Though her body ached with every move that she made, Blue was quick to get off of RipEar's back. He had carried her for hours, but despite that effort the mare was in no mood to forgive him—not yet. She was careful to make her displeasure known; she walked quickly, her head held high and with her tail raised, her wings open as wide as she could manage. Her ears were pinned back, an action which ponies became good at out here, and if RipEar could have seen her face he would surely have frowned at her firmly clenched jaw.

She didn't have to maintain the act for long. Within ten minutes the stallion, who had begun to prance about by now, finally agreed—reluctantly—that a rest was necessary. He had been adamant that they couldn't sleep out in the tunnel itself, though; after the odd attack by lone changeling survivors, both Blue and Coalburst had been in agreeance with that decision.

As they made their way through the tunnel, it had become more and more evident that the hill pass had been designed as a railway. By now, the occasional section of track could be found laying abandoned on the floor, only crudely put together. With every hour or so of walking, a waiting room could often be seen as well, though only if one was to specifically look for it—the heavy blackness in the pass seemed to dim the light of even unicorn magic.

Blue was quick to scan the waiting room before she entered, eager to stay in front if only to keep away from RipEar. She swung the sword—the village's reward—as she trod forwards slowly; with a yelp as the blade hit the wall, she sighed and plonked her rump down on a fallen-apart bench. She spun around so that she then faced the wall and kept silent as she studied the posters plastered across. The first was the same white unicorn stallion as before; the second featured a stunning young alicorn mare whose coat was a pale pink wrapping a bandage of ice around a wounded changeling's ankle. Its caption read, "Prevention is the best tactic."

As she sat there, Blue could hear RipEar's quiet questions and mumbles from behind. But she kept quiet, making no response to him; not at first, anyway.

"Blue? Please, I'm sorry."

"Shut up."

RipEar frowned as Blue's ears fell further back and he took a small step closer. "Seriously, I'm sorry."

"I don't want to hear it."

RipEar waited without a word for a moment and then glanced at Coalburst, his eyes somewhat watery as Blue refused to turn around. Nevertheless, he kept his head held high and tried not to wince at the filly's scowl, instead walking forwards so that Blue had no choice but to look at him. Her glare was vicious; the stallion averted his gaze and held her mouth closed with his magic.

"Blue, please. You've gotta believe me when I say I'm sorry."

Blue's posture slowly slackened a little as RipEar released his magic from her mouth. Then she stood, wings flared out again, and ground her teeth together so that they squeaked. She kept silent for a minute before she spoke slowly, her voice somewhat quavering. "What in Tartarus got into you?" she hissed, eyes thin. She flapped her wings once and raised a hoof. "You were being a complete arse back there!"

"I know, but I-"

"You nearly killed Coalburst! And you nearly killed me!" Blue paused for a moment. "In fact, you nearly killed us all, you jerk!"

RipEar's head fell as his body slouched. With a sigh, he then glanced upwards at Blue. "I just didn't want to get you hurt."

"Well, you mucked that up badly. Really badly. You'd better have a good explanation."

RipEar didn't give an answer as he stepped away from Blue slowly. As his flank pressed up against Coalburst's chest, however, he yelped and was forced to face the mare again. For a breath's time he stood tall and kept his muzzle firmly shut; when Blue's frustration heightened and she ground her teeth louder, his resolve snapped. His words were reluctant, as if he spoke against his will.

"This tunnel's dangerous, Blue. Cursed. It gets dangerous at night."

Blue frowned at RipEar and trod slowly closer, her expression no less displeased. "Go on."

"I-" RipEar shook his head and then turned away. As Blue struck his flank with a hoof, however, he hung his head again and sighed. "Fine. This tunnel was important back in the war. It would've been the key to winning 'cos the changeling armies were based over here. If I remember history class properly, anywa-"

"Hey, hey!" Coalburst butted in as she hopped infront of the stallion. Her glare had fallen to be replaced with a curious sparkle in her eyes. "You went to a school?"

RipEar stiffened for a moment. "It was a, uh, village school. Basic teaching and all that."

Coalburst huffed. "Lucky," she whispered as she then slouched and sat down.

"Right," RipEar said before he returned his attention to Blue. "Anyway, the changelings were based in the Undiscovered West. They were smart creatures, too; had a forcefield around the whole place so that the only way in was through the hill pass, even if their base was way out from the hill. So it was obvious for Celestia's army to build a train station through this pass to attack the changelings at the heart.

"But Celestia underestimated the strength of the alliance between the changelings and Sombra. She never thought that he'd attack, but he did. Cursed the pass as it was being built so that anyone who tried to get through would be attacked. Scorpions were his favourite, I heard, but poison gas wasn't ignored."

Blue frowned and folded her hooves as she sat on her haunches. "Why weren't we killed the other day then?"

"It's been a century since the spell was cast. It's weaker now; only effective for an hour a day, the village reckons. There's never been a poison gas attack either, but plenty of scorpions still. Mutated scorpions, often."

Blue's frown only heightened. "The village uses the tunnels as access. You told me so. If they don't know when there's gonna be an attack, somepony'd have gotten attacked. So where's all the dead scorpions?"

RipEar was quiet for a moment as Blue grinned. He then shrugged. "I dunno. Disappear, I guess. They're magic, after all."

"Oh. I... I suppose that's possible." Blue rose to her hooves and walked slowly to Coalburst's side. She sat down next to the filly and glanced out the corridor, blocked off by a heavy wooden door. Her eyes grew narrower as she did so; her posture stiffened. "Still, why couldn't you have just told me? And Coal? Because that was ridiculous to be honest, if we'd just known-"

RipEar's face began to redden and he pawed at the ground slowly. "I did it for a reason, Blue!" he interjected as his hoof rose sharply. His ears disappeared into his neck as he strode closer. "I'm not a foal, I'll have you know! You just don't get it... You don't understand how much it tears me up to see you hurt or scared!"

Blue's expression softened for a moment at the words. Her response, thus, was slightly delayed, but not so greatly that she seemed much happier. "That's ridiculous! Sweet but stupid! You said this place was dangerous yourself, RipEar; I'm gonna have to face things one day, so I may as well get used to it!"

"Yes, but-"

"No! No, don't try to explain yourself. You're a foal, you really are! You nearly killed yourself and Coalburst 'cos you took all the stress, and nearly killed me when that happened as well! If we had just known what was going on, we could've worked together instead, and you wouldn't have got so caught up that you fell off the edge of a cliff!

"Actually, it's the same with everything! You could've just told me that the facility wanted to kill me! I could've worked out with you, could've been less of a burden when we did escape! And then with the changelings the other day! Why couldn't you have just mentioned them? It would've made things a lot easier, you know!"

RipEar grunted and threw his head as he turned sharply and trotted away from the mare. As he faced the wall, he swished his short tail about so loudly that the air was parted with a whistle.

"I just didn't!" he hissed, his heart pounding. As he stomped his hoof he snorted loudly and turned back to look at the mare and filly. "I'm sorry for trying to make things easier!"

Blue was quiet for a moment before Coalburst stepped forwards, glowering. "You could've listened when Blue yelled though."

"What?" RipEar crumpled his muzzle a little as his torn ear pricked forwards. He quickly flinched when Blue urged Coalburst behind her and came closer but then stood tall, his brows knitted together as the mare's mouth opened in a cry.

"Yes, RipEar! I yelled! I yelled and yelled so much that my chest burned!" Blue took a breath and looked away; tears suddenly shimmered in the corners of her eyes. Even as she clenched them tightly shut, however, she did not relax her tensed up body. "My chest burned, and you were just an arse and you kept galloping on like nothing was wrong and nearly got yourself killed all because you never let me have a say or an opinion or anything!"

A moment of silence fell on the room which was only penetrated by Blue's heavy gasps. It did not last long, however, as RipEar stepped forwards with thunderous hoofsteps and snorted again. As Blue peeked her eyes open, only now relaxing and with a suddenly fatigued mind, she had to recoil slightly at his glare.

"You want to know why I'm such an arse, as you put it?" RipEar yelled as he bucked, his hoof skimming the wall. "You want to know why?"

Blue whimpered quietly as she reached a hoof over to Coalburst. She pulled the filly closer to her side quickly and wrapped her wing around so that only the foal's muzzle could poke through the feathers. Blue then began to murmur quietly and she shook her head; her heart burned less after her outburst, now merely burdensome. But RipEar saw nothing but the flames of fury; he tossed his head once more and galloped to the door to the corridor, slamming it open.

"I'm not immune, Blue! I'm deaf! I haven't heard a bucking thing in three years, not since I helped you escape that bloody city! Not a bucking thing, all 'cos you were too pathetic to tackle this place on your own!" The stallion only hesitated for a moment before he stepped out of the doorway and yelled, with tears flooding his eyes and staining every inch of his fur, "Be a big girl for once, 'cos I ain't gonna sugarcoat things for you anymore!"

With that, he bucked the door shut and ran. His hoofsteps were so loud that Blue and Coalburst, sat stiffly in the waiting room, could hear every clamorous pound.