//------------------------------//
// A Coming Together 
// Story: Innavedr 
// by Imploding Colon 
//------------------------------//

	"Is... uhm..."  Kera bit her lip as she peered over Bellesmith's shoulder.  "Is that it?"

Belle leaned forward in the cockpit, her chestnut brown eyes squinting.  She took a solid glance at the blueprints stretched across the small airship's instrument panels.  Then, with a curious breath, she tilted the nose of the aircraft down, bringing the vessel into a sharper descent.  A deep rocky ravine lingered below, forming a jagged curve southeast, connecting one arid valley with another on either side of a steep brown plateau.

Built upon a jutting cliff overlooking this thin canyon was a bunker of gray concrete nestled against a cluster of rocks.  The entrance mimicked the grandeur of Blue Shelf, but most definitely not its professional ornateness.

"For a ridge, it's not very 'deep,'" Phoenix wheezed from where he slumped against the bulkheads besides the foals.  "Perhaps this is just... nnngh... a waystation of some sort?"

Belle slowly shook her head.  "No.  This is the only place within sight, and it matches the coordinates on the map."

"Maybe all the super crazy evil stuff is underground," Kera muttered.  She scrunched up her tattooed face as she said, "I don't think it's worth it, Belle.  Whatever's down there, I don't think anypony—much less Nightshade—wanted us to find the crap."

"Kera!" Belle whispered hoarsely.  She took one glance at the foals sitting in the back of the airship, all gazing out the portholes with tense, eager eyes.  "We did not come all this way just to chicken out..."

"I-I'm not chickening out!" Kera's voice squeaked.  "I just think..."

"Yes?"

Kera sighed, folding her forelimbs.  "That th-this may be a big fat waste of our time..."

"Enough has been wasted as it is," Belle muttered.  "Time is all we have left to save."

"But what if there's absolutely nothing down there?"

"Then we'll move on..."

"Move on to what?!"  Kera shrugged, pointing at the glowing tome in the satchel hanging off of Bellesmith's flank.  "You got that big shiny book thing!  I bet you could take us somewhere so we can get rich off it!"

Belle sighed as she slowed the ship towards a gentle hover.  "Kera..."

"We c-could live like queens!"  She gestured towards the injured mercenary with her head.  "Even Mr. Phoenix, once he grows his hair long!"

Belle produced the landing struts and anchored the vessel to the rock.  Once she cut off the engine, she swiveled around in her seat and gently grasped the foal by her shoulders.  "Whatever I do find down there, I promise you..."  She smiled.  "I won't be ditching you for anything.  Even if all we have to look forward to is a life on the run."

Kera frowned, although her hooves squirmed silently.  "I'm not scared, y'know..."

"Oh, of course not..."

"I just don't want you going soft on me..."  Kera bit her lip.  "Or stupid..."

Belle leaned forward, her eyes imploring.  "Which one of those things do you hate more?"

Kera said nothing.

Belle stroked the filly's mane back.  "I'm going to be alright, Kera.  Everything is going to be alright.  I'm bringing us all here because it has to be done.  Just like getting you a better, cleaner, healthier life has to be done.  Ya hear me?"

"Mmmmff... sure, I hear you..."

"Maybe we can even do something about straightening your hair out," Belle said with a slight giggle.

Kera fidgeted.  "Okay," she eventually muttered.

Bellesmith bliked, for she hadn't expected that.

Kera said nothing in response.  Without a word, she leaned in and gave Belle's hoof a gentle nuzzle.

A few seconds passed, and Belle smiled warmly.  Patting Kera on the shoulder, she stood up and trotted towards the middle of the parked vessel.  "Alright.  I'm going out there..."

"Nngh..."  Phoenix stood up.  "Me too."

"Mr. Phoenix, please..."  Belle sighed, shaking her head.  "You're in no condition—"

"As long as I'm friggin' alive, you bet I'm in a condition to ensure your s-safety!"  He pulled a rifle up out of a chest and cocked it.  He tried not to wince from his freshly shattered horn as he gazed at her with thin eyes.  "Just because my magic bit the dust doesn't mean my promise did."

"You've lived up entirely to your end of the bargain," she said.  "I assure you—"

"There wasn't no bargain," he hissed.  "There was a pr-promise."  He gulped dryly and added, "Besides.  Somepony's gotta make sure you get back to this airship and these kids without mishap. I sure as heck can't fly anything right now."

Belle opened her mouth to argue, but lingered.  Eventually, her nostrils flared, and she said, "Very well.  Just allow me to take the lead."

"Yeah..."  Phoenix smiled wearily as Belle strapped a rifle over her flank.  "I can do that."

"Hmmmph..."  Kera sat down with folded forelimbs.  "You'd be better off sneaking me into Deep Ridge inside your satchel.  I'd clobber more baddies with my magic than he could with a gun."

"Cute... but 'cute' doesn't make hero material," Phoenix said, patting her head.

She batted his hoof away with a growl.  "What do you know?"

"Okay, maybe there's one exception," Phoenix muttered.  "Eagle Eye."

"Who?" Kera squinted.

"Heh... I'll tell you about her... er... him later."

"No you won't."

"Jeez.  Thanks for the vote of confidence, kid!"

"I mean that you've gotta have a terrible memory now that half of your head's all busted!"

"Why you dirty little scamp—"

"Shhh!" Belle hissed, her hoof on the release latch for the hovercraft's exit.  She gulped and said in a steely voice, "We're going in."

Phoenix nodded, tightening his grip of the rifle in his hooves.

Belle's head turned towards the foals.  "Do not move a single inch from this vehicle unless I tell you to.  Understand?"

They all nodded fervently.

"Yes, Belle."

"Yes, Miss Bellesmith."

"Th-thank you for everything, M-Miss Bellesmith."

She turned towards the door.  She hung her head.  One breath... two... three...

Gritting her teeth, she unlatched the exit.  The door swung open, and her face was instantly pelted with dust and grit.  An arid wind howled its way into the open cabin of the airship, and it actually took some effort to shove the door against the gale.  At last, the exit was opened all the way.  Belle trotted out, squatting low as she swung the barrel of her rifle around.  Beyond the glow of the book in her satchel, all could she could see was sand and haze.

"Perhaps we should leave that thing inside the craft?" Phoenix asked, limping behind Belle as he pointed at the satchel.  "If you don't mind me saying so, you're lit up like a Xonan signal flare."

"I don't want to risk anything," she murmured against the hot breeze.

"Like what?"

"I only know so much about the flame," she said.  "The foals probably know more, sure, but it is not their place to carry something like this."

Phoenix gulped and muttered, "This is an 'Austraeoh' thing, isn't it?"

"I guess you could say that," Belle murmured, still trying to spot the entrance to Deep Ridge beyond the wind and grit.  "I guess you could say I'm totally bonkers too..."

Phoenix smiled, shrugging.  "I was gonna say 'courageous.'"

"Yeah, well, I learn from the best."

"And the worst?"

"Same difference."

"Right..."

Suddenly, their bodies formed long shadows against the dark rock.  They spun about, looking behind them and past the parked body of the airship.  It was morning, and the sun was just now rising in the east, bleeding brightly over the summits of jagged mountains lining the far edge of the arid valley beyond the plateau.

As if the light had a melting power all on its own, it flung golden daggers through the sandstorm, seemingly clearing it within a matter of seconds.  Belle and Phoenix knew better, of course, but they were too thrown off by the subtle spectacle of the moment, as well as a dark, cloaked shape that stood out starkly against the mouth of the concrete structure to the west.

"Bellesmith!"  Phoenix hissed as he crouched low.  "Get down!  They've spotted us!"

Belle winced as she squatted next to him.  "Who's spotted us?!"

"The enemy!"  Phoenix pointed.  "Either it's one of Nightshade's cronies or enforcers who have infiltrated the place!"

The mare's brow furrowed.  "If either was true, then how come they haven't tried shooting our heads off by now?"

Phoenix opened his mouth, but had nothing to say.  He shuddered, breathless, gazing along with Belle at the cloaked figure by the facility's exit.

The pony was jumping up and down, waving a forelimb wildly.  They heard a voice shouting through the wind currents, approaching them, entreating them.

Belle's lips pursed.  After a few seconds, she glanced aside and murmured, "Put our weapons down."

Phoenix grimaced.  "Are you nuts?"

"Aren't we beyond that by now?"  Belle forcibly shoved his grip of his weapon down.  "Just do as I say!"

"Spark, help us all," Phoenix muttered.

As soon as the two ponies relinquished their weapons, the figure stopped waving.  He craned his neck, gazing at them curiously from afar.  Suddenly, he turned and whistled into the cavity of the concrete entrance behind him.  Swiveling again, he trotted briskly towards the two, his cloak billowing in the breeze.  As he came closer, the entrance past his bouncing figure filled with even more equine shapes, all clad in flowing cloaks as they gazed quietly and nervously upon the scene.

Belle stared at the bunker for a little too long, so it was with a startled jump that she noticed the stallion's intricate web of tattoos sketched all across his flesh when he finally came up to a stop.

Breathless, a thin and emaciated Xonan leaned forward.  He lowered the hood of his ragged cloak as he panted for breath.  "You... y-you are civillian, no?"  His accent was as thick as his mane, a tangle of hair made even messier by weeks of dust, sweat, and neglect.  "Civillian with... civillian airship?"

"I am..."  Bellesmith blinked.  She stood up tall.  "I am a professor of physics and neurological research from the University of Mountainfall."

The stallion blinked at that.  He glanced at the guns in their possession, and his horn glowed with a brief wave of panic.  The swirling lines across his coat likewise shimmered.

"And I-I came here because I was curious!" Belle blurted, dropping her rifle completely to the ground.  "And... and s-so has he!"  She leaned over and kicked Phoenix's gun to the dirt with a grunt.  "He's with me.  We both wanted to know."  Her chestnut eyes narrowed, both curious and sincere.  "Who is left here?  Who is in Deep Ridge?"

The stallion was panting at this point.  His jaw twitched before he eventually said, "You... You not with the Lady Nightshade?  The Madame of Industries?"

"No, sir," Phoenix shook his head.  "We are not..."

"We came because..."  Belle fumbled a bit for words, then said, "Because we were concerned.  We heard about this place, about what was done to ponies here, and we were... worried about you..."

The stallion squinted at both of them.  At last, his weary eyes rested on their identical, stubbed horns.  His muscles relaxed almost instantly.  "The Madame has broken you too, yes?"

Belle took a deep breath.  She slowly shook her head.  "Trust me, sir.  We are not broken.  We came to get you out."

Phoenix glanced at her, then cautiously back at the stallion.

The Xonan's eyes were glossy by this point.  As the first of several tears sprang loose, he wheezed through a bitter smile.  "We thought... only us.  Yes?  Only us with the pain of Nightshade.  But others..."  He pointed with a quivering forelimb.  "Others hurt... but not hurt..."  He gulped.  "And yet, came to help us?"

Belle's golden body stood solidly against the rising sun.  "Yes.  We only want to help."

A voice cried from the distance.  The stallion turned around.  By this point, no more than thirty-five bodies had emerged from the structure.  He waved at them all, shouting back in a melodic tongue, before turning to look back at the two ponies.  He dried his cheek, regained some composure, and stammered, "We are... ehh... all that you see here, yes?"  He sniffled and pointed back at the group.  "Not just stallions, but mares and foals.  We... we left here, yes?  All of Nightshade's ponies: gone.  Talking things that aren't ponies:  gone.  Nothing but... erm... quiet machines and smell of dead prisoners, yes?"

Belle tried not to wince at that.  "I see..." She nodded.

"Food also gone.  And water.  We fearful that we die like sparkling animals.  We become the smell too."  The stallion shuddered, his horn flickering again. "We see your ship.  Safe civillian ship.  We have hope, yes?  Perhaps also food and water?"

Belle chewed on her lip.  She looked at Phoenix.

Phoenix looked back.

After a deep breath, Belle smiled.  "No.  No food and water, I'm sorry."  She turned to gaze softly back at the stallion.  "But... uhm... we did bring something else..."

The stallion's brow furrowed at that in confusion.

The mare cleared her throat.  She trotted aside and called out to the ship.  After a few seconds, the first of several small, tattooed faces poked out of the hollow of the vessel.  One by one, the fillies and colts trotted out, shuffling across the dirt and grit of the arid plateau.  Eventually, they formed a line, gazing nervously towards the cloaked figures gathered around the entrance to Deep Ridge.

The one stallion squinted at the lot of them... until his eyes reflected a colt's face.  The next breath that came out of him was a tender squeak.  "Jaatso?"  He gulped.  "Jaatso Mell Siezeen?"

The colt in question limped forward, his jaw dropped.  He stammered, "Papa...?"

The stallion's face absolutely melted.  He threw his cloak off and slid foward, collapsing before the foal.  "Hamaat thriul sezaan Jaatso!  Jaatso thiulen savaluus!"  He swept the colt up in a tender hug, nuzzling him with a tear-stained smile.  "Diul thriemen!  D-diul thriemen..."

"Mmmm..."  The colt's face scrunched up with a sob, a sob that he buried in his father's intricately drawn coat.  "Papa..."  His voice was a muffled wail against the stallion's forelimbs as he shivered in his embrace.  "Papa talmasaat lesiul m-messen vrie..."

Belle was too busy staring at the scene to hear the galloping hoofsteps racing from the bunker.  A mare and a teenage filly dashed over and fell on their knees besides the stallion.  "Jaatso!  Diul thiemen niul hassa gliem!"  The mother's head dove in, almost knocking the father aside as she nuzzled the foal with tears and giggles.  The father chuckled and scooped his sobbing daughter as the family reunited there in the dust.

The cries doubled... and tripled.  Every surviving pony from Deep Ridge rushed forward.  They didn't have to gallop all the way, for in one tiny burst after another the foals ran forward, meeting them in the center of the plateau.  They embraced, they sobbed, they laughed.  Fathers kissed their daughters' foreheads.  Mothers examined their sons' sparkling eyes.  All of Nightshade's torment and regiment vanished in an instant, replaced instead by the song of an exotic, honeyed tongue that brought blossoming resonance to that arid landscape.

Phoenix's mouth hung agape.  He looked at all of the Xonans around them, their tattoos and cloaks forming a rustic mosaic against the otherwise dead world.  He cast a nervous glance at the managun lying a few steps away, a very familiar weapon, and a part of him shuddered straight to the bone.

In the meantime, Belle was a tearful mess.  She sniffled, cracking smile after smile as she witnessed the reunion all around her.  The rising sun's warmth spread over her figure, and a part of her—the part whose voice was cracking with sighs and chuckles—forced her to turn around, to face east.

The morning glow blinded her temporarily, but she followed its platinum bands, noticing a bleak shadow against it all.  She blinked, and the tiny figure came into clarity.  Unlike the other fillies and colts, she was not in the arms of a parent or an older sibling.  Instead, she sat upon the edge of the ridge, overlooking the steep, steep canyon below.

Belle blinked.  Fidgeting, she trotted over towards Kera's side...