The next few days in South Dakota got better and better for the Crusaders, they had been taken to Deadwood, Mt. Rushmore, the Crazy Horse memorial and were now in Keystone. James had taken them round the old historic section of Keystone and was now taking them to the more modern shopping area of the town.
“It’s really nice here,” said Apple Bloom.
“Remind you of anywhere?” James asked.
“Kind of reminds me of home,” said Sweetie Bell, “But with more stores and stuff.”
“So then should we get something to eat?” Dave asked.
“Let’s see if we can get in that restaurant that was all saloon themed,” said Katherine.
“I’m in,” said James.
“Same,” said Scootaloo.
“I like the sound of where we’re going,” said Sweetie Bell.
James’ parents directed them where to go, as they were walking down the path to the shopping area they passed another family, James and his parents barely had time to exchange looks when the other family passed them and disappeared into a store.
“Oh my god,” James said.
“Did you see them?” said Katherine.
“What about them?” asked Apple Bloom.
“That was one of those diehard tourist families I see every now and then,” said James, “They all wear the same shirts and carry their weird souvenirs everywhere with them.”
“We try and avoid becoming one of them,” said Dave.
“I bet we looked like the craziest family they’ve ever seen,” said James. He was fairly right about that opinion, James had chosen this day to wear his Enforcer uniform while Apple Bloom had on her new rancher outfit along with a cowboy hat she bought, Scootaloo’s new leather biker jacket and leather pants were normal looking but it was her hair was what really stood out on her, mix that with Sweetie Bell’s new hiking gear that she got a couple of days ago and they as well be one of the most unusual families touring South Dakota. Still, they found nothing wrong with how they looked. James and the Crusaders wanted to stand out, they did this so that they could find one another if they got lost. They eventually got to the restaurant and managed to get a table. James was sitting between Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell chugging down sarsaparilla, Apple Bloom was too busy reading a poster on the wall next to her to notice that people were staring at them.
“James, I’m getting a little uneasy,” Scootaloo whispered.
“Just focus on us and you’ll get over it,” said James.
“Why does this hat have a net around it?” Sweetie Bell asked as she looked at her new hat with confusion.
“I think it’s to repel bugs,” said Katherine. Sweetie Bell shrugged and stuck the hat back on her head.
James was looking though the menu when he felt a tug on his sleeve, he looked over his shoulder and saw a seven-year-old boy standing behind him.
“Excuse me,” the kid said, “Are you a soldier?”
“In a way yes,” said James.
“Cool! Can I get a picture with you?” the kid asked.
James looked at his parents who nodded at him.
“I don’t see why not?” said James getting up, “I can spare a few minutes.”
The boy ran over to his dad and his dad picked a camera off of the table. Once the kid had his picture with James the actors of the stage comedy of the show walked over to James’ table, this soon led to a chain of pictures being taken of James and the Crusaders with a mix of friendly bikers, off duty soldiers, the actors, various tourists and kids. Once that little ordeal was over and Dave was driving the family back to the ranch James and the Crusaders couldn’t help laughing and looking at all the pictures that were taken.
“I can’t believe that actually happened,” said Apple Bloom.
“It’s weird I know but everyone was nice about it,” said James.
“Maybe next time we should be a little more casually dressed,” said Katherine.
“Nice of those bikers to compliment my hair,” said Scootaloo.
“Are we going home now?” Sweetie Bell asked.
“Might as well,” said Dave, “We’ll probably go out again later to eat.”
The last few days of their vacation in South Dakota were looming ever closer, however James wanted to go to the Nuclear Missile Launch facility and one of the decommissioned silos for their last trip out. There was one problem, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo didn’t see what was so exciting about an old rocket launch control room or a missile. Along with that the drive would be more than four hours to get there.
“Come on girls, I’ve been wanting to go for years,” James said trying to get the Crusaders to come along.
“I don’t see what so exciting about where you want to go,” said Apple Bloom.
“It’s a former symbol of power,” said James, “I’ve waited three years to get in the launch control room and this year I might.”
“What’s so great about it anyway?” Scootaloo asked.
“It’s underground, and it’s like being in a secret base,” said James.
“You mean like those old James Bond movies you showed us?” Sweetie Bell asked.
“Exactly,” said James. The Crusaders all agreed to go after they heard that.
The drive was not what the Crusaders had been looking forward to, nothing but vast bleakness was all that they could see for mile after mile. James knew what it felt like and knew when they were getting close, he used the Wall Drug billboards to keep track of how close they were getting.
“Fifty eight,” James said, he was counting the signs to pass the time.
“Why did they build this place in the middle of no-where?” asked Scootaloo.
“For safety and concealment,” said James, “I hope this is worth the trip.”
“It’d better be,” said Apple Bloom.
Another hour passed and everyone had become bored. Dave and Katherine hadn’t thought ahead and not brought any CDs, James had the Hunger Games trilogy sitting on his lap and had just started the second book, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo made up a game to pass the time and Sweetie Bell tried to sleep. But James could see out of the corner of his eye that Sweetie Bell wasn’t getting much luck.
“I hate sleeping in this car,” she said.
“Well, what usually helps you sleep?” James asked not looking away from his book.
“I remember years ago when I was really young, my sister would sing me to sleep,” Sweetie Bell said, James picked up on what she wanted.
“No I’m not singing for you,” he said.
“Please?” Sweetie Bell asked.
“No,” said James taking out his iPhone and a pair of earphones, “Here, you can use this.”
Sweetie Bell took the earphones and put them in her ears, she then leaned over to see the music collection that James had.
“Listen to this,” James said, “This used to put me to sleep after a hard day.”
James hit the play button and the phone started playing Greensleeves, Sweetie Bell started to drift off to sleep. Soon she was fast asleep, James took the earphones out of her ears and put the phone back into his pocket.
“You’re like a miracle worker,” said Apple Bloom, “You always manage to get her or us to sleep with ease.”
“A little bit of compassion is what makes it work,” said James.
“Sounding sappy again,” said Scootaloo.
“I’ve really got to watch what I say sometimes,” said James.
“So, are we stopping anywhere?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Probably at Wall Drug,” said James.
“What’s so special about it anyway?” Scootaloo asked.
“The only thing we figured out is that it’s a real big store in the middle of nowhere,” said Dave.
“Is that it?” Scootaloo asked.
“It’s all we’ve worked out,” said James.
An hour and twenty Wall Drug billboards later they finally arrived at the legendary Wall Drug, James had only been here twice and it seemed different to him each time.
“And now the bloody parking lot has been moved,” James said as they pulled in.
Sweetie Bell woke up and looked around.
“Where are we?” she asked wearily.
“Wall Drug,” said Dave.
“What’s that then?” Sweetie Bell asked.
“Well let’s find out,” James said getting out of the car.
Wall Drug was just as James expected, packed and very difficult to navigate. Dave eventually found a store that they could all use, as James searched the books for something else to read the Crusaders were trying to find out what made this place so famous.
“Anything?” Apple Bloom asked the other two.
“I can’t find anything,” said Sweetie Bell.
“Is there a computer around here?” Scootaloo asked.
After fruitlessly searching among brochures, wall plaques and books the Crusaders gave up, it would seem as the mystery of Wall Drug wouldn’t be solved.
“Hey girls,” James said, “Find anything you like?”
“No,” said Sweetie Bell, “We couldn’t figure out what made Wall Drug famous.”
“Never mind then. Come on, we’re going now, these books are way too expensive,” James said.
The Crusaders left the store with James and went back to the SUV where Dave and Katherine were waiting for them.
“Did you get anything?” Dave asked them as they got in the car.
“If I did then I would be broke,” replied James.
“Expensive?” said Katherine.
“Sadly yes,” said James.
The family left Wall Drug and headed out to the Missile Launch Facility. James was anticipating their arrival while the Crusaders couldn’t help but be curious about what they were going to. After what felt like an hour they finally arrived at the Launch Control building. There wasn’t much to look at, just an ordinary looking house with razor wire fences surrounding it and a few satellite dishes.
“It this it?” Scootaloo asked as James and the Crusaders stepped out of the car.
“Not much,” said James, “Wait until we get inside.”
Dave and Katherine took the lead and eventually after a few minutes waiting the ranger who was leading the tours arrived out of the building.
“Hello and welcome to Delta One launch control,” the ranger said, “I’ll be leading the tour, follow me and don’t hesitate to ask any questions.”
The tour went through the entire upper level of the building, the base had accommodations for several people along with control of several missiles. Apple Bloom Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo had no idea why the base was built of what purpose the missiles served.
“So what are the missile for?” Apple Bloom asked the ranger.
“The missiles were build to protect the US from the Soviet Union,” said the ranger, “The Minute Man II missiles were capable of reaching Moscow in less than an hour if launched.”
“And then what?” Scootaloo asked.
“Well then the missiles destroy Moscow,” said the ranger, “Now, shall we move on to the launch control?”
The Crusaders stood confused at what they had just heard, as the ranger led the tour group to the elevator that led to Launch control the Crusaders squeezed in next to James.
“James,” Apple Bloom said, “Why didn’t you tell us what the missiles were for?”
“Because I wanted you to find out for yourselves,” said James.
“How can a rocket destroy an entire city?” Scootaloo asked.
“It’s made easy by one hundred megatons of nuclear power,” said James.
“Nuclear missiles?” asked Sweetie Bell, James nodded.
The elevator stopped and the ranger lead the tour group out of the elevator and to a massive steel door, the door was clearly made to keep people out or in whatever lay behind it. There was a rather humorous painting on the door of a pizza box with a missile on it, the side of the box read, “Thirty minutes and less or your next one’s free!”. James couldn’t help taking a picture of it.
“And here we have Missile Control,” said the ranger.
The Launch Control room sat suspended over a hole in a large concrete room, James eagerly stepped inside and listened intently to the ranger. The Crusaders as well were a little excited to be in the Launch Control room, it was like being in a secret bunker of sorts.
“It’s not very big is it?” James asked.
“It’s only meant for two people,” said the ranger.
“How did people live in here?” Sweetie Bell asked.
“It wasn’t easy but they managed to,” said the ranger.
“Sounds fun,” said Scootaloo.
Once the tour was over James, his parents and the Crusaders made their way back to the SUV. The Crusaders were pleased that they managed to see what a nuclear bunker was like, soon they got to see the missile that could destroy a city. The missile was sealed up in a silo but there was a glass cover taking place of the larger steel door that was now partially hidden in the ground. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo had no idea of the missile’s destructive power. James wandered around the silo reading about what the missile silo contained and how it was operated. Soon, Dave called James and the Crusaders back to the SUV so they could go back to the ranch.