When Bellesmith trotted into the upper chamber of Deep Ridge’s lookout tower, the air was no cooler within than it was on the outside. She couldn’t help it; her teeth chattered as she traversed the coffin-cold hollow of the dimly-lit concrete structure. A glint of light shone across barren wallspace from where a slit of a window opened towards the gray, gray east. Belle blinked, and her eyes drowned in a deathly pale atmosphere, encroaching from all sides.
A sharp series of scuffling hoofsteps broke through the numbness. She glanced to her sides, still shivering.
A pair of guards trained rifles on her. Shell strolled among them, his glare melting through the scene like a beacon. When his sight swam across Belle’s, both ponies lingered, until at last one of them shuddered.
“You expect me to work in a place like this?”
“Of course not.” Shell motioned towards her.
Belle bit her lip. Hesitantly, she trotted up until they were within a breath’s distance.
He hoarsely said, “Like all best secrets, your tools wait for you in the dark.” He turned his head to the side. With a glowing horn, he forced a large door to open. Two slabs slid vertically apart, filling the hollow concrete tower with a gravely echo.
As light poured into the black interior, Belle could make out dangling threads of equipment. A curtain of dust rose, and she coughed and waved through the streams of sediment in order to see better.
“When… was the last time this was used?” she murmured.
“Twenty years ago,” Shell said. “During which the warfront had shifted marginally twice. This fell into Xonan hooves on more than one occasion. Thankfully, they didn’t know how to get inside.”
Belle grimaced as she spotted a ghastly shape in the corner of the freshly-lit hollow. “I bet they’d be thankful if they saw what was actually inside.”
Shell followed her line of sight. He trotted lightly towards a corner of the compartment where the bundled skeletons of three separate stallions lay side by side in tattered canvas rags. “Undoubtedly the cretins would have made totems out of these unfortunate souls.”
“Does the Council of Ledo have no decency?” Belle frowned. “These soldiers could have at least gotten a decent burial.”
“I make sure that all of my fellow comrades are buried, dear doctor.” Shell said, glancing at her. “The Prime Enforcers who came before me were no different. Xonan dissidents, however…”
Belle’s jaw dropped. She gawked at the skeletons. “Guinea pigs…?”
“Wayward fools,” Shell droned. “They made the mistake of not killing themselves like their brethren after we captured them. The enforcers who ran this place would surely have gotten valuable information about our enemy, but…”
Belle sighed. “Sequencing was primitive in those days. I’m surprised the Council didn’t fry their leylines through their skulls.”
“Who says they didn’t?”
Belle bit her lip. In the meantime, Shell grabbed a chunk of loose equipment, carried it over, and plopped it into her forelimbs. “You are a miracle worker, doctor, or you are a corpse.”
“Shell, all I have of your daughter is a horn!” Belle exclaimed. “How am I expected to find any spheres to sequence with?!”
Shell stared at her blankly. He turned and whistled behind his shoulder. Three straight-faced unicorns shuffled in, carrying a wooden container. They dropped it to the floor with a rattling noise. From within the rickety box, a scrap of flesh and a bony limb spilled loose from a canvas tarp.
Belle inhaled sharply, immediately turning away as she tried not to inhale the rising dust. As her trembles calmed, Shell leaned in and murmured into her ear.
“A miracle, doctor. You and I both know that I’m not the one who can sanctify this situation.” A pale color flickered through his face, and his gaze fell to the cold floor. After a weak breath, he whispered, “In a world full of demons, we must… do what we can to preserve the angels.”
Belle sniffled. Tilting her tearful eyes up, she frowned and said, “Then why are you still hunting one?”
Shell stared back. He moved.
Belle flinched, but the stallion marched firmly past her. She panted for breath as he paused by his guards. “Keep an eye on her,” he grunted. “She does not die… but she doesn’t sleep either.” He pulled the necklace off, turned it over a few times, and murmured. “Only the most righteous do.” And with a cold breath, he tossed it so that the last shiny piece of Imre spun to a stop at Belle’s hooves.
She looked at it, then up at him. Shell vanished into the pale grayness like a frigid shadow. Gritting her teeth, Belle fought both anger and tears as she burrowed her way into the frayed equipment and started pulling parts loose with a loud clatter.