Solaris' nostrils sniffed the air, as the stallion ran through the dark, his hooves clanking loudly on the stone floor. Around him, the smell of putrescent meat and rotten flesh filled the air, threatening to make him gag any second. His ears were flapping as well, following the sound of heavy steps stomping behind him.

"A dragon. A Celestia-fucking dragon…" he thought, while almost slamming himself into a rock. He circled it and continued to run, unable to see where he was going.

"Where are you going Solaris? You know you can't run away from me. I smell the blood on your hooves." Roared the cacophonous voice of the dragon behind him, just a second before a stream of fire was shot a few inches above his head, lighting up for a second the cave complex: he had the brief vision of the long passage he was running through, and a large cave ahead.

The stallion sprinted, trying to ignore his burning muscles, as the cavern returned to darkness. He almost tripped a couple of times, before actually feeling the walls getting further away and the echoes growing, letting him know that he had just entered the cave.

He continued to dart his eyes around, narrowing them in an attempt to locate any source of light. And he did. A door. A fucking door in a cave? Why not, since apparently mad things where the norm in this town. The door actually was open, and a unicorn stallion was stepping out of it, a big blacksmith hammer held up in his magic grasp.

Metal Hooves.

"Well, this is certanly not the place I was expecting." He muttered, before turning and seeing the other earth pony emerge from the shadows, running towards him.

"Dragon!" screamed Solaris, while from behind him a roar echoed in the depths of the cave. The unicorn immediately stepped back, letting the other pony enter into the barracks. Before slamming the door shut, he had the quick vision of a scaled, clawed leg entering into the beam of light exiting the building.

"I thought you were done for!" panted Solaris, while leaning against a wall. "Apparently the fall didn't kill you, heh?"

"Apparently not." Commented the other one, while dragging a series of metallic lockers in front of the door in an attempt to barricade it. A loud thump was heard, and some splinters flew away from the wooden door.

"Why are you being chased by a dragon?" asked Metal Hooves, as another roar echoed outside. Then he stopped when he saw Solaris' eyes, no longer protected by his dark glasses: a couple of reptilian eyes, with vertical, narrow pupils.

"I don't know." Hissed the stallion, sustaining the unicorn's stare. "But I know one thing: this place isn't safe. There isn't another way out?"

"The only way is that door."

"What about the windows?" asked Solaris, before noticing the wooden boards nailed in front of them. "Can't you open a path?"

"I guess I-" started the unicorn, before screaming like a little filly when suddenly the door and part of the wall exploded, as the pointy muzzle of the dragon entered the room. The reptile roared, spitting slimy and greenish saliva all over the room, as his fangs shimmered malevolently, ready to devour them. His enormous eyes stared them down, as the roar almost deafened them.

The unicorn immediately jumped to a window, starting to smash the boards with his hammer. Solaris turned, as the dragon's eyes narrowed, and a menacing light started to blaze up from his throat.

"Oh no you don't!" screamed the earth pony, turning and kicking the dragon's jaw, forcing his mouth closed. The beast emitted a hiccup, as the flames he was preparing backfired inside his mouth.

"Come on!" called the unicorn, finally smashing the last board and jumping out. Solaris spat at the dragon, before jumping out as well. "Where are we going?" asked the unicorn, as they started to run away from the shed. They had the quick vision of the dragon trying to free his head, now stuck inside the little building due to his spikes and scales.

"I don't know. The furthest possible!" answered the other one, narrowing again his eyes. This time though there wasn't total darkness. A dim light was shining far away. "There!" he called, continuing his run, while from far behind arrived the loud roar of the dragon.

The two stallions continued their run, eventually arriving at the source of light: a little path in the stone wall of the immense cavern complex. They shared a glance, before starting to crawl through the little passage. After a minute of panting and sliding, almost getting stuck a couple of times in the small passage, they emerged.

"O dear Luna, Celestia, and all the goddamned universe, what now?!" snapped Solaris: they had entered a circular room with walls made from copper, which reflected the scarlet light coming from the floor: a metallic grate suspended over am immense pit of fire. The only thing different from the smooth walls was a thin, vertical stairway that was attached to the other side of the room, rising upwards.

"Well… apparently, there is only one way out here…" muttered Metal Hooves, before running through the room and jumping onto the staircase. As he had expected, both the grate and the stair were searing hot. He let out a wail of pain, before starting to climb up.

"Wait, can't we just see if there is another way out?" panted Solaris, looking around, the adrenalin still pumping through his system.

The answer to his question came in the form of the dragon's roar and a loud thump near where the passage was.

"He's coming!" he screamed, before darting towards the stair and starting to climb up, ignoring the stinging pain of the burns against his flesh. As he started to climb, he heard the sound of crumbling stones and distorting metal. The dragon's head was starting to enter inside the room. He moved his eyes up, trying not to panic. "Climb faster!"

"I can't go faster than this!" called back Metal Hooves. They continued their climb, as the dragon finally entered completely into the room below them. He looked around, before roaring and start to climb up the wall after them, piercing his claws into the metallic wall, balancing himself against the other wall with his wings and his tail.

"You can't run away from me, Solaris!" he roared, emitting a foul breath that almost made Metal Hooves faint. "Wherever you go, I'll find you!" he continued, snapping his jaws at them, before letting out a loud laugh.

"I can see the end of the stairs!" called Metal Hooves. "A little more… come on!" he cheered, ignoring the loud roar that almost covered half of his sentence. Solaris nodded, hoping that there would be a passage for them to flee in, and too small for the dragon to pass throught.

Another roar from the dragon caught his attention: this time it wasn't a mocking or challengin roar. It was a roar of fear. He lowered his eyes, and watched in terror as the flames under the far away grate-floor had started to rise rapidly, as if somepony had turned up the heat. The flames were actually burning along the backside and the flanks of the dragon. The immense scaly creature emitted a wail of pain, before slamming his head against the walls: the stair cringed. The dragon emitted a last howl, before his claws let go the alls and he started to fall down, his body gradually turning into flames as well. Just a moment before he totally vanished into the blazing inferno, his claws tangled with a lower part of the stair and pulled it down: with a series of screeches, the copper stair started to loose its supports.

"Made it!" called Metal Hooves, finally reaching the edge of the cavity at the top of the steps and rolling away from the stairs. Solaris continued to climb, when suddenly the staircase trembled, and it dislodged itself. The stair fell slightly back, and the stallion was trapped on it. A step further up and the stair was going to break away completely. But he had to move away, since the flames under him didn't gave any sign of dying down.

"Metal, a hoof here please!" screamed Solaris, while the metal under his hooves continued to heat up.

"Coming, I'm coming Solaris, I'm…" started the unicorn, arriving at the edge, before suddenly stopping and looking at the other side of the "well": a little foal was hanging from the other side of it.

"Metal, please…" he called desperately. The unicoprn looked at the little body, hypnotized.

"Metal, for fuck's sake!" screamed Solaris, as the flames continued to rise.

"Metal…"

"I need help right now you dumb idiot!" roared Solaris, his tail starting to emit a slim trail of smoke. Metal Hooves shook his head, before levitating his hammer down, near Solaris. The earth pony looked at it for a second, before jumping off the stair, which dislodged itself and started to fall down, and tangled his hooves around the tool. Metal Hooves grunted, as his horn shimmered and raised up the hammer and the earth pony, dropping him nearby, on the dark and fresh floor.

"Why did it take you so long?" panted the earth pony. The unicorn shook his head, while looking at the other side of the pit. Empty.

"Nothing…" he murmured. "We should find a way out." he added, looking at the darkness surrounding them. "A way out from wherever we are." He added.

-oOo-

She couldn't remember if she had fainted or fallen asleep. All Winter Lily was sure was that when she opened her eyes again, she was in a totally different place. She was curled up on the dusty blanket of a bed, her head placed on a soft pillow that had a slight smell of mold. She raised her head: she remembered being on the top of a circus tent, not inside any building.

She was resting on a double bed in a large room, the walls planked with refined oak wood, a couple of shelves filled with dusty books and a closet on the wall. The mare blinked, before slowly stepping down off the bed. Immediately she noted the floor: the wooden planks had been scarred, as if iron spikes had been dragged around the floor. She looked around, before slowly stepping towards the door, her ears raised, ready to pick up on any sign of danger. She opened slowly the door, which gave out on a large lounge. The floor was scarred as well, while a couple of shelves had been thorn to pieces, which were now messily burning in the fireplace. The mare took a couple of steps, before walking into the lounge, looking around.

"HhheeEeEeEEllOOooO…" wailed a voice coming from her left. The mare yelped and turned, panicking, before blinking in surprise: from a side door, that entered on a messy kitchen, the scarred creature that had helped her in the circus tent was waving timidly a plagued hoof at her, while on his head a deflated and ripped chef's hat sat in precarious balance.

"H…hello…" stated the mare, her eyes wide. The creature emitted a little wail, before pointing at the fireplace. The mare gulped, before slowly walking towards the fireplace and placing herself over a deflated pillow. She let her eyes wander around, examining the various paintings on the wooden walls. They were paintings of landscapes, mostly, even if a one frame caught the mare's attention: the only photo on the wall.

Apparently it was a family photo, depicting four ponies apparently in a restaurant, smiling at the camera: there was a massive purple earth pony stallion with a short, messy mane, dressed like the gangsters in the old movies that Winter Lily had seen when she had just arrived in Ponyville. He had a clever smirk on his face, while staring in the camera with his silver eyes. Beside him there was a silver coated unicorn mare with a long and silky scarlet mane, smiling deviously as well. The last couple of ponies were two foals: both were purple coated, but one of them had a scarlet mane, while the other one had a silver one.

The mare was so distracted by the picture that she initially didn't hear the sound of the spiked chains dragging along the floor, carving throught the wood, until an apple rolled against one of her legs, startling her. The creature was standing behind her, his mouth sewed close again, a tray with a couple of plates on it on his head. The creature emitted a strange noise, before bowing his head and sliding down the tray.

The mare's nostrils picked up the smell of the cooked food with pleasure, as her tummy grumbled, reminding her how she was hungry. She let out a small thank you, before diving into the food. It was slightly burned, but she wasn't going to complain. The creature walked beside her and dropped itself on another pillow, ripping the fabric with the chains around his hindlegs.

"Thank you, I was starving." she said in a muffled tone, pieces of roasted hay falling down her muzzle. She didn't even have the time to feel scared or disgusted by the creature's presence, due to her hunger. The creature let out a soft wail, staring at the mare with his empty eyes. The mare resumed exploring the room with her eyes, feeling comforted by the warmth of the fire and the taste of the food.

-oOo-

Camo growled to himself, cursing High Winds' name. He actually realized that he was lost only when he stopped to kick an abandoned stretcher in the middle of a corridor.

"Fuck." He whispered harshly, pressing himself against a wall, his rage replaced by cold fear. He suddenly was able to hear the coughing and choking coming out from the closed doors on either side of the corridor. "Damnit." He whispered, trying to remember what path he had taken when he stormed out the room, but wasn't able to recal it. He cursed his stupidity, and didn't notice the little filly, until she tugged the stallion's tail.

He let out a scream, but immediately shut up when he saw's Dahlia silhouette in the shadowy corridor. The filly placed a hoof on her mouth, trying to pull the stallion away, while a series of scrabbling sounds came from behind a couple of doors, accompanied by coughing and gurgling.

"Dahlia! I was worried sick!" he whispered, following the his sister out of the corridor. "We have to get out of here."

"Nu-uh. We are safe here, there is a room where the nasty things can't enter." Whispered back the little filly, stopping in front of a door. "There is a friend inside. Come on!" she whispered, opening the door and sliding in. The stallion immediately followed, with all the intention of taking his sister and getting out of that damned hospital.

As soon as the door closed behind him, he noted that the room was quite small. There were no windows. Second thing, there was just one other door in the room. A heavy, metallic door. Third thing, the only source of light was a little candle on the floor. And fourth thing, there was a violet stallion with a curled scarlet mane staring at him with his violet, cold eyes, while Dahlia moved her eyes between the two.

"Who are you?" asked the stallion, starting to stand up.

"He's my brother, he's not one of the bad things!" immediately said the little filly.

"And WHO are you?" asked Camo Fall, starin down the other stallion.

"Names are something no longer useful in this town, earth pony. But if it makes you happy, you can call me Twisted Soul."