It has been hours since I've curled up my body against the wall. How many, I… don’t know. The floor is cold and dusty, but the vision of Lupa’s bloodied and burnt form in my head keeps me from moving. That thing is barely a hellhound anymore. Assuming she was one to begin with. And she is hunting us. A creature that took multiple bullets without flinching, that was buried without slowing down, that was burning without even noticing. And by pure luck, we survived. No, it wasn’t just pure luck. It was Rose’s quick thinking that got us out of there.

All I did was freeze in the face of death.

In a sense, that is worse than being hunted by a monster. I’m supposed to be stronger than this. I was raised to be stronger than this. Yet, Rose is the one that has bailed me out time after time. I may have rescued her once or twice, but I’m the reason she was in those situations in the first place. I’m no better than a millstone around Rose’s neck right now.

To break down like that after nearly getting my head lopped off by Lupa; to force Rose to watch that pathetic display for who knows how long; to hide away in my book after calming down enough to follow Rose, instead of brushing this off and heading straight to the Data Center. It’s infuriating how unreliable and weak I must seem to her now. Some of that self-loathing, fear, and anxiety must have shown on my face when Rose suggested that we rest in this break room. Which only adds more fuel to the fire of resentment towards my own weakness.

It finally just gets too much to dwell on. Desperate for a distraction, I prop myself off the ground with my foreleg, wincing in pain as I do so, and examine the unfinished room.

It is rather clean compared to the other rooms here. The walls are simple sheets of plywood, with some construction supplies and tools lying next to the entrance. Rose rummages through the refrigerator next to a table and Sunrise Sarsaparilla machine.

Thinking back at the rooms we passed by on the way here, all of them seem to be like this. With each area being in various states of construction. Some were even used to house materials for the less complete rooms surrounding them. with some barely having plywood sheets for their floors and walls. It almost feels like everypony decided to take a break from work at the same time and never returned. Given how history played out, it wouldn't surprise me if that is exactly what happened.

As I shift into a more comfortable sitting position, a poster on the wall catches my attention: A Steel Ranger pressing down on the head of a zebra. His power armor cladded body shielding a foal from other zebras hiding in the shadows. The words ‘Have Courage, Make A Difference Today!’ feature prominently around the Steel Ranger in bold red and yellow letters.

Despite the helmet completely covering his face, there’s an unshakable feeling that the Steel Ranger is glaring down at me from his high position. As if he is upset and disappointed by my display of weakness and fear. Or rather, upset and disappointed that the pony looking up at him just doesn’t measure up to the ideals and standards that he stands for and embodies.

And for a brief moment, a familiar pair of green eyes become visible through the black visors on his helmet: one natural, the other cybernetic. Just like my father’s.

Suddenly a bottle of Sunrise Sarsaparilla swings back and forth in front of my eyes. “Oi, Treppy! I’m asking if you want one?”

“Hmm? Oh. Thanks,” I mutter, taking hold of the bottle offered with my magic. Even then it slightly shakes and I try hovering it away from Rose to hide that fact. Though, maybe that is pointless given that my body is probably still shaking right now.

“Yeesh, and here I thought you finally stopped zoning out on me,” She says playfully while sitting down next to me. “You know I’m sexier than a set of power armor, right?”

“Jealous?” I ask while pretending to nonchalantly inspect my new bottle. I was trying to jest with that question, but I still sound depressed despite myself.

A sly smile comes on her face. “You kidding me? Which would you have? Some dinky power armor?” She waves her hoof dismissively before wrapping a hoof around my shoulders. “Or an awesome mare like me?”

Her being this close to me should be uncomfortable. But I can’t seem to muster the energy to feel or react appropriately. My lack of response erases Rose’s smile as she turns her attention to the poster. “So, what’s so interesting about that jerk shoving a zebra’s face into the ground? It’s what Steel Rangers do all the time.”

“That’s one way of looking at it,” I pop off the lid of the bottle. “I used to think of them as these strong and brave ponies who were dependable and would do the right thing no matter what. But I was a colt then and I assumed every hero would be like my father. That assumption was corrected rather effectively once I saw their true colors, though.”

“Yeah, it takes a certain kind of pony to be a Steel Ranger,” Rose says. “Maybe that’s why so many went red once the Applejack Rangers came around. Not Diamond Shard, though. Or Star Paladin Diamond Shard,” She makes some mocking air quotes with her hooves.

I glance at her. “Former partner?”

“Ha! We’d kill each other if that happened,” She says before prying open her bottle. “No, she leads the Steel Rangers over in Green Bean for some reason. Hates bounty hunters and mercenaries too. Oh, and if you get nosy about her, she’ll slam your face into the ground before you know what’s going on. She isn’t there to make friends, that’s for sure.”

“I see,” I answer back. Definitely not a pony who would tolerate someone like Rose here.

“Not that the others are any better,” Rose gestures at the poster. “Sure, they’re nicer than most Steel Rangers I’ve bumped into. Threaten their town or anypony in it and they will beat you into a bloody pulp. But if you ask me, they’re still Steel Rangers, rods up their rears and all that,” She then leans in and whispers “They don’t like it when you take bets on when they’ll start putting red on their armor.”

“Heh, I bet I wouldn’t measure up to them either,” I mutter to myself before taking a swig.

“What are you-” Rose starts but the suddenly foul liquid entering my mouth triggers my gag reflex forces. Whatever is in this bottle is definitely not Sunset Sarsaparilla! And I immediately cover my mouth before it has a chance to come back out.

Forcing the liquid down my throat, I gasp and cough a few times before asking in all honesty “What the hay did I just drink?!”

Rose considers the bottle for a moment. “A health potion... I think.”

“You think?” I ask rather skeptically. “This thing tastes like rotten radishes and sarsaparilla mixed with whiskey!”

“Really now?” Almost as if I had dared her (and maybe my reaction did), she takes a couple of gulps from her bottle. Strangely, she doesn’t immediately vomit, though the expression on her face shows that she probably didn’t like it either. She takes one more look at the bottle before turning her attention back to me. “Eh, could use some more whiskey.”

“I don’t think adding more alcohol will fix this,” I say, jabbing the air with my bottle for emphasis. An odd, warm sensation washes over me as the pain begins to fade away. Huh, so maybe it is a healing potion. It still doesn’t explain one crucial question: “How can anypony think it’s a good idea to put whiskey in a healing potion?”

“What’s wrong with whiskey?” She asks before taking another shot.

“Nothing, really. It’s just that I can’t hold my liquor well,” I explain while scrutinizing the bottle more carefully. “Where did you get this anyway?”

“The fridge. Along with this,” She pulls out a very long note that, by now, is the standard calling card of the local doomsday prepper, Mahzun.

It is filled with various variations of doomsday scenarios ranging from Celestia turning evil to mutant cockroach infestation. At the bottom, though, is one very important sentence: “Despite the taste, the healing potions are drinkable and do not contain whiskey or anything else that would violate work regulations. Please drink responsibly.”

“No whiskey, my flank! Who do they take me for?” She scoffs as I put the note away. In one swift motion, she downs the rest of her bottle before letting out a sigh of satisfaction and tosses it behind her. “Now, about that comment you made.”

Dear Luna, I was hoping she didn’t catch that.

“It’s honestly nothing to worry about,” I say with a dismissive wave of my hoof. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Rose re-positions herself right in front of my face and quietly stares at me in response.

Recognizing that there is no getting away from this, I shut my eyes. “I… I’m feeling rather pathetic right now,” I say before forcing down what is left in my bottle, fighting back the urge to vomit as I do so. With a gasp, I open my eyes and continue. “I mean, can you really see a Twilight Society member spending who knows how long fearfully curled up in some corner? I just feel like a Steel Ranger would be of better use to you right now than somepony like me.”

I try to stand up but Rose places her hooves on my shoulders and I slide back down onto my haunches again. She looks at me with concern as she says “You know, I had a partner who kept claiming everything as his and thought I was after his cyberleg. I had a partner who forced me to do all the work and tried to take all the credit. I even had a partner who tried to turn me into a virgin sacrifice after she had gotten control over a dragon cult.

“But you?” She taps my chest. “You’re just strange and I don’t get you sometimes. So what if you were shaken after nearly dying? You held it together a lot better than any Tower pony I’ve ever met and that’s saying something. So I’ll gladly take you over a Steel Ranger any day.”

“Right, because a terrified idiot is more useful than-”

The room abruptly shakes back and forth as I hear Rose say “No! Stop that! You’re not allowed to be that way when I’m trying to encourage you here!”

“Ok! I’m sorry! I’ll stop! I’ll stop!” I manage to say, fighting back again the sudden feeling of nausea with my hoof over my mouth. Realising that she’ll be covered in vomit if this continues, Rose stops and takes a step back.

“Look, you’ll feel better once we get rich from this job,” She says reassuringly. “Just wait, you’ll see.”

I nod before slowly attempting to stand up again. When that task doesn’t end with the contents of my stomach on the floor, I ask, “Anyway, you think Lupa has someone following us or something?”

Rose shakes her head as she also stands. “I’ve already scouted out the area while you were lying down. We’re safe. And after the little stunt I pulled with Smarty?” She motions with her head to the knife on her shoulder “Lupa will think twice before attacking us again.”

“That only makes me more nervous. Not that we can do anything about it now,” I say before politely motioning towards the exit. “Lead the way.”

“Right,” She answers back and starts moving towards the door. It is clear by the expression on her face that she isn’t happy to have failed to shake me out of my depression. Not that I don’t appreciate the effort. But I know now, I really shouldn’t be here right now. And nothing she can say or do will ever change my mind on that. So, I simply hang my head and follow her out the door.

“Soo… was this here when you scouted out the area?” I ask while looking at the mountain of debris blocking the hallway. Given how well kept this floor feels, this sticks out rather badly.

“Don’t know, I didn’t want to wander too far out without you,” Rose says before walking up and tapping one of the pieces of debris in front of us. “Never did spend too much time on this floor either, so I’m not sure how recent this is.”

I look at the map on my PipBuck. “Well, this isn’t marked on the map. Maybe it might have happened when you tried to blow up Lupa?”

“Hey! That was your idea!” She says with a glare. “Don’t blame this on me!”

“I’m not!” I say quickly before considering the map more closely. “I’m just saying that we’ll need another route now. There’s a hallway on the other side of this floor that’ll get us to where we need to go. Assuming we don’t run into any more roadblocks.”

A familiar weight presses down on my shoulder as Rose leans in and taps a spot on the map. “Why not just cut through here? That should be quicker than going all the way around, right?”

Her hoof points to three interconnected rooms that, at first, doesn’t appear to have an exit to them. A closer inspection, however, reveals a small exit hidden among the other vague details of the last room. That would put us closer to the Data Center than navigating around to the other side of this floor. Again, assuming there aren’t any other obstructions along the way.

“HELLO FELLOW ROCKETEER!”

Instincts kicks in and I teleport a few feet down the hallway, my gauss rifle pointing at my former location. With my sudden disappearance, a rather shocked and confused Rose manages to keep herself from falling to the ground. The cause of this sudden commotion hovers near her: the Mr. Tour Guide robot.

“FOR THE LOVE OF LUNA! DON’T DO THAT!” I yell at the infernal machine while lowering my gauss rifle. My heart threatens to beat out of my chest even as I press my hoof against my chest. As if nearly dying didn’t fray my nerves enough!

“Ah! I see there’s another fellow Rocketeer with us today!” Mr. Tour Guide says, extending a claw to Rose while ignoring my glare. “I am Mr. Tour Guide! The humble custodian and curator of this fine establishment!”

Rose stares at the claw awkwardly. “Umm, hi. Nice to meet you.” She places a hoof on her chest, “I’m Winter Rose, the greatest bounty hunter around!”

“It’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, fellow Rocketeer!” Mr. Tour Guide says cheerfully as it grabs Rose’s hoof from her chest and shakes it vigorously.

In the blink of an eye, Rose pulls out and digs her knife into the robot’s arm. Or tries to. The blade barely scratches the arm’s metal covering. Mr. Tour Guide also seems unconcerned with Rose’s attack or her attempt to pry the offending claw open with her knife. When that doesn’t work, she glares at the bot. “So this is the Mr. Tour Guide you mentioned earlier. He’s a little too friendly, dontcha think?”

“Pot,” I point to Rose before pointing at Mr. Tour Guide. “Meet kettle.”

Regardless of how depressed and irritated I feel right now, that joke was uncalled for. And Rose’s rather unamused look only makes me feel worse. As if sensing this, Mr. Tour Guide decides to open its mouth. “You are mistaken, fellow Rocketeer! I am not a mere kettle, but a custom built tour guide robot! The first of my kind!” The robot says proudly as one of its eye stocks looks in my direction. “Regardless, would both of you like a tour of our museum? Since it is our grand opening weekend, every fellow Rocketeer will get a free Ministry approved souvenir at our new gift shop!”

Despite my irritation towards the inferno machine, its offer has piqued my curiosity. “A tour? You mean they actually got around to setting up a tour for the museum before the world ended?”

“Indeed, my fellow Rocketeer!” Mr. Tour Guide says, still oblivious to Rose’s further attempts to make it let go. “Allow me to mark the location on your… obviously Stable-Tec approved PipBuck!”

It hurts my pride that even robots have a hard time recognizing my PipBuck. Regardless, and with a small beep, a map marker appears on the three interconnected rooms Rose pointed out earlier. “It’s actually on the way!” I say with a big grin on my face. “So what kind of a tour is it? Will you cover how the rockets here are made? Or maybe tell us about where all of this talk about going to the moon came from? No, wait! I want to know about… umm...”

Rose stares at me, bringing me back down to reality. Right, we don’t have time to waste going through a museum, as interesting as that would be. Not with hellhounds roaming about. With that in mind, I clear my throat. “My apologies, Mr. Tour Guide, but we really don’t have time for-”

“Sure, we’ll take the tour. Won’t we, Treppy?” Rose says unexpectedly as she puts her knife away.

I immediately turn to look at her. “Wait, what?”

“Excellent! Follow me please,” Mr. Tour Guide practically sings before finally letting go of Rose’s hoof and begins to hover down the hall.

Now it was my turn to stare at Rose as she calmly walks behind Mr. Tour Guide. “Umm, hey, I didn’t say anything yet! I… Rose? You do understand that this will slow us down, right?”

“Yes, I do. But we’re not in any real hurry,” Rose says as I quickly catch up to her. “It’s not like Lupa knows what we’re up to here. And this tour thing sounds like it could be fun.”

“Oh really?” I ask, somewhat skeptical of her reasoning. “And what exactly did that overly friendly tin can over there say that made it sound like it would be fun?”

“Come on,” Rose playfully jabs at my side. “Would it really be that bad to see what this is all about? Plus, we get free stuff at the end of it. Win-win.”

Ah, free stuff. Should have known. I shake my head. “So this is just another scavenging run then.”

“Already did that,” She pats her saddlebag. “I grabbed some things while scouting around the place. It took me a while to figure out how I was going to fit it all in my bag. Oh! I hope you don’t mind, I ended up putting some stuff in your bag too.”

“Please don’t make me an accomplice to your kleptomania,” I say while unhooking my PipBuck from my leg and hovering it in front of me. “Not after I apologised for rummaging through the ghouls’ personal belongings.”

“If you’re saying that I have sticky hooves, just remember that they did ask us to find their stuff for them,” She points out, employing that sly smile of hers. “So there shouldn’t be any issues here, right?”

A sigh escapes my lips before I look through the new items in my inventory list. “Technical documents which might come in handy. Hoof-written notes that could contain some interesting information. Janitor keys…” I glance over at Rose.

“What’s with that look?” She asks. “Everypony knows the value of a good set of keys.”

“I’ll concede that having access to every room in a building has its value,” I say before returning to the list. “However, I fail to understand how a collection of snow globes could interest anypony.”

Rose shrugs. “I’m sure there’s a pony out there that would pay a pretty fortune for a snow globe collection.”

Without saying a word, I rummage through my saddlebag and pull out one of many bobbleheads that are now inside. Unfortunately, now that I think about it, there are a few ponies in Tenpony Tower that I can see being gullible enough to pay a fortune for these items.

“Yeah, I can see somepony wanting those too,” Rose says with a firm nod. As if confirming my thoughts that even junk has its collectors.

I put the bobblehead away and reattach my PipBuck just as Mr. Tour Guide comes to a stop in front of a set of double doors. “And here we are! Welcome to the Museum, Fellow Rocketeers!” It announces to us as one of its mechanical limbs points to an empty space above the doors. No doubt where a sign should be located.

We look at each other before Rose gives me an uneasy smile. This doesn’t bode well for the tour being all that interesting, does it? Knowing how our luck has been lately, Mr. Tour Guide’s spell matrix might be screwed up and the tour will consist of nothing but staring at empty spaces for a few hours.

Oblivious to our reaction over the missing sign, Mr. Tour Guide opens the double doors. Much to my relief, the room beyond is actually filled with items that are out on display. The walls are lined with various sized pictures, ranging from the Ministry of Wartime Technology’s gear symbol, to the different geographical parts of the world, to plans for a full-blown moon base. Which is honestly weird, truth be told. What would a group of ponies do with a moon base, anyway? Outside of obviously silly answer of taking over the world, of course. That only happens in spy novels.

Mr. Tour Guide hovers to the closest picture to us, making a mechanical sound suspiciously similar to somepony clearing their throat. “Since its creation, the Ministry of Wartime Technology has always strived to be innovative and creative in its dedication to keeping the wonderful ponies of Equestria safe from the evil Zebra Empire. From the lowly pistol to the mighty Power Armor, the goal of defending Equestria from its foes has never changed.

“With the fear that too much strain was being placed on the Ministry of Arcane Science to defend us from the threat of megaspell missiles, the Ministry of Wartime Technology created the ‘Equestrian Missile Defense’ project. A range of silos that any proud Equestrian, not just our noble unicorns, could staff in order to defend our great home. This facility, in particular, used to house a small project to get a pony on the moon before it was wisely repurposed to be one of the first silos for this project; the staff of Equestrian-loving ponies and zebras, who have renounced their evil ways, gladly setting aside their silly dream for the greater good!”

And like that, any excitement for the tour dies right there. Yes, it was weird when they said that they wanted to go to the moon at first, but that dream shouldn’t be disrespected either. Not after everything they went through to get as far as they did. If all this tour is is some long back-patting marathon for the Ministries, then no thanks. I got enough of that back when I was in the Twilight Society. I want to hear about the ghouls and their dream, not whatever dribble the Ministry of Image wants to force down my ear.

Tuning out Mr. Tour Guide’s metallic voice, I look around for anything that didn’t relate to demeaning the former workers here (as unlikely as that may be, given the tone set by our rather glorified tin can of a tour guide). One thing catches my eye: a rather large rectangular picture leaning next to one of the large boxes near the moon base painting; one that shows the front of the silo along with a whole host of ponies, zebras, and griffons posing for the picture.

The more I look at it, the more I begin to recognize a few of them: they were the ghouls that followed me around, back when I was going to meet Bright Eyes and Rocky Shores for the first time. Speaking of those two, there’s a familiar looking brown griffoness with white head feathers scuffing up the mane of one light blue unicorn stallion. The unicorn himself tries hard to fight off his attacker while a purple earth pony mare wearing an old silk scarf does her best to stifle a chuckle. Though, the mare doesn’t look familiar at all. Maybe a sibling or good friend?

Other ponies in this picture draw my interest. Floria, with her white mane in a ponytail, is hugging an unfamiliar purple pegasus. Maybe that is her husband, Thundering Rain? Then there is an identical looking mare next to him with the serious expression on her face. Probably Pastel Skies, if her serious tone matches her demeanor. Though, if that is the case, was she always that serious looking? And the suit wearing zebra that Floria is hugging as well, is that Mahzun? It doesn’t quite fit the image of a conspiracy pony, but that is the only conclusion I can draw here. Part of me wants to see if Hardwire and Hay Bale are in this picture too. But there is no way for me to know without somepony else pointing them out to me.

I wish I could just step inside and go back to that moment. To talk to those that aren’t around any more, figure out what originally sparked their dream to go to the moon, and what brought them all together so they could attempt to accomplish it.

A yawn escapes from Rose’s mouth, utterly betraying her boredom with the tour. Can’t really blame her, it isn’t living up to what I was hoping for either. And in the middle of rubbing her eyes, she notices me looking at her. As she attempts to look more attentive, I ask “Is the tour boring you?”

“No, it’s interesting,” She quickly says while scratching her scarf. The usual tell for when she isn’t being completely honest with me.

I give her a rather skeptical look. “Ok, what do you find most interesting about it so far?”

“I, umm,” She looks around the room. “I think some of the pictures are cool looking.”

“Well, that’s one thing we agree on,” I say while glancing back at the group picture. If nothing else, that picture is worth coming here for.

She frowns. “You don’t look like you’re having fun, though.”

With a shrug, I turn my attention back to her. “I’ve just heard all of this stuff before. It’s nothing really new or interesting to me.”

“Hmm,” She sounds disappointed while looking down at the floor. For whatever reason, she did want to take this tour and I feel guilty that it isn’t turning out as fun as she thought it would be. My own lack of enthusiasm for the tour is probably contributing to that in some way.

Suddenly, there is a gleam in Rose’s eye as she looks up and grins that mischievous grin of hers. “How about we have a friendly bet then?”

I furrow my brow at her. “A bet? On what exactly?”

“A bet to see who can guess what is in the next room,” She answers before rubbing the bottom of her jaw. “And the wager will be, hmm, how about we just say the loser does one thing for the winner?”

Nothing good can come from this. “Suddenly this bet seems less friendly to me.”

“Hey, I’m the one at risk here,” She points out. “You could win and finally be able to satisfy that secret desire of yours to ravish me,” She dramatically presses her foreleg to her forehead. “And I, with my vulnerable mare-ish side taking over, would have no choice but to let you have your way with me. Am I right?” She gives me a playful wink.

That is beyond ridiculous and I press my hoof against the bridge of my muzzle to signal as much. “First, literary tradition, reverse roles. Second, no. Just, no.”

Rose laughs. “Reverse roles? Really? The only thing I would ever do to you is force you to wear a maid outfit for an entire day.”

“And yet you seem to expect the worst from me,” I say flatly.

“Well I am a sexy goddess of death, after all,” She brushes part of her mane off to the side. “Come on, Treppy, you should know by now that I’m not being serious here.”

“I wonder sometimes,” I say while shaking my head. “Honestly, why do you keep teasing me like this?”

She places a hoof on my shoulder and grins. “Because it’s fun to see you react the way you do.”

Before I have the chance to point out how that isn’t a good reason to continuously annoy somepony, Rose takes a few steps forward and turns around to face me. “So, are you going to take the bet or are you going to walk away?”

There’s always saying no. Though that might result in her pestering me until that answer becomes a yes. Thus is the problem of having somepony who sees nothing wrong with being as horribly annoying as possible in order to get her way. Although, to be honest, what really is the harm with playing along? If she wanted to do something truly horrible to me, she could have done so long before we got to this point.

Glancing between Rose and Mr. Tour Guide, who is now messing with the double doors on the other side of the room, I let out a defeated sigh. “You’ve already told our tour guide that we would be taking the tour, so it would be rather rude to leave now. Not to mention that it would make your words seem less than sincere and thus tarnishing your image, which isn’t something I would like to do.”

“Glad to hear it,” She says, patting my shoulder before going back into her thinking pose. “Alright, so I’m thinking there’s going to be a picture of the moon in the next room.”

“There’s already a picture of the moon over there,” I motion my head towards the moon base picture.

She rolls her eyes. “I mean the whole moon. Not some small chunk with a couple of buildings on it. And it has to be a big one too. Now what's your guess?”

Whatever misgivings I have about this bet disappears with Rose’s rather silly guess. Deciding to put as much effort into this as she is, I press my hoof against my chin and think for a moment. “Hmm, I’ll go with some rocket models then. Decent sized ones, I’m not expecting full sized models to fit inside here.”

“A-hah!” Mr. Tour Guide triumphantly declares. “There’s the correct key! Now then, on to the exhibit!” Rose and I look at each other, then join Mr. Tour Guide as he throws open the double doors.

My eyes widen as the room is revealed to us. “This is… and that can’t be… is that really?” I say as different items catch my attention. Several displays line the walls of the room, with large framed plans to get to the moon hanging behind them. An old flag of Equestria hangs prominently in the midst of them all, an old spotlight slowly turning on to show it off in all of its glory. A small nudge from behind prompts me forward as I’m drawn from one display to the next.

Eventually the shock wears off and my mouth immediately engages. “Oh! This is an interesting variation on Flam’s original motorwagon design. Looks pretty stripped down, probably to keep its weight from being an issue for the rocket. Or maybe not, considering they have a Sentinel over there. And that picture behind it! Did they seriously think they’ll be fighting off space zebras on the moon? Oh hey! They’ve got spacesuits over here! They’re so cool looking! And I remember seeing that rocket from outside!”

I stop in front of a rather chubby looking green rocket model. In front of it stands a plaque with the words “GR34-B34” written on it. Something about the name feels oddly familiar.

“Hey, that looks like the metal statue in the middle of Green Bean,” Rose comments while walking up to me. “Well, they call it a statue, but it never did look like one to me. Now I know why.”

“Oh?” I ask, my curiosity piqued.

“Yeah, the town near here?” She explains as she leans on the display rocket. “They got a legend about some stone-hearted old mare that ruled the town and ate foals or something. Anyway, this thing came roaring from the heavens and killed her,” She pats the rocket. “Ponies living there decided to name the town after it. They even have a catchy song about it too.”

And suddenly, it clicks as I remember the “Green Bean” incident Pastel Skies and Bright Eyes talked about in that one recording. The one where the statue of the mayor was destroyed by a misguided rocket. Does Bright Eyes know that her rocket spawned a legend and inspired the naming of a town? Probably, considering it’s the only town in the area and Salt Cube gets rumors from them. It could always be worse, of course, and there are weirder things to name towns after. Like Broccoli, for instance.

“Please do not touch any of the displays in this room,” Mr. Tour Guide says, causing Rose to quickly retract her hoof as it hovers over to us. The robot’s eyes droop sadly when it adds “I also must apologize, fellow Rocketeers. It seems that the Ministry of Image approved script for this section of the exhibit is missing.”

“Really?” I ask, surprised by how disappointed I sound. Sure, the material presented so far is obviously whitewashed by the Ministry of Image. But there are so many interesting things present here that I want to hear more about! Like that light blue Sentinel over there! There has to be a reason why it has heavy armor, two magical energy cannons, and a missile launcher inside the chest compartment! Especially when even the motorwagon is stripped down because of weight! I mean, combating the evils of space zebras on the moon couldn’t have been that serious of a concern now, could it?

Noticing my disappointment, Mr. Tour Guide once again ‘clears its throat’ and cheerfully says “However, a replacement script should be arriving in ‘estimated time unknown’, so they should be here when you visit us again! See the receptionist for your complimentary tickets as our way of saying sorry. Please enjoy viewing the rest of the displays here as I prepare the next room.”

Rose watches as the robot leaves the room before leaning onto the display rocket again. “I guess you get to be our tour guide then.”

“Space travel isn’t my area of expertise,” I say before walking over to a large picture that practically covers the entire wall. The picture is quite detailed: our world near the bottom left and the moon on the top right, dotted lines with cartoon rockets running along them, and some pictures of the various different supplies for the trip with arrows pointing from them to different parts of the world.

However, the plaque explaining what is going on is missing. And the picture itself is missing anything kind of descriptors for the various symbols I’m seeing here. Still, it does convey just how large of an endeavor this trip to the moon actually is. Even though a step by step explanation on how this will work would have been nice. If only there was a backup to the script around here somewhere.

Wait, Hardwire was in charge of programming our tour guide. Maybe he kept a backup script in one of his tapes? Except I have to wait until the decryption tape is done before I can find that out. I wonder how that has been going?

Looking down at my PipBuck, I happily notice a flashing message notifying me that the decryption was successful. I quickly pull out the decryptor tape, keeping it hovering in the air as I finally get that mysterious file open. Again, a familiar weight presses down on my shoulder as Rose rests her head on it and asks “Oh? It worked?”

“Yeah, your tape worked,” I say before my excitement disappears at the simplistic emblem at the top of the message: a winged cloud with a single thunderbolt coming out of it.

The emblem of the Ministry of Awesome. The Secret Ops Ministry.

“This can’t be anything good,” I mutter before reading the message underneath it.

To: Gen. Onyx Hoof, Royal Equestrian Armed Forces

Sir,

In regards to the current situation following the success of Operation: Clipped Wing, a convoy of megaspell-tipped warheads were captured en route to the now destroyed zebra silos in that area. Since it was deemed too dangerous to dispose of them in the field, it is proposed that the warheads be discreetly moved and stored to a safe location. At least until the Ministry of Arcane Science can devise a way of safely dealing with them.

With this in mind, and after being informed of the situation of Equestrian Defense Silo #1, it is my recommendation that it be used to house the warheads for the time being. It is remote enough to avoid arousing suspicion until the warheads can be moved to a more secure location. However, a plausible cover story will have to be created to explain away the sudden influx of materials to a soon-to-be abandoned silo. Maps detailing possible routes to the silo, along with a detailed inventory of the recovered warheads, have been included with this message. Please review them and inform us of your decision as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
Col. Falling Star, MoA Special Forces Division

“What does that all mean?” Rose asks.

“It means that this entire museum is a sham,” I say before hovering the tape over to her. “Equestria got their hooves on some zebra warheads and needed a place to put them all. If reading this right, they decided to turn this place into a museum to make it easier to sneak those warheads in here.”

She slides off my shoulder and stares at the tape as she takes it. “I’m not sure I follow.”

Right, she wouldn’t have seen the other messages. “In one of the messages I read when I first came here, it suggested that the Ministries practically rebuild this place to turn it into a museum,” I explain. “If that message wasn’t exaggerating, then they must have shipped a lot of materials up here to get the job done. With all of those trucks coming here, it would be easy to slip another convoy of trucks carrying the bombs in here without raising suspicion.”

“Until somepony looks inside,” Rose points out as she slips the tape back into her saddlebag.

I point back to the row of display rockets lining the wall. “All they have to say is that they are for the museum. I doubt anypony back then knew the difference between what’s real and what’s just an elaborate display.”

She nervously looks at the ‘Green Bean’ rocket. “They can’t be that stupid, right? What if some foal accidentally set one off?”

“Assuming this place ever opened to the public,” I say, earning me a rather confused look from Rose. “Think about it: they only needed a temporary place to store the warheads. So, how would you sneak them out if this place got completed and had ponies regularly visiting it?”

She thinks about it for a moment, scratching her head, before finally shaking her head. “I don’t think I could. Maybe if I wait for everypony left for the day, but explaining away the trucks and ponies I need to move them would be hard. It would be better if I could do it before the place opened. But full trucks leaving a museum that hasn’t opened yet would look suspicious. Unless…” She frowns. “I don’t like what you’re suggesting here.”

“But it makes sense, doesn’t it?” I say, not really liking what I’m suggesting here either. “They sneak them in, pause construction for some made up reason, then cancel the whole project when they're ready to move the warheads out. All those trucks can be explained away as them clearing out the now abandoned museum.”

Rose shakes her head, looking more upset than she did before. “But this isn’t their place! Rocky and the others wouldn’t have let them do this.”

“Except the Ministries did own this place,” I say solemnly before pointing to the ‘Green Bean’. “Rocky entered a contract with them to survive the fallout that rocket caused them. The sabotaged rocket test, in a place that employed a lot of zebras, would be the excuse the Ministry of Morale needed to strip away whatever control he had left over this place. Really, given the company’s track record up until this point, the Ministries probably decided it was too much of a liability. They’d need to keep a couple of employees here for museum cover to work, of course. But the rest? They’d be out on the streets or… well, I’d rather not think about it.”

“Fellow Rocketeers!” Mr. Tour Guide proclaims as it chooses this moment to poke its metal frame through the door. “I’m happy to announce that the planetarium is ready for you now!”

Planetarium? My ears flicker at the news and I take one step in the robot’s direction before hesitating. If this museum is a sham, then isn’t enjoying this tour an insult to those whose dreams were ruined by all of this? Looking at the other displays along the wall, it’s hard not to feel guilty for gushing over them just moments ago.

“Treppy, you think too much,” Rose suddenly says as she grabs my duster’s collar and drags me through the door. My irritation at being marehandled soon evaporates with an audible gasp at the sight before my eyes.

A whole galaxy lies before us as we walk in. Worlds of various sizes and colors float majestically against an ocean of stars and nebulas; some orbiting around others while the whole display rotates around the bright sun above us. As a young colt, I would look up at the perpetually cloudy sky and imagine what was on the other side. When the day finally came, when the clouds parted and the night sky was displayed in all its majesty, it was breathtaking to behold.

This, this entire display right here, completely eclipses that day. Amazement, curiosity, excitement, wonder, all of these feelings rush through me with an intensity that forces me to sit down. This is what it is like to be amongst the stars. To finally draw back the curtain and take a closer look at what lies within our night sky. It is outright overwhelming.

Then something catches my eye. Curiously, our world also slowly turns around the sun, with the soft glowing moon quietly tagging along for the ride. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? The sun orbiting around us? Every history book, including the ones rewritten by the Ministry of Image, make a point of saying that Princess Celestia and Luna raised and lowered the sun and moon respectively. Even now, the prevailing idea among some is that the now Goddess Luna still keeps the two rising and lowering like her and her sister used to do when they were mortal. But, to suggest that our world circles around the sun like this, does this mean that Celestia and Luna were never responsible for controlling the sun and moon?

Or maybe, this lends even more credence to the idea that they are more powerful than we could ever comprehend? If so, then it is no wonder the zebras were absolutely terrified of us. Did they know about Luna’s fall and transformation into the demonic Nightmare Moon? Or why did it happen in the first place? Would they have cared?

Perhaps the backup script can shed more light on this. Well, obviously not on the zebra’s view of then Princess Luna. The answer to that mystery will likely stay buried with the dead. No, it is what this planetarium is suggesting that needs further clarification. I load up the last of Hardwire’s tapes, hoping to find the script buried within. But all that awaits me are shipping manifests and odd dry memo about the reconstruction efforts. I nearly eject the tape when one item catches my eye: a letter addressed to one ‘Silky Stars’ titled ‘Concerning The Museum’. The name sounds familiar and the contents within eerily so as I begin reading the letter itself:

Silky Stars,

First of all, welcome back. I hope you enjoyed your vacation. You may have heard some things that have happened while you were gone and I wanted to set the record straight.

There have been some changes since you left. First of all, the Ministry of Wartime Technology has decided to shut down our facility and turn it into a museum. As a result, they are downsizing us and anypony that isn’t needed has been shown the door. Raina and I were given the pink slip as well, but Pastel Skies will be taking over my position and you’ll be working under her now.

I know what you're thinking: it’s unfair. You’ve worked so hard and put so much of your soul into this project and this company. Now they’re spitting in our face and destroying everything we’ve accomplished here. If it’s any consolation, I feel the same way.

None of us went down without a fight. In fact, Raina and I are still fighting this. But there’s nothing we can do right now to keep them from taking this company away from us. I want to tell myself that the new suits will treat this place right. But we both know they won’t care. They’ll coldly tear out the heart of this place, replace it with their sham of a museum, and laugh as they talk about silly ponies that wanted “to walk where Luna once walked.”

I should have listened to you and never taken that deal. I was too blinded by my desire to save our dream that I didn’t recognise the trap I was dragging us into. But, as silly as it is to say this, please remember our motto: Always aim for the moon. We may have missed it this time, but if the other screw ups didn’t keep us down (and Celestia knows how bad our screw ups have been), neither will this one. As we have always done before, we will brush ourselves off and keep trying. Even if it takes us a hundred years to get it right, we have to keep trying.

Anyway, part of the arrangement is that you are now in charge of the new museum while the rest of the silo is blocked off. Just make sure those idiots at the Ministry keep the place pristine like it should be. Put on a good face, smile that wonderful smile of yours, and tell ponies what we do here. What we did here.

I haven’t given up on our dream, Silky. I’ll find some way to get this place back and we’ll go to the moon together. I promise.

Take Care,
-Rocky Shores

Aim for the moon, eh?

I look up at the small glowing moon as it slowly orbits Equus. With all of the wonders and marvels of our galaxy, that little orb happens to be the closest one to us. How many obstacles did Rocky and the others have to go through in order to even have a chance at getting there? Really, how many? The recordings, notes, letters, even the wall-sized picture of their plans in the other room. All of those things only show glimpses of the hardships they had to endure. Yet, despite all of these setbacks and tragedies, they still kept going; their eyes always firmly fixed on the moon.

Now they’re one tape away from getting there. If they can get this close to completing a goal after everything that has happened to them, then maybe, just maybe, I could try to be the pony I wanted to be once more? Is that even possible for me?

“This turned out to be pretty cool,” Rose says softly while staring in awe at the planetarium before glancing over at me. “You seem to be enjoying yourself too.”

“Is it really that obvious?” I ask.

“Well, you do have that big grin on your face,” She observes as she playfully nudges my shoulder. “So yeah, it’s obvious.”

“Huh, I hadn’t noticed,” I say before looking back at her. “So was this your plan all along? Dragging me into this tour so I’ll finally stop worrying about everything?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” She attempts to look innocent as she looks over at Mr. Tour Guide for a moment. “I’m just here for the free stuff.”

“Ah, yes, the free souvenirs! One moment please,” Mr. Tour Guide exclaims before ducking through yet another set of double doors to the left of the room.

“It better not be something you found in a trash bin, you hear me?” Rose shouts, making me chuckle as she focuses on me again. “See? You’re better when you’re not depressed about something.”

“I wonder if it’s worth it though,” I say, trying not to sound too depressed as I glance up at the glowing sun. “It must be tiring to constantly drag me out of this state of mind by now.”

“Well, your reaction to seeing all of this made it worth it,” She says before sitting down next to me. “Honestly, I wish you could stay like this all the time. You brightening up and getting so excited when you start obsessing over these things? I can’t help but feel the same myself when that happens. It’s a side of you that I don’t think I would ever get tired of seeing.”

Brighten up? Her comment reminds me of how different my reflection looked this morning. How it seemed more like my old self, along with that dim light of hope in my eyes. While it is comforting to know for certain that I wasn’t just seeing things back then, the idea that Rose can not only see that, but actually likes it? That creates an odd mix of happiness and embarrassment that ends up leaving me more confused than anything else.

“And, well, trying to cheer you up makes me feel like I’m back with my sisters again,” She continues, a sad smile creeping onto her face. “Kind of reminds me of the time Spring Lily and I got lost during a scavenging trip. She blamed herself for the whole thing while I kept telling her that it wasn’t her fault. Even though I was just a filly then, I was the one that kept trying to encourage her and believed that she could get us out of it.”

Rose then shrugs her shoulders. “I’m not sure what I said that made her realize that I was serious. But once that sunk in, Lily stomped the ground and went to go prove me right. I was so proud of my big sister when we got home that I didn’t realize I got my cutie mark until mom pointed it out to me.”

Before I can ask, Rose lifts up part of her armor, revealing a crescent moon on her haunch with a single white rose resting on it. “It’s awesome looking, but I don’t think it actually means anything.”

I stare at Rose’s cutie mark, mulling over her comment, before she taps her rear. “Enjoying the view? I knew I was good looking, but I didn’t think you'd stare for this long.”

I nod absentmindedly. Then, realizing the unfortunate implications of what I just did, I quickly clear my throat. “I-I remember reading somewhere that crescent comes from the ancient words ‘ceres’, meaning to ‘bring forth or create’, and ‘crescere’, meaning to ‘grow or thrive’. The single white rose could be a symbol of hope and new beginnings. So, umm, basically, I believe your cutie mark symbolizes the bringing forth hope and change in others,” I look up at Rose. “If you ask me, it fits you quite nicely.”

For a brief moment, we stare at each other for what feels like an eternity before we both look away. The room becomes uncomfortably warm as Rose chuckles. “That’s seriously the coolest thing I’ve ever heard about it, actually! So, umm, how about you? What’s yours look like?”

“Oh, it’s, uhh, just a front facing open book with a page in mid-turn,” I say, lifting up my duster to show my cutie mark off. “Though there isn’t really any special event tied to it or anything. When I was a colt, my first book, the one you’ve seen me read while walking, was given to me by my mother. We read it every night and that encouraged me to hunt down other books so I could share what I learned with her. It was during one of these hunts that I, umm, got it in my head to... go somewhere I wasn’t supposed to go.”

That last line instantly causes Rose’s ears to perk up as a sly smile appears on her face. “Oh really?”

“Anyway,” I give her an unamused look as I continue. “I found an old spellbook with the teleport spell in it. Spellbooks were a new thing for me and, after reading through it once, I decided to try a spell out. Scared my mother half to death when I appeared out of nowhere with my entire tail fused to the wall. But this act did earn me my cutie mark. Along with a missing tail and a long lecture on why ‘borrowing’ spell books from forbidden areas is bad.”

And now Rose looks amused like none other. “I’ll have to remember that the next time you get on my case for ‘borrowing’ things,” She says before sticking her tongue out at me. I roll my eyes and open my mouth to say something witty when she glances down at my tail; a look of concern briefly replacing the smile on her face as she asks “That doesn’t happen often, right? You’re not going to… you know?”

I give her a reassuring smile. “It has only happened twice in my life: back then and what happened earlier. I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” I then dramatically brush my mane back. “I’m too proud of my appearance to let it happen more than that.”

She laughs. “Yeah, you’re right. Yeesh, I better watch it or I’ll end up being the depressing one.”

“Yeah, that’s my schtick,” I lightly nudge her shoulder. When was the last time I’ve had this much fun? Messing around, wandering through a museum, talking with another pony about our respective pasts. Silverwing, Flare, and Zigs wouldn’t care about any of this even if they tried. If they even bothered to try. It really feels good to finally have a friend who actually cares about me and doesn’t see me as a tool. Or is terrified by my blood magic. But then, Rose doesn’t really understand the curse I’m under, does she? If I end up losing control again while near her…

Taking in a deep breath of air, I steel myself for what I’m about to do. “Rose, remember what I said about the treasure hunt Silverwing dragged me into?”

“Yeah, I remember,” Rose says. “You told me it was a bust.”

“Technically it was, but… ” I rub my neck, hesitant to actually delve back into that painful memory. But it has to be done. She needs to know. “Not for me. When we found the vampire pony’s lair, that’s when I got my blood magic.”

Suddenly Rose’s ears perk up and her full attention is on me as I continue. “At first, all we found were a bunch of skeletons littering the floor and some markings on the wall. Certainly nothing that would make us rich. We were just about to give up when I found it.”

My body begins to shake as I recount the memory. “It was an old memory orb. Chipped and cracked from the passage of time, but still very much intact. However, something was off about it that I couldn’t put my hoof on. Still, it was what Silverwing was looking for and he had me make sure that it was the real deal. So, I… I…”

She places a hoof on my shoulder. “Treppy, that’s enough. I know I bugged you about this before. But if it is this painful to bring up, then I don’t need to know.”

For a brief moment, I consider taking her up on that offer. Then I glance at the tear in Rose’s armor under her wing. “Except you do. We nearly died because I didn’t tell you about how I react around memory orbs. I’m not about to repeat the same mistake now.” When that doesn’t set her at ease, I add “Please trust me on this, I’m a lot stronger than I look.”

She hesitates for a moment before finally nodding her head. With that out of the way, I force myself to continue. “Delving into it was painful. Like something was trying to force its way into my head but there just wasn’t enough room to contain it all. Instead of memories, like a normal orb would have, there was only darkness waiting for me. And hate, sorrow, more pain…” I shut my eyes tightly and take another deep breath. “When, when I came to, Silverwing was choking me. Flare managed to get him off of me in time and Zigs talked him out of trying again. The orb laid shattered in front of me and… realised how close I was to being permanently locked in that nightmare forever, I… all I could think of doing was to curl up in a corner and cry.”

Tears start to run down my cheek. “That was supposed to be the end of it. The orb didn’t have anything inside of it. Just a horrible experience I could shove to the back of my mind and forget about. Or so I thought. Then Trian Mill happened and when I found out where Silverwing got his Holotape from… I snapped. Badly.“

I force myself to look up at Rose. “That orb did have something in it. As much as I would like to pretend otherwise, it taught me blood magic. Or rather, it forced that knowledge into my mind. And when I lost it, I instinctively used it to lash out at everypony nearby. By the time I... came to my senses, nearly everypony around me was dead. I thought if I stayed away from everypony, kept that power locked up and buried in the back of my mind, then it would never happen again.”

“But you didn’t stay away,” Rose points out, though it feels like she is saying that to herself rather than to me. “You came here instead. And decided to get involved in all of this instead of walking away.”

“I know, I was being stupid,” I say, looking back at the ground again. “Why can’t I just leave things alone? Now I’ve put you in danger just by being near me,” I shake my head. “If… if that ever happens again, if I use that magic and look like I’m going to kill everypony there? Please, run. Don’t try to snap me out of it, don’t even get near me, just run and-”

A hoof ruffles through my mane. “After all the times you’ve had my back, you think I’d abandon you? Screw that.”

I gently push Rose’s hoof away and look up at her. “You saw what I did to Winona!” I say firmly. “The same thing might- no, will happen to you if you stay near me while I’m in that state!”

“Look, I’ll admit, what you did to Winona was… creepy,” She says. “But if that magic makes you want to murder everypony around you, then why did you shield me from Winona? That doesn’t seem like something a blood-crazed pony would do to me.”

“Maybe not,” I admit. “I did jump in between you two because I didn’t want to lose you, so... you might be onto something there.”

“Of course I am!” She says before patting my shoulder. “Honestly, did you forget who I am? I am Winter Rose, the greatest bounty hunter around. I know what I’m doing,” She gives me a wink before adding “But if it’ll make you feel better, I promise not to do anything stupid if you do go berserk with those powers again. So quit worrying, alright?”

It isn’t the most reassuring promise ever. This is the mare that thought hunting hellhounds was a good idea. And she hasn’t seen the broken and bloodied remains of Flare and Zigs like I have. But she does have a point: I did defend her during that time I lapsed and I do want to keep her safe, unlike others in my past I could name. Yeah, maybe I am worrying too much about this. With a smile on my face, I finally decide to relent. “Alright, I’ll stop worrying then. Besides, you haven’t let me down yet.”

“Of course not. That’s just not my style,” She says before looking into my eyes. “And… thanks for telling me about this. I know it wasn’t something you wanted to share with me, but, well, it makes me happy knowing that you trust me enough to share it anyway.”

Those words catch my attention and I find myself looking back into Rose’s eyes. A reply comes to mind but that disappears as we hold each other’s gaze. Something about the way Rose looks at me that makes it difficult to look away. Maybe it is how the light catches her eyes. Or how she softly smiles at me. Or even how the stars around her seem to shine a little brighter. It is as if she is making me feel like-

“Ahem.”

Rose and I quickly back away from each other upon hearing Mr. Tour Guide’s voice. Quickly wiping away the tears from my eyes, I watch as the robot cheerfully hovers over to Rose and offers her what appears to be two moon-themed lunch boxes. “Here we are fellow Rocketeers!” It announces cheerfully. “Two limited-edition lunchboxes, courtesy of the Ministry of Morale!”

While my mind tries to wrap around the idea of the Ministry of Morale giving out lunchboxes, Rose fakes a smile and takes one of the lunchboxes. “Uhh, thanks. This is what I’ve always, umm, wanted.”

“My pleasure!” Mr. Tour Guide says before hoofing me my lunchbox. He then motions towards the double doors he left through earlier. “Sadly, the museum is now closed for the day, my fellow Rocketeers! Please make sure that you have all of your belongings before leaving the planetarium and we wish you a wonderful evening!”

With that, Mr. Tour Guide takes a bow and then disappears through the doors leading back into the exhibit. Rose and I quietly watch it leave before looking down at our respective lunchboxes.

“Well,” I say while trying to iron out a peeling corner of the label. “I heard somewhere that you can fill these up with bottle caps and turn them into land mines.”

For a brief moment, Rose gives me an odd look before letting out a chuckle. “Good one, Treppy. Like anypony would seriously do something stupid like blow up money,” She says before putting away her lunchbox. “Oh, that reminds me. After we get the ghouls out of here, I’m coming back for the mines I left back in the storage room. Those things aren’t cheap.”

“I can only imagine, given how many you’ve gone through already,” I say before opening my lunchbox up. Upon discovering that it is empty, I start filling it up with whatever I can fit inside of it. If only in a vain attempt to keep everything tidy inside my saddlebag.

Rose nudges my shoulder. “Hey, whatever gets the job done!” She then looks around the planetarium. “Anyway, this turned out to be awesome. I think I can get why somepony would like to go up there.”

“Yeah,” I put my lunchbox away before looking up at the model of the moon hovering above us. “And we get to help them get there.”

“Then let’s not keep them waiting,” She brushes herself off and then motions towards the exit. “Let’s go send some ghouls to the moon.”

The large metal door looms over us, almost as if trying to intimidate us. Small dents and scratches cover most of its surface like a badge of honor. A deadbolt lock has a jammed key part inside, detering all but the most determined master thief. The words on a small sign on it has been scratched out and replaced with two words: Data Center. It stands much like a silent guardian, posing as the last obstacle between us and our goal on the other side.

Naturally, Rose and I look at each other for a brief second and then nod in unison before walking around the door. After all, there’s no point in dealing with it when the walls around it have long since crumbled to dust.

It’s jarring to see the room after walking around the relatively clean museum. Terminals smashed, wires haphazardly strewn across the floor, and scratch marks across giant mainframes make it easy to tell who was here. The mixture of ash, dry blood splatters, and body parts clearly show who lost the battle here. With the extent of the damage being what it is, the fact that most of the walls are still standing is a miracle in and of itself.

A gust of cold air blows through the gaping hole in the wall, sending a chill down our spines. Rose tightens her scarf before surveying the damage while I look out beyond the hole and onto the moonlit plains. At least, until the clouds move in to block out the barely risen moon entirely, darkening the scene before me. An uncomfortable feeling sets in with the darkness before I cast my light spell.

Keep it together. This isn’t the time to lose my cool or fall apart again. Just dig my hooves into the ground and get to work. Everypony is counting on me to not screw this up.

And I won’t screw this up. I’ll make sure of that this time.

“Ok, what are we looking for here?” Rose says as she steps over a severed hind leg and pushes aside some scraps of metal.

“These things,” I walk over and tap one of the mainframes near me. It has a lot of dents and scratches on them, but they should still work. Hopefully.

She turns to watch as I pull out my screwdriver and scan the mainframe for any kind of entry points. “Umm, not to be mean or anything, but aren’t you forgetting your bobby pin?” She asks, tilting her head slightly. “Or do you have some kind of lock picking spell that makes it so you don’t need one?”

“No, these things shouldn’t be locked,” I inform her “And sadly, I don’t know how to pick locks with magic. Anyway, with the terminals busted, I need to get the cover off and hook my PipBuck to the mainframes directly.”

“Oh! Why didn’t you say so?” She says before digging into her saddlebag and producing a crowbar. “Here, this should work better than that screwdriver you’re hovering over there.”

Fighting back a sigh, I shake my head. “A crowbar is going to do more damage than good. And the last thing I want to do is damage a two hundred year old piece of pre-war technology.” At that moment, I finally find the screws holding the side panel up. Pausing just as my screwdriver presses against one of the screws, I glance back at Rose. “Do you always carry a crowbar around with you?”

“Never know when it’ll come in handy,” She says before putting it away. Which makes sense. As I get back to work, she asks “So how do you hook up your PipBuck to this thing anyway?”

“Well,” I say while carefully removing the cover. “Data is stored within a terminal’s hard drive. Or, really, anything that has the same spell matrix as a terminal. So, if I connect my PipBuck’s hard drive to the one inside this mainframe via wire, I can transfer the data over without needing to find a working terminal. Once I double check to make sure it didn’t get corrupted, we can hop out the door, circle around to the front entrance, and get the ghouls on their merry way. Hopefully before the hellhounds figure out what we are up to,” I pause as I take a look inside the mainframe. “It might take a bit to check all of the mainframes here. Think you can find that switch Salt Cube wanted us to flip on?”

Rose gives me a salute then goes forth to accomplish the task given her. Giving a small salute of my own, I go back to connecting my PipBuck to the mainframe in front of me. Hopefully the information we need isn’t spread out between the four mainframes here. Things would be simpler had this place gotten a Crusader Mainframe. And far more interesting to poke around inside. But getting one requires the Ministry to favor this place and it is pretty clear that they did not. Still, at least the mainframes are all in one place rather than scattered throughout the floor.

And surprisingly easy to get into once my PipBuck recognizes the mainframe’s hard drive. Now to start looking through the files for the data I need and… Huh, that’s strange. The hard drive is empty. Maybe the data is in a different one?

Disconnecting my PipBuck from this mainframe, I move on to the one next to it and begin the process again. Thankfully, the damage inflicted on them doesn’t seem to be affecting my ability to access them. Nor disrupting their spell matrixes which would make what I’m doing impossible. Fortunately, it is easier to hook up to this mainframe and get into its hard drive. Unfortunately, it is empty too.

A sinking feeling starts to set in just as Rose says “Hey, I flipped Salty’s switch on. There’s an intercom over here that isn’t trapped too. We can let the ghouls know we’re coming once we’re done. How are things on your end?”

“Still looking,” I say as I move to the third mainframe. “Mind the entrance, will you? I should be done soon.”

“Don’t think the door’s going anywhere,” She jokes but moves to watch it all the same.

The heavily dented panel almost needs a crowbar to pry off. Even after getting it off, the insides are a mess and shows signs of tampering. Though whether this tempering is recent or not, I can’t say.

Did the ghouls send somepony else before Rose and I to look into this? No, they would have said so if they did. That just leaves Lupa and her pack then. But why would they care about this stuff?

Again, I hook my PipBuck up to the mainframe’s hard drive. And again, I find it devoid of any kind of data whatsoever.

The sinking feeling gets worse as I walk over to the final mainframe. What was going on here? With an attack like this, some data loss would be expected, sure. In fact, it would be more suspicious if everything was in one piece. But there isn’t anything in these mainframes so far: no data, no information, no backups. There isn’t even a login to deal with here. The systems are just wiped clean. Even as I hook up to this last mainframe, no explanation as to what is going on here comes to mind.

Then I access the final hard drive. Empty.

“It isn’t here,” I say, disconnecting my PipBuck from the mainframe before pulling up the map. Maybe we are in the wrong room? But it doesn’t look like there is another Data Center on this floor. So what gives?

“What do you mean it isn’t here?” Rose asks from her prone position across the door. Which happens to be near the intercom for this room.

“The mainframes are wiped. The data isn’t inside any of them,” I answer back as I walk over to the intercom. “We better let Rocky know about this.” And hopefully, he will have an explanation for all of this.

Raising my hoof to press the silver button, I stop as a burst of static comes out of the speaker. And a very calm and polite voice asks “Finding everything that you need in there, Intrepid?”

Lupa.

That sinking feeling turns into fear as I back away from the intercom. That fear keeps me in place as Rose gets up and presses the button. “Why?” She asks mockingly. “Hoping we found a bone for you, little puppy?”

“Funny, I thought I was addressing Intrepid,” Lupa says flatly. “Go scurry somewhere else, little rat. The wolves have a deal to make.” It sends a chill down my spine to hear her compare us to wolves. As if I’m anything like that monster.

“Sorry,” Rose answers back. “But if you got something to say to my partner, you can say it to me too.”

“And no,” I speak up. “I’m not accepting any deals that involve giving Rose up to you.” Rose offers me a hoof bump for that comment. To which I accept readily.

“Pity, but I did see that coming. You two have become quite the dynamic duo, haven’t you?” Lupa says. “Winona, you can come back now, I don’t need you to stalk them anymore.”

Both Rose and I turn towards the entrance. But nothing emerges from the shadows lurking in the hallway. “Now I should thank you for one thing, Intrepid,” Lupa continues as her voice adopts a much friendlier tone. “I was wondering why a unicorn like you would bother with a place like this. How very thoughtful of you to tell us that yourself.”

“I don’t recall ever doing anything of the sort,” I say, not really caring how little sense Lupa is making right now.

Rose smirks. “I think you’re losing it, you crazy old mutt.”

“Am I?” Lupa says thoughtfully. “Did you purposefully broadcast that meeting with your ghoul friends to every room in this facility?”

Broadcast? I didn’t make any broadcast. All we did was call the room number Rose had and...

Nausea hits me hard with that realisation and I start feeling very, very cold as Salt Cube’s question echoes in my head. ‘So who else did you call anyway?’

My rifle barrel tapping the ground sounds unusually loud while Rose quickly says “Get to the point, Lupa.”

“Here’s the deal. You remember Roxie, right Intrepid?” Lupa says playfully. “She found some rather interesting bits of information within these… mainframes, I think you call them? Information we put on a tape that I am holding.”

Rose grits her teeth. “Your price?”

Lupa’s chuckle can barely be heard over the static. “I want Smarty back. That’s all. I would have you meet us now, but I think poor Intrepid is still recovering from our last meeting. So I’ll give you until, hmm, this time tomorrow? Second Floor, Central Lobby. That should be long enough for him to get his wits back together again.”

There is a long pause before Lupa adds “Oh, and if you are not there when the time comes, I’ll start butchering your ghoul friends until you do show up. It is a fun way to pass the time and I think we’ve put it off long enough.” She lets out a dark laugh. “Have a good night, Intrepid.”

And with a click, the intercom goes quiet.

A few seconds pass in silence before the gears in my mind begin turning. I quickly pull out the intercom schematics, nearly ripping the paper as I do so, and lay it down on the ground. Scanning every inch of it in an attempt to figure out what went wrong, what mistake was made to allow all of this to happen.

Why? Why is this happening all over again? I was so careful! I followed the instructions exactly, didn’t I?

Yet, I can’t seem to remember the intercom I fixed well enough to recognise what I did wrong. And the body parts and blood smears decorating the room only adds to the sense of panic and dread running through my mind.

Rose leans against the wall. “This is bad,” She says to herself. “No, this is worse than bad. This is way worse than bad.”

“Is there any way out of this?” I ask.

“I don’t think so,” She answers before pulling Smarty out of her bag. “Stealing the tape won’t work, Lupa would notice right away and go straight into a killing spree.”

“Evacuating the facility and getting everypony to safety in a day is impossible,” I say. “Especially with Green Bean being a week away.”

“And honoring the deal will only get us killed in the end,” She says as she stares at the doll. “Smarty here is the only thing keeping Lupa in check. Once she gets her doll back…”

She didn’t need to finish that sentence. We both know what will happen to us once that happens. Then the hellhounds will go on to covering this place in ghoul blood before leaving. And that will be the end of the ghouls’ dream of reaching the moon.

All because I was here.

No, no this wasn’t supposed to happen again! I followed the plan exactly! I double checked everything! Things were supposed to go fine this time! This wasn’t supposed to be like Trian Mill! This… I need to get out of here!

I bolt through the gaping hole and into the outdoors. The cold air brushes against my face and mane as the moon once again shines through to illuminate the plains before me. Yet, I end up stopping after a short sprint, shaking from the cold night air. Panic urges me to keep running, but my legs refuse to move any further.

‘Why are you stopping?’ The little pony in my head asks. ‘It’s over. You screwed up again. You were careless. Just like in Trian Mill. There is nothing you can do to fix this now. Lupa can’t be reasoned with. And she’ll kill you if you give her a chance.’

I glance down at my saddlebags as the little pony continues. ‘You have enough supplies to get to Green Bean now. The only thing you can do now is go there and warn everypony about Lupa. Hopefully, the Steel Rangers there can deal with her pack and you can disappear into the wastelands again. Let those competent ponies come in here and clean up the mess you’ve caused.

‘You’re a dangerously incompetent little pony, Intrepid. It was foalish to think you could ever change that.’

And yet, those thoughts aren’t enough to compel myself forward. They are true, there is no doubt about that. This is a no win situation here. No pony would blame me for running away from all of this.

But this is different, isn’t it? At Trian Mill, things happened too fast to keep everypony from dying horribly. That isn’t the case here. If Lupa keeps to her word (as silly of a notion as that is), then there is one whole day’s worth of time to figure out a way to fix this. This is exactly the opportunity I had desperately wished for back at Trian Mill. Now I have it.

Am I really going to throw this opportunity away and abandon everypony to their death?

With a groan, I ruffle through my mane in frustration. If only there was a clear solution to this problem! No, there is a clear solution: Lupa and her pack have to die. There is no other way around it. But after everything Lupa has gone through and survived, the idea is completely suicidal! No sane pony would ever attempt it! But then, no sane pony would attempt to rescue a stranger from a den of hellhounds either.

I sit down and gaze up at the moon. It looks so far away right now. Just like my dream of being more like my father.

“Enjoying the view?” Rose asks as she sits down next to me.

“Just clearing my head,” I say without breaking my gaze with the moon. After a moment of silence, I ask “You’re not going to scold me for running away on you?”

“No,” She answers frankly. “I know you aren’t the type to just run away when ponies are in danger.”

That coaxes a smile from me. “Heh, Mom used to say the same thing about Dad. I guess I managed to be like him in that regard, eh?”

“Hmm, he was strong, brave, loyal, kind, willing to do what was right, and stubborn at times, right?” She asks, surprising me that she even remembered all of that, before shrugging. “If you ask me, I’d say you got all of that and more.”

I look at her, scanning her face to see if she really meant what she just said, and then at the moon again as her words sink into my mind. Am I really all of those things? Am I really like Dad? Rose seems to think so. She saw something in me that I can only see glimpses of. And she went through a lot of effort to convince me that I’m better than I think I am. So, maybe she’s right. Thinking back on everything that has happened, the things I’ve been doing are things he would probably do in my position. He would do them differently, obviously. And more competently too. But in the end, our motivations would still be the same.

Maybe I am closer to my dream than I originally thought. And if that’s the case…

With a deep breath and a grin, I brush myself off. “Alright, enough moping around. I’m from the Twilight Society, dang it, and back there is a place filled with pre-war tech. There has got to be a way to fix this.”

“There we go!” Rose says before slapping my back. “That’s the Treppy I was hoping to see here!”

I feel a little flustered at the compliment while she pulls out Smarty and tosses the doll up and down in the air. “Now then, how do we get back at Lupa for making a fool out of us?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” I say before glancing down at my Pipbuck, noticing for the first time how the moonlight gleams off it. And the StealthBuck still crudely attached to its side.

Huh, so that managed to survive this entire time, eh? If only we could just use you to sneak everypony out of here. Though, we would need a rather large motorwagon and enough power to get this thing to do that, won’t we? Not to mention that Lupa would smell us out the moment we tried to sneak past her.

Hmm. Smell...

I stare at the StealthBuck for a long time before an interesting idea forms in my head. From the corner of my eye, I notice Rose has stopped tossing Smarty up in the air and is staring at the doll. We both look at each other at the same time.

“You know, I’ve kind of gotten attached to Smarty these last few days,” She says with a sly grin on her face. “What do you say we give her a small going away party? One that’s sure to knock everypony off their hooves?”

“Well, I do have an excellent going away gift in mind for all of this,” I say with a sly grin of my own. “Mind if we go back through the museum one more time?”

“As long as we stop by my place afterwards,” She says. There’s a glint in her eye as she stands up and extends a hoof towards me. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

I nod as I take her hoof with mine. “Let’s.”

You have recovered from your depression enough to complete some quest objectives!

Quest Objectives Completed:

Activate Satellite and Radio Repeater.(Optional) Grab Everypony’s Things From Their Offices.

Quest Objectives Gained:

Deal With Lupa.

Current Quest Objectives:

Retrieve Data Needed For Rocket Launch.Escort Winter Rose Back To Safety.Scavenge For Medical Supplies.Don’t Die.