CHAPTER 33: MOTHER

"I love you both... So... So much..."

Gritting his teeth, Neo's eye pinched in furious glare. He seethed puffing short fuming breaths. Quickly he rose his hoof, and slammed it briskly into the side of his father's face. Jolting to the side at Neo's action, the brother’s father stumbled over putting a hoof to the intense throbbing spot of contact.

Neo prowled towards him, holding the same burning fury glimmering in both eyes. "You can't do that!"

Adam urgently glanced at his brother gasping, "Brother!"

Their father staggered further to the side, eventually slumping down onto the grass messaging the sore tissue of his jaw.

"Do you think that's funny?" Neo’s voice burned with resentment. "Do you get some kind of sick amusement out of this?"

As Neo drew closer to his father, Adam promptly injected himself into his brother's path. "Stop it! What's gotten into you?"

Leaning himself forward in retaliation to his Adam’s restraint, Neo's body quivered in a flushed heating pulsing through him.

Peeking over Adam's head, Neo jerked his snout to the lowly middle-aged stallion sitting in the grass. "He's the problem! After all these years we thought he was dead! All the pain he put us through! All of his responsibilities dumped on us because he didn’t want to tell us he was alive and well! And now he just decides to show up! Worse yet, he talks like not a damn thing wrong!"

Grunting under his breath, Adam forced the top of his head against Neo’s chest. Beneath the strong constant push from Neo, Adam’s spine taking the bulk of the stress ached, "I know you're angry, but hurting him won't do anything!"

Trying to clamber over Adam, Neo screamed at the peak of his voice, "He's a lying bastard and a coward!"

In a final attempt to quell the rage manifesting more greatly in his brother, Adam pushed with both hind legs, propelling the strength of a forceful push. Adam's quick action set Neo stepping back. Briefly collecting himself, Neo shook his head, and continued to march on their father.

Before Neo could come any closer to their parent, Adam shouted, "Listen to me!"

Neo paused, as the rage in his eyes was snuffed. Adam's face felt hot, pumping the adrenaline instilled blood through him with every pounding heartbeat. He was panting deeply, while his older brother stood perfectly still.

"I know you're upset," Adam huffed slowing his breath, "but trying to kill him for what happened won't fix the problem at hoof!"

Neo's glare tightened, as he remained silently fixed on his brother.

Adam extended a hoof to their father. "All I want is to find our friends, and understand where we are. Whatever you want to say, or chastise our dad for doing you can later. Can you do that? For them? For me?"

Snorting once out his nostrils, Neo turning away from the two of them. "Talk to him all you want -- I'm not going to say a single damn word to that sad excuse for a pony."

Adam smiled; progress had been made. Be it small, he could rest assure for the moment that his brother wouldn't attack their father. How long he could maintain this truce afterward was difficult to say.

Facing his father, who gently rubbed the wound Neo had inflicted, Adam approached him pointing his nose to the swelling purple lump manifesting on his father’s jaw.

"It looks bad. Do you need some help up?"

He looked up at Adam, the dark sagging rings underneath his eyes more clearly visible. "Yes, I would like that."

Reaching down to his father, the two interlocked hooves, as Adam helped him rise to all fours. Rocking his jaw side to side, their father muttered painful oos and ahs wincing at each movement. "I'm sorry for the confusion, boys."

Directing his gaze to Neo, their father shifted a crooked smile to the side of his face that wasn't sore. Scanning Adam up and down, he chuckled shaking his head. "You've grown up so much... The last time I saw you Adam you were only a babe."

Adam shrugged with a laugh, "They say ponies grow up fast."

"Too fast, I'd say." He remarked in a faint titter.

For a brief moment an awkward silence developed in the air between them. Adam trailed his eyes to the grass, rubbing the side of his foreleg. Their father took a step forward, then hesitated. Not a second after he gave Adam a hug, choking on the overbearing emotion he felt stab at his heart.

"I've always wanted to see you two grow up."

Adam lifted the hoof he had sheepishly used to return the gesture, adding a calm pat on his father's back.

Swiftly withdrawing himself from Adam, he clamped both hooves on Adam's shoulders gasping, "You must be have questions! Lot's of questions no doubt!"

Adam silently nodded, still holding his happy expression.

Letting go of Adam, he trotted toward the base of a hill near the forest's border. Waving at the two of them, his words and actions giddily bounded about as he called to them, "Come! Come! I'll take you to your friends!"

Neo had diverged from his stiff posture, and looked to his father sourly. Adam trotted to his brother's side, staring at him with wide worried eyes. "Please act nice around him. At least, for now."

He didn't reply to Adam. The grand flame that burned itself deeply inside of Neo sparked in a huddled confined space right below his heart. In its brazen heat Neo could feel nothing in the presence of his father, but the conflagration of contempt.

The hallways were sterling silver. A stable’s metal interior usually consisted of a mundane grey. Lacking in a fine polished surface. Unlike those cramped halls of their home, the corridors of wherever they were shinned. A waxy gloss glinted the floor, showing a warped reflection of the ponies’ figures.

A sense of space persisted as their father lead the two brothers down a straight hallway. On either side ten feet of empty room separated them from the walls. While cantering at a moderate pace, the brother's father spoke fondly of where they were -- though giving an occasional pause to rub the swollen sore mounding slightly on the side of his face.

Neo kept himself quiet, retaining a near perfect distance of eight feet between his father and him. Adam, however, was ecstatic. Like a foal, keenly basking in the masterful words of a wise storyteller he diligently listened to every bit of information his father said.

A series of long tinted windows gave an overhead view into the vast vibrant biome they had awaken in. Motioning his head toward the closest window, their father said, "You can see Biome one here. It's rather simple, though it is one of my favorites of the five."

"There's more than one dome?" Adam inquired.

He nodded at Adam slowing himself to message the wound on his jaw. "Yes, of course. Three for growing food, and two to cultivate specific breeds of trees and flowers."

Adam's eyes moved to the round puff-ball clouds drifting in the artificial sky. "Why use a screen, though? Wouldn't it be easier to just not do anything?"

Humming, his father answered, "Technically speaking, yes. But it helps the moral of farmers, and those enjoying the gardens."

"Huh," Adam breathed a little taken back by his response, "so this whole place was part of the province's initial plan reclaiming the land?"

"That's what we gathered when we found it." He said.

"How many ponies work here? Where are they all from?"

"Hehe," He scoffed lowly throwing Adam a sideways glance, "you grew up to be an awfully curious buck."

Adam smiled, "I want to say it's a little of you that I give that credit to."

"Goodness no," he whinnied with a weak wheeze, "I'm more of a stick-to-the-books kind of fellow. The curious one, now that would be your mother."

Adam's heart began to pound, as an energetic quivering forced his already lively energy to twitch his hooves. "Is she here? Do you know where she is? When can we see her?"

Despite Neo abstaining from all things related to his father, the mention of his mother enticed both ears to perk up. When the three traveled a little farther down the hall, they approached a white set of dual pushing doors.

Their father stopped before the pearly set of doors turning to his sons, and placing a hoof at the left door's center. "Why don't you ask her yourselves?"

Adam stood still, with Neo slowly ambling to his side in front the doors. The muscles in Adam's locked themselves, as the door opened. He couldn't remove his eyes from the door. Both brother's were silent when the new room was revealed.

The next room was significantly less bright and gleaming. Along the walls a red horizontal stripe marked the full length of the room. The ceiling was slightly higher than that of the hallway, yet it still retained the same square light fixtures imbued in the smooth polished ceiling. Line after line of short aluminum frame medical beds jutted out from the walls on both sides. Whilst monitors, dark and unused stood idly by each vacant baby blue sheeted bed.

The windows of the hall on the righthand side had given way to a solid wall. On the left three expansive porthole windows placed at the end, and front, sandwiched one single window in the middle. Neither brother saw their mother at first, though scattered about the room, sitting on their beds or stretching their limbs, was the rest of the group.

Calmly walking to the middle of the room where Lucy, Wester, and Ally sat on their beds they could hear the low chuckles and mumbles of playful banter casually being tossed between the three of them.

Big Lot was at the end of the room, playing in front of the exit with a tiny silver beetle-like robot. Trying as she could, the filly pounced upon the small machine, only to miss as it veered off briskly in her opposing direction.

Amongst the session of play with the bug bot, Big Lot's ears erected. Rising her head, she saw the two brothers approach them from the entrance. Her eyes grew wide, sparking a beaming expression stretching her laugh lines.

"Hey! Hey! Look!" She exclaimed, pointing at the two.

In unison the three ponies turned their sights toward the brothers. An expression, equal in magnitude to Big Lot's, burst forth as they leaped from their beds and rushed to meet with Neo and Adam. Ally was the first to greet them, jumping and latching herself to Neo in a tight hug.

Nuzzling her snout into his neck, she increased the constraining might of her hold. At first Neo was stunned at the sudden action. Though, as the gentle warmth of her chest graced him he wrapped a careful hoof over her back.

Lucy stopped smirking, "Well it's about time! The rest of us were beginning to think you two wouldn't wake up!"

"Well here we are," Adam laughed loosely kicking the ground, "bodies and all."

Ally let go of Neo, and took a step back staring into Neo's eyes. "You’re up! You’re up! It’s been so long since your father told us you two were in the biodome. You really should have seen Lucy when she woke up."

In a light giggle, Ally added, “Screaming and shouting like a mad pony. I’ve never seen a pony fuss so much.”

"Eh," Lucy shrugged, "I seem to remember everyone else was throwing a fuss about where we were. Except Wester, he's a rock."

Wester cocked his head to one side, "I'm a rock?"

Providing the clueless ranger a sideways unamused grimace she replied, "It's an expression."

Wester nodded, calculating the response. "Noted, and logged."

Big Lot jolsted both Ally and Lucy to reach Adam. "Move out of the way! I want to see them!"

Ejected out of the space between Ally and Lucy, Big Lot staggered toward Adam. Catching herself, she gazed upward at the buck. "You're awake... Why did you get to sleep outside?!"

Adam grinned patting the top of her head. "I missed you too."

Neo stood on the tips of his hooves, elevating his sight over the heads of the ponies gathered about him. He scanned the room, hoping to see his mother. Aside from the small robotic insect crawling toward the exit, and Ranger sleeping in a bed by the door, no other bodies were present.

The heavy sinking, and hallowed pit that carved out the emotion in his stomach plunked strongly like a anchor plummeting into the sea. A clammy chill flushed his brow as the stark realization came to him that now he would have to speak to his father.

Turning to his father, who stood a ways back, watching the group reconnect, Neo asked gruffly, "I'm happy you brought us here. Really, I am. But, where is mom?"

The tired stallion reeled himself back slightly, shaking his head at the remark. "What?"

"She's not here," Neo relayed to him, "I don't see her anywhere."

Ally stepped up, and added, "I saw her not too long ago, she left to get something for Ranger. He's been having trouble waking up."

Neo faced her. "Do you know where she went? Or maybe how long she'll be gone for?"

Ally shrugged glancing at the exit. "I can't say, she never mentioned anything other than she'll be back soon."

Neo's face turned placid, the chill intensifying its icy grip cuffing his brow and neck. "We've come so far to see her..."

The exit door was pushed open, as a mare stumbled through with a red vial held securely in the cup of her hoof. A faint crimson glow luminously shown off of the mysterious liquid while it sloshed about when she stepped through the doorway.

Move his eyes to the newcomer, the sinking vanished altogether. The cold evaporating from the surface of his fur, as a fresh warmth spread through limb and body.

He noted the mare's features, from her solid blue coat to the emerald green glistening eyes. A side of her long brown mane curled near the center of her neck. But her cloths stood out the most clearly. A dim blue stable-tech jumpsuit, with a immaculately tidy lab coat dressed over it.

Adam too, looked to the door. In the instant the two brothers saw the mare, all other sounds and senses fluttered off into quietness. Only the mare was visible, in pure crystal clarity, caught in the white light of the room.

Together, nearly in sync, both brothers muttered under their breaths, "Mom?"

The longer the mare stood looking at the two brother's, the more shimmering pearls filled the black pupils of her eyes. Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes, while Neo stepped forward. She didn't say anything to him, but even from the middle of room Neo could see her shaking as the first tear rolled down her cheek.

Walking at first, Neo started to her. Adam followed suit stepping at the same pace as his brother. "Mom..." Adam whispered, his own set of tears collecting.

Neo's speed increased, converting his walk into a full on trot. With the clean cool indoor air whisking past his head, Neo's heart pounded. Faster and faster the beating rose as his mother grew closer. Then, bounding forward he intercepted her with a hug. Adam joined in next, providing the same tackling action.

The combined force of the two ponies weighing down on her made both forelegs give out. Falling onto her haunches, she tucked the potion into a pocket on her jumpsuit, and wrapped her hooves around both boys. Sniffling from the three filled the air -- the warmest airy sensation flowing about inside them.

"We found you." Adam sniffed under chocking of raw emotion. "We found you..."

Neo lay his cheek against his mother's shoulder, closing his eyes and feeling a great tense pulling lift from his body. He felt free, and alive. They had done it. After so long their journey had come to an end. Again they were a family, together.

"I'm so happy you're both awake." She cooed to them, stroking the tops of their heads.

Her words were like the sweetest warm honey, only strengthening the wonderful bubbling of the reunion.

As her hooves felt the broad muscles of both brother's shoulders she chuckled, "And look how strong you've grown up to be! So soon too!"

The boys gave a low laugh, as she rose on all fours breaking the tight huddled mass they had piled in. Dark curving streaks indented the fur on her cheeks, maneuvering around the edge of her smile.

Using the hem of her sleeve she wiped away what the tears still falling. "Look at me, a mess like this. I wasn't ready to meet you yet."

Neo hastily lay a reassuring hoof on her shoulder, "Don't say that, mom. You're fine as you are."

She found it hard to control the amount of tears streaming from her eyes. Wiping away what she could, she slowly made her way to Ranger's bed. "You probably have so many questions... The secrets, this... I wish it didn't have to be this way."

"We don't mind it so much now, mom." Adam replied. "We're just glad we made it -- that you're alright."

"No," she stated drawing the medical potion from her pocket, "you two deserve answers. I don't want any more secrets in the family."

Vladimir was asleep, with both hooves resting at his sides. A fluffed white pillow padded the back of his head. An I.V. and other grey wires stuck to the veins of his shoulder were connected to a heart monitor next to the bed.

Tucking her hoof behind Vladimir's head, she slightly elevated him, placing the rim of the vial to his lips. "Besides, I'm eager to hear about your trip here. Even more so on how you managed to find us."

While the unconscious Vladimir consumed the potion entirely, she set the empty bottle down on the top of a nightstand by the bed.

"What happened to him? Why isn't he awake?" Adam asked.

Their mother sighed, "His body is just having some trouble adjusting. The potion I gave him will aid the adjustment. He should be up fairly soon."

The last of the tears stayed in the corners of her eyes, not wanting to fall. Fogging her vision she chuckled, rubbing one eye at a time. "My silly eyes, acting up... After all that you've been through, you all must be hungry. They're about to serve dinner soon. Maybe we can catch up on what's happened."

A great rumbling gurgled and bellowed from the bottom of Neo's stomach. Clamping a hoof over his growling belly, Neo nodded, "Yeah, eating does sound nice right about now."

"Wonderful," she chirped facing the rest of the group, "if you're hungry follow me! I'm heading to the dining room!"

A series of agreeing whoops burst from the group as they cantered toward the exit. The brother's mother lead everyone through the doors -- while at the back of the group Neo and Adam's father trailed behind. Once everyone had left the room, leaving the low beeping of the heart monitor to echo as the soul sound in the medical bay, Vladimir’s eyes opened.

He stared at the ceiling, before signing heavily. Hovering in mid-air next to the bed leisurely laying back with its translucent hooves folded behind its head, the creature crackled, "We've struck gold here, Little Red! Gold! O' how eager I am to see you steal a Sun gem from here. The anticipation is murder!"

Vladimir said nothing, as he rolled over onto his side, pulling a majority of the light bedsheets with him. Blankly looking at the wall across from his bed for a few seconds, he slowly closed his eyes. A stabbing sensation twisted in his gut at the thought of the the callous deed the creature demanded of him. He wished for someone to kill him. To end it here before it could do something monstrous. Sadly no such miracle would arrive, and deliver him from the torment.

He could just sigh, and hope the creature would leave him alone.

General Ventures stood in the balcony of a ruined skyscraper. The land before him was marked in the dark scars of war fought long ago. Bleak and bare the world was void, as the derelict structures that still stood appeared hollow. He took a satisfying whiffed of the breeze carrying the dense polluted bitter smell of sulfur. Holding in the brief breath, he exhaled smiling at the odor.

Two Legion unicorn soldiers stood next to him, levitating combat rifles at their breast with the tinted green aura of their horns. The building moaned as the wind brushed against it, though not in the slightest upsetting Ventures' mood.

"Isn't this what it's about, men?” He extended a high-raised hoof over the railing, as though he were showcasing the landscape, “Look at this land. All of it belongs to the Legion. From the border, to the mountains. And soon this blasted wasteland will become a paradise. With me as one of the governors of the new land! Bwaha! Me! A governor! Would you have ever thought it?"

Mundanely, the soldier on the left answered, "No sir."

Ventures rose a hoof to the soldier, and briskly smacked his back chortling deeply, "Liven' up soldier! We're nearly there! Paradise is close at hoof! Be proud you'll be part of the future!"

In the room behind Ventures, a Darkminer skulked in the shadows -- silently approaching him. The room was tossed about, as torn up furniture, glass, and shredded velvet curtains littered the blue ash-smudged carpet. In the Miner's advance its hooves lightly landed on a fragment of glass. The grating crunch clearly sounded through the room, catching the attention of one soldier.

With his ears erected, and rifle raised, the soldier turned around locking his visor on the Darkminer. Pointing the end of the barrel at the pair of green glowing goggles in the shaded room he shouted, "Don't take another step! Identify yourself!"

The Darkminer crouched before the soldier, shielding his head with both hooves, pleading, "No kill! Here to speak! Talk to Surface Legion! Ventures, must speak with! Yes."

Ventures faced the lowly creature, quivering as it groveled for its life.

"What was that?" Ventures grunted staring down at the miner.

"Must speak!" It screamed still huddled in its defending position. "Must speak!"

Swiveling his pudgy snout to the soldier's rifle Ventures nodded once, coughing, "Lay down your rifle, son. Let's here what the fellow has to say."

Levitating the end of his gun to the floor, the soldier took a step back. The miner slowly slid one hoof off of a single goggle lens. Peeking at the withdrawn weapon, the creature's tremble gradually grew still. Rising onto its lanky linen-wrapped hooves, it kept a bowed head to Ventures while in his presence.

"Surface Legion is kind. Kind, kind, yes."

The returning crooked smirk Ventures provided layered his cheeks with several rolling wrinkles. "Yes, well, I'm glad you noticed."

Ventures paused peering at the creature, searching for a name. "Your name?"

"No name." The miner mewled retaining its furtive figure. "No name."

Scoffing, Ventures’ smirk returned. "Not even ponies anymore, are you? Can't even name one another outside of the Warden."

Shaking its hooded head it bleated, "No, not ponies."

"Well," Ventures commanded lifting his nub of a nose, "speak your peace."

For the first time the miner rose its head, allowing the pair of green enigmatic eyes to make contact with Ventures’. "Must come into mine. Predators in trouble!"

Ventures arched an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

The miner's footing became timid as he pawed the carpet speaking in a higher, more urgent tone, "Must come! Must come! Predators in danger!"

Taking a few steps toward the miner, Ventures held a stunned, perplexed expression. "What's wrong with the Predators? Have you told Thatch?"

"Thatch, weak, busy. You strong! Stronger than all Surface Legion!"

"What of the others? Have you attempted to tell those patrolling the mines?" Ventures asked.

The creature's energy increased tenfold, showing as cavorted in place crying, "Come! Come! Need help! Come!"

The miner started to back up toward the exit, reeling in a beckoning hoof as he bounced, pleading on repeat the same outcry for him to come. The soldier on the left looked to Ventures, "Should we follow it?"

Ventures paused for a moment, before a shingled grin graced his round puffy cheeks. "The creature seems to know what he's talking about... Maybe when his majesty returns I could get a higher promotion..."

"Do you want us to follow him, sir?" The soldier queried.

"Let's listen to the poor thing. See what happens. After all, it must not be that urgent. I would have been the first to hear! It’ll be easy promotional material!"

Boisterous laughter filled the air around the long steel dining table. On plastic green eating trays the munched remains of apple cores, sticky shreds of sweet lettuce drizzled in a tangy vinegar sauce, accompanied by the remnants of ripe juicy tomatoes still oozing their clear rich juices down the smooth red surfaces from monstrous jagged bite marks torn out of their flesh. Laying back in the comfortably padded metal seats a hoof could be seen resting on the rounded bellies of every pony.

Neo was finishing up the story of their adventure on the Legion railway, and the daring escape his brother and he had performed to evade death. "...And Adam swung the breaking switch around! Faster and faster! As the lumbering soldier with the rocket launcher came closer to catching us, I-"

Adam's laughed died, as he swayed his head to the his brother. "Hey, I don't remember there being a rocket launcher guy."

Over the furious guffaw taking control of all other speech for the moment, Neo inhaled a deep breath of air, quelling the laughter. "Sure there was Adam. Don't you remember?"

Adam arched an eyebrow, keeping his head tilted, "No, I'm pretty sure there wasn't."

Bellowing another great laugh, Neo slapped Adam on the back quickly reeling his brother's head close. Nearly stuffing the end of his snout into Adam's ear, Neo whispered, "C'mon, Adam, it makes the story better."

Briefly glancing over his shoulder at the rest of the party enveloped in the laughs, and mirth he returned quickly to Adam, "They're really enjoying it, and I've been truthful with everything else, so what if I add in a few more bad guys to spice'n up the action?"

Rolling his eyes, Adam blew a grouse whinny, "Fine, but try and make me sound cooler, alright? Last time I told a story I didn't include enough awesome action."

Neo winked once at him, "Can do."

Sitting upright again, reminded Neo of the food stuffed tightly in his guts. An ache, minor at first, swiftly turned groan worthy in moments. Clasping both forelegs over his stomach, he arched his back as all could hear the low grumbles of the upset balance bellow its painful cry.

Wincing Neo waved a hoof at the group, bending his back further in an unnatural angle at the pain rolling within his gut. "Hold on one sec," he grunted, "I think I too much too fast... Damn..."

"You're going to finish the story, right?" Lucy asked leaning inward and folding her hooves on the tabletop. "We all missed quite a bit and I'm anxious to see how you overcame that rocket trooper. Let alone lift that crate to slow him down."

Amidst the grumbling Neo moaned under his breath a pain-stricken scoff, "Hehe, yeah... The crate..."

Adam rushed to Neo's defense, "B-But there was! Brother forgot to mention we did it together."

A blanched hue lightened Neo's complexion. "What he said..."

Clapping her hooves, their mother rocked in her seat, more than enjoying her share of the laughter. "My, you two have been so busy! I can't believe I missed all of that."

Adam’s eyes shot up, as he excitedly pointed up to the ceiling. "We also climbed the mountain!"

"We tried." Lucy added in a concealing cough.

The stark realization came to Adam swiftly, ultimately returning his merry expression to that of contentment. Blinking rapidly a few times, he looked to his mother. "Mom, how did you get us out of there?"

She smiled at him, "They arrived not too long ago. They're gunships we found in a storage facility. We were fixing them not too long ago at Steelhoof keep. The few pegasi that could operate them flew over her after we made direct contact with the keep. They sent us troops, and workers. Personnel that could help move the project along."

Adam's mouth went agape at the news. "They got them working? When we arrived there they were still fixing them up."

An ear-grating screech trilled the air as Adam pushed out his seat, while he nearly jumped from where he sat in response, "Is Golden Cog here? Did she help fly them?"

"Yes," she nodded at him, "there is a pony named Golden Cog. She's the one who got the rest of the gunships operational. Why do you ask, Adam? Do you know her?"

Slumping back into the chair's cushion, Adam gently rubbed his upper foreleg. "We kinda' know her. She was one of the few ponies willing to talk to us at the keep."

"Well," she cooed sweetly, "if you want to talk to her I know where to find her."

Their father poked his head over Adam's left shoulder, patting his back while he added, "She spends most of her time in the hangar. Hardly ever leaves the blasted place!"

Adam's eyes enlarged, glistening the delicate light shining down on the table, giving off the starry appearance his pupils were filled with sparkles.

"You have a hanger?" He was almost drooling. "That's so cool..."

Another playful pat on the back came from his father. "I'll take you sometime soon, if you'd like."

"We had a patrol out scanning the mountain side." The brother's mother said. "One of the pilots spotted your group in the snow. As the storm grew though, many of the engines were damaged in the weather."

Her smile diminished as she gazed into the steely reflective gloss of the table. "I'm so sorry you boys had to go through all of that to get here... I should have told you everything... I should have been more honest."

For the moment, Neo tightened his diaphragm, wiping the pain away for just a moment. He craned over the table, as did Adam, and together they warmly comforted her.

"It's alright, mom. Really, it is. Don't blame yourself for what we did. We chose to leave the stable." Neo reassured her.

"If we hadn't we wouldn't have found out all about Iron Hammer, or met any of our friends." Adam included.

She rose her eyes to meet her son's. A thin smile beneath the regret formed, casting a warming spell on the two boys, melting their hearts. "I love you both -- so, so much."

Lucy coughed into her hoof, piercing the mood settled between the family. "Speaking of which, it's probably best we talk about that... You know, fate of the province and everything resting on Iron Hammer's purpose?"

Ally hiccupped, hitting her chest before she spoke. "Ranger had some information he wanted to share with you. Apparently something top secret about it."

The sliding doors at the far end of the room parted, as Vladimir came waddling in with a bandage wrapped around his head. Every step the stallion took wobbled uneasily the rest of his legs.

The further he approached the table the erratic swerves in his stride grew wider. Stumbling at the table's end, he caught himself on the edge, and hoarsely coughed.

The brother's mother turned out of her seat, extending a hoof to him as she spoke tenderly. "Sir, are you alright? I thought you would have recovered by now."

He rose a hoof to her, stopping the mare where she stood. His eyes pinched as he growled at a biting pain infesting each movement. "No, I-I'm fine... W-What did I miss?"

Their father went to a table across from their own, fetching an additional seat for Vladimir. Sliding it at the table's end, Vladimir gingerly sat himself down letting loose a deep sigh at the relief the chair brought. Laying back as far as he could, the limp strands of silver-lined black mane protruding from under the bandages hung behind him over the edge of the seat.

"Don't let my health concern you." He puffed, barely lifting up his eyes to look at the group. "Please... Go on..."

Those around the table were silent -- save for the heavy breathing of Vladimir. The brother's mother appeared stunned, as she squinted at the huffing stallion. Paying especial attention to his eyes. "Have I..."

Leaning more intently toward him she unfocused her stare, and recoiled herself back into the chair. "N-Nevermind."

"What, is it?" Vladimir asked over a cringing wheeze. "Is-Is something the matter with the bandage?"

Shaking her head, she smiled chuckling at him, "No no, it's nothing really."

Lucy too, kept fixed eye contact with him -- unsurely grimacing at the state of his health, and the legitimacy of his claim. "If you say so, pal... We were talking about the information we found out regarding Iron Hammer. If there was a time to tell us about that info you've got, now would be the time."

Vladimir gulped once, "P-Please forgive me then... The information is a little fuzzy."

"You'll all have a time to tell us everything," the brother's mother said, "I'll contact General Ironside at biome three. He'll need to hear everything you need to say to him."

Adam stretched the limits of a smile, not paying attention to the sore strain he put on his cheeks. "That's excellent news! When's the soonest we can see him?"

"Tomorrow, possibly. He’s been handling the troop movement of Coalition soldiers around the province.” She answered.

Nudging Neo, who had returned to his hunched groaning status, Adam continued his cheerful speech. "Brother, did you hear that? We can finally do something about the Darkmine! We can finally put an end to it all!"

Facing his mother, Adam was alight with a beaming aura of energetic happiness. "Now that we're staying here with Dad and you, we can plan it out."

If ever there was a fading light, stricken out by a bullet extinguishing its fair halo, now had been that time. For the delicate look of tender kindness expressed on their mother's face vanished -- becoming a darker, shadow of somber dread. Adam could see it as she obverted her gaze from his own, twiddling her hooves as though she had something to say.

Adam's smile shriveled to a thin, almost none existent smirk of nervousness. "Mom? Did I say something?"

The last thing he wanted was to see his mother get upset, and as she withheld all comments Adam's body turned cold. Neo rose his view to see his mother hide away her face behind a lengthy brown curl of her mane.

Bearing the pain for the moment, he too inquired the sudden shift in mood. "Adam's right, is something wrong?"

Adam glanced at his father, who like his mother held a downward gaze. "Dad?"

She lifted her head, moving aside the section of her mane drooping over the side of her face. Briefly looking to those gathered around the table, she said, "I'm so happy you all came. I can't begin to understand all the struggles you went through just to see me..."

Everyone sitting at the table leaned over the table, swiveling their ears in her direction. "The world is a cruel place, filled with horrors... And out here life is difficult... That's why I have to tell you, to go home."

Adam slammed both hooves on the table, and rose pushing back the seat behind him. "What!?"

"You can't be serious!" Neo sternly interjected holding his gut. "We did so much to get here!"

A negative murmur befell the entire group, as Neo and Adam fixedly peered at their mother. "We fought a war to get here! I watched ponies I care about die! The number of times we evaded death is-"

"I know!" She barked, a few tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. "You don't think it hurts me to say this? Your father and I love you so, so much. But as long as you live out here, all of those things will only happen more. And who knows, one day you might not be so lucky. Can you imagine how hard that would be for us? To think that you could die out here?"

Lucy followed Adam, roughly jettisoning her seat and standing. "Listen, lady, I don't know what you consider the best choice for them -- but these two are certified badasses. They've gone through a whole hell of a lot to get here, and the last thing they need to hear from you is telling them to get lost!"

Ally whooped slamming the tabletop with one hoof. "Here! Here!"

"It's not negotiable!" She declared over the opposing voices. "They are our sons, and a life in the stable is a safe one. They won't be harmed there, and as long as this project is being done I can't stand seeing you two hurt yourselves!"

Her breathing had become heavy, as a hot sweat developed on her trembling brow. A faint beeping came from a watch tied around her ankle. Glancing at it, she concluded, "You can stay here for the next few days, while our technicians repair the gunships. After they're done, you'll be on the first ship to take you all back to your respective homes."

Straightening her coat, she stepped to the side and pushed her seat back into the table. She tightened her stomach, suppressing the tears desperately trying to escape. "If you excuse us, your father and I need to get back to work... I'll send someone down here to show all of you to your rooms for the time being."

Quickly facing the door, she hurried off, with their father gravitating toward her side.

All eyes were on the polished steel doorframe the two parents pass through. When the doors closed, the low swoosh they sounded echoed through the dining hall. Leaving those still seated at the table, alone and confused.

It was dim in the tunnels of the mines. Rolling plumes of dense team caught in the low light, hissing out of the valves on the internal pipping lining the ceiling. Ventures traversed a long corridor that sported a much higher ceiling than many of the more narrow twisting pathways branching out in the mine.

Five soldiers followed him, the three extra picked up from a small patrol walking this section of the mines. Ventures headed the group, his cape dragging on the floor behind him. The miner leading them gamboled onward -- sending an icy prick, nipping at the nape of his neck. Darkminers were never this happy, nor this expressive for that matter.

The longer the creature continued his gleeful nature, the more the chill stung him. It threw up one hoof, waving it high in the air bouncing in one spot as it waited for them. "Come come! Help!"

Ventures had been walking for some time now, feeling the aching strain of the hard uneven rocky floor finally take their toll on him. A fiery heat boiled below his brow, forming a dampening layer of sweat. The miner was a strange fellow, that perplexed Ventures. Not only had this creature taken him away from the calm balcony outside, but it obsessively wanted him to follow it. Almost as though it gained pleasure from leading him into the unknown.

"Damn beast," Ventures groused beneath his breath, "why can't it slow down?"

A shape emerged from out of the dimness at the end of the tunnel. A large dark iron door, heavily lined with thick bolts fastened to it. The door was opened slightly, leaving just enough room for one pony to slide through at a time. Wiggling its way into the crack, the miner popped his head through the sliver of space entering the room.

"Come! Come!" It harkened. "Come!"

As the group of Legionnaires came to the door, Ventures noted the thickness of the door. The entire entrance was like a vault, meant to safely conceal whatever was inside. He stuck both hooves into the opened crack, prying the door open.

Arching his back, tugging on the heavy door with every ounce of available strength, he felt the joints and muscles alike in both legs stretch. The sharp pain quickly brought sweat to develop under the huge rolls of his chin. Grunting, he let go stepping back from the door, having not managed to alter its place in the slightest.

His heart thumped at a brisk pace, as a burning infested the rest of the General's chest. Sitting himself down by the doorway, he tiredly rose one hoof to the door, gasping for breath. "Men, you open it. T-That’s an order..."

Hesitantly, the soldier looked to one another, muttering. Then, coming to the door they collectively stuck their hooves in the thin space, craning backwards as the hinges bellowed a shrill cry thunderously ringing throughout the whole tunnel.

It opened slow at first, as the soldiers painfully grunted together. Even with the combined efforts of all four ponies, the crack had merely expanded a mere two feet. Ventures rose, still breathing deep exasperated inhalations.

The soldiers let go, stumbling backward as Ventures stepped through the crack into the next room. A few low-hanging ceiling lights flickered above, providing the only means of illumination.

Crates stacked in the center of the room were piled sporadically, even against the walls, forming a maze-like assortments of stacks of two or more boxes. The side of one crate had been ripped off, where remains of the torn wooden planks were peppered in shreds of dry hay from inside the box. Amongst the heaps of internal packaging cushioning -- the limp body of a predator lay still.

Lurching over the lifeless body of the predator, the Warden and three other miners operated on the internal workings of the machine. The miner who had lead them stood behind the group of working creatures, as he alone stared vacantly at Ventures. One by one the other soldiers entered the room, watching the mine's locals whisper and hiss to each other in their own inaudible babble.

Venture's squinted, taking a single step toward the group of miners huddled around the machine. "You lot! What do you think you're doing!?"

Slowly, the Warden moved his head, giving the general a sideways glance. When one of his green eyes caught Ventures a low, coughing chortle came, "Hehe... General here... Yes?"

The miner who had lead them nodded, keeping an unwavering fix on Ventures. "Yes. Yes..."

Those soldiers who had came with Ventures took up their weapons, pointing the barrels of their guns at the miners. "Tell me what's going on here!" Ventures demanded, "What is the meaning of all of this!"

The Warden hadn't moved, and his laughter was still constant. "End of surface Legion... End general... Everything... Ends..."

A piston on the upper righthand corner of the door hissed, closing it behind them. Ventures turned back to see it close, and as the thundering boom of the lock sounded, his eyes grew wide. The cold gathered on his nape suffused throughout the rest of his body.

The racing of his heart, and the clammy moisture developing over his entire body grew more profuse. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a miner, slinking in the shadows near a bottom along the door's frame.

Quickly returning to the Warden, he boomed gritting his teeth, "Soldiers! Arrest them! Stop them from tampering with the predators!"

The Warden's laugh turned sing-song, "Too late! Too late! No catch! HAHAHA!"

The lights died. Leaving the dim pairs of green eyes the single means of light in the dark. Ventures heart pounded furiously -- rattling his ribcage wanting to break free. The eyes of the creatures all stared at him, while the miners brittle giggling filled the air.

In unison the goggles slithered back into the shadow, vanishing from sight as a faint click sounded. Another pair of circled eyes entered. A hellish set of red orbs rising up, whilst an electric buzz excited the air, turning its taste to that of bitter sulfur.

Venture's entire body shook, filling with an arctic chill. He recoiled himself, stepping away from the ghastly glowing crimson eyes. "S-Shoot at it! Now! Kill it!"

The eyes grew closer, smoothly hovering toward him. A lilting growl followed -- accompanied by a series of white, sharp teeth reflecting the dull red light.

"Shoot it! S-Shoot it!"

A clamor of gunfire sparked, igniting the room briefly in the muzzle flare. Bullets tinged, and whizzed by slicing the air. But the eye's advance was unhindered by the bullet's force. The myriad of malicious laughter lingered, surpassing even the sound of the gunfire with the bombing voices of the miners chanting:

"Death! Death! Predator rise! The mine will rise! To kill surface Legion!"

Neo's mind was a maze of fury, and complete bafflement. Thoughts whisked by, some hot and seething -- whilst others were blurred in chaos. He was walking down a hallway, no different than the rest of the shining halls, behind an earth pony mare suited in a smart black jumpsuit.

The pony's pink face was out of focus, shrouded in a haze encircling Neo's vision. The words his mother had said to him, to leave after all they had gone through, channeled out all other sounds and speech. Every light overhead that passed by gave the luminous effect of a bright flare, causing him to wince at each new lightbulb.

The security officer was saying something. To whom was not clear, perhaps Lucy, or maybe Ally. Possibly to the entire group. The only audio that his ears detected was an indistinguishable mutter that sounded a lot like a low wah wah wah than actual coherent speech.

A few reflective steel doors sat across from one another on opposing walls. They were much smaller than the standard pair of pushing doors one encountered. These merely had a single sliding door, accompanied with its own orange button on the side of the doorframe.

Stopping, the security pony pointed to the first room. A few wah wahs blabbed, before Ally, Wester, and Big Lot walked past him in the disorienting fog clouding the edges of his vision. Neo's friends didn't look thrilled either. Each held with them their own gloomy weight impressed into a saddened expression.

Pointing to the door across from the other's room, Adam pulled up beside Neo, head cocked to one side, as he arched an eyebrow at him. His words, unlike the guard's, weren't quite muffled in the clash of thoughts darting about in Neo's mind.

Adam's voice echoed faintly, "Brother?"

Neo blinked twice, shaking his head free of the thoughts. While the flaming emotions of anger and hate persisted -- boiling in the sinking pit of his stomach, he could at last hear clearly. "Uh, yeah?"

"Are you okay?" Adam asked, squinting keenly at his brother's complexion. "Ever since mom left you've been quiet."

Neo trailed his silvery eyes to the floor, withholding all thoughts in the presence of the guard. "If you're alright now," the security pony stated extending a hoof to the door, "you two will be sharing this room."

Adam turned to the guard, and nodded earnestly. "Thank you."

She smiled, tipping her hat at him. "It's my pleasure. It's nice to meet the sons of Dahlia and Ronan."

A simmering continuously bubbled against the bottom of Adam's heart. Despite this, the sweet mention of his parents names provide a warming brush traveling down his back.

The mention of their names stoked the growing flame inside Neo, flushing his brow with heated blood. Keeping both eyes to the ground, he entered the room without saying a word to the pony who lead them.

"Just remember," the guard said to Adam, "restrooms are down the hall to the left, and if you need any help or questions just find one of us. We won’t hesitate to help you with anything you might need."

Thanking her again, the guard trotted down the hallway. Adam tried as he could to snuff out the feelings stirring within -- primarily in the form of a tightened stomach or with deep sighs. None seemed to help.

Following his brother inside the room, Adam found the lights already on and their metal-framed beds made.

The room was small, with both beds bolted along each opposing side to the floor. A long iron nightstand riveted to the ground stood between them, holding on its top a reading lamp. Apart from these humble pieces of furniture was their saddlebags -- neatly folded, and laying on the bedspreads.

Adam came to the bedside on the left, looking down at his saddlebags. He masked the turbulent clatter of seething emotion under a weak chuckle, "At least we got our things back, right?"

Turning to face his brother, he saw Neo sulking toward his bed, before sitting beside his bags. "Brother?"

Neo's voice was weak, "I don't know what to think, Adam."

Taking a seat on his own bed, Adam let his hind legs dangle off the edge. "To be honest, I don't know what to think either."

Gnashing his teeth, Neo drooped his snout to the ground, draping the dark bangs of mane over his face. "After all we've done... Everything we've gone through, it was all for nothing..."

"I'm not happy too, you know. But I can't say it was all for nothing."

"How?" Neo asked wearily, raising his eyes to Adam. "How was it all not a waste of our time?"

Adam gave a thin smile, answering in a tender voice, "Because we found out mom was alive."

Neo's eyes grew wide for a moment, as the sinking dropped further into him -- carving a harsh hollowness in place of where his heart was. "I... I... Know, Adam..."

A soft tremulous lilting clung to Neo's speech, as he pondered Adam's response. "I feel so betrayed... I-I don't know what we're going to do after everything we've done."

Leaping from his bed, Adam came to his brother's side. Sitting his flanks down on the creaking mattress springs, recoiling under his weight. "We'll try talking to her about it tomorrow. Maybe she'll let us stay."

The grim aura of Neo's tone hadn't left, while he glanced at Adam, "What if she refuses? What if she sends us back home regardless of what we say or do?"

Adam drew both eyes to the floor. His expression faded, as a thinking silence befell him.

Then, shrugging Adam sighed, "I guess we'll just have to go home then..."

A metallic rapping came from the door, instantly perking the two brother's ears, and drawing their eyes to the source of the sound. Blinking twice at the door, another set of knocks thrummed the air. Adam slid off of the bedside casually walking to answer it.

Just before one other knock tolled, Adam opened the door, as a slight drift of the faint swoosh of the door sliding upward upsetted the sensitive hairs on his snout. Wrinkling his nose, he saw Ronan standing in the other side.

Adam was slightly taken back, reeling his head in the presence of his father. "Dad?"

Tucked somewhere under the dark shadows shirting his eyes, and the long cracking wrinkles of stress streaking his brow, a smooth gentle atmosphere was generated from him. Warmly smiling, he took an inquiring step toward Adam, "Do you mind if I come in? I wanted to talk to you about what happened."

Peeking briefly over Ronan's shoulder, Adam asked, "Where's mom? I thought both of you were busy."

"Checking the conditions of biome two didn't take long to glance at. Your mother though, she's working on a new way to conserve the energy given off of the sun gems in each biome."

The fire, bubbling and churning deep in Neo’s stomach blazed hot. He frowned, bounding from the edge of the bed. "Why did he show up? After what happened, I didn't think there'd be more to say."

Adam stepped to the side, allowing his father to speak to Neo from the doorway. "Neo, I know how you must feel, but I wanted to talk to you-"

Neo stomped his hoof, ringing a blaring cling that reverberated off of the walls. "You want to talk now? Do you think it's alright to just come back into our lives like nothing even happened?"

Ronan stood silent.

"Mom was torn apart after you left her, and since then she'd always act sad when you were mentioned!"

Quietly, Ronan said to Neo, "Son, I'm sorry for what I did... But I wanted to say sorr-"

"No!" Neo boomed. "You don't get to do that! Not after all these years!"

Adam rose a hoof, gesturing Neo to back down. "Brother, maybe we should just calm down. I'm not happy either, but we don't need to explode."

"I've had it with him, Adam!" Neo snarled exposing his teeth. "I've had it!"

Prowling with fuming anger hotly beaming off of him with each powerful stride, he pushed his father aside storming out of the room. Quickly, Ronan turned to face Neo as he vacated the area. "Neo, wait!"

But Neo didn't stop, he continued marching down the outside hallway ignoring his father's plea.

Drooping his nose to the floor, Ronan bellowed a deep sigh, "What am I going to do, Adam?"

Adam lay a light, reassuring hoof on his father's shoulder, "He just needs some time to simmer down is all. We've both had to deal with the news you two gave us, and he's having a difficult time coming to terms with it."

Lifting his head, Ronan inhaled through his nose, contracting his stomach and firming his figure with determination, "I should talk to him."

"No Dad," Adam countered, "I'll talk to him. He needs to cool down before you're ready to talk to him again."

Glancing at Adam over his shoulder, Ronan sighed once more, "Do you think he'll ever forgive me?"

Adam shrugged heavily. "I can't say, dad. I can't say."

Vladimir was wandering down the a corridor that to his right had a long window overlooking the furrowed rows of golden wheat in biome three. He stopped at the window's center, grousing under his breath while a splitting headache hammered the top of his cranium. Every movement felt heavy, like a bricks of lead were fastened to him.

Sitting down on the floor helped relieve that sensation. Though the radiant metal was hard and seeping the cold from its surface into him -- he calmly exhaled the air gathered in his lungs. Both eyelids draped partially over his sore eyes, as he gaze out into the vast array of farmland encased within the biome.

A vineyard sat alongside rows of orange trees, and beside that bushy dark leaved bushels of apple trees collectively crammed in tight lines. Some ponies in white lab coats could be seen working on short step ladders, reaching up and picking the fruit.

A loud grumble came from his stomach, enticing him to clamp a hoof over the rolling sharp hunger pains the groan brought. He diverted his focus from the freshly grown food to the bright glowing orb of light placed at the very top of the dome. Behind the thick glass window the rays were tinted, and the warmth distant. Yet the halo that surrounded it was still plainly visible.

The creature’s hissing, brittle voice manifested at his left, causing him to cringe at the pain the headache brought. "You know, after watching you struggle to merely walk from point A to point B I've started to wonder how you intend on stealing a Sun gem."

It slinked up to the side of Vladimir's head, shifting its head to one side. "Have you put any thought into it, Little Red? Any at all?"

Vladimir gulped, replying in a weak airy tone, "A little..."

Reeling itself back from him it turned its back to the window, smugly blurting, "Bah! Don't lie to me! I can read your mind you know!"

Folding its lanky translucent forehooves, it added, "Well, not all the time, but recently I've seen enough in your cripplingly dull mind to know you haven't been thinking of anything since you woke up."

"Then why ask me at all?" Vladimir asked, not bothering to look at the creature.

Spinning around to face him, a glowing white smirk befell its thin face. "I simply loooove to make you think you're in control. I think it's adorable when you act tough without me."

Leaving a path of receding dark mist behind its traveled path, it quickly jumped to his side, before swirling around him, and ending with the bottom of its mouth perched on his shoulder. "Seriously, I am curious how you aim to retrieve a gem. From what we've observed, they keep them in those huge bundles at the top of the domes."

Vladimir grimaced at it, "What do you expect me to do then? Fly up there?"

It shrugged, "Eh, I was thinking more along the lines of shooting something at it. A big rocket, perhaps. Then collect one of the bigger chunks that falls down."

Clapping its hooves, it bounded to the side cavorting in place. "Oh! Now that does sounds like wonderful fun!"

The pain in Vladimir's head carried throughout the rest of his head, throbbing and pulsing with a great stabbing pain festering inside him. Biting down his teeth, the force he exerted on his jaw made the tips of his molars crack, creating another nailing feeling to counteract the sensation slowly grating at his brain.

The creature took a long, deep whiff of the air -- then letting it all loose in one drawn out exhale through its nose. "I can feel your will weakening. While I'm sure it must be hell for you, I'm more than eager to take control if the need should arise."

Down the hallway, the echoing brisk pitter-patter of hooves trotting played. It was a struggle of its own to turn his head to see who was approaching. When his sight did gaze at the distant hall, he spotted Neo.

A terrible atmosphere lingered around the white stallion. A fuming temper that couldn’t be quenched by him, at least, not in Vladimir’s current condition.

All the same, Neo passed by, snorting whilst stomping heavily in his stride. He payed no mind to Vladimir, or to the pristine gardens outside the window. Yet, by the direction he strode it seemed as though he were heading to biome three.

Having watched Neo eventually wander out of sight, Vladimir's posture began to teeter, as his balance swayed about unevenly. The world was spinning and bobbing in all directions. Leaning himself against the glass, he slid down onto his side, keeping the side of his head pressed to the window.

The creature stood over him, shaking its head whilst muttering, "Tsk, tsk, still thinking being around those kids will help? Well, you've met Dahlia and still you're no closer to being rid of me. In fact..."

A wide malicious grin stretched across its face, pinching both bright eyes, "I'd say it's doing quite the opposite."

Pointing to its ankle, it chanted in a sing-song voice, "Tick-tock, Little Red! I'd find a way to secure a gem soon! Hee! Hee!"

When Vladimir looked up at the beast, it had vanished. He was breathing heavily now, the weight now anchored to his lungs. Each inhale was a battle of its own, leaving an exasperated heaving wheeze as he lay against the window. Time was running thin, both for his health, and for his mind.

But the first pair of words the creature taunted him with was the thing that resonated the most in his ears. Like a faded scoff, carried on the breeze the set of words pricked both eardrums.

Tick-tock... Tick-tock... Tick-tock...

Adam wandered the hallways aimlessly searching for his brother. Frequently he'd stop and ask a security guard or lab-coated pony passing him by. Though every time he would ask if they had seen Neo they'd all reply with the same, clueless, no.

Where the heck did he go? Adam wondered staring ahead. He couldn't have gotten far -- I mean, really, where could he go?

A few little chrome beetle robots scuttled along the side of the wall, humming a delicate fizzing sound as they went. In the path they left behind them, a stream of even more superbly polished floor gleamed.

One robot strayed from its course and gently bumped into Adam's hoof. Backing up, it quickly corrected itself and returned to cleaning the floor. Watching it whizz onward, Adam drooped his nose to the ground, sighing.

There were a few doors on either side of the hallway. Not nearly as many as the stable, nor where they positioned across from one another. The fact that neither of the rooms were mark or labeled only made finding help more difficult.

For all Adam knew, Neo could have picked some random corridor and just as easily chose a door to go in. Directing his attention to the sporadically placed doors on the left, his mind raced -- generating a dizzy light-headedness, inflating his brain.

"Brother, why couldn't you have just stayed in the room?"

A yellow mare, adorned in a bright white lab coat came merrily trotting down the hallway. Adam rose a hoof at her, causing the the mare to stop. "Excuse me, do you know what part of the complex I'm in? There aren't many labels or signs, it's really made navigating this place a real challenge."

She blinked twice and smiled dearly, "This is the residential quarter, dear. Head a little farther up and go down the stairs and you'll end up in biome three’s entrance."

Adam nodded to her. "Thanks."

Before she started off, Adam added, "Oh, and have you seen my brother? He's a little taller than me, black mane, silver eyes."

The mare's smile faded as she shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry, I haven't seen a pony like that wandering around. Especially down in this quarter."

The news brought Adam to sigh once more. "Ah, well thanks for your help anyway."

Carrying on her way, the mare went on, leaving Adam alone in the hall. In mid-step, he froze. Where he stood, a high-pitched beeping plunked the air. Three short beeps, then a pause, before another set followed.

Gradually lowering his hoof, Adam looked to the center most door on the left. There, the sound pinged.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

A wave of clammy sweat washed over his entire body. It was not a good feeling in the least, but it was a feeling. Perhaps the sounds were a clue to where his brother went. After all, a ping of a similar fashion guided Neo to him.

He walked to the door, pressed the button on the doorway, and pass the threshold leading in.

A darkness filled the new space, as the two vacant beds on both sides of the room were silhouetted in the white light pouring in through the doorway. The bedchamber resembled his in each fashion. From the nightstand in the center -- to the lamp atop it.

The only out of place item was a set of saddlebags resting on the righthand bed. Both bags had their tops slightly opened, with the upper flaps limply laying over the fastening buckles.

Adam lifted a hoof to the edge of his ear -- listening.

He waited for a few seconds. Only to hear nothing, but the buzz of the lights in the hallway.

I guess it was nothing, Adam thought. Yet another uneventful venture...

Turning back to the hallway, he was ready to continue his search when out of the corner of his eye he spotted a dim shining object glistening under the flap of one saddlebag.

Facing into the room again, he gingerly walked inside. Cocking his head to one side, Adam approached the bag -- both eyes vigilantly locked on the item.

Pushing the flap aside, the object was revealed. Tucked tightly in a pocket behind a plethora of various linens and traveling supplies the corner of a thin metal rectangle shown.

Lifting a hoof to the device, Adam hesitated. Was it right to look into another pony’s things? Should he continue to investigate?

Adam tenderly touch the corner of the metal item, and pulling it out of its snug confinement. Laying it beside the bags he glanced at the device in its entirety. A few red buttons in the middle made up the most of the machine's flat surface -- along with a flashing yellow light dimly flickering in the right corner.

Adam's eyes grew wide, as he took a few steps back. His heartbeat skipped while he recalled what the object was. In the stable, when he had worked with Pipbuck attachments, tracking devices were implemented into the Pipbucks of criminals in the stable. But how a stable-tech brand tracker managed to be secretly placed in the far reaches of the bag was unknown.

To whom the tracking device belong to as well was another mystery. A million horrible thoughts pervaded Adam's mind as his heart's pounding rose to a furious degree.

"Who does it belong to?" Adam pondered aloud. "Does it belong to a Coalition soldier?"

Adam took note of the sturdy leather straps. Ones more associated with those wearing armor, like Wester. The only other pony who matched that criteria was Ranger. Since he was the only one who hadn’t followed the others to their rooms, the assumption could be solid.

Laying the device on the bed, Adam shook his head, removing himself of the thoughts.

He would have to worry about it later, he still needed to find Neo. Pushing the flap back over the bag, Adam walked out of the room and shut the door. His search would have to continue, but a new task of finding the owner took second place over his brother.

A rotunda had been carved in the rock above Thatch. A wide round room encircled the area, with a bulky iron table at its center. Upon the dull tabletop Legion ponies sat hunched over papers strewn about reading the numbers and grey charts printed on them.

Along the curved walls computer towers stood side by side, flashing their multi-colored processing buttons as tapes spun at their tops. Legion ponies, dressed in fine uniforms and headsets cupped over their ears paced about the room, frequently checking the information spewing from slits in the computers in long lengths.

Thatch was at the massive table, and like his fellow ponies he too arched himself over an extensive piece of paper. Numbers listing Iron Hammer's consumption of fragmented Sun gem ore was marked by a series of numbers lined horizontally.

As his eyes fell on the numbers he muttered them aloud, "0.006% -- 0.007% -- 0.008%..."

Shaking his head, he grunted snorting from his nose, "Is this the best we can do?"

One unicorn stallion glancing at his own information looked at him, pushing off one speaker of the headset off an ear. "What sir?"

Lightly slapping the paper with the backend of his hoof, Thatch repeated, "This. Is this the best we can do?"

"Well," the stallion slurred averting his gaze to the side, "we could increase the pressure of the ore purification. Though, I'm not sure the pumps could take on the extra stress for too long."

"Fine. Divert what you can to the pumps, and keep them shooting the missile up with the ore until we reach critical levels."

Nodding firmly once, the stallion saluted him and trotted off to the other end of the room to a computer tower.

Sighing, Thatch returned to his paper. "We can't afford any setbacks... Even if they're as minor as this..."

A faint shaking overtook the room, briefly stirring those inside. A curtain of light dust fell from the ceiling coating the table in a brown plume of cavern dust.

Aside from this, the tremor came and went quicker than the blink of an eye. For the moment -- everyone paused turning their eyes upward. Thatch shrugged, and went back to his paper.

"Damn earthquakes." He scoffed.

The ground shook once more, jerking the entire room. Thatch stumbled forward, his gut jabbed by the edge of the table. Knocking the wind out of him, he wheezed gasping while holding himself up with both trembling hooves on the tabletop.

"What the hell was that?!" He snarled hoarsely, recollecting the air in his lungs.

"An earthquake?" One pony across the room murmured.

In the moment after the pony spoke the lights snapped off, and a dim red glow from from the emergency lighting hummed to life. At the end of the room, from the thickly bolted iron exit door, a brisk metallic rapping thrummed the air.

The drumming echoes bounced off of the rotunda above, while a mare that had been monitoring a nearby computer tower went to the door, and answered it. Pushing it open for the visitor at the door a Legion soldier stumbled through the doorway, panting heavily.

Dark smudges of dirt stained what part of the soldier's yellow matted coat were exposed beneath the weighted armor she wore. A battle saddle was fastened to her green plated barding -- though the belt hugging her gut was torn slightly at the buckle.

"Sir!" The soldier gasped, her voice tinged with urgency. "Sir!"

Thatch approached the soldier slowly, as the pain from in his stomach still throbbed. "What is it soldier? What the hell is going on?"

The soldier's exasperated inhalations were muffled under the leather gas mask. Trembling to lift her neck up, the soldier put her visor just below Thatch's eye level. "The miners, sir! They've gone insane!"

Reeling back, Thatch stuttered, "W-what? Are you serious?"

Bringing himself to nod once, the soldier continued, "They've already breached the upper levels, and they've sealed off the main exit from the surface!"

A mumble of hushed, worried whispers fell on the ponies of the control room. Thatch felt the adrenaline filled heartbeats pound against the walls of his chest. A hot sweat gathered on his brow, matting the mane under his hat.

He gulped a coarse lump down his throat, and asked, "Have they taken the armory yet?"

"T-They're on their way there now, sir." The soldier sighed, dropping her weary head.

Loosening his collar, Thatch leaned his snout close to the soldier's ear, "How many of us are there? Answer quietly soldier."

Glancing at the widened eyes of the computer operating staff, and the quick panic-laden whispers shot back at one another, she replied, "Enough to hold our own, for a time... I don't know how much longer we can hold out without aid from the surface."

Thatch nodded, keeping his volume to a minimum, "We'll need to get to the armory, and if we're too late, we need to get to the mine's central control room. From there we can contact the outside."

Peeking over Thatch's shoulder at the staff, the soldier jerked her head at them, as they slowly gathered near the table at the news, "What about them, sir? Should we evacuate them to a safer location further in the mine?"

Thatch shook his head, "Negative, soldier. Moving a group like this through the mine would be a slaughter. Besides, we can't afford the loss of these ponies."

"Very well, sir." The soldier said.

Facing the entire group of ponies who operated the multitude of computers and devices, he craned his nose upward addressing the whole of those before him. Stiffening his spine he spoke in a deep authoritative tone.

"As you have heard, we have a situation on our hooves. A riot is underway in the mines, and it has already taken the lives of some of our staff."

A torrid budging lump developed in his throat, lilting his voice as he attempted to maintain a steady pitch. "Please, don't panic. I, along with the private, will assess and handle the issue as swiftly as possible."

"All I ask, is that you remain here. Bar the door, and wait until further instruction."

The plethora of frightened hisses and susurrations spread over the room like a bad rumor infesting the populous. Doubly so after another short quake rattle the ground. Thatch collected himself, and returned, "Please, we have our hooves on the progression of this project."

"Be strong. Be brave. Remember what we're doing for the world. For our province. And above all else, do not open that door for anyone."

Turning to the soldier, Thatch pointing the tip of his nose to the door. "Let's be off soldier. I need to arm myself before this gets out of hoof."

Looking up at him, the soldier's words were faint, "It may already be too late, sir."

Arching an eyebrow, Thatch replied, "Why do you say that?"

"Because they have the Predators."

Adam hastily trotted down a corridor. The search of his brother had gone fruitless for far too long. Where had he gone, and how no other eyes had seen him were questions that pecked at Adam's mind.

He veered right at a the end of the hall, and came to a long hallway, not unlike the others that branched throughout the mountain. Moving by other corridors on his left, Adam glanced down the long halls before switching to the next one. This took his focus away from looking straight before him -- completely shutting out any who might be on a collision course for him.

Vladimir was at the other end of the hall, sluggishly dragging his hooves and groaning lowly at the pain lancing through each slightly movement. Too busy gazing at the empty corridors to notice Vladimir, Adam's head collided with Vladimir's.

The pain inflicted on Vladimir was minuscule when compared to the constant sharpness that infused every part of him. Adam, however, felt the full bluntness of the collide as he stumbled back placing the backend of his hoof to his now sore brow.

Adam hissed recoiling at the action, before shaking his head and looking at the pony he had run into. Dropping the hoof to the ground, he blinked at Vladimir, "Ranger? I-I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

The Legion Emperor messaged the lower part of his temple, staring at Adam with eyes skirted in shadowed sleepless gloom. "And what is it your doing that requires you to not look forward?"

Lifting his Pipbuck, Adam looked at the constant flashing of the clock mark eight P.M., "I'm looking for my brother. He had a confrontation with our dad, and since then he went off -- to where I can't say."

Vladimir's upper eyelids sagged over the top portion of his eyes, as his ears too lazily fell. In response to Adam, he returned in a gruff gurgling voice, "That's unfortunate."

He sounded the least bit interested in the topic, but Vladimir was the first pony he'd seen since inspecting the room. "I understand you must be still recovering, and I know the last thing you want is to be involved with our family troubles, but I need to ask you something."

Summoning additional strength, Vladimir forced up an eyebrow.

"Have you seen my brother?" Adam asked. "I've been looking everywhere for him but I can't seem to find him."

A clear objective, the only objective, Vladimir had was getting to his room. The sooner he could continue the better. "I'm sorry. I haven't seen him."

The cruel chilling whisper of the creature spoke to him in his ear, "That isn't true, Little Red. Why are you lying to the boy? Why not be truthful? Has the lovey-dovey side of you finally hardened?"

Vladimir's left eye twitched, whilst the pain immediately rose to a thrashing sensation beating his entire body down. The feeling wobbled his weakened leg joints, and numbed his sense of hearing. Every other sound that he heard was muffled under a layer of pain.

Adam took a step forward, peering at Vladimir's shaking legs. "Are you okay? You don't look well."

A single husky chuckled blurted from him, "I-I feel fine. Just fine."

"More lying?" The creature remarked. "I thought you were supposed to be the good guy, Little Red. Heroes don't lie."

Adam pulled a neutral expression. "I don't want to keep you from getting where you need to go, but I have just one more question."

Vladimir kept silent.

Taking his silence as an answer to continue, Adam inquired, "During my trip around here, looking for my brother, I came upon a room. I don't remember seeing where you were staying."

Vladimir let Adam continue.

"I heard a beeping coming from the room," Vladimir's heart leapt as Adam spoke to him, "and it looked like your bags were in the their."

The creature’s bodiless giggle wiggled and itched the inside of his ear, “Are you going to lie again? What are you going to say? Oh! Say something silly, throw him off!”

“Yes,” Vladimir uttered in a gunt, “that’s my room.”

The specter’s voice sounded disappointed. “Oh, you’re no fun at all, are you?”

Raising a hoof, Adam added, "I'm sorry if I entered without your permission... It's just, anywhere could be a potential place for my brother to be."

Vladimir's eyes widened, while a new level of tormenting pain came to him. The sensation of a hot knife, simmering red and glowing, fully alight to the end of the grip -- plunged itself into his throat. Not a whimper nor pain-laden groan escaped. He could only be silent.

"I found a tracking device in there, Stable-Tech brand technology too. And I was wondering what purpose it held."

At this time, all sounds were drowned out of his mind. Little claws, digging into his eardrums tightened their hold in the wake of Adam's voice. He couldn't speak. He couldn't hear anything but the constant chime of a faint ring drilling deeper and deeper.

Adam felt Vladimir’s face flush with heat. Feeling the hot energy beam off of him. “Ranger?”

Slapping the hemlock of his hoof to the center of his brow, Vladimir bared his teeth. Adam urgently remarked, “Everyone knows you aren’t doing well. Maybe you should go back to the medical bay, get some sleep and take a health potion.”

Releasing the heavy clamp of his gritting teeth, he muttered, “I just want to get to my room.”

Pitying the poor stallion, Adam shook his head. “You really should let someone help you. It’s not good for you to allow yourself to feel this way.”

Walking around Vladimir, Adam started down the hall to leave him to his own path. Adam hadn’t taken more than a few steps from him before he spun around -- fighting the pain in a murmuring grouse.

With a hoof extended out to Adam, Vladimir coughed, “Wait...”

Adam stopped. Turned around, and looked at Vladimir.

“Your brother...” Vladimir started weakly. “Try checking biome three... it’s down the hall.”

“Why do you say that?” Adam asked.

Dropping his hoof, Vladimir winced at a shrug he provided. “It’s a gut feeling.”

Beyond the worry of Vladimir, and the pain he underwent, the news was aglow in sweet balmy sincerity. Perhaps it was a gut feeling, but it was more than he had managed to uncover on his own.

There was no exchange of thank yous, nor a reply of words of any fashion. Adam simply gave him a smile, and walked down the hall. Vladimir felt it better that way. To bring himself to smile or return a grinding thanks would be too much already.

Facing the opposing end of the hall, Vladimir shuffled onward. Suffering through the pain, as quietly as possible.

Neo sat on a hill, upon the short cool grass, brushed with droplets of chilly dew nipping his haunches. He pressed his back against the rough bark of an oak tree, enjoying the heavy curtain of shade it provided. In the twisting gnarled branches the golden light above pieced through the cracks in the forested canopy.

Staring at the ground, Neo listened to the soothing ambience of the biome. A creek somewhere out of sight rustling softly, while the gentle sough of the rustling leaves overhead trembled in the wake of the artificially generated breeze.

Though the wind, sky, sun, clouds, all of it was fake -- it felt real. Between a few trees in front of him he could see the tiny white thumb-tack sized pedals of a lone marigold grow in low light of the underbrush. How alone it must be, to sit amongst giants without the proper sunlight to grow. The longer he peered at the single flower, the deeper his stomach sank.

Taking a sniff of the wind, the hefty aroma of wet dirt lingered in the air, brought from the freshly tilled soil of the farmland in the distance. To imagine that at one instant in time the world was just as it was in the biome. Calm, and devoid of ponies that would disturb the peace with guns or threats of war.

To think that the world was at ease.

The faint sound of grass shifting, and dead leaves crunching from behind him straightened his back. It was an out of place sort of disturbance, enticing both ears to swivel in its direction. Quickly, Neo looked over his shoulder at the source of the strange oncoming noise. Where the rustling had been, there his mother stood, halfway to the trunk of the tree he sat at.

As his eyes lay on her, she paused where she stood -- a hoof still hovering in mid-step. Neo turned his entire body to face her, "Mom? What are you doing here?"

She lowered her hoof, and smiled, "I was looking for you."

Neo's ears drooped, as he returned to laying back against the tree. "Well, I want to be alone for a bit."

Dahlia ambled around the trunk to see her son. "I know you're upset about what I said... I would be too if I were in your place."

Looking up at her, Neo asserted firmly, "Then let us stay here. I want to help you more than anything. But I can't do any of that if I'm cooped up back home."

Taking a seat next to him on the tree she sighed, "I remember when I was your age. All I wanted to do was help ponies. It was my soul dream -- my only prerogative in life."

"What stopped you then?" Neo asked.

"I knew that life was far from becoming safe in the world. At the time, we hadn't found this fancy place yet, and we were still operating in an old motel outside of Ironhoof."

Craning her nose to the rustling branches, she closed her eyes, and smiled. "Above helping ponies, the one thing I wanted more than anything else was to have children."

"And at the time, in that world, I couldn't guarantee a safe life for them. Not until our work was done." She added in the same relaxed, airy voice. "I would be this age by the time my work was done, and even older while the province was undergoing reconstruction."

Directing her emerald eyes to Neo, they shimmering in the delicate light of the afternoon, melting Neo's heart into a warm mushy puddle. "There was only one safe place I could turn to... And the thought of losing you or Adam was stronger than any force I had studied or seen."

Rubbing the metal surface of his mechanical hoof, Neo trailed his eyes to the side, silently feeling the impact of her words expand his softening heart. Lightly touching his shoulder, she affectionately smiled, cooing to him in only the way a mother could. "The information you're bringing to us tomorrow will help those ponies. Though you may have not have carried out the deed yourself, what you've learned will. And we'll finally be able to help the province as a whole."

"And when it's all over," she continued, "we'll be together, out here, in this world. A safe world."

Neo muttered under his breath, "I'm not the same pony you left in the stable. Adam isn't either."

Patting his shoulder, she added sweetly, "That may be true, but you're still my children. And as long as I'm able, I will protect you."

Neo leaned toward her, resting the side of his head on her shoulder. Closing his eyes he took in deep breaths of the humid air. A wave of warmed blood lanced through his cheeks.

The sensation removed the rest of the warmth in Neo's body, causing him to tremble. Behind his eyes new tears forcefully pressed on both eyelids, trying desperately to escape. "Why did you leave us then? Why didn't you tell us?"

"I left to finish this. So that you wouldn't have to spend your entire life in there. So that your children didn't. If I had told you both, you'd go looking for me." She answered, brushing aside some of Neo's mane.

A chuckled raced up her through and out between her teeth, "Though, you seemed to do that anyway."

Neo could hear the faint breathing of his mother through her shoulder. He wanted to speak out, the urge rattled his body, but lips remained sealed.

She tenderly kissed Neo's forehead, "I love you both... so... so much... What your father and I have decided is to keep you safe."

Her son's silence was a cue that something stirred him, aside from the decision the two of them had made for their children. "Why were you alone out here? I thought you'd be in your room with your friends, or Adam."

He had to force himself to speak through a tightened diaphragm, even then his speech was hushed and weak with overbearing emotion, "Dad... After all you said, for whatever reason he or you have to justify him leaving, I can't forgive him for what it did to you... or to us, as a family."

"You should talk to him, Neo." She said. "Nothing good can come of just hating him."

Neo remained silent as she persisted. "He loves you. More than you allow him to seem."

Opening his eyes, the flood of dammed tears flowed across both cheeks. "What if I can't? I-I feel so angry around him. Like I just want to make him pay for all the neglect... For all the pain he put you through."

Her radiant smile returned, as she pulled Neo close to her breast. "Shhh," she whispered wrapping a hoof around him, gently stroking the top of his head, "I know my son, I know how it is."

"But you need to talk to him," she repeated, "your hate for him will only get worse until you do."

A muffled clamor of hooves, clopping against the grass racing from behind them sounded through a series of twig cracks and dried crackling leaves. Still cradling Neo in her hooves, Dahlia turned a sideways glance to see Adam approaching.

Panting, Adam stopped a few feet from the tree's base, "Mom? What are you doing here?"

A faint throaty laugh blurted from her, as she held Neo. "I was just wanting to check the forest before they shut down for the night. Though fate would have it I found your brother instead."

"What about you, Adam? Why are you here?" She asked.

Adam's heavy, exasperated breaths grew less and less deep. "I was looking for him. Ranger said I should check here, and I've been asking ponies left and right if they've seen him. One pony in a meadow not far back said he was here."

She smiled again, "It sounds like you've had quite the adventure."

"It was more like a nightmare," Adam laughed claiming his own spot of sitting space by the tree, "I spent forever trying to catch up."

Neo was sobbing softly, as Dahlia comforted him the best she could. "I had a talk with your brother. About the decision your father and I made, and even about your father."

"I was wanting to talk to him about just that." Adam mentioned. "Before I went on a manhunt for him, he yelled at dad, and strode off."

Nestling her lower jaw on the top of Neo's head, she hugged Neo tight, "Well, he's fine now. Hopefully he'll consider talking to your father."

Adam leisurely slouched on the base of the trunk, moving his sight to the massive ball of glowing gems collectively gathered in the center of the artificial sky. A loud snap rang throughout the dome, followed by the slow dimming of the humongous orb as it was pulled up into a compartment inside the ceiling.

"Mom," Adam felt a buzz of tingling anxiety sink in his lower gut, "I... I have a question..."

Lifting her head, she looked at Adam, "What is it?"

Twiddling his hooves, Adam looked dubious.

Gulping a dry lump, Adam faced the feeling head-on. "Do you think we'll ever be a normal family again? Without projects or secrets? Can such a thing even be achievable now?"

Her eyes were fixed on Adam, for a moment. Unblinking, unmoving. Then, she extended a hoof out to him -- inviting Adam to join in the huddle. Scooting close, she wrapped her entire foreleg around Adam's back, clamping his shoulder.

Reeling Adam to the hug, Dahlia sighed, gazing at the darkening sky, "We're a family now. Secrets, projects, and conflicts -- all of it comes with being family. But none of that will change the fact that we love each other. And none of those things can take away that love, my son."

Vladimir entered his room gasping. A fresh stream of rich velvet blood stained the fur bellow each nostril -- winding over the corners of his mouth before dripping to the floor. He leaned on the doorway, feeling a torrid sharpness scrape the inside of his brain.

His entire body felt the effects. Trembling legs, and a vigorous shiver convulsed every ounce of Vladimir's figure. The world spun in sudden jerking motions veering one way then another. Collecting what focus he could, he staggered into the room as the door closed behind him.

As the joints in his legs grew numb, he tore through the room to his bed. Collapsing just at the bedside. Quickly he picked himself back up, putting a hoof on the bed, upturning his posture to all fours.

Placing another hoof on the bed, he rose up grunting under his tightly gnashed teeth. Lifting himself high enough, he hopped once laying his stomach on the sheets. Droplets of fresh warm blood specked the blankets as Vladimir wiggled his entire body on the bed.

Rolling over both saddlebags, Vladimir positioned himself on his side, staring openly at the other bed on the opposing side of the room. The shiver overtook every muscle reflex. If his hoof moved, the shaking came with it.

Depleted of wine the stallion could only lay there, with only himself to manage the pain grinding his mind. Blinking once, the creature appeared on the other bed -- leisurely laying back with both hooves behind its head.

"I've noticed something, Little Red." The creature smoothly purred. "Something that I believe deserves addressing."

It removed one hoof from behind its head, and inspected the finer details of its transparent hemlock. "Despite this interesting plan you've concocted, I've noticed a sincere lack of initiative toward the actual goal."

Vladimir couldn't speak. He could lay on his bed like a slug, and watch the creature. "You know, I would even go as far as saying that this lack of incentive could be considered strike two on our little deal."

Turning over to face him, it supported its head on one bent leg, "You do remember our deal, right?"

Vladimir's breath was tinged in shallow, shuddering breaths. Yet, no words escaped his lips to speak out. No grunts of disgust or disdain, nor a whimper of mercy. Merely the sound of his weakened breath wheezed, giving the creature nothing to work with.

The specter sighed, closing both empty white eyes, "Yes, I believe I will count this as strike two."

Opening one eye at Vladimir, a crooked smirk took form. A malicious crescent of sharp white teeth brightly illuminated in the low light of the room. "I would imagine taking this away would strengthen your conviction. Perhaps even entice you to do something while you're here."

"If I were you, Little Red, which if you keep up at this rate I will be -- I'd find a way to get a Sun gem and get out of here."

Giggling, the apparition faded away, leaving behind the echoing laughter filling Vladimir's ears, "Just some food for thought, Little Red. Just some food for thought! Hee! Hee!"

Taking the corner of the sheets, Vladimir brought the collected blankets to his chest. Quivering under the pain, his body turned cold as he shut both eyes to sleep. Time would tell how it all played out for him, and he quaked under the stressed soreness pounding throughout the temples of his head.

Scooter sat in a dark cell with only one candle to light up the room. Its flickering orange light ignited the dull cavernous walls, teeming in glittering stardust-like quartz. With a piece of rock, he wrote on a smoother, more flat section of the wall. There the former Legion captain drew a crude depiction of Covert.

Once completed, he strode to the other end of the cell, found several sharper stones, and threw them at the picture. Each toss held with it a bit of his hate, as the force of the rocks against the wall exploded into cloud of fine powder accompanied by dozens of chalky fragments flying about in all directions.

With every impact came a white powdered smudge. A quick dash to wall art and a single strong blow would remove the mark entirely.

He continued this until no other stones were left. Whopper sat in the far corner of the cell, watching his friend relentlessly batter stones upon the wall. "Ya' really hate the fellow, huh boss?"

Scooter's eyes pinched together, as he leered at the picture. "Hate ain't even t' half of it."

"What do ya' suppose we do? Can't do much locked up tight in this cell, can we?"

Drooping his nose to the floor, like a bloodhound sniffing the ground, Scooter searched for more stones along the edges of the wall. "Ah don't know what we're gonna' do."

Locking his eyes on a pebble, no bigger than a penny, he picked it up -- holding it in the cup of his hoof. "But one day ah'm gonna' get outta' 'ere. An' when that day comes, ah'm gonna' find her, an' make that Covert fellah' pay."

Gritting his teeth, Scooter propelled the pebble at the picture, loudly echoing its forceful collision throughout the cell. "ARGH!" Scooter bellowed slumping his haunches on the ground. "Ah' need t' get outta' here!"

Letting his ears flatten atop the straight greasy hairs of his mane, Scooter sighed looking to Whopper, "Who am ah kiddin'? Ah'm not gonna' get outta' here..."

"Maybe ya' should to ask Celestia for help?"

Scooter rolled his eyes at him. "Really? Ya' think she's even there? Or even alive n' such?"

Shrugging, Whopper replied, "Worth a shot, I'd reckon. Not like you’re losin' anything over it."

Scooter grumbled a little, sourly pouting for a moment. Then, pointing his nose to the ceiling he groused, "Celestia. If'n you’re really there, or if ya' can even hear me, please get Whopper and ah outta' here. That'd sure be lovely."

The ground shook abruptly, jerking the two ponies in their spots. Tumbling over the shaking, the rumble subsided. Instantly, Whopper turned his eyes to the ceiling and muttered, "Celestia?"

Another time the earth quaked, sending the two stumbling to keep their footing. "Ah don't think that was Celestia!" Scooter shouted.

A thick bolted iron door was the only way in or out of the cell. At its top was a small barred speakeasy. From the outside hallway a series of screams erupted, as the shaking persisted.

"Run! It's coming! It's coming!" One bodiless voice of a stallion cried. "Run! Run! Run!"

A disembodied mare's voice, tinged with a tremulous stammer screamed, "Hurry to the armory! To the armory!"

Scooter gingerly approached the door, shifting his head to one side, "What t' hell?"

Leaping against the door, he leaned on it with both hooves as he gazed out the small window to the outside corridor. An orange glow, like the burning of a hot low flame painted the wall across his cell. The stretched shadows of Legion soldiers running, bobbed up and down as they grew near.

The brisk clamorous clopping reverberated down the passageway, and dashing by Scooter's door, he called out to the sprinting soldiers, "Hey! What's goin' on out there?!"

"It's coming!" One soldier repeated at at the height of his voice. "It's coming!"

Before Scooter had a chance to speak another word, a powerful gust of air shot through the window, knocking him back on his rump. The blast was followed by a fiery explosion, erupting a booming shockwave, and shooting motes of cavern dust and firefly-like sparks through speakeasy window.

Whopper rose, and hurried to Scooter's side, "Boss! Ya' alright?"

Scooter groaned, feeling the air cool the sweat on his brow. "Yeah... Ah think so..."

He put a hoof to base of his temple, and rose shaking his head. "What in t' name of Vladimir was that?"

Whopper looked to the the hellish light pouring in through the bars of the cell door. "Ah don't know, boss."

Hobbling to the door, Scooter got onto his hind legs, peeking through the tiny window once more. A dense cloud of dust obscured the outside, leaving just the fire's glow from the explosion left to pierce the veil of heavy soot.

Through the cloud, a figure took form. A dark feline creature, silhouetted in the fire's burning radiance. A long tail swayed behind the beast, as its powerful herculean shoulder plates clattered together in its prowl. In the shadow, breaking the shading that hid away the monster's features a pair of beady red eyes dimly shown.

Scooter stared wide-eyed at the machine stride past his cell, growling a deep revving metallic snarl.

Frozen in place, without sparing so much as a blink, Scooter observed the beast in shock. Whopper nudged him, whispering, "Boss? What is it?"

Scooter gulped hard, and answered in a fear stricken whimper, "It's a Predator..."

Neo lay completely still in his bed, staring deeply into the ceiling like a navigator inspecting the horizon of a vast endless sea. Neo's brother was less indulged in the moment; Adam sat on the edge of his bed, swaying both hind legs while fixedly reading the statistics flashing on his Pipbuck screen.

Inhaling once deeply, Neo closed his eyes. His mind went adrift on the rough oceanic tides of thought. Two knocks at the door didn't remove him from the voyage, as Adam lowered his foreleg, leaping from his bed to answer the door.

Coming to the button on the doorframe, Adam opened the door revealing Ally behind it. "Hi Ally. What's up?"

Ally leaned forward through the doorway, looking toward Neo. "The gals and I are planning to go to sleep in a few minutes. I just wanted to come by and say goodnight."

"And," she added drawing a shielding hoof to the side of her mouth, "there's something else."

Arching an eyebrow, Adam whispered, "What is it?"

Ally kept her volume to a minimum. "It's about Neo. I wanted to make sure he's, you know, alright. When you guys came back to your room he didn't look well."

"Well, we've both had a really hard day. For him, it's been emotionally straining."

"Should I talk to him about it? Is he going to be okay?"

Adam glanced over his shoulder to see his brother, who was not disturbed by the conversation, before returning to Ally. "Right now I think he's dealing with some personal conflicts... Maybe it's best we let him figure it out on his own. Let him find answers."

"Well," Ally said, "if he needs anyone to talk to I'm right across the hallway."

Adam smiled, "Thanks Ally, I'll let him know."

Waving a hoof, she turned her back toward her room. "Goodnight Adam."

With a slight nod of his head, Adam replied a hushed goodnight to Ally. Then, gently tapping the button, the door swiftly shut closed.

Coming back to his bed, Adam threw himself onto the mattress contracting the squeaking springs inside. He didn't pause to enjoy in the after bounce that followed, rather, Adam slithering across the now wrinkled sheets to his pillow.

Ounce at undisturbed pillow at the end of his bed, Adam plunked the back of his head into the fluff. There mane and head alike sank into the sweet supportive comfort it provided.

Adam subconsciously purred at the rolling warmth that tickled his spine and back. "This is nice, brother. I really wish we had beds like this when we were traveling, wouldn't that have been cool?"

Neo remained in his mute, trance-like state. Adam quietly shrugged, before wiggling his body into the mattress, in hopes of allowing it to further mold to the shape of his back. Just when he brought the movement to a halt, Neo spoke.

Neo's tone was deep, and somber -- almost as though he was speaking to himself, "I need to ask you something."

Adam had finally fixed the bed to work with his body, so moving was not an option. "Yes? What is it?"

"S-Should..." For the moment, Neo's speech faltered. "Sh-Should I talk to dad, tomorrow?"

"You want to talk with him? Face to face?"

"Yeah... yeah, I guess so..."

Adam replied mildly, "Dad doesn't hate you, you know."

A hint of melancholy clung Neo's words, "It's not that, it's just... what am I going to tell him? I'm not sure if I could bring myself to speak calmly."

"Just keep a level, and open mind. Maybe it won't be as bad as you want it to be. Maybe it'll be quick; who knows?"

Neo sighed heavily, slumping one foreleg over his brow, "It doesn't help that we have to give them all the information on Iron Hammer."

"I thought you wanted to tell them all about it?"

"W-Well," Neo stammered, "I do, but what if we forget? What if we go blank in the middle of it all?"

A throaty chuckled bubbled up from Adam's chest, "You're worrying too much! Not everyone is going to forget, and besides Ranger is going to present his findings too."

A spark ignited in Adam. A jolt of energy that widened his eyes, and sent him shooting upright, "That's right! I almost forgot!"

"What is it?" Neo asked.

Looking to his brother, Adam answered, "Initially I thought that trusting Ranger was a fine idea... well, at least to a certain degree. But recently, I've been suspicious about who he really is."

"What do you mean?"

"In Ranger's room, I found a stable-tech grade tracking device. I haven't seen one in weeks, and yet there was one there receiving a single of some sort."

"You think it might belong to the Coalition?" Neo added.

"Maybe," Adam replied in a low hum, "I can't say for sure -- I didn't do much investigating afterwards. Being his room and all."

"Then who could he be?" Neo wondered aloud. "If he isn't with the Coalition, who else? The Legion wouldn't send someone like him. They'd probably just have a team of soldiers do it."

"Maybe it's an independent organization apart from them?" Adam offered. "Or maybe it's neither of the three."

"Whatever he is," Neo started, "or to whoever he's loyal to is something we need to find out later. Right now we've just got to keep a close eye on him, and make sure he doesn't cause any trouble."

Again, Neo closed his eyes -- taking in a deep breath. Filling his lungs to their full capacity, he said in a yawning exhale, "Either way, I'm going to need the night to think, and hopefully sleep sometime in between..."

It was in the late hours of the night that all were fast asleep. All but the tiny cleaning beetles, scurrying about along the corners of the wall polishing the floors as they went. Even at this nightly hour, the hallway lights were still on -- easily reflecting the glossy finish the machines left in their travels.

Wester sat outside the mare's room, standing guard. He didn't feel the weakening fatigue of sleep hinder his mind or strength. Rather, the quiet nights were a time to wonder. To further contemplate the state of the situation; review what his goals were and access the perimeter for hostiles.

Since the time the other ponies in his group had went to sleep, no signs of danger could be seen. For hours nothing approached in either direction of the hall. No matter how many times he glanced one way or the next, nothing but the faint electric hum of the overhead lights could be heard.

Standing guard for hours now took its toll on his hydration. Underneath the breather and helmet his lips felt bear, thin, and chipping from a lack of fluid.

A torrid dry spell had befallen his entire mouth, effecting both tongue cheeks alike. The restrooms had sinks, and with sinks came running water. Oh how the soft cool sensation of crisp liquid refreshing the arid condition of his mouth.

Wester's left leg anxiously thumbed the ground as he turned his gaze to the restrooms down the hall. Merely fifty feet of clear hallway sat between him and a refreshing drink from the sinks. Wester coughed hoarsely, and walked to the restroom. A minute, at the most, would certainly not expose the entrance for too long.

Quickening his pace, he went into the stallion's restroom. The room was nearly as pearly and sterling as the halls outside. The walls, the ceiling, it all had a faint glimmer of newness that not many centers outside had. Despite the alluring nature of the interior, his focus befell the three porcelain sinks across from the stalls.

Tearing across the room, he approached the nearest one, and spun the cold faucet head. Out of the steely nozzle came pouring a marvelous stream of clear, running water. A small lever engrafted at the back end of faucet sealed the drain, allowing for the water to pool and deepen in the sink.

Once the water had filled the sink halfway, Wester’s crimson aura encased his horn, likewise surround the faucet head and turning it off. Undoing the breather on his mask, he lowered himself to the surface of the water, and sloppily lapped up the liquid inside.

A tiny cough, no louder than a whimper, blasted through the quiet restroom. Wester's ears perked up, as he spun himself around flipping the top flap of his holsters up. As his visor came to the sound's source, he saw it was Big Lot, with one of the bedsheets slung over her shoulder.

She stared up at him, her head cocked to one side, with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you didn't eat or drink anything."

Wester recoiled his defense, and put his breather back on. "I... I didn't hear you come in..."

"That's because I'm a sneaky little bugger." Big Lot answered.

"What are you doing in here? This is the stallion's room."

Big Lot blinked at him, and looked around the room for a moment, "I don't care about signs. They can't tell me what to do."

"That still doesn't answer my inquiry." Wester firmly added. "What are you doing here?"

Veering her sight from his own, a nervous chuckle blurted from her lips, "I... I... Uh, believe it or not, I'm here to talk to you."

Wester stepped back, shaking his head. "Me?"

"Yeah, I know it's a little weird."

Quickly pulling a sour frown she pinched her eyes, glaring, "And don't tell anyone I came here either! The last thing I need is to be ridiculed for looking like a pansy! And I'm no pansy!"

Kneeling down to her eye level, Wester asked as earnestly as he could, "Affirmative, I won't tell a soul. Now, what is it you wanted to say, little one?"

The bitter expression vanished, for the moment Big Lot was completely quiet -- though lifting her gaze to meet Wester's she said, "It's about what you did... back at my home."

"The border?"

She nodded, "I want to know why you didn't kill me. What stopped you?"

Wester rubbed the space behind his metal ear, "Why are you asking, little one?"

Big Lot's little cheeks bloomed in a hue of cherry-red. "Adam says I need to make ah-mends with his brother. When he told me what it means, it makes me think of what you did for me. So I wanna' know, why did you feel that way? How do I make ah-mends?"

A pause lasted between them for a second, though Wester answered as affectionately as he could, "What I did, I did because I don't kill foals. My directive firmly dictates to protect, and serve my comrades. I needed to diverge from my directive because I'm not its tool."

"So," the filly hummed rolling her eyes to the side, "I need to diverge from being a computer?"

"Negative."

"So," she started again, "what I need to do, is find out who I am, despite how I feel make ah-mends with him?"

Wester nodded once solidly. "Affirmative."

"But what do I say? What if he brushes me off, or beats me up?"

"I wouldn't say Neo is one who attacks little ones."

"Still," she groaned, "what would I do? What should I do?"

"Say your sorry." Wester remarked. "Diverge from your directive -- do not fear him as an enemy."

Sporting a neutral expression she grumbled, "That still doesn't help that much."

"Forgive me, little one. I'm not efficient in handling issues regarding socialization."

Big Lot sighed, looking up at him. "It's something, I guess."

Standing, Wester commented, "Affirmative."

Together the two stood in the bathroom, both had their eyes upon the other. An awkward silence charged the air, as neither said a word. Big Lot moved her gaze from Wester, and turned it to the floor.

"Soooo," Big Lot mumbled, rocking easily on her hooves, "what now?"

"I'm not sure." Wester replied.

"I'm not going to hug you or anything, I hope you know that."

"Affirmative, I suspected you wouldn't."

"Good, cus' that's too much mushy gunk for one night."

A low red flashing light, burning through the susurrus of steam bursting from the pipes, overtook all other illumination in the halls of the Darkmines. The alarm, a deafening blare of a horn, blasted while Legion soldiers in pairs of three sprinted down the hallways. Thatch was among a group of his own, panting as warm thick beady droplets ran down his neck.

A semi-automatic battle saddle was harnessed to his officer's barding, the bullet feeding belt jingling faintly in his stride. The ground trembled again, causing those who were running to stumble. The quake jerked them sideways, and in a brisk reaction Thatch caught himself on the wall with both hooves.

He called over to one of the soldiers behind him, "What was that?! That's the biggest one we've felt yet!"

"A shaft in the mid-section of the mine must've collapsed, sir!" The soldier replied over the alarm's cry.

A pair of Legion soldiers, a mare and a stallion, came cantering toward them. Thatch dove in front of the two, frantically waving a hoof, "Stop! Stop!"

Bringing themselves to a halt, the soldier's stiffly saluted in unison, "Sir!"

Thatch pinched his eyes, inspecting the rank of the mare, "Lieutenant... what is the state of the armory?"

A sturdy tone latched to her response, "I can't say, sir. Last I heard, a squad was down there fighting off two predators. Recently, I haven't heard of anything from the armory, sir."

Grunting, Thatch uttered under gnashed teeth, "Damn it all!"

Bringing both eyes to the side, he repeatedly tapped his chin in thought.

Quickly returning to the mare, he relayed his thoughts, "We'll have to go with plan b. I need to get to the transmission room on the fifth level. Where were you two heading before I stopped you?"

"We were heading to the lower levels, hopefully to help fend off the predators that are moving down there."

"Change of orders, you two are coming with me." Thatch stated pointing at her. "The sooner I can get someone outside to break down the entrance, the sooner we can push them out with the troops we have outside."

The stallion took a step forward, pointing his snout to the path behind Thatch, "What about the armory, sir? What about Iron Hammer?"

"If the personal are smart, they've sealed themselves in. As for the armory, it's best to assume it's lost."

Another seism seized the ground, and shook it -- fiercely tossing the Legionnaires about. Thatch lurched in the shake, planting his feet where he could to establish a more stable position. In the wake of the last shudder, a darkening cloud of dust shot up behind them. The wave of dense dirt in the air tickled, and clung to Thatch's lungs, forcing up several dry coughs that stung his chest.

Nearly a hundred feet back, at the source of the dust cloud was a set of blood-red eyes, glaring in the brown blanketing mist. Thatch looked over his shoulder, spotting the bodiless eyes smoothly sway as they grew closer. His heart pounded on the walls of his chest, as he jostled the two ponies in front of him apart.

Shouting at the height of his voice, Thatch sprinted down the hall, "Run!"

The brother's eyes were wreathed in a darkened, sleepless gloom. Together they shuffled onward to the war-room, noses drooping like a sagging pair of mule ears. Ahead of them, the same officer who had shown them to their rooms the day before was guiding the two to the meeting.

Neo had been awake a fair portion of the previous night in thought, sparing mere moments in-between thoughts to sleep. He yawned as they came to the round doorway leading into the war-room. The security guard stepped to the side, and extended a hoof to the center of the room.

They both mutely nodded at her while entering the war-room. Once past the security officer, she straightened her back and walked back down the way they came.

A large round space made up the war-room. At the room's center an octagon table, welded to the floor, had several chairs seated around it. Covering a majority of the tabletop was a massive geographical map of the entire province, adorned in a multitude of green and blue flags marking positions held by each faction.

Lucy, Wester, and Ally were already at the table, leisurely chatting to one another in hushed voices. Lucy's ears perked upward, as she glanced over her shoulder to see the brothers approaching. A smirk grew, followed by a scoff, "Morning, ladies. Sleep well?"

Her teasing didn't seem to phase the mood of either brother, "I've seen better nights." Neo answered, scooting out a chair.

Taking their place at the table, Adam yawned, and rubbed the sleep out of both eyes, "Are we early?"

Leaning back in her chair, Lucy crossed both forelegs behind her head, "Seems so."

Big Lot was playing amongst the beetles. She made it a game to catch at least one, though as she pounced and jumped at the robots zipping along the floor the near-instant reflexes of the machines would counter her advance. This proved to be a challenge in catching one, but Big Lot persisted regardless.

Adam watched her attempt to capture a cleaning bot, "Do you think she'll catch one?"

Lucy blew between her teeth, shrugging, "Eventually. Maybe."

Vladimir came stumbling through the door like a drunk. No matter which direction his feet took him, his body swayed the opposing direction. Below the stressed sags furrowed underneath his eyelids, a shadow skirted the upper region of the Legion emperor's cheeks.

Within the somber, lifeless gaze he held -- rich velvet blood suffused the veins, branching out across the whites of his eyes. Ally was the first to notice his arrival, as she rose in her seat staring at him with an urgent widened fix.

"Ranger, are you okay?"

Ally's words spurred the others to look at Vladimir. Like her, they too abandoned all other moods in exchange for worry.

Vladimir tore across the room, pushing anything in his path aside. Kicking the beetles that bumped into his hooves, eventually coming to a seat at the table. Supporting himself on the rim of the backrest, he lifted a shaking hoof -- mustering a weak contorted smile.

"No, please, don't worry. I-I'm fine..."

With Lucy’s stunned expression, a sarcastic chuckle ran up from the bottom of her chest, barely escaping from her lips. "The hell you are!"

"I'm fine," Vladimir said clambering onto his seat, "please, just don't worry about me."

Fumbling over hoof and leg to get on the seat seemed like an endeavor of its own. Ally leaned over from her section of the table toward him, speaking tenderly to the gangly stallion, "If you're not feeling well in the slightest, you don't have to be here right now."

The creature's voice whispered in his ear, "I'm certain this is one meeting we must stay for, wouldn't you agree?"

Vladimir let out several dry whooping coughs. In the blare of his hacking all of those in the room were quiet. After the coughing had ended, he rose his eyes and sniffed, "I'm well enough to attend... truly I am..."

The in-sync sound of thunderous marching echoed from the hallway, like drums accompanying the entrance of some royal military figure. Four ponies came through into the room. The first was an Earth pony stallion suited in a camouflage shirt, over which a leather duster covered. The two behind him were unicorns, who wore similar uniforms of beige with green berets slouched to the right upon their manes.

At the back of the group, a security officer followed. Further behind them, Dahlia and Ronan, who were at least speaking distance from the main assortment of decorated Coalition officers.

The stallion heading the other officers had a deep, sapphire blue coat, with firm solid eyes that imposed strength and authority to whomever they were cast on to. This, as the brothers had saw, was Ironside.

The stallion ran a hoof back over his smooth black, combed back mane as he entered the war-room. The unicorns following him were both mares, and both brown in coat. Each had an entrancing shade of purple as the hue of their eyes, leading one to assume that they were twins.

When the newcomers all arrived, they took their own respective seats around the table. Neo and Adam had the unfortunate disposition of sitting across of General Ironside, who stared directly at them.

"Good morning everyone," Ironside's voice was heavy and virile like the embodiment of power itself, "I hope you’re all doing well."

He nodded once to one of the twin officers seated to his right. From out of a pocket on her breast, the mare hovered a folded a piece of paper on the table. Unfurling the tiny white square, she levitated the tip of a pencil at the left corner, in the faint magenta aura of her magic.

Ironside turned his attention to the brothers, with a smile, "It's good to see you two again. Last I heard, you weren't part of the Coalition anymore."

The cold stiffness of embarrassment locked the brother’s backs, as rolling chill coursing briskly through them sent their hairs on-end. Ultimately leaving them speechless.

He leaned intently over the table, converting his smile to a smirk, "And I see you two kept the dusters. That's Coalition property y'know."

"But we're not here to discuss such matters," Dahlia interjected, "we're here to discuss Iron Hammer."

Recoiling himself back, Ironside cleared his throat, "Of course."

"Now, Neo and Adam, it is imperative you provide anything you may know." Ironside began. "If anyone else at this table has any more information they are willing to share, please do so."

Ironside rose his voice for all to hear, "All I can say is this: what we know so far, is that Iron Hammer is in the Darkmines. What Iron Hammer is, and what it does eludes us. More importantly, how long until it's completed remains a mystery."

Adam was the first to speak up, "We found a map of the Darkmines at the border. It details the entire elaborate system of tunnels. Though, no one specific place is marked, I'm sure you'll be able to make something out of it."

"We know what it's suppose to do," Neo added, "it's an ICBM. Meant to kill everything even slightly affected by the taint."

Neo's eyes scanned those around the table, "My guess is that all of us have at one point been exposed to it. That must mean just about everyone else in the province will be affected by the weapon."

"Are you aware of how an ICBM is able to accomplish such a feat?" Ironside asked. "In our efforts to find out how it works, and what it is all we've found is rocks."

"Sun gems power the weapon." Adam responded.

Ironside’s throat revved, while he lay back in his chair, "And how close are they to completing it?"

Both brothers looked at each other for a moment. Then, returning to the General they shrugged shaking their heads.

"Ah," Ironside nodded tapping a hoof to his chin, "what of the numbers at the mines? How many Legion soldiers are stationed there?"

Ally spoke up, "We're not sure, General. Hundreds? Thousands, maybe? That doesn't even include the Darkminers, and I couldn't say what their numbers are."

"It's clear we'll need to stage an assault on the Darkmines." Ironside remarked. "The sooner we can muster our forces together and seize Iron Hammer the better."

"Sieze?" Neo muttered under his breath, squinting at Ironside. "Seize it?"

Blinking at Neo, Ironside’s words slurred as though his statement hadn’t properly been conveyed, "Yes, of course. We need to take it for the Coalition."

"We need to destroy it." Neo asserted. "As soon as possible."

A fire creeped up Neo's chest, burning away the sleep deprivation. "If it exists it can still be used to kill! It doesn't matter if we have it, or the Legion does!"

One of the officer mares swiftly rose out of her seat, ejecting the chair behind her. "Watch your tongue, boy! That is a General you are speaking to!"

Lucy too forcefully pushed her chair back, rising in retaliation up against the mare, "He's right! I've worked for the Coalition for years and never once was it our intention to take the weapon as our own!"

A hectic battle broke out between the officers and Lucy. Neo threw in his own snarling thoughts on the matter, effectively expressing his disdain against keeping the weapon. The argument was like missiles, violently being tossed to and fro, with no clear end in sight.

Dahlia and Ronan tried to speak over the shouting. Though their voices were easily lost in the battle. Vladimir watched the entire ordeal unravel before him. Inside his mind, he could not hear what side fought for what. The sounds of the world came in as soft thrums -- like the gentle tapping of a grand percussion drum.

His legs went numb, as the trembling shimmied to his fore hooves. He looked down at one hoof, the tremor so profound he felt the blood slosh around inside. In his ear the creature cooed its sickeningly sour serpent-like voice, that irritated the inside as though a snake's tongue squirmed within.

"Does it not sound... beautiful, Little Red?"

Vladimir couldn't speak.

"Oh, how little they know of the Legion. Our Legion. And when the Coalition arrives, only to be greeted by our forces will they truly be destroyed. Can you sense it? The end? How it grows ever closer. Like the tide ready to snare those ignorant of its advance."

The disembodied voice quavered with blissful glee, "Oh, how I can feel it... So soon now. So soon..."

Vladimir looked up, to return to the raging conflagration blasting forth amongst the ponies at the table. Out of the corner of his blood-shot eye he spotted the transparent beast sitting in mid-air, crackling at the fighting. The longer he stared at the bickering ponies, the less chaotic it became.

Eventually, the fires of debate were quelled, and the exchange of hateful remarks subsided. Everyone was panting, as the constant arguing had taken much from their strength.

Dahlia gestured a hoof to her empty seat behind her, speaking calmly over the deep breaths she took, "Now... everyone, please sit. Let us handle the task at hoof, please."

Once everyone was seated, and silent, Dahlia asked, "Is there any more information that needs to be shared? Any at all?"

The creature threw its head back in a laugh, "HA! There is nothing more! You think you have what you need? Fools! All of you! We need a single gem left! ONLY ONE! You've lost!"

"Now that we're back on the topic," Ally said motioning her nose to Vladimir, "Ranger has some important information."

All eyes fell onto Vladimir. Some prying, some worried. All strongly honed on him, and him alone.

The creature found this incredibly amusing, "They think they'll get something out of us?"

It scoffed, before developing a low chortle, "Really? What could we have?"

The specter's ears sprung erect, as it slinked over to Vladimir's side, clamping a lanky transparent hoof over his shoulder. "Tell them anything... You know, make it up. It doesn't matter what you say! Hell, you can tell them that the Legion needs the moon to make the weapon work! They'll believe you!"

A warm bubbling collected in the bottom of Vladimir’s gut. Building greater, and greater in intensity -- slowly crawling up into his breast. Steadily it rose, gathering pressure like a bomb ready to burst.

Releasing its gathered might Vladimir exclaimed as loud as his lungs would permit, "They only need one Sun gem left before they finish Iron Hammer!"

The boisterous laughter of the creature was brought to an immediate halt. There it hovered, head thrown back in mid-crackle, yet no sound came from it. The eyes of those around the table widened, nearly bulging out of their sockets.

Vladimir was huffing now, feeling a straining weight that anchored his body down lift. Quickly, the apparition rushed in front of him, pressing his snout against Vladimir's face. "What have you done? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!"

Seizing Vladimir by the head, it pushed its frigid nose harder against him. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!"

Lucy removed her fedora, and placed it over her heart. "Ranger... I... I didn't imagine they were that close..."

"That's not all!" Vladimir declared.

Once more all attention was placed onto him. "Well? Speak up!" Ironside requested sternly.

The creature flew backwards, clutching its head and flailing its body about spastically. "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!"

A smile came to Vladimir's face, "T-The last thing I have to say..."

Stopping the frantic convulsing, the specter spun forward, locking its reddened, inflamed eyes on Vladimir. "NO! NO! NO! You won't ruin this for me!"

Vladimir's pupil's contracted, as he hurried, "My-My name is..."

Swooping down toward him, the creature hover over him. Then, phasing its icy hooves through the sides of his head, Vladimir froze.

His entire body hardened. Every muscle, every nerve, solid. The feeling of hot coals plunked at the bottom of his lungs seared. His brain went numb, whilst a new profuse stream of blood ran down from his nose.

With its hooves, deeply embedded in Vladimir's cranium, it sighed before an airy giggle rolled out of its mouth. "Ah... You almost blew our cover, Little Red."

"However, I after those little blips I can’t allow you to be in control any longer."

Vladimir’s mouth was agape in mid-sentence. The only noise the Legion emperor could utter was a throaty wheeze. The creature placed its lips by Vladimir’s ear, whispering sweetly, "Oh my, Little Red. Don't be frightened... When I let go, you shall fall. All of the world will become dark, and when you should awake I will be in control. It will be just like old times, my friend. Just like old times..."

Releasing Vladimir, the creature vanished into the air. Vladimir’s entire body went numb, as he swayed one way, then the next -- until altogether he drifted to a single side. The world moved slowly... falling, and falling.

The ground gradually came to his side, though he did not feel the impact. A ring of darkness surround his vision. But there was no fight to be had with his body. In the shrinking field of view Vladimir watched those whom he spoke to rush around him. Their cries of panic lost in the silence, leaving merely the wordless movement of his companion's lips.

When his vision was consumed by the darkness, he felt a pleasant temperate heat drape itself over his shoulders. It was comforting, like a blanket warmed by a low burning fire. It was all over now, and there was little he could do to stop the darkness from winning.

Foot Note: Level Up!

New Perk: Get Psyched!: Killing enemies in a row (five or more) stacks 15% more damage per kill. This perk allows one to stack the damage after each kill up to 20 times. So what are you waiting for? GET PSYCHED!

Foot Note: Level Up!

Would you like to level up Adam as well?

Yes<

No

New Perk: I'm Giving Them Back Their Bomb: When you throw grenades back at an enemy, you do 2x the damage and have a chance to earn 3x the XP if multiple kills are made with a returned throw.

Proofread by:

Noakwolf

Thefullmetalbrony

ColonelLatmuffin

Author's Note

Whoa, been awhile since the last chapter, huh? Well, it's okay I guess -- because this is the first chapter of the new year! Yay! I hope you enjoyed this one. I've been toying with the flow of my wording, and the overall description of the environment, feelings of characters, and their actions.

The next chapter won't be nearly as long. Primarily because this was supposed to be joined with the next chapter as one huge super-chapter. Yeah, that isn't happening. Instead, you'll get this chapter and the next one which is a little shorter than usual (should be about 15k words) but overall a pretty good chapter.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm starting work on the next one right after this one is released!

• Noakwolf