“Flying into a storm, even its outer edges, did not seem like a good idea to me. And this was no ordinary tempest.”

For being as cold as it had been in the wasteland, standing on the beachhead felt like we’d trotted right into an oven. The air was humid and thick, even with the endless breeze that the encircling tempest offered. We watched as Fruit cup and his escort galloped down the beach in search of whatever entrance they’d use to get underground. The rest of us double checked our gear, we couldn’t afford any slip ups.

“Anypony else getting a creepy vibe from that entrance?” Tasteless snorted at us abruptly.

“I was going to mention it,” Skyline called out as she dropped down from behind. “I circled the island, there looks to be a restaurant patio and entrance around the side. Large broken windows, much less creepy inside.” She locked her eyes on me. “I also found a beached boat on the other side of the resort. No one was on it.”

“Then I was right, we’re still behind them.” I sighed. “Alright, we’ll split up...”

“Oh! I’ll take the bar off your hooves.” Tasteless put more effort into shouting that than she’d put into the entire trip. She practically bounced up to me and took my cheeks in her forehooves, pressing her forehead to mine. “I bet they still have the good stuff stocked!”

Previous stepped up and cleared his throat. “You know what,” Predious shoved her off me lightly, “Why don’t you take Gauge and Skyline with you.” He smiled and glanced over to me. “Leave the creepy Lobby to Storm, Shadow and I. I’m sure we can handle it.” Gauge shrugged, and Sky didn’t have anything to say or show about it. To be honest, Sky looked distraught, but I knew it was for a good reason. Soon, we’d get that bastard and at least avenge Pallet.

“Oh!” Tasteless gave a toothy grin. “Remember what I said about your toy, Storm.” She waggled her eyebrows and gave a glance over to a confounded looking Shadow. It was enough to bring a blush to my cheeks. “Might as well get your kicks in!”

“That’s enough crude out of you for one day.” Pred sighed and shoved her away. She seemed to take the hint and trotted down the dock toward the beach, Gauge smiling as she trotted after her. Sky gave me a sad look and a nod before taking to the air and sailing after them.

“What was that all about?” Shadow stepped up and rubbed at his chin. He eyed me peculiarly, and I nearly broke into a gallop toward the darkness to hide my embarrassment.

“Nothing, we need to get moving!” I called back. As unnerving as the darkness was, it would be less awkward than talking about my feelings. Besides, it wasn’t as if I were lying. Filius still had a head start on us, and we needed to gain back some ground.

The breeze whipped around me, and in it, I thought I heard his laugh carry through. It sent a chill down my spine, and made me miss one of my steps. I stumbled across the dirt, landing nose first a few feet from the entrance.

The cracked and weathered olive green tiles that lined what used to be a decorative patio, sat barely visible under the layer of sand that coated it. The sun bleached flower pattern on them was now a disgusting yellow, and did little to help assure me that anything inside would have stood the time with any dignity. With a groan, I picked myself back up off the ground.

“Oh, just a moment!” A voice as rough as gravel, but with a subtly squeak to it called out from the dark lobby ahead.

I panicked and scrambled back to my hooves, taking a few steps back for good measure. I fumbled at my rifle. The bar on my EFS was green, but I had no idea if I could trust it anymore, or if the necromancer’s magic could fool it. Looking back, I found Predious already levitating out the minigun he’d been toting around this whole time. I’d have to remind him how it would have helped in more than one occasion, and that he shouldn’t be so reserved in combat.

Steadily paced hoofsteps echoed through the interior as Pred, Shadow and I stood there, waiting with our guns drawn. My heart felt like it would jump out of my chest. We weren’t in the wasteland anymore, this was an orchard. Who knew what breed of horror this place could produce, or if we couldn’t spare a single moment to take it down.

“I’m so sorry to inform you, but we're closed to the public.” The voice spoke up. Out of the dark lobby, stepped a pony, or, what was left of one. By the shape of the muzzle, it most definitely was a stallion, but his ghoulification left the rest of his light blue body lumpy and uneven. Even the cutie mark of a set of fancy luggage was slowly peeling off his flank. The ragged and faded red, black, and gold uniform he wore was snuggly worn. While the small round hat strapped to his head left just enough of his scalp shown to advertise the last strands of his blue striped mane. Even for his scratchy voice, he spoke with a polite tone. “I'm going to have to ask you to leave. We’re sorry for the inconvenience.”

“A ghoul? How peculiar.” Predious muttered under his breath. I was about to comment before he stiffened up and gained a stern look. “Public? Why, are you blind? Don't you recognize the Duchess of Prance?” He motioned to me. I had no idea what that was, and had no idea how to proceed. With that in mind, I decided that maybe it was in my best interest to keep my muzzle shut. “I should have you fired for your insubordination! What is your name?”

“Bell Hop, sir.” The ghoul replied with less authority in his tone. “Let me apologize, it was my mistake.” He showed us a nervous smile that revealed a muzzle with countless missing teeth in it. “It's been so long since we've had a diplomatic visit. How long and how many will be staying?”

“Six in total.” Predious scoffed with an heir of arrogance too befitting to him to be just an act. “The duchess, her bodyguards, and me, her personal Valet.”

“Oh, excellent.” His eyes brightened and his grin garishly widened. “Do follow me to the front desk,” He chirped happily in what felt like too quick of a turn in his mood. Without hesitation, we all followed him into the darkness.

The lobby was massive. Not even Tenpony had an open space so cavernous and ornate. Polished marble had been painstakingly cleaned, ribbed stone columns rose up into an intricately arched ceiling that showed the cracked mural of the goddesses gazing down to greet us. Numerous well preserved paintings hung on the walls over dusty, but otherwise well kept velvet couches and chairs. Even the flowered vases were crystal clear, providing an odd contrast to the dark wooden coffee and end tables that complemented the layout.

“If I may ask,” Predious spoke up, the room around us reverberating as his voice filled the cavernous space. “How did you come by you’re… peculiar affliction?”

“It just happened one day.” The Bellhop responded nonchalantly, as if it were an everyday question for him. “I was once told something about magical radiation being caught up in the storm outside, but so long as it didn’t affect my work, I never took it to mind too much.” He quickly jaunted around the lobby service desk and hoofed at something under the counter. When he lifted his hoof above it, he produced a corroded key with a small red round bauble attached to the end. “Will the state room suffice?”

“It will do splendidly.” Predious nodded and wrapped his magic around the key.

“Then will you need any baggage brought up?” He trotted his way out from behind the desk, looking over us as he did.

“No, but we must secure the valuables that the duchess has in her possession.” Predious brought back his stern tone again, locking his eyes onto the bellhop’s. “Might we access the secure vault?”

Hesitantly, he gave a pause and looked across us again. For a moment, I’d thought he’d call Pred’s bluff, but he shrugged and his smile returned.

“Once you and the bodyguards are settled in the room,” He nodded for us to follow him as he continued. We were headed for a very sturdy, spacious looking elevator. “I will get the manager to take the dutchess up.” As he was talking, Predious’s expression quickly became one of suspicion, and surprisingly Bell Hop picked up on it. “I assure you,” He smiled, “the duchess and her belongings will be most secure here. You needn't worry about anything.”

“So,” I was confused about what he’d just said. “The vault is up?” Everywhere in the wasteland where something needed to be kept safe, it was always kept underground. When the elevator doors opened, we all shuffled in.

“Of course.” The bellhop eyed me with an odd look. It was about then that I figured that I probably shouldn’t have spoken up at all. He hoofed at a button on the panel and the roomy elevator jerked to life. “Any idiot could dig a tunnel to break in. It takes a special kind of fool to attempt to break into a vault thirty stories up without being noticed.”

“What about a pegasus?” Shadow chimed in with a bit too much enthusiasm.

“The vault is encased in nearly a foot of steel.” The bellhop smirked. “It would take nothing short of a thermal lance to melt through, and I don’t have to tell you how noticeable that would be from anywhere on the island.”

We’d only gone up a few floors, but the elevator slowed and came to a stop. The doors rolled back to reveal another marble foyer. Though this one was much smaller, it was just ornate as the main lobby. A pair of double doors sat before us, which Bell Hop trotted up to and threw open. What greeted us, was a large, open living area. The large windows that opened onto a sunbaked balcony flooded the room with the bright, midday light. Even though the glass had somewhat tarnished with age, most of it still held a clarity not found anymore in the wastes. The sea breeze carried through the white sheets that hung around the windows, and the lush green plants that were potted around swayed in it gently.

It was a serene and somewhat calming sight. Somewhere inside of me, I wondered just how places like this could have ever existed during the war. The three of us walked out of the elevator and took a look around.

“I must return to the lobby and wait for your other companions,” The bellhop spoke up as he trotted past us back into the elevator. “There is an intercom next to the elevator call button. In the case that you require anything during your stay, don’t hesitate to give me a ring!”

“Alright, and thank you for your cooperation.” Predious turned and gave him a polite bow. Once the elevator doors had slid shut, we all let out a breath we’d been holding.

“Duchess?” I snirked and prodded at Pred’s side. “Where the hell did you pull that one from?”

“Prance was a vital ally back in the war,” He shrugged and turned for one of the old, velvety couches. Carefully, he climbed on and got comfortable. “If him being here, still doing his job is any indication, I think he hasn’t quite realized that the war is a century and a half over. Telling them something of the old days has worked for me before.”

“And how would you know anything of the old days?” Shadow inquired, stretching his wings out as he walked about the room.

“He, uh,” I stammered. Pred’s ghoulishness wasn’t something that he need to know right now. “He reads a lot.” I turned to Pred and walked over to him with a question. “Now, how do we convince him that we all need to go to the vault?”

“That is something I’ve been thinking on.” Pred muttered as he sprawled himself out across the couch. He scratched at his chin scruff in thought. “Something feels off about this place. Not once did he seem to question us, at least not verbally. On top of that, if there's one ghoul, then there are other ghouls here as well. Feral or not, it remains to be seen where they are.”

“This place feels too good to be true.” I sighed as I cast my gaze out the windows. The serene calm of it all, as nice as it happened to be, was as unnerving as a quiet night in the wastes. Nothing was ever this calm. “So, what are you thinking then? Trap? A ploy by the necromancer possibly?”

“No, nothing so simple.” Pred grunted and sat himself back up. “Besides, due to the necromantic magic of ghouls, I doubt that the necromancer could even gain control over them with his power.”

“That would only help if the ghouls weren’t somehow persuaded another way.” Shadow tapped his hoof on the floor. “Up above the clouds, nothing is off limits if you truly wanted somepony taken out of the picture. Political moves motivated by lust, greed, or the promise of fame are common place. No pony is incorruptible.”

“Remind me again to never visit up there.” I grumbled, suddenly reminded of the bitch who’d taken me hostage. The abrupt hum of the elevator moving it’s way up caught all our ears, and we once again checked our things. “Alright Pred, once again, I’ll leave the talking to you.”

“Good,” He snorted. “Your question before could have blown our cover.”

I deadpanned at his abrasive jab, but it wouldn’t matter so long as I didn’t screw everything up like normal. With a ding, the elevator doors opened again. From the inside, stepped Tasteless, Gauge, Skyline, and a power armored pony. If I were a guessing mare, I’d guess that it was our Steel Ranger escort that we’d been promised.

“Here we are, folks.” Bell Hop cheerfully remarked with a smile. With Pred sharing my suspicions, the ghoul’s carefree attitude seemed all the more out of place. “So then, if we’re all settled,” He turned his happy glance to me. “Is the duchess ready to be taken to the vault?”

“She is,” Predious spoke up quickly. Tasteless and Gauge shared confused looks, but didn’t speak out. “But I must insist that I accompany her.” Predious gave a cold grin that sent a shiver up my spine. “The goal of our visit is a fragile one, and I cannot leave any detail to chance.”

“Very well then,” Bell Hop returned Pred’s offer with his own cheerful, but cold remark. “Please, right this way then.” He motioned his hoof to the elevator.”

“Cool, guess we’ll just crash here for now.” Tasteless cocked an eyebrow at me, letting a sly grin slide across her muzzle. “Hey Gauge, wanna give me a hoof with something in the other room?”

I’ll never understand that mare.

Predious and I stepped back into the spacious elevator and waited as the Bell Hop hit a button on the panel. I kept my eyes on Predious to see if I could glean anything from his demeanor for how I should be acting. He’d only cast a casual glance at me, but past that, he was a blank note. It really was up to him on how to continue this charade.

Then the elevator jolted, and we started to move… down?

“Excuse me for asking, but why are we going down?” Predious said as he sat down stiffly. The Bellhop didn’t even acknowledge his question, and that sent a red flag up in my mind. “I thought the vault was up?”

For a half minute, we waited for a response, being rewarded with a simple, “It is.” Bell Hop snorted angrily. “But the major said that if anypony showed up asking about things…” He turned his angry glare on us as the elevator slowed to a stop. “that they be brought down for questioning.”

The doors slid back. On the other side, stood a line of ghouls in old equestrian military garb. Each of them had a rifle leveled at Predious and I, with only one of them levitating a pistol in our direction. The pistol wielding ghoul stepped forward, tipping back his red beret with a wheezing sigh.

“I've been monitoring your group since you stepped through the front door.” The ghoul stepped into the elevator as he spoke, keeping his gun trained on me. “I know you aren't diplomats. You're too heavily armed, and that wasn't even close to a Prench accent.” Yup, I screwed things up yet again. What a fucking surprise. “What are you, mercenaries? Spies?”

Okay, I screwed this up, so I can fix this. “Neither.” I shifted uneasily on my hooves and felt myself tense around my pipbuck. The feeling gave me a brilliant idea. “We’re Ministry Officials, actually.”

“That's the largest sack of shit that any pony's tried to feed me in over a century.” The ghoul rasped out a short laugh. He hoofed at his uniform’s pocket and pulled out a small pack of cigarettes. When he lowered his hoof again, I read the name printed on his uniform as Mjr. Hammock. “But, it’s been a very long time since we’ve had an incursion. Tell you what, The boys and I are bored, so I'll humor you for now. I assume you have some sort of forged documents with you?”

What an arrogant asshole.

Predious surprised me by reaching over to my pipbuck and tapping one of the buttons on it. “Miss Pai, please tell this stallion that he's interfering with an ongoing MoM investigation.” As he spoke, he gave me a stern look. I took it as he wanted me to just go with it, but it wasn’t so far from the truth.

“That’s it?” The Major laughed, “you think a pre-recorded…”

“Major Hammock, you're holding up my agents.” Pai’s voice came through the pipbuck’s speaker a bit fuzzy, but with more than enough of an annoyed tone that the Major stiffened up at it. “This is a joint MoM and MwT operation, and I expect your full cooperation on this. We have multiple teams on the island, and we require your assistance in the apprehension of a wanted criminal.” I was laughing in my head at how beautiful she had pulled this off. If she were a real mare, I could’ve kissed her. “Is this understood?”

For a moment, he stood in silence. “That voice…” he whispered out before fumbling over his words. “Y-yes, Minister Pinkie! I apologize for the hold up.” He lowered his gun and glanced nervously up to me. “Anything you need, Agent...?”

“Storm Rider.” I said before pointing a hoof to Pred, “This is Predious, my assistant.”

“So, then there's still part of the government functioning?” One of the ghouls with the rifles spoke up. Slowly, he lowered his gun. “It's been so long since the last time we had any contact. What took you so long to get here?”

“Oh, you know, your run of the mill megaspell apocalypse.” Predious sighed and spoke with the same arrogance in his voice from earlier. “Not going to lie, Equestria's a mess, but it's healing slowly.”

“Then... we beat them!” The major gasped and looked on the verge of joyous tears. “Hear that, boys? We won!” He let out a roaring laugh as the other soldiers gave out a string of great huzzahs.

“Not for long it wont.” I grunt and cleared my throat, knowing that we’d wasted enough time with this already. “There is another group on the island here. Their goal is to steal something from the vaults, and we need to get to it first.”

“The vault is empty... has been since before the end.” The major’s expression quickly shifted to one of confusion. “The records state that everything that was left in it had been moved a week prior to the end.”

“Then whatever they want has to be in the orchard.” Predious pressed past the still confused Bellhop and stood at the control panel. “Major, how do we get down to the lower levels?”

“Don't be silly.” He scoffed and holstered his pistol. He levitated a small silver lighter up and lit the tip of his cigarette. I so desperately wanted to ask him for one, but I figured that heading into an orchard wasn’t the best time to be smoking. “The security level is the lowest level.”

“That would be incorrect!” Pai chirped with a distressed tone. “This A.P. is good, but I can issue an emergency command override to open up all levels of the orchard.” She didn’t make it sound like it was a very easy choice to make, and that spoke volumes to me. “In doing so, it means that every entrance, exit, and sealed containment area will open to down there. Who know's what else could get in or out.”

There’s always a catch. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a choice. “It's worth the risk.” I lifted my pipbuck up to my muzzle to make this order perfectly clear. “Do it, Pai. We’ll deal with whatever we come up against.”

The elevator doors rolled shut with a clack, surprising the ghoul officer. With a shudder, the old metal box began to descend again. After only a few moments, we felt ourselves come to a stop, and the doors slid open without a sound. Before us, sat a pristine white hallway. It was so white infact, that I had no idea where the light inside of it came from. The only oddity that I could see, were a pair of oval shaped doorways at the end, and a small round egg like object attached to the ceiling.

“This was under us?” The major muttered under his breath. “The whole time?” His cigarette slipped from his muzzle, but Predious caught it and tucked it back in his lips.

Predious smiled and stepped out of the elevator. “Welcome to the Omega Orchard, one of equestria's best, and last kept secrets.”

As he stood there, the small egg down the hall rotated around, bringing a black, vertical seam into view on it. There was a blue flash, and a hollow image rose behind him to a staggering height. It’s form focused and changed into one that I hadn’t seen since before the wasteland. The ruler of equestria, princess luna, stood before us.

“Yes, welcome to my orchard.” She spoke in a booming voice that made the major and the bell hop scramble to cover their ears. “and I'm sorry to say, welcome to your grave.”

With a bright flash, I was somehow transported into a dark, and cold tunnel. A door at the other end opened painfully slowly, and the darkness beyond seemed even more hollow than the lobby had from the outside. The sound of ragged breathing filled my ears, and an odd pain coursed through my body. I tried to raise my hoof to check myself for wounds, but I couldn’t move.

“Generous, don’t you think?” I felt myself say. Of course, it wasn’t actually me saying it. Somehow, I was viewing things through Filius’s eyes again.

“What is?” The voice of Stratos weakly spoke up from behind.

“For the others to have opened the way for us, of course.” Filius laughed with the same cold authority that he’d had back in Dodge. “Everything is playing out perfectly.”

“They'll stop you.” Stratos whispered with a note of hope, but the way the tunnel was built, his whisper came across as clear as day.

“Fool.” Filius spun around, and at an almost impossible speed, pinned Stratos to the wall with his hoof. “Those inept ponies have no idea the power in which they meddle.” He rasped, grinding his hoof against the wall. Slowly, I felt a smile pull across his muzzle. “Though,” He spoke with intrigue, “That abomination is something… unique and unpredictable.” With a quick shove, he pushed Stratos off the wall and toward the door. “I’ll enjoy pulling her apart for study.”

“W-what if they get to the amulet before you?” Stratos whimpered as he pulled himself back up.

“For your daughter's sake, you better hope they don't.” Filius spoke in a low tone as he leaned closer. Stratos quivered and shrank down to the floor in fear. “Don't fret yet, I have a surprise in store for them. One that none of them are prepared to see!” He sighed in an almost proud way at that. “How great it would be to see the look on their faces when they’re gunned down by one of their own!”

I gasped as a shrill whine filled my ears. No, not a whine. It was a constant ringing that came with a sharp pain in my side. I was laying on my back with Predious standing over me. When I opened my eyes, my pipbuck flashed all sorts of warnings, and an outline of my head that was blinking red. The lights in whatever room we were in were nowhere near as blinding as the hallway had been. With a second look, I noticed that they weren’t even the same design, and that’s where I got confused. How did we get here?

“Storm?” Predious’s voice was far off and distant, hard to hear over the noise in my own head. “Are you all good?”

I squeezed my eyes shut and hoofed at my hurt side. It was tender to the touch, but when I looked, there wasn’t any blood. Carefully, Predious helped be back up to my hooves.

“What happened?” I tried to ask, but it all sounded muffled from my end. “How’d we get here?”

“I’m no expert, but it looks like you have some short term memory loss from the attack.” With a quick glance up my body, he frowned. “We fought through a pair of securitrons, you pushed the Major out of the way of a rocket, but got caught in the blast yourself.” He answered as he grabbed my head with his hooves. The pain that resonated from his touch made me squirm and try to bat his hooves away. “You’re lucky that I think you’ve only got a concussion.”

“And the Major?” As long as he was alright, I guess the splitting headache was worth it.

“I’m fine.” His gravelly voice was particularly hard to hear. “You are amazingly resilient it seems. The benefit of being an earth pony I suppose.”

Slowly, I sat up and looked around. “Where’s Bell Hop?”

“He went back up to get Gauge and the others.” Predious stepped closer and helped me back up. He wore a slightly worried look across his face, but overall I think he looked like he was holding up well. “We took refuge in one of the rooms just off the hall.” He looked around as he spoke, drawing my attention to where we were.

Unlike the pristine hallway, this room was filthy. Nearly as big as Harmony’s shop in dodge, it looked to be some sort of laboratory room. Tables with old chemicals and rusted tools sat unused for over a century. Against the walls, cases of laboratory supplies and beakers, books and assorted instruments sat still locked up behind dusty glass. Other than having commonly seen these things around the other orchard, there was one thing that I did recognize in here. A short pedestal that stuck up from the floor in the center of the room.

I reached up and hoofed at my ears, giving myself a few quick taps to the head. It didn’t help my throbbing head any, but I thought it helped dissipate the ringing. Slowly, I made my way over to the pedestal and looked it over. It looked just like the one that Pai had used to first talk with me.

“Pai?” I spoke up, lifting my pipbuck to the holo-projector-thing. “Can you access this like the one in your orchard?” It would be a whole lot easier to coordinate with her if she could follow us as we went. Unfortunately, only silence followed my question. “Pai, are you there?”

“Your A.P. is unavailable.” The voice of the hostile A.P. resonated throughout the room. “Due to testing protocol, all attempts at outside communications from this facility will be jammed.” With a fizzle and a few sparks, the pedestal glowed softly. The soft light that came through the layer of dust was distorted, and quickly shifted color to red. I used my hoof to wipe it off, and watched as a red sphere formed into the shape of Luna. She turned and looked at me, staring for a moment before the diminutive alicorn gave me a frown. “Oh, it’s you.” She put such disdain into saying that, it caught me off guard?”

“What do you mean, me?” I fired back, not really caring that I’d just gotten annoyed at an A.I.

“Oh, I know who you are, Project Harmony.” She sneered. “It is against protocol to reactivate your own project after you’ve been put on hold. Though I cannot attempt direct communication with the Ministry of Morale, you have been flagged and will be detained.” A ratcheting sound of slamming came from nearly every direction above us it seemed. “I have re-sealed this facility until the Celestia tier emergency has been overridden by the proper authorities.”

There was a sharp crackle of static, and a shower of sparks fired out from the pedestal. Luna’s image faded away, and a new shape took it’s place. A small filly popped up in her place, and then shifted to pink.

“Wowee!” Pai gasped with a bright smile. “This place looks just like my old home!”

“Pai?” I leaned down and looked at her closer. “I thought she was jamming you?”

“She was!” The small filly bounced on her hooves and smiled up at me. “I mean, she tried her best to jam me up, and she’s fighting me at every turn, so I figured that it was a lot like lunch time,” She spoke at such a rapid fire pace that it was hard to keep up between the throbs in my already hurting brain. “And then I realized, how could you have a good sandwich with somepony without any peanut butter?”

And she lost me.

“I think you lost us.” The major spoke up. Bell Hop knocked on the doorframe before walking in, trailing the others. Gauge and Tasteless seemed to be in awe of the room, while Skyline simply looked at Pai and stepped over to us. Someone was missing...

“Where’s Shadow?” I felt odd now that he wasn’t with us given how close he’d been the whole trip.

“Ah, yes. He insisted on standing guard outside.” Bell Hop spoke up with a chuckle.

The Major gave his own chortle as he levitated his pistol up and spun it lazily. “Good. There's not much I’d be able to do against sentries with this.” He looked down over himself and grimaced. “And without armor, I’m not sure I’d last as long in a fight either. Hell, I’m already falling apart as it is.”

"Right." I muttered, trying to ignore Tasteless's stupid words running through my mind. No time. "Anyway, I believe that Pai was about to explain what all that gibberish was." I turned and gave her a sigh. "Maybe in simple equestrian for the rest of us who aren't too savy?"

“I mean, duh?” Pai rolled her eyes and bounced about the pedestal. “Because I was the first A.P. designed, my coding is extremely overbuilt and contains a lot of redundancies.” She flopped onto the projector and twisted herself into various pink geometrical shapes. “They needed to see how flexible I could be with any task that an orchard could demand of me, and that archano-coding was put in as a framework that they could add upon to give me more options!”

Even at the risk of sounding stupid, I spoke up, “I don’t follow.”

“Her base programing supersedes that of the AI in control here,” Gauge spat out in what made her sound like she was showing off. “Which means as much as the other one wants her out of the system, she can’t keep her out.”

“So, you could keep the security off of us?” I asked in the hope that something would at least go right for us this once.

“Nopey nopey!” Pai chimed out happily. “Even though I’m in the system, she still has control over everything. Without patching myself into her mainframe for an update, I have limited access to anything past these pedestals. I might be able to override a few doors, but more than that is out of my hooves.” She paused for a moment before letting out a loud gasp. “OH! But I can do this!”

Her picture fuzzed away, shifting to an odd looking five pronged outline. It looked like a large gear, linked by several sets of lines that ran between the arms instead of around them. After a moment, the image shifted slightly, and a whole host of other lines grew inside the main outline.

“Ta-da!” Pai’s voice emit through the pedestal, “And you are right…” A small red dot appeared at the base of one of the arms. “Here!”

“A map could prove to be quite helpful.” Predious smiled and nodded.

“I know how these places go. They’re labyrinths that will kill you the second you get lost.” Skyline finally spoke up. “A map is more than we’d ever had.”

My pipbuck gave a sharp chirp before a new message came up on it. Waypoint Added sat in the upper right corner of my vision, and a small triangle appeared on my compass. The projection of the map shifted to the arm sitting at the bottom right of where we were, and at the very tip of it, flashed a yellow light.

“The logbook says that this was the last place that the item you’re looking for was registered to have been.” Pai said as the map spun yet again, but stopped on the arm just to the other side of us. “Tempest is picking up another set of intruders in the wing to the west of you.”

“Filius.” I grumbled. We had a choice to make. Either we worked our way around the other arms down to whatever it was he wanted in a race to get there first, or we chanced a direct confrontation and bet everything on killing him now.

It was a tough decision.

“Due to the lockdown that Tempest has put on the orchard,” Pai’s talking derailed my thoughts. “Each arm has been effectively severed from each other. In order to get to the next arm, you’ll have to help me bypass the door, here.” A green dot appeared on the map near the tip of our arm. “From there, if you make it to this room here,” A large room at the base of the next arm turned blue. “Then you’ll be able to use the manual override to lift the lockdown.”

“Why would they do that?” Gauge scratched at her head in thought. “Seems kind of counterintuitive to be able to remove the lockdown from the inside.”

“Apparently they had it installed out of the fear that Tempest might become unstable and kill everypony down here.” Pai chimed.

“Lucky for us then.” Tasteless snorted. “Sounds like a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it in.”

“But!” Pai chimed in again with that word that I hated to hear. “If you do lift the lockdown, it will be easier for the other group to move as well.”

“Of course it will.” I sighed and glanced over to Predious, then to Skyline. “Tasteless is right, we’ve got a lot to do.” I checked myself over, making sure my gear was still secure. I ran my hoof along my jacket until I found the small box I was looking for. With a flick, I pulled it out and grabbed one of the lung killing sticks from inside. The major took a step forward and flicked his lighter out with his levitation. He lit it and put the flame to my cigarette, waiting to pull it away until I inhaled.

“Alright,” I said with a relaxing puff of smoke. “Let’s get started.”