Running away from ponies with guns isn’t supposed to be a recurring pattern in my life. The need to get into these kinds of situations should have died along with my partnership with Silverwing. Yet, here I am, once again putting my life on the line. For something that even the Steel Rangers agree is horribly reckless and insane.

‘Because nopony else can do it,’ the little pony in my head adds out while I take a sharp turn around a corner, my hooves skidding across the floor at the sudden change of direction. ‘And yes, it is too late to back out now.’

Of course it is. At least I’m doing a good job of not giving them a clean shot on me. This would end rather quickly if-

A bullet flies past one of my hind legs. One of many constant reminders that I still haven’t shaken them off yet. If it didn’t hurt so much to teleport, I would have lost them ages ago. It doesn’t help that it feels like I’m running around in circles right now. What, with the next corridor I turn into looking like the last one.

I can’t keep this up; I’m barely keeping ahead of them as is. Sooner or later, I’ll end up running into another patrol and once they have the numbers to box me in, it’s game over.There has to be something around here that can help me out. Like that fire extinguisher hanging on the wall up ahead. Yeah, that might help.

Another bullet grazes my left hind leg and nearly sends me tumbling to the ground. I stagger forward, grabbing onto the fire extinguisher on the wall. Ignoring the pain coursing through my horn, I pull it off the wall with my magic just as the Steel Ranger chasing me charges. I attempt to teleport out of the way, only for the spell to fizzle out instead. And the Ranger tackles me hard, sending us both tumbling down the corridor. Despite the pain, I manage to keep my magical hold on the extinguisher and muster all of my strength into one mighty blow against my opponent’s head. Only to watch it harmlessly bounce off her power armor helmet.

This obviously doesn’t amuse the Steel Ranger, if planting a solid hit on the side of my face is any indication. I spit some blood on the floor and pull the pin on the fire extinguisher. As the Ranger prepares to land another punch on me, I aim the nozzle towards their face and release a small torrent of chemical foam that completely covers their helmet.

Star Berry’s voice comes out of the helmet as she cries out in confusion. She backs away and attempts to clear her visor while the other ranger (obviously Grim) lines up another shot. Not wanting to get shot again, I scramble to my hooves and keep Star Berry between me and him.

As he tries to get a clear shot, I quickly glance at my surroundings. Two open doors are near me, hopefully leading to rooms that I can hide in. Hopefully, my teleport spell doesn’t fizzle out again and the fire extinguisher provides enough of a distraction to allow me to hide.

With a curt bow, I teleport into one of the rooms and swing the fire extinguisher towards the other room before teleporting it there. Pain and lightheadedness assault my mind as I collapse onto the floor, thanking Luna as I hear a rising crescendo of sounds as the fire extinguisher crashes into something in the other room. As much as I want to curl up in a ball right now, I am still not safe.

Forcing myself onto my hooves, I cast my eyes around the dark room. From what I can make out, the only hiding place is a line of lockers across the wall. Opening one at random, I push aside the lab coats and squeeze my body inside before closing the door. Then I peer through the slits and wait. As long as I stay quiet and calm, the E.F.S. on their power armor shouldn’t pick me up. Maybe. That is more or less how it works on my PipBuck, so it should be the same, right? Unless their power armor has a more advanced spell matrix for E.F.S. in their helmets-

The door slams open with earth-shattering force as Star Berry barges in, foam still dripping from her helmet. She flips on the lights and slowly scans the room as I place a hoof over my racing heart and hold my breath. She then begins her search, poking her rifle around every place that could contain a pony.

Then the rifle points in my direction. Cautiously, the ranger advances towards my hiding spot and reaches for the door. With no way to escape, I simply shut my eyes and resign myself to my fate.

The door rattles quite a bit then something bangs against it before I hear Star Berry mutters “Locked.”

Locked? What do you mean locked?

I open up my eyes, confused and relieved by the turn of events. Only for panic to quickly set in as she turns around and readies her hind leg to kick the locker door in.

“Knight! Report!”

Star Berry hesitates before stepping away from the lockers and turns to salute the other ranger walking into the room. “The fugitive doesn’t seem to be here, sir!”

“He wasn’t in the other room either,” Grim Dawn says glancing back into the hallway. “And with his teleport spell, he could be anywhere right now.”

I wish that was the case. But no, I’m just marinating in a locker I apparently locked myself into. Hoping you won’t notice that I’m here.

“With all due respect, sir, I don’t think so,” She says while lowering her hoof. “He didn’t teleport too far when we were chasing after him. His spell seemed to fizzle out on him when I tackled him to the ground, too. I think he might be at his limit, so he shouldn’t be able to go too far.”

That’s surprisingly observant of you, Star Berry. I hope none of the other rangers share that quality or life will get more complicated for me.

Grim Dawn looks back at her. “Any idea on where he might be hiding then?”

Star Berry thinks for a moment then shakes her head. “No sir, I’m not familiar enough with this place to guess where he might have gone. But again, I don’t think he can go too far in the state he is in.”

“Maybe,” He says before moving towards the lockers. I shrink back as much as I can and pray that he doesn’t see me as I hear him rummaging through the locker next to me. “Even if he can’t teleport anymore, it is best to assume he knows the layout better than we do,” He then tosses an old lab coat to Star Berry. “That knowledge alone will give him an edge over us, regardless of his current state. We’re going to need more rangers if we want to effectively box him in.”

I think you’re overestimating my ability to navigate this discordian maze just a tad there. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have been spotted by you two in the first place. Let alone get stuck in this predicament.

Star Berry snorts angrily before using the lab coat to clean her helmet off. “But we were so close! If I had noticed him getting ready to teleport when we first saw him, we wouldn’t have lost him!”

“That is what happens when you underestimate your opponent,” Grim Dawn points out rather dryly. As Star Berry tosses the lab coat to the ground, he adds “I’ll update the Star Paladin about our situation. Head over to the Scribes and get your helmet fixed.”

“But sir!” She immediately objects. “I can still help out! It is just E.F.S. that isn’t working!”

“We’re not going to underestimate him again,” He says firmly. “And we’ll need every advantage if we’re going to catch a teleporting unicorn. Now, you have your order. Radio me once you get it done. I need you back out here ASAP, Knight.”

“Yes, sir!” She salutes him again, though her tone, while being professional, makes it clear that she still isn’t happy about any of this.

For his part, though, Grim Dawn just returns the salute and watches her leave the room. He stares at it for a few seconds. For what reason, I can only guess at.

“Intrepid,” I tense up the moment he says my name. Though, he doesn’t move from his spot as he continues. “I wish I could believe that you are being sincere about what you’re up to. Given our options, I think I’d rather have this rocket on the moon than stay down here with us.”

With that, he taps his helmet and then starts talking as he calmly walks out of the room. “Star-1? This is Red-2. I have something urgent to report.”

He closes the door behind him and I wait for the sound of hoofsteps outside to fade before finally letting out a giant sigh of relief. That. Was. Too. Close. And really, Grim Dawn should have felt my presence considering how close he got to my locker. Nevermind that he has E.F.S. on him. Does this mean that he let me go? That seems doubtful, given the views he expressed to his subordinate earlier. I definitely live in a strange time when a staunch Steel Ranger like him agrees that the ghoul’s rocket shouldn’t stay down here. Even stranger, considering that I am still going along with this insane plan despite being reminded about how recklessly dangerous it is. Not that it changes anything. For now, I’m on the clock and really need to get out of here before more Steel Rangers show up.

With what little room there is in this cramp locker, I put my hoof and shoulder to the door and push against it. And it. Just. Won’t. BUDGE! Ugh, ok, so I really did trap myself in here. Somehow. No problem, I still have my magic. Even if it has been a little unreliable right now, I’m not being chased anymore and the pain in my head has died down a little. So if I just focus on casting the spell, I can teleport out of this locker without too much issue.

I ignore the pain as magic courses through my horn again and focus on the center of the room. With a silent prayer, I manage to teleport out of the locker, only to be overwhelmed by pain and lightheadedness the moment I reappear. Nearly losing all sense of balance, I stumble forward and ram my head into a wall. I shut my eyes tightly and rub my head in a vain attempt to get rid of the nauseating pain.

Ok, not doing that again. Except that isn’t really an option, is it? Not with every Steel Ranger after my hide now. Just need to be smart about when I use my magic so I don’t burn myself out from overuse.

Taking some deep breaths, I slowly back away from the wall before looking myself over. There are some wounds from the chase that, while not that bad, are still bleeding. And the last thing I need is me accidentally leaving a trail behind me. So, now knowing what to expect, I place my foreleg into my mouth and start tapping into my blood magic to mend my wounds. Except, the expected spike of pain and lightheadedness doesn’t come. And after a few seconds of using my magic, I let go of my foreleg. No use biting down on it if there is no pain to ignore.

But why doesn’t it hurt when I use blood magic? Does it suppress (or maybe feed off of) pain when I use it? But then, the throbbing pain in my head is still there. Then maybe it is because it doesn’t require that much magic to heal my wounds? A byproduct of how unnaturally attuned I seem to be with its use? Never in my life have I found myself with the paradoxical feeling of learning more about a power I don’t want to learn more about.

There will be time to worry about all of that later. What matters now is that my injuries aren’t impeding my ability to move. A result of the Steel Rangers trying to bring me in alive, no doubt. This still doesn’t make them any less deadly than the hellhounds. Or any less amoral, for that matter.

With my wounds healed up, I rub my forehead, trying to make the pain die down quicker, while the little pony in my head says ‘You know, as far as being amoral goes, those two that chased you didn’t really sound like the jackbooted dictators that the Steel Rangers are usually known for.’

Shaking my head at the idea, I open the door and cautiously poke my head out into the hallway. It doesn’t matter how they act, they’re still Steel Rangers. And if I don’t hurry to the control center and get this stupid rocket launched, they’re going to do something desperate.

‘Then maybe you’re going about this the wrong way,’ the little pony suggests as I enter the hallway and start walking back the way I came. ‘Think about it, they don’t seem to want the rocket themselves and they’re certainly not keen on giving it away either. Maybe you can work something out with them?’

The problem with that is that I’m an escaped prisoner now. That guns down any willingness they would have to listen to me now. Not that they did back when we were talking to each other. Plus, what kind of a deal could I make with them anyway? It’s like Grim Dawn said: once word gets out that there’s a balefire rocket here, every major power in Equestria will be coming here in force to take it. Really, the only sane option we could both agree on is to dismantle the thing. And even that would mean a hundred warheads that need to be disposed of.

Of course, that’s assuming Diamond Shard would go along with that. This rocket, along with all the warheads inside of it, is the biggest trump card in all of Equestria. Big enough to make the Twilight Society think twice before using Celestia One against whoever has it. That alone would end the unofficial cold war between the Steel Rangers and the NCR in the Rangers’ favor.

If she is as committed to the Steel Rangers cause as Star Berry suggests, then there is no way she would simply throw this advantage away. It’s like tossing away a loaded revolver in the middle of a gunfight.

Which means there is no way she’ll let the ghouls go. Why leave all of those warheads in one rocket when the knowledge to make more is within your grasp? I wonder if she knows exactly what will happen to them once she turns them over. Then again, I doubt she’ll care about adding more bodies to the pile the Rangers have already made from the innocent lives they’ve cut short.

‘Are you sure about that?’ The little pony in my head asks. ‘Think about it, your prison guard thought she went soft after her promotion. She winced when you suggested that she just wants help to kill innocent ponies. Not to mention how concerned she was about the rocket causing even more loss of life. She doesn’t seem like the kind of pony Star Berry heard about in those rumors.’

That doesn’t mean much. Silverwing didn’t seem like a murderer either and look what happened with Trian Mill.

‘This isn’t Trian Mill,’ the little pony annoyingly points out. ‘And Diamond Shard isn’t Silverwing anymore than she is that scribe who hired him. They’re not the same.’

Aren’t they?! I heard what Star Berry said! I know exactly the lengths the Steel Rangers will go to to get what they want! If she is anything like them, then I’m the only one that can prevent her from getting what she wants and starting another massacre!

‘Are you really doing this to prevent another massacre?’ The little pony asks bluntly. ‘Or are you just looking for an excuse to spite her and the rest of the Steel Rangers for everything they’ve done to you?’

I stop dead in my tracks and stare down at the floor, the lights flicker momentarily as that thought lingers in my mind. I then shake my head and continue walking forward.

I’m not being vindictive here.

I’m not.

I just… need to keep moving.

Hearing the sound of hoofsteps coming towards me, I duck into a room and hide until the sound disappears. Another close call, of what has been three so far since my escape. While it is lucky that none of the Steel Rangers hunting me have noticed me (and thus tag me on their E.F.S.), it is only a matter of time before they catch a glimpse of my tail or hear my breathing. A small part of me wonders if Rose has been found out and captured by now. But this is a bat pony that kept a group of super hellhounds from catching her for two weeks. There is no real need to worry about her.

I poke my head out of the room and, after making certain that they are truly gone, leave my hiding spot to look at the directory sign hanging on the wall. While it doesn’t list every ghouls’ office as it should, it still points out where the major rooms in this place are. A blessing to be sure, given my luck finding out where everything is in this place. And getting lost is the last thing I want when there are Steel Rangers hunting me down.

Spotting the Control Center listing right above the Electrical Room, I note that the arrow points in the same direction where I heard the hoofsteps come from. Maybe that means that those Rangers were guarding the control center? If so, then it means sneaking into the room should be easy now. Of course, there is only one way to find out.

As I make my way towards the Control Center, I soon find myself in familiar territory. The very same hallway that Salt Cube led me down when I first arrived here, in fact. Back before I knew exactly what kind of madness was brewing down here. And now here I am, going down the same path again, with full intention of going through with the same plan I called insane nearly a week ago.

Calling this ironic feels like an understatement considering everything that has happened up to this point. If anypony back home knew what I am trying to pull off right now…

And there’s the large room where I met Bright Eyes and Rocky Shores up ahead. I quicken my pace, praying that Rose is waiting for me inside and not a gathering of fully armed Steel Rangers.

Fortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any Steel Rangers waiting for me here.

Unfortunately, Rose isn’t here either.

Worse, the terminal next to the large vault door leading to the control center is missing. Because of course it would be. And if that isn’t bad enough, a close examination of the new hole in the wall shows that they even ripped out the wiring as well. Which means there is nothing to hook my PipBuck up to in order to force the door open.

“Smart move, Diamond,” I mutter to myself. “No need to waste ponies guarding a door when you can just prevent anypony from getting inside.”

Alright, there is a solution to this: I’ll just teleport into the room myself and open the door on that side. Sure, I still haven’t fully recovered yet and the only other time I teleported to a place I couldn’t see I ended up passing out. But I was bleeding to death back then and Rose was on a completely different floor. This is literally just teleporting onto the other side of a door to a room I’ve been to. The worst that could happen now is that I collapse again and spend some time recovering.

Or faint for a few hours. Or days.

No. Stop worrying about that. I just need to close my eyes and visualise the room in its entirety. With all of the terminals, the consoles, the chairs. Actually, did any of them get knocked over when the Steel Rangers barged into the room? I don’t really want to splice into one of them when I reappear on the other side. In fact, how do I know that the room hasn’t been littered with traps to keep me out? Or that there’s some Rangers still trying to break into the console inside?

Ok, blindly teleporting into this room is probably a bad idea. Maybe I should contact Salt Cube now and make sure there aren't any traps waiting for me on the other side. Assuming he’s not going to backstab us again. Or that he’s actually where he said he would be and not tied up in another room somewhere. Or worse.

Spying an intercom box nearby, I quickly walk over and dial the room number Salt Cube gave me before pressing the talk button. “Hello? Anypony there?”

Static.

“Come on, please tell me somepony is there! The door is locked and I’ve got Rangers hunting for me right now!”

More static.

“I swear, Salt Cube, if you gave me the wrong room number,” I press my head against the intercom. “I’ll… I’ll…”

“Salt Cube is busy at the moment. But I’m more than willing to deal with you right now.”

Instincts kick in and I teleport a few feet away before my brain has the chance to remind my body why it shouldn’t do that. The world feels like it is spinning as I lean heavily against a nearby wall. With one hoof pressing against my aching head, I look over to see the one thing I didn’t want to see: A lone Ranger stands near a now dented intercom, their metal hoof firmly planted into it.

“A teleporting unicorn that is nearing his limit. Just like they said,” Diamond Shard says thoughtfully as she lowers her hoof to the ground and turns to face me. “Though, you seem to be handling yourself better than I was led to believe. For a Tower pony, that is.”

“Thanks for the compliment,” I say while forcing myself to my hooves before glancing at the empty space around her. “Aren’t you supposed to have a few thugs with you?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be with Winter Rose?” She gestures behind her with her head. “After everything you said about trusting her, I didn’t expect you to abandon her like all of the other scum she keeps coercing into her schemes.”

“Like you’re one to talk about trust,” I say while anger flares up inside me. There is something condescending about her tone that just ticks me off. “When your own Rangers question your motives behind your back. Not really surprising, given the reputation you and your old chapter seem to have garnered among them.”

Even with her power armor obscuring her features, it’s clear from the animosity suddenly radiating from her that my comment struck a nerve. “Oh?” She says coldly, taking a few steps towards me.

I level a glare at her. “You talk about saving lives, but let’s be honest here: you really don’t care how many bodies pile up as long as you get what you want in the end: Fame, Prestige, a shiny new promotion as Elder. Just as soon as you deliver the most destructive weapon in Equestria to a bunch of amoral fanatics who-”

In an instant, Diamond closes the distance between us. And in one quick motion, she lifts my body off the ground and slams me into the ground hard. W-What just happened? H-How did she- “GAH!”

“Let me make one thing clear to you,” Diamond calmly says while slamming one hoof into my shoulder and bends my foreleg in an unnatural direction with the other. “I am not in the mood right now. The only reason why I humored you before was because of a deal I made with your mercenary partner.”

“That deal also means you shouldn’t be hurting me right now!” I point out through clenched teeth. “Rose did tell you everything, didn’t she?”

“Did she?” Diamond Shard tilts her head slightly. “She apparently lied about coercing you into hunting hellhounds with her. Just like she lied about not knowing about what the ghouls were planning on doing here. So between your outlandish story and her suspiciously tame one, I don’t know who to believe,” She leans in closer to me. “But I am curious: what did you do to her that she would actually go through all of this effort to spare you any blame? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were blackmailing her somehow.”

It is hard to do in this position, but I try to glare up at her regardless. “Or maybe I actually treated her with some respect, you self-righteous little- AGH!”

“The only one being self-righteous is you,” Diamond mutters as she bends my foreleg even further back. My eyes shut tightly from the pain while her tone becomes much darker as she adds “Now, tell me how to end the lockdown or-”

“Or what?” I snap at her. “You’ll break my foreleg off? Go ahead! I’m not helping you kill anypony here!”

I wait for her to snap my foreleg into two. But she doesn’t. And the heavily tinted visor makes it impossible to read her emotions.

Is she hesitating? Why? I am the big bad pony here in her eyes! Just because you still haven’t figured out that I don’t know how to end the lockdown doesn’t mean you should be holding back!

‘Why are you thinking about any of this right now?!’ asks the little pony in my head, desperately trying to calm me down. ‘In fact, why are you even arguing with her?! You need to get out of here before things get any worse!’

“You keep reminding me of that traitor,” Diamond Shard mutters, causing me to blink in surprise as she raises her hoof from my shoulder in a threatening manner. “And I don’t like that one bit.”

In that instant, I look to the other side of the room and teleport before her hoof could connect with my face. The pain and lightheadedness hit me yet again and I sway back and forth when reappearing. Fighting back against gravity, I manage to steady myself again before looking back at my opponent.

Just in time to see the bottom of her steel hoof right in front of my face.

The combined force of being bucked in the face, chest, and stomach sends me flying out of the room and tumbling down the hall. I cough out blood as I slide to a stop, clutching my stomach in pain. To my infinite misery, that simultaneous attack on three parts of my body confirms it: she has S.A.T.S. built into her armor. Can’t really say that I care for being on the receiving end of that spell for once.

“Do you feel like cooperating now?” She asks calmly, cracking her neck while walking towards me. “Or are you going to force me to keep breaking bones until you talk?”

‘Just give up already,’ My little pony says as I struggle to stand. ‘At this rate, no pony will be able to recognise your corpse once she’s done with you. So stop being stubborn and just tell her the truth already! Admit that Salt Cube activated the lockdown and promise to stay out of her way if she lets you and Rose leave here alive.’

And condemn the ghouls to whatever fate Diamond Shard has planned for them? No, I’m not going to do that. Nor am I going to let her or any other Steel Ranger take this stupid rocket from here. Not if I can help it.

I glance over to the vault door behind the approaching Steel Ranger. Buck it all! Why didn’t I ignore my worries and teleport straight there when I had the chance? At least then I would have been safely inside, waiting for Salt Cube to answer me or for Rose to give me my PipBuck. With Diamond Shard standing right outside, patiently waiting for whoever comes to get me. Nevermind. It seems that, for once, my worrying actually kept me out of a worst situation.

Alright, new plan, find Rose before she walks into this mess.

As magic courses through my horn, Diamond suddenly charges into a tackle, her body pushing against mine just as my teleport spell goes off. Whatever momentum was transferred between us pushes me into a wall as I reappear further down the hall. Another wave of pain and dizziness assaults my mind, worse than the last one. And rubbing my forehead doesn’t seem to be helping anymore.

The wall immediately shakes with Diamond practically ramming into it. Wood cracks and splinters as the wall buckles from the impact. An effective reminder of just how much the user’s strength is enhanced by power armor.

Taking a few steps back, I watch as the imposing Ranger removes herself from the wall and turns to face me. Without a word, she shifts into a defensive pose and looks me over. Probably waiting for me to make the next move.

If only I knew what to do next. Running, obviously. But teleporting away is starting to get dicey and the idea of it failing on me again isn’t enticing, to say the least. But can I outrun her without relying on my teleport spell? Not if she gets close enough to use S.A.T.S. again. She’ll tear me to pieces for sure if that happens.

There must be a way to recognise when she is about to use S.A.T.S.. But her power armor doesn’t give off any signs to go off on. Or maybe I’m missing something. What was it that Rose was trying to teach me about noticing things? Look for something that doesn’t look right? But all she’s doing is standing there defensively. No wait, is her armor slightly trembling right no-OH DEAR LUNA!

Diamond’s body moves like a blur, going from standing afar off one second to rearing right in front of me in the next, startling me into teleporting away. Which only makes things worse for me as I stumble backward upon reappearing, desperately holding onto my dwindling sense of balance until I fall onto my haunches. Diamond continues to slam her hooves into the ground like a jackhammer for a few more seconds before she finally stops.

Just. How? How?! You should be locked in place when using S.A.T.S.! This isn’t how the manual said the spell is supposed to work! There’s no way a pony should be able to move like that, right? Right?!

Turning her head in my direction, she quickly digs her hooves into the ground and charges forward. Having no other choice left, I try to teleport away again only for the spell to fizzle out on me. I try to dodge out of the way but she knocks me off my hooves and almost slams her hoof into me when my second attempt to teleport works.

Although, with my head spinning and aching in pain, it might have been better to take the hit. I don’t bother getting my bearings and scramble into a nearby room. However, I can’t stand the dizziness anymore and I slump against a nearby wall, hugging my head in an attempt to make the pain go away.

I can’t keep going like this anymore. Not if I keep feeling like this every time I teleport.

Forcing myself back onto my hooves, I barely recognize the room I am in. It is the one that I woke up in after my fight with Lupa. Which means there has to be some medication in here somewhere, right? With the grace of a drunk, I move past the bed and lab table to the row of cabinets at the back of the room. Hopefully there’s some medication in them or something to take away this pain. Except the first cabinet only has lab equipment in it. The next one after that has even more lab equipment inside. And the last one is just empty. Figures. Just as I back away from the last cabinet, I spot a small refrigerator in the corner. With luck, there might be a healing potion in there. Please let there be a healing potion in there. Opening it up, my heart stops once I see what is inside.

Blood packs. Several of them neatly arranged on the shelf.

R-Right, the ghouls would need a few here in case something happened to Salt Cube, wouldn’t they? They probably used a couple on me when they were treating me too. Now that they’re leaving the planet forever, it wouldn’t make any sense for them to take the blood with them.

Nothing good will come from using those blood packs here.

Except this is an opportunity to end it right here, isn’t it? There wouldn’t be a need to launch the rocket if Diamond Shard and her Rangers weren’t around anymore. And there’s enough blood here that it won’t be suicidal to go all out like when I fought Lupa. I did take down Lupa, so it shouldn’t be that hard to get rid of a few Steel Rangers. Everypony here would be safer if they weren’t around.

The image of Rose lying on the ground bleeding, with blades of blood hovering over her body, flashes through my mind as my little pony asks ‘Would everypony be safer? If you go all out like last time, will you be able to rein yourself in before you go too far?’

I stare at the blood packs for what feels like an eternity before shaking my head. No, probably not. Honestly, why am I even considering this at all?! I need to get out of here before Diamond finds me again.

Backing away from the fridge, I move to leave when my hooves are swept out from under me, knocking my body onto the ground hard.

“Do realise that you only have yourself to blame for this,” Diamond Shard says as she steps over my body. “I tried reasoning with you and you spat on that. I let Salt Cube try to convince you to help us and that failed. And now,” She slams her hoof into my foreleg. I scream out in pain, tears forming in my eyes, as she leans in close. “Now, I’m seeing that you're too stubborn to beat into submission.”

Several fiery remarks come to mind as my eyes glance over to the blood packs. But I bite my tongue and try to keep my now rising anger from spilling out. Stay calm. Stay in control. Don’t make the same mistake you made with Lupa. Get out of this mess without making things worse.

Another jolt of pain shoots through my foreleg as she grinds her hoof into it. “Fine then, if you won’t talk then maybe Rose will.”

“Good luck trying to find her,” I say through clenched teeth while trying to push her hoof off. “She kept hellhounds guessing for two weeks. You have no chance.”

Diamond gives a short, mirthless chuckle. “Winter Rose has been in my town for two years. You don’t think I would have figured her out by now?”

She lifts her head back up. “I know she keeps a bobby pin in her tail for when she needs to escape from captivity. I know she overheard me when I told my Rangers where I want to keep you. And I know she’s heading straight for the control center right now, probably with your PipBuck in hoof. And we both know there is only one way out of there now.”

I stop struggling and look up with widening eyes as she continues. “It’s just a matter of time before my Rangers drag her over here, really. And if showing off your bloody body doesn’t get her to talk, then I’ll let you watch as I break her in front of you. Maybe that will finally loosen your tongue.”

“You Leave Her Out Of This!” I shout out. “She doesn’t know how to end any of this! You know she doesn’t!”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Diamond answers back. “But I’m tired of playing this game with you. So for the last time,” She picks me up and slams me into the wall. “If you actually care about that bat pony as much as you let on, you will end the lockdown. Now!”

My heart threatens to beat out of my chest as I tremble in the Steel Ranger’s grasp. The idea of teleporting away again comes to mind and is immediately tossed aside; She will use E.F.S. to find me before I can recover from the spell. And even if I do get away, if what Diamond is implying is true and Rose gets caught in her trap…

Once again the blood packs tempt me, the familiar siren call tugging at my mind, offering power in exchange for giving in. No, I don’t need it. Rose will be fine. Even if she is captured, she has gotten out of worse situations than this. But… what if they tell her the same thing and she doesn’t bother to escape? She was willing to lie to keep me safe after all. And if I’m forced to tell the truth, what are they going to do to Salt Cube? Or the ghouls if Salt Cube refuses to talk?

Buck it all, what am I supposed to do here?! Why is it that everytime I try to do something right somepony gets hurt in the end?! Isn’t it enough to just let me suffer for my own stupidity, Luna?! Is that too much to ask?!

Of course it is. It is always too much. Like asking for the Steel Rangers to live up to the noble ideals they had before the war. The same ideals I nearly gave up on thanks to their betrayal. It’s ironic that they would show up just when things were finally looking up for me. Like they didn’t break me enough the first time around! Now they’re here to piss on me a second time?!

“Why do you keep doing this to me?!” I finally answer with a mixture of pent up anger and frustration. “Wasn’t it enough to trick me into turning Trian Mill into a death trap?! They didn’t deserve to die in their own home like that! But that didn’t matter to you as long as you got a shiny new bunker out of it! And Now You’re Asking Me To Give You The Chance To Do It All Over Again, But On A Bigger Scale?! WHY IN LUNA’S NAME WOULD I EVER DO THAT?!”

Diamond strikes my face before throwing me into the ground hard. “Enough Already!” She growls. “I am not asking about that bunker! And if I was, why would we involve you at all? The two Rangers I sent there were more than capable of-”

Suddenly my blood runs cold. “You,” I cut her off as I shakily lift myself off the ground. “You sent them there? You’re the reason that Scribe and her bodyguard were interested in Trian Mill in the first place?”

She pauses for a moment, then asks “You met them?” I stay silent and I can feel her glare piercing through her helmet as she looks at me. “Scribe Prism and Knight Jade. What happened to them?”

I hang my head, my eyes widening as the realisation sinks in: That everything that happened, the blood caps, the virus, all of those deaths, is all because of the pony standing in front of me.

She takes a threatening step forward. “I am beyond tired of this,” She continues, her tone gaining a harsh edge to it. “So explain to me how my two best Rangers, who were on a scouting mission, ended up dead with a couple of tribals?”

“Am I really supposed to believe that you sent a Scribe out on a scouting mission?” I snarl as my anger starts slipping out of my control in the face of her lies. “Next, you’ll tell me that the twelve thousand caps she had on her at the time was just for supplies. Or that you didn’t know about the infected holotape she gave us to fix the turret system she just happened to know was not working in Trian Mill.”

“You’re clearly making that up,” She says. “When I found their bodies, they were nowhere near that massacre. For all I know, you were the one that killed them all and are using my Rangers as a scapegoat for your murdering spree.”

The blood bags burst open and their content fly past Diamond Shard to encircle around me. The mare steps back as I glare at her with unbridled rage.

“How Dare You.” I growl darkly. “I just wanted to keep them safe. It was your Rangers that set everything in motion. Your Rangers that wanted the base so badly. Your Rangers that took advantage of my good intentions to kill them all. And since they were under your orders, Their Blood Is Just As Much On Your Hooves As It Is On Theirs!” Two blades form from the torrent of blood circling me. “SO HOW DARE YOU PRETEND YOU’RE INNOCENT!”

With one step forward, I strike at Diamond, both of my blades scrape against her power armor as she dodges away from them. Another strike to her forelegs forces her to the ground. But her armor prevents me from cutting straight through, my blades barely biting into the metal itself. Not that it matters, it can’t hold up forever.

You’re not innocent, Diamond. And I will make you pay for what you’ve done!

In one blurry motion, Diamond slams her head into my stomach and knocks the wind out of me. My blood blades splatter on the ground as she wraps her hooves around me and throws me out of the room.

Fire burns in my lungs as I try to catch my breath, my legs protesting while I force myself onto my hooves. But the pain dims in comparison to the searing hatred raging inside of me.

Diamond charges, getting close enough to me that she lifts her hoof to strike right as I call the blood back to me. A single long blade slams into her, knocking her off balance enough to lessen her blow to my foreleg. She staggers to the side while I fall to my knee. My blade lashes out at her but she knocks it away with her foreleg before striking against my shoulder.

The blow connects, shoving me to the ground and forcing me to teleport away when she rears up to stomp on my head. I barely recognise the ground shaking as I press up against a wall, using it as a support in my attempt to stand up even as the world feels like it is spinning.

From the corner of my eye, I see the glint of metal and try to teleport away again. Only for the spell to fail and a metal hoof slams into my face, knocking me to the ground. Another attack comes but I roll away in time and slam my blade into her head repeatedly, forcing her to back off. Even after cutting deep grooves into her armor, my attacks still can’t get through that metal plating. And it is infuriating.

I stagger to my hooves while Diamond gets into a defensive position. Some part of me feels like it is trying to get me to stop, to run away from this fight. But no. Not this time. Not while she is still alive. She needs to pay. Now. I shove that part to the back of my mind and focus on the Ranger in front of me as we catch our breaths. There has to be some kind of weakness to exploit here. Some way for me to tear through that armor and make her answer for all the blood that was spilt that day.

That day. Did you know, Star Paladin Shard, just how many ponies were living in that base? Or how hard it was for them to eke out a living in that barren wasteland they called home? Did you stop to think about what you were about to do?

No, when things should have gotten better for them, you decided to cut them down instead. They were only a bunch of dirty tribals, after all, and your chapter needed their home more than they did. Needed it badly enough to turn it against them.

And you have the nerve to plead ignorance while shifting all of the blame on me! The only one that actually wanted to help them! The only one that still has nightmares about what happened!

Her body blurs as she races forward, landing an uppercut on my chin before putting me in a headlock.

You knew what was going on there!

I split my blood blades into four and start hammering them down on her even as she squeezes harder around my neck.

Why else would they have the cap?! Or the virus?!

Choking under her grip, I teleport behind her and manage to keep my balance even as I stab my blades into the joints of her rear legs.

But you just didn’t care!

She tries to buck my head, her hind hooves barely graze my chin as I stagger backwards. I recall my blades just as she turns to face me.

Their lives didn’t matter to you as long as your Chapter got what it wanted in the end!

Before she can attack, I lunge forward with my blades, striking at her with increasingly more violent and powerful blows. Forcing her backwards as I pour all of my ire into my magic.

You Call Yourself A Steel Ranger?!

One of my blades slices off the hose on her helmet.

The Rangers I Looked Up To Wouldn’t Have Acted Like Bloodthirsty Raiders!

Reverting my blades into a liquid, I channel it through the exposed hose right into her helmet.

They Wouldn’t Have Abandoned Everything They Stood For!

Diamond claws at her helmet before finally ripping it off of her and throwing it on the ground.

You’re A Mockery Of What They Were!

Ripping the blood out of her helmet, I reform my blade and immediately go for her exposed throat.

AND YOU SHOULD DIE FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!

‘Like how Rose should have blown your head off?’

My blade stops just inches away from Diamond’s neck as Rose’s scar flashes before my eyes.

‘Quit rushing to mete out justice and think this through! The little pony in my head continues even as he struggles to be heard among the feelings of rage and bloodlust trying to drown it out. ‘All you know for certain is that she ordered those two Rangers on a scouting mission and that she came across their bodies some time after you killed them.’

I clench my teeth, desperately trying to keep my feelings in check even as my blood magic threatens to break out of my control. That doesn’t mean she wasn’t hoping that they would do what they did! For all I know, she probably used this mess to get herself promoted to Star Paladin!

‘But that doesn’t match up with what you actually know about her!’ My little pony shouts. ‘Remember what Rose said about her and her Rangers in Green Bean? They protect everypony in that town. And remember that interrogation? The entire reason she’s here, the reason she’s going to such extremes to get you to end the lockdown, is because the ghoul’s rocket poses a serious risk to everypony around here!’

I KNOW THAT! But that still doesn’t mean that she could be giving me half truths and keeping others things hidden from me! In her mind, I’m the mass murderer here! There isn’t any reason for her to be honest with me about any of this!

‘But there’s no reason to say that she’s lying to you about this either,’ My little pony points out. ‘If anything, she’s proven to be an honorable pony just by honoring her agreement with Rose until it looked like she was lied to herself. And even if she did get her promotion because of what those two Rangers did, that guard from outside your room said that she had grown soft after becoming Star Paladin. Doesn’t that mean that she’s changed just as much as you did from that experience?’

That… that is certainly a possibility…

The little pony shakes his head. ‘Are you really so vindictive that you’re willing to murder a pony regardless of she’s innocent or not?’

But how could she be innocent?! She sent those Rangers there! Even if she didn’t specifically order her Rangers to do what they did, she is still responsible for everything that happened at Trian Mill! It’s not like she didn’t…

Doubt. Doubt finally digs itself into my mind, compelling me to look Diamond straight in the eyes and ask “You really didn’t know what they were doing over there, did you?”

She gives me a very confused look, glances down at the blade at her throat, then adopts a more serious expression as she locks her eyes with mine. “No,” She says firmly. “I had more important things to worry at the time.”

“DON’T LIE-!” My sudden outburst causes the blade to make a small cut to her neck before I can stop it. Seeing that small bit of life bleeding out of her wound, feeling that warm energy radiating from it as it sends a chill down my spine, nearly makes me lose it. My body tenses up as I desperately try to maintain control over myself with the wolf claws at my mind.

Stay calm! Stay focused! I can’t lose it now. Not until she fully explains herself.

“That seems unlikely,” I say as calmly as I can manage. “What in Luna’s name could have been more important that you wouldn’t keep tabs on what your scouts were doing?”

Diamond carefully considers me for a moment before saying “Holding together what remained of my contingent. The Enclave found a way into our systems and attacked while we were getting gunned down by our own defenses. We managed to repel them, but not before taking heavy casualties and losing most of our equipment and supplies in the process.”

Regret shows in her eyes as her voice gains an edge to it. “That was the situation I had to take charge of when Scribe Prism suggested an area we might be able to relocate to. So tell me, how was I supposed to know that ordering her there would lead to a worse massacre than the one I was dealing with? How would I know if she had taken caps from our treasury or made a copy of the same virus that turned our defenses against us when our base was literally falling apart at the seams?!”

A thick tension settles in the air as she finishes. I study her face, scrutinizing every feature and detail to try and figure out if she is lying or not. But the more I search, the more convinced I become that she’s telling the truth.

My rage slowly fades but that urge to rip her soul from her body renews its assault on my mind, desperately trying to compel me to kill her. Like a wolf that has tasted blood. I clutch my head, fighting push back against it. This isn’t right anymore! What happened at Trian Mill was not her fault! Not intentionally. She doesn’t deserve to die for that! She couldn’t have known how much death that one order would have caused in the end. Just like I couldn’t have known how much death that one holotape would cause back then.

What have I been doing to myself for all these years?

My blood blade reverts back into its liquid form and erratically circles around me as I fight against the curse’s influence, struggling to banish what remains of my anger and bloodlust from my mind.

Enough! I’m better than this! I may have been cursed with this blood magic a long time ago. It may have caused me to do horrible things in the past. It may even be a permanent part of me forever. But it isn’t stronger than me! This power is mine now! And I’m not going to allow it to manipulate my emotions and influence my mind towards wanton murder! Not without a fight!

No, I Am Not Going To Kill Her In Cold Blood! I REFUSE!

Suddenly, blood splatters on the ground as the influence finally disappears to the back of my mind. Every fiber of my being shakes with every deep breath of air I take while my hooves slide down my tear stained face. Wait, tears? When did I start crying?

It doesn’t matter now. For once I didn’t give in! Thank Luna, I didn’t give in!

Suddenly Diamond plows right into me, shoving me onto my back. The intent to kill clearly shows in her eyes as she raises her hoof to strike my head. I quickly splatter her face with some nearby blood, causing her to gag and try to wipe it from her eyes. Again I try to teleport and it takes longer than normal for it to finally go off and send me somewhere down the hall.

A long list of curses comes to me as I reappear and I clutch my head as all too familiar pain and lightheadedness hits me with a vengeance.

Buck it all, why can’t Diamond give me a break like any other character in a story would when their opponent backs down?! Nevermind, I need to figure a way to stop her before she snaps my neck! If only my head would stop hurting! And this stupid flickering light above me isn’t helping matters!

W-Wait a minute! Lights! Of course! This place still has power! Maybe I can pull off the same thing I did with the anti-magic ring?

Forcing myself back onto my hooves, I quickly glance at the nearby sign before running in the direction of the Electrical Room. Swaying back and forth all the while, but somehow keeping myself from completely falling over.

If I can just get there before Diamond kills me, then maybe I can disable that power armor!

My pace quickens when I hear the heavy stomping of Diamond’s hooves closing in on me. A quick glance reveals that she has her helmet on again. Maybe assuming that I won’t try the same trick again since I left all that blood behind. Or more likely, she knows she’ll survive longer holding her breath than exposing her neck for a quick decapitation.

It does make what I’m planning on doing a bit easier, though.

The constant need to teleport and run and fight seems to be catching up with me, however. Every part of me aches by the time I make it to the ajar Electrical Room door. Just as I move to go through it, my hind legs are knocked out from under me, forcing me to teleport straight into the room.

My muzzle smashes into some equipment as I reappear and collapse onto the floor. Blood runs down my nose and I hold a hoof against it, trying to ignore the pain coursing through my head. Glancing at my surroundings, I spot what appears to be a big generator with a few large cables coming out of it. Jackpot! Scrambling over to it, I manage to press my back against it just as Diamond runs into the room.

I form a small blade from the blood coming out of my nose when she charges straight at me. Her hoof grazing my cheek as I push myself away at the last moment and hear it slam into the generator. And at that moment, I slice one of the cables coming from the generator and ram the electrified end into the jackpoint on her helmet.

Sparks fly from her power armor while magical lightning arches over its surface. When one of those lightning arches threatens to jump over to me, I quickly back away, pulling the cable out in the process. The power armor falls over with a loud thud and I keep the cable pointed at her as it sparks and smokes.

No movement.

I mend the cable back together again and then stumble to a nearby wall before I promptly vomit everything in my stomach onto the floor. Between the cold sweat running down my face and the gasps of stale air I draw in, I idly wonder why I keep pushing myself past the limits my body can handle before pushing that thought to the side. The more important question I should be asking is if I actually killed Diamond Shard or not?

Wiping my face off, I cautiously approach the still smoking power armor. That did a lot more damage than I expected. But power armor is insulated against this kind of thing. I think. Honestly, I would have felt her dying just like I felt Lupa and the others die. Maybe.

Reaching out to pull off her helmet, I nearly jump back when the jackpoint on her helmet sparks briefly.

Ok, maybe I overestimated how much punishment power armor can take. Oh dear Luna, I killed her.

Tugging at her helmet a bit, I finally get it off to find the unconscious looking mare underneath. She lets out a groan as she stirs herself awake before looking up at me. To which, I let out a big sigh and say “Thank Luna I didn’t kill you!”

“What?” Diamond lets out before struggling to get off the ground. However, her power armor barely moves. Apparently, that shock knocked out all of the strength enhancements needed for a pony to freely move in it. Which effectively means she is stuck in a straight-jacket made out of tank armor.

“Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t like you,” I put her helmet off to the side and slump down against the generator. “Not after everything you’ve put Rose and I through. But even then, it wasn’t right to jump to conclusions like I did. Neither was letting that cursed power get out of control like that. And if I had killed you for something you weren’t responsible for while under its influence, I don’t think I could forgive myself for doing that. So, umm, sorry about that.”

Unsurprisingly, Diamond gives me an incredulous look before shaking her head. “You can’t be serious.”

“I don’t expect you to believe me. Or forgive me for what I’ve done, really,” I say while rubbing the back of my neck. “But I truly try to avoid killing ponies when I can help it and after what just happened, well, again, I’m sorry for that. And that I’ll make it up to you once this entire mess is over. Somehow.”

Diamond studies my face in disbelief, probably trying to figure out how sincere I am with everything I’m saying. Or maybe trying to figure out if I’m insane. To be fair, even I haven’t figured that one out yet.

“You have to think I’m some kind of idiot, don’t you?” She finally says. “Am I really supposed to swallow that bull when you’re trying to launch a nuke to Celestia knows where?!”

I raise an eyebrow. “Am I supposed to believe that you’re not interested in using it for your own ends?”

“Yes!” She says emphatically.

“Why?” I ask. “Why would somepony like you, a Star Paladin, come to such a remote area such as Green Bean if you weren’t looking for something as powerful as this stupid rocket?”

Diamond glares at me for a few seconds, then she glances at her helmet, before finally looking back at her damaged power armor. “It’s because this place was so remote that I came here in the first place.”

Ok, that wasn’t what I was expecting to hear from her and I find myself tilting my head to show as much.

“That massacre you blamed me for? My superiors thought I did it,” She continues as she turns her attention back at me. “And they were impressed by how efficiently it was cleaned out. More so than me fixing that hopeless situation I was in. I tried to set the record straight, turn down the promotion to Star Paladin. But they were more interested in making me a hero and showing that we weren’t dying out than telling the truth.

“Officially, I’m here to determine if the Chapter is really needed. In reality, I needed to get away from it all and rethink my beliefs,” She shakes her head. “The Chapter was a mess when I arrived. Between the lack of leadership, Green Bean having no strategic value whatsoever, and the Chapter acting more like town guards than actual Steel Rangers, I almost ordered them to pack up and leave right there and then.”

Fire ignites in her eyes as she fiercely says “But I remembered how I felt when I was dragging bodies into the mass grave at Trian Mill. Wondering what I would have done if I had arrived there just a day or two earlier. I decided then I wasn’t going to let that happen again. Until that miserable town can stand on its own four hooves, I will work to turn it and its Chapter into what they should be while keeping them safe from threats like you!”

We stare at each other in silence, her piercing glare leaving no room for doubt that she is completely serious in her claim. That glare intensifies when I finally break the silence by chuckling to myself.

“Ok, I take back what I said about you,” I say while picking myself off the ground. “You’re close to being a Steel Ranger like Flint Striker was. Still doesn’t mean that I like you or how you do things around here.”

“I don’t need your approval to do what’s right,” She snarls at me. I simply shrug and begin to walk away when she says in a softer tone “Wait. How do you know about Flint Striker anyway?”

I stop and look back at her. “Because Flint Striker and Violet Sage told me their stories while raising me. Their example actually made me the kind of pony I am today. But that’s kind of a given, considering they are my parents and all that,” Diamond looks utterly dumbfounded as I salute her. “Now if you will excuse me, I have a rocket to send to the moon.”

“You really think that rocket will make it to the moon?!” She snaps.

“To be honest, it’s more of a hope now than anything,” I say as I start to walk away. “But having considered all of the options available, that thing is better off up there than it is down here.”

“You’re going to risk the lives of hundreds, no thousands, of ponies because you hope it will make it to the moon?!” She asks derisively. “You can’t do that! That thing will crash back down before it even makes it past the cloud line! It won’t work! You can’t make it work!”

I can’t make it work.

I can’t make a difference.

I can’t teleport another pony with me.

I can’t travel with somepony anymore.

I can’t control my blood magic.

I can’t do anything right.

I look back at Diamond and smile. “Watch me.”

“Stop!” Diamond shouts as she struggles onto her hooves, her power armor still acting like a millstone around her neck. But I ignore her and walk out of the room. Honestly, I think Rose is rubbing off on me more than I thought. Especially if I can say something as arrogant as that and actually mean it. Now then, to find Rose and hope that my bravado doesn’t end up destroying the world.

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!”

Oh, for the love of Luna!

Two Steel Rangers start running down the hall towards me, one firing a shot at my hooves. It misses, ricocheting off the floor and hitting the wall instead, but that’s enough to remind me that I really don’t want to go through another fight with these ponies. I quickly dash in the opposite direction and teleport around a corner to throw them off while more shots are fired at me.

Struggling to keep myself from collapsing upon reappearing, I try to keep moving when Diamond shouts, “FORGET ABOUT HIM!”

“Star Paladin?” One of the Rangers asks as I stop and listen. “What happened to your-”

“Forget about that! Is the mercenary in custody yet?” Diamond immediately barks out.

“Umm, no sir. She just barely managed to slip past us,” The Ranger answers.

“Then forget about her and call everypony back!” Diamond shouts. “And tell Scribe Circuit to get the blowtorches ready! I don’t care how dangerous it is, we’re cutting those ghouls out of the rocket!”

Oh, this is bad! This is very bad!

I unsteadily gallop away from there. Curse this place for having an abundance of construction equipment lying around! Now I’m stuck with a ticking clock with absolutely no clue when it will hit zero! But this is what I get for ticking off somepony who thinks I’m trying to end the world!

Alright, enough of this. I need to find Rose and Salt Cube, get my PipBuck, and get into the control center now! If only we had set up a backup meeting spot before this point somehow.

Nearly losing my balance running around a corner, I push off against a wall to keep myself from falling over before continuing my gallop down the hall.

Come on, think! Where would I be if I was a super sneaky bat pon- “Eep!”

Instantly I cover my mouth as something yanks on my tail hard before something grabs hold of me and pulls me into a dark room. The door slams shut, leaving me and the pony hugging me lying on the ground in utter darkness and silence.

I struggle against the grip of my assailant, trying to free myself and escape when I recognise the familiar feeling of soft fur rubbing against me. Realizing that I’m not in any danger, I stop and wait to see if any of the Rangers come to inspect the area. Thankfully, it does seem like they have given up the chase.

Eventually, the pony behind me lets go and I wince while casting a light spell and move away from her. As the green hue brightens up my surroundings, I find myself in a storage closet, judging by all the spare parts and boxed up office supplies lining the shelves.

Turning around, my heart nearly jumps upon seeing Rose sitting on the other side! Her eyes seem to glow in the dark while her face is scrunched up as she tries hard not to…

I let out an exasperated sigh. “Go ahead. Let it out.”

At my prompting, Rose bursts out laughing, holding her sides with one hoof while pointing to me with the other. “Haha, that, that was the most adorable little squeak I’ve heard in my life!”

“I don’t squeak,” I say adamantly while rubbing my dock. “And anyone would yelp like that when you yank their tail that hard!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” She says, wiping a tear from her eye while trying to hold back another fit of giggles. “It was all I could think of doing to catch up to you before you got away from me again. But you have to admit, that squeak was cute.”

“Yelp,” I correct her. All the tension and worry from the last few hours disappear as I lay back against the wall and smile at her. “I am glad to see you in one piece.”

“Yeah, same here,” Rose returns my smile before looking me over. “Though you definitely look like you got in a fight with somepony.”

“With our esteemed Star Paladin, to be specific,” I say before rubbing my temples again. “And things have gotten a lot worse.”

“Yeah, I heard all about that,” She motions towards the door with her head. “Just barely managed to get away from those two Rangers too before they spotted you. Sorry about that.”

“It’s not your fault that I’m not all that good at hiding my presence as well as you,” I stop rubbing my temples and give her a serious look. “How did you learn to sneak around like that anyway? It’s almost like you turn into a shadow or something.”

“Ancient bat pony secret,” She gives me a wink while sticking her tongue out.

I roll my eyes. Of course it would be.

“To be honest, I probably would have been caught by now if I didn’t find this!” She proudly lifts up her hoof to reveal my PipBuck on her foreleg. She then takes it off and tosses it over to me. “Came in handy when they tried to trap me a few times. You should make me one of these things sometime.”

“As soon as you teach me the ancient bat pony secret of stealth,” I say with a slight smile on my face.

She chuckles and shakes her head. “I’ll think about it then.”

“In all seriousness, I’m glad this helped you out,” I say while I look my PipBuck over. It doesn’t look like it was tampered with too much. If anything, it actually looks better now than it has in years; almost like somepony decided to refurbish the entire thing. “I bet the Scribe working on it was loath to give it up, eh?” I ask rhetorically.

Rose scratches at her neck. “Well, she was working on it. That part is true.”

Ok, what are you not telling me, Rose?

My raised eyebrow is enough to get her to reluctantly say “And Salt Cube was helping her out too. She apparently dragged him in when she found out that he was a Stable Dweller and had some experience with PipBucks.”

Ok, that explains why Salt Cube wasn’t around earlier.

“And, umm,” Rose averts her eyes. “She kept muttering something about yours being an unholy abomination and an insult to PipBucks everywhere.”

H-Hey! I like to see her put together something as complicated as a PipBuck with scrap metal and wires!

“But Salt Cube helped me out by distracting her so I could take it!” Rose quickly says before nervously rubbing the back of her neck and quietly adding “By pointing out that you probably pulled apart multiple models of PipBucks to make yours. That really upset her.”

W-Well, that’s technically true. But I only used parts from broken PipBucks!

“So much that she started crying.”

Hey! My PipBuck is not that much of a piece of junk!

“Like really, really hard.”

Seriously, it’s not!

“She even made me feel bad for her when she ran out of the room bawling.”

“Alright! I get the point!” I say curtly while holding out one hoof in front of me and pressing the other against my forehead. It’s one thing to know that my PipBuck isn’t the most professionally built device around. It’s entirely different to find out that my methods of building it would bring ponies to tears. My pride didn’t need to be skewered that badly.

She probably enjoyed it too. I swear I saw a hint of a smile on her face while she was going on about the crying.

“Anyway,” Rose says quickly before motioning towards my PipBuck. “Salt Cube left you a message in there. Said something about things working better this way. I couldn’t get more than that from him before the Rangers spotted me.”

Nodding my head, I put on my PipBuck and go through the list of data and messages on it before spotting one addressed to me.

Intrepid,

Rose should have told you why I’m unable to unlock the console for you, so here:

Account: SCube12
Pass: 0n3D@ym0r3

Good luck and sorry for everything. Get them to the moon.

Luna Bless,
Salt Cube

“Well that solves one problem, at least,” I say before closing the message. “But without the terminal, we can’t get the door to the control center open.”

“Pfft, is that all?” Rose pulls out her bobby pin from her tail and grins slyly.

“No offense, but I doubt a bobby pin will get us through that vault door in time. I guess it can’t be helped,” I shake my head and move to stand up. “I’ll just teleport us in and-”

Suddenly my legs give out from under me and Rose barely catches me before I completely collapse onto the floor. “Woah there!” She exclaims. “Yeah, you’re definitely not doing so hot.”

“I’m fine,” I politely remove myself from her grasp and try standing up this time, swaying a bit in the process but still managing to keep my sense of balance this time. “See? Completely fine.”

“Fine, huh?” She gently nudges me and watches as I nearly collapse onto the floor again. “Treppy, how are you supposed to teleport us anywhere when you can barely keep yourself standing?”

“But we don’t have time to wait for me to recover!” I snap back. “Teleporting is the fastest way in there and it’s not like I need to stay standing once I get access to the console!”

Rose looks me straight in the eyes. “And what happens if you pass out after teleporting? I have no clue how to work any of this tech stuff if that happened! So can you really promise me that that won’t happen with the way you are right now?”

Yes. That is the answer I so desperately want to say right now. But the word gets stuck in my throat and I finally have to look away. “No, I can’t make that promise.”

“Then we’ll leave that as our final resort,” Rose says before placing a hoof on my shoulder and giving me a big grin. “Besides, if the terminal is gone and lockpicking is out, then we’ll just have to blow it up!”

I stare at her. “You know, I’m starting to worry about our overreliance on explosives to solve our problems.”

“If it ain’t broke,” She pats my shoulder before starting to search the room. “Now, I don’t know where our stuff is at, so the quickest way to get some explosives is probably to take it from some Rangers.”

“That’s the quickest way?” I tilt my head to the side. “Wouldn’t getting our equipment back be the better option here? I mean, didn’t you find some more grenades when you were disarming traps a few days ago?”

“If I knew where they stashed our equipment then yes,” She tosses a few tin cans and a dead spark battery over her shoulder. “But I do know where a few Steel Rangers will be. So we’ll just take some from them instead.”

“You’re sure they’re going to have explosives on them?” I ask while looking over the shelves around me. “I mean, I know ponies have that odd misconception that every Steel Ranger carries around a rocket launcher and a machine grenade launcher, but considering that none of them have been using those explosives against us yet-”

“Yet,” Rose points out before pulling a dirty duffel bag from some dark corner of the room. “Treppy, there has been rumors of hellhounds roaming this region for months. You don’t think they wouldn’t be packing some kind of serious heat with them to deal with those guys?”

“If they have any then it would probably be inside a hidden compartment somewhere in their armor,” I explain as she opens the duffel bag up and digs around inside. “So unless we disable their power armor somehow, it’s going to be nearly impossible to get into it.”

She pulls out a piece of paper, looks it over, then smiles. “Would an EMP grenade do the trick?” She asks while hoofing over the paper to me.

Hovering it close to the light with my magic, I squint to make out the hoof written note. “In case of a robot uprising, UFO invasion, brainwashed Steel Rangers… please don’t use EMP grenades near lab equipment! Mahzun, I could kiss you right now!”

I set the paper to the side and start digging into the duffel bag. Moving aside the wires, the magical fusion cells, and other random assortment of junk, I find… nothing. Retrieving the paper again, I look over the list of items that should be in the bag. Sure enough, EMP grenades are listed on there.

Except, there aren’t any EMP grenades whatsoever.

Then again, a few other items don’t seem to be in the bag either. Not that a magical energy rifle would be useful in a situation like this. Somepony must have looted this bag long before the ghouls moved back in here.

Rose practically tears through the duffel bag as she searches it again to no avail. “Gah! Just when I thought we got lucky!” She throws her hooves up before rubbing her temples. “What are we going to do with all of this stuff?”

What are we going to do with all of this stuff, indeed. I hover one of the MFCs in front of me and casually inspect it while Rose glares at the paper still hovering near me. Then her stare becomes more thoughtful as she asks “Treppy, what does an EMP grenade do anyway?”

I shrug. “I’m not sure on the specifics, but my educated guess is that it releases a large amount of magical energy that disrupts the spell matrix of anything within a certain radius. A grenade filled with magic instead of… whatever is inside a normal one.”

“Soo,” She points to the MFC currently in my magical grasp. “Could we turn that into one?”

Remembering the MFCs that I fried when trying out my newfound ability to transfer magic into them, I take a closer look at the one in front of me. “Maybe. At the very least, I’m willing to try.”

“Great!” Rose says before turning her attention to the shelves around us. “What do you need?”

“Wonderglue, maybe some aluminum,” I pull out some of the wiring from the bag before looking back at Rose. “Won’t be completely sure until I start working on this.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Rose gives me a salute before going to work on retrieving those items for me.

“Yeah, sounds like a plan,” I say before focusing on the MFC, wincing a little as I pour some magic into it.

Now here’s hope that nothing else happens while we try to pull this off.

You have gained some quest objectives.

Quest Objectives Completed:

Reunite With Rose and Salt CubeRetrieve Your PipBuckFigure Out How Rose Keeps Vanishing Like She Does (?)

Current Quest Objectives:

Get To The Control CenterLaunch The Rocket To The MoonDon’t Die