The ride back up to the ground floor in the elevator thankfully lacked any of the awkwardness lurking just at the corner of our visions, most likely because both of us were united in our attempt to ignore it for as long as physically possible. Sadly, reality ensued: elevator rides can't last forever, and both I and Luna were very aware of the fact that we'd agreed to compare notes after all this was done. Thus, we exited the lift and stepped into the hall in silence.
Luna shuffled nervously as I adjusted the strap on my rifle, both of us exchanging a glance before we stepped together in unison, down the hall and towards one of the meeting rooms closer to the thick bulkhead of steel that was the entrance to the facility proper. A quick swipe of my admin access card was all we needed to get through and into the same room we'd used earlier in the day.
Nothing had been moved in the time that we'd been gone, and part of me felt very silly about the fact that I felt the urge to check and make sure. Still, given Luna's attempt to do the same, it seemed that the both of us had more or less the same idea: hopefully postpone a grim discussion of the state of the world outside for just a few seconds more. After all, there wasn't exactly a whole lot of positive points to go over when we finally sat down.
And sat down we did, after we'd exhausted our possible excuses and both of our practical sides sighed and agreed in wordless unison that there we were wasting time, when there were important things that needed doing. Like before, we took seats on opposite sides of the table, as I took the stylus for the screen in front of my seat and slotting it behind my ear, Luna taking hers and spinning it in midair.
"So." I said, awkward and clunky. I really wasn't sure where we could possibly begin, and some part of me hoped that Luna, with over a thousand years of experience on her side, would be able to fill in the gap and start the conversation on her own.
"So..." she replied, tapping her hooves together. It was only at that moment that, to my chagrin, I remembered that that last thousand years had been spent with her entirely alone on the moon but for an egotistical despot of a spirit.
In retrospect, leaving the starting of what was going to be an incredibly painful conversation to the pony who was famed primarily for her antisocial and isolationist tendencies and portrayals probably wasn't the best decision. If I was being honest with myself, it was probably about as good an idea as handing the position of party planner to Twilight Sparkle, or tasking Pinkie with arranging a funeral. It looked like I'd have to be the one to buckle down and get the ball rolling, and I weakly tried to assure myself that it would be much easier once things got started. Which it would. Probably. Hopefully.
I took a deep breath. Here went nothing.
"So... the timer."
I saw the relief flicker across Luna's face, and I realized that she'd most likely been expecting me to broach a far more painful subject. Probably her own current mental state, given my promise that our conversation hadn't been over.
"Well, we doth- do have some information about it, thankfully. We hath slightly less than a week to figure out what it is and what it counts down to, which should be adequate, if we are sufficiently expedient."
I nodded, my own expression of relief matching Luna's. I pushed my chair back and stood, beginning to pace back and forth before the large screen that formed the wall behind me.
"Yeah, we at least have somewhere to start with it. We know that it started when you were released from stasis, for example- specifically, when I engaged your release. We know that the timer itself shows up in two locations in this place."
"The stasis room and the room with the crystal towers, correct?" I nodded once, and Luna brought her stylus down on the surface before her.
Words appeared on the screen behind the head of the long meeting table in clear, slightly-Gothic script as she applied her stylus to the job. TIMER was written out in larger letters, a line drawn beneath the single word, and then, in smaller script and with bullet points, she began filling in what little information we had. Occasionally, between words, she'd stop and tap the stylus against her muzzle with her magic, eyes slightly narrowed in thought.
I blinked at the second listed option. "Equestria has biometric locks?" Luna gave me a slightly surprised and confused look.
"Of course we do. There are not many better ways of securing high-level systems or information than a lock that cannot... be fooled..." suddenly, Luna dropped her forehead to the table's surface, uttering a deep and frustrated groan. "Again, we did it again... information floating about in our brain, like dust through a damn net. We're just scraping what residue sticks to the strands. Ugh."
I sighed... this was going to be harder than I'd first thought, if I was going to have to pull Luna out of a funk every time something triggered a memory or some new fragment of information. Gently, I tapped the table, drawing her attention back to me, managing to at least get her to lift her head enough to switch from what must have been an incredibly uncomfortable position with her forehead pressed to her screen to a more comfortable one. She flumped her head back onto the table, sighing, table now underneath her head. At least her muzzle was pointed at me instead of her chest: I had no doubt that that position would have quickly become painful, which wouldn't have helped either of us.
"Luna, look, at least you remembered something- and hey, it could be something useful!"
"We do not see what hay has to do with it." she muttered grumpily, but I ignored her and carried on.
"So, the terminal itself is locked. Given that it seems to be the control or diagnostics system for the room that it's placed in, and given that it's the second place the timer appears in, of course it has to have something to do with it. We just need to figure out what, exactly, that correlation could mean."
She blinked, sitting up in her chair a bit, lifting her muzzle from the table. "Well... given that those crystals are typically used to manage power, from what we- I remember, it very well may have something to do with the power of this facility."
"Okay, so... how is this place typically powered? Are there systems for it? I mean, it is a military facility, so I'd be surprised if it didn't have its own generator, of some kind at least. Maybe it's a timer counting down until that backup power source runs out of fuel?" My mind flickered to another specific situation that involved a big, ominous timer and a number of diesel-powered generators.
She shook her head. "No, that does not make sense. If that were the case, then why did it start with exactly one week in time just as you released me? It seems far too convenient that it had exactly one week of fuel from the exact moment of my release, after running for however long that it must have beforehoof."
I took the stylus from behind my ear, tapping it against my temple, standing in one place and staring towards the list of words at the head of the table. I glanced to the left, making a small experiment by drawing the end of the stylus across the wall screen itself, grinning as the systems registered the movement and the intention and left a mark in its wake. I moved to the front of the room, drawing an arrow from the second item on the list to another list, labelled POWER.
I considered the list, then drew a line through the first. It was a good idea to keep track of every idea, even the ones we eliminated. Luna, on the other hand, focused on the last item.
"Meltdown?" I glanced back to see her frowning at it, attempting to puzzle it out. I tapped my stylus against my open palm a couple of times, mulling over how best to put it, then spoke.
"Well... when I disabled your stasis, it informed me that disconnecting something called the 'core' was a bad idea. I'm not sure what that means, exactly, but I have some theories- one is that there's some sort of reactor somewhere, either fission or possibly fusion, that was connected to some sort of system through the stasis room, or that perhaps you were the system. I don't know if Equestrian tech was far enough to use organics as either extensions to computer systems or even AS computers, but..."
"We... do not know about that. It doesn't seem the best of ideas. Why use organics when one simply could have put in place a normal, more reliable electronic system? It seems a bad idea to use an unreliable organic version for which there is no backup when t'would be simpler and better to use a normal computer with multiple backups." She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Though... perhaps it was jerry-rigged, when the facility was abandoned, and the systems fed through the same computer systems that managed mine stasis? Or perhaps my release caused some sort of surge that damaged systems?"
I nodded, pointing to the FAULT and FAILURE options. "That's what I was thinking, too. Something about what I did when I released you affected other systems in the facility, and it might make sense that the stasis was either such a major system or that it drew so much power that its disconnection caused chaos with the rest of the system." I let out a sigh of frustration and started pacing again. "But, if that's the case, why didn't someone plan for that? I don't think a military facility is just going to be cut down by one little power surge, no matter how big it is- there's gotta be backups, failsafes, surge protectors, circuit breakers. A surge like that could take out the entirety of the combat capacity of the whole base."
Luna was scribbling all this down rapidly, adding her own notes as she went. Words were slowly filling out the wall screen, and Luna was trying to write smaller in order to conserve the space. In the middle of writing out the last part, she paused, looking up and making eye contact with me.
"It also doth not make sense that it should have such a delay, if that were truly what were happening. Would it not have been instant, if it had been a power surge? Would we not be beset with warnings and alarms? Why the delay? And, even if we were to accept that there might be a delay as the systems fall apart, we still could not accept that said delay would be as long as an entire seven days, nor that somepony thought ahead to build systems to set up a specific timer. And why in the stasis room? Why not everywhere, or just in the crystal room?"
I made a frustrated noise, nearly throwing the stylus at the wall screen, refraining from throwing it just at the last minute, clenching my hand over and over instead.
"That's the frustrating part! We don't know what the builder's intentions were for any of this, for anything- we just don't know what they were thinking, why they did what they did. Why did they make the timer? Why seven days? What was this facility for? Why is Twilight's castle sealed with that crystal stuff? Why did they build so much into the underground tubes? Why did they put you in stasis? None of it makes sense, and there's not even some sort of helpful manual, not even a 'hello people of the future, our thoughts were this'!" I flopped down in my chair, folding my arms on top of the table and dropping my head onto them. "None of it makes sense, and there isn't a bit of instruction or documentation anywhere, and what little we found doesn't help us. Water systems? Hydroponic facilities? How does that help us now, when we're trying to figure it out and we're on the clock?"
"There... is one more possible place, that neither you nor I have checked- well, that is, you have checked it, but you were there only for a specific purpose." Luna drummed the table with her hooves as I looked at her, seeming nervous. "The administrative offices may have... some sort of documentation, informing us about the facility or what's going on."
I lifted my head a little, considering it. The offices had not exactly been in the best way when I had explored them: there had been dust everywhere, without the circulation and filtration systems of the facility to eliminate it from the air. Water damage, age, exposure and what sunlight had managed to get through the windows and into the room inside had no doubt taken their tole on the fragile paper documents there. Still... there had been filing cabinets, and there might be document safes, given that this place seemed to be rather high priority, what with being built directly under the castle of Twilight Sparkle and being chosen to house Princess Luna herself in stasis. The only issue with that idea was...
"The tarwolves."
Luna winced, hooves drumming a little faster for a moment. "Yes, that... that would be our concern as well. It is prime territory for us to be ambushed, given that it did not appear to have another exit save the windows, which would reveal our locations in a rather loud way, should we choose to use them. I have no doubt that you do not wish to be trapped between a rock and a hard place more than we are, and thus, we would either have to have some sort of alarm, or have one of us sitting on the roof and keeping watch."
I laced my fingers, narrowing my eyes and thinking it through. "Well, there are those watchtowers, and you do have both wings and a sniper rifle..."
"That is what we were thinking, that we should ascend with our wings and keep overwatch... the primary issues with that plan are communications, and what to do if the 'tarwolves' follow us back to the facility."
I waved a hand. "The first is easy enough, I bet we can locate some short-range two-way earpieces that fit both of us. The second... the second is the rub." I looked hopefully at Luna. "Maybe... Equestria was advanced enough to have automated turrets?"
Luna, to my disappointment, merely grimaced and shook her head.
"We do not remember whether there are such devices or not, but we have our doubts about their possible existence. Firstly, how would one prevent them from targeting those that they are meant to protect with one hundred percent assuredness? And besides that, if they had solved that issue and had introduced them, why are there no turrets of that sort here, defending this facility? Why was that Tarwolf that attacked us not greeted with automated fire? We believe it is more likely that such a thing doth not exist."
"Ugh..." I rolled the stylus back and forth a little. "Then, what do we do?" I caught the stylus, sketching out a basic representation of the garage, security checkpoint and facility entrance. "Obviously the entrance to the facility itself is a chokepoint, it was designed that way, but a chokepoint assumes that we have the bodies to actually hold and defend it during a withdrawal into the safety of the facility itself. We've got two people, and each of us needs to be out there, way beyond the choke point, for this to work."
"Mm. Maybe..." Luna spun her stylus a few times in the air, then began sketching things of her own. "Maybe we can have a look at the vehicle in the garage. Perhaps it has a weapons attachment? If so, then we could simply seal the entrances to the garage, ensure that we can close the main vehicle door remotely, then park the vehicle itself just outside."
I tilted my head, blinking a little as I watched her draw and sketch.
"It's... yeah, that's not a bad idea. There's decent lines of sight in every direction from there, and it'd be like fighting with your back to a wall, but with the option of retreat. If you could warn me, take a few out at long range to buy time, then fly down and man the turret... you could keep them off long enough for me to get out of there and get across the courtyard."
Luna nodded seriously. "Once you have returned, we may pull the vehicle back inside the garage and seal the door. While it may not keep them off forever, it should be more than enough to delay them until we can run back and seal the bulkhead door." She grinned. "We very much doubt that even they could get through that."
I grinned back, nodding. It really was a good idea, probably the best that we could do in this situation with just two people... Luna really was living up to her mentioned reputation as a tactician. I was actually happy with that, that we might be able to pull something out that could give us some answers about this place, about what was going on, answers that Luna and I both were eager to have.
"So! Planning done, brainstorming over..." My smile faded a bit, my eyebrows creasing. "But... I don't know if it's the best idea to do it now. We spent a lot of today down exploring the lower parts of the facility, and it must be getting towards night..."
Luna nodded, jumping down from her chair and trotting around the near end of the table, stretching her wings with a number of small pops.
"We have at least a little time, and I have no desire to risk life and limb simply because we thought that we should rush this faster... however, I would not like to simply waste what time we have." She raised her eyebrows at me, looking slightly cheeky. "Any brilliant plans for us? We believe we have used up a bit too much of our genius plan master ability today."
I huffed good-naturedly, spinning in my chair and smoothly stepping forward and out just a bit too fast for her to react, unprepared as she was. My finger, outstretched booped her right at the end of her snout, causing her to jerk backward and scrunch her muzzle in shock. I laughed aloud, but slowly petered out when a look of horror spread across her face. Warily, I shuffled a little farther from the table to clear my path of chairs and readied myself, glancing back and forth.
"What is it? What did you...?"
Slowly, she raised her eyes to meet mine, then spoke slowly and seriously. "In our culture, to boop a pony's nose... is to propose... marriage."
I jerked back, eyes going wide. "You don't- you're not-" At that moment, I noticed the spark of mischief in her gaze, and I narrowed my eyes. "Oooohhh, you little brat. You're screwing with me, aren't you?"
In response, Luna grinned wide and darted out of the room, calling behind her, "mayhaps we are, mayhaps we're not!" Just before she ducked out the door, she gave me a simpering, hurt pout. "Are we truly so unattractive to thee that marriage horrifies thee so? Oh, we must appear the most ungainly and ugly of beasts to thee!" she exited the room with me hot on her heels, laughing aloud. "For shame, sir, for shame! Wounding an innocent filly's heart so, promising eternal matrimony and withdrawing it just as swift!"
"Innocent filly my ass, you dirty old mare!"
Flick.
"Please stop that."
"Nope~"
Flick.
"This is entirely unfair. We demand a fair trial of our peers."
"Don't see anybody but me, and you did make me something of a peer when you told me I didn't have to call you 'princess'. So... guilty!"
I flicked Luna's nose again, cheeky grin on my face to match the one she'd worn just a few minutes ago. She sneezed this time, wings spread and tail flicking in frustration. She took a moment of blinking to recover from the sudden sneeze, which I used to coo at how adorable she was, causing her to floof up and attempt to bypass me once again, which I blocked with another flick.
There was only one way down, we both knew this. Luna had attempted to get to it first, close the doors and laugh her victory all the way down to the public level, while I'd have to wait for her to leave and for the elevator to come back to my level when I called it. However, she'd forgotten the the elevator required my admin keycard, which lead us to where we were now- her attempting to get by me and at the card that I held in my off hand, out of the line of sight needed for her telekinesis, and me flicking her right in the nose every time she did, causing her to rear back and retreat. Every time this repeated itself she fluffled up a little more. I was hoping, by some miracle of alicorn magic, that she'd eventually start resembling Fluffle Puff, at which point I'd whip out my phone and take a picture which I could then set as my lock screen and use to mess with her nigh infinitely.
Unfortunately, Luna had clearly had enough of my antics, as she simply picked me up bodily with magic and held me in midair, grinning in triumph. "Ha! Now the shoe is on the other hoof!"
I struggled in midair for a few moments, trying to reach a handhold and pull myself back to the ground or simply try to airswim my way out of Luna's TK, wishing the entire time that I had the magic nullification exhibited by so many humans that went to Equestria. Eventually, however, I went limp and sighed deeply in defeat, holding out the card, which Luna plucked from my hand before setting me down to sulk.
Still, we stepped into the elevator together, me following just in her hoofsteps, arms crossed.
"It's not fair if you can just pick me up with magic."
"Well, life is truly filled with injustices, is it not? Such a tragedy."
I narrowed my eyes at her as the elevator dinged, indicating that we'd reached our destination, and the doors slid open again. "Somehow, I feel like you don't actually sympathize with my plight."
She raised her eyebrows at my gaze. "Oh, now, what could possibly make you feel that way?" With that parting shot, she pranced through the open elevator doors- actually pranced, her hooves light and a wide grin stretching her muzzle. I grumbled, then called after her.
"You know that I"m going to get you back, right?"
"Worth it!" She replied from out in the hall. I grumbled to myself again about spoiled, bratty alicorn princesses that always get their ways, then followed along.