Putting our weight against it, Rose and I push the heavy metal door wide enough to slip through the gap. Considering how much pain I’m in and how quickly we ran, I’m tempted to just leave the door open. The howl of pure rage in the distance, however, convinces me to suck it up and close the door, with Rose quickly joining in the effort. Once it finally closes shut, I slump against the door while she turns the lever to lock it.

“I think Winona found Rover,” She says as she slumps down next to me.

“I wish she hadn’t,” I say in between a few deep breaths. Nopony should stumble upon their friend’s dead body like that. No matter how heartless they may be to others.

Not that that matters now. What matters is finding an intercom box to fix up so we can contact the ghouls and let them know what is going on. To that end, I check the map and try to figure out where we are currently. A task made difficult when my location marker doesn’t show up. Though a swift smack against the wall manages to fix that little problem. Now, let’s see. As far as the map is concerned, we are currently at someplace called the ‘Rocket Propulsion Testing Chamber’.

“How’s your back?” Rose asks.

“Sore. Like every inch of my body is,” I say while looking up from my PipBuck. “My spine is still in one piece, so I can live with that,” I glance down at the wound on her side. “How’s your wing?”

She extends her wing out slightly. “Sore, but still in one piece. I’m just happy to be alive after all of that,” She says before pressing her head against the door. “Guess we’re camping out here until they move on.”

“Guess so,” I say before taking a good look around the place. Unlike the rest of the facility, this place feels like it was tacked on from someplace else. Exposed pipes and wires line the upper part of the concrete walls, running straight into the darkness in front of us. Two dim lights casting enough light to show part of a catwalk at the end of the short hallway we are in. Though, there is a row of switches that promise more light for this room. Provided they still work.

It hurts, but eventually I force my sore legs to stand and drag drag them across the floor to the switches. The echoing of my hoofsteps giving the impression that this room is quite large. Leaning against the wall, I use my magic to flip all of the switches up at once.

Suddenly, the darkness disappears, showing me this isn't just large: it's massive! And my breath is taken away by the wondrous sight that is in front of me.

Well, wondrous to me. To some other pony, it’s just a rusty sprawl of catwalks, stairs, pipes, and wires stretching from floor to ceiling. Rusted metal doors covering a large tunnel to the left. A large metal harness with similar pipes and wire to the ones on the walls hanging a few feet off the floor to the right.

But it is the thing in between all of that that catches my eye: a giant rocket engine, currently hooked up to the harness itself.

The engine is obviously a prototype; what, with us being in a testing chamber and all that. Still, it is the fact that it looks so perfectly pieced together despite clearly being assembled by junk that has my attention. The lack of rust or dust on it only adds to its majesty.

Finding renewed strength within my legs, I walk to the end of the catwalk, rest my forelegs on the railing, and gaze upon the engine.

"How did they manage to put this rocket together?" I can't help but ask in awe. "Or rather, how did they find the parts to build this? Surely, some parts must have rusted away before they came back here, right? Wait, is this the kind of engines they have on their rocket right now? Did they use zebra alchemy in order to get this to work? How many tests must they have done before they figured it would get them to the moon? Months? Years? Why-”

“Having fun?” Rose asks as she rests her forelegs on the railing next to me.

“A-A little bit,” I sheepishly admit as I rub the back of my neck, flinching a little when I brush against burnt flesh. It is going to take a while for that to heal. And my mane is uneven now, isn’t it? Not to mention that my favorite duster is in tatters, my riot gear has gashes in it, my saddlebag holding together by a thread.

‘You’re priorities might be a little skewed for a pony that nearly died,’ The little pony in my head can only shake his head. ‘Thrice.’

Or more if my luck continues to be what it is. However, it is a coping mechanism to focus on frivolous things like my disheveled appearance rather than on the horrible situation at hoof.

Rose smirks for a moment, then looks more seriously at the rocket engine. “Think they can do it?”

I consider the engine for a moment. “It is a long shot. No pony has ever done this before. At least, not to my knowledge. But it has taken them a long time to get to this point. What, with the money problems and accidents they had. Practically selling their souls to the Ministries to keep going. The fact that they’re still going after the world ended is inspiring in a way.”

Then, resting my head on my forelegs, I mutter under my breath “And they’re letting an idiot like me get involved in all of this. All I’m going to do is get them killed. Like I nearly got you killed.”

She frowns. “Yeah, it would have been nice to know that memory orbs freak you out that badly.”

That catches me off guard. But then, maybe I wasn’t as quiet with that comment as I thought. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to react that way. It’s just… it’s complicated.”

Not that I even know how to explain something like that. It should have been obvious that there would be some memory orbs around this place. Past Rocky said as much in that recording.

Rose glances at my back for a few seconds, thinking. “You don’t really trust me, do you?” She says suddenly.

“What? No, I trust you,” I say, lifting my head off the railing to look at her. Where the hay is this coming from?

“Then why didn’t you listen to me back there?” She sounds slightly irritated as she pushes herself off the railing and faces me. “All you had to do was just accept the offer and walk away.”

“And let you die?” I shake my head. “No, not after I got you into that mess.”

“Treppy, I would have been fine,” She answers back then points at my back. “And you wouldn’t have been torn up like that.”

I push off the railing and look her in the eyes. “Better me than you.”

For a moment, she seems taken aback by this. Then she glares. “You don’t actually think that. You think I’m scum, don’t you?”

“No! I-”

“Then who’s Silverwing?” She asks.

“H-He’s,” I hesitate, not really wanting to tell her who Silverwing really is. But lying would only make the situation worse. “He’s a two-faced con-griffon. But you’re not-”

“Treppy, stop,” She again cuts me off. “I know you’ve been comparing me to him when you think I’m not paying attention. You’ve always kept me at leg’s length. You give me dirty looks when you think I’m not looking. It’s easy to see that you don’t want anything to do with me.”

That catches me off guard badly. She knew. All this time I was thinking ill of her and seeing her as just another Silverwing, she noticed. And I must not be hiding my shock all that well from the way she frowns at me.

“It’s ok, you’re not the first pony to treat me like that,” She chuckles mirthlessly, even though I wish she wouldn’t. “Honestly, I don’t know why I thought it would be any different this time. I didn’t get to where I’m at without making a few ponies hate me for being me.”

“Maybe I thought that before, but I don’t now,” I say, trying hard to fix this before it can get any worse. “You’re not him! You’re not some self-centered, backstabbing, murderer who cares more about caps than those he’s with!”

Something I just said makes her wince and her expression turns dark. “You really don’t know anything about me, do you?”

Again, I find myself caught off guard by her words. Just as I open my mouth to continue arguing, she quickly turns away and spreads out her wings. “I’m going to check around the place,” She says, then hesitates for a moment before adding “You don’t need to be my hero, Intrepid. Let’s just get this over with so we don’t have to deal with each other anymore.”

With that, she takes off. I move to stop her but my body immediately protests in pain as I try and that is long enough for her to disappear. I scan the place, trying to find some hint as to where she went, but nothing sticks out in the sea of equipment and spare rocket parts.

I stand there for a few more seconds before turning my attention towards the stairs leading down to the lower catwalks. My body aches as I make my way down them. Not a surprise, given the amount of cuts, gashes, and bruises covering my body. It really goes to show just how dangerous it is to be here.

And it doesn’t help that Rose thinks I hate her now. Which I don’t. But my own prejudices about her, not to mention my fear of letting anypony get close to me again, has made me look like a hypocrite to her. Maybe she thinks all of my attempts to save her is more out of some selfish attempt to play the hero rather than a genuine sense of not wanting to see her get hurt. Or something. This entire ordeal makes me want to pull my hair out.

‘Maybe you should have taken the deal,’ The little pony in my head says to me. ‘The hellhounds seem willing to let you go if you did.’

Except that would mean leaving Rose and the ghouls to their fate. And I don’t need another batch of ghosts to haunt me, thank you.

Walking across what seems to be a retractable part of the lower catwalk, right in between the test rocket engine and the tunnel, I find myself staring at a door labeled ‘Test Control Room’. It is similar to the one leading into this place, though it is thankfully not as hard to open by myself. The room itself is barely lit by the moonlight pouring in through the tinted windows on the back wall. Not enough light to make out anything in the room, though. So I cast my light spell and walk on in.

The first thing to catch my attention is a binder sitting on top of a control console. Hovering it closer to me, I notice the word ‘Manual’ on the cover and start flipping through the pages. There are various details about different rocket engines, flight stages, emergency detection, and procedures that fill the pages. But the one thing that really catches my attention is the diagram detailing all of the functions of the switches and buttons of the console in front of me.

Including the relatively big red button labelled ‘Start Engine Test’.

It isn’t hard to find that button once I look over the console itself. Along with all of the other buttons detailed on the diagram. The cover surrounding them is gone, but the wiring connecting them to the console is still intact. For now, I ignore the buttons and flip one of the switches instead. Above me, one of the monitors hanging off the wall flicker on, revealing a good view of the test rocket engine outside. Flipping another switch activates the displays and counters on the console, revealing that the engine itself is fueled and ready for testing.

Despite my little pony pointing out all the reasons why this idea is horrible, it is really to just press the button and watch the engine go off. When am I going to ever get another opportunity to do this? My eyes shift from the engine to the button and back again several times before I finally make my decision.

I yank out the yellow wiring connecting the red button to the console before tossing the button itself out of the room.

As the sound of the button hitting the ground echoes throughout the chamber, I give myself a metaphorical pat on the back while closing the door behind me. Just because I’m not stupid enough to press it doesn’t mean there isn’t a chance I could press it by accident. And that is one thing I would like to avoid at all costs.

Putting the binder aside, I scan the room for anything else that would be useful. But, outside of the leather office chairs and a broken box mounted on the wall, there really isn’t much in this room. Well, box is a bit of a strong word for something that is missing most of the covering. With torn wires hanging out of it and… wait. I pull out the intercom schematics and yes, this is exactly what I am looking for. Just with most of the inner workings spilled out on the floor. And a few other missing pieces besides the cover, if the schematics are anything to go by. With a deep breath, I set my saddlebags (what is left of it) on the ground and start making a mental list of everything I need to fix this thing.

‘Should you still be doing this?’ My little pony asks. ‘You barely kept Rose from getting killed because of your dumb actions. And nothing that has happened before that point is suggesting that things will get better here.’

Unfortunately, there isn’t another alternative. Everypony here is stuck with me, even if I desperately wish that isn’t the case. For now, it is better to just focus on touching base with the ghoul. Make sure they’re still alive and that the holotape offer still stands.

I pull out my screwdriver and stare at it.

Please, Luna, don’t let this be a repeat of Trian Mill. Don’t let anypony else die because of me.

With that silent hope in mind, I get to work sticking the guts back into the intercom box. Though, I can’t help but keep thinking about Rose as I re-attach wires and make a mental list of what I’m missing. Our argument keeps replaying in the back of my mind, but I can’t seem to find a way that I could have handled that better. Should I have been more forceful? Or maybe I should have done a better job at keeping my insecurities to myself? Should I have lied about who Silverwing was? The more I question what I should have done, the more irritated with myself I become. Until I finally, just pull out one of Hardwire’s holotapes and stick it into my PipBuck. I select one audiolog at random and slip on my earblooms before turning my attention to cannibalizing the console for spare parts.

It takes a second before the voice of an unfamiliar stallion comes out of the earblooms’ speakers. “This is a test to see if the recording functions of this terminal actually work And while I’m at it, Mr. Shawls, could you please stop-”

A door opens and my attention immediately goes to the entrance of the room. That door remains shut, though it is hard to tell if that is a good thing or not. What is not hard to tell is the voice of young Rocky Shores as he speaks. “Mr. Hardwire, how goes the operation?”

There’s a sigh from Hardwire. “If you are referring to the process of turning our terminals into listening devices for our Ministry Mares, then it is coming along smoothly.” It is pretty obvious in his tone that he really doesn’t care for what he is doing in the slightest. I wouldn’t either if I knew my conversations were being listened in on without my consent. Like I’m listening in on them right now….

Note to self: Apologise for listening in on the ghoul’s personal lives via holotape recordings. That I took from their rooms without permission. Among other things.

The door in the recording shuts as Rocky says “Look, if there was any other way to keep this facility running, I would have taken it.”

“Maybe you should have looked harder,” Hardwire answers back while I tear some wires out and head back to the intercom box. “You know what they think about zebras. I won’t be surprised if a few of my co-workers get carted away for ‘acting suspiciously’ or some bullcrap.”

“That’s why I made sure to limit what they can do while here,” Rocky says. “The Ministry of Morale isn’t allowed to start shipping employees to Shattered Hoof without passing their evidence by Raina, Mr. Charmer, and I. And the Ministry of Tech has already agreed to my terms.”

I shutter at the mention of the Shattered Hoof Re-Education Facility. Nothing good ever happened there. And no pony ever left that place with their mind intact, if they left at all. Memories aren’t something that should be toyed around with in order to ‘fix’ wrong think. Hay, even when it was done in the name of protecting Tenpony Tower, it still felt wrong.

Somepony knocks on the door in the recording, which is soon followed by the sound of a chair moving back and said door opening. “Ah, Floria! Welcome back!” Rocky says. “How was your vacation?”

It is a bit of a surprise to hear how clear and graceful Floria’s voice is as I look over the schematics again. “My vacation was wonderful, thank you for asking. Thundering Rain and foals had a great time visiting Rainbow Falls.”

“That’s good to hear!” Rocky says, a little too excitedly. Something is about to happen, isn’t it?

“Thank you. Unfortunately, what I heard when I got back wasn’t as good,” Floria says calmly. “Now, Mr. Shores, with all due respect, HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!”

Suddenly I hear metal being torn apart and it isn’t coming from the recording. I pause my recording, grab my rifle, and immediately position myself opposite from the door. With my rifle aimed at the door and my back against the wall, I wait to see Winona limp into view on the monitor. Enraged beyond reason over the death of Rover

Lupa calmly comes into view instead.

The room feels colder as I watch her calmly scan the chamber until her eyes rest on the control room door. With a few sniffs of the air, a smile forms on her lips that shows off her razor sharp teeth.

“You can stop hiding now, unicorn. I know you’re in here,” She says kindly. It still sends a chill down my spine regardless. This is, after all, the hellhound that cowers other hellhounds into submission. The one that makes every flight instinct kick off with just a glance.

Glancing out the window, I don’t see any place to teleport to. Just steep slopes and jagged rocks that will cut me to ribbons in no time. There is no escape from here.

“Well then, unicorn. You’ve made quite a mess of things,” Lupa says with a tone a mother would take with her mischievous foal. “But I understand. You’re just scared, alone, with big scary monsters hunting you down until they get back what is theirs.”

I tighten my grip on my rifle as she slowly comes closer, metal shavings glimmering in the light as she skims across the top of a railing with one claw. “But you’re a good little unicorn, aren’t you? You haven’t killed any of my family and you even try to talk to us like we’re friends,” Her smile widens. “You even gave my daughter a new name that she loves. But then, then you had to go and help the little rat.”

With a flick of her wrist, Lupa slices through the railing with ease. “What did the rat promise you?” She asks calmly. “Fame? Fortune? Her body? What did she promise you that makes you so willing to violently harm my beloved daughter? To help her murder my beloved Rover in a cowardly manner?”

‘Like she actually cares about any of them,’ The dark pony in my head whispers. ‘She treated Max like he was dirt while he laid there bleeding to death in front of her. After nearly slicing his eye out, might I add.’

“But I am a forgiving hellhound,” Lupa continues, her smile disappearing. “And as much as you have hurt me personally, I’m willing to let you go if you give us both the rat and our beloved Smarty.”

‘Or you could just kill her,’ The dark pony says as I watch Lupa slowly stop and start tapping her claw on the railing. ‘No need to risk your life hoping she has a heart when you hold more power than her.’

As desperate as the situation is, it isn’t desperate enough to damn myself using that magic. Thankfully, she doesn’t realize that she just parked herself right in front of a working test engine. Just need to slowly move over to the console and we will see if she is resistant to fire when I push that button and… ah, right. That button is currently sitting outside of this room because of me.

Dear Luna, why am I such an idiot?

With my hoof firmly planted on my forehead, I barely notice Lupa looking up at one of the corners of the room. “And there scurries the rat,” She says, her voice dripping with disdain. “What’s the matter? Did he toss you out like all of your other partners?”

Lupa, it doesn’t take a genius to know you’re making this up.

“But what do I know? I’m just a stupid hellhound,” She shrugs. “A stupid hellhound that listens to rumors the caravans tell each other,” She looks down at her claws. “Like what ‘Lefty’ said? Some grey bat pony kept calling him that even though he hated it. Apparently she acted all nice to him before robbing him blind and leaving him to die. What was that bat’s name? ‘Winter Rose’? Does any of this ring a bell, rat?”

Silence.

“No? Hmm,” Lupa looks downward as she taps her chin. “How about ‘Blackbeak’? That griffon hated her too. Kept going on and on about how she cut him out of a deal and then shamed him in front of his employer when he tried to set the story straight. Sound familiar?”

Again, Rose doesn’t say anything. Honestly, why would she? Lupa is clearly making this stuff up. What is this hellhound trying to do here?

The silence doesn’t seem to bother Lupa as she shakes her head sadly. “Poor things, their honesty and trust getting taken advantage of? But I guess this Rose would thank me for cutting them down. It is hard to get work when everyone thinks you’re a liar and a thief.” She smiles slyly. “Which makes me wonder if you’re not doing the same thing to this poor unicorn? Stringing him along, pretending that you’re partners, abusing his good nature right up until you’re done using him, then throw him to me after you get all those shiny caps you crave.”

Her ears perk up and smile widens. “Oh? Did I hit a nerve? Don’t worry,” She says, extending her claws. “You won’t live long enough to-”

“Lupa!” A black and brown hellhound shouts as she comes into view.

The movement is instant, like a wound up spring being released, as Lupa snaps her body towards this new hellhound; her claws dig deeply into the test engine, leaving giant tears into it. With a low snarl and a glare that contains barely restrained anger, she stares at the now cowering hellhound. “What. Is. It. Roxie?”

“I-It’s Winona! S-She wants to talk to you,” Roxie whimpers, cowering before the terrifying aura of Lupa. The air is tense enough to make my fur stand on end as Lupa seethes in rage.

Then, almost unbelievably, she takes a deep breath and regains her composure. The anger from before all but vanishing in that instant. “Alright, I am coming,” She says with the kind of calmness that just feels wrong considering what just happened mere seconds ago.

As Roxie slinks off, Lupa looks back at the same corner as before. “No, I don’t think I’ll kill you here. You’ve had too much time to prepare. But don’t worry. Next time,” she taps the damage she inflicted on the engine. “I’ll pay you back for every slight against me.”

“Oh, and unicorn?” She looks over her shoulder in my direction. “I hope you take what I said to heart. Rats aren’t known for their loyalty and I would hate it if something bad were to happen to you.”

Slowly, calmly, Lupa walks out of view. Yet it takes longer before her presence finally fades from the air around me. With a long held sigh of relief, I slump down to the ground. What in Equestria was Lupa going on about? Divide and conquer is a good strategy, sure. But a hellhound like her, especially a hellhound like her, holding conversations with passing caravans? Please. Rose and I may only know each other for half a day at most, but that doesn’t mean I’m trusting a murderous psychopath over a talented bounty hunter. Even if everything she said sounds like something a bounty hunter would do from past experiences with them.

No, what am I thinking? I’m over that. Rose isn’t like Silverwing! She’s trustworthy. What Lupa said is complete hogwash. And if it isn’t, then there must be more to this that what was said. There has to be!

‘Are you really that worried that Lupa might be telling the truth?’ My little pony asks as I pick myself off the ground. ‘That, after everything that has happened, Rose is still going to betray you somehow?’

Of course not. I do trust Rose. This isn’t like last time, where I kept lying to myself despite all of the evidence saying that my trust was misplaced. She’s already proved she was willing to throw her life away to save mine in that stupid deal. That’s more than anypony else would have done.

‘Except, you forced her into that situation with your stupid actions,’ My little pony points out. ‘What loyalty will she have to somepony that keeps risking her life like that? And It’s not like there was another option open for her. It was either take the deal and have a chance to get out alive or die right there and then. Even escaping the way you did nearly ended with her dying. What have you competently done to make her trust you at all?’

I shake my head and move for the door. There is really no point in entertaining these thoughts. Going through the door, I softly ask “Rose?” My question is repeated by the monitor (a little too loudly for comfort) and I turn it off before taking a few steps into the chamber. “Hey Rose, are you still here?”

My question echoes around the chamber before disappearing into an uncomfortable silence. It is not that I am expecting a quick reply after that nasty visit from Lupa. Or any response outside of a curt one after the short argument we had. But all I hear is creaking metal.

‘Maybe Lupa was right,’ My little pony continues. ‘Maybe Rose decided this wasn’t worth it anymore and now you’re stuck with a doll and a group of ghouls to save. Not the first time you’ve been left holding the bag for a job gone south.’

That doesn’t feel like something Rose would do, though. She craves this kind of challenge, right? She wouldn’t run away from this just because she nearly got killed. Would she?

Again I shake my head and take a few steps towards the now damaged engine. The gashes run deep and it sends a chill down my spine running my hoof over it. Are the gashes on my back like this? If so, then I’m lucky to still be able to move my legs. And maybe... there’s another reason Rose acted the way she did.

Not that it does me any good to think about this now. Walking back to the control room, I pause long enough to look in the same corner as Lupa. “I found an intercom box. It’s salvageable, but I think I might need a new speaker for it,” I smile. “I’d appreciate it if you found a replacement for me. Regardless, I’ll be working on it in here, so feel free to come in when you want. I’m not going anywhere.”

Not like I’ll survive five seconds if I leave now.

Closing the door behind me, I take in a deep breath and let it out. Feelings of paranoia over Rose’s true motivations and guilt over being paranoid and distrustful of her both tug at the corners of my mind. It’s hard to ignore them as I make my way through the moonlit room and back in front of the intercom box. With the light of my horn once again illuminating my immediate surroundings, I put on my earblooms again and smack my PipBuck against the ground to get the recording unstuck and playing again.

“Look Floria, I can explain,” Rocky says in the recording as I once again get back to work.

“Explain what? You sold out our company!” Floria replies back with such obvious anger that I instinctively wince as a result. It makes one wonder what Rocky must be feeling right now.

“That is not what I did!” Rocky says firmly. If he is afraid, he isn’t showing it through his tone.

Hardwire suddenly raises his voice, reminding me that he is there when he says “I think I’m just going to go take a break right now.” I can’t really blame him for not wanting to risk being dragged into this.

There’s a brief pause, followed by Floria saying “I’m sorry Mr. Hardwire. I would appreciate it if you could give us a moment alone.”

“Alright, I’ll just go get a drink then. And work on this later,” Hardwire’s voice grows more distant towards the end of his sentence. A door opens, closes, and then someone breathes in deeply.

“I didn’t sell out to anypony,” Rocky says calmly, probably acting as professional as possible. “It is just that our mistakes are starting to threaten our dream. The Ministry of Technology-”

“Wartime Technology” Floria says sharply.

“The Ministry of Wartime Technology,” He corrects himself, some annoyance seeping into his tone. “Offered to pay off our debts in exchange for developing a new defense system for them.”

“But these are missiles, Rocky! Missiles!” She exclaims. “How am I supposed to tell my family that I’m not working for the military when we’re creating weapons for them?!”

“Would you rather we all be out on the street instead?” Rocky asks bluntly. He pauses for a moment, probably waiting for Floria to say something, before continuing. “Look, I don’t like it either. They’re being more heavy hoofed about security than I’d like. But Smooth Charmer is a family friend and he promised me that we can continue our research while we get the system going. Out of all the possible options, I picked the one that kept us all together.”

Floria seems to understand this given her tone seems less angry as she asks “Did this really have to happen while I was away on vacation? It almost feels like you don’t trust me anymore.”

Seems like I’m not the only pony that has issues with trust.

“That wasn’t my intention,” He explains while I stop and start paying closer attention to the recording. “It is just that the deal needed to happen soon or good ponies were going to get locked up.”

“Locked up?” Floria asks almost immediately. “What were you doing while I was gone?”

“Nothing you need to be worried about now,” He answers back quickly.

“Rocky,” She warns.

“It’s not a matter of trust, it’s just… complicated,” He says. His words echo what I said earlier to Rose.

And it sounds like it is going to work out just as well for him as it did for me. At least, based on Floria’s unamused tone as she says “Do remember that my glass eye lets me look into your soul and see if you’re lying or not. You're better off coming clean now.”

Ok, maybe I misread her tone there. She is obviously joking about her glass eye there. Right?

Maybe not, if Rocky’s sigh is anything to go by. “You know about the statue in town?”

“The one for their narcissistic mayor?” She asks. Sounds like she and this mayor know each other.

“One of our test rockets veered off course and destroyed it,” He continues.

“So her massive ego took another hit,” She says calmly. Yep, she definitely sounds like she knows the major. “We already told her that building a town near us was dangerous.”

Rocky’s voice takes on a chilling effect as he says “Yeah, well, she pulled some strings and nearly got the Ministry of Morale called down on us. She told them that we were secretly working for the enemy. They almost believed her too.”

“How do you know about this?” Floria asks. I’m curious about that too.

“Like I said, Smooth Charmer is a family friend,” Rocky explains. “Now we just need to avoid another accident or MoM will be convinced that there is a spy around here.”

There is a nervous chuckle from Rocky, but Floria remains quiet. Once the chuckle dies down, she says “I think I need to stick some needles into my mayor voodoo doll.”

“You don’t have a voodoo doll,” He points out.

“After hearing this, I think I need to make one. I’m sure my grandmother can lend me a book on the subject,” She says half jokingly. Then, in a more serious tone, she adds “Rocky, I can understand why you didn’t want to bring this up. But keeping this a secret from all of us in management isn’t going to do anypony any favors. It gives us the impression that you don’t trust us and makes us question your motive on things.”

Despite this being a recording from well over two hundred years ago, her words cut me deeply. The situations aren’t really the same, Rocky and Floria know each other for (assumedly) years while Rose and I barely met. And letting a total stranger know about the skeletons in your closet is not the sanest thing in the world. But, if I had been a bit more open about the smaller things, maybe things wouldn’t have gotten this bad. Or maybe it is a good thing I’m being stubborn in trusting Rose, assuming what Lupa said is true.

Ugh! This was supposed to be a simple rescue job! Why did it get this complicated on me?

“Raina knows already,” Rocky says, the conversation having moved on while I was lost in thought. “The others, well, I promise to set up a meeting and fill them in before the day is out. Is that enough to make up for ruining your morning?”

Floria hums. “It is a start. But you still need to be punished before I consider us even.”

He chuckles in a more lighthearted way this time. “And what punishment will you give me? Another paid vacation to Canterlot?”

The door opens in the recording and then Floria says “A lesson in being more open will be appropriate. Starting with me telling Silky how you feel about her.”

“Wait, no, you wouldn’t dare!” He says and then shouts “Wait, Floria! Get back here!” The door slams shut and recording ends there.

I calmly pull off my earblooms and stare at my PipBuck. Then the room lights up, blinding me for a few seconds. When I can see again, I turn around to see Rose standing next to the closed door. With a speaker in her mouth and a hoof on the light switch located behind the door. Because of course there would be a light switch behind the door! Honestly, who designed this stupid place?

“Figured you’d want some light,” Rose says before walking over and hooving me the speaker. “Will this work?”

“Thanks and yes. I think,” I take the speaker with my magic and proceed to exchange it with the old speaker already attached. “Thankfully, we had everything we needed right here. Just need to hook up this speaker and we should be able to make contact with the ghouls.”

“Right,” She doesn’t sound too enthusiastic about that as she glances out the window. “... Say, about what Lupa was saying. It was some pretty odd stuff, right?”

“Yeah, it was weird that she brought any of that up,” I finish hooking up the speaker and close what is left of the case shut. “Like she was trying to play mind games with us or something. Was anything she said true? I mean, have you ever heard of the people she brought up?”

She tenses up slightly. “Does it matter? It doesn’t change the fact that she’s trying to kill us.”

“I know,” I back up from the intercom and glace over at Rose. “But the whole thing feels off to me. Like, she doesn’t come across as anyone that would calmly sit around a campfire, listening to ponies talk to each other. Yet, why would she make all of that stuff up? Especially when all of it was about you?”

She turns back to me and dismissively waves away my concern with her hoof. “You worry too much, Treppy. Let’s just focus on the job and get that done, ok?”

Those words. Those words set off so many alarms in my head that I barely notice her moving over to the intercom box. Silverwing said something similar right before everything went straight to Tartarus. To have her utter those words here after I’ve convinced myself that she isn’t like that backstabbing griffon….

Rose pulls out a piece of paper and starts pressing a sequence of numbers on the pad. Then she clears her throat as she presses down on the silver button right below it. “Oi! Rocky? Bright Eyes? Salty? Anypony there?”

I blink and tilt my head slightly. “Salty?”

“That annoying bald stallion that thinks he’s a ghoul,” Rose explains.

Suddenly there’s a cough coming out of the speaker. “Hello? Who is this?” Floria says. It is jarring, to say the least, to hear her raspy voice after listening to the more natural sounding recording of her younger self.

“Winter Rose, the one and only,” Rose says confidently. It is a marked difference from how she was sounding a few seconds ago. “Intrepid is here too. Your unicorn courier managed to find me just fine.”

“Good!” Rocky joins in. Guess they were in the same room. “We were getting worried about you two over here.”

“Come on, Mr. Shores! You hired the best!” Rose smiles despite me being the only one that can see her right now. “And I’m definitely making progress on getting rid of those hellhounds for you all.”

“Right,” Salt Cube says skeptically. “Did you really call all of our rooms just to brag about that?”

Rooms?

Rose gives me a confused look, which means this isn’t intentional at all. As I look at the schematics again (I must have crossed a wire somewhere), Raina (or Bright Eyes. Might as well stick with Bright Eyes for now) speaks up. “I, for one, am glad to hear her voice again. And to hear that our two heroes are safe.”

Hero is stretching it a bit. I don’t deserve to be called one. Rose has done far more to earn that title than I ever have.

“I’m not saying that it isn’t a good thing to hear back from them,” Salt Cube says back. “I just want to know why she felt like calling all of us here. Actually, who else did you call?”

Almost at once, a chorus of voices chime in, each one overlapping with another and making it impossible to understand what they’re saying. Rose motions towards the intercom and I just shrug my shoulders. As far as I can tell, I followed the schematics exactly. Or, I thought I did.

“Alright! Quiet down everypony!” Rocky shouts with an authoritative tone that silences the discordian chorus. Once everypony has clearly settled down, he clears his throat. “Now then, Ms. Rose, Mr. Scholar, you called us to report?”

“Umm, yes,” I take in a deep breath. “Actually, if you don’t mind, I first need to apologise.”

Rose gives me an odd look as Rocky asks “Apologise? For what?”

“I, umm, how do I put this?” I scratch the back of my neck. “It’s just that, after being alone for a while, you tend to forget about common courtesy and get into bad habits like-”

“We’re not going to get mad at you,” Bright Eyes says. “Just relax and tell us what you did.”

“I found some of your holotapes and have been listening to them while looking through your terminals and rummaging through your things. I needed something to take my mind off of the hellhounds while looking for Rose! I’m sorry for violating your privacy like this and I have every intention of returning everything I took! I know there’s no excuse for what I did but I’ll take whatever punishment you have for me!” I blurt out while flinching in preparation for the ghouls' indignant cries that are no doubt coming to me. Rose facehoofs but, strangely, there are no cries for my head. Just silence.

Leaning in closer to the intercom, I tap the speaker to make sure it isn’t broken. It proves to be working as a random ghoul asks “Soo, where did you find the holotapes? Did you take anything else?”

“Umm,” I pause to gather my thoughts. “There was the holotape from Pastel Skies’ office. And three holotapes and some schematics from Copper Hardwire’s office. Oh! And a binder was sitting here in the testing chamber as well. That’s about it, actually.”

Another pause and then a voice (I barely recognise it as Hardwire’s) asks “Did you happen to take any of my books while you were in my office? There’s a couple I haven’t finished reading yet and I would mind if you could fetch them for me.”

The voice of another ghoul I don’t recognize quickly chimes in. “Could you also swing by my office too? There’s a few things I would like to have back before we leave.”

“And my lab as well,” Yet another ghoul speaks up. “I really would like my research notes and lucky lighter back too.”

As an unexpected torrent of requests suddenly pours out of the intercom, I find myself unable to do anything but stare blankly at this strange situation. This is not at all the reaction I was expecting to receive. It’s almost as if they don’t care that I’ve been going through their stuff. If anything, they seem relieved by it.

“Alright! Settle down now!” Rocky shouts once again. And again, the ghouls calm down and allow their leader to calmly continue. “Intrepid, I think it is safe to say that we accept your apology. Most of us thought our belongings were destroyed during the attack. But we won’t ask you to risk your lives getting a few trinkets back for us.”

“How about a holotape?” Rose cuts in. “Intrepid here told me you were willing to pay him to retrieve some kind of data from a fancy terminal?”

“Yes, but he was quite clear when he told us he wouldn’t do it,” Salt Cube says.

“Oh really?” She raises an eyebrow at me.

I clear my throat. “Let’s say I had a change of heart. Is the offer still good?”

“It is,” Bright Eyes says, obviously amused by all of this. It isn’t hard to imagine her smiling slyly right about now. “We are willing to give you five thousand caps if you manage to return to us the holotape with the data inside.”

“Yeah, about that,” Rose says, a sly smile creeping onto her face. “Here’s the deal. Intrepid is a rather skilled pony and all, but I think he’ll have an easier time if, say, another pony was watching his back?”

“That is true,” Bright Eyes says, sounding slightly amused for some reason. “Are you volunteering for the job?”

“You know it!” Rose answers back.

“That’s a good idea, actually,” Salt Cube says thoughtfully. “Ok, so five thousand caps in total for-”

“Oh no you don’t,” She interrupts quickly. “I want twelve thousand caps for this!”

“Twelve thousand?!” Both Salt Cube and I spit out at the same time.

“Agreed,” Rocky says just as quickly and in a calm manner that simply beggars belief.

“What?!” Again, both Salt Cube and I say at the same time. Then, with a brisk shake of my head, I stare at Rose. “What the hay are you doing?!”

“Bartering,” Rose says simply. “Didn’t expect Rocky to say yes so quickly, though. Honestly, I have no clue what you’re upset about; All I’m asking is that we get paid a measly twelve thousand caps for a rather dangerous job.”

“How is twelve thousand caps measly in any sense of that word?!” I ask honestly. “That’s more than double what they are offering! This is clearly extortion! You know how I feel about that!”

“Oh get off my back. You make it sound like I’m robbing them or something,” Rose says, looking rather irritated now. “They were going to pay us each five thousand caps. So add the two together makes ten thousand. Then add a couple thousand for service fees and such.”

“Service fees?” I scoff. “Service fees?!”

“Think about this for a minute. They’re leaving for the moon. Where exactly are they going to be spending caps on the moon?” She points out. “So does it really matter how much I ask for when caps are useless where they are going?”

“But they haven’t gotten there yet, now have they? What if they end up needing those caps for something at the last minute?” I narrow my eyes at her. “And even if that doesn’t happen, it’s the principle of the matter that I’m concerned with! It’s bad enough that they have their backs against the wall! Now their supposed saviors are taking full advantage of them for it!”

She glares at me. “We’re not-!”

“How can we really trust what she is saying anyway?” Salt Cube says, swiftly redirecting Rose’s attention back onto the intercom box. “For all we know, she’s been hiding in some corner of the complex and just waiting for the hellhounds to leave so she can claim she got rid of them all!”

“Excuse me Salty,” Rose says with a clearly unamused tone. “But are you saying that I’m being lazy over here?”

“Yes,” Salt Cube says in a matter of fact way that causes her eye to twitch. As well as inspiring the desire to back away from her slowly. “It’s been two weeks since we hired you to get rid of those hellhounds and they’re still there. I don’t think you’re as talented as you led us all to believe.”

“Oh really?” Rose asks, her tone dripping with animosity. “I’d like to see you come down here and face them yourself! Unlike you, Salty, I have a reputation as a bounty hunter who gets results!”

“Yes, about that reputation,” Salt Cube’s tone is now starting to carry an edge to it as well. “I talked to a few scavengers that visited last week; they didn’t have flattering things to say about you. They kept using words like shady, untrustworthy, backstabbing-”

Rose winces at each word before firing back. “Hey! Did any of those idiots offer to do a better job than me?! No, they didn’t! You can ask every boss I’ve had and they’ll tell you that I’ve done what they hired me to do without failing once!”

“That’s your word against theirs,” Salt Cube points out.

And suddenly the mare shaped powder keg goes off. I quietly watch as the two proceed to tear into each other, dealing with the realization that Salt Cube and Lupa are basically saying the same thing: That Rose has had a long, colored history with all of her past partners doing jobs like this. It is not hard to see how, given the similarities she shares with a certain griffon I used to know. All of the doubt I kept pushing off seem to slam right onto my shoulders, as if to crush me for being foalish enough to trust her. The little pony in my head shaking his head at me in a knowing fashion, feeling rather vindicated for having all of my worst fears seemingly confirmed before my very eyes.

The worst part about all of this is that I do not know what to do now.

“ENOUGH!” Bright Eyes bellows out, forcing the argument to come to an abrupt halt. “If you are having a hard time believing that Rose is trustworthy, then let us ask Intrepid? He has a better idea of what is going on down there than we do right now and I trust him more than the scavengers we keep getting around here.”

As if the situation couldn’t get any worse.

“Now hold on, is my word not good enough for you?” Rose asks.

“Are you worried that he’s going to agree with me?” Salt Cube sneers.

“Salt Cube,” Bright Eyes warns.

“Sorry,” Salt Cube pauses for a moment. “Alright Intrepid, what is your opinion of Rose? Is she everything she claims to be?”

Rose glares at the intercom for a few seconds and then she glances at me. There’s no anger directed at me, just a strange sense of resignation as she sighs and steps back away from the intercom box. “Go ahead and tell them the truth,” She says. And then, looking me straight in the eyes, she adds “And don’t you dare hold anything back. I can take it.”

And that is it. She looks towards the ground, mentally preparing herself for whatever punishment I met out, no doubt. Honestly, there hasn’t been a day that has gone by that I haven’t wished for an opportunity to hurt back ponies like Silverwing. To utterly destroy them and leave them a parriah to what can be considered civilization in the Equestrian Wastelands. There needs to be less ponies like Silverwing in this world, after all.

And so, I take in a deep breath and fix my gaze squarely on the box. “My opinion is that Rose tends to talk big and has a high opinion of herself. It feels like her reputation is all she cares about at times. She has a nasty tendency to disappear on me without warning and she can be a bit, well, unprincipled at times. So yes, there might be some truth to what the scavengers have told you.” From the corner of my eye, I can see Rose shutting her eyes tightly.

“I see,” Salt Cube says, surprisingly without any smugness in his tone.

“No you don’t,” I say firmly. “In fact, I don’t think you ponies quite understand just how much Rose has done to keep you all alive. Since I’ve been down here, she’s taken out two hellhounds with the kind of skill I wish I had. Despite being outnumbered, she’s been able to stay one step ahead of them. When she heard that they were planning on wiping you all out for good, she snuck in and stole something precious from them so they would focus on her instead.”

Rose opens her eyes and glances at me as I continue. “When I offered Rose an excuse to leave, she refused to take it as it meant putting you all in danger again. Hay, she’s even risked her life to save mine more times than I’m probably aware of. Honestly, she didn’t need any rescuing. If anything, I made life more difficult for her by coming down here after her.”

I find myself straightening myself up and looking seriously at the box, despite the ghouls on the other side not being able to see me. “So I’ll put it as bluntly as I can: if you fire her over some malicious rumors, then you can find somepony else to get your holotape too. Because she's done more than enough to earn my respect in my eyes.”

With a sigh, I finally relax and glance over at the dumbfounded mare staring back at me. Maybe my attempt to not come off as being biased was a bit harsh in the beginning. But she is not Silverwing. And I’ll tell myself that solemn truth until my doubt finally takes the hint and gives it a rest. She’s done more than enough to earn my trust. It’s long past time I started showing some trust towards her in return.

“So, Rose, are you sure you were only hunting hellhounds down there?” Floria asks playfully and- wait, what does she mean by that?

Rocky laughs. “Come on, Floria, quit teasing them. So then, I think Intrepid has passionately settled the matter. Wouldn’t you agree, Salt Cube?”

Salt Cube lets out a sigh. “Yes, I agree. I apologise for my apparently baseless accusations, Rose.”

Rose shakes her head and I move out of the way so she can speak into the intercom. “As you should. So, do we have a deal?”

“Intrepid? Can you do this?” Rocky asks.

“Yes, I can do this,” I say, nodding my head. And wishing that somepony else was doing this instead of me. “Top floor of this complex, right?”

“You remembered!” Rocky answers back. “The Data Center should already be marked on that map I gave you.”

“Right,” I mutter while looking down at my PipBuck. Marked down on the map that is nearly impossible to read. This is going to be fun. Like pulling teeth.

“Alright,” He continues. “So that’s twelve thousand caps-”

“Split between the two of us,” Rose interjects.

Rocky pauses for a moment while Floria chuckles in the background. Then he continues “-between the two of you upon receiving the data. And that both of you come back in one piece. Deal?”

Rose grins. “Deal! Don’t worry, we’ll be back before you know it!”

“Make sure you do,” Bright Eyes says, sounding rather amused by Rose's answer. “May Luna guide and protect the two of you.”

“Luna bless,” Rocky says and a few other voices wish us luck before long, harrowing call comes to a merciful end. The ghouls have been informed, the slightly less suicidal job has been accepted, and the price has been… negotiated. All that remains to be seen is if I can accomplish this without getting myself or my partner killed.

Suddenly, Rose pulls me into a hug and starts ruffling up my mane. "Haha! You little- You didn't have to exaggerate that much about me!” She practically laughs. It is honestly the happiest I've seen her yet.

“You asked me to tell the truth. So I told the truth,” I say, silently suffering the indignity of having my mane messed up so she can stay happy for a few seconds longer. “No exaggerations, no lies, no holding back.”

Slowly, she stops ruffling my mane. "You really mean that?" She asks solemnly.

I look up to meet her gaze. "Why wouldn't I mean it?"

She carefully considers me for a moment. "I don't get you," She admits. "Anypony else would have either ran me through the mud or put me in a bind with that opportunity the ghouls gave you. But you, being honest like that? After the way I treated you, after all the dirty looks you threw my way? I just don't get you."

"Because you did nothing wrong," I say simply and honestly. "If anything, I was being unfair to you. Sure, you share traits with someone I hate. But those traits are superficial at best. You are better than him in every way and I was wrong to treat you like I have. So, I'm sorry."

There's a moment of silence before Rose smiles. "If you forgive me for the way I acted earlier, then I'll forgive you for that. Restart on a clean slate and all that. Deal?"

I return her smile with one of my own. "Deal."

A small burst of static from the intercom speaker catches our attention and soon Salt Cube comes through. “Intrepid, are you still there?”

There has to be a rule about how quickly one is allowed to pile more things onto unsuspecting ponies. But then, the last minute request is a literary tradition, even if my life has yet to resemble a good story so far.

Rose let's go of me and I press down on the silver button while quickly fixing my mane. “Yeah, I’m here. What do you need?”

"There’s one more thing we need you to do while you’re in the Data Center,” Salt Cube explains. Rose pulls out a grenade and heads towards the door as he continues. “There is a satellite uplink and radio repeater we need you to turn on before heading back. I don’t know if you noticed, but these mountains tend to play havoc on signals in general. And we need them if we’re to track and stay in contact with the rocket after it launches.”

Huh, a reasonable request for once. And it would be nice to listen to the radio on my way out of here.

“Sure, we can do that,” I answer back, maybe a little bit too eagerly. “I don’t need to do anything to get it turned on right? Like assign a command on a console or divert power from someplace?”

“Oh no. It’s just a switch on the console that you flip on,” he says. “It’s labeled and the backup generator for that room should still be going. If not, then that’s that, I guess. It is not like we can get you anything with the hellhounds running around.”

There’s something strange about his tone. Though maybe he’s nervous about the idea of trying to launch a nuke filled rocket without any means to track it. I know I would be.

“Alright, so walk in, get the data, throw the switch, and walk back out,” I rattle off. “Sounds simple enough.”

“Good,” There is a pause before Salt Cube continues. “Intrepid, about that conversation we had. I’ve been thinking and, well, thanks again for the advice. I think I know now what I need to do for them.”

I can’t help but grin at that. “You’re welcome.”

“Take care and stay safe. Both of you,” And with Salt Cube’s parting words, the intercom goes silent again.

“Guess he can say some nice things sometimes,” Rose comments as she finishes tying a string to the door handle. Presumably the other end is tied to a pin of a grenade somewhere not in this room. Hopefully.

“You get what you give,” I say as I pull off what remains of my duster and stare at it. “Sometimes.”

She steps back and admires her work. “Hey Treppy-” She hesitates and frowns. “I mean, Intrepid?”

While it is nice that she seems willing to drop the nickname, it also doesn’t feel right. Like there’s a line she’s trying not to cross with me. And that will not do. Not after all of the hay we just went through.

Still, some part of me wonders if I’ll regret this. “Treppy is fine as long as it stays between us.”

Strangely, that doesn’t make her smile. Although she does look less tense now as she asks “So you still fine travelling with me after hearing all that? The rumors aren’t true, obviously, but I still don’t have that good of a reputation around these parts. I’d hate it if it somehow got stuck on you too.”

I shrug. “Eh, I was a member of the Twilight Society. I think I’ll manage.”

She smirks. “Yeah, I figured you would after-” She then stops and stares at me. “Wait, what did you just say?”

“That I’ll manage?” I ask as innocently as possible. There may or may not be a sly smile on my face right now.

“No, before that!” She says before walking up to me and staring me in the eyes. “Did you just say you were a member of the Twilight Society? Those secret ponies that called light beams from the sky?”

“The sanctimonious rulers of Tenpony Tower, hoarders of arcane technology, decadent heirs to the Ministry of Arcane Science, we even have a library,” The list goes on and on, but Rose’s completely shocked face is a pretty good indication that I’ve achieved my goal here.

Or maybe not as she shakes her head vigorously. “No, you’re pulling my leg here. No way you’re a member. You just… you’re… you’re actually being honest here.” She takes a few steps backwards and sits down, completely dumbstruck by my little revelation. “... Why are you telling me this?”

I point to my ruined duster. “You’ve earned it. And you are now the only pony outside of the tower to know this. I hope that proves once and for all that I trust you.”

“I’ll say,” She says, staring at me as if seeing me for the first time. “I’m not sure what to say.”

Ok, maybe this really was a bad idea. “Just don’t start treating me like I’m somepony special, ok? I’m not.”

“You kidding me? This is my big break!” She says with a gleam in her eye and a giant grin on her face. “I’m working with somepony from the Twilight Society! That’s going to skyrocket my rep through the roof! This is going to open so many doors for me! Ponies will start talking about me again! I-”

“Rose, stop,” I raise my hoof up and fight the urge to wince. “I’m not with them anymore. I, umm, snuck out of the tower without them knowing. They probably think I’m dead right now.”

It hurts to watch her deflate in front of me. Thankfully, rather than getting depressed, she goes straight to confused again as she tilts her head slightly at me. “Snuck out? Why?”

As much as I would like to answer that question, a yawn escaping from my lips reminds me how late it is. “I’ll tell you that story later. I promise,” I say before looking over at the leather chair in the room. “Right now, I just want to fix my duster and call it a night.”

She frowns but thankfully seems to accept the promise as she pulls out her knife and tosses it to me. “Alright, I’ll take first watch then,” She says before pointing her hoof at me. “And I’m holding you to it. You’re not going to talk your way out of this one.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” I chuckle and then slice some pieces of leather off of the chair. Having been sufficiently assured, Rose nods and walks over to the corner of the room opposite of the now trapped door. As she sets up her sniper rifle and goes prone, I start to repair my duster.

“Hey, thanks for sticking up for me,” She says out of the blue.

“What are friends for?” I answer back. It really was the first thing that came out of my mouth, but she truly is the closest thing I have to a friend right now.

She seems taken aback by this for a moment, then smiles and goes back to watching the door. “Friends,” she says softly. “I like the sound of that.”

So do I, Rose. So do I.

You have completed a quest objective and have improved your relationship with The Children of Luna faction.

Faction Update:

The Children of Luna - Current Status: Accepted

Quest Objective Completed:

Repair A Broken Intercom In Order To Contact Rocky Shores

Current Quest Objective:

Retrieve Data Needed For Rocket Launch.Activate Satellite Uplink and Radio Repeater.Escort Winter Rose Back To Safety.Scavenge For Medical Supplies.Don’t Die.(Optional) Grab Everypony’s Things From Their Offices.