Silent Ponyville: Duet Of Sorrow

by KillerSteel

Chapter 2: A Recollection and A Brass Request

“The second nightmare…I rarely even want to think about it. I was standing in the middle of a city, tall buildings all around me. What was weird about it is it was like I was in an old film, there was no color to the buildings, the streets, or even the plants. It was all black and white…even me. I looked around at the empty streets around me, and started walking through the town.

There was no sound to my steps, no birds chirping, even though I swear I saw three fly away from a nearby tree…it was like the whole town was stuck in limbo, like nothing there was alive. It freaked me out. I decided to head up a building, see into the distance, so I ran up the side of an apartment building, good thirty stories. It seemed…easier than usual, like I weighed nothing. Weird thing to notice when you’re in the middle of a soundless city-scape, heh.

But, when I got to the top of that building, and looked around myself, I realized something. As soon as I entered that dream, I’d had a feeling that I’ve been in that city before…and when the realization hit me, it hit like three freight trains. I was in Tavin…” Sehn shivers slightly as he tells the story, obviously unnerved by this realization.

Tyrus almost jumps off the wall, staring at Sehn with shocked eyes, “Tavin?! You mean-“

“I mean exactly what you think…I was in Tavin before everything happened. It terrified me, sent electricity down my spine…because as I looked up, I saw her. I saw that devil screaming through the air…” Sehn’s eyes open wide, his clasped hands gripping each other more with each passing moment.

“That damned Equestrian…the one who caused the Tavin Disaster.”

“But that’s impossible! How the hell do you remember that?! You weren’t even there!” Tyrus shouts at his brother, none of this making sense to him.

“I’m not sure, but all I know is I couldn’t move in that dream, like my whole body had shut down. I could only watch as she ascended, further, further into the sky, until she was just a black dot against the sun…like some holy figure from a scripture, wings spread wide. Then she started falling…wings flapping, she fell faster…and faster. I could see the wind bending around her. She was already at her top speed when she passed me, and time slowed down. A second turned into a minute, then five…like the dream wanted, forced me to identify this demon.”

Jen adjusts her sitting position, eyes wide in surprise. “Kind of shocking what happened to her after all this…still, you were on border patrol duty until five hours after the Tavin Disaster…carry on, Captain.”

“Right…time had slowed down, and I managed a good, long look at her. She was the only thing to have any color in that dead city. The blue coat, the rainbow-colored mane and tail, even the air bending around her, like Nature itself trying to stop her dead in her tracks. Those rose-colored eyes looked back at me, and she smiled…a disturbing smile, something that crept into my soul and bit at it with sick desire. I heard a laugh, a crazed one…then, Boom.

The next thing I remember is lying in the rubble of the building I was on, my vision completely distorted. I could barely see past my own hand, but the blood all over me, and the pain stabbing me in the legs and hand were all too noticeable. My breathing was brutally hard, like I was on the edge of death…I heard footsteps…she came into my vision. We just stared at each other for a while, and her smile didn’t disappear. She closed her eyes, leaned in and gave me what felt like a kiss on the cheek, and then I woke up.”

Sehn shuts his eyes tight, rubbing his forehead. He moves his hand over the lump and grimaces, twitching slightly with the pain, using it to get the image out of his mind.

“…Wait, she kissed you?” Tyrus asks, again leaning on the wall, his eyebrows raised.

“Wow, really? I told you a full recollection of Tavin, and THAT’S what you take from it all?” Sehn looks over at his brother, the look in his eye just pure amazement.

“Now now, gentlemen. Let’s remain focused on what’s happening here, alright?” Jen shifts slightly, moving her legs into a new crossed position, getting blood flowing again.

“This is…quite the story you’re telling us, Captain. These Equestrians…you’ve only ever personally known one, haven’t you?”

“Yes, Doctor. A pony named Rainbow Dash, least that’s what she calls herself. Couldn’t stand saying it, so I just took to calling her ‘Amanda’. I know I didn’t recognize the unicorn, though I doubt I could’ve with all that armor she was wearing.” Sehn adjusts his hands, putting on top of the other, letting out a deep sigh.

“So you’ve never seen the unicorn before. I can understand the second nightmare completely, that is a very traumatic experience…but the first doesn’t seem to sync well with what you’ve been through. It’s been 300 years since the General’s battle against Celestia’s personal Royal Guard…” Jen strokes her chin in thought, closing her eyes.

“Perhaps it’s because he YEARNS for the heat of battle once more!?” Doc hops into the conversation, skating over with a slide on his knees. “I know I do, I’m running out of test subjects after all! Could always use an Equestrian or two for some experiments, and POWs are ALWAYS useful! Heeheehee!!”

Everyone just kind of stares at Doc, eyes half closed and a single eyebrow raised on each one, the look simply stating “You barged into this important conversation to say that?”

“No…I don’t think I wanna start killing ponies, sorry. And did you say test subjects?” Sehn looks questioningly at Doc.

“Ahem! I did not mean test subjects as ‘things to be dissected’, I meant ‘things to be tested’!” Doc shouts back, no care for the volume of his voice, leaping back onto his feet. The German accent shakes his sentence, causing Sehn to take a rather annoyed look.

“Would you please keep it down, ‘Doc’? It IS the middle of the night.” Jen interrupts the stare between Sehn and Doc, then turns to face Sehn again.

“What about the last nightmare, Captain?”

“Oh, now this one’s a doozy…and probably one of the more disturbing nightmares I’ve had.” Sehn takes a deep breath, cupping his hands again, and closes his eyes as he recollects.

“I remember standing in total darkness. Everywhere around me, it was like midnight with no moon or stars to light up your surroundings. I stood there for about three minutes, trying to adjust…but my night vision just wouldn’t kick in. I started walking forward, hoping I wouldn’t run into a wall, and my footsteps sounded like I was walking on metal. ‘Alright, a metal walkway, this has to be a hall then,’ I told myself, and continued my walk down…well, wherever I was. I walked for about ten minutes when I heard this cackle in the dark…a rather high-pitched, almost screechy giggle, like some schoolgirl meeting a celebrity crush…though it was sadistic-sounding. I’m still not sure how I came to that conclusion, but the giggle bugged me. I started running towards the source, and the darkness started to lift. I was definitely in a hallway, concrete walls and ceiling above and around me, all painted green, and I was running on a slightly rusted metal walkway, suspended over an abyss. Seemed weird, but something in my mind was telling me to keep running forward, to find the source of that laugh.”

Sehn coughs slightly, rubbing his throat with his left hand.

“Water, water please. Talking this much is drying my throat out.”

Doc jumps up from his cross-legged sitting position, hitting himself lightly in the chest. “I’ll get your water. Just five seconds!” He spins around and dashes off towards the sink, grabbing a glass from the cupboard above it. Sure enough, five seconds later, a glass full of water is flying right at Sehn’s face, which is readily splashed all over him and the floor.

“Ah, damn it Doc! I didn’t ask to be DRENCHED, I wanted a DRINK.”

“You simply must be clear about this sort of thing, my boy! Hang on, lemme get you a proper drink this time.” Doc grabs another cup from the cupboard, filling it with water, then dashes over to Sehn, offering it to him like a butler would offer a stiff drink to his employer.

“Here you are, sir, one water.” He says with a bow.

Sehn just shifts his mouth up towards the upper right of his face, before taking the glass and drinking the water in it in one gulp.

“Ahhh, much better. Ahem…anyway, back to the dream…ahhh, where was I? Oh right, right, the giggling. Umm...” Sehn takes a deep breath before carrying on where he left off, the glass in-between his cupped hands.

“It came again, and that feeling returned, something between fear and annoyance. Something started to smell weird as I ran down that hallway, and I could see cages above me, chained to the ceiling, with some kind of bodies inside them, though I was running too fast to really confirm it. I kept on running for what felt like hours, until another set of clanging entered my ears. I saw a silhouette in front of me, short, and running…well, more like jogging on all fours. I sped up to get a better look at it.

I remember shouting at it, it shouting back at me, though the exact dialogue escapes me. I definitely know I had some kind of purpose for chasing it…and I know what it looked like. It was another Equestrian, pink coat, hot pink mane and tail. I couldn’t see much of her body, just the color really stood out. She was wearing a leather dress, draped over her back, and it was covered in patches of flesh of different shapes and colors. Crudely sewn to it were three pairs of wings, also varying in color…and I could hear bone clacking against bone, and I saw flashes of horns on a string around her neck.

She looked back at me, and I know I saw those cyan eyes glow in the darkness…and she looked rather happy being chased by me. She said something about me having to hurry up or whatever, the comment annoyed me so I ran at my top speed. She was keeping the gap pretty even, even though she was clearly running slower than me, and when she picked up into her sprint, the difference in our speeds was like night and day. She shot off into the darkness, through what I guess was a door frame, and a large wood door slammed closed behind her.

I ran in a shoulder-tackle at it, and the thing blew right off the hinges, like it was made of paper. I flew into the room and tried to skid to a halt, but the floor was so slick I nearly slipped right on to my butt. There was a terrible smell of rot in the room, and the walls were covered in some kind of fleshy material…patches of rusted fence showed through it. My boots were covered in it, and the stuff on the walls and floor was definitely alive, it even started bleeding when I scuffed my boot into it! I started walking forward, blocking out the smell as best I could, and looked around.

The room was lit by a single torch above the door I tackled through, but it lit up a good half of the room. All I saw along the room were chains hanging from the ceiling, some tangled around dead Equestrians, some ending in butcher’s hooks with Equestrians impaled on them. Almost all of them were missing their lower torsos, some remains of their organs hanging limply from the bodies, but they all had something in common. Their eyes were removed, and their mouths were cut into a permanent grin.”

Sehn shivers, closing his eyes tightly, reliving every moment as his story goes on. He starts shaking.

Tyrus comes over to his side, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Calm down, Sehn. You’re simply retelling this, not living through the same nightmare. Keep it together.”

“Believe me, I’m trying…” Sehn rubs his temples, thinking. He continues.

“I was walking towards the center of the room when I heard that giggle again. Can’t remember exactly what she said, but it was something about decorating the room…how many guests it took to get it the way she wanted it, her being happy about it…it’s a blur. She was standing just beyond the light’s reach. There was a doctor’s operating table next to her…someone was lying on top of it, small table next to the operating desk with a bag on it. I moved closer, and what I saw shocked me more than the room itself.

There was a pony lying on the table, sliced up with almost crazy precision. Her flanks were cut up, flesh having been removed. Her body was covered in fresh wounds, most of which were caused by a thin blade, cut deep enough for blood to flow freely from them. She was in terrible pain, and the cries that came from her ripped at me…it was terrible. Even our worst Punishers couldn’t put someone through that kind of torture…what shocked me more about the whole situation was…the crazy pony I’d been chasing, and the tortured pony lying on the table…they were physically indistinguishable. Like perfect twins…if you put them on a wall, you couldn’t tell them apart.

The red tunnel started to come back…I felt myself losing control. I looked over at the crazy pony, asked her if she’d done this. She just replied, saying she was the only one with the scalpel, as if I’d just asked her some simple question. The anger intensified…I could feel the backs of my hands start burning…I was falling, falling faster into the depths of emotion than I’d ever gone before. She laughed, made a few comments…nuzzled her victim like some love-stricken fool. She started poking at the poor mare’s wounds, causing her to cry out…and I just lost control.

I shouted at her, ordered her to stop…and all she did was look at me like I was some annoying fly. She came at me with a scalpel with full intent to kill me, but she must’ve misjudged height since she only got me in the lower arm…” Sehn grips his lower right arm, where the scalpel pierced his flesh. He grimaced, remembering the pain.

“I remember her looking up at me with a moment of pure terror…what she saw in me, I don’t even know. All I know is that something else was speaking to her…it wasn’t me anymore. I was a prisoner in my own body, watching someone…or something, control it. He threw a punch at her, she jumped out of the way. He charged, grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the flesh-y wall, blood flying from the impact…pulled her downwards to eye-level, and then just stared.

It was that same situation as my last two nightmares…me and my opponent would just stare at each other, and I don’t know why. It’s like we were trying to read each other’s minds…trying to break each other’s souls. I could feel a sick smile growing on my face, the adrenaline coursing through my veins, the complete psychotic rage that commanded my every thought and movement…what I felt then was more pure and hateful than anything I’ve experienced before…the thing controlling my body moved its hand back, eyes opened wide, the sick grin expanded to the fullest extent, and he threw the strike forward.

I heard a crunch…and then I woke up. Now, here I am, with a fresh bump on my forehead.”

The three hedgehogs just stare at Sehn, emotions shifted between horror and confusion. Sehn adjusts himself, and leans back slightly, shaking from the memory. Why was he having these nightmares? He’d seen things worse than what was shown in these dreams, and they didn’t shake him nearly as much as this. Was something wrong with him?

“I…honestly have no idea what to make of this.” Jen breaks the silence, eyebrows raised. The other two simply nod their heads in agreement. “And did you recognize the Equestrian in this nightmare?”

“No. I’ve never seen her before…but she felt familiar anyway.”

“Very strange, very strange…” Doc strokes his beard, an inquisitive look in his squinted eyes. “Month and a half of these nightmares, eh, my boy? Hmmm…”

“Anything in mind, Doc?” Tyrus asks, looking over at the sitting doctor.

“Well, nothing readily leaps to mind. It doesn’t seem like I’d be able to do anything about it, anyway…”

Something yawns in the room, a light yawn followed by an echo. Sehn looks around, lowering his brow, before the voice begins to speak, a light, female voice.

‘Hey, what’s going on? Why aren’t you in bed?’ The voice asks.

‘Had to make a trip to the Sickbay in the middle of the night. Why are you awake, anyway?’ Sehn thinks, speaking to the other personality in his head.

‘Well, I noticed your mind was becoming a little…chaotic, compared to how you usually think. It’s like poking a sleeping lion, with the way that torrent was messing with me. You screwed up my nap, jerk.’ The voice says back, obviously annoyed.

‘Well, I’m SORRY, Loki, I’ve been having a bad few days. And you never wake up without me needing you, what’s so different about this?’ Sehn lowers his eyes, the discussion between the three hedgehogs before him a dull, muffled string of sounds.

‘Well, before, I’ve been able to tolerate you talking to yourself constantly. Now? Let’s just say the little dark corner in the back of your mind grew pretty big. What’s got you all bent outta shape, anyway?’

‘Nightmares, to summarize. How long’ve you been listening?’

‘Not long, just woke up, actually. Hang on, I’ll dig around in your memory, see what’s up.’ The voice grows quieter, as if the being is moving around inside Sehn’s head.

‘Don’t poke anything important, please. I don’t feel like having that incident from a few months ago.’

‘Oh yeah, the Christmas party…’ The voice giggles, ‘that was a blast. You made yourself look like such an idiot.’

‘Didn’t help that I had someone screwing around in my brain.’

‘Yeah yeah…alright, memories, memories…recent…tut tut tut…ah, here we go.’ The sound of flipping papers can be heard. ‘Mmmm…oh…wow. Those are some nightmares.’

‘See what I mean? This is what woke you up. Least it answers my question properly.’ Sehn crosses his legs on the table, leaning on them, still drowning out the conversation happening in front of him.

‘Well, seems I’ve got a whole lot more to ignore, now. Honestly, sometimes it’s difficult living in you.’

‘If you weren’t the one fueling me, I’d say you’re more than welcome to leave.’

‘Well aren’t you rude? That’s hardly any way to speak to a lady, especially one of my stature.’

‘Keep on feeding the ego, kid. Only makes me laugh.’

‘Shut up…anyway, what’re you going to do about all this? Hemora isn’t really known for its psychological treatment.’

‘Pretty well the opposite concerning that. We’re better at breaking minds, not fixing them.’

The conversation in Sehn’s head is broken by a soldier walking into the sick bay, a rather built, green haired hedgehog with a beret and full military gear. He stands with a sense of authority, and a permanent cross look.

“Captain Sehn Darksol.” The soldier turns to Sehn, staring him dead in the eyes.

“Colonel!? Wait, what the hell’re you doing down here?” Tyrus turns to the soldier, shocked.

“I’ve been sent by the General. He’s requested that the Captain here report directly to the War Room for a special mission. I’m afraid I’ll have to break up your little party here.”

Sehn jumps off the table and snaps into a quick, straight salute.

“No party to break up here, sir. I’m on my way right now.” Sehn breaks the salute and runs for the other door leading outside, disappearing in a flash.

“The General also asked for you, Major Tyrus. You’re to report to the War Room in two hours. Both you and your brother have a rather top-priority mission. Go get prepared.

“Roger, sir. Heading out now.” Tyrus leaves the Sickbay as quickly as his brother, vanishing out the door.

“Wonder what those boys are getting involved with now…?” Doc says to no one in particular, returning to his operating table where a corpse seems to be lying.

“Whatever it is, I feel sorry for whoever they have to go up against. Very sorry indeed.” Jen smirks as she rises from her chair, heading over to a nearby microscope. “Is that all, Colonal?”

“Yes. Doctor Stimaus also suggests that you both send your medical reports more readily, and that your late reports, I quote, ‘Completely screw up my paper work schedule.’ Good day to you both.” The Colonal says in his usual deep tone, before snapping a quick salute, turning on his heel, and exiting the sickbay, leaving the doctors to their work.

A few soldiers have begun to make their rounds across the base, some guards talking amongst each other about the surrounding countries or their relationships in the Metropolis, often remarking amongst one another about whos girlfriend is the prettiest or the occasional playful insult about their mothers. Three soldiers in particular, sporting the typical military fatigues and caps of border patrol men, one having the stripes of a Sergeant and the other two the stripes of Corporals, are talking amongst each other.

“I’m honest, it seems like the Royal Guard is getting more and more edgy these days. You should’ve seen the way this stupid pony took an insult, I swear, it was like a volcano going off.” Says the guard on the left, a stout, deep blue hedgehog with four mangled spikes for hair, like he didn’t have the time to fix them before he went on-duty.

“Of COURSE it’s gonna be like a volcano. You’re infamous for picking on em, Steven, you gotta learn to let em just stay focused on their jobs instead of shouting at you all damn day.” Says the Corporal on the right, a deep red hedgehog with very kempt spikes, with brown streaks along the sides. “I mean seriously, your jokes aren’t even that funny! They’re probably yelling at you to drown out your incessant ‘humorous’ banter.” He raises his nose, looking the other way with a posh attitude.

“Oh come off it, Davis, you know I’m hilarious, and you also know how that one lady Guard reacted when I talked to her. I know I saw a blush, hehehe!” Steve seems pleased with himself, a big grin growing across his face.

“Both of you shut up, I need you boys to be focused. You’re on Tower Watch, and your eyes ain’t the sharpest in the world.” Says the soldier in the middle, a buff looking hedgehog with dark green spikes curving outward, dotted with red splotches like war paint. “And Steve, keep your priorities in line, or else it’s a visit straight to Major Tyrus.”

“You too, Sarge? Everyone seems to be on my case today, and it’s not even 5 in the morning!” Steve complains with a yawn, as if all this is just jealous talk of his obvious skills.

The sound of sprinting catches their attention, as they look down into the brightly lit hallway below the metal walkway that separates the two floors of barracks for the soldiers. They spot a silver hedgehog making a mad sprint down the hall, two Sergeants being knocked to the wall, a quick “Sorry, boys!” being shouted back at them.

“Was…that Captain Sehn?” Steve says, looking behind him at the disappearing figure as he rounds a corner.

“Yeah, it was. I’d heard he got a request from the Brass, must be on his way to Command Level now. That kinda sprint can mean only one thing, of course…” Sarge remarks.

“Yeah, the General called for em. And if that’s the truth, then look who’s coming now…” Davis looks down, and acting as a punctual stop to his sentence, a red colored hedgehog is chasing after the silver blur at almost just as quick a pace, but he gracefully dodges around the soldiers walking down the hall.

“Yep, there he goes. Those two never go on missions alone…wonder why?” Davis looks behind him at the disappearing red figure.

“They are part of the Dragon unit, and that always acts as a team. Anyway, c’mon, I’m not gonna be eaten out by Lieutenant Sarah again for you idiots being late to the Fence. Now start running.”

“Yes sir!” both Corporals shout to their Sergeant before sprinting off down the hall, and rounding a corner heading down some steps and outside.

“What am I gonna do with you two…” Sarge says with a grimace before chasing after them.

Wind rips past Sehn as he sprints down the hallway, heading for the elevator heading to Command Level. He spins around numerous soldiers during his sprint, often nudging them enough to knock them over or throw them into the wall. Something felt off to him today, and it wasn’t just the nightmares. He looks behind himself, Tyrus quickly catching up, gracefully dodging around and between chatting troops.

“Honestly, Sehn, watch where you’re going! You’re gonna kill someone running at this speed!” His brother scolds him with a shout.

“Yeah yeah, these guys can get out of the way just fine! CLEAR THE PATH! MAD CAPTAIN COMING THROUGH!!!” Sehn screams in front of him, causing Sergeants and Corporals to jump out of his path as he picks up his speed. Tyrus comes up beside him, causing the troops to crush themselves further into the wall so they aren’t trampled by this pair of bulls.

“I don’t think the past 32 people you’ve slammed into were given fair WARNING of your obviously dangerous sprinting down the corridors! SLOW DOWN, YOU IDIOT!”

“They’re FINE, Mr. Killjoy, now shut up so I can fo-“ Sehn gets cut off as he vanishes from Tyrus’ sight. He skids to a halt and turns around, seeing Sehn get thrown to the ground with a hard slam from a tall soldier, its palm still on his chest.

“Boof! Wh-what’s your problem, bud!?” Sehn screams at the soldier as he gets slapped across the face. He holds his left cheek as he stares up at the hedgehog who just threw him to the ground single-handedly, and immediately shuts up.

A tall trooper in standard camo, but wearing a beret instead of a cap, stands over him. She has deep blue eyes, long pink hair, and a now-very cross look on her face.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Captain?!” She shouts down at him, a voice seemingly fit for a young woman.

“D-uh um…trying to get to the War Room as fast as I can? Heheh?” Sehn seems almost dumbstruck, rubbing his chest where the crushing palm had been placed to push him to the floor.

“You can get to the War Room with plenty of time if you’d WALK, Captain. There’s no need to sprint through this hallway and screw up everyone’s morning.” The soldier leans over him, hands on her hips.

“Just calm down, Julie-“

“What were you about to call me?” She interrupts Sehn, his head moving back from hers as she leans in closer.

“C-Colonal Juliet, of course! Definitely wasn’t about to call you ‘Juliet’, nope, not me!” He snaps a salute, lying under her prying gaze.

“That’s right, and you aren’t going to call me anything else. Is that understood, Sehn?” Juliet furrows her brow, as if betting Sehn’s life on how he answers.

“Of course, ma’am, of course! I wouldn’t think of calling you anything else!”

“Yes you would.” The familiar voice lights up in his head again.

“Shut up!” Sehn says right into Juliet’s face, which causes her eyes to light up with rage.

“What did you just say?” She says without raising her voice, allowing her burning eyes to provide the emphasis.

“I said ‘Shut up!’ to Loki! She just woke up and made a rather uh bad comment about me, and I didn’t want it to continue soooo…yes, yeah, it was directed at her, not you, ma’am!” He shakily replies, terror on his face.

“Oh, you better hope that’s true…” the Colonal whispers to him, before raising herself into a standing position and walking off. “All of you get back to work! Show’s over, move it!!!” She starts ordering people around, all of them snapping quick salutes before sprinting off in various directions. After the group disperses, she walks off herself.

“Holy crap she scares me…” Sehn is still stuck in his saluting position.

“Well, it was you who pissed her off in the first place, brother.” Tyrus says with half-closed eyes, walking over to his fallen brother. He reaches down and grabs Sehn by the shoulders, pulling him up into a standing position, his brother stiff as a statue.

“I think I’m stuck.” Sehn says through clenched teeth. Tyrus responds by punching him in the gut, causing his muscles to all unstick.

“There you go. Now c’mon, if we’re late, the General’s going to have a field day with you.”

“Coming, coming…just gotta…” Sehn coughs, “catch by breath. You punch way too hard…” he complains as he rises to his feet, and the two walk calmly off down the corridor, Sehn occasionally looking over his shoulder for that pair of blue eyes that would be digging into the back of his head.

A tall pair of elevator doors stand before the Captain and Major, having two keycard readers on the sides. Above the elevator doors is a sign, reading in bright red LED lettering:

[COMMAND LEVEL LIFT – AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY]

“I feel sorry for whatever guy stumbles into here after a long day at the bar…” Sehn thinks to himself as he and his brother move to the key card readers. They both draw a card from their pockets, looking similar to ID cards, Sehn’s being silver and Tyrus’ having a sapphire-blue color, and they swipe them at the same time. The elevator dings, and a heavy rumble is heard in the shaft behind the door.

Sehn finds himself re-swiping the card, causing a short buzz to emit from the reader, Tyrus looking over.

“So you’re one of those people, eh?”

“What kind of people?”

“The kind that thinks if they press the button enough, the elevator’ll go faster.” Tyrus rolls his eyes.

“Hey, don’t call me out on a theory that works.” Sehn says with a shrug, moving back in front of the double doors. Tyrus joins his side, and they both stare up at the top of the doors, waiting for the familiar click-clank of the door locks being opened.

Two minutes of waiting later, and the locks open, and the doors slide away with a screech. Sehn covers his ears, showing visible pain.

“I keep saying we need to OIL these damn doors…”

“I keep thinking you just hate loud noises.” Tyrus comments as he heads through the doors, being quickly followed by his brother. The two turn around and face the door as they screech shut, Sehn covering his ears again, warranting a smirk from his brother. The doors slam shut, and the locks bang back into place, as the lift beings it’s long climb up the Tower.

The elevator comes with a wall-sized window to the left of the doors, looking outwards across Hemora. Nothing beyond sandy desert and rocky mountains can be seen, several battalions marching across the dunes on their routine patrols. Way off in the distance, the Border Fence can be seen, reaching up the mountains that act as a natural wall between Hemora and Equestria. The mountains can be seen stretching off in sections, the spaces being filled with numerous guard towers and lengths of fence reaching 20 feet up into the sky.

“Always impressive, this sight.” Sehn says with a smirk, a sense of pride lighting up in him.

“Considering it took us so long to build it, it really is good to see it complete. Real surprising how we started the Country Guard Project fifteen years ago…how long ago was the last length of Fence built?” Tyrus asks with a raise of the eyebrow, that same proud smirk on his face.

“I think it was two months ago. Progress was stunted by the Tavin Disaster, part of the fence and one of the towers collapsed in the explosion.” Sehn says, his smirk disappearing slightly, remember the catastrophe.

“Yeah…I remember. Took us back a full year of work, didn’t help that the Royal Guard got interested. Have to really thank the General’s alliance with Celestia for ending that political mess.” Tyrus says with a simple grimace, looking out at the shadow cast by the Tower from the rising sun.

“Aye…I still find it shocking how that old tale went. Coulda sworn Major Henris was high on something when he told us. Heh, maybe the General will amuse us with a story when we get to the War Room, eh?” Sehn says with a smile.

“Oh, if only. He’s lived long enough to fill the rest of our lives with tales of heroism. Some say he’s lived longer than Celestia herself.” Tyrus says with half-closed eyes and a slight raise of the brow.

“Please. No one on this planet beyond those who sustain themselves constantly with that brand of magic only known by the Royal Family could live that long. Least, that’s what everyone else beyond us believes.”

‘Hey! Hey, Mithril! MITHRIL!’ Loki’s voice screams inside Sehn’s head.

‘Agh, shut up, Loki! He can’t hear you if you’re still in my head! And seriously, why would this shouting even work, you know how much he sleeps!’ Sehn shouts back, his eye twitching from annoyance.

“Loki wake up again?”

“Yeah, she wants to see her brother…she’s being louder than ever right now. Are we at the top yet?”

“About there. May as well pay their father a visit as well…”

“Like meetin’ your girlfriend’s parents…an experience you never want to happen.” Sehn states with a sigh, as the sight of the Tower’s shadow creeping away from the Cerberus Gate, the row of fencing and towers between the great mountains, creating a gateway for Equestrian officials to enter onto Hemoran soil, vanishes from sight. The elevator rises for a few more moments before sighing to a stop, the doors quietly opening.

“See how much better that is? You couldn’t even hear the locks let go!” Sehn says, a hand on his hip with the other gesturing with a sway.

“Yeah, yeah, I get your point. C’mon, we’re late.” Tyrus heads out of the elevator, his brother just behind him.

The corridor they exited into looks far different from the hallways of Ground Level. The flooring is a sparkling blue-granite tiling, with the walls a polished steel. The hallway stretches on for a short while, only two doors between the elevator, and the grand steel blast doors of the War Room. The door on the left is marked with a simple gold plaque, saying “Colonel BRAVO”, while the door on the other side has a silver plaque marked with “Colonel JULIET”.

Sehn and Tyrus close their eyes as they approach the grand blast door, their blocked vision showing the room beyond. The room shows itself in black and white, a single table in the middle of a large, square room, with a simple console in the back. On the wall beside the console is a purple silhouette in the shape of a person, wearing a hood over his head. In his hand is a black knife-shaped silhouette, calmly spinning in the person’s hand.

The shape raises its head, revealing the bottom of his eyes, a deep black, almost moving shape. He speaks without so much as a movement.

“You’re fifteen seconds late, gentlemen…” The shape says with a deep, almost demonic tone. “I was getting worried you wouldn’t show up.”

“Apologies, sir. I kinda got held up…” Sehn says with a rub of the back of his neck, his eyes still closed tight.

“Juliet already informed me.” The shape moves off the wall, moving up to the blast door, a good 10-feet thick, reinforced steel door. As the shape approaches, two more shapes form above him, being forged from the very black that composes most of the room. The shapes slowly open into a sleepy-eyed look, glaring yellow eyes with sharp, red irises, and the pupils a slit of white.

“And here she comes now…” Sehn says with a shiver. He moves his hands out as a black flame appears in front of him, drawing the shape of a circle in the air. The circle fills with black flame, and a body emerges from it, landing on the ground, coated in black, burning ooze.

The black fades away to reveal a small body, purple in color, resembling the shape of a small dragon. It stands up straight, having a thin build with short legs and arms. It has a single protruding fang, and innocent-looking eyes with pink irises and the slit of black for a pupil. She speaks with a rather high, childish voice and tone.

“Daddy! How’ve you been? It’s been months since I last saw you!” The small dragon says with glee.

“Ahhh, Loki, my daughter. My rest has been rather good, haven’t lost a wink of sleep in the past month. Your constant stay in this room has been good to me, Trak.” A voice echoes out from beyond the blast door, the eyes shifting downwards to look at the shape below them, the voice a rasp, evil whisper, as if the very depths of Hell were reaching out to him with words.

“Hmph, think nothing of it, ‘King’ Absinthe.” The shape responds to the eyes, they not having opened more beyond the drowsy look they held.

“Not going to come out and speak to your father, Mithril?” The eyes look over at Tyrus through the blast door, a burning gaze.

“He says he doesn’t want to, that the heights scare him, Your Highness.” Tyrus says with a slight bow, eyes still shut.

“How…disappointing. I did wish to see my son again…I do appreciate you coming out to see me though, Loki.” The piercing eyes look over at the small purple dragon again.

“Always happy to see you, Daddy! These visits are so rare, we never get to talk, and it gets all messy in Sehn’s head when I start digging around in his memories!” Loki says, arms crossed with an annoyed roll of the eyes.

“Wait, what?! You’ve been messing around in my head?!” Sehn says, obviously angered by this comment. He grabs his stomach, recoiling a bit, as if something just punched him in the chest.

“Calm yourself, Captain…you are defending yourself from the air of this room as well as you can, but it is not an iron-walled guard. You will lose yourself if you succumb to anger and hate.” The shape speaks out to Sehn, which seems to calm him down.

“Sorry, General…there’s been a lot on my mind lately, it’s just really easy for Loki to push me off the edge now.” Sehn rubs his chest before returning to his standing position.

“Sorry Sehn, didn’t mean to make you mad. Forgive me?” Loki says with all the cute she can muster.

“Yeah, sure, you’re forgiven…” Sehn says with a smile, as Loki jumps up onto his head, lying on top of his upper spike. “Shall we get down to business then, sir?”

“Of course. It concerns the grave site of Tavin’s Ground Zero. Lieutenant Imira of the Spectre unit has been reporting to me about a disturbance there. She says the ghosts chained there have been becoming increasingly agitated, crying out for something. Considering the time period between this occurance and the Tavin Disaster, we can only relate it to the natural desire for the criminal who destroyed Tavin to be brought before them.

Your mission is simple: enter Equestria and meet with Princess Celestia. She will tell you where the criminal is, and I need not mention her name…you know her all too well, Captain.” The General says from behind the blast door, sheathing the knife and placing a hand in a pocket on his coat.

“Of course sir. I’ll have her at Ground Zero three days from now. Should be a good run.” Sehn says with a smirk.

“Oh! Oh! Are you gonna fly there?! It’s been a long time since we’ve stretched our wings!” Loki says with excitement, bouncing on Sehn’s head.

“I don’t see why not…it’ll give me some time to look around the country and look for her anyway. Anything else, sir? Or should I head out now?” Sehn says with a raised eyebrow.

“No, that is all, Captain. You’re dismissed. Major Tyrus, I’d like to have an additional word with you.” General Trak says, looking between the two soldiers of his Dragon unit.

“Of course, sir.” Tyrus says, placing his hands behind his back, as Sehn turns away and opens his eyes. The silver hedgehog heads for the elevator, as the doors sigh open. He gets on the lift, and starts the rather short ride to the top of the Tower.

“Your dad is as creepy as ever, Loki. Dunno how you can stand looking at him…those eyes feel like I’m sitting in a vat of lava.” Sehn says with squinted eyes and a shiver, crossing his arms.

“Oh come on, silly. When you get to know him, he’s like a big, scaly, armored kitten! Hard on the outside and soft on the inside!” Loki says with her usual glee and big smile.

“That’s probably because you’re his daughter. If it was just me in there, I could say one thing wrong and he’d light me on fire. With you around, I can be a little more broad in what I say…just as long as whatever comes out of my mouth doesn’t piss him off.”

“Well, that’s why I come out whenever you’re in front of him! Being Princess has some benefits, you know.” Loki pokes Sehn in the forehead, looking at him from her perch on his head.

“Like being able to act like that in front of the General? I get embarrassed when you come out. It’s been so long since you and I became part of the Dragon unit, and you haven’t grown up a single day!”

“Awww come on, give me some credit! Having me around helps round out that rough loose cannon attitude of yours!”

“My loose cannon attitude is just fine, thank you very much. I don’t need you ‘rounding’ it out with your childish pranks and bad jokes.” Sehn says looking off to the side with a ‘hmph’.

“Well, who dumped your cereal in the toilet, Mr. Grumpy?”

“Ah shoot, that’s right…haven’t had breakfast. Damn, they were serving pancakes in the mess today.”

“Mmmm, pankcaaaakes…” Both Loki and Sehn stare upwards with the same happy look, drooling slightly. The lift comes to a stop at the top, causing Sehn to jump up a bit.

“Gah, that stop is always so rough…how do they keep Command Level in such good condition, then let the rest of the shaft rust away to nothing?” Sehn says, walking towards the door as they screech open, forcing him to cover his ears again.

“And that SCREECH! You’re right, they DO need to oil these doors!” Loki covers her own ears, both of them grimacing in slight pain.

The doors bang into the open position as Sehn walks out to the protrusion at the top of the Tower, overlooking all of Hemora. He looks to his left, the bustling Metropolis where most of the Hemoran citizens live, a single skyscraper reaching into the sky, surrounded by smaller towers. The city is massive compared to the Tower, itself a military base and residential area, it’s skyline constantly inhabited by transportation craft and military police flyers. The shining beacon of Hemora, with its sparkling silver walls and tall polished structures makes Headquarters look like a mossy, aged building being put through constant shoddy maintenance as it continues its long life.

“And THAT, I mean look at THAT. It makes our base look like some shoddy outdated sore thumb sticking out of the ground!” Sehn gestures to Metropolis, tilting his head with an obviously annoyed look on his face.

“Well, think of it this way. Only one kind of Hemoran could live in that city, and it’s the kind that you can’t stand.” Loki says, her head leaned on her hand, lounging on top of Sehn’s hair.

“Who? Colonal Juliet?” He says with a big smirk.

“Not bad, not bad. You’re learning, young one!” Loki says with a fanged smile.

“As if there’s much to learn from you, kid. Anyway, we’re burning day light here, let’s stretch out the old wings, eh?” Sehn rolls his shoulders, doing some stretches. Loki jumps off his head, landing by his left side. “Back in you go.”

Sehn holds out his hand as a small ball of black fire forms from the air, and it draws a small circle in the palm of his hand. Loki returns back to the black, burning form she exited Sehn with, and her body re-enters his body as a stream of fire. The hole in his palm closes, and he takes a deep breath, letting out a sigh and closing his eyes.

‘Alright, let’s see…how’d we do this before?’ Sehn thinks, digging through his memories for any particular ones that would anger him the most.

‘Christmas party, last year.’ Loki reminds him. This seems to make Sehn shake out of rage, and a smile grows on his face.

‘Thanks kid. Alright, here we go!’ Sehn shouts in his head as his eyes snap open, his irises and pupils now looking just like Loki’s. Two black infernos extend from his back into the shape of large dragon wings, and he leaps off the Tower in a sky-diving position. The flames form into large, armored wings, plated with purple scales. More flame forms in front of Sehn, and with a single, mighty flap of his wings, he explodes forward, the flame in front of him surrounding him like a black comet shooting through the sky.

Several soldiers from the passing battalion look up at the comet flying through the sky, and salute it quickly before returning to their patrols.

“Incoming one Hemoran Captain, destination: Canterlot Castle! Dragonflight, FULL SPEED!!!” Sehn screams into the air, letting out a great “WOOOOHOOOO!!!” as he launches over Cerberus gate.