brother. "But... With that, how do we plan to protect anyone?"

Red Glare leaned on the wagon with the salvaged items inside, and with a thoughtful look he said, "I'm not proud of what we found either. And I'm not sure how much it will make a difference in a fight, but we'll have to do what we can... I'm just not sure what we can do is enough."

Neo came over and sighed calmly taking the barding Adam had and looked at it. He thought about what Red Glare and the others had said. "Brother, let's try to do what we can. We'll make it through this." He said putting his hoof on the armor his brother was levitating.

Neo took off his duster and put the leather chest piece on his body before putting the duster over it. He looked at it, and felt thinking about how much of a difference this all had on the town’s defences. But, he had to suck up his pride, and this time, there was no arguing. They were right. Though it disappointed him there was little he could say.

"I guess we'll have to do our best, huh? Even if we didn’t get the weapons I expected." Neo calmly said with a smile.

Red Glare and the other still looked as if there was no way they could take on the Legion, even though they seemed prepared. Instead, Red Glare put the tarp back on the wagon and asked for the others to follow him.

"Let's finish prepping the town. We've still go to help get the barricade up."

"We'll help with that." Neo said hopefully with his brother at his side.

Cherry came up alongside Adam with a rather cheery smile. "I'll help too."

The Mayor saw them all walk off to the pile of assorted furniture and items in the street and saw them help get a barricade made to protect the center of town. "I just hope all this talk of rebellion doesn't end the way I think it will, I just hope I’ve done the right thing and kept quiet about all this." She sighed before calmly trotting down the street.

The cloud covered sky was colored a faint orange hue as the evening slowly turned to night. Most of the work had been done for the day, and the barricade and defenses they had spent the whole day preparing were only partially done. Though to finish the massive barricade they had created in the center of the town all they needed to do was just continue to pile a whole plethora of assorted items and fortify what was already there. Which considering that the townsfolk of Arkcannon had used most of their home furniture to build the barricade it was fairly impressive though not completed yet.

But as the night encroached on everypony in town, minus most of the miners, were resting and preparing for the next day ahead of them. By resting, this of course meant they were at the inn where Breeze Heart stood on a table chanting and preaching about the victories they would have against the Legion.

Red Glare didn't approve of her almost constant patriotism, but never the less, he would have much rather had the ponies of the town cheer with hope rather than panicking in fear. The whole town by now knew of the now inevitable attack by the Legion. And every time ponies became agitated or uneasy by the thought, Breeze Heart the one winged pegasus who would just praise their new found strength, and how their bravery would win the day.

Of course Neo and Adam didn't join in the merriment inside the inn. Rather, they stayed outside and watch the sky peacefully turn darker as time passed. It was the closest they had come to seeing the actual sun. Just imagining the large shining disk in the sky was enchanting. And with all the noise inside it made the experience all that much more better.

Cherry wasn't inside the inn either, but rather with many of the little fillies and colts of the town playing out in the cool evening on the main dirt road that lead through the town. They tumbled and chased each other playfully as the two brothers watched them and the sky.

"I can see it now, everypony! The whole Legion running at the sight of their slaves holding their own! Nothing could strike us down, nothing!"

There was a cheer from the mass of towns ponies inside the inn. "How many of you want to see the dawn of a new day? Free from worry, or fear? I say that every day is not just a fantasy, but a reality! One we, as a whole, can see dawning over the horizon! I know I won't let them take that from me, will you let them take that from you?"

Another victorious roar boomed from the inside as the two brothers listened to them from outside the inn on the porch. "I say, let us drink to our victory! Because nothing can stop the winning with the spirit of hope at our sides!"

Neo shook his head chuckling lightly to himself. "What a character she is. I'm glad Red Glare let her speak out like that to them."

"It is better to believe in something than nothing at all, brother."

Neo ruffled his younger brother’s mane gently with his mechanical hoof. "Yeah, let's just hope they don't decide to do something stupid because of those beliefs."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Cool Blue said coming out of the inn and onto the porch with his guitar at his side.

He sat down next to them and pulled the instrument up to his body and started to play a slow calming tune. Adam looked towards him, "How is it you can play that without magic?"

He didn't halt his playing as he answered. "Practice, kid. Lots and lots of practice, and a little bit of nagging from my folks."

Adam went back to the way he was as he was satisfied by his answer. "You guys headin’ up to Silvermane tower after all this?" Cool Blue calmly stated not losing the beat of his song.

Neo blinked at him as if he could not think of a proper answer. "You said your wife might be able to help us... I'm not sure how I am about it. I've been told things, and at times promised things too, yet they all turn out to be hoaxes or lies in one way or another. Just like the way you lie to a little kid about a promise you know you can't keep."

"Heh," The musical pony chuckled for a brief moment, "I won't lie to you, but you're right. I can't promise you two that she'll know where she is. I can say though, that if there is anyone in the province who knows where she is. It's my wife."

The two brothers looked at him once more. "Then again, I know DJ PON-3 will actually know where she is. I've met that girl, and she doesn't fool around when it comes to getting information."

"And how far away from here is she?" Adam asked.

"Kid, you'd be better off going to Silvermane. Unless you plan to head far into central Equestria, she won't be much help to you. Not even half the province gets her radio station, and that should tell you something about how far away she is from here."

Neo sighed and rubbed the sides of his head with his hooves in frustration. "But, what if we end up just going there for nothing? I don't want to go through more just to say we're not any closer."

"That might be so, but by the way you make it sound, it looks like you've already given up before you even tried. No famous pony on this planet ever got anywhere by just giving up."

"But what about-"

"But nothing! You two, and you especially need to man up, buckle down, and do what you set out to do regardless of your success!"

Cool Blue sighed before putting his guitar down. "I'll tell you this again, and I mean it when I say it, but, Neo, listen to me. I can't promise that going to Silvermane tower will fix your problems, but it's your best shot regardless of what you say."

Neo rubbed the back fur of his neck indecisively. "I'm just not sure how this will end... And I-"

He took Neo's Pipbuck calmly with a peaceful glow in his eyes. He worked the small foreleg computer as if it were his own until it beeped once softy. With a gentle movement he put his foreleg down and patted the device. "I put down the location of the tower on your Pipbuck. If you really want to find her, this is where you should go."

Neo didn't say anything back to him, he couldn't think of anything worth saying. But instead of saying anything at all, they contently listened to the merriment of the ponies inside the inn as they watched Cherry play various games with a few of the young ones in the cool evening air.

"You know," Adam said hopefully. "I feel like nothing could ruin this peaceful night."

Over the hill of the town, Captain Cyrus looked down through an old pair of binoculars at the rather peaceful town below with a greedy, envious glare. The Lieutenant stood at his side and watched the small town below with him as the other troops unpacked their equipment just out of viewing range of the town. The Captain had ordered the motor team to prepare the attack on the town until he gave the order to start the bombardment.

The Lieutenant looked back to the team of motor ponies ready to fire when ordered. The Lieutenant inside though still felt repressed at the idea of taking on the Captain face to face, and ending this madness.

The hold fear had on him was strong, strong enough to make him almost lose interest in stopping him. It was a harsh mix of feelings that devastated him on the inside, though he did not physically show it.

With a rather merry grin, the Captain examined the town. The Lieutenant looked to his Captain after seeing the motor team give the signal they were ready to commence the bombardment.

"They're ready, sir. You may give the order."

The Captain chuckled to himself once before he gave the binoculars to the Lieutenant. "Can you hear them? Can you hear them sing?" He said with the same wicked grin.

The Lieutenant tried to hear the singing he mentioned but could not hear anything. "No. I'm afraid not, sir."

"Ah," He sighed peacefully with his grin intact. "They are singing. Singing about the dawn of a new day."

The statement puzzled the Lieutenant. "And what does that have to do with anything, sir?"

He just looked down at the small dimly lit town grinning. "Prepare the first round of the motors to fire."

"W-what, sir?"

"You heard me." He cooed, "Prepare the attack."

The Lieutenant though conflicting with himself automatically saluted him. "I'll tell the crew s-sir?"

"Yes, but do be quick," He purred softly. "If they want a new day to dawn, then they shall have that day. For a new age will dawn, one that sees this town put back in its place."

"Yes... I-I see, sir. I'll go tell the troops to get ready at once, sir." Said the Lieutenant before trotting off to the Legion soldiers.

Cyrus waited for the Lieutenant to finish preparing the motor team, "Heh," He chortled, "I do believe the worst is just beginning for this town. In fact, I think after the first shot goes off and I have their attention, I might just have a word with them... Hah, yes that will be nice... H-hah."

The Lieutenant rushed over to the motor team and told them to wait for the captain’s signal to fire the first shell at the town. Once he had made sure they were prepared he went over to the Captain with his hoof in the air to give the order to the motor team who waited for his signal.

The Lieutenant just stood there with his hoof in the air waiting impatiently for his order. “Well, sir? The team is r-ready to fire when you are.”

He stared at the town, as he did his grin widened into a large unnatural smile. And with a calm, whisper like tone he said, “Fire.”

Foot Note: Level Up

New Perk: The looking glass: Your Pipbuck now detects close-by sneaking targets. So keep your wits about you!

Foot Note: Level Up

Would you like to level Up Adam as well?

Yes-

No

New Perk: Tech Galore!: Repairing items with a low a percentage now repair twice as good. Especially things like small computers, or energy weapons and armor.

Proofread by:

Noakwolf

LyonAzakura

Exiled Wing

Wayofthepen

Author's Note

I really did try a new way of writing. I tried to add more detail, and take things a little differently. And like I have said before, I always strive to get better. But, anyway. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

• Noakwolf