The bright light faded as my Eyes Forward Display brought up text saying that Subject Orange Harvest memory orb was complete.

“Dr. Winter, would you like to leave your final report for Subject Orange Harvest?” The A.I. asked.

Not sure what I can say that would help a pile of bones nearly two hundred years old. I don't see what good this machine could even do with any notes that I could provide, so there's little point in actually logging any information onto it. With nothing else to do, I gave it my answer. “No, I won’t be filing a report.”

Then I thought about it some more and realized that Dr. Winter was the pony the system thought I was. She would probably be fairly detailed about subjects while learning about WTSD, and would have made a final report. Remembering an inferior system in a weapons lab, I don’t know if this system has security that checks for behavior of the ponies that are using it. Back then, I was almost able to break into a system, but unbeknownst to me, it was checking my behaviors to make sure I was who I was identifying myself as. It ended with a total system lock out and a very unhappy Elder fuming over my shoulder. He spared us from being kicked out, but I've made sure since then to try to act like the pony that I am posing as. With that thought in mind, I revised my command.

“No, I will not be filing a report at this time. I want to study more of the subjects. Load up the next subject, and keep my choice in compression rate the same as the last set that I ran.” I said.

“Order Confirmed, loading next subject. Please stand by,” the A.I. droned.

The bottom-left box of my EFD changed from ‘Block C, Orb 1’ to Block C, Orb 2. I saw an image appear of a similar arm to the one that retrieved the first orb. The image showed the arm putting the orb back, then grabbing another orb.

A few seconds later, the A.I. spoke.

“Loading Block C, Orb 2, Section 1, two years, five months since war was declared, with Subject Archer... Stand by.” After a few seconds, the A.I. spoke again. “Unable to compress Section 1 into time remaining in session without risk to user. Do you wish to extend the session?”

“No; run for as long as it is safely possible,” I replied. Hopefully, it didn’t run too long, I don’t want to be stuck in here for hours on end.

“Order confirm, continuing process... Stand by,” The A.I. said

On my E.F.D., I could see the familiar text of the orb loading.

Accessing New Orb...Complete

Memory Orb Accelerator set to remaining time.

Loading Orb...Complete.

<=======ooO Ooo=======>

My field of view returned to something I knew well, and that was the joy of riding in the back of a wagon. Oh good, now I get to sit through this pony's training experience... or not? I took notice that the pony in front of my host wore armored barding from earlier in the war.

“Well, just think about it, Ink.” Somepony said to my host’s left.

“What you mean?” Another voice to my host’s left said.

“You should be in Sky Guard, not trotting into a swamp with us.” The silver-coated earth mare said to a gray-coated pegasus stallion sitting across from her.

“Most Sky Guard just do recon missions.” The stallion said, waving his hoof dismissively. “I want to write a book about my experience, and it’s better to write it when you're on the ground then in the air. Clouds and treetops have already been written about, I want it from this perspective.” The pegasus -I was guessing his name was ink- said.

“Oh yeah, because bubbling goo is more fun to write about,” a dark blue mare sarcastically intoned, rolling her eyes.

Ink lifted his chin and put his hoof under it, taking a stoic pose. “As I trotted into the muck and mud of the swamp, I prepare myself for the unknown that I will face.” Ink said.

“Oh you're writing a work of fiction. Can I be the damsel in distress?” The dark blue mare jokingly asked.

“You're not much of a damsel, North.”.

“I take it you two attended the same training camp?” An orange earth stallion across the row butted in.

“Yep. I had to help Ink Jar here get over The Wall” North said, shooting Ink a cocky grin.

My host’s attention fell fully to Ink Jar, the pegasus who could not apparently get over a wall. My host had the same question on my mind, finally speaking up before I could find my own answer.

“Why did you need help getting over a wall when you can fly?” My host asked. From the pitch and tone,I could tell that I was occupying a mare.

Ink Jar didn’t seem to enthused by the question. “Trainer said if I was going to be working with the other unicorns and earth ponies, then I should learn to trot like them. Basically he said I needed to get around without my wings. North Star here happened to be the one who helped me when I had trouble getting over The Wall.”

“So the trainer let you pass with help getting over The Wall?” The orange stallion asked.

“Nope. Had to work on my leg strength for a few weeks, but North Star showed me a few tricks on getting over walls.” Ink Jar said as a smile crossed his muzzle. “After a while I wasn’t half bad on my own.”

“Wait, what tricks?” My host asked, turning her attention back to North Star.

“Well, I learned to climb over the walls at Celestia’s school so I could sneak into parties that were above my age range.” North Star said. She was doing her best to keep from looking like she was gloating, but I could tell she was proud of her actions.

“Wait, you went to that fancy school for unicorns and yo-” My host started to say before being interrupted by a pony to the right of her. When she turned to see who it was, I found it was another gray-coated unicorn in Royal Guard armor. By the way they all fell silent, my guess was that he was their Lieutenant.

“Okay, listen up. We’re nearing our staging camp. When we arrive I want everypony to hope to it and get the camp set up A.S.A.P.” He turned toward the pegasus, “Ink Jar, I want you to gather up a cloud or two and use it for a spotting platform for yourself. Get your gear together.” the stallion said.

“Yes sir,” Everypony said in unison.

“I still want to know later what a fancy-schooled pony like you doing running around in the muck with us.” My host said, pulling the strap of her bag around her back.

Other ponies in my host squad pulled their packs together as the wagon continued down the road. My host looked forward to where the Lieutenant resumed sitting, and I could see the wagon team was pulling us into a clearing amongst the vine covered trees of the forest around us.

As the wagon entered the clearing, I could see that the swamp was rather inhospitable for both ponis and zebra. I was unsure how well a group of pirates could operate in this kind of terrain, or even how my host squad was supposed to go about looking for them.

I could see the bed of the recently drained pond nearby still had some spots of mud, but most of it was dried and cracked. The depth of the pond provided a layer of concealment for my host’s squad, and the edges of the pond sharply rose, creating a natural barrier for them to take cover behind incase they were attacked.. It seemed that the Lieutenant had the same idea, and had chosen this spot for that reason.

“Apex, North Star, Archer. You three set up the tents near the south end of the pond, and make sure that the openings face to the south. Silver and Coffee Bean, start piling dirt near the front of the tents so we can stay behind them if we find ourselves under attack. Make sure it’s enough that it gives some good cover, in case we get pinned down on them. Ink Jar collect some clouds and set yourself above camp. Keep watch while we get set up down here and call out if you see anything. I don’t want us caught off guard.” The stallion said, before turning and jumping out of the wagon.

Ink Jar nodded, then flew up into the sky, while the rest of the squad stepped off the back of the wagon. Apex began to pull the poles from the back of the wagon, while North Star levitated the canvas and my host pulled the stakes from the back. Silver and the coffee-colored mare named Coffee Bean were already digging in their bags for the shovels stowed in them. Great, so it wasn’t a wagon ride that I got to watch now, but basic camp set up. This orb just keeps getting better and better.

My host walked over to where Apex was setting up the frames, making sure each one was facing its opening to the south. North Star was busy putting the canvas over one of the frames that Apex had already set up, turning to him as she worked so she could talk to him at the same time.

“Why did the Lieutenant order us to set up the tents like this? Shouldn’t they be pointed with the openings towards the camp fire?” North Star asked.

“Yes, normally it should. This set up lacks efficiency, and no pony will get easy access to their tents, nor to the camp fire itself. It disgusts me that I’m setting this area up in such a uniform manner.” Apex replied back in a rather annoyed tone.

“Why does it bother you Apex?” My host asked.

“Before I joined, I was an architect. Setting up the tents in like this? It’s too boring and predictable. Bothers me.” Apex said.

“Good point, however the pirate camp is south of us and we need to make sure we can fight them quickly if we need to. That’s why Lieutenant Maplewood wants them pointing south; but make sure to spread them out a bit. I don’t like them being so close.” My host said before she grabbed the first corner of the canvas and tied a stake to it.

“Why would you want to spread them out? Who ever gets to be at each end won't even get the warmth of the fire during the night,” Apex said.

My host shook her head. “I agree with the Lieutenant. This reminds me a lot of when we were fighting the last batch of pirates. They got the jump on us and our tents were too close together and they were easily able to start concentrating their fire on us. It’s also why Maplewood wants the dirt piles set up.” My host said, turning and looking at Silver who was bringing over a shovel full of dirt.

“Oh okay, that makes since now.” Silver said, dumping the dirt in front of one of the freshly completed tents before sticking the shovel in the ground and using it as a stand to rest on.

“Ya, do you remember the news article a few months back declaring the capture of Xinto, one of the pirate commanders?” My host said before placing another stake into the ground. She started to hammer it into place as I started to wonder if this Xinto was someone important at the time.

The ponies around her said yes.

“My squad, well our squad now; we’re the ones who captured him, but he put up a nasty fight.” My host said.

“Really? I heard most zebras were, well, kind of friendly most of the time. Even on the battlefield, I think the worst I’ve heard about them was from that battle at Soot Ridge.” North Star said.

“Ya, Soot Ridge was a stupid choice to fight. I figured even before this war started that it would be a bad idea to mess with the zebras on their own lands. Seemed that the general of sword battalion wanted to take Soot Ridge and hold the coal there, taking the ridge and cutting a lot of resources from the zebras. My guess is that he thought that it would end the war sooner by just holding a large stack of coal, and therefore reducing the ability for the zebra’s to increase their industry while increasing ours.” My host said before grabbing another corner from the canvas.

“I read in the news that the zebras pushed right into the camps.” North Star said.

“Pushed into the camps and over ran them. Luckily, they capture most of the ponies as prisoners of war and return them. We really only lost all the supplies we sent down there.” My host said. “But with the zebra pirates, it is a different story because they are more aggressive. I knew a zebra in my home town, so I figure most of the zebras were like her, but when we fought that commander, he was just mean. He pinned us in our camp and happened to catch some of us in our tents. Copper and Lime Drop I remember could not get out of their tent. They had no chance to flee with the amount of gunfire that they poured into the camp, and there was nothing we could do.” My host said looking down at the ground.

“I almost got killed when they surrounded and pinned me down while I was getting water for the cook. Maplewood and Yellow Cherry were able to save me and most of the other ponies in our squad. We barely survived, but Maplewood was able to help us set up a defence and fight back. He wanted to take that commander and make sure he could not hurt any other pony again, and he and I believe that if we take out the pirates the zebras will have a more positive feeling towards Equestria when we are negotiating peace.” My host said tieing the new string to a stake.

“I guess you guys were able to capture him in the end.” Silver said picking his shovel back up.

“Well, it’s why we know where this Pirate Commander is.” My host said with a shrug, walking over to another tent.

“I knew we were going after a pirate leader, but they never told us how they knew where he was or what his name is.” North Star said.

“Maplewood will explain more of our mission later, but the zebra we’re taking out is Xur. He’s not well known on either side, but he’s been operating in this area frequently, and was the one that hit a trade ship that was headed to the griffin kingdom last week. On top of that, the top brass also thinks he’s been launching some of his own attacks in support of the zebra empire.” My host said.

“I thought the pirates just do their own thing and aren’t helping the Zebra empire?” North Star said.

“I thought so too, but that’s the thing. I think the Zebras are turning their own pirate problem into a way to help themselves out. Pirates are more armed per member than most of the zebra forces are right now. So I think they are using them to hit us take our resources so the Empire can get armed faster and cheaper. With the truce, the Pirates get only one side to fight, plus some extra income from whatever they take.” My host said.

“Seems like a dirty trick. Using their problems on us.” Apex said, setting up another frame a few meters away.

“What did you expect? They’ve been using dirty tricks since the start start of the war. They got those party poppers, and I heard they even use the local animals to their advantage. They possess and tame them to fight their battles for them.” Coffee Bean said placing more dirt on the pile outside the first tent.

“I knew about the poppers, but I didn’t think they had control over animals in their lands, nor even our lands. I’ve only seen one pony in my town pull that off, and even she had trouble at times.” My host said.

“Well you said it yourself, they pinned you down in your camp and killed two of your friends.” Coffee Bean replied.

“Well Copper and Lime weren't really my friends, however I was sad that we lost Ginger Ale when we attacked the pirates’ camp. It... it was more my fault than anypony elses’. I told him to search a building and there was a zebra inside that shot him just as he entered. I was able to drag her out, and even capture the zebra in the end.” My host let out a sigh and paused in her work. “I kind of wish I just shot her instead. She didn’t even care that she killed my friend, but that’s the thing. I think if we get rid of the pirates that are doing most of the dirty tricks, then we will start gain the upper hand in the negotiations.” My host said, walking over to the next tent.

The others didn’t respond at all, instead they let almost a minute of silence pass before my host continued.

“Then we can stop this silly war and go home. You know, get back to things we enjoy doing in life, and not seeing friends full of...” My host said before stopping herself and going back to tying the tents down.

It seemed that Ginger Ale still haunted Archer, and the death of her squadmate was probably why she ended up with WTSD and having her memories removed. I knew this had to be the case when I started this, but it didn’t make it any less horrible to think about. The silence was broken by a stallion’s loud voice behind my host.

“What are you ponies standing around for. Get in gear. I want this camp up before the sun reaches the tree tops.” A different stallion said.

My host turn quickly to a white-coated light blue-maned earth pony. “Yes sir!” My host and the other ponies said. It seemed I just saw the sergeant of the squad, and by the tone, I could tell he wasn’t the type to sympathise with sad stories. My host turned back and quickly grabbed another corner the tent, attaching a stake to it and getting back to work. The other members of the squad quickly returned to their work as well, not uttering another word in the process.

It took to where the sun was starting to touch the tree tops before the camp was finished. Blue Leaf was working on a campfire and finishing setting up the kitchen area while Maplewood and the squad’s sergeant were looking over a map. Both Silver and Coffee were huddled close together at the fire. They were resting near me and the rest of the squad, neither of them caring about the fact that they were utterly covered in dirt.

“Apex, nice work setting the tents apart like that.” North Star said.

“Ya, thanks. I still think it looks like crap, but if thats what the Lieutenant wants them, I guess I can’t say no.” Apex said.

Coffee Bean looked up from where she was resting. “Why did you even join the Equestria Army if all you do is complain about how things are set up? You don't seem like the adventuring type, and I think a lot of ponies join up to adventure” Coffee Bean said.

“I’m not some young foal trying to find some excitement in life. I am a skilled architect, and I join to protect my greatest work. The town of Saddle Hide will make it through this war, I promise you that.” Apex said, sitting up from where he was resting.

“Did the zebras attack it? Wait, have the zebras even made it into Equestria yet?” Silver asked, looking at bit surprised. “I try to keep up with the newsreels, but with work and training I never really stayed up on the news.”

“No, not yet Silver…” Apex winced at his own answer. “Though, a zebra attack would at least give the town a much better death than what its going through now. See Saddle Hide is... was a gem mining town that I designed and help build. It’s at the edge of Ruby Canyon, a great place back when we had the gem boom with the new trade in the zebra lands. Now all this bullshit with trade disputes, pirates, and a war went and ruined it. The boom fell and now my beautiful town is being eroding from the dust and winds coming through the canyon. Nearly every pony has left it.”

Maybe it’s the wasteland, but everywhere being a ghost town now doesn’t bother me. Granted I’d rather be back at the bunker than out here, little towns like this one are relaxing. The worst we’ve got to worry about are caravans and bad moon cider. Then again, their problems were of a different caliber than ours are.

“See, I’m not here to play, I’m here to save. I want to end this waste of time and get the trade routes back. I want to see my town survive the test of time, just like Ponyville.” Apex said looking directly at Silver.

My host looked at Apex. “Then you rebuild it. Turn it into something new. You can always find ways bring the ponies back there. What about turning it into a recreation town? I heard Ruby Canyon is an amazing place to go camping and hiking.”

“You can’t just up and rebuild a town,” Apex snapped back.

“Are you kidding me? The town of Ponyville, my home town, has gotten trashed Celestia knows how many times. Wood eating bugs, dragons, the great pink storm? You name it, we had to rebuild from it, so don’t tell me it can’t be done.” My host replied back.

“The great pink storm?” Coffee Bean ask looking up from the small drawing she was making in some of the crack dirt.

“Long story, needless to say we had to rebuild a few of the buildings from that alone. It was kind of crazy for a few years when I was a filly.” My host said.

“Only a few buildings doesn’t count for a whole town, let alone you have the advantage of being an old town already. Oh, and lets not forget you’re close to the capital. If you weren't so lucky, your town wouldn’t have survived the years.” Apex said, now more noticeably agitated.

“Oh come on Apex, Ponyville had a hard struggle just going from a little trading town to its own culture hub. It’s not my fault you built your town during a trade boom.” My host said back now speaking loader and little more aggressively as she walked towards Apex. He butted heads with my host I could see my host eyes reflecting in his.

“I built that town to be a cultural hub for the southern areas of Equestria like Appleoosa and Dodge Junction. Its design captures the desert style and the light reflecting off the gems from the canyon would put the simple forest and waterfalls of Ponyville to shame. Your town won't have to suffer from this war, so why the hay are you even here? Adventure, boredom, or is it you want to win the admiration of somepony back at home?” Apex said voice nearing a shout.

“I joined because they asked me to. Carrot Top’s farm didn’t need me anymore, so I decided to join up to try something new. So yeah, ‘Pex, I joined for the adventure. Something new and something exciting. I kind of miss the days when I wasn’t sure if we would have to rebuild the front porch or replace the chimney. It gave life to my day to day, and it gave me something to look at in a interesting way every time it happened. The best thing was when a building did get destroyed, the whole town came together and we all helped out one another. Each and every building we restored had a piece of us all put into it, so I don’t need a set of buildings to tell my self worth.” My host matching Apex’s volume.

“SELF WORTH? YOU THINK THAT TOWN IS MY SELF WORTH? IT WAS EVERYTHING TO PONIES WHO LIVED THERE AS WELL, NOT JUST TO ME!” Apex Shouted, glaring down into my host eyes. I could tell they were pushing into each others head trying to show strength, and I was waiting for the bucks to start flying.

“WELL THEY ALL LEFT, SO IT MUST NOT OF BEEN THAT IMPORTANT TO THEM AFTERALL.” My host said.

Apex took a step back. I could see how deep that remark must have cut, and I thought for sure he was going to lose it and buck my host right in her face. Something even I felt she quite deserved for taking it too far. Fortunately, the familiar voice of the squad sergeant broke their focus on one another and redirected it to him.

“Well I’m guessing you two want to give the pirates a heads up?” The sergeant said. Both my host and Apex stiffened up and turned quickly to answer the sergeant.

“Sir, no sir.” My host and Apex said in unison.

“Well, I seemed to have forgotten to pack the ‘Welcome to camp’ banner back at base.” The sergeant said, his anger only rising as he spoke. “So maybe you two can put aside your petty argument, shut up, and not tell them we are here!”

“Yes sir, sorry sir.” My host and Apex said in unison again. At least they can work together on answer their higher ups.

“Good. The Lieutenant wants you two on first watch. Apex, you're on Southeast side and Archer, you're on Southwest side. Stow your attitudes and be at your post in five minutes.” The sergeant said.

I was a little surprised when my host spoke up. I’ve made this same mistake a few times, and even I knew better. She seemed to me the more trained and experience one, but I guess everypony has lapses in judgement.

“Come on Yellow Cherry,” My host said in a bit more of a whiney voice. “You know I hate first watch. Give me third watch, I want to get some sleep before staring into a bunch of trees.”

“Yep, and I hate first watch as well. I was on it, but since you decided to argue with Apex, I figure you two could use a timeout and the best way for you two to be punished.” Sergeant Yellow Cherry said.

“No, I can see it in your eye you just don't want to do first watch.” My host said back.

Yellow Cherry smiled. “Yeah, that too. Enjoy your free time, because you’ve got about four minutes until you need to be up there.” Yellow Cherry said then turn to see the two ponies laying on the ground. “Go wash up, you two are starting to look alike.”

Silver and Coffee Bean replied quickly with their own “Yes, sir.”

Sergeant Yellow Cherry trotted back over to where the Lieutenant was standing. He was by the kitchen that was being set up by Blue Leaf, and by the looks of it, having as much fun as I was watching this drama play out. Lieutenant Maplewood looked at my host with what seem like a slightly disappointed look on his face, frowning before going back to talking with Blue Leaf.

My host sighed. “Well thanks, Apex. With your ranting, I’m not only stuck on first watch, but I also disappointed our Leutianet.” my host said, turning and looking at the annoyed Apex shot to her.

“I didn’t start the argument. You insulted my town and my craft.” Apex said.

“No you insulted my town, I just insulted your craft.” My host said back. I could see North Star facehoofing out of the corner of my eye. To be honest, I felt like doing the same.

“You two should stop now. You’ve got about three minutes left before you’ve got to be up there, and I don't think you want to anger anypony else.” North Star remarked. Apex only huffed and turned towards the position where he was to stand watch, only stopping to pick up his rifle along the way.

My host shook her head and started to walk towards her spot in the dried out pond. Though she seem to make the mistake to argue with her superior, she seemed to be the only one wise enough to keep her gun on her. She grabbed at her rifle that had been slung on her back this whole time, and kneeled down at the edge of the pond. From there, she just sat and watched the treeline around the pond.

She seem to quickly settle into the watch, and sadly so did I. Thought staring at trees is a bit nicer than the twigs back in the real world, but both the lack of useful information and the overall boredom was quickly getting to me. As I watch the treeline I started to think of a better way to do this, or if there could be another way to test this system. I thought back to something Silver said about newsreels. I remember seeing a few when I was in training, but this might be more useful than I first thought.

“A.I. is it possible to skip all memories of ponies performing on duty watches? Or any event similar to what is being experience right now?” I asked.

“This system is able to detect similar events to what is currently happening and bypass them. Please specify guidelines.” The A.I. prompted.

“Ummm, only display watches where a change occurs. Something like a conversation being overheard, or a few seconds before another event takes place.” I commanded. I realized that this would be a much better idea than to experience hours and hours of watches where nothing useful happens. I’m just sad I didn’t think of it sooner.

“Parameters Set.” The A.I. announced.

“Wait…” A thought jumped into my mind. “Can you include watches that have… oh, I don’t know, unique views? Not just trees, or sand. Something with a view?” I asked. Hoping the system was advanced enough to even understand what i was asking let alone what I hope it was able to do.

“Guidelines must be specified.” the A.I. replied back.

“I don’t know... how about a non-uniform landscape? Is this system able to detect changes in landscape in the memories?” I asked back, hoping that this line of questioning didn’t seem too out of place for the doctor I was masquerading as.

“Negative.” the A.I. replied. Killing the hope for me to see some unique views. I took a moment and thought about it some more. Even though It is nice to see old Equestria, I thought it would be quicker and more efficient to skip these kind of memories altogether.

“A.I., skip watch events in memories and replace with newsreels or any other information that is connected to the memories that were recorded.” I stated plainly.

“Available reels that are currently stored in the database are Equestria News and Flim-Flam Productions.” the A.I. said. I knew some of the Equestria News, but Flim-Flam Productions was something new.

“Both items, please.” I commanded.

“Order Confirmed. Events that are noted as watch events will be replaced with informational reels from Equestria News and Flim-Flam Productions. Please note that if no reels are related to current events, then the memory will automatically skip to events that are not similar to watch events.” The A.I. stated.

Great now I can get something useful out of my time. “Okay, let’s skip ahead,” I said.

“Unable to complete command,” The A.I. replied back.

“What why?” I asked.

“Memory has reach the set time in accelerations,” The A.I. replied back.

Before I could say something, a flash filled my field of view as the system pulled me out of the memory. I open my eyes to a blank screen with my hoof placed on it and I felt a little disoriented. My E.F.S. showed only a few hours passed, but to me it felt like many hours. I sat up and stepped out of the chair that I was sitting in, clumsy moving towards the door while trying to get my hoofing back. Thankfully after a few deep breaths, I was able to walk forward with little staggering. I felt hungry and was ready for something to eat, and the best part was that I could smell carrots. Apparently Peach Fuzz was already cooking dinner.

I trotted into the lunch room and could see the steam coming up from some cooking pots in the corner. Even better, I could see the steam coming from the water on the coffee maker. It was fully fixed and ready for us. With how the simulations are going, I will probably need it tomorrow for the excitement of waiting for the ponies to say or do something that be of any true noteworthiness. So far, I’ve learned that I might have to watch my step if any of the old Party Popper mines are still active under the ground, but that’s it. Not a total loss, but nowhere near a major, or really even a minor success. I dismissed my disappointing train of thought when could see Melon Seed writing notes on to a floor plan, the old building layout was spread across the table in front of him.

“How goes the safe cracking?” I asked.

“Terrible. The damn thing’s made of a high-end reinforced steel.” Melon Seed said not looking up from the map.

“Well it is a safe, so I’m sure it would be built to be protected from safe crackers like you.” I replied back with a smile and looked at the floor plan from over Melons shoulders. It was a floor plan of what look like the bank across the road. I could see notes written around the vault area, indicating that he seemed to be trying to find a weak point. I also saw some notes about the security system inside the vault, as well as possible locations of the password and possible bypass points. Melon was noting everything he could, and it made me think he should be the one in the archive instead of me. I may know more about the history, but he was always the better note taker.

“I could think better without you standing over me.” Melon Seed said.

”Oh, sorry. I was just thinking on the fact that you could find some flaw with the bathrooms in that building and make a hundred notes on it.” I said laughing a bit.

“Well this safe is not made out of the standard stuff. This metal’s similar to our Steel Ranger armor, except it’s much thicker. I can get the torch to the right temp, but it will take hours, if not days to cut through it.” Melon Seed said, placing his hooves on his head with a sigh.

“I’m not sure if we have several days,” Donut Hole said, having apparently walked into the room while Melon and I were talking. Since when was he that sneaky?

“What do you mean? We are here for a week at the least. I should be able to bust into the vault by then… I hope.” Melon Seed said finally looking up from the floor plan.

“Well, I’m not to sure on just how long it will take me to observe all the orbs of Block C.” I said.

“When I was on the upper floor doing watch. I saw a fair amount of dust being kick up in the distance, along with it came some echoes of gunfire. It might have been Zed’s group fighting something, though the locals have a large camp out that way, so I can’t really see Zed taking his family up that way. Either way, I’d us rather not be stuck in a holdout situation if we are attacked.” Donut Hole said.

“Why not?” I asked. “I mean we’re in a fairly fortified position. We got the Crawler parked out front with the machine gun ready. Not to mention the upper part of the building makes for a great position to return fire. Besides, I think we should keep this archive safely in our hooves.” I said.

“Did you learn something useful from it?” Donut asked.

“Well not yet, but it is early in the war so I think I find some more useful things much later on.” I answered.

“How far have you made it so far?” Melon asked.

“Little over two years now, but this is so early in the war not much had happened. The cases of WTSD were low at this point, and it’s more or less simpler things that have cropped up. I have a feeling it going to ramp up more and more the farther in to the block I go, and there will more than likely be something of use to us soon.” I said.

“Well, just skip ahead or tell the A.I. to find the good parts.” Donut said taking his helmet off. “Don’t waste your time on things that won’t help us.”

“The system can only filter so much. I got it to skip events in the memories of the ponies on routine patrols and replace it with old newsreels, which has been a good chunk of the time so far it seems. I am hoping the reels will give me some better information.” I replied back.

“What’s the point of the old newsreels?” Peach Fuzz asked bring over some bowls of carrot soup. “The ones at home were nothing special.”

“I’m hoping that it will give me more on the events between these ponies memories, let alone the chance for some useful information.” I said moving the floor plans from my spot on the table before sitting down.

“Hey, you could have asked.” Melon Seed growled in an annoyed tone. Though he was acting a bit hypocritical as he also quickly moved the floor plans again in favor of his own bowl soup.

“At best, I could try ramping up the compression a bit instead of just fitting a section to the time that I have between breaks. With the adjustments I made, I was able to get all of the last section of the first orb and part of the next orb done before my shift was over.” I said before taking a drink from the hot soup.

“Fine, but we still need to report this to the Elder tomorrow during our check in. We will let him decide if this archive has a use to it, let alone the possible contents of a bank safe.” Donut Hole said before he too took a drink from his soup.

From over Donuts shoulders, I could see Apricot looking at me through the small window from the stairwell in the lunchroom. She was giving me the best look in the wasteland, and I knew it was time for bed. Oh, how I was so much looking forward to bed.

“Okay, ummm... hey Melon, can you and Tea Leaf setup the transmitter tomorrow on the roof?” I asked.

Melon ears perked up. “Yes I can.” He said.

“Good well...” I said before pausing and finishing my carrot soup. “I’m going to go to bed, so have a good night everyone I see you in the morning. I’ll even make the coffee for everyone.” I said before torting quickly towards the stairwell.

Peach Fuzz caught the hint of what was going on. “You know, I think I’m going to go relieve Tea Leaf. I figure she could get something to eat, and her watch is almost finished anyway.” Peach Fuzz said while heading out the main door in the Lunchroom.

Opening the door to the stairwell I could see Apricot looking at me from the next floor up. “You almost seem desperate today Mint.” Apricot said in a teasing voice.

“Just happy for us to get some time together,” I replied with the widest smile I’d worn all day.

I began to follow her up stairs, trying to catch up to her. Normally I could catch her, but she had taken her armor off already and that was allowing her to move quicker than normal. She beat me to the top floor and into the office area, and as I made my way into the administrator’s office, I could see a large desk that had been converted into a bed. Our sleeping bags were set up to be a mattress while an old, patchwork blanket was serving its sole role once again.

“You like it? I had some time to set up the room in between watches.” Apricot said.

“Lovely. So much better than the floor in the Crawler. We even have space to stretch out our legs,” I said, walking up to the makeshift bed and placing my hoof on it.

“And we get some privacy with this penthouse suite.” Apricot joked. “Still, no room service, but I don’t think you’ll mind.”

“Not at all,” I said taking a healthy look at the mare I so adored. It’s not often on these missions that I get to see her out of her armor, and when I do, it’s a truly beautiful sight. I trotted over to her and nuzzled along her neck.

She sighed happily and looked into my eyes. “So, do you still want me to kiss your knee to make it feel better?” She said, giving me a warm smile in return.

Author's Notes:

Thank you Gamma and Cyber for editing this chapter.