“I am aware of those monsters from your so-called portals,” Xilfer said, breaking the silence as lightning brightened the room with white light. “There, I made things easier for you. Now I want to know is, why did you summon those monsters, and why aren't you doing anything to bring them back?” He then planted the mouth of the gun on the girl's head.
The man and a few others behind him gasped.
“Like I said, I'm on a tight schedule, and I'm getting bored and tired. So make it quick or say your goodbye.” He shrugged. “Your choice.”
“D-daddy...” Rose whispered with trembling lips and with tearful eyes.
Rainbow Dash shivered as she panted slowly and quietly. No one seemed to take notice of her current condition.
The man was confused by now with so many emotions running inside of him. He can't tell him what is going on, yet he also doesn't want to lose his daughter. Sighing, his features dropped as he accepted his defeat of keeping the secrecy of his work and to accept that being a father is more important at this situation. Before he could speak however, the silence was loudly broken by a piercing gunshot. His heart stopped and his breath froze as he sharply returned his gaze back at the two persons in the middle of the room. He sighed in the greatest relief after seeing Xilfer's hand was outstretched towards the side of the room, where he fired the gun at the balcony's already-opened glass door, shattering the glass in the process.
“That was just a reminder, old guy. Also,” Xilfer gestured with his free hand, pointing at him, disregarding the fact that he was still holding the gun. “What should I call you anyway?”
“C-Cortes...”
Xilfer smiled viciously. “So, Mr. Cortes. Are you planning on answering my questions or do you w—”
“I will answer them!” Cortes cut him off, his voice louder than he wanted it to be.
“How rude of you of butting in to what I was saying,” Xilfer said, grinning wider, “I like that. Now then,” he tapped the gun's mouth on the sobbing girl's head. “Grace me with your wisdom. And oh, please try not to lie. If you do, I'll kill her quickly.”
Cortes gulped, but nodded nonetheless. “J-just promise me you'll return my daughter...”
Xilfer grinned even wider.
“...alive...”
Xilfer frowned, and shrugged. “Fine, fine,” he rolled his eyes.
“I'll answer your first question...about us summoning those monsters... Truth is...we didn't.” Cortes explained, and Xilfer frowned. “Those monsters managed to get through the portal by accident. After we escaped the island, we searched for a reason why they came to our world. It turns out that it was our fault... The portal simply appeared fine in our side of the world, but on the other side, it acted like a vacuum, sucking those nearby, hence why they appeared here... T-though...not all of the portals acted that way... Some were neutral. We worked hard to block the portal, to stop anything from going in and out...”
Xilfer withdrew the gun from the girl's head and tapped the weapon's mouth on his chin as he thought of what Cortes had just said. Cortes, on the other hand, wished that he'd accidentally pull the trigger.
“Like a vacuum...” Xilfer said, “...right...” he didn't sound convinced.
Cortes gulped, and continued. “And as f-for your second question... We are...or rather, we were in the process of figuring out how to bring them back, until...you showed up.”
“Oh?” Xilfer said, sounding surprised, yet his frowning face didn't change a bit. “So it's my fault then?” He waved the gun recklessly as he shrugged. “I guess I'll take that blame then.”
“T-there, I've answered your questions... C-ca—” Cortes said, with a slight shimmer of hope, however, Xilfer quickly shut that shimmer down.
“Not so fast, pops,” Xilfer returned the gun pointing at the girl's head. “I ain't satisfied yet,” he grinned.
“B-but you—”
“Oh, zip it,” Xilfer said with a lame tone. “You're in no position of going against me, are you?” After a few moments of silence, he spoke again. “Glad that you see things my way. Now then, another question, and oh, don't forget to answer truthfully.”
“I don't plan on losing my daughter because of a lie,” Cortes glared at him.
“Good, good,” Xilfer grinned, “then answer me this: where did this stupid idea of portal-things came from?”
Cortes sighed. He didn't want to remember the past, for it only reminded him of her... “It...came from...my youngest daughter...”
Xilfer blinked. “What?” He arched an eyebrow. “If this is a joke, then you better end it right now, pops.” He glared at the old man, but Cortes countered with his own, and Xilfer knew that from those eyes, he could tell that he was telling the truth. Still, he held his glare.
“It was a few years ago, when my wife and I were still young and alive. R-right after Rose came into this world...”
“Who's Rose?” Xilfer asked.
“Your hostage,” Cortes replied lamely. “My wife and I, as scientists, worked day and night to try and find a solution to save our dying planet. As the years flew by, Rose grew up and became fascinated about the world of...colorful horses.”
“P-ponies...” Rose whispered, correcting her father.
Xilfer still had an eye raised as he listened to Cortes' explanation.
“That is when we got the idea of another world. It sounded silly, almost stupid, at that time. It was a fictional fantasy many of us think, but after we received a report of a strange phenomenon happening at the far east of our country, we went to investigate.” Cortes allowed a few moments of silence as he smiled warmly, remembering the good years.
During that short time of silence, Xilfer heard a faint sound of breath, though as if someone is struggling of breathing. Xilfer was about to turn to the bed when Cortes continued, so he disregarded that sound.
“It turned out that there was a strange magnetic disturbance occurring in the area. Staring through it was like staring at a distorted windscreen of a car. It was oval, it was in mid-air, and it made us all thought of the possibility of a portal going through other worlds. We've conducted research, and we found out that the fabrics of time and space on that ‘portal’ could potentially be opened. Unfortunately...” Cortes hung his head low, “...that was when they arrived.”
“I've seen a few stupid sci-fi movies in my early days,” Xilfer said, “and I am guessing that this is the part where the government appeared, correct?”
Cortes sighed and nodded lamely. Xilfer took note of the shamed looks of the other scientists behind him. “Our government were interested, after we've explained to them our findings. We only wanted to save our world by getting the natural resources of that other world, but the government had other plans.”
“...and I'm guessing it has something to do with money...” Xilfer said, sighing after the words left his mouth. He saw Cortes nodding, and he sighed yet again. “Damn those fools,” he tightened his grip on his gun. “And now, answer me this: why are you still working?”
“...we can't stop...”
“...b-but daddy...” Rose spoke up, catching her father's and Xilfer's attention.“I...I thought you stopped it...”
Cortes sighed, but flashed her a small smile. “I'm sorry, Rose, that I lied...”
“Listen, kid,” Xilfer spoke, making the girl look at him on the corner of her frightened eyes, “if your daddy stops, he'll be killed.” Rose gasped, and her father hung his head again. “...and not only him, I'm afraid...” Xilfer added as he eyed the scientists behind the man. He then grunted as he scratched his head with the gun. “Well, this sucks.”
Cortes looked at him curiously.
“So, you keep on working to try and fix this so not only you get funded, but also to save your lives, and your daughter's future, correct?”
Cortes blinked, and nodded with doubt.
“I came here to find some answers, and in the hopes of you restoring the island.” Xilfer explained as he looked at the bed. There, he saw the strange blue dog again, somehow having a terrible time breathing while sitting still. “But I guess I'm on check at the moment, so...”
Xilfer moved his gaze to the balcony, and pointed his gun again at the glass door again, and fired. The loud noise pierced the ears of all those present. Even Rainbow's ears twitched as she gazed confusedly at the gunner.
After the ringing of their ears died down, everyone heard a loud screeching noise from outside. It sounded like tires harshly being dragged on a cemented road. Then, a powerful engine reached their ears, and then a loud crashing noise.
A roofless car crashed through the mighty gates of the mansion, waking the tied guard inside the guard house. It landed on the wet ground, and skidded to a stop right below the balcony of where Xilfer was.
Grinning, Xilfer picked the girl up and pointed the gun at Cortes. “Now you're in check!” he said as a dog's barks and Rose's cries echoed in the room. “If you want her back, then fix the island!”
“Wait, no!” Cortes shouted desperately as Xilfer ran towards the balcony.
My eyes shrunk in fear of what they're about to do! I gritted my teeth harder as I forced myself back up. I quickly turned my gaze back at the—
—running man as Rainbow Dash suddenly shot up into a standing position and quickly flared her wings.
“DADDY!!!”
“ROSE!!! NO!!!”
“SCOOTALOO!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she furiously flapped her wings and shot forward like a bullet, heading straight towards the leaping man who was carrying a crying orange pegasus filly.
Just as Rainbow Dash's two front hooves were about to crack the man's skull, gravity pulled Xilfer down and landed on an unoccupied space of the four-wheeled vehicle.
“Go! Now!” Xilfer shouted as he fired his gun at the annoying dog, killing it instantly.
“With pleasure!” a muscular man wearing a bandana on his head licked his lips as he slammed his foot on the gas, sending the car flying towards the crumbled remains of the gate.
Meanwhile, as Cortes and the other scientists got to the balcony, a fast blue blur flew passed over their heads, heading directly towards the escaping vehicle like a blue missile.
“We've got company,” one of the three men, aside from Xilfer and Rose, said as he stared at the fast-approaching blue-thing towards them. “What the hell is that thing, anyway?
Xilfer turned his head and saw the blue thing. Rose, currently being tied by another man, turned and gasped at the blue blur. “R-Rainbow Dash!” she shouted, “Rainbow Dash! Help me! Hel—mmf!” a ball of cloth was stuck on her mouth, disabling her ability to speak and spat it out.
“Shut up,” the man grunted as he continued tying the girl up.
Xilfer sighed as he pulled a recorder from his pocket and hit the ‘stop record’ button. As the screen displayed the ‘saving’ message, he put it back inside and stood. Turning, he eyed the blue blur, and aimed with one eye closed. As he took aim, he mentally counted the times he pulled the trigger. First was to jam the door to the generator. Second was to call the attention of the scientists. Third was to the balcony to signal his comrades of his location. Fourth was to signal them to get their asses over there. Fifth was for the loud dog. Now, he had one bullet left.
Rainbow Dash disregarded the stinging of her eyes caused by the rain. She locked her gaze on the moving metal that the unicorns must have invented yet again, and what is worse, they held Scootaloo captive. She flapped her wings even faster, even gaining more speed than earlier. She was getting closer. There was no way that she'll lose Scootaloo again! There was no way she'll fail her again!
And then, a loud bang echoed, followed by a bright lightning flash.