Chapter 24: "Rescue Mission."
I sat there in my seat as I watched Quill down her second mug of hard cider.
The other mug lay empty on the side of the table, which one of the waiters was quick to retrieve. "Is there anything else you need, Miss?" he asked politely.
Quill didn't answer. Instead she raised a hoof to silence the colt. He waited for her to respond, but she never did.
"I think we're okay. Thank you." I said quickly. I hated impoliteness, especially on my part.
The colt nodded then went back to serving the other customers of Teddi's Bar, the small pub we had stopped to get a drink from. Owner, Teddi, the tomboyish looking mare with the short, spiky green mane, eyed us from behind the bar, a smile on her lips. She turned away to assist another customer, but I knew what she was thinking: Those two have been through it.
And yes. Yes we had.
As we sat there, my mind went back to the whole ordeal at the docks. How I had seen Solitaire be murdered right in front of me, how I had to fight through an entire horde of cultists alongside Quill to make it out of there. I felt sick, angry, confused, but I think above all I wanted to make sure no one else died because of Simon. There had been enough victims of that madman, there didn't need to be another.
Quill finished her drink then set the empty mug down. She wasn't even remotely drunk, despite having downed quite a few pints since we got here. I wasn't sure if she was happy or annoyed by this fact.
"You alright, Morning?" She asked me, studying my face.
"I'll be alright. I just...."I trailed off, unsure of what to even say.
But Quill seemed to understand just fine. "I know." She handed the empty pint to the waiter, then turned back to me. "I'm sorry you had to see...all that. Really." She narrowed her eyes slightly. "But, I need to tell you something. It can't wait anymore."
I was a bit taken back, by her mix of genuine concern and sudden urgency. "What is it?" I asked.
"After you left Sapphire Sands, I did some digging into Simon's plan. I found something, and had one of my contacts look into it." She took out a small envelope that had been opened recently, and handed it to me. "Earlier this morning, he confirmed it."
I looked over the letter. It seemed to be a notice from a lookout Simon had posted at the entrance to a warehouse he apparently had build beneath the island's dormant volcano. In it he complained about lack of activity from anyone in the cult, and said that the scientists we're getting restless.
Wait.
Scientists!? My heart began racing in my chest. I felt my hooves begin sweating as I looked up at Quill. "T-This....does this mean?"
She nodded. "That" she said "is where Simon is keeping your parents."
"Oh." I felt oddly disconnected, as if I had heard her say the words from a cloud in the sky. I wasn't entirely sure what I felt other then elation, but I had the feeling it was determination. Determination to get them back.
My mind overflowed with questions, but I forced myself to only ask one. "How do we get in?"
Quill smiled, as she looked to make sure no one was listening in, before she leaned in to whisper her plan. "The lookout is, for lack of a better word, lazy. Gullible. You and me go there, he'll let us in the second he sees me. He'll think I'm bringing you to Simon or I tracked you down and caught you, had you as a prisoner, you get the idea." She waited for my response.
The risk was great, obviously. But I would have Quill watching my back at all times, plus she already knew the layout of the place, making it that much easier to find the scientists once we were inside. And if this was the only way I could get my mom and dad back? I would gladly do it, no questions asked. "I'll do it." I said simply.
Quill seemed a bit surprised at first, but her smile returned almost instantly. "That's what I thought your answer would be."
The Rescue Operation, 2 Hours later
It didn't take long for Quill to set everything up. With a few calls, the whole plan was ready, and I was being escorted in cuffs by her to the gates of a seemingly average looking warehouse near the edge of town. I saw only one guard, a mean looking fellow with a smarmy sneer that greeted me as he opened the gates. He paid me no more mind then that as we went inside, a push every so often from Quill kept up the ruse, but I'm pretty sure it also left a light bruise on my back (The mare was strong, no doubt.)
Through the doors of the warehouse, I was surprised to see a strange looking pod with a single door and window sitting in the center of the warehouse. Nothing else was in here.
Another push from Quill. I did as I was told and boarded the pod with her. The door slid shut with a hiss and the pod began to descend like an elevator into an underground chasm. I heard rushing water from the sea churning in the darkness below. We were now on some sort of monorail track.
As soon as the pod began to move forward, Quill looked at me. "You alright? I didn't hurt you did I?"
My back twinged a bit, but other then that I was fine. "I'm alright', I said.
Quill nodded. She looked out the window. "We're moving underneath the island. We should be arriving in the red zone here in a minute. You'll want to see it."
"The red zone?"
Suddenly, crimson light shone through the window, bathing the inside of the pod in a deep orange. Curious, I looked out the window, to see lava had replaced the sea. It glowed as it churned and bubbled like a red soup beneath us, great swells could be seen rising from the pool, only to settle shortly after. "Whoa' I said, taking it all in.
"Yeah." Quill chuckled. Then she looked at me again. "We have 2 minutes before we arrive at the loading bay. Your parents are being held in the same place I'm supposed to bring you. Once you've made contact with them-" she reached into her pocket and pulled out a very small earpiece and handed it to me. I took it in hand, as she explained. "Put that in your ear. You can use it to signal me and I'll come open the gates. After that, we have minutes at most before Simon knows I've betrayed him." She sounded confident in me, but also worried at the same time. It was a comforting fact. It let me know she genuinely was on my side.
"Alright. As soon as you find your parents, call for me, got it?" She instructed.
I nodded but raised a question "But how will you get to me? These guys won't just let you go easily once they see you trying to free us."
"Obviously. But don't worry, Simon's little groupies are strong, but they're no Hashashin. I can handle them." But then her smile faded. "As long as she doesn't make an appearance..."
"She?"
Before Quill could answer, the thud around us and the opening of the door, let me know that we had arrived. And it was time to play the part of the prisoner.
I only hoped she didn't push so hard this time.
Scientist Barracks, Simon's Volcano Lair, 11: 55 pm
The gates closed behind me with a loud bang as a guard practically threw me into the room, but I recovered quickly. Looking around I saw that the place was a mix of a set of barracks with bunk beds and a laboratory. All around me, ponies of all shapes, sizes and races worked diligently at computers, pounding on keyboards, taking measurements from vials, running data through machines and basically trying everything they could to remain busy. None of them even noticed I was thrown in here.
Except one. A mare, about twice my age looked up from her terminal and stared at me with wide awestruck eyes. She was an elegant and intelligent light blue earth pony with a teal and purple purple mane that rivaled the swirliness of my own. She wore a lab coat over a bright green sweater, that bore a scientific equation on it. Around her neck was an ascot of a dragonfly.
This was my mother, Dr. Dawn Meir, and at the moment she looked more horrified then happy to see her daughter here. "M-Morning??" she asked herself, as if she could not believe what she was seeing.
"Um...Hi, mom." I said sheepishly.
Then before I even knew what happened my mom had me pulled into her arms, nearly killing me from the strength of the hug she was now throttling me with, all the while teetering the line between a worried mother and an angry parent. "Oh Morning, I am so happy to see you! No, wait, I'm furious! What are you doing here young lady?" She looked at me angrily, then her eyes softened as she pulled me back in for another death hug. "Oh but I'm so happy you're safe! I....I don't know what I am!"
She let me go as she gripped my shoulders "Should I be mad or happy to see you? What's the best parenting course of action right now, I've never had to choose before!" She said, clearly flustered.
I just smiled at her. It didn't matter to me if she was mad at me or happy to see me. I was just happy she was safe. "I'm happy to see you too mom. I missed you guys." I said, my voice breaking a bit.
My mom finally decided what she was almost instantly. Happy. "I missed you too Morning, honey!" She pulled me in again, but this time I had the ability to hug her back. I felt tears well up in my eyes as we stood there for a minute. It was a joyfully long minute.
But then a thought arose. "Where's dad?" I asked.
My mom looked around the room. "He's here somewhere. I heard him talking with the others about a way to sabotage Simon's equipment. To buy everyone else time to escape this place, but your father keeps saying he refuses to go anywhere." She explained. "He says he's going to stop Simon, and I agree. That madman has done enough damage." Then she looked at me. "Morning, how did you get here? Did you see Simon? Does he know you're here?" She was now clearly serious, a trait I didn't see often in my mom, but when it happened, you had best pay attention.
"I came looking for you." I said calmly. "Princess Celestia and Luna came to the manor and told me what had happened. I had to come and find you."
"Celestia and Luna came to the manor? I suppose that's not surprising." She pondered. "Did anyone else come to the manor? Anyone dressed like Simon's cultists?"
"No. Just the princesses. Heartland is still there. She would have called to let me know if anyone else had come by. I know it."
At this my mom breathed a sigh of relief. "Good...that's very good. What about the Meir Foundation?"
"Probably tearing Equestria apart looking for you."
"Naturally." She said nonchalantly. We both laughed. It felt good to laugh with my mom again. I can't put into words how it feels to be reunited with a parent after worrying about them for so long. It's an experience, that I hope no one has to go through.
"Dawn? What are you doing over here?" A voice said coming over to us. "I heard laughter and-
I turned to see the owner of the voice. The look of fear on my father's handsome face was alarming. "Morning...?"
My dad, Dr. Adden Meir, reminded me of a superhero rather then an inventor. A strong and intelligent light purple earth pony with a steely eyed glare and a mane that matched mine but had no swirliness whatsoever. Instead his was well combed and groomed into that of which a lawyer or CEO would wear proudly. His usual dark blue business attire was askew and lightly stained, but he still wore his signature honey-bee necktie with yellow and black stripes. He looked at me with shock and fear in his eyes, but I could see anger building up behind his gaze.
"Morning, what....No, why? Why are you...?" He was having trouble getting his words out. But finally he yelled out. "What are you doing here!? You can't be here, you're supposed to be back home in Equestria!" he bellowed. My father's voice was loud, stern and extremely commanding. He could give drill sergeants a few pointers.
"I had to come for you guys! I was worried!" I exclaimed. I had been through quite a lot to get here, and part of me was annoyed that my father was greeting me by yelling at me. But I knew why he was.
"You needed to stay put! I can handle Simon, you need to get out of here. Now!" My dad yelled back. The other scientists had noticed and were gathering around us to see what the yelling was about.
I was getting frustrated now. "If you can handle Simon, then why haven't you escaped yet? How long has he held you guys down here?" I asked.
"It...it hasn't been that long."
"Then how long was I supposed to wait, huh!?" I yelled. "How long was I supposed to wait at home for you guys to come back? How long was I supposed to worry, losing sleep every night, too scared about something having happened to you that I could've prevented?"
My father fell silent at that. His eyes softened as he tried to find the words, but failed. "I....I never wanted you to worry." He looked up at me, his steely eyes having now returned to the calming look they usually had. "I just wanted you to be safe." he said softly.
"And I wanted you to be safe." I said finally. "I'm here now, and I have a way for us all to get out of here, and stop Simon."
He looked at me, unsure how he should answer. He looked over at mom, seemingly for guidance. "You know she's going to do what she has to, regardless of what either of us say." she said with a smile.
That was enough for him. He smiled at her before turning back to me. "How did you get in here? Naturally I'm assuming you didn't just hand yourself over to Simon's men with a smile." He joked.
I told them about Quill Feather and how she had been helping me. Upon the mention of her name, they looked a bit nervous but let me continue. Apart from a few questions here and there, they seemed to accept that Quill Feather was indeed on our side now.
"Did she tell you where she would be?" My father asked.
She hadn't. But she had said that when I had found my parents, I should call for her.
Now....how exactly was I supposed to do that? "Well...I just need to call her. Any ideas how I can do that from in here?" I asked, sheepishly.
"Call her? That's her plan?" My father asked skeptically.
"I suppose it's better than nothing." My mom said with a smile. "Although, I'm not to sure it'll do any good, but there is a payphone over by Dr. Mobius's desk. We use it to call and have extra supplies or components delivered when we run out." she explained, pointing to a desk in the far corner of the room.
To say it was cluttered would be laughable. The entire thing was a disaster area of random scrap parts, gears, tubes, broken tools, a TV that seemed to have been taken apart and reconverted into a toaster, an array of wires jammed into a vacuum cleaner hose, circuit boards strewn in every direction, chalkboards covered in a maddening number of nonsensical equations and gibberish that made no rational sense on one half and the other half couldn't even be considered readable.
Beside the desk on the wall, was a silver payphone, and sleeping on the floor next to it, was an elderly stallion in a filthy red lab coat. He was bald, but bore a thick white mustache and goatee. On his face he wore a pair of goggles so thick, there was no possible way he could see clearly out of them. I assumed this was Dr. Mobius, the creator of the large disaster of a desk space I saw before me.
"What in the world happened over there?" I asked, unable to look away from the mess of science before me.
My parents both let out a sigh. "Mobius." they said as if describing a large cockroach rather then a scientist.
So he was Dr. Mobius. "Who is he? One of the scientists, Simon captured?"
My mother answered while my father seemed to flinch at the mention of the name. "Mobius, if you can believe it, is the smartest scientist on the island, and was apparently at ground zero for most of Simon's plan before he snatched up me and your father."
My eyes lit up. "That's great!" I exclaimed. "If he was present for all of Simon's planning, he must know a way out of here, right? He can help us escape!"
But my father looked less than enthused. "Help us?" He said with a laugh. "The man can't even help himself! He's completely out of his mind!"
"What do you mean?" I asked. "What happened to him?"
"Not a damn thing. He's always been a nutcase." My father said simply. "Ever since we first met him when we were brought down here, he's been the same. Always talking to himself about these insane conspiracy theories, or scribbling down ideas for nonsensical inventions, or sometimes he just sits by himself and grumbles incoherently. He's no help to us, Morning."
But my mother disagreed. "He's not crazy, dear." she said calmly. "He's an eccentric, yes, but he has a reputation as a truly brilliant scientist and inventor. I've even read papers about his discoveries! He can help us, we just have to...convince him somehow."
It was clear my parents had their own opinions on this Dr. Mobius. If he could help us, it was at least worth a try to talk to him. Someone who had helped Simon with his plans at that early a stage, would no doubt prove to be very useful.
Regardless of his mental acclivity.
"Let me go talk to him." I said with a smile. "Maybe I can reason with him, or at the very least, get him to move so I can use the payphone."
My parents showed no sign of confidence in the idea, but let me go speak to the odd old pony on the floor. He snored loudly, grumbling to himself as he slept. I wondered how anypony could stand to sleep on the floor like that, let alone in such a manner beside a desk that looked like it had been hit by a tornado. Twice.
"Hello? Dr. Mobius?" I asked gingerly. The old pony stirred, but payed me no more heed than a grumble or two.
I tried again. This time, a little louder. "Dr. Mobius? Can you hear me? I'd like to talk to you if that's alright."
Still no response, though he did move a little bit more, allowing me to get to the phone on the wall. Maybe I should just leave him alone for now. Use the phone while I could, then see if he's a little more talkative later on.
I reached for the phone, but stopped. I saw a mechanism built onto the receiver. A wire was connected to what looked like a heavy duty alarm system, with an electronic lock. If the phone was taken off the hoof, without the lock being disabled first, the alarm would go off, bringing everyone in the whole base down here with it.
I had to wake up Dr. Mobius. He must've been the one who unlocks the phone for the scientists to use, which explained why he had his work area so close to it.
I tapped the old pony on the shoulder and he opened his eyes (At least as far as I could tell, given the fact that his eyes were behind an inch and half of plastic with those goggles on) and looked up at me, confusion and frustration on his face.
"Ugh.."he grumbled. "What is it now? I had just gotten to sleep, damn it!" His voice was old and cranky, but the grace of each word came out as if he was some kind of master orator. He was clearly an accustomed speaker of some sort, possibly from multiple speeches he had done in the past at science expos.
I took a step back from the old stallion. "Forgive me, Dr. Mobius." I apologized. "My name is-
"Morning Meir, yes I know." He interrupted. "So, Simon snatched you up too, eh? No surprise, given your reputation. You should've known better then to come here, but no use crying about it now, right?"
I was unsure how to respond. I couldn't tell if I was being insulted or simply being engaged in awkward conversation. Perhaps both?
"Um....I was hoping to talk to you about....maybe helping us to escape?" I asked, trying my best not to sound petty.
Dr. Mobius sat up from his spot and chuckled to himself. "Yes, I heard. Especially regarding your father's comments on my mental state." He grumbled.
"Oh. I'm sorry, he's always been one to make assumptions too early at times." I apologized, scratching the back of my head nervously. "I can tell you're not crazy, if that means anything." I said quickly.
Dr. Mobius laughed, as he now stood up. He was taller than I thought, practically looking down at me. "Oh, your father isn't wrong, my dear." he said softly. "I have seen many things, that my profession cannot explain. Things I have since devoted numerous hours of study and research on. In doing so, I'm sorry to say I have gained quite the reputation amongst my fellow scientists." He shot my dad a quick look, not of annoyance, but acceptance. It seemed my father wasn't the only one Mobius had come to blows with.
But then a thought occurred to me. "What sorts of things, Dr. Mobius?" I asked out of pure curiosity.
He opened his mouth to answer, but apparently thought better of it. "Later, perhaps." He turned away and went over to his desk. "For now, let us focus on getting out of here." He opened a drawer and began rifling through it, searching feverishly for something. Finally he withdrew a small silver key. Inserting it into the lock on the phone, I saw the mechanism fold itself back into the side of the phone, allowing full use of the phone once more.
I went over to it, but Dr. Mobius had one final thing to say. "You only have one minute to talk, before it locks again. After that, the phone will not be able to be re-opened for 24 hours. I think you know what that would mean." He then started packing his things into a large suitcase he had beneath his desk.
I did in fact know what it meant. The eclipse was tomorrow night. If we didn't manage to escape and stop Simon by tonight...
I shook the thoughts from my head, and picked up the phone. The directory on the side of the phone displayed the numbers for each area of the base. I tried to think of which one Quill would be in.
Reception? Too obvious.
Simon's Office? She wouldn't go anywhere near Simon if she was planning to betray him. He would see through her ruse in a minute.
No she would go somewhere where her presence would be perfectly normal and seen as an everyday occurrence.
Then it hit me. I picked up the phone and dialed the number for, The Dojo. Obviously she would be in the area where they trained the cultists, as she had mentioned being able to handle them should she need to. Plus, she was obviously skilled enough to be a master and teacher herself. I had no doubt, her presence in the dojo was an almost daily occurrence.
The phone rang once, before a voice picked up the other end. It wasn't Quill. "Dojo." A gruff male voice said at the other end. He sounded like one of the guards, they had posted around the place.
I acted natural and thought about hiding my voice behind something equaling just another scientist. But then it occurred to me: Why would a lowly scientist captive ask to speak to one of Simon's highest ranking lieutenants? I had to try something else.
I abandoned all trace of my usual polite motif and simply spoke as average as I could muster. "Yeah, I need to talk to Quill. Important update she asked me to give her. She there?" I asked, sounding so different from myself apparently, that all the scientists, including Dr. Mobius and my parents turned around to see if there was someone new had entered the room. They were all quite surprised to see it was just me. Especially my parents.
"Yeah, hang on a second." The guard said, before setting the receiver down.
I waited for a few seconds, hoping that it had worked, and that he hadn't simply gone off to alert the whole base that I was trying to get a hold of Quill Feather. Too many questions would arise, and eventually they would figure us out.
But then a voice picked up the receiver once more. "This is Quill." Quill said quickly on the other line. "They there?" she asked.
So she was expecting me to call her there. Quite the lucky guess then on my part. "Yes." I said simply.
"I'll be down shortly. Do nothing till I get there." She said. Then the receiver went dead.
I hung up the phone and Dr. Mobius looked up at me from his suitcase. "So?" he asked. My parents also stood by, alongside the rest of the scientists, who had also heard we where escaping. They waited with bated breath as to what I had to tell them.
"Quill will be down to get us shortly. We are to do nothing till she gets here." I repeated, loudly enough for everyone to hear.
A few of them began chattering amongst one another. Some excited, some skeptical. But they all felt the same thing: They wanted out, and now they were getting out. Many began to gather their things, such as notes, experiment results and various technological components.
They were getting everything ready for their escape, and worked quite quickly from the anticipation. Within a few minutes the room was vacant of all the scientist's equipment, save for the terminals they worked at.
Now, all there was left to do...was wait.