Scootaloo stared at the screen in horror. "You can't be serious."

"It's the only way," Apple Bloom said, "My body won't last long as it is, and although Ah programmed the next part of the process into AppleSeed, she and Ah would be physically incapable of doing this."

"Bloom. I'm physically unable to do this." Scootaloo started pacing around the small room. "You want me to finish you off, then…"

"...then take my brain, put it in the casing Ah made for it that should be coming out of production right now."

"Yeah. I saw that part."

"I have a special cooler for my... brain... next to the tank, once the automatic process is done."

"Bloom…"

"Ah know."

Scootaloo stopped what she was going to say, looking up instead at her friend's body, what little of it remained. She knew that she might as well look at the pictures, but…

"Ah know Ah'm asking a lot, Scoots. Ah wish it wasn't so… but my body, it's practically dead. Ah'm only kept alive by AppleSeed and my connections directly into my chip… if my body dies and there's no one here, all I'll be is a brain floating in liquid.

"ADVENT and Julian took my life from me… at least my human life, but Ah'm not ready to give up on life yet. Ah have things to do and finish for my brother and sister. And Ah can only trust you or Sweetie with this… and you're here."

"Dammit, Bloom…" Scootaloo sighed, sitting down on the chair next to the desk. "And those designs, you had to give yourself the body of a twenty-something?"

Apple Bloom laughed. "It ain't like you and Sweetie haven't taken advantage of ADVENT's near immortality process."

"It's called de-aging," Scootaloo huffed, looking away.

"Ah still need your help, Scoots… and we ain't got much time left."

Scootaloo sighed, then pushed herself up and forced herself to walk to the tank, hand hovering over the command. "Is it really you?" she asked in a small voice. "Am I falling for an elaborate trick by an AI?"

"Ah can only ask you to trust me, Scoots."

"I-I feel like I should be asking you to say something only Apple Bloom would know," Scootaloo said with a short laugh. "I know it's pointless it's just… such a difficult thing, Bloom… you're asking me to finish you off."

"Ah can only ask you to trust me, Scoots…" Apple Bloom replied, electronic voice sounding subdued despite its origin.

Scootaloo closed her eyes and rolled her shoulders, feeling a nagging chill running up her spine.

And then she pressed the screen.

The battle raged, explosions rocking the city of New Appaloosa as machines of all sizes shot lasers and plasma, explosive projectiles, or walked through obstacles without even noticing them.

Dragon Team, for their part, had been directed by the Commander to put enough distance between themselves and the battle to be able to make their way around the city towards the factory.

If what "Apple Bloom" had said was true, then they had more than one enemy camp to deal with in this specific conflict, but they couldn't just rely on the word of an AI.

"Factory in sight," Coyote informed them.

"I see it," Ember said, slowing down to a stop. "How goes the battle, Shen?"

Lily scanned her pad, grimacing at the stats. "It seems that despite Julian's significantly more powerful MECs, ADVENT is still putting a good fight and gaining ground. Either way, we haven't got much time."

"Shen. Dragon Team. Commander."

"Apple Bloom." Chrysalis greeted, "Things seem dire."

"They are. I will be going offline temporarily if my plan works… but there are two pieces of information you must know, in case… things go South."

"What is that?" Ember asked. "Traps?"

"No… Ah've made sure at least breaking into the facility shouldn't be a problem… but once Ah'm offline, there will be a real time limit on this. Julian will notice that you are within the facility and try to hack his way back in… I've blocked him, for now, but no fortress is impregnable…

"There are two things you must do: You must help Scootaloo, she's the only human alive… she doesn't know that Julian killed all the civilians that were brought in."

"Done," Chrysalis said. "What else?"

"Shen… when Ah was studying your father's MEC, Ah noticed that there was something… it's designed to recognize you. Don't let Julian claim it. Ah don't think it was ever intended for him."

"Somehow, I think I always knew that," Lily said, smiling.

"Good to know. Ah've taken good care of it and took measures to do non-invasive scans despite Julian's nagging. Everything is as your father left it… Ah know how certain things are very important when it comes to family."

Lily nodded. The thought of her father's work being dismantled for examination, even by a potential ally left her feeling queasy inside. This was her father's legacy, after all, and not something that she could just ignore. It reached deeper, and just like Apple Bloom had said, when it came to family, she wouldn't want anyone else doing anything to it.

Not without her there, at least. "Thank you," she said, nodding slightly.

"Dragon Team, there is an Emergency Exit on the west side of the building, past the generators. Ah've disabled some of the cameras and turrets. Ah'm sending you a map right now."

The pads populated with blueprints of the building, and the group studied them carefully. Red circles appeared and pulsed on a specific area of the facility.

"That is where you will find your entrance. Good luck, XCOM."

"I've correlated that information with my own map," Chrysalis informed them. "Move out!"

As they followed her orders, Ember glanced at Lily. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah," Lily answered, lips thinning as explosions sounded in the distance. "I've just got a very complicated family."

Ember snorted. "No shit."

"But you know?" Lily grinned, "I'm still glad I get to pick up my dad's last gift."