"Nopony knows! And you know why? Because everypony that has ever gone in... has never... come... out!"

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Ugh, just gimme five more minutes," I moaned, vainly banging my hoof against my bed to shut off the alarm. I didn't open my eyes yet, too drowsy to bother. At least, I didn’t until an unknown clanging sound broke the constant beeping.

I cracked one eyelid open slowly, letting in as little light as possible. My head was facing the leg that had a strange metal device on it. I moved the leg again, only to once again hear the clanging. It had been coming from the device hitting something, most likely metal.

My still un-awake brain tried to process the fact. My bed didn't have metal anywhere near it. At least, I didn't think it did. Opening my eye slightly more, I saw that wherever I was was lit by a pale blue light. Beyond my leg was a white wall that curved sharply upwards over the rest of me. With a groan, I rolled over to see above me.

White greeted me barely six inches past the end of my nose.

"Ahh!" I yelled, flailing to try and get out from what looked like a coffin. A wave of claustrophobia hit me as terror that I could not escape set in. But luckily, one of my waving hooves hit a latch of some sort and the coffin opened with a soft pneumatic hiss. Upon opening, the beeping finally stopped as well.

Blackness greeted me. I lay back in the chamber, relaxing slightly now that I had room. My eyes tried to adjust to the light levels, causing me to squint to lessen the burn. Then I noticed how cold I was. It took a lot to make me feel cold, being a pegasus and all, but as I lay there I could see puffs of air coming from my mouth as I breathed in and out. Relaxing for a moment, I tried to make sense of my surroundings, but all I saw was a stone floor as a somewhat familiar feeling in my stomach caused me to lean over the side of my bed and vomit. Or at least pretend to vomit. All that came out of my mouth was a small trickle, but I heard it hit the floor below me. I wiped my mouth and sat up to try and place where I was.

The room I was in was fairly small and windowless. It was black, lit only by the soft blue glow coming from the casket I sat in. I saw the dim outline of a door across from me and, with nothing else to do, hopped out to go through it.

As I fell and hit the floor from a few feet up, my limbs crumbled beneath me, unused to holding weight. Likewise, my vision swam as the sudden change caused my blood pressure to fall.

"Dang, how long have I been out?" I wondered. I shakily got to my hooves, using my wings to balance myself. I took a few staggering steps towards the door, pausing to look back and see if there was anything I missed. Only the coffin was in the room, the bed portion lifted several feet in the air.

I reached out a hoof and pushed open the door, causing it to creak on old, rusty hinges. I emerged in a large circular room, lit by dim emergency lights. Seven other doors ringed the room, six of them having vaguely familiar symbols on them. A crescent moon. A trio of butterflies. Three apples. Three balloons, two blue and one yellow. A six pointed star surrounded by five other stars. A trio of gems. The seventh door was blank. I turned and looked at the symbol of the room I just walked out of. A three-hued lightning bolt topped with a cloud. It looked disturbingly familiar, but I couldn’t figure out why. On a hunch, I looked back at my flank. The symbol on the door matched my cutie mark. It seemed important, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why.

Taking up the center of the room was a low circular table that called up wisps of memories of meetings. I walked over to it, reaching my hoof out to tap the edge to feel it. To my surprise, a hologram appeared with the six symbols I had seen as well as the one on my door. Not knowing what else to press, I reached out my hoof to hit the lightning bolt shaped one. The hologram went blank for a moment, then came to life again as a fuzzy image of a gorgeous white unicorn mare with a styled purple mane appeared.

Rarity

The name floated out of the abyss of my mind. I didn’t know where it came from, but I knew that it was the name of the pony in front of me. I sat back down on my haunches and waited to hear what she had to say, clueless as to what else to do.

“Rainbow Dash, you’re probably wondering what is going on, not to mention having no idea how you got here. Your memory might be fuzzy depending upon how long it has been.” I snorted. Understatement of the century there.“Hopefully, I can explain a few things. You just woke up from a cryogenic sleep designed to protect you if the zebras ever launched a full scale megaspell attack on your location or if you almost died. It wasn’t perfect of course, but I had no other option when it came to protecting my friends." She paused and looked behind her, almost as if she was afraid of someone walking in on her. “The cryogenic sleep process is much more advanced and complicated than the few stasis chambers that have been developed, but I won’t go into all that ‘egghead nonsense.’” I cocked my head. I could recall some of what she was talking about, such as megaspells, but anything beyond the basics refused to make themselves known to me.

“This was one of my… secret… projects that I told very few people about. But you know plenty about being secret projects having run the MoA after all.” MoA? Once again, a name floated out to me from my mind. Ministry of Awesome. “This facility is located far in the north. I hoped that it would be largely spared from attacks, and if you’re seeing this, it means that another one of my hunches paid off.” She gave a smile to herself, somehow foreseeing that she would still be right. “As for how you got here, it was one of the enchantments I placed on the figurines I gave you.” Figurines?

“As for how long it has been, I don’t know. Sweetie Belle in Stable Two will be responsible for ending your cryogenic sleep remotely in the event that I am incapable of doing so. Failing that, I’ve installed another failsafe in Stable Two.” Stables? Rarity didn’t seem to be making any sense. Stables seemed like something important, but other than a vague impression of safety, my mind refused to give me anything.

“You’ll find most of the supplies you’ll need in the hallway outside as well as anything you had when the spell activated. But be careful Dash. You may be remote and out of touch with most of Equestria, but it is not without its fair share of secrets.” She gave me a smile, the type of smile that seemed to be reserved for only a few. “Good luck Rainbow Dash. I hope I’ll be seeing you soon.” The hologram disappeared from the screen and six little drawers popped open from the table.

Curious, I peered into the one closest to me. It had a tiny figurine of me with the saying “Be Awesome” carved into the bottom of it. This must have been one of the “figurines” she was talking about. I picked it up, feeling some slight stirring as I did so, and set it on the table. I went and looked in the other drawers, but they were only filled with dust. Shrugging, I turned back to where I set the figure and rapidly used a set of hoofstrokes to pull up the terminal menu. Then I paused, looking at my hooves. I didn’t have the faintest idea what I had just done and I would be hard pressed to recall what I did. My muscles seemed to remember what my brain had forgotten. Yet another mystery. I stopped thinking about it and instead navigated to the basic menu screen. It was simple enough that I figured it out even with no knowledge of the device I was using. A little number in the corner said that is was October 15, 2211. The little pony in the back of my head screamed that it didn’t seem right.

Again, not thinking, I swiftly navigated the menu and pulled up the log. I stopped, slightly confused at why I did so. The page was fully of technological gobbledygook, so my eyes skipped to the last entry. It was a simple line of text and a date, something even my empty mind could understand.

>10.30.2011: Cryogenic capsule #5 (Rainbow Dash) activated. Occupant near death.

I looked at the date on the entry, then the date in the corner of the screen. My eyes flitted between the two of them before my mind did the easy math that still left my mind dumbfounded.

Two centuries. I had been slumbering in that coffin for two centuries. I rocked back on my haunches. Even my fragmented brain could tell that ponies were not supposed to live two centuries. My muscles moved of their own accord and pulled up a short screen that I read over while my mind was still trying to make some cognizant thought of how long two centuries was.

>Cryogenic Capsule #1 (Luna): INACTIVE. Intended occupant deceased: Canterlot
Cryogenic Capsule #2 (Fluttershy): INACTIVE. Intended occupant’s status unknown
Cryogenic Capsule #3 (Applejack): INACTIVE. Intended occupant deceased: Stable 2
Cryogenic Capsule #4 (Pinkie Pie): INACTIVE. Intended occupant deceased: Manehattan
Cryogenic Capsule #5 (Rainbow Dash): OPEN. Intended occupant released.
Cryogenic Capsule #6 (Twilight Sparkle): INACTIVE. Intended occupant deceased: Splendid Valley
Cryogenic Capsule #7 (Rarity): INACTIVE. Intended occupant deceased: Canterlot

Luna. Fluttershy. Applejack. Pinkie Pie. Twilight Sparkle. And Rarity, the mare I had seen in the hologram. I remembered nothing about them, but with each name and the deceased tag that followed it, I felt like a dagger had been plunged into my heart.

Luna: deceased. Applejack: deceased. Pinkie Pie: deceased. Twilight Sparkle: deceased. Rarity: deceased.

I did the only thing I could. I didn’t know why these names had brought up such emotion, but even with my memory failing me, I knew that they had been close to me. There was no one else there and I let emotion wash over me.

I wept.

I wept for the souls gone. I wept for my memory. I wept for Equestria. I wept for weeping.

But most of all, I wept for the friendships that had been torn apart by the events of centuries past.

I sat there for who knows how long. My coat was streaked with the tears cried for those lost, the stone floor in front of me damp. Finally, I gathered myself together, mentally berating myself lying on the floor like that.

“Deep breaths Rainbow Dash. You can do this. Rarity wouldn’t want you lying on the ground wallowing in self-pity now, would she?” I murmured, slowly rising from the cold stone floor. I picked up the statuette of me again, but instead of feeling a faint stirring, I wave of hope washed over me, carried by two words. Two simple words.

Be Awesome.

The fire inside rekindled, I got up. I looked down at the strange contraption on my hoof. I figured that if it had an alarm, it could tell me how long had passed. Instead of the screen with the clock on it like there had been, it said “Data Transfer Complete.” I looked at it confused, then a light bulb went on in my head. Turning back to the holo-table, I saw the same words. Granted, I had no idea how to access it, but it felt good to have the information when I later got my memory back.

I turned and headed out the unadorned door, leaving the room behind and not looking back. I emerged into a hallway made of the same stone and lit by strips of blue lights running across the floor, parallel to the wall. The hallway ended in another door marked ‘Exit,’ but there was another door next to it. I trotted forwards, noticing that the other door was marked ‘Supplies.’

I turned to the supply door and nudged it open with my nose. Inside were seven black trunks lined up against the walls, each one once again marked with one of the seven symbols. I went over to the one marked with a lightning bolt, but there wasn’t a seam or any way to open it from the outside that I could see. I frowned, then reached out with a hoof to push it. To my surprise, the contact caused the lid to swing open silently. A smile crossed my face, the first real one since I awoke. Without pausing to look inside, I went to touch each of the other trunks, but none of them opened. I went back to my trunk to sort through its contents.

The first thing I pulled out was a dark blue saddlebag which I proceeded to sling over my back. I heard a chime from the device on my right foreleg, but I continued to look through my trunk. Healing potions, bandages, some packets that read ‘Rad-Away,’ a generously heavy sack that clinked when I picked it up, some fresh fruits and vegetables kept safe through use of a preservation spell, and a good sized wooden box that, upon closer inspection, held a variety of dyes and makeup. I put all of them in my newly acquired bags, a small notification popping up in the corner of my vision to tell me it had been sorted. There were a few other things in there as well. A gold-ish crown type thing that had a black opal set in it as well as a wooden box that contained six glassy orbs. Two Daring Do books and a book on things called PipBucks. I put the Daring Do books in my bag, but I paused to flip through the PipBuck one. It was heavily notated in yellow-ish ink. I looked back at the cover, then down at the device on my leg. I could see a resemblance, but the one on my leg seemed to be more advanced. Shrugging, I put it in my bag to read later. When I had emptied the trunk, I looked at it and cocked my head, slightly perplexed.

“If I was to make a trunk for myself, I would have included a weapon of some sort. Besides, didn’t Rarity say that whatever I had when that spell activated would be here too?” I frowned, looked at the inside, then back at the outside. “Aha!” I reached a hoof into the now empty trunk and hit a small, hardly noticeable lever on one side. The bottom popped up, exposing the rest of the trunk’s contents. “A false bottom.” I declared triumphantly.

The hidden items seemed to be of much more use in combat than what had been on top. I reached in and pulled out a several identical boxes. Each one had a different label including Stampede, Buck, Rad-X, and Med-X. I cracked open a lid to see what was inside. Several syringes lay next to each other, filled with a semi-clear liquid and ready for injection. “Humph, chems. As if I would ever need those.” Even so, I tossed them in my bags. There were also three or four small black boxes smaller than my hoof that I couldn’t figure out a purpose for. I tossed them in as well along with two more of those strange glass orbs I had found.

Strangely, though I had put quite a lot in my bags, they still seemed as light as when I had first put them on. I was curious, but had no solution. “At least I won’t have to haul around the weight of all this. Probably magic of some kind.”

I reached into the trunk one last time to pull out the few remaining items. Each one I touched brought back flashes of memories.

Black and purple armored barding. It was well worn, tears and bloodstains present throughout. Where it would cover my legs, the armor ended just above where my joint would be. On the spot that would go over my cutie mark, there was a winged skull in white. “Shadowbolts” my mind whispered. It had a helmet as well, purple to match the suit with a transparent yellow visor, but I set that in my bags before slipping on the armor. It felt comfortable, built for my body, as well as being quite light. Magic at work again I suspected. It had definitely been broken in in the past. Several images passed through my mind of flying in formation with other pegasi wearing the same outfit. I shook my head and moved to the next item in the trunk.

A modified pistol. The handle had a lightning bolt embossed in it and the barrel had the gun’s name carved in it: Loyalty. The grip was designed to fit in my mouth comfortably and, picking it up, I found that it had been weathered to the point that I felt no discomfort holding it. The trigger was in the perfect spot to be used by my tongue. I tilted my head down and spotted a spot on my barding that seemed to be the perfect fit for the small gun. I slid it into its holster over my left leg joint, allowing easy access for me to grab it in my mouth.

The next weapon I pulled out was a rifle, silenced for stealth missions. Lightning was carved into its barrel. Unlike my handgun, it was designed for use with hooves. It was well crafted and coated in a matte black finish as opposed to the dull white of my other gun. I slid it into its designated holster as well, on the opposite side of my body from Loyalty.

The last weapon and the second to last item I retrieved from the trunk was a set of hoofblades, four total. I slipped one on and tightened the straps holding it to my hoof. They felt right, like it was the weapon I had used the most. I tensed my hoof and extended the straight blade on one hoof, then scraped the concrete. To my surprise, they cut through it like butter and didn't even leave a mark on the blade. I looked at the weapons with new admiration and sheathed the blade. When sheathed, it extended up my hoof for both protection and support. I suspected that my armor had been specifically designed with these in mind much like my other weapons. All four hooves covered, I turned back to the trunk once again.

The last item stopped my heart. I carefully lifted out flight goggles. I turned them on their side on instinct to see ‘S.L.’ etched in the side.

And once again, the Wasteland broke me as I fell down crying, though I knew not why. All I knew was that something dear to me had been torn away once again.

“Pull yourself together Rainbow Dash. The Wasteland will not beat you yet.”

I whipped my head up from my tears, “Wha? Who’s there?!”

“A friend. Now get up and sort yourself out.” The voice was masculine, but had a computerized edge. Wary, I got to my hooves and brushed myself off. “Good, you can follow a few simple instructions. Now, gather up your supplies and head outside.”
“Why should I listen to you?” I challenged. “I don’t even know who or what you are.”

The invisible speaker harrumphed. “I told you, I’m a friend.”

I sat back down, hooves crossed over my chest as I stared at nothing. “Nope. Not gonna do it.”

I could just picture some robot pony somewhere rolling his eyes at me. The thought made me smile. “And what will it take you to do it?” asked the voice, annoyed.

“Hmmm, how about a nice hot shower and a trip to the spa?” The voice remained silent, so I assumed my answer was a no. “Dang it.” I pretended to think things over, but we both knew what I was going to ask. “How about you tell me who you are?”

The voice sighed, then replied, “You can call me Core. I’m a friend.”

I pursed my lips, thinking for a moment. “Nope, still not gonna do it.”

The voice let out a groan of annoyance. Arguing always made me happier. I couldn’t see why it drove other ponies to frustration. “Fine! You win. I’m an artificial intelligence interface in your PipBuck.” I opened my mouth to ask a question, but I was interrupted. “That thing on your leg is a PipBuck. Yes it looks weird. I had been on that terminal until you downloaded everything, including me. I’ve been sitting there for two hundred years with nothing to do, so forgive if I’m a little eager to see how the world has changed. Now get your butt moving!”

“Someone’s got a short temper,” I smirked. Then before he could reply with what would most likely be another annoyed comment, I walked out of the supply room. “So Mr. Artificial Intelligence, what can you tell me about what’s through that door?” If he was going to be a mule about the whole thing, I might as well get what information I could before he decided to jump ship on me.

“You’re in the bottom of one of the Ministry of Awesome hubs. It’s been in lockdown for two centuries in order to protect you as well as any of the other Ministry Mares who had managed to get pulled by the spell. The lockdown hasn’t been lifted yet though. I think that the internal doors are unsealed, but no one on the outside can get in and you can’t get out.”

I appraised the boring door in front of me. “Ministry of Awesome. Why does that sound so familiar?”

“Maybe it's because you were the head of it you dolt!”

I frowned, disbelieving. “You sure? I don’t know why anyone would put in the government. I’d probably cause it to explode.”

“It would have done that without your help. You just managed to accelerate the process. And what do you mean you aren’t sure? It took up over twenty years of your life.”

“Well, I kind of lost my memory.”

Core was silent for a minute, processing that. Finally, he spoke again. “Buck you Rarity.”

I snorted. I couldn’t help myself. The fact that a computer was cursing was too funny. Core was silent again and I could tell that if he had a body, he’d be glaring at me.

I lifted a hoof and pushed open the door. It swung open, revealing empty blackness beyond. “Well, here goes! An amnesic mare and a sarcastic AI off to save the world from whatever crap it’s buried in now!”

“We are so dead.”

“So what’s your story?” I asked the AI. We walked through the blasted ruins of the Ministry Hub, my PipBuck lighting the way.

“I was developed as part of a collaboration between the Ministry of Technology, Ministry of Arcane Sciences, and Ministry of Awesome. It was quite an impressive feat to get three Ministries to work together. I remember that the O.I.A. had a field day when Twilight came up with the idea.”

“O.I.A.?”

“Office of Interministry Affairs. Now try not to interrupt. The project was obviously successful to some degree. I was one of the earlier models. They found my personality faulty. Hmph, imagine that.” Oh I can imagine alright. “The AI’s that failed were supposed to be scrapped and destroyed, but upon seeing my personality, you decided to give me to Rarity as a prank.”

I laughed, the happy noise breaking the morose silence of the ruins. “I think I know how it went from there. So it’s my fault I’m stuck in the ruins of some ancient building with no way out and only a sarcastic robot to keep me company.”

“Yep. So how’d you lose your memory?” Core asked.

“Frankly I don’t know.” I turned a corner and made my way up another set of steps. We were still far below ground, but each level I passed was another level closer to finding some way out. “Woke up back there not knowing diddly squat. I’ve apparently retained my muscle memory, as I was able to use the terminal. Still have no idea how I did it though.” Another set of stairs. “I also remember some basic things, like how to fly and that egghead knowledge they make you learn in school. But other than that, nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Weeeeelll, I guess nothing isn’t entirely true. I remember some names. Luna, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle.” I frowned, then continued. “I know that S.L. is a name too, but I can’t remember who it is. And I’ve gotten a few feelings from other things, like this armor and my weapons, but my brain is empty otherwise.”

“S.L. most likely stands for Scootaloo, vice president of Stable-Tec Inc.”

At the name Scootaloo, an orange pegasus popped into my mind, but the image was gone almost as soon as it appeared. “Speaking of Stable-Tec, I’m also going to assume that you have no idea how to use your PipBuck?”

“What, this thing?” I lifted me right foreleg. That turned out to be a bad idea, as it caused me to faceplant into the floor. “Oww.”

“Yes, that thing. Here, let me try something.” Core was silent for a moment, then a map popped up in front me in the corner of my vision. "That's your E.F.S., or Eyes Forward Sparkle. It'll tell you the positions of enemies and if they're hostile or neutral. Yours is a highly advanced model though. It looks like it'll tell you if they're hostile, neutral, or friendly. Red, yellow, and green, respectively. I wonder what else this has, you being a Ministry Mare and all."

“Cool!” I said, my voice louder than normal. It echoed throughout the abandoned Ministry Building. I paused, some latent instinct causing me to stop and wait. Then on the map that appeared, a small red bar appeared. It was moving towards me, albeit slowly. Crap. "Core? I’m going to assume red is bad.” My voice had a slight edge of nervousness. I didn’t know what kinds of creatures lived down here and I didn’t particularly want to find out.

“Shoot, I thought we would have longer. Your scream ruined things. Draw your pistol, we’re going to have to fight.”

“We?” I asked, but Core was silent. I glanced back at my E.F.S. only to see that the red bar had gotten even closer. “Buck,” I muttered, tilting my head back and drawing Loyalty. I took up a ready stance, legs braced in case I needed to fire quickly. I wore my hoofblades, but I hoped that it wouldn’t have to come to that.

I stood there for less than ten seconds when I heard a shuffling around the corner. I narrowed my eyes, focusing on the corner in front of me. I had about fifteen feet before whatever it was would be on me once it turned the corner.

I saw a dark shape come around and paused. It was pony-shaped, though it’s outside were damaged. I hesitated before pulling the trigger, but the pony-thing hissed and ran at me.

I pulled the trigger with my tongue, only to have the trigger not budge. My eyes widened in surprise as my brain tried to figure out what had happened, but the monster bowled me over onto the ground, knocking Loyalty from my mouth and sending it into the rubble. The thing was on top of me and holding me down, staring me in the eyes. It screamed, but I didn’t waver. I head-butted it, causing it to fall back enough for me to slip out of its grasp. I rolled backwards, coming up in a fighting position and my mouth drawn back in a snarl. My limbs hurt slightly from where claws dug into me, but my barding had saved me from most of the damage.
The beast screamed again and jumped, but I ducked under it, my head and wings snapping up to cause it to flip over and crash into the wall behind me. I turned and raced towards it. Now it was my turn to jump, as I planned on using the momentum to help my hoofblades decapitate the creature. It’s limbs stuck out and I twisted in time to avoid them, though I also missed my target. Unfortunately, my head hit the wall just fine. I staggered back, the flight goggles preventing me from any serious damage, and faced my opponent again. As it leaped, I heard Core yell something and time slowed, almost to a halt. I targeted its flying body with my hoofblades, jumped up, and eviscerated the creature, some gore catching me in the face. I landed behind the creature as time resumed and I heard a dull thump as it connected with the ground.

I found a cloth on the ground, spat in it, and used it to wipe the blood off my face. I tossed it aside and warily went up to the creature. The red bar on my map had vanished, so I was reasonably sure that it was dead. I turned it over and shined my PipBuck light on its face, then recoiled at what I saw. Flesh hung off it and one eye was missing. Even so, I could tell that it had once been a pony, though that had been a long, long time ago. “Core,” I whispered, mystified and slightly scared by the sight, “What is that thing?”

“I- I don’t know,” he stammered. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.” He paused for a moment, then regathered himself. “Move your PipBuck over its body so I can scan it. It might reveal something.” I did as he asked, blanching at the site of where my hoofclaws tore open its stomach.

While I waited for Core to process the data, I went and found Loyalty in the rubble. Looking it over to see why it didn’t fire, I had to laugh. “Safety’s on. No wonder I couldn’t fire it.” I reholstered the gun, safety off, in case I needed to kill any more of the creatures.

“Alright Dash, the only thing my scans were able to tell me is that nearly all life systems in its body had failed, it was over two centuries old, and had once been exposed to a massive amount of radiation.” Almost as if he could sense the alarm on my face, he continued. “Don’t worry, that was in the past. If there was any radiation left around here, your PipBuck would start clicking.”
His comment made me recall of something that happened in the fight. “Core, what was it that you yelled before time slowed down?”
He chuckled and answered, “I said ‘Take this motherbucker.’ As for time slowing down, that was also me. Since you have made it clear that you don’t know how a PipBuck works, I activated S.A.T.S. It’s short for Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell. What it does is complicated without using ‘egghead terms’ as you call them. But to you, it’ll appear as if time has slowed down, giving you a chance to target your enemy.”

“Well that’ll certainly be handy. How do I activate it without your help?”

“Since yours is a highly advanced PipBuck, just think to activate it.”

“Sweet. Now let’s go kill more zombie ponies.” I poked my head around the corner to see if there were any more drawn by the sounds of our not-so-quiet fight. Seeing nothing, I proceeded down the hall. Based on my map, I had only a few more levels to go before reaching the ground floor. But as I walked into the level right below the ground level, my E.F.S. exploded in red bars.

“Woah.” I looked around, but this level was just as desolate as the last. Noticing a hole in the ceiling, I crept over to it and peered up. In the dim light, I could see a lobby and a bunch of the zombie ponies walking around in it. My hunch had been correct. “Core,” I whispered, “the floor above is filled with those zombie ponies. Is there any other exit than punching my way through the main door?”

The AI thought for a moment and I could almost hear the whirring as it tried to find a way out. “Well, you should be able to lift the lockdown in the director’s office. You have the clearance after all. Once the lockdown is lifted, you can just bust out through any available window.”

“Great, where’s the director’s office?”

“Top floor, where else?” I groaned, but crept over to the stairs leading to the next level.

“Please tell me this building isn’t as tall as it is deep.” I hoped that I would only have to fight my way through one or two levels to escape, but with my luck the next twenty levels could be filled with those creatures.

“You’re in luck. The director’s office is on the third floor.”

I sighed in relief, then reached back and grabbed my silenced rifle. If I had to start taking out the creatures, I’d prefer to not bring the entire building upon me. I inserted a fresh magazine, flicked off the safety, and crept up the stairs.

Seeing a red bar almost on top of me, I poked my head through the gap where the door to the stairwell used to be. A zombie pony met my gaze, but I shot it point blank in the head before it could react. Black blood splattered on my armor, but I ignored it. I suspected that my barding would go through quite a bit before the day was over. I turned to go up the next flight of stairs, but the way up was blocked by rubble. Looking out the door again, I saw a flight of stairs directly across the lobby.

I holstered my rifle and snuck across the room, alternating between hugging the wall and dashing between the cover of the ruined lobby so as to remain hidden. While I wasn’t consciously aware of everything I was doing, my military training had luckily been so ingrained in my mind that instincts took over. I managed to avoid being spotted so far, but I doubted it would remain that way for much longer. I slid into the room and softly walked up the stairs. They terminated on the second level. I groaned and went back down a few steps to avoid being spotted.

“Alright Core,” I whispered, “How do I get to the third floor?”

“One moment.” There was a pause before he replied in his slightly mechanical voice. “Okay, the only way to the third floor is the main elevator. It’s in the middle of this hallway. It probably won’t be working, so you’ll have to open it manually, then fly up. I trust you can do that?”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t have much choice in the matter now, do I?”

I drew my rifle again and advanced down the hall, looking out for any of the zombie ponies. Since my map picked up those below me as well, the E.F.S. was useless. Going done the hall, I was able to surprise and kill five of the creatures, leaving me half a magazine and a lot of their black blood on me. I reached the elevator door and set Lightning on the ground. I pushed the call button, but it didn’t even light up. To my luck, they had been cracked open enough that I could just barely fit a hoof in to force it open. The doors opened slowly, the thick layer of rust on their hinges preventing them from moving much. With a final grunt, I shoved them open far enough to slip through. I reholstered my rifle and slid my thin pegasus body through the gap.

I hovered in the shaft, my unarmored wings flapping silently. My PipBuck illuminated the shaft, cables disappearing downward until they fell out of sight. On a whim, I spat, waiting to hear how long it took for my saliva to hit the bottom. It took more than a few seconds, but my ears were able to hear a very faint plop.

“Dang. Good thing my wings still work. That’d be a long way to fall.” I hovered up, then stopped as my head bumped something. I flew down a few inches and glanced up. “Really world. You’re just going to through an elevator car in my way? You really hate me don’t you.” I rolled my eyes, though it wasn’t exactly having any use. “Hey Core, you got any idea how to cut through this.”
“If I had a face to facepalm right now, I would. Look up. There should be a lever that says something obvious like ‘MAINTENANCE ACCESS’ right about where you hit your head.”

Oh. I looked up and sure enough, there it was. I reached up and pulled the lever. I was at least out of the way enough so that the falling piece of floor missed me, but I winced with every single clatter and bang it made as it fell down the elevators shaft. Core didn’t even need to say anything; I knew I was an idiot. Even so, I floated up into the empty elevator carriage. I didn’t set down seeing as how there was a high possibility that it would collapse on me if I stepped on it. I tried pushing the button in the elevator, but it too was dead. Unable to get leverage without landing, I spun and bucked the doors in flight, similar to how I would go about busting a cloud. It took several tries, but eventually the doors couldn’t take my onslaughts and bent enough that they simply fell out of their hinges. I hovered out directly into the director’s office waiting room. It would have been a chance to relax, had the room been unoccupied.

I executed an aerial roll purely on instinct. The laser blast that would have exploded my head to bits burned the wall behind me right above the elevator door. The blast itself illuminated my enemy, standing only a bit in front of me. With no time to draw my guns, I flew forwards, tackling the zombie pony dressed in the tattered remains of a guard outfit. It moved aside at the last moment and caused me to faceplant in the ground. Before I could move, I felt claws streak down the side of my face. I should have worn that helmet. I rolled to the side and sprung back up, trying to get a clear look at my attacker. It gave me no time to recover, pressing the offense again. I triggered S.A.T.S. and aimed to decapitate him with my hoofblades, but blood was dripping in one of my eyes and screwing with my depth perception. As a result, when time resumed, my cut only sliced open part of his neck.

He growled and aimed his gun at me again. My eyes narrowed and I shot forward, scooping my head under him to cause his shot to go wild and hit the ceiling. Pressing my advantage, I scooted forward so that I was almost entirely under him and jumped, my powerful leg muscles causing his body to fly in the air. I hit the ground first and moved in time to buck him across the room. He flew into the elevator, hitting the wall and falling to the ground. He shook his head and stood up, but it was too late. I heard a groaning, then a snap as the rope holding elevator car broke, sending the monster to his doom. He let loose a bloodcurdling scream that sent chills down by spine as the falling carriage crashed into the bottom of the shaft. I had no idea how far exactly it was, but based on the way his scream cut off suddenly, it was enough to kill him.

I stood, breathing heavily from the short fight and my brush with death. “Can you try and get out of here without almost getting killed again?” asked Core, his voice the one of a rather ticked off pony.

“Can you try and not make a snarky comment?” I paused for a moment, giving him a chance to answer. When he was silent, it actually surprised me for a second. “I guess so. Let’s see what the director’s office holds for us.”

The door was, naturally, locked. A hoofscanner next to the door was the only way to get in, so I wiped off my hoof and placed it on the small device. A small chime let me know the door unlocked as a message appeared on the scanner.

>Welcome Rainbow Dash, Ministry Head of the Ministry of Awesome!

I pushed open the door, taking in the nearly pristine room. It was plain, but illuminated. It must have been part of the emergency power system. A fine layer of dust coated everything, but other than that and the skeleton in the director’s chair, it would have seemed like a normal day in the office. Curious, I went up to the skeleton. It had a neat hole in its skull and a layer of black dust lay around it, almost as if whoever it was had died wearing clothes. Sitting in front of the skeleton was an open briefcase that contained a stack of files and a note.

To Whosoever finds this,

I tried. I really tried. But, knowing what was in the lowest levels of this building, I had no choice but to throw it into lockdown. If one of the Ministry Mares is reading this, I wish you the best. The briefcase contains all the files pertaining to Project Icepony as well as some other information that may be of use concerning this facility.

Loyally yours,

Director Minuette

I set the note back down and placed it along with the other files into my bags. I’d look at them later. A thought struck me and I frowned. I ducked my head, looking under the desk. A small pistol lay there from when Colgate dropped it after committing suicide. I added it to my bags and stood back up.

“Core, what kind of thing am I looking for here?”

“There should be a terminal in there. Black looking thing in a corner.” I peered around, locating it and trotting over.

“Okay, now what?”

“Put your PipBuck near the terminal and let me work my magic. Oh, and make sure the terminal is on.” I tapped the screen and green light showed up underneath my hoof. I wiped away the dust and waited for Core to hack into it.

“Got it. The password was Brushie for whatever reason. You should be set from here. The lockdown should be the first thing that pops up.”

I tapped the terminal and a menu popped up.

>Ministry of Awesome Lockdown
Lockdown active for: 73043 days

>Emergency Power Reserves: 17% remaining

>Terminate Lockdown: Y/N

I reached out and tapped the Y button. Another screen popped up.

>Voice authorization required

“Shoot. Do I need to say something special Core?”

>Voice authorization accepted: Rainbow Dash

“Oh, well that works.”

>Terminating lockdown…

All around me, the heavy metal pieces that had been obstructing the windows slid up with a grinding noise. Each one that came up let in light. My eyes burned, used to only the emergency lighting and the light of my PipBuck. I squinted, trying to make sense of my landscape. As I looked over the snowy landscape, a name echoed in my mind.

Stalliongrad.

Footnote: Level up
New Perk: Stealth - When sneaking, you are 50% less likely to be noticed.