Out of all the worst things that could possibly happen, this is, sadly, not the worst possible thing.

Sure, earning a swift kick to the gut by a Steel Ranger, having everything I own confiscated, and getting an armed escort to this office are all bad. Oh, and let’s not forget the shiny set of cuffs and an anti-magic ring around my horn (How they managed to get their hooves on something that rare, I will never know). But even with all of that, it can always get worse. Lupa could come back to life. And nothing can possibly be worse than Lupa.

I rest my head on the cold table and level a glare at the two guards. Getting roughed up and forced to wait for a ridiculously long time must be what these thugs consider hospitality. Although, what in Luna’s name do they want with me? Haven’t they already dragged the ghouls out of the rocket and lined them up by now? I guess I would have heard the gunshots if that is the case. Does this mean that the lock on the terminals is still in place? But they must know that Salt Cube issued that, right? Unless that idiot finally realised exactly what will happen once they get their hooves on the controls. Which means…

The little pony in my head groans as it dawns on me that I’m about to be interrogated for the password of a lockdown that I didn’t issue. Of all of the things to be interrogated for! And knowing that they think I’m from the NCR, this is going to be a fun experience, isn’t it? Is Rose getting the same treatment? Diamond Shard didn’t seem to have that high of an opinion of her. Meaning she might be going through something worse than what I’ve gotten so far.

I swear, Luna, if they so much as harmed one hair on her head I will-

The door slams open and a new Steel Ranger takes a seat on the other side of the table. She then removes her helmet, revealing a white mare with a short silver mane. Her purple eyes sizes me up before she calmly places her helmet on the table. “I see my knights took some liberties with my orders,” The mare (whose voice I now recognise as Diamond Shard’s) says with a cold glance at one of her guards. “Did they hurt you in any way, Intrepid?”

“Just my pride, thank you for asking,” I say curtly. “And I would prefer Mr. Scholar if that is fine with you. We’re not exactly on friendly terms, after all.”

She turns her attention back to me. “I admit, I did act rashly when we first met. You have every right to not like me right now. I want to apologise for that and hope that we can become friends, if you will let me.”

Sorry, but I’d rather hang myself than be friends with a group of murdering thugs like you.

But that will not be smart to say aloud, so instead I ask, “Do you really want to be friends with an NCR Ranger?”

“No, I don’t,” She says bluntly. “But you’re not an NCR Ranger now, are you?”

“Guilty as charged,” I lean back in my chair. “Though I am curious as to what gave it away: was it my good looks or my rather sunny disposition?”

She crosses her forelegs on the table. “As much as they like to claim otherwise, the NCR doesn’t have a lot of resources to draw upon. They’re already stretched thin trying to protect everything they’ve arrogantly claimed as theirs. They can’t afford to send out a ranger to some remote location like this.”

“Unless they knew about this silo and wanted it for themselves,” I calmly point out.

She shrugs. “Then they would have sent a lot more than just you to secure this place. Not that it matters: I already know that you’re from Tenpony Tower.”

Two for two. That would be impressive if Salt Cube didn’t tell you that already. Of course, it is not like you can use that information against me. I have nothing to hide. Nothing that you would care about anyway. I just need to draw this out and give Rose time to escape. If hellhounds can’t pin her down, I doubt you will.

Shifting my position, I place a hoof under my chin and put on an amused smile. “Surprised that a Tower pony managed to survive long enough to wander onto this place?”

“Normally I would say yes,” Diamond Shard says before leaning in close and looking me in the eyes. “But I think there’s more to you than you let on.”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” I say, my smile fading away as I glance off to the side. There is no possible way she knows that I was part of the Twilight Society, is there? Or that I know blood magic?

“There aren’t too many ponies outside of our scribes that know how to extract data from a broken terminal,” She says casually. “And it’s unheard of to find a pony that knows how to create a functional PipBuck from scratch.”

“Functional might be stretching it a tad,” I mutter while I rub the back of my neck. At least, as much as the cuffs tethering my legs together will allow.

“All I’m trying to say is that you’re an intelligent pony, Intrepid,” She continues. “And we could use an intelligent pony like you, if you’re interested.”

“And help you slaughter more innocent ponies for some pointless trinket?” I ask. The pony in my head pony quickly curses my tongue for acting quicker than my brain. As much as it boils my blood, at least I could have entertained the idea a little bit.

Yet, strangely, she winces at that accusation before quickly regaining her composure. “I don’t know what you’ve heard about us, but I promise you that we are not thieves or murderers. Pre-War Technology can be very dangerous in the wrong hooves. And we’ll remain vigilant on our mission to make sure they stay out of those hooves.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that excuse more times than I care to swallow,” I say while glaring at her. “It’s a nice way of saying ‘we’ll take what we want because we’re superior to everypony else.’ Personally, I hate it.”

“Ironic considering who you choose to work with,” She says with a furrowed brow. “Tell me, do you know the reputation Winter Rose has? A mercenary who brags about being the best even as she builds her entire career around backstabbing her partners for personal gain?”

“So I keep hearing,” I say, feeling a little irritated at her accusation towards Rose. “But she has done more than enough to earn my trust. While all you’ve done so far is give me a few empty words of flattery and this nice ring here,” I tap the anti-magic ring around my horn.

“Really now?” Diamond asks, placing a hoof on her helmet. “You trust somepony who has outed you as an NCR imposter? Who is currently backed into a corner and knows that she isn’t getting out of this one? Not without selling somepony out?”

“Yes,” I say bluntly. It actually saves me the trouble of explaining things to them if Rose already told them everything.

Diamond frowns. “Then it is misplaced,” She says before placing a hoof on her helmet. “She is not going to break you out, if that is what you are hoping for. And I’ve known her for too long to allow her to talk her way out of this one. But you? I’m offering you a way out of this mess that she dragged you into. And much more than she could ever offer.”

“To be fair, I’m the one that convinced her to help me get the data needed to help the ghouls launch their rocket,” I say before rubbing my neck again. “It was, umm, either that or help her hunt down a pack of super hellhounds.”

Diamond Shard blinks in surprise while the two guards behind her look at each other. And suddenly panic sets in as it becomes clear that they don’t know what I am talking about. Then instincts kick in as I start waving my forelegs in front of me. “W-Well you see, the ghouls had hired Rose to get rid of a whole pack of hellhounds! B-But it had been two weeks since they last heard from her and I volunteered to find her and bring her back safely! It was the right thing to do and I didn’t have any intentions of helping them out with their rocket! But then I found about Smarty and what the hellhounds were planning and…. Look, I found myself in a situation where simply going back wasn’t an option! And I hope you agree that I picked the lesser of the two equally insane options here! Not that it matters, since we ended up doing both anyway but, umm… y-you don’t believe me, do you?”

All three Rangers quietly stare at me for what feels like an eternity before Diamond Shard stands up. “I believe that you had no ill intent when you placed the entire launch pad on lockdown. So here is my offer: unlock the terminals, help us stop this ‘rocket’ before it can cause any harm, and we’ll give you whatever you want.”

You can start by bringing back all of the ponies whose lives you tricked me into taking back at Trian Mill.

Again, saying that out loud will not do me any good right now. So I push my hatred for them back down down with a deep breath. “Alright, say I do help you out. What’s going to happen to the ghouls once you get a hold of them?”

“What they were trying to accomplish here was dangerous. Too dangerous to simply let them go without punishment,” She answers in a matter of fact way. “They’ll be dealt with according to the magnitude of their crime.”

“Which means you plan on killing them all,” I say curtly, my anger still trying to boil back up. “For the good of the wasteland, eh?”

“That’s not what I said,” She says back, keeping her annoying professional tone.

“But that is what you mean,” I scoff at her. “Unless you were planning on just slapping them on the hoof and telling them not to do it again,” Recognizing that I am not getting anywhere with my biting sarcasm, I adopt a more serious tone. “No, I’m not going to be the Steel Rangers’ little puppet again. Those ghouls aren’t dangerous. Eccentric, sure. But they’re not dangerous and they certainly didn’t do anything wrong here.”

“I find that hard to believe when they found a way to load a hundred warheads into one rocket.” She calmly counters.

Salt Cube, Rose, I don’t know which one of you told this mare about that tiny little detail. All I know is that I will find out who and I will make them regret that horrendously stupid decision for the rest of their life.

“Except that rocket is aimed at the moon,” I point out, once again shoving my anger down before I say something stupid. Or rather, more stupid than what I have already said. “You can confirm that for yourself, just look at the copy of the flight trajectory in my PipBuck. In fact, the rest of the data inside should confirm that there isn’t any malicious intent here. They just want to achieve their lifelong dream of going to the moon. After two hundred years of hard work and suffering, is it really right to deny them their chance to try?”

We both stare at each other, my pleading eyes desperately trying to pierce through Diamond’s stoic expression. Then she shakes her head. “Even if I was naive enough to believe that, I can’t ignore the risk of something going wrong and causing that rocket to come crashing back down to Equestria. Do you understand just how much damage that would cause? How many lives that would be lost?”

“Of course I do!” I say before standing up. “That’s one of the reasons why I was so hesitant towards helping out in the first place. But since then, I’ve seen the precautions and preparations they’ve done. Not to mention what they had to go through in order to get this far! So I’m sorry, but I’m siding with them on this one: they’ve more than earned their right to go to the moon.”

“It’s not a matter of if they’ve earned the right to do anything,” She says. “They can earn the right to kill everypony here, but that doesn’t mean I will allow them to do so. Besides, you are new to these parts; you barely know the ghouls or their history. Are you really going to throw everything away for them just because you think their dream sounds nice?”

“Because I think it’s the right thing to do,” I answer firmly. “Plus, I don’t make it a habit to turn my back on ponies in need.”

For a brief moment, Diamond looks like she has seen a ghost before turning away from me. “Funny, Knight Flint Striker used to say the same thing. You remind me of him, in a way.”

Flint Striker? That name alone instantly wins her my undivided attention as she continues. “He was an excellent Steel Ranger: Strong, brave, unyielding in his devotion towards the cause. He would have made Star Paladin before too long. At least, until we met her.”

Her voice gains an edge to it. “It was at an old Ministry of Arcane Science facility. We were sent to secure it, but some tribals were already there. One mare in particular claimed it was theirs and we had no right to it,” She shakes her head. “That mare wouldn’t let it go, even at gunpoint, and she kept yelling long after the argument was over. Flint volunteered to calm her down while we did our job, but the raiders still heard her and attacked.”

Then she glances back towards me. “You know what Taint is, correct?”

“It’s an unpredictable mutagen agent,” I answer. “Leftovers from failed attempts to create the Impelled Metamorphosis Potion.”

She nods and turns around. “Then you know how deadly it is and why a facility storing the stuff shouldn’t be left in the hoofs of tribals like her.” She pauses, no doubt waiting for me to argue. But this is one thing that we are in agreement over (as much as I loathe agreeing with her on anything), so she continues. “It is also a bad place to have a fire fight. A stray bullet hit a container above Flint, but that mare pushed him out of the way and got a healthy dose of that rainbow sludge.” She takes in a deep breath. “Everypony knew she was a dead mare at that point, including her. She volunteered to stay behind and cover our escape. But Flint wouldn’t leave her behind and nothing I said could convince him to come with us. In the end, he threw his life away for a stupid bi-”

“Her name is Violet Sage,” I growl. “Not whatever ugly insult you were about to say.”

Now that catches Diamond off guard. “And how do you do that?”

“I’m familiar with the story,” I answer back, my little pony desperately trying to hold back my anger as it flares up again. “And with the ponies in it.”

“Then you should know the moral of that story,” She says bluntly. “Those ghouls are as reckless as she was. They are going to get good ponies killed with their rocket. And there’s nothing honorable or ‘right’ about siding with them over those protecting the innocent.”

She extends her hoof towards me and her expression and tone soften. “Please, help us. You know just as well as I do what is at stake here! This madness has to end now while there’s still a chance! If you won’t do it for me or for yourself, then do it for all of the innocent lives that are in danger right now!”

I bite my tongue hard while glaring at the hoof being offered. Many things rush to my mind on how to respond to her plea. None of it being particularly useful in delaying the death of ghouls, buying time for Rose to free herself, or in keeping my head as bullet-free as possible. But really, her? Wanting to save innocent lives by murdering harmless ghouls? Does she not recognise the irony in all of this? Does she honestly think that she’s the white knight in all of this? Riding in to save everypony from a dangerous artifact from before the war?

However, as much as I hate to admit this, Diamond Shard is right. I’ve been so swept up by the grandeur of their dream that I’ve forgotten how outright insane this entire thing is! No matter how skilled the ghouls are at making rockets, they are dealing with material and salvage that is at least two hundred years old! That stuff just isn’t in peak condition anymore and no amount of magic and duct tape can change that. Not to mention the accidents that happened before; serious enough that they eventually lost everything because of them. Hay, there is even a town named after one of their failed prototype rockets. There are so many other things that could go wrong. So much death and destruction that can happen should anything go wrong.

So on the one hoof, I can help them out and allow them to do Luna knows what to an entire group of harmless ghouls. Not to mention hoofing over a powerful nuke to them. On the other hoof, I can find some way to escape and launch the rocket, thereby risking the lives of thousands more on the slim hope that the ghouls make it safely to the moon.

The phrase ‘between a rock and a hard place’ seems rather fitting for a moment like this. I wonder if Diamond Shard appreciates the impossible position she is putting me in.

Apparently not, as she frowns and moves her hoof over to her helmet. “I see,” She says simply before placing her helmet back and turns to leave the room. “If this is how you’re going to be…” She looks at one of the guards. “Bring the mercenary back in here. If she resists, break her wings.”

DON’T YOU DARE!

I lunge at Diamond Shard, bottled up anger finally bursting forth and coloring my vision. One of the guards immediately rams me into the ground before I can reach her. He plants a solid metal hoof into my stomach, forcing a very painful gasp out of me, before slamming another hoof into the side of my face.

“STOP!” Diamond commands just as the guard prepares for another strike. She walks over and motions the guard to get off me. I cough a couple of times as she crouches down and looks at me through the tinted visors of her helmet. “You really do care about her,” She says thoughtfully. “Then maybe you’ll help us for her sake? I was thinking about having her shot for her part in all of this, but I could be convinced to let her live if you accept my deal. I’ll leave that decision in your hooves.”

A short laugh escapes my lips as I give her one final glare. “Is this how an honorable Steel Ranger acts? If so, then Flint Striker is more of a Steel Ranger than you will ever be.”

Diamond meets my glare for a moment, then gets back up and looks at her guard. “Change of plans, I’ll deal with the mercenary later. Throw this one back into his room,” She says before walking out the door. “Gently.”

The Steel Ranger throws me hard and I tumble towards the back end of the room.

“You’re lucky to still be alive after what you just pulled,” he says. “Try something like that again and I won’t be gentle next time.” With that, he slams the door shut. The lock then clicks into place, leaving me alone in my now dark and empty room.

Slowly, I pick myself off the floor. “Right, because I’m going to be stupid enough to try to strangle a Star Paladin again.”

‘To be fair, you are that stupid,’ The pony in my head points out. ‘If only you had kept your tongue in check and didn’t completely lose your cool near the end, you might have found an opportunity to take advantage of.’

Not that that realization helps any. At least now I know just how badly they think they need me. They are probably too afraid to force their way into the rocket and accidentally blow up the area in the process. Of course, once it becomes clear that I don’t know how to end the lockdown, I can kiss my neck goodbye. Diamond Shard doesn’t seem to be the kind of pony to be lenient, even if I remind her of a Steel Ranger she highly regarded. Actually, she’ll probably do worse to me because I remind her of Flint Striker. Even if being compared to him is possibly the highest praise she could possibly give me.

No, focus. Right now, I need to get out of here and find Rose before they do anything to her. Let’s see if this stupid anti-magic ring on my horn is the real deal or not.

Pressing my hooves against the sides of the ring, I pull at it a few times but it is not budging at all. Given how long and slim my horn is, there must be some kind of size adjusting enchantment on the ring. Which is sharing space with an anti-magic inhibitor spell. And given how difficult it is to weave multiple spells together without them interfering with each other (not to mention that this thing is at least two hundred years old), I wonder if- AGH!!

A jolt of pain sears through my horn as I attempt to use my magic to manipulate the ring. Through tightly clenched teeth, I take some deep breaths while suppressing the urge to scream bloody murder; my forelegs wrapped around my head as I wait for the pain to finally die down.

Right, with the ring actively blocking my magic, of course it would surge back to the source. But honestly, why does it have to hurt this badly?! Sure, it’s not as painful as the feedback I got when I first attempted to funnel my magic into my gauss rifle. But Still!

Oh what I would give to have my rifle back now. Too bad it fell apart after I forced too much magic into that final shot against Lupa… I wonder.

Closing my eyes, I once again press my hooves against the ring. There might be a chance, albeit a slim one, that I might be able to overload the ring and disrupt the size enchantment long enough to slide this thing off. Assuming I don’t pass out from the pain first.

But it needs to be done. So I focus on the ring and channel all of my magic into it. Only for a torrent of pain to stab through my horn and into my head as some of my magic surges back into me. Fighting past the pain, I keep forcing more magic into the ring while pulling at it with my hooves. The ring stubbornly refuses to slide off, sending more waves of magic and pain back, causing the room to light up from all of the magic being sent back and forth.

It becomes too much as the last surge of magic overwhelms me, drowning my mind in pain and overwhelming my other senses. I bite down on one of my forelegs to muffle my scream of agony, blood enters my mouth while tears run down my face until finally I run out of air to scream. Eventually, the pain dies down and I let go of my foreleg as a numbing headache takes over. Calling that a painful experience is an understatement and I glance up at my horn to see if I did anything to the ring.

It moved a half inch. All that pain and suffering. For a stupid half inch!

I slam my hoof into the ground in frustration, wincing in pain before glancing down at the blood seeping out of the bite wound on my foreleg.

Why? After everything was going well for once, why did the Steel Rangers have to appear now of all times? Isn’t it enough to have screwed me over the last time around? No, of course not! Because they don’t care about anypony but themselves! Well, they are not winning this time. Once I’m free, I will make them regret ever coming here. I’ll tear them apart like I did Lupa. If her metal plating couldn’t save her from me, then power armor won’t be that difficult to break apart. Right, the only weapon I ever need is coursing through my veins. Once I take care of the Ranger guarding me, I’ll use his blood to go after the other rangers here. They deserve it, after all. They’re going to kill everypony here for no reason. Just like they made me kill everypony in Trian Mill for no reason. I’ll make them pay for all of this. I’ll rend them asunder before I let that happen again! I’ll-

The image of Rose’s broken body flashes before my eyes and I soon shake my head, half expecting to hear the dark pony gloat about how he was right about me all along. But all I hear is silence. As well I should. Because these thoughts are mine. Like they always have been. There is no point in pretending anymore that they are from some sort of evil spirit haunting me. No, these thoughts are from an ugly part of me that I’ve been ignoring for far too long. A part of me that acts more like a feral wolf than an actual thinking pony. Regardless of if it was always like that or if this curse twisted it to be this way, I need to control this feral wolf before it destroys me completely.

Except I have no clue how to control something like this. Or if it is even possible to control it once the bloodlust takes over. It might have been a fluke that Rose managed to pull me out of it last time. What happens if that doesn’t work the next time? Or if she isn’t around to pull me out of it?

I take a deep breath and lie back against the wall. There isn’t a point in getting worked up on this now. Not while I am stuck here, anyway. And from the looks of it, I’m not getting out for quite a while. Unless Luna decides to be merciful and provide an opportunity to escape. My heart stops as a very subtle click comes from the door. Bracing myself for whatever the Steel Rangers have planned for me now, I quietly watch as the door slowly opens.

Strangely, instead of a Steel Ranger, a familiar looking bat pony quietly slips into the room, slowly shutting the door behind her. I have to rub my eyes just to make sure I’m not seeing things. Sure enough, that is Rose standing there, much like a majestic knight of old. Roughed up, to be sure, and without her red scarf or any of her gear on her, but that doesn’t diminish her appearance in the slightest.

She looks anxious as she scans the room before relaxing when she spots me in the dark. Taking a few steps towards me, her expression darkens as she gets closer, no doubt noticing the bruises all over my body. She quickly hides it behind a confident smile the moment she sees that I have noticed. “I bet you weren’t expecting me to come through that door now, did you?”

“Well, the hero usually rescues her companion in distress in most stories,” I quietly answer with a shrug. “So I figured you would come for me eventually.”

Her smile becomes more genuine upon hearing that. “You know it! Now let’s get you out of that fancy jewelry before they figure out I escaped,” She says as she walks over and begins to inspect my cuffs. When she notices my bleeding wound, her smile disappears and anger flashes in her eyes. “And we had a deal, that arrogant lying little bi-”

“Not to interrupt or anything,” I say, shrinking back when she quickly glares at me, before meekly pointing to my horn. “B-But can you get rid of this ring first? I’d like to be able to use my magic again.”

She glances at my horn for a moment before quietly mutters under her breath what I assume are more insults towards the focus of her ire. As she inspects the ring, I clear my throat and ask “So… what kind of deal did you make with them?”

“Her,” Rose says sharply. She stops and takes in a deep breath before continuing in a softer tone. “I told Diamond Shard what she wanted to hear in exchange for her promising not to hurt you at all,” She then takes a step back and inspects my face while adding “Doesn’t look like she kept her end of the deal, though.”

“Technically speaking, she didn’t hurt me. Her guards did. And, to be fair, I did deserve it,” I glance off to the side. “I mean, I did try to attack her for threatening to break your wings in front of me. It was only natural for one of her guards to beat me up for that.”

Rose places a hoof on her chest. “Treppy, while I’m flattered that you would defend me like that, I don’t think I’m really worth ruining your perfect image over. How are we supposed to look good together when you look like a mess?”

I can’t help but chuckle as I look back at her. “Please, you look just as bad as I do!”

“Impossible, I’m too awesome to look bad,” She says proudly, even as her hoof subtly moves to cover the scar on her neck. A move that reignites my anger towards the Steel Rangers.

Would it have killed you to allow Rose to have some dignity by letting her keep her scarf, Diamond? Or is that too much to ask for a Steel Ranger? Of course it is. ‘Tribals’ don’t matter when technology is involved. So why treat them with any kind of respect? Honestly Luna, this is why I hate them so, umm…

Rose sheepishly looks to the side as it dawns on me that I’ve been staring at her neck. “S-Sorry, I-I didn’t mean to stare!” I stammer in an attempt to rectify my mistake while also trying to keep my voice low. “I-I don’t care about your scar, errr, I-I mean, even without your scarf, you look beautiful and I, umm, no I-I didn’t mean it like- please stop looking at me like that! I’m trying to apologise for my uncouth behavior here!”

I feel my face burn in embarrassment as she giggles. “Ok, ok, as long as you agree with me, I’ll accept your apology,” She says with a wink before retrieving a plain bobby pin hidden in her tail. “Now about that ring.”

“This is Pre-War tech we’re dealing with. Not some kind of rusty padlock,” I try to explain while she fiddles around with the ring. “It is designed to keep just any old pony from being able to get rid of it. I mean, I couldn’t even try to get it off without hurting myself and I’m kind of an expert on this sort of stuff! You’ll need a special key to get rid of it-”

“Is that why your foreleg is bleeding?” She asks thoughtfully.

“They were threatening to break your wings, Rose! I had to get out of here before that happened,” I answer back while rubbing my neck. “I just, well, I wasn’t prepared for how badly the magical backlash would hurt. But I had to try something.”

Suddenly, I feel the ring loosen its grip and slip off my horn as Rose nonchalantly tosses it behind her. “Well I can’t really get mad at you for doing something I’d do,” She says calmly while getting to work on one of the cuffs. “I just wish you wouldn’t get hurt for my sake.”

“If it’s any consolation, I feel the same way about you sometimes. Especially with the amount of times you got hurt bailing me out,” I say before leaning back against the wall. “But I guess there’s no avoiding it: we’re partners after all. Unless you want to swap me out with a cooler stallion.”

The cuff unlocks with a satisfying click before Rose jabs her hoof into my chest. “Nice try, but you agreed to be my partner and I sealed the deal by giving you a matching scarf; you’re not worming your way out of this one,” She then moves on to the other cuff. “Besides, you’re Intrepid Scholar, the only likable Twilight Society member in Equestria. My reputation can only go up with somepony as awesome as you by my side.”

“I doubt I’m the only likable member,” I say, silently hoping she doesn’t notice how red my face must be after hearing her compliment. “And I must remind you that I’m a nopony now. Even back home, I was rarely noticed by anypony that wasn’t my parents. I doubt anypony missed me when I left.”

With another satisfying click, Rose unlocks the other cuff and nonchalantly tosses the pair behind her as well. “Well that’s all going to change once word gets out that we got rid of a pack of super hellhounds. Everypony will know our names after that.”

Yeah, that will definitely get out at some point. What with Roxie out in the wastelands now. And I guess everypony will start talking once they see a giant rocket soaring through the sky too. Although, Whether or not that’s a good thing is still up in the air.

“Hey,” I manage to say before noticing her ears perk up. We both look to the door as it slowly swings open.

Oh buck it all, why did they have to come in to check on us now?

I glance at the cuffs and then back at Rose, or rather, where Rose was before disappearing on me. While this isn’t a surprise to me anymore, I still make a mental note to ask her how she keeps doing that. Even while the pony in my head panics on what to do now.

Grabbing the cuffs, I quickly turn my back towards the door and try my best to hide the fact that I got out of my bindings. With a silent prayer that the guard doesn’t find me suspicious, I wait a minute before risking a peek over my shoulder.

To my surprise, Salt Cube walks into the room, his gaze fixed on the ground, and turns to close the door behind him. Just Salt Cube. By himself. With no guards to make sure I don’t try to kill him somehow. Again, I rub my eyes to make sure I’m not seeing things.

As Salt Cube turns to face me, I quickly look back at the wall. He lets out a big sigh. “Yeah, I know, I’m the last pony you want to see.”

“More like the last pony I was expecting to see,” I admit. “After what you just did, I figured you would have stayed as far away from me as possible. I mean, I did eviscerate Lupa after all. Who knows what I could do to you?”

“And I would deserve it,” He says, forcing me to fight the urge to look back at him to see if he actually means it. His voice then lowers as I hear him get closer. “But we can talk about this later. Right now I need to get you out of here.”

“Sorry, but your distressed stallion is in another room,” I deadpan.

“I’m being serious here!” He says with obvious irritation. “Now turn around so I can-Mrph!”

Yeah, that doesn’t sound good.

I turn around to see what just happened and my little pony nearly loses it as Rose has Salt Cube’s mouth covered with one hoof. While the other rest in a way that would allow her to snap his neck rather quickly. “You know Salty,” She whispers into his ear, causing the poor stallion to sweat bullets as he looks at me with pleading eyes. “I remember you were trying to get me fired by saying I wasn’t trustworthy. Isn’t it funny how you turned out to be a backstabber all along? Because I don’t find that very funny myself.”

“Rose, stop!” I wince and glance at the door, wondering if the guard heard that. “Look, he did try to free me just now. So maybe we could give him a chance to explain himself before we do something we might regret later?” I press my hooves together pleadingly. “Please?”

She stares at me, clearly not amused with what I am asking of her, before letting out a sigh. “Call out for help and that’ll be the last thing you do,” she warns before letting Salt Cube go.

Thankfully, he doesn’t immediately start yelling for help. Though a part of me wonders if that’s only because he is too shaken by the fact that a bat pony appeared out of nowhere and nearly killed him. Instead, he steps away from Rose and quietly sits down while rubbing his neck.

After a moment of silence, he quietly whispers “I don’t blame you for being angry with me. But I didn’t mean for things to get out of hoof like this. I just wanted what was best for Hay Bale. If you heard all of the stories she used to tell about her time with this project, you would know how badly she wanted to see a pony on the moon. So to hear everypony talk about leaving her behind, like she wasn’t even there anymore,” He shakes his head. “It just wasn’t fair!”

“And you thought calling in the Steel Rangers was going to fix that?” Rose asks sarcastically. “I know Green Bean’s contingent is a little different, but they’re still Steel Rangers! You do know what they’re famous for, right?”

“Please keep it down. There’s still a guard outside,” I urge while stealing another glance at the door.

“Oh give me a break, I never had to deal with them until now,” Salt Cube says with a surprising amount of fire behind his eyes. “If I knew they were going to act this way, I would have never had called them in the first place!”

“Well then, that just makes it all better, doesn’t it?” Rose rolls her eyes. “Dear Luna, what were you thinking?”

“That I had to hurt my family so they can be happy in the long run,” He says. “After Intrepid gave me some advice, I started thinking and I decided that, if Hay Bale and the other… feral ghouls couldn’t go to the moon, then it would be better if nopony could go. So I got you two to turn on the radio towers and used the contact information from a passing caravan. I thought if I could get them to take the rocket away, then everypony could stay together and things would go back to normal.”

I bury my face into my hooves and let out a groan. So all of this is inadvertently my fault. Of course it would be my fault. Who else could screw up the simple task of offering some kind advice so badly that a pony would take it to this extreme?

“I’ll give you points for meaning well,” She whispers with less anger than before. Which surprises me enough to look up as she presses the tip of her hoof against her forehead and shakes her head. “But your entire idea is just stupid and petty.”

“P-Petty?” Salt Cube spits out.

“Honestly you sound like a rotten colt who got every foal grounded because you weren’t allowed outside,” She continues before motioning towards me with her head. “And don’t you dare blame Intrepid for this. You’re lucky he even thought about convincing Rocky and the others to take the ghouls onboard,” She pauses for a moment and then looks at me. “By the way, how did you convince them to take the ferals with them?”

“Through means I’m not proud of using,” I answer back before turning my attention to Salt Cube. “Now I have to ask: why are you trying to break me out?”

Salt Cube grits his teeth as he glares at Rose for a few moments longer before looking back at me. “I need your help in getting everypony out of here. Diamond Shard thinks you have the access code to end the lockdown, not me. So I can slip onto a network terminal somewhere and once the doors to the launch pad open up-”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Rose immediately waves her hooves in front of her. “You want us to sneak more than a hundred ghouls out of a place that’s swarming with Steel Rangers that will shoot on sight?”

“You were the one that told us that he had a teleportation spell and was amazing with it!” Salt Cube fires back at Rose. “Teleporting a few at a time outside shouldn’t be that hard for him.”

“I think you’re overestimating my ability to do just that,” I say. “I only just started teleporting one other pony around and the last time I did that I nearly got killed for the effort,” I briefly glance down at my tail. “I’m sorry, but I’m not confident enough to try that with more than just one pony, let alone a hundred plus.”

“But you have to!” Salt Cube hastily walks over and places both of his hooves on my shoulders. “I screwed up! I know I screwed up! But you have to help me here! If you don’t, then I... I-I can’t! I can’t let them die because of me! Please!”

His pleading eyes stir up a few old memories I don’t want to remember right now. The smell of blood in the air, the pile of bullet-ridden bodies in cold hallways, the sound of my own desperate pleas for help as I cradle a dead colt in my forelegs. I look away in a vain attempt to stop the swelling emotions already rising inside of me.

“Salt Cube, keep it down! The guard’s going to hear us!” Rose whispers while she pulls him off of me. “I get that you really want to save them all. I want to do that too. But at this point, unless we can get rid of the Steel Rangers somehow, I don’t see how that is possible.”

It’s painful to watch Salt Cube struggle to find some kind of answer before he buries his face into his hooves. Rose shakes her head sadly before quietly staring at the door. It doesn’t seem like she has a suggestion on how to fix this situation either.

I wince from the pain coursing through my horn as I use my blood magic to mend the wound on my foreleg. For all that he’s done, for putting everypony here in danger for selfish reasons, I can’t seem to muster up any kind of anger or hate towards Salt Cube. Probably because it feels hypocritical to criticize his actions as horribly stupid and poorly thought out, given my own past with Silverwing. In fact, seeing him act right now reminds me a little of how I was when the massacre of Trian Mill was happening. Honestly, I don’t wish this on him. He shouldn’t have to go through what I went through: dealing with the blood of his friends and family on his hooves for trying to do what he thought was right.

This will not be a repeat of Trian Mill. Not if I can help it.

Though, it is rather odd. There is a perfectly obvious solution to this problem that nopony has brought up yet. Maybe I’m missing something here? Well, it would be silly not to ask.

“So, Salt Cube? What exactly happens when you end the lockdown?”

He gives me a confused look. “Ending the lockdown would only give us back control over the terminals in the control area. From there, I can abort the launch to get the launch bay doors to unlock and-”

I raise up one hoof. “If that’s all it does, then what’s keeping us from just launching the rocket?”

Rose turns her attention back towards us as Salt Cube opens his mouth to respond before closing it again and thinks for a moment. “Nothing really,” He mutters. “All that needs to happen now is to have somepony push the launch button and monitor the flight from one of the terminals in case something goes wrong.”

“Huh, I thought it was going to be more complicated than that,” Rose says.

“It probably will be,” I say to Rose before turning my attention back to Salt Cube. “Are you certain you can end the lockdown without getting caught?”

“Of course I can,” He answers back, now looking more worried than before. “But it’s been hours since we were supposed to launch. If we don’t get ideal weather, there’s no telling what will happen when that rocket takes off. I don’t want to risk it.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t have a choice in the matter. Not if we want to avoid bloodshed,” I place a hoof on his shoulder and give him a reassuring smile. “Besides, I remember what you and those manuals taught me about launching a rocket. You worry about getting us in there and we’ll take care of the rest.”

“Right! Just leave it to us,” Rose pats his back. “We’ll get those ghouls to the moon before you know it!”

Salt Cube looks at Rose, then at me, before finally nodding his head. “Alright. If this is the only way to fix things… I’ll go distract the guard outside, you two get out of here and make your way to the control center. If everything goes well, you can call me at Room Two Six Three on the intercom. I’ll walk you through the process from there.”

I nod my head. “Two Six Three. Got it.”

With that, he turns around and walks out the door. The moment he leaves, I bury my face in my hooves and let out a frustrated sigh. “This is completely insane. What the hay am I even doing right now?”

“Relax, we’ve been through worse stuff than this,” Rose reassures me. “What happened to that confidence you were showing just a moment ago?”

“I’m not sure if it was there in the first place,” I say before shaking my head and picking myself off the ground. “We’re gambling with the lives of other ponies here. And the only option where everypony lives also happens to be the one where failure could equal even more death. But it’s not like we have a choice in the matter, do we?”

“We could always run and abandon this whole thing,” She suggests, which quickly earns a head shake from me. She smiles and pats my shoulder. “Didn’t think you would accept that. So, let’s go show those Rangers who they’re messing with!”

“Assuming we can escape without getting noticed first,” I mutter as I follow Rose to the door. “It’s a miracle that the guard didn’t come in here given the amount of noise we were making at times.”

It actually wouldn’t surprise me if the room was secretly bugged somehow and they sent Salt Cube in in hopes that I would trust him enough to tell him how to end the lockdown. Though I hope that isn’t the case for Salt Cube’s sake. The Steel Rangers will not be happy once they find out that he was lying to them about who issued the lockdown for the rocket.

Wait a minute. Ah buck it all, I forgot to ask Salt Cube if he told them about the payload on that stupid rocket!

As my little pony facehoofs over this… admittedly minor oversight, all things considered, Rose cracks the door open and pokes her head through. Almost immediately, the voices of Salt Cube and the guard outside come pouring into the room.

“What do you mean you weren’t worried about me?!”

“Look, the Star Paladin gave me orders not to disturb you while you were in there with him. Besides, that pansy looking unicorn doesn’t look like he could fight his way out of a wet paper bag. How dangerous can he actually be?”

Ah, so the real reason the guard didn’t check up on us is because he thinks I’m pathetic. At least his low opinion of me is working to my advantage.

Motioning for me to follow, Rose slips into the hallway while I quietly take her spot and look around. The guard is thankfully too busy talking to Salt Cube to look in my direction.

“I’ll have you know that he can be very dangerous,” Salt Cube answers back while I quickly duck into the hallway. “How do you think your Star Paladin would react if he had snapped my neck?! She told you to keep me safe, didn’t she?!”

The guard lets out a frustrated sigh. “Maybe she’ll get mad if I let you die, sure. You’re lucky she went soft once she got promoted. If she was still the same mare that I heard about, you would be chained up along with that wimp in there.”

Wait, is he actually suggesting that Diamond Shard, to some small extent, actually cares about the ponies living in the wasteland? Is he suggesting that she was actually being sincere in her pleas with me to do the right thing and help her out? But then, a promotion doesn’t change a pony to that extent, does it? Or did something else happen that gave him that impression?

Before my mind can follow this train of thought further, Rose turns around a corner and motions for me to hurry up. I tune out the rest of their conversation and quietly catch up. Once I’m finally out of sight of the guard, she takes one last look behind us. “Looks like the tin can didn’t notice us,” She whispers. Keeping close to the wall, she starts to move down the hallway. “And given his attitude, I don’t think he was listening in on our conversation either.”

“It might be better to assume that he did,” I answer back while following her. “Which means we should retrieve my PipBuck before we do anything else. I’ll need it if I’m going to try to hack into the system without Salt Cube’s help.”

“That might be a tall order,” She says as she checks an adjoining corridor. “I can’t think of a likely place where they would have stashed it.”

“Probably someplace that’s close by,” I glance down at where my PipBuck used to be. “I doubt they would want to spread out too much in a place like this.”

“Here’s hoping,” She says. “I want to get this done before they find out that we’ve escaped,” She then takes one last glance behind us before quickly moving past the corridor. As soon as she makes it across, I take a deep breath and-

“Sir, wait.”

I press myself against the wall and peek around the corner. Two Steel Rangers come into view on the other end of the corridor as the smaller of the two (a mare, from the sounds of it) says “I think my helmet is on the fritz again.”

“Again?” The other ranger says, obviously a stallion from his voice. “Did the Scribes not fix it last time?”

“I thought they did, sir,” The mare says, removing her helmet to reveal a pink pony with a cropped purple mane underneath. I notice a jackpoint for a PipBuck on her helmet as she examines it closely. “But E.F.S. doesn’t seem to be working.”

That’s right, power armor uses the same spell matrixes as PipBucks do. Which will make sneaking around them really difficult. Thank Luna that E.F.S. just enhances the perception of a pony and not make them omniscient or we would be in trouble. At least, my E.F.S. doesn’t make me omniscient. Theirs might be more advanced than what I am familiar with.

The mare freezes suddenly and looks straight at her companion. “Sorry, sir! I shouldn’t have removed my helmet without permission, sir!”

She tries to put the helmet back on only for the other Ranger to stop her and say “Check your helmet, Knight. If your E.F.S. isn’t working, then I will have some words with the scribes. Especially after they swore we were ready to hunt down those hellhounds.”

Hellhounds? That means they were hunting Lupa and her pack down when Salt Cube told them about the rocket. Which does explain how they got here so fast, given that Green Bean is a week away from here.

“Permission to speak freely, sir?” The mare asks while Rose motions for me to lower myself to the ground more and checks our surroundings as I do so.

“Granted,” The other Steel Ranger responds.

The mare begins to look over her helmet. “Do you think the reports about the hellhound attacks were made up by the NCR? I mean, the Children of Luna have always been a weird bunch of ghouls, but I can’t see them making a balefire missile on their own. That Ranger must have threatened them to get them to do all of this.”

Obviously, you don’t know the ghouls as well as I do if you can’t see them making a rocket. Especially in a facility that is built specifically to make such things.

The Ranger sits down and looks at the mare. “And you think he came up with the rumor to keep anypony from finding out what is going on?”

The mare points her hoof at the Ranger. “Exactly, sir! Only idiots would come looking for hellhounds. And Winter Rose. Although, I’m surprised that she is here. I figured she would just lie about it like usual,” She chuckles. “Have you heard some of the tall tales she spins?”

If looks could kill, Rose would have killed the mare right now. Thankfully, she keeps herself hidden rather than risk giving the mare a death glare.

“That doesn’t explain the mutilated corpses we found in the area,” The Ranger responds. “Or why the ghouls are in the missile right now.”

The mare thinks for a moment before shaking her head. “No, it doesn’t. But what is really going on here then?”

A bunch of ghouls wanting to accomplish a lifelong dream while also getting rid of some harmful weapons in the process.

“If what the unicorn said during his… interrogation is true, that missile is a rocket and they plan on taking it to the moon,” The Ranger explains. When his partner gives him a rather confused look, he adds “That is what he claims they are doing.”

The mare rolls her eyes. “Yeah and I'm Princess Celestia in disguise. They're more likely to blow up the moon with that thing than land on it.”

Well, that… is a possibility I hadn't considered before. There are enough warheads on that rocket to crack the surface of the moon so… now I get to worry about chunks of the moon raining down on us too. This really is a horrible idea, isn’t it?

The mare turns her helmet around and stares at it. “I grew up guiding caravans to this place, sir. I never thought that there was a balefire missile sitting right under my hooves.”

“That doesn’t matter now,” The Ranger points out. “What matters is that we found it before they could use it. Now our job is to secure this place until reinforcements arrive.”

The mare nods and works on her helmet for a few more seconds before a troubled look crosses her face. “Sir, if I may, what will Star Paladin Shard do with them and their ‘rocket’ after we get what we need from the unicorn?”

The Ranger stares at the mare for a moment before sighing. “I guess we can take a break here,” He mutters before removing his helmet, revealing a dark blue pony with a black mane and an eyepatch over his left eye. “It’s likely that she’ll call in one of the larger chapters to take them off our hooves. We don’t have the numbers to secure this location and keep Green Bean under control. Especially if the NCR is involved.”

“With all due respect, I think that’s a mistake,” She says, now giving him her undivided attention. “I’ve heard the rumors surrounding Star Paladin Shard’s promotion. About how-” She pauses, looking disturbed by whatever is on her mind. “-committed her and her old chapter are to our order. That kind of pony doesn’t come out to some backwater like Green Bean for no reason. Especially right after the Elder died.”

That catches my attention and I inch closer to the edge while the Ranger says “You’re starting to sound seditious, Knight Star Berry.”

Star Berry immediately tenses up. “I don’t mean to, Paladin Grim Dawn, sir!” She quickly explains while saluting the Ranger. “But I have concerns and you’re the only one I can trust to not take them the wrong way.”

Grim Dawn studies her for a moment before he sighs. “So what are you suggesting? That she’ll use the missile as some bargaining chip to get herself instated as Elder of our chapter?”

Strangely, Star Berry looks rather conflicted by the question. “I just can’t shake the feeling that she knew this was going to happen somehow. I mean, why else would she come here?” She then points at him. “Otherwise you would be Elder now, right? You were the remaining senior officer before she showed up.”

“If that is what she truly wants, then she doesn’t need to bribe anypony to get it,” He states calmly, ignoring her pointing hoof. “We’re a backwater chapter consisting of two squads and a few scribes. The higher ups wouldn’t object if she declared herself Elder of our chapter. In fact, even fewer ponies would care if she decided to disband us after this instead.”

That seems to hurt Star Berry more than anything as she is briefly taken aback by that last sentence. Then she puts on a more defiant look. “Well, they would have to care if we kept the missile here! We’re supposed to keep this kind of tech away from those ponies that are going to misuse it! This thing will wipe out more than just my hometown! If her chapter is really that corrupt, then I don’t want to think about what they’ll do once they get their hooves on it! It’s better off with us!”

“Except it isn’t,” He says rather coldly. “Once word gets out that we have a balefire missile, we’re going to have a lot more than power hungry chapters to worry about. We won’t survive a battle against a force like the NCR, or a Red Eye warband, or even one of our own chapters when they decide to take it from us.”

“What about the Applejack Rangers then?” She asks. “They’d rush here to help us if they knew what was going on!”

“Most of us would rather die than work with those traitors,” Anger flashes in Dawn’s eye before he takes a deep breath. “And even if they wanted to help, they’re too far away for it to matter.”

Star Berry opens her mouth but he lifts his hoof up to stop her. “That’s enough, Knight. I know you mean well, but I’ve humored you long enough. We can’t let our personal feelings get in the way of our duty. Not while the rocket is armed and ready to launch.”

“Yes sir,” She says quietly, her defiance giving way to a more solemn disposition.

She moves to put her helmet on when Grim Dawn stands up and looks straight in her eyes. “And as the senior most ranking officer, it is my duty to make sure our leader doesn’t do anything that might threaten the security of our chapter or our town,” He says firmly. “Is that understood?”

A smile flashes across her face as she promptly salutes him. “Yes sir!”

He returns the salute before looking at her helmet. “Well?”

“I can’t figure out what is wrong with it,” She says, slipping the helmet back on. “The scribes are going to have to check it out again.”

“Of course,” He answers, sounding clearly annoyed by this as he puts his own helmet on. “Alright, let’s get going then.”

Star Berry salutes yet again and the two walk away from Rose and I. I wait until they are out of sight before letting out a sigh of relief. That was a close one. Had they just been more aware of their surroundings, we would have been caught. Then again, that is still a risk, if Rose not relaxing at all is any indication. So I quickly walk towards her-

“Hold it right there!”

And immediately stop dead in my tracks as the two Steel Rangers point rifles at me as they walk back into view. Because of course they would come back for some stupid reason.

“I had a feeling we were being watched,” Grim Dawn growls.

“Hey, isn’t that the unicorn that Knight Goldshire is supposed to be guarding?” Star Berry asks, earning a brief look from the larger one. Though what kind of a look that is I can only guess, power armor helmets being what they are.

“A-Ah, yes ma’am. Intrepid Scholar, at your service,” I say, offering a curt salute towards her. “It’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, miss?”

Wait, what am I doing? I already know her name. And besides, I hate Steel Rangers. Why am I being polite to one?

Strangely, Star Berry seems taken aback by my request. “Oh! Umm, Knight Star Berry! Green Bean Contingent!” She answers while giving me a proper salute.

Grim Dawn just shakes his head (I get the feeling this is something he has witnessed more times than he can count) before leveling his rifle at my head. “Alright, introductions are over. Just put your hooves where I can see them and don’t make any sudden moves.”

Ok, time to buy time yet again. “But I didn’t get your-”

“Now,” He orders.

Or maybe not. Slowly, I raise my hooves into the air while noticing Rose’s frustrated look from the corner of my eye. As she crouches down and prepares to move towards me, I quickly shake my head.

“Hey! Paladin Grim Dawn didn’t give you permission to move!” Star Berry pipes up while also pointing her rifle at me.

“That’s enough, Knight, I can handle this.” Grim Dawn orders. “And don’t use my full name and rank for situations like this.”

That last comment causes the mare to shrink a little. While I do feel for Star Berry, I am sadly going to be making her life more difficult. But then, they’re Steel Rangers. They brought this on themselves.

“M-My apologies ma’am, it is just that I feel stupid for getting caught this easily,” I explain. “But then, I’m not talented or amazing enough to sneak around without getting caught. I usually get stuck running for my life and complaining to my friends that they get all of the cool stuff when we meet up at the end of the day. Not the funnest life to live, I suppose. But hey, as long as it works.”

“I didn’t ask for your life’s story,” Grim Dawn says flatly. I then see him motioning for Star Berry to go towards me. Probably suspecting that there is somepony else with me that needs to be captured too. Meanwhile Rose goes from frustrated to sudden understanding to conflicted, obviously understanding what I’m trying to convey to her but not really wanting to leave either. Not that I blame her, but this is the situation we are stuck in. Thankfully, she nods her head and begins to back off.

As Rose walks back into the shadows, I wait for Star Berry to get close to me. It is clear that she is on guard for any kind of suspicious activity. But I decide it is time to test her mental dexterity anyway as I give Grim an innocent smile. “No, you didn’t ask, did you?”

I immediately teleport behind him, clenching my teeth as pain shoots through my horn and head, before picking another spot and teleporting again. A bullet barely grazes my shoulder before I start running away.

The sound of heavy galloping behind me signals that my impromptu plan is working. Which is good as long as my luck doesn’t run out. Not that there is any point in worrying about that now. As long as they stay focused on me and not on Rose and Salt Cube, then this will work. And given how inexperienced one of my chasers is, there is a good chance that I can lose them and find my way to the control center. Hopefully without getting caught again.

This will work. I will make this work. This plan will not fall apart at the last moment. Not this time.

Holding on to that small bit of bravado, I quicken my pace and take a sharp turn around a corner as another bullet barely misses my leg. A sign that they are not going to give up easily, even if I caught them flathoofed.

Alright, the game’s afoot. Let’s make this happen.

You have gained some quest objectives.

Quest Objectives Completed:

Figure Out What The Steel Rangers Want.

Current Quest Objectives:

Reunite With Rose and Salt CubeRetrieve Your PipBuckLaunch The Rocket To The MoonDon’t DieFigure Out How Rose Keeps Vanishing Like She Does