The beaten and broken pegasus looked upon the pony who entered the room. The shadowy figure closed the wooden door behind it, followed by the sound of a click. Hail knew that sound was the door being locked. The pony turned back to him, walking slowly and its' head low.
"S-Summer?" Hail squinted at the figure that stood above him, not making its' face any clearer in the nearly pitch black room. The hoofsteps sounded in front of him. His head was tipped back. "Summer, is it really you?"
The hoof that tipped his head back moved up the side of his head and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He felt the breath of the pony on his face, a pair of lips touched the tip of his muzzle. The coldness from the hoof slide back down to his neck. Another wrapped around to his wings, he tensed at the touch. Suddenly, a grip formed around it. Hail let out a short scream of pain, before coughing the second he wind pipe was clenched. A sharp pain poked at the spot between his eyes. A glow shined in his face and the figure's face came into view
"Wrong." The unicorn hissed. Hail's pupils shrunk at the sight of the still angered unicorn. He was suddenly kicked so far back, he connected with the wall behind him. His head hit the wall and slumped forward, the sounds of hoofsteps were muffled as a numbing pain surrounded his crown. "And no, your precious Summer isn't here...yet." The unicorn stood in front of the dazed pegasus, he eyes staring daggers down on him. "Oh, but don't be too disappointed."
Hail flung his head back, using the wall to prop it up. "Are you here to ask me the same bucking question, or are you letting me go?" He asked, knowing it was probably the former, followed by a beating. Or maybe just the beating.
The unicorn stifled a laugh. "Why would I ask you where she is? I know you don't know, we all know you don't." She sat down in front of him. "We just need something to bring her out."
Hail gave her a puzzled look. "What are you talking about?"
"You." She pointed. "She's always been one to care about anypony who get's in the way of us and her. For now, that's you. So, if the boss is right and you can't lead us to her, she will come and get you herself."
Hail sat back in the chair. He imaged Summer trying to find him, but end up being surrounded by these ponies. Then, his mind shot images of the thugs from the alley. "You won't stand a chance." He hissed.
The unicorn's ear twitched at his voice. She stared at him, squinting her eyes. "What did you say?"
"I've seen her kill five stallions without even a second thought to save me." He glared. "The only strength I've seen from any of you is towards a squirt like me. The beatings you give me are nothing compared to what she'll do to you when she finds me."
The unicorn was laughing at him now. "Are-Are you saying...Are you saying that I'm weak?" She stood and forced a hoof against Hail's throat, her tone darkening and her stare hallowing. "You'll see that any hit you got from me was under the control of my boss. And guess what, you little shit...he's not in the room right now, is he?"
Hail only stared back into the angered eyes of the unicorn, matching it with his own sense of hate. "You've had every chance to kill me. If you do now, it'll only make things worse for you." His voice was hoarse and emotionless. Hail didn't care anymore, whether he lived or died at this point. He had been a personal punching bag for the past several hours, his mind had been cast and lost in the darkness he sat in. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was stained with his own blood. The gauze around his waist was dirty with dried blood.
The unicorn looked at him with scorn, but the sides of her mouth slowly curved up into a grin. "I'm gonna have fun breaking you."
Hail turned and spat off to the side. "Give it your all, bitch."
~*~\~^~/~*~
"Dammit..." She said. "Dammit!"
The disguised Summer kicked the opened door, nearly knocking it off its' hinges, but only forcing against the wall. She paced around the room, breathing heavily as her eyes flared bright yellow. Her hooves stomped at the rug cover floor of the empty office. Only a folded chair and a table that leaned up against a blank wall was left in the room. The clock on the wall read 3:29.
Where is he?! She screamed in her head, throwing the Bluetooth across the room. It shattered as it made contact with the wall. She slumped against the opposite wall, her head slumped forward. Then back, making a small thud. Her dark pink mane was no longer slicked back and now covered her eyes. She punched the ground. Her hoof hit the floor once more, she wondered if anyone had heard it. More so, she wondered about if Hail was alive, or even here. They could have taken him somewhere else, making her father from her goal now then she was at his home.
Summer stood up from her seated position against the wall and made her way out of the room. She hung her head and left what was left of the Bluetooth there. She walked down the long hallway and made a left. As she looked up, Summer found her self in a large open area. It was filled with cubicles, desks, and computers. It looked as though this company ran a small accountant business as a cover up. Ponies sat at the surrounding desks as chatter echoed around. Summer stared empty and sullenly around the room a few moments before she turned for the exit.
"Hey!"
Summer froze in place. She quickly turned around, standing behind her was a dark grey stallion with blue mane. He was leaning against a cubicle. "It's me, Coal. You look like hell, Lake."
Lake? "Uh...yeah." Summer grunted.
The grey stallion waved her over. She followed him to a table with a coffee maker and several cups. "I can't even begin tell you about the shit I've been having to go through for the past few hours." Coal said, pouring the warm drink into a cup. "First that meeting, then Fog wanted to talk about our whole situation again...and you know how that goes."
"Y-Yeah." Summer said, her voice rough and deep. "Uh, she could be a real hoof full...?"
"I know!" He laughed. "Then, out of no where, I get called on an assignment. And get this, it's with that one group; Squad 313."
Summer's mind stopped. Those numbers bounced around in the back of her mind. "3...313?"
Coal turned to 'Lake'. "Yeah. You know, 313. The squad that had been terminated due to the incident in the Dead Zone." He took a sip of his coffee. "Anyway, my mission was to infiltrate this house and capture Subject 7."
"Subject 7?" Summer asked.
"Man, where's your head today?" Coal face hooved. "Anyway, we broke into the place where she was suppose to be. We searched it, and all we found was this kid." He chuckled. "This kid's got issues, Lake. A real mess. While we interrogated him, he managed to piss one of the ponies from 313, the boss, and nearly died when he was threatened." He took another sip of his drink. "Wanted to buck em' up myself."
Summer gritted her teeth, her eyes were sharp knives aiming at the stallion in front of her.The image of her hoof hitting this stallion in the face was all she saw. She didn't make a single movement, and just stood staring at Coal while he rambled. When he was about to go on about whoever 'Fog' is, there was a loud bang, followed by the sounds of panics and shouts echoing the hall on the opposite side of the room.
"COAL!" A voice yelled across the room. Around the corner, a dark red pony with black mane came trotting towards Summer and the grey stallion.
"What?" Coal replied.
The stallion panted. "It's Knives! She's in the interrogation room with the kid." He pointed across the room. "She locked the door!"
Coal dropped his half empty cup and was pushed aside as a black and pink blur sped past him. Summer ran around the corner and across the room, knocking over several ponies in the process. She turned and found her self in another hallway. She ran as fast as she could to the end and stopped, looking both ways. Her eyes fixated on the single door to her left. Gaining speed, she ran all the way down the hall and aimed for the locked door. She slowed to a near stop, raised her hoof, and threw all her weight into it.
~*~\~^~/~*~
The locked door exploded and its' pieces flew about the poorly lit room. Summer looked around, finding what she been searching for. Hail was cuffed to a chair, his mouth bloodied and he looked barely alive. Holding him by his throat and where Summer's eyes targeted, was a dark pink unicorn with long black mane that fell around her face. She stared at Summer with confusion, only finding a enraged monster that stood in the broken doorway.
The unicorn known as Knives looked back and panted. "Heh...Heh...Look, kid." She said looking back at the beaten pegasus. "Your mommy's here."
Hail's eyes opened slightly, fluttering from the pain he felt all over. He looked towards the doorway, his mouth opening in awe. "Summer?"
"Put him down, Knives." Summer growled. "Unless you want to see the inside of your spleen."
"Oh! You remember me!" The unicorn said, gleefully throwing Hail to the side. "I'm so flattered! To think, after all these years..."
Summer took a step forward, pulling the suit off piece by piece. "Shut up. I'm here for the kid."
"Oh, I know." Knives smiled. "And we're here for you."
Suddenly, the room darken as the doorway was crowded with four bodies. The rest of Squad 313 entered the room, surrounding Summer. Hail looked on from the corner of the room, he fidgeted as he tried breaking away from his restraints.
"Aw, where's Nails?" Summer laughed. "I thought you two were so cute together back at the base."
Knives' horn began to glow and her murderous smile dropped. "I'm gonna rip you in two!" She jumped at Summer, her hooves splayed and her horn aiming for the mare. Summer moved aside just she past, along with moving out of the way of the regal pony from behind her. Another pony threw a hoof near her face, she moved to the left and swung one of her own. The hoof made contact with the pony's head. A crack echoed in the room and the regal stallion dropped to the floor.
The enraged Knives was throwing her hooves in Summers direction, she blocked most of them except for two shots in her side. She stumbled over by Hail. He looked up to Summer.
"Summer, what's going on?" He asked, laying sideways on the floor and still cuffed to the chair.
"Yeah, Summer! What's going on?!" Knives teased. Summer clopped both of her hooves together, a small flash of light highlighted the room. She ran towards the unicorn and her hoof made contact with her face. Knives flung back and hit the wall beside the door. She let out a small grunt and slumped down.
Summer turned around and helped Hail's chair right side up. "Look, I'll explain later. Let's get out of here first, deal?"
Hail nodded. He saw Summer move behind him, and felt a small thud. After a few more, he heard the sound of metal hitting the cold floor of the room. The restraints around his hooves dropped and he slowly stood from the chair. All the blood rushed to his head and he slumped over, but he was caught by Summer.
"Don't worry." She said. "I got you."
Hail regained his balance and walked few steps towards the unconscious Knives. "Is she...?"
Summer walked beside him. "No. Just knocked the buck out."
Hail stood for a few seconds, unmoving. Then, he stepped forward and delivered a swift kick to the side of Knives head, making her body fall over to the side. Summer stared wide eyed at the now angry pegasus.
"I've been wanting to do that for FIVE HOURS!" He yelled. Sounds of hooves grew louder in the hallway.
"We have to go, Dove." Summer said. "Now."
"Go where?" Hail asked.
"Can we worry about that when we aren't in the same building with these buckers?" She asked, grabbing him and rushing out the door. They stood in the hall, at the end were several ponies in black suits, the one leading them was a angered Coal.
"Get em'!" He pointed and yelled. Summer and Hail turned and ran down the opposite end of the hall and turned around the corner. Behind them, the sounds of the suited ponies blasted in their ears. Doors zoomed past them and the end of the hall was approaching. They both skidded to a stop. All there was in their way was a blank wall.
"Aw buck!" Hail panicked. "We're dead, we're dead, we're dead!"
Summer stood silently, rubbing her hooves together. Suddenly, she punched the wall dead center. It flashed bright yellow and then crumbled down. Hail stared mouth agape at the mare.
"Let's go!" She yelled, jumping through the hole in the wall. Hail stared for a few seconds before following her. The hole lead to an office, Summer was waiting by the door. Hail ran through, Summer took a desk and blocked the door.
"Okay. What the hell is going on?" Hail asked, this time more frustrated. Instead of getting an answer, he was grabbed and forced into a hug by Summer. He stood there for a moment, then hugged back. He felt her heart beat against his chest.
She pulled away and took a look at him. "Are you okay? Bleeding? Did she stab you or anything?" She asked him. He looked around himself.
"N-No. I'm fine...thanks." he said. Hail looked around the empty room they were in now. "Where's the way out?"
Summer walked over to a wall behind him. "This should lead to the main lobby where I came in. But after I do this, you need to stick with me. Okay?"
Hail nodded. "Then will you tell me what's going on?"
Summer rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure." She stepped away from the wall and clopped her hooves. In a split second, she hit the wall. Just like seconds before, the wall flashed, and then fell to pieces. Hail watched as Summer turned back and stood beside him. "Ready? Let's go!"
Both ponies ran through the damaged wall and entered the lobby of the building. The secretary that Summer spoke to when she came earlier screamed as they ran past her and made way for the front entrance. The double doors flew open and they were outside. Rain poured heavily from the sky. Summer turned around the corner into the side of the building. Hail waited as she disappeared for a moment. She emerged from the alley with her jacket and ran up to him.
"Where are we going?" Hail asked. "We can't go back to my house."
Summer took this time to catch her breath. "I think..." She panted. "I think there's an old building near that old part of town."
"You know mean the old school?" Hail asked. "I think I know where that is. Let's go."
Summer nodded and trotted behind him as he ran down the street. They used the ran and the darkness of the city as their camouflage from passersby. Hail kept his head straight, never looking back. He knew Summer was behind him, and he felt safe that way. He fought back all the questions racking away in his mind. What happened back there? How can Summer do all of that? What is Summer? And what did she do to want all of them to kill him just to get her? he locked them away for the time being. Right now, they had to escape this part of Manehattan. They needed to lay low, then see where to go from there.
Summer on the other hoof knew exactly what was going on. Why they were chasing her, who they are, and what they want. She knew it all, but none of that mattered at this moment, maybe even later when it will. All she's thinking about right now is the next destination, and the pegasus running in front of her. She saw his beaten and battered body move in the ran, his coat was bloodied and soaked by the storm above them. His black mane sticking to his neck, a strip of gauze flying free in the wind as he ran. She was going to fix this, help him.
That's all that matters now.