Luna slowly trotted around the trees, following the trail. The dirt under her armored hooves gently slid apart as she applied pressure on each of her steps. The moon was still up in the sky, as per the automated cycle dictated, product of her second disappearance.

Long had it been since she had escaped the city of Apex, the chaos enough to ensure that no one would follow her. The cries for help and explosions still echoed throughout her mind, the VI inside incapable of mitigating the sounds. She simply continued to walk along the thin road. Her head hung low, as did her spirit.

“Continue,” Andy said. “You are about to reach the Everfree Museum.”

“And we are going there, why?” she asked, still looking at the ground as she walked, occasionally glancing forward.

“I cannot reveal the objective at the moment. You must simply trust me.”

Luna frowned, doubt settling inside her consciousness. “You are oddly interactive for a VI...” she mused. Andy remained silent as she reached a structure that brought a stab of guilt to her heart.

She looked up to the old, barely lit castle: bringing memories to her “first” banishment. “What are we doing in this museum? How is this bringing us closer to contacting the humans?”

“You will see. Now, proceed.” Begrudgingly, Luna obeyed, moving carefully into the castle that had been turned into a museum by the humans. Inside, she was met with the sight of empty hallways and exhibits. Papers could be seen lying on the floor along with other miscellaneous items as a signal of a rapid evacuation of the area.

The walls were lined with displays and glass boxes that held artifacts from the Gryphon war, as well as the Human war. Decidedly, she continued to trudge forth. Occasionally did she throw a glance over to the weapons held by the displays: swords or rifles, the latter inoperational. Holoscreens portrayed videos and documentaries of both wars, depicting heroic acts that Luna knew were mostly overreactions to duty.

Memories from the wars, but most importantly, from before the wars, lit up inside her mind like flares in the night sky. The Elements of Harmony, although long since useless, appeared as if right in front of her eyes. It were things like such that brought melancholy to her heart.

“Here,” Andy said, prompting Luna to stop right in front of a wall that held a holoscreen. She looked up at it, silent.

“... And it was then that the M.A.T’s entered the battlefield, providing vital support in the evacuation of civilians...” the documentary dictated.

“Now, hold... Uploading data.” Luna felt like an empty space had been left behind as Andy seemed to upload himself onto the screen.

“What are you doing?” she asked, watching as his holographic representation appeared on the screen.

“Overriding security protocols... Override complete.” The screen turned off, and a small tremor shook the ground under Luna’s hooves. Dust fell around the holoscreen as the wall behind it began to slide open, revealing behind it a long, metallic hallway lit by eerie blue lights. Without uttering a word, tired, confused, and decided, she walked into the pathway and followed the trail of lights that lit it.

The VI’s representation appeared in front of her, guiding her further in. “I am sorry that I did not tell you before.”

“Tell me what, exactly?” Luna asked as she frowned, looking around the hall.

“That I am no simple VI. Though I admit, you most likely devised that much already.” The simple hallway led to a tall cryotube with several cables connected to it. Luna’s frown turned into a smirk, slowing to a stop right in front of the tube as the VI walked through and into it.

She observed as condensed gas streamed out of the tube, the eerie lighting turning into an entire display. Luna could hear a series of mechanical clicks and whirs coming from the inside. The tube opened, revealing a tall, metallic, bipedal figure with glowing blue eyes. The alicorn had to crane her neck all the way up to meet the two orbs.

“You may refer to me as ‘Mac’.”