Testament


                                            >Formless shapes dance in your head, they slowly change to something familiar, then back to something strange.

                                            >This repeats for a long time, Until the shapes start to become sharp, coherent, alive.

                                            >Your eyes fight to open, slowly but surely gaining their strength.

                                            >Your ears as well join in the battle, at first you hear just garbled noise, but it begins to make sense, the soft whirring of machinery, the bellowing of some distant fabric, it becomes louder, and then things begin to settle, until they are bearable.

                                            >You finally adjust to your surroundings, you are aware that you are laying on the floor.

                                            >It's cold.

                                            >You sit up, or at least attempt to, your body seems to still be half-asleep.

                                            >Were you even asleep?

                                            >You don’t remember anything, not anything important anyway.

                                            >After a few minutes of constantly struggling to move, you finally end up in an upright position.

                                            >You take a look around, before you is a large machine, its purpose is unknown to you, but it seems familiar.

                                            >Its interface is smooth and metallic, there are several rows of large buttons, above them is a screen of some sort, though it is currently not online.

                                            >You look down at your hooves, you feel like you could give the buttons a shot.

                                            >After a few minutes of wobbly baby steps, you seem to get the hang of this walking thing, managing to make it to the keypad without falling over.

                                            >You prod at the buttons, unsure of what to do now that you're here.

                                            >As you poke a rather colorful one, something seems to make a noise somewhere, and the screen jolts to life.

                                            >The screen displays a variety of messages, in what you can only think are other languages, but you aren't able to decipher them, that is until-

                                            >’GOOD MORNING, [TESTAMENT]!’

                                            “Testament…?”

                                            >The machine seems to recognize something, as it quickly closes the messages, until only the one you are able to read remains.

                                            >A new message appears: ‘You are the testament to humanity's existence.’

                                            “I… Don’t know what that means”

                                            >The machine seems to pause, the whirring becomes faster for a moment, until it finally responds.

                                            >’Would you like to know?’

                                            >You ponder this, you had no idea what you were, but you're very certain you're not human.

                                            >Though you are rather curious.

                                            “Yes, I'd like to know!”

                                            >The screen flickers, and then goes dark. At first you think something went wrong, but this is short lived, as you feel an odd sensation in the back of your skull.

                                            >It can’t be described as pain, but it certainly isn’t comfortable

                                            >The feeling subsides, but you're unsure what exactly was done to you.

                                            “I don’t feel any different.”

                                            >You say this out loud, despite the screen clearly not being active.

                                            >You attempt to get up, so you can click the colorful button again, maybe the machine forgot to turn back on?

                                            >And then something strange happens, you feel… an understanding?

                                            >You suddenly know what all these buttons do, that it’s currently 56 Fahrenheit, and that you are really peeved at this computer for not just building you with all this knowledge in the first place.

                                            >You peer at the computer, it clearly is waiting for you to say something, as it is currently just blinking a command prompt.

                                            “So my purpose is to make way for humanity, is it not?”

                                            >The computer glows once more, a rather large green ‘YES’ is displayed.

                                            “What are you, and can you speak to me?

                                            >The computer flickers once more, you hear some sort of scratchy noise come from somewhere inside it.

                                            >The noise becomes louder until it finally peaks, at which it completely cuts off, being replaced by low hum.

                                            >”Do you prefer this?”

                                            >The voice is monotone and robotic, not ideal, but it serves its purpose.

                                            “This will do, thank you. Can you explain what I am?”

                                            >”You are a pony.”

                                            “Yes, I am aware of that now, but what AM I?”

                                            >”You are High Foundry’s Administrator.”

                                            >You nod a little, whatever the computer did, it seemed to have made it so you were aware of what it spoke of, even if you hadn’t previously known the term.

                                            “This ship is… rather small.”

                                            >”This is only one room, the rest of the ship is that way.”

                                            >The computer displays an arrow pointing to your left, looking that way, you see a door you were previously unaware of.

                                            “Don’t know how I didn't see that… Hey, do you have a name?”

                                            >The computer seems to take a moment to think, or at least that's what you think it's doing.

                                            >“I was built to pave the way, the rest is up to you now.”

                                            “That isn’t what I asked!”

                                            >You frown, clearly this thing wasn’t made for conversation, but its words did sink in a bit, ‘The rest is up to you now.’ That certainly is a tad concerning.

                                            “So, I'm all alone? Where is everypony else?”

                                            >Everypony? You didn’t really think about it, but your mannerisms were quite odd, you don’t even know where you learned that one.

                                            >”You will shape them, for you are the architect.”

                                            >Shape them? You don’t really know what it means by that, but from the sound of it, you're the only thing other than that computer here right now.

                                            >You guess this would be a decent time to explore the ship.

                                            >With one last glance at the computer behind you, you step out into the hall.


                                            >You glance around, there were less doors than you expected, but it didn’t take away from the sheer vastness of the hall.

                                            >You are startled by the sudden appearance of something in front of you, it's… your reflection?

                                            >In your awe, you seemed to wander towards a wall in front of you, it was shiny and reflective.

                                            >You stare at yourself, you were tall, taller than the ponies you've seen in your brief dream, why was that? Your coat was an off-white, something more similar to cream than anything, your eyes matched your mane, which was a short mess of pastel pink, with a streak of white near the left side, you felt a bit embarrassed by your rather ungroomed appearance, but it’s not like there was anyone else here.

                                            >You turn, trying to get a good look at your tail, which in contrast to your mane, is long, nearing the ground, you catch what seems to be a sort of marking on your flank, though you're not sure how to describe it.

                                            >Satisfied with your self inspection, you look for the first interesting sound room.

                                            “Hmm… I think… I'll go to the archives.”

                                            >You felt better vocalizing your thoughts, it made you feel less lonely.

                                            >You open the door to the archive, which is styled after some sort of painting, it's rather pretty.

                                            >The archives are much larger on the inside than the door would have made it appear, the ceiling is so high up, that you can barely see the top of it without squinting.

                                            >In all honesty, it sort of overwhelmed you.

                                            >With a quick trot over to the nearest shelf you quickly pick up a book, rather desperate to leave.

                                            “‘The Life and Death Of O’Chunks: Why I Was Always Right!’ That… certainly is literature alright.”

                                            >You don’t really know what you expected, just picking something at random like that, but, maybe you’ll like this book?

                                            >After a few minutes of rather painful reading, you realize that maybe you're not cut out for whatever O’Chunks had going for him, so you put it back.

                                            “I think I'll come back later, maybe I'll find something more… palatable, like a picture book! Or a dictionary…”

                                            >You decide to visit the Lab next, or at least that's what the sign says.


                                            >Nothing about this place seems to scream science, all that is in here is a weird circular machine and another computer.

                                            >Despite your previous encounter with one of these computers, you weren't really given the knowledge of what any of these other places were.

                                            >You prod the computer’s start button, it begins to whir to life.

                                            >Its screen turns on, displaying some sort of schematics… Of ponies.

                                            >Well, you guess this is where you will do your ‘architect-ing’.

                                            >You mess around with the controls, it displays several models, each one with some sort of different feature.

                                            “Standard, Horned, Winged… Not a lot of variety, is there?”

                                            >You select the ‘Standard’ model, it brings up a hologram of a mare, smaller than you, but a mare nonetheless.

                                            >You are given the choice of color and style first, you sort of idly play with the color wheel for a bit, think up something.

                                            “What colors do I like… Maybe a nice blue? Like… a seafoam blue?”

                                            >You go with that for the coat, mane wise, you end up with a sort of dark blue, you have water on the mind. Mane wise you end up with a nice long and flowing one, not too long though, so it doesn’t get in the way, same goes for the tail, long but not long enough to trip over. You decide on a sort of ‘moon pool’ blue for the eyes, something deep, but soothing.

                                            >You have no idea why you're getting so into this, you probably should be feeling weird for essentially ‘making’ somepony, but it just… feels right?

                                            >The next step seems to be picking a mark for its flank, apparently they are called ‘cutie marks’. Though you're not sure what's so cute about them.

                                            >You once again pick something watery, a leaf with a drop of dew hanging from it.

                                            >You don’t know if there is something significant about these marks, but they certainly are fun to design.

                                            >You seem to be nearing the end, as the next prompt is asking for a personality.

                                            >You don’t really feel comfortable setting up some intricate idealization of your perfect friend, so you simply pick the ‘mild’ option, and then let the machine randomize the rest.

                                            >After a few minutes, the machine gives you one final prompt: Name?

                                            >You think about it for a moment, up until now you haven’t really thought about what you were doing, but now it’s sort of dawning on you that you're basically making your own foal.

                                            >What would you name your foal?

                                            “I think… Evening Dew… Yeah, that's nice…”

                                            >The machine apparently seemed to hear your answer, as it filled in ‘Evening Dew’ as your choice, prompting you with a ‘Are you sure?’ message.

                                            >You click ‘Yes’.

                                            >The machine takes a moment, seemingly reading and rereading your input, then the room goes dark, leaving just the circular machine lit up.

                                            >The machine rises, seemingly putting itself together in a matter of seconds, in the middle is an outline of a pony.

                                            >Several tendrils extend into the open area in the middle of the circle, attaching various wire-like parts into sockets of the now unearthed mold.

                                            >After a few minutes of careful placement, the machine retracts to tendrils, and raises the structure it had created into the air, several arms unfolded, lowering themselves into position around the mold.

                                            >The process is quick, going from wire and mechanical innards to muscle and sinew in seconds, finally it slows down at the coat, taking much care into the design, or at least you think it is.

                                            >As it is finishing up, it start to retract the rest of its appendages, leaving only a sort of plug left, there is an opening at the base of the pony’s neck, that the plug sockets into, you can see the feedback between the two, pulsations of light and energy being transferred.

                                            >The plug releases, and an arm quickly juts out to cover the mare’s neck with the rest of her coat.

                                            >The platform lowers, as the rest of the machines goes back into its original place, you stare at your creation.

                                            >She looks exactly as you imagined she would, or rather, that the hologram displayed.

                                            >You look at the computer, seeing if there is anything else you need to do, from what it looks like, the process is done, but then why isn’t she–

                                            THUD

                                            “Oh!”

                                            >You turn back to the mare, who seemed to have rather noisily flopped onto the ground, her eyes still closed, it reminds you of when you first woke up, so you think it's best if you just wait and watch over her.

                                            >It takes a few minutes, but you see her stir, if only a little, at first she simply changes position, most likely into one that's more comfortable.

                                            >You messed with the idea of moving her to somewhere less… clinical, but in doing so, you may wake her too early, you remember how you felt when you first awoke, and you weren’t sure if she would have a similar experience.

                                            >You look at the computer again from your position near Dewy (You wonder if she will like that nickname?) and it looks the same as it did when you first arrived, most likely its purpose was fulfilled and it shut down again.

                                            >You look back once again to Dew, who is now looking at you through half lidded eyes.

                                            >You try to think of something to say, not sure how to break it to someone that they're alive now.

                                            >So you just smile.

                                            >She looks at your intently for a moment, before she slowly returns the smile, still rather groggy you assume.

                                            “Sleepy?”

                                            >She nods a little, rubbing her eyes with a hoof.

                                            “My name is…”

                                            >’You are the testament to humanity’s existence.’

                                            “Testament.”


                                            >You spent some time giving Evening Dew a tour of the ship, or rather attempted to, you really didn’t know much about it yourself, so you really just showed her the archives, which she seemed pretty happy about.

                                            >Evening Dew doesn’t seem to be able to speak, which was a bit of a bummer at first, maybe you should have taken a closer look at that whole ‘personality’ thing before letting it randomize.

                                            >That being said, she was quite the avid listener, letting you talk for however long you needed to, which felt way better than talking to yourself.

                                            >She was rather expressive as well, lots of face and ear movement, most likely to make sure you understood if she had some sort of problem, or just wanted your attention.

                                            >In a way, you felt bad about letting this happen, but she didn’t seem unhappy, so maybe it isn’t as bad a thing as you thought.

                                            >You’ve been reading some books from the archive, which apparently had a much more vast digital library than it did physical, which was quite the fright when you looked around at the tower shelves around you.

                                            >So far you took an interest in human history, it seems like a good start, considering that you were apparently supposed to ‘pave the way’ for them.

                                            >You have no idea what to do about that right now, but you're sure you’ll think of something eventually.

                                            >You take a minute to see where Dew is, she seems to be sprawled on the floor next to you, seemingly discovering a pair of headphones and some sort of music playing apparatus, listening intently to the sound that comes from within.

                                            “Having fun?”

                                            >She turns a bit, nodding before taking the headphones off, offering them to you.

                                            >You take them from her, and put them over your ears, you were still surprised they were made to fit a pony, and not a human.

                                            >She clicks a few times on the little remote in her hooves, and suddenly your ears are assaulted with noise, but it's a nice noise, not a harsh noise.

                                            >You know what instruments are, but haven’t really seen any examples of them yet, if you had to guess, this seems to be a piano, maybe a saxophone as well? Certainly was rather jazzy, or at least that's what you think it is.

                                            >You take them off, and give them back to Dew, who seems to want to know what you thought of it, by the expression on her face.

                                            “It was nice, though it's a little quick for my taste, maybe next time we can look for something… slower?”

                                            >She opens her mouth a bit, before closing it again, with a nod she gets up, trotting over to the music section, with what looks like an air of purpose.

                                            “Huh.”

                                            >You go back to your book, though in all honesty, you didn’t really get the appeal of all this history stuff.

                                            >You decide to take a stroll, maybe check out the back of the archives

                                            >As you pass the music section you glance at Dew, who seems to be rummaging through a variety of headphones in some genre subsection called ‘Classical’, you think you’ll let her be.

                                            >The archives have basically everything you could possibly want to read, listen, and look at, or at least that’s what the sign up front says. You're not so sure about the validity of that statement.

                                            >You take a turn into one of the many art sections, before you is a wall, a rather bare wall.

                                            “Is… this art?”

                                            >You take a look around, noticing a panel on your right, you decide to press the button.

                                            >The wall lights up, cycling through various art pieces, before finally resting on one with several humans around a table, they look rather busy.

                                            >You take another glance at the panel, it seems you can display whatever you want, or at least whatever is in the art archive.

                                            >After a few minutes of scrolling through various pieces of human art, you find a rather pretty one that has a funny night sky, all swirling and such. You think you’ll let this one stay for now, maybe you’ll come back later and really appreciate the art, if that's even a thing you feel like you're capable of doing.

                                            >As you exit the art section, you find Evening Dew waiting for you, with a strange box at her hooves.

                                            “What’s all this then?”

                                            >She gives a smile, before prodding the box with her hoof, the box begins to emit music, its slow but jaunty, with a lot of string instruments.

                                            >Dew does a few twirls in place, before finally giving you one last look before turning the music off again, doing a little bow at the end.

                                            >You think she was trying to dance? Certainly was a valiant first attempt, you clap out of both being impressed and confused.

                                            >She seems happy about that, bowing a few more times, before changing the disc in the… music player? Yeah, you’ll go with ‘music player’.

                                            >She then shoves it towards you, pointing to it.

                                            “Do you… want me to dance?”

                                            >She shakes her head, gesturing towards the button that she clicked earlier.

                                            “Oh, is this… the music you wanted to show me?”

                                            >She nods, seemingly happy with herself.

                                            >You click the button, the player emits music once more, but it's different, there still are string instruments, but it's rather soothing, less chaotic than before.

                                            “Huh, this is nice, what's it called?”

                                            >She pauses for a moment, before walking up to the ‘classical art’ sign, covering up the ‘art’ portion of it, seeming rather smug while doing so.

                                            “Classical, got it, neat stuff right here, but don’t you think we should start looking at the rest of the ship? We’ve spent a lot of time here.”

                                            >She takes a moment to grab the music player with her mouth, before nodding and going towards the door.

                                            >Well at least we’ll have a soundtrack as we go around the ship.


                                            >After walking around the halls rather aimlessly with Dew, you settled on going into the ‘Observation Deck’. It certainly sounds important.

                                            >Opening the door was a lot harder than the others. This one seems heavier, but you certainly didn’t expect what you saw on the other side.

                                            >Before you was a vast window, or rather multiple windows bound together by metal.

                                            >You could see the sky out there, but it wasn’t what the books described how the earth was like.

                                            >It was blue, but the clouds were all wrong. They were jagged, almost sharp looking, and their colors were strange and fluorescent.

                                            >Dew seemed rather surprised as well, as she almost dropped the music player when she attempted to gasp, luckily she quickly grabbed it before it hit the floor.

                                            “So this is…”

                                            >You weren’t even sure, does this place have a name? It's certainly not Earth.

                                            >You and Dew walk closer to the window, slowly being able to see the ground below.

                                            >The ship was hovering above what looks to be a vast jungle, though its fauna seemed to be various shades of red, due to the bright red dot that hovers just above you.

                                            >You would assume that it is this planet's star, but you're not sure what you would call it, you can’t exactly just call it ‘The Sun’, right?

                                            “Do we get to name it?”

                                            >Evening Dew seems to be entranced by the jungle below, though she does take the time to think about the question, before giving you a rather confused shrug.

                                            “I mean, there's a process to this, right? We can’t be the only ones here… Right?”

                                            >It never really dawned on you that you were sent here on your own, and that you would have to ‘make’ everyone else. It just seems silly, but now you're not so sure.

                                            >You feel as if you're starting to panic, but you're not entirely sure what panic feels like.

                                            >How did the ship get here in the first place? Maybe some sort of autopilot? You certainly don’t know how to pilot a ship, you would have remembered something important like that.

                                            >Dew seems to notice your distress, as she tries to pat your shoulder with her hoof, a rather awkward gesture, but it certainly helps.

                                            “I think… we should just ignore… ‘This’ for now, and just, get used to the rest of the ship.”

                                            >Dew takes a moment to look out into the jungle again, and then turns to you, nodding, with a rather perplexed expression on her face, supposedly she was getting overwhelmed as well.

                                            >As you trot back up to the door, you hear her fiddling with the music player, until another jazz tune seems to ring out, she seems to like those ones.

                                            >This is certainly something you will have to confront down the line, but for the moment it's best just to get your bearings first.


                                            >After some more wandering, you find ‘The Armory’. You really didn’t know what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t an array of pony friendly weapons.

                                            >They all were in cases, with some sort of locking mechanism, though you see a set of keys dangling on the door, so you assume those are for the locks.

                                            >Most of them look like guns of some kind, though you didn’t have any knowledge about them other than that they go bang and kill stuff.

                                            >You also find a display pony made of some sort of plastic-y material, with a set of metallic wing straps to them.

                                            >All this feels too… organic? Everything looks like there was supposed to be someone here, tending the counter, that there should be ponies mulling around, talking about their favorite ammunition, or whatever gun nuts like. It made you feel lonesome, regardless of all the weapons.

                                            >Dew didn’t seem too enthused about this either, opting to sit by the door, seemingly uncomfortable, you could tell from the sour look on her face.

                                            “I assume you're somewhat of a pacifist?”

                                            >She frowns, but doesn’t seem to disagree.

                                            “I'm not all that happy about this either, but you can’t deny that there may be dangerous things down there, if anything, I feel a bit more safe having these things around… Though I'd prefer that I didn't have to be around them.”

                                            >She nods, though her expression doesn’t change all that much, so at best all you can tell is she at least seems to understand where you're coming from.

                                            “How about we go check somewhere else out, you get to pick.”

                                            >She perks up a bit, heading out of the door, but before she does, she turns around and sticks her tongue out at the cases, maybe in some sort of display of defiance. She seems pretty happy about herself after that.

                                            >You don’t think she's ever seen anything like this before, but she seems to have an aversion to it right away, maybe it's a sort of programming thing?

                                            >You don’t dwell on it for long, as you follow her out of the armory.


                                            >Evening Dew ends up picking the command center next, though you were sort of avoiding it up until now, it was bound to happen eventually you guess.

                                            >Looking around, things seem rather ornate, white and gold lining flows throughout the room, all of the seating in here seems made for ponies, not a single human sized chair anywhere.

                                            >You’ve started to notice the lack of human accommodations, other than the archive, most of everything else seemed fit for pony-kind.

                                            >You take a look at the console, careful not to touch anything important.

                                            >Dew seems to have found a chair she likes, as she is currently lounging in what you can only assume is the captain's chair, though you're not really sure where you learned that term.

                                            >Surprisingly there is a note attached to the console, though you don’t know what language it is, maybe if you take it back to the archive you can decipher it later.

                                            >You pluck the note off the console, as you do a round object comes loose from under it, clattering to the floor.

                                            >You pick it up, it seems to be an insignia of some sort, though it is yet again in a language you are unfamiliar with, though it does seem to use lettering you are used to.

                                            “Ad Astra…”

                                            >You jolt as the screen above you comes to life, making a rather loud noise.

                                            >Dew seems startled as well, as she falls out of her chair.

                                            >Before you is the face of a human, though its coloration is odd, it seems… green?

                                            >”Good evening captain, if you are hearing this, humanity has reached its last legs, and is spiraling to extinction.”

                                            >Well that's not good, wait, is this a recording? And also something you can understand?

                                            >“Your mission is to simply guide your charge to one of several habitable planets, your current charge is [REDACTED] on the way to planet [DATA EXPUNGED].”

                                            >Well you guess you won’t get to learn what this place is called after all.

                                            >“You are not expected to survive, but you didn’t sign up for this to survive, did you?”

                                            >The green man smiles, though there seems to be a pain in his expression.

                                            >His smile faded, looking down for a bit, before coughing into his hand and then gesturing to someone off screen, a door seemed to close.

                                            >“I'll level with you, I put in this request specifically for you, I know you didn’t really think I could do it, but I'm way smarter than you think, man.

                                            >His demeanor changes, it’s less formal, and more like an old friend.

                                            >”I know you like your ponies, and you’ve been working on this project for awhile, but I know things are going tits up soon, so I'm doing you one last solid.”

                                            >”I got you one of these colonization ships, with all the works, not like they're gonna need them anyway.”

                                            >”You wanted them to live on, right? To have a life outside of this hellscape?”

                                            >He leans in.

                                            >”So I'm going you give you an out, not only do you get to be one of the first off this rock, you get to work on your ponies for the rest of your life, and then they get to work on themselves when they make it to the other side of this fucked little universe.”

                                            >He looks down, with a pained expression on his face.

                                            >”You probably think I'm one selfish fuck, but I don’t think I can live without them either, I want them to be happy, and I know you have to talent to do it.”

                                            >He looks up, tears in his eyes.

                                            >”Cog, do one thing for me, no matter what, I want you to let her be the one to finish the job, you know who I'm talking about, and i know it sound cruel, but when you finally feel yourself fade, your going to need someone to rely on, someone to take up the reins when you go, and it's gonna be her.”

                                            >You wish you knew who he's talking about, she certainly sounds important.

                                            >”I… I think that's it from me, I hope you like this, it's one hell of a birthday present, right?”

                                            >He adjusts his hat and wipes his eyes, taking a more formal position again.

                                            >”High Admiral Anon E. Mousse signing off, and Godspeed you beautiful bastard.”

                                            >The message fades, but his face still lingers for a bit longer, why do you feel like you know him?

                                            >You shake your head, looking down at the insignia again, it had a crescent moon on one side, and on the other, a sun.

                                            >It felt… Important.

                                            >You think you will keep it with you.

                                            >You take a look back at Dew, who seems rather confused, though no worse for wear.

                                            >Maybe You should go back to the lab, figure out how that machine works, get your mind off… whatever that was.


                                            >You’ve been tinkering around with the machine that made Evening Dew, you still didn’t have a name for it, maybe ‘Pony Maker’? …Yeah, no.

                                            >You’ve gone through the process up to the naming stage, studying all the different options.

                                            >As much as you hate to admit it, you may need to make ponies fine-tuned to the specifics of the ship, you need a crew after all.

                                            >The options you have seen made things rather clear that you really can make anyone you please, and it honestly scared you, no-one should have this kind of power, it just seems… wrong.

                                            >That being said, you did also figure out what is wrong with Dew, her voice is set to ‘none’. You don’t even know why that's an option, that just seems cruel.

                                            >You offered to try to update Evening Dew, but she declined. To your surprise, it seems that she has gotten used to it, though she did seem a bit taken aback by you mentioning it.

                                            >Though in the future, you’ll make sure to not put important parts like that on ‘random’ again.

                                            >Speaking of Dew, she’s currently in the archives, she seemed to become accustomed to it, spending most of her time messing around with all of the music, she even found some stuff you were unaware of, like several compartments with instruments in them, she was utterly ecstatic, looking forward to learning one of them, she seemed to want to play the saxophone in particular.

                                            >You wonder if you should make ponies for each part of the ship?

                                            >You shake your head, Dew made this decision herself, and you're sure others will do the same, although having some sort of say in the matter may make things easier…

                                            >You look through the personality stage once more, looking at all the options, you’ve grown used to them, able to pinpoint ones that you felt were most desirable, though you’ve yet to go through with it.

                                            >You’ve already picked out colors, this one will be a ‘unicorn’ as the prompt had described it, her hair would be short all round, though your sure she could grow it out if she wished, you’ve observed Dew’s mane grow longer as time goes on, yours as well, though you’ve kept it short with a scissors you’ve found in a drawer in the lab, it wasn’t perfect, but it certainly was better than nothing.

                                            “What will you be? Strong? Intelligent? Resourceful?”

                                            >You’ve gone through this a few times now, each time chickening out before getting to the naming stage.

                                            >You need someone who has knowledge of this ship, someone who can keep it running, and it just so happens there is an option for that: ‘Colony Ship Engineer’.

                                            >You need this, or else nothing will get done.

                                            >You glance over to the hologram, it displays a red maned mare, with a coat of pale yellow, her cutie mark is several black and yellow stripes, with a ‘0’ atop them.

                                            >You’ve randomized as much as you can, except a few things, like her voice and her occupation, the rest was up to chance.

                                            >You stare at the name prompt. You felt weary, despite your artificial nature.

                                            “What to do, what to do…”

                                            >This certainly is harder than it was for Dew, but then again, you didn’t know better, now everything is much more clear, you need to be more specific, more deliberate.

                                            >Maybe something that has to do with her mark? That's what happened with Evening Dew, so it must be fine, right?

                                            “Maybe…”

                                            >Bees?

                                            >What did you think of bees? Oh, the stripes, well, you certainly can’t call her ‘bee’.

                                            >How about… beekeeper? No, stop with the bees!

                                            >Keep

                                            >Keep…

                                            “Keepsake!”

                                            >The machine whirred to life again, asking you if you wish to continue.

                                            “That's… Good enough!”

                                            >Hope she doesn’t hate you for the weird name.

                                            >The process proceeds like before, though it seems to be different, new parts are added, most likely for the horn.

                                            >You notice a new layer being added, different than what was in Dew, it wrapped around the entirety of the skeleton, and it looked vaguely like a nervous system, but the color was… rather odd, a prismatic sheen that shined in the little light that was provided for the procedure, quickly covered up as the rest of the process finally started to happen.

                                            >After that everything was the same, you look at the finished product, her eyes were closed like Dew’s though this time you were ready.

                                            >You quickly pull her off the platform, into a position where she doesn’t flop over, resting her on a hastily made bed of paper from the archive.

                                            >And now you wait.

                                            >And wait.

                                            >…

                                            >You hope she's not dead.

                                            >You are startled by a sudden flash of light, seemingly emitted from her horn.

                                            >After your vision comes back to you, you see her looking at you, with a rather confused expression.

                                            >Her eyes were a bright yellow, a bit brighter than you expected.

                                            “Hey there… Sleep well?”

                                            >She takes a moment to get up, seemingly less groggy than Dew was.

                                            >”Like a freaking rock…”

                                            >You jumped a little, you knew she would be able to talk, but you didn’t think she would sound so annoyed.

                                            >”So, this is the hunk of junk I have to fix?”

                                            >She prods at the machine that made her.

                                            “Well, that's just part of it… and that's not broken.”

                                            >”You sure? Well that certainly makes things easier.”

                                            >She trots over to the door, before turning to look at you.

                                            >”I know my job, boss, no need to show me the ropes”

                                            “Bu-”

                                            >The door closes behind her.

                                            “What was that?!”

                                            >You didn’t expect this, and you didn’t expect her to be so… this.

                                            >You guess this is a good thing? At least she knows what she's doing, right?

                                            >And you didn’t even get to tell her your name.


                                            >You take a quick detour to the archive, to check on Evening Dew, that, and to tell her about Keepsake.

                                            >Though it seems that she already knows.

                                            >You find a rather annoyed Dew, trying to beat Keepsake away with a piece of rolled up sheet music.

                                            “W-What's going on?”

                                            >Keepsake stops her advance, gesturing toward Dew.

                                            >”I'm trying to get a look at her voice box, it's not working properly, but she won’t let me!”

                                            >Dew seems rather mad, taking a piece of paper and scribbling down a rather long note that you can only assume is to explain the situation.

                                            >She shoves it at you and goes back to the music section, Keepsake seems to still be watching her, but doesn’t follow.

                                            > ‘Dear Testament, this pony has invaded my personal space and seems to think I have a voice box to fix, which I do not, but won’t seem to understand that, would you kindly ban her from the archives for being such a-’

                                            >Didn’t know Dew had it in her.

                                            >’-Your friend, Evening Dew.’

                                            >Well, that was formal, and a bit vulgar. But you certainly get the gist of things.

                                            “Keepsake, Dew doesn’t have a voice box, there is literally nothing there to fix.”

                                            >”What kind of weirdo wouldn’t give a pony a voice box?”

                                            >You wince, It wasn’t on purpose or anything.

                                            “Well, some… weirdos… make mistakes, also, how do you know all this stuff? Where you just… built like this?”

                                            >”Well, I just sort of woke up knowing all this stuff, didn’t really take the time to wonder why, was too busy being ticked off.”

                                            “About what?”

                                            >”Everything! I see all the little problems in everything I see, every out of place wire, all the mis-matched tiles, It’s driving me crazy!”

                                            “Is there… something I can do? Maybe tweak something back in the lab?”

                                            >She seems to make a noise along the lines of a cough and a laugh, though neither at the same time.

                                            >”Well, it certainly couldn’t hurt, can you make my eyes less glowy while you're at it?”

                                            >You glance at her eyes, you didn’t really notice how much light they were emitting up until now, though the archive is certainly more dark than the rest of the ship, making it easier to see.

                                            “Huh, I guess there is more wrong with you than I first thought…

                                            >”That makes two of us, so, let's get this over with then, c’mon!

                                            >She starts off for the door, clearly not intent on stopping to see if you're following.

                                            >You take a moment to check on Dew, who seems to have tucked herself away into the music section, from what you can see of her face through her mane you can tell she's not all that happy.

                                            >She's sort of curled up, staring at the music player she seems to like so much, you can faintly hear some sort of melancholy music come from her headphones.

                                            >You can’t tell if she's just being dramatic, or if the encounter with Keeps was a rather hurtful reminder, seeing that you came in sort of midway of their little scuffle.

                                            >She never really showed much disdain for not having a voice box, but you can clearly see that it still is a touchy subject, and having a new pony waltz up to you bringing it up out of the blue can be rather shocking.

                                            “Hey… Are you okay?”

                                            >She glances over in your direction, her eyes seem rather watery, and a bit puffy. You didn’t know that she could cry, but she certainly looks like she has been.

                                            >She wipes her eyes with her hoof, before turning up the volume of her headphones and curling up again.

                                            “Dew… It’s okay, I talked to Keepsake, and I'm going to make sure this doesn’t happen again, okay?”

                                            >She doesn’t seem to respond, at first you think her music is too loud, but she nods without turning around, seemingly not wanting to show her face.

                                            “I… didn’t know that you didn't want me to bring it up.”

                                            >She takes a moment to pause the player, before pulling out the notepad she has started to carry around, seemingly not wanting to play her usual game of charades.

                                            >She takes the time to write down something, though she sees to get frustrated and rips the page out of the notebook, before starting another, after awhile she pulls that one out as well, but this time she holds out her hoof, clearly signally for you to come get it, though she still isn’t looking at you.

                                            >As you grab the paper, she turns away again, scooting the music player along the ground a bit, before laying on her side, seemingly staring off into the shelves up high.

                                            >’Dear Testament, your concern is warranted, and I didn’t feel uncomfortable with you bringing it up, I know it’s silly not just letting you put a voice box in me, but the whole idea scares me, and I don’t feel like I could go through with it, I wasn’t so much hurt by this new pony's words more than the implications that I needed to be fixed, I wasn’t sure why it hurt like it did, maybe I was just feeling insecure and didn’t have a way to tell her that I was fine as I am, her pushiness was rather alarming, though I know she probably didn’t mean to be so hurtful, and I do hope we can be friends, but for now, I think it's best that she and I do not interact for, I'm sorry about what I said before, I was really mad, and didn’t mean what I said, I really don’t think she actually has to be banned from the archives. Your Friend, Evening Dew.’

                                            “You didn’t mention the cussing.”

                                            >She turns around rather quickly, seemingly rather embarrassed, by the red look on her face.

                                            >She quickly scribbles another note, shoving the pad in your face to read.

                                            >’IT WAS IMPLIED THAT I WAS SORRY FOR THAT TO.’

                                            “Alright, alright, no need to yell… Are you gonna be okay?”

                                            >She takes a second to calm down, before nodding once more, giving a smile.

                                            “Well then, I'll go talk to Keeps, we’ll make sure to make a sort of ‘official’ introduction once everything is sorted out.

                                            >She pauses for a moment, before nodding once again, though she looks a tad miffed just thinking about Keepsake.

                                            >You take your leave, giving Dew one last wave before heading back to the lab.


                                            >Keepsake is rummaging through the drawers in the lab, you're not really sure what she's looking for, but now you probably have to explain to her how boundaries work, that or she simply doesn’t care.

                                            “So… Find anything interesting?”

                                            >”Nope, just some more junk, not a wrench in sight.”

                                            >Keepsake turns to you, with a concerned look on her face.

                                            >”I’ve been thinking about that thing with Evening Dew, that's her name right?”

                                            “Yeah, it is.”

                                            >”Good, anyway, I feel kind of bad for… all that, probably should have thought how she's another pony and not some machine, though it's kind of hard to really see the difference for some reason. I think whatever is wrong with me is messing with my perception of others.”

                                            “That's… Good to know? I guess this means we have something to work with at least, though I feel kind of weird about this.”

                                            >Keepsake looks you in the eyes, you're unsure what she's looking for, but her gaze seems fixated on something.

                                            >”You’re an architect, aren’t you?”

                                            >Oh, so the computer wasn’t just saying things to be dramatic. But then again, computers usually aren’t capable of being dramatic.

                                            “What does that mean exactly? You seem to know more about that than I do, given your current circumstances.”

                                            >”Well, your model is showing up as ‘Architect’ in my display, so that's what I'm assuming you are, though you seem to lack the other important parts, like the horn and wings, you got the tall bit right though.”

                                            “You have a display? I don’t think Dew has a display.”

                                            >”Probably not, she’s pretty standard, nothing really interesting came up when I scanned her, except the… You know.”

                                            “Well you certainly are more considerate now, but what does being an architect mean?”

                                            >”Well, from what my database says, it seems you're the boss, and that you got some pretty high permissions on this ship, though from what I've seen, there really isn’t anything locked at the moment.”

                                            >You glance at the open drawer, nothing you cared about was in it, just a few pencils, but it still felt kind of invasive.

                                            “Yeah, I can see that.”

                                            >You ponder if this whole architect thing was important.

                                            “Is there anything I can do that… anypony else can’t?”

                                            >”Well, that thing over there won’t respond to me, so I'm assuming that's kind of a big deal.”

                                            >You look over at the machine that made Keepsake, which apparently can only be activated by you.

                                            “Does it have a name?”

                                            >”No clue, I can scan other ponies, but my knowledge on these machines are really only extended to their maintenance.

                                            >You guess you have to just think of a name for it later.

                                            “I Suppose you want us to get started on getting you fixed?”

                                            >”That would be ideal, yes.”

                                            “Well then… I guess… We…”

                                            >You have no idea what to do, maybe she should stand on the platform again?

                                            “Stand on that and hope for the best!”

                                            >Keeps looks confused, but compiles, walking up to the area she once was awoken from, standing in the little depressions in the floor of it.

                                            >Apparently this was the right call, as you hear some sort of click, and the platform begins to rise again.

                                            >You check the monitor, which now seems to display some sort of status report, though you're really not concerned about that right now, instead opting to press the ‘update’ button.

                                            >Keepsake goes limp to your surprise, though she still is standing.

                                            >You look at the display, which is now showing her various parameters, which you assume is what you need to fix, you search for whatever could be the problem.

                                            “Bingo!”

                                            >You see that a few of her parameters are unusually high, including her eye glow, which is apparently a thing that can be set, though it seems unnecessary.

                                            >The main thing you seem to see that's too high is her ‘problem finder’ which seems like an odd name, but it seems to be the problem, ironically enough. You turn that down to an acceptable level, same goes with her eyes, everything else seems to be in order, there are a few other high ones, but they don’t seem to be a problem, if anything it gives her a bit of character.

                                            >You close out the menu, saving as you go, finally getting to the part where you get to reboot Keeps.

                                            >With a loud whirring, the platform lowers once again, with a rather shaky legged Keeps to boot.

                                            >”That felt weird!”

                                            “But do you feel better?”

                                            >She takes a look around, you notice her eyes seem to be much less glowy.

                                            >”Well, I do see a loose screw on that vent.”

                                            >She gives a smug smile.

                                            >”But I noticed that before the procedure, so I'm not being all that fair, am I?

                                            “Uh huh, well then, I'm assuming that's a ‘yes’ on feeling better?”

                                            >”Sure thing boss, though I think the cause for all this trouble may be that your machine is out of whack a tad.”

                                            >You didn’t think about that, maybe it really does need to be fixed?

                                            “Can you fix it?”

                                            >She grins, seemingly waiting for you to say that.

                                            >”Why yes, yes I can! Though you better get me a toolbox, I'm pretty sure there's some in the one of the hall closets”

                                            “We have hall closets?”


                                            >You’ve been watching Keepsake work on the ‘pony foundry’ intently, you're still not sure on the name, it seems rather silly, maybe just calling it ‘the foundry’ sounds better.

                                            >You didn’t realize her horn could levitate things until now, though she hadn’t really mentioned anything about it, seemingly thinking it's common knowledge.

                                            >After a while, she seems to look up from her station, gesturing for you to come closer.

                                            >”This right here is your problem, a single rusty bolt! Seems rather funny right? Well that's because it was lodged in one of the more important bits.”

                                            “Do you know what these ‘important bits’ are?”

                                            >”Nope! Like I said, this thing doesn’t like non-architects, I'm pretty sure if I start messing around with it more, it’ll fry me.”

                                            “So, then, I guess it's fine now?”

                                            >”Only way to find out is giving it a go, though you may want to give it a rest, it seems kind of stressed.”

                                            “It can get stressed, huh? Like do you mean that literally, or as in exerting too much power or something?”

                                            >”Both I'm pretty sure, it takes a lot out of you to make people. Kind of like a mom!”

                                            >That's certainly one way to put it, but you're satisfied enough with that answer.

                                            >Keepsake gets up and trots over to the door.

                                            “Where are you going?”

                                            >”To apologize! That certainly wasn’t a good first impression I made, and I want to make it up to your librarian friend!”

                                            >You would argue against calling Dew a librarian, but you weren’t entirely sure if it wasn’t the case.

                                            “Well, I'm glad you’re wanting to apologize, but I think I probably should play the mediator. I told Dew I would officially introduce you two, and I intend to do so.”

                                            >”Fine by me, do you think she would prefer a written apology?”

                                            “I don’t think that's necessary, as long as you speak with your heart, I'm sure you’ll be fine.”

                                            >You're somewhat surprised by her willingness to adhere to whatever Dew might be more comfortable with, though you guess you didn’t really know a Keepsake without her obsessive need to fix things, maybe this is more of the real Keepsake, whatever that may mean.


                                            >You talk with Keeps for a bit on your way to the archive, she seems to know a lot about this ship, pointing out a few different things as you went along. None of it seems rather important at the time, but you're glad she seems to know what she's doing.

                                            >As you finally make it to the door you pause, turning to Keepsake.

                                            “I'll go bring her out, you stay here okay?”

                                            >She seems to be content looking at the hall's various light fixtures.

                                            >“Sure thing boss, I ain’t going nowhere.”

                                            >Well that's nice, You probably should deal with Evening Dew now.

                                            >You open the door of the archive, peering inside, to your surprise, Evening Dew is sitting out in the open, with what looks to be an instrument case, looking down at a book of some kind.

                                            >You watch her for a moment, making sure not to disturb her if she’s in the middle of something, though from the rather tepid expression on her face, she seems to not be all that busy

                                            >You knock on the counter next to the door to get her attention, it seems to be an oversized desk, most likely used for book returns, though you're not sure how that would work.

                                            >Dew looks up, though she takes a second to glance around you, most likely looking for Keeps.

                                            “She's outside, I think it’s about time we get these introductions over with, you coming?”

                                            >Dew looks down, seemingly thinking rather hard about it, before grabbing the notepad she has taken to carrying, walking to your side, though she clearly is waiting for you to make the first move.

                                            >You walk out into the hall, with Dew close behind, though she seems to be more or less hiding behind you more than anything.

                                            >Keepsake waves a bit as you walk up to her, though Evening Dew seems to miss that, as she starts to scribble something down in her notepad almost immediately as you finally stop.

                                            “So… Introductions… Who wants to go first!”

                                            >You give a smile, though it's clear neither of them want to take that responsibility.

                                            “Guess I'll go first then! Ehem… Hi! I'm Testament, and I'm…”

                                            >What are you again?

                                            >”An architect?”

                                            “Y-yeah! That.”

                                            ”Nice save Keeps.”

                                            >”No problem boss…”

                                            >You can tell the atmosphere was utterly flush with awkwardness, though your not sure if either you or Keeps were the culprit, you glance over to Dew, who seems to be finished with her note, seemingly waiting for her turn, you hope that isn’t some sort of death threat, or something insane like that, you really can’t read her face right now, and your pretty sure she’s doing that on purpose.

                                            >”I'll go next i guess”

                                            >Keepsake shuffles in place a bit.

                                            >“I'm Keepsake, And I'm apparently the mechanic… or something. Not really sure what else to say… I like… the color yellow?”

                                            >You take a glance at Evening Dew, though it's more of the same.

                                            >”I want to say I'm sorry, for what I did, I was a jerk… and.. I'm sorry.”

                                            >It seems like she wasn’t as prepared for this than you thought, so much for a smooth apology.

                                            >”I think… your mane is nice? Very… blue.”

                                            >You feel startled as something soft hits your hindleg, turning, you see that Dew had headbutted it to get your attention, which seemed rather uncalled for.

                                            >She grabs her accumulated notes and starts passing them out, several to you, and several to Keepsake.

                                            >You look down at them, though to your surprise, most of them seem to be drawings, One seems to be of you, the other of Keepsake, both being a much better quality than you expected, though it's not like you’ve seen her draw before.

                                            >Keepsake seems surprised as well, seemingly unsure what to do with herself.

                                            >You take a look at the last note, this one having words.

                                            >’Dear Testament, I’ve decided to give you and Keepsake a token of apology, do what you will with it, know that I am sorry that our first encounter was an unsavory one-

                                            >You assume she is directing this to Keepsake, though she seems to have made two copies of this, and given it to both of you.

                                            >‘-and that I hope that in the future we can be friends, Curiously, Evening Dew.’

                                            >Well that was short and sweet, certainly better than what you expected, though from the look of all the crossed out words, she was really restraining herself.

                                            >From the look on Keepsake's face, she seems to have been given the same note as you, she seems relieved.

                                            >”Well, does that mean you don’t mind me being in the archive?”

                                            >Evening Dew pauses for a moment, this clearly seems to be a theatrical pause, as she really lets the question settle for a moment longer, before finally just giving Keepsake a smile, before trotting back to the archive.

                                            >”I guess we're all good then? The drawings were nice.”

                                            “Indeed they were, I think… I'm going to go take a break, maybe look at some books or something, what about you?”

                                            >”I think… I'll do that too, probably a good enough time to see if I can find out more about this ship, it seems pretty big, and we haven’t even seen everything yet.”

                                            “We haven’t?”

                                            >”Nope! Though if you're concerned, I'm pretty sure what's left is the mass production foundry, and maybe a few little extra rooms.”

                                            >”Mass production? Mass production of what?”

                                            >She gives a wide grin.

                                            >”Of more ponies of course!”

                                            >This… will certainly be an experience.


                                            >You and Keeps make your way to the door of this ‘mass production’ foundry.

                                            >The door stretches high above you, it seems to have some sort of geometric pattern etched into it.

                                            “So, this is it? Bigger than I expected, that's for sure.”

                                            >”Yep, it’s kind of pretty! Well, I guess we better open it up then.” Keepsake motions to the door. “After you, Boss!”

                                            >You approach the door, trying to figure out how to open it, there doesn’t seem to be any obvious handle or button, you decide to give it a shove, but it’s not budging.

                                            >You're not sure how to open it yourself, but you do have an idea.

                                            “Hey, mind trying your… whatever it is you can do with your horn on the door?”

                                            >”Not sure if I'll be any help, but I'll give it a honest try!”

                                            >Keepsake’s horn sparks alight, both the door and her horn becomes enveloped with a yellow glow.

                                            >”Huh, that’s weird, I kinda feel something, hold on, I think I've got something going here.”

                                            >Keeps closes her eyes, seemingly concentrating, you hear something in the door moving, and its etchings seem to glow.

                                            >After a while you hear a click, and the door begins unraveling, much to your surprise, seemingly melding into the floor.

                                            >Keepsake opens her eyes again and flashes another grin. “Looks like I figured it out.”

                                            “You said before none of the doors were locked, I wonder why this one was?”

                                            >”Well, this one isn’t locked like the others, it had its own symbol on my hud and everything, I guess I didn’t know what to expect ‘til we got here.”

                                            >You wonder for a moment if there could be other doors like this on the ship, but you’ll put that aside for later.

                                            “So, shall we?”

                                            >You gesture towards the now open door, Keepsake nods a few times, eager as you are to check things out..


                                            >As you enter the door, you're struck by the vastness of the room, though the door should have been the first clue.

                                            >The floor is covered in an array of hexagonal tiles, though other than that, the room didn’t seem to have much else to it, except what you can only assume is some sort of control station.

                                            “I expected big machines or… well anything would have been nice, got any clue what these controls do?”

                                            >Keepsake looks over the controls and shakes her head.

                                            >”Wish I could give you something to work with Boss, but I'm not really good at anything other than keeping things from falling apart...” Her voice had a hint of melancholy to it, trailing off as she went.

                                            “Don’t be so hard on yourself, You did fix the lab foundry after all!”

                                            >Keeps sighed. “I didn’t really fix anything, just pulled out some junk that was gunking it up.”

                                            “And it worked out! You did fine, besides, aren’t you built to fix stuff?

                                            >The notion was a bit odd to say out loud, but you weren't sure how else to put it.

                                            >”Well, I’m *supposed* to be good at fixing things, but that doesn’t seem to be working out so far, ugh, I can’t even read a manual without getting dizzy.”

                                            “Maybe you should start small, we could convince Dew to lend you a radio from the archive, let you mess around without anything at stake.

                                            >Keepsake seems amused by the thought, given her smile, but instead of responding, she gestures to the controls, bringing your attention to them. “What’s your opinion on all this here?”

                                            >You scan over the controls, most seem to be tied to the monitor before you, similar to the foundry in the lab, you deduce that the button on the side might be the ‘On’ button.

                                            “Do you think we should see if we can find a manual before we start this up? I don’t really feel comfortable messing around blindly with something so important.”

                                            >Keepsake rubs her neck with a forehoof. “Maybe the archive will have something like that, that’s where I found the rest of the manuals I've messed around with.”

                                            >Well, it doesn’t hurt to give it a shot, besides, you’d feel better having Dew updated on whatever you might end up doing, seeing what happened last time.

                                            “Well, I guess I’ll head to the archives then, you coming with?”

                                            >”I think I'm going to look around a bit, didn’t really get to check out some of the other rooms and the armory sounds pretty interesting.”

                                            >With a half-hearted salute, Keepsake walks out the door.

                                            >You hope some alone time will do her good, that being said, you take a note to talk to her later.


                                            >You make your way to the archives, the lights in the hall seem brighter than normal, or maybe you just feel a bit agitated.

                                            >Evening Dew seems to be working on something, she has paper sprawled out on one of the large tables by the entrance.

                                            “Hey, whatcha doing?”

                                            >Dew looks up, then motions for you to sit down beside her, which you oblige.

                                            >She slides some paper toward you, which you now realize is sheet music.

                                            >It seems to be done in pencil, which means she must have written it herself.

                                            “Looks neat, I wonder what it sounds like?”

                                            >A smile creeps up on her face, before she dashes off into a section of the archive for a moment, only to come back with an instrument case dangling from her mouth.

                                            >She sets it down and opens it up, revealing a saxophone that seems to be made with ponies in mind.

                                            >Dew writes down a note on a spare piece of paper and slides it to you.

                                            >[I want to play music, so I’ve been learning how to read sheet music. And I’m using what I've learned so far to make a little melody.]

                                            “Wouldn’t it be easier to just use some already existing sheet music?”

                                            >[It’s more fun this way!]

                                            >She hesitates for a moment, before writing more.

                                            >[Wanna hear me play?]

                                            “Sure! If you’re up for it that is.”

                                            >Dew nods, taking the saxophone from its case, she props up her sheet music on the side of its case.

                                            >She glances at you before focusing on the sheet music.

                                            >She brings the mouthpiece to her lips, and begins playing.

                                            >The sound produced is pleasant, if a bit shaky. After a minute or so, Dew stops playing and puts the saxophone back in its case.

                                            >You clap, and Dew bows, an exchange of sorts.

                                            >She sits down next to you, her face seems a bit flushed. After a moment to collect her thoughts, she grabs her paper and starts writing.

                                            >[Thank you for listening, I hope it wasn’t too bad.]

                                            “Everyone starts somewhere, and in all honesty, you certainly had something going there!”

                                            >Dew ponders something for a moment, then continues.

                                            >[I believe you, but be wary of doling out empty praise, lest the recipient becomes creatively stagnant.]

                                            “I’ll keep that in mind, as long as you learn to take a compliment!”

                                            >Dew sticks her tongue out, which you promptly imitate, earning you another smile.


                                            “So, I came to the archives to ask if you knew where I could find some manuals relating to the ship, particularly for the foundry.

                                            >Dew taps her hoof a few times, and looks around. With a nod she starts writing once more.

                                            >[I think your best bet is to check the ‘maintenance’ section, last I checked it seems to have a variety of books and such relating to the ship’s wellbeing.]

                                            “They have a section for just about anything, huh?”

                                            >Dew shrugs. [This place seems to encompass a vast array of human knowledge of all natures, it’s rather overwhelming if you let it get to you.]

                                            “Yeah, I definitely see that, and that’s not even counting the digital archives, right?”

                                            >Dew nods, pausing for a moment, before smiling.

                                            >[It’s kind of like our own ‘Library of Alexandria’! Without the whole ‘burning down’ thing.]

                                            >She blinks, with a slightly worried look on her face.

                                            >[Hopefully it doesn’t share a fate with its unfortunate predecessor.]

                                            >You chuckle, which seems to help ease Dew’s worries.

                                            “I doubt we’d run into a problem like that, speaking of libraries, what’s your thoughts on being this one’s librarian?”

                                            >Dew seems puzzled.

                                            >[I highly doubt we can call the Archive a ‘library’ , it's a bit more than that.]

                                            “Keeps seems to think that it’s more akin to a *glorified* library.”

                                            >Dew pouts. [Keepsake thinks a lot of things, but I can’t really disprove her on that, It kind of is, isn’t it?]

                                            “I guess? Hey, before we go too far into this, I probably should start looking for that manual. Mind helping me look around?”

                                            >Dew nods before getting up, grabbing her notepad in the process.

                                            >You both head off toward the ‘maintenance section’. You hope you're able to find something of use there.

                                            >The section looks about the same as others of its kind, high shelves barely scraping the ceiling, with an assortment of devices laid about that you can only assume are for finding whatever one might be looking for, so you try those first.

                                            >You pick out a small computer, turn it on and browse its contents.

                                            >Most of the manuals you can find seem to be for general maintenance, though they seem to vary in complexity.

                                            >You wonder if all this information might have spooked Keepsake, it certainly seems like a lot to handle on her own, maybe you should see if you can help her?

                                            >Dew prods you to get your attention, when you turn to her, she has a manual titled ‘The Foundry and You!’ in her mouth.

                                            “That looks promising, good eye!”

                                            >You take the book from Evening Dew, and open it up, trying to glean what you can from it.

                                            >Most of it seems to be pertaining to the foundry’s controls, which is about what you were looking for.

                                            “Well, this seems promising, I'll make sure to read this through later, for now, I probably should go check on Keeps. I presume you intend to stay here?”

                                            >Dew shuffles in place a bit, with an inquisitive look on her face. She scribbles something down in her notepad.

                                            >[I’d like to talk to Keepsake more, seeing that we didn’t get a more casual introduction.]

                                            >You nod, it would do both of them good to have a chat, plus, you wanted some time to read that manual.

                                            “Well, I guess we’re off then! She was talking about the armory before we parted ways, so I assume she might be there.”


                                            >The trek to the armory is a short one, it’s situated between the archives and the lab. You mused the thought of trying to measure how long it takes to get from one place to another, but that seemed rather pointless at the moment, so you put that aside.

                                            >You expected Evening Dew to complain about the armory in some fashion, but she seemed to have gotten over her previous apprehension, or maybe she had simply gotten better at hiding it.

                                            >As you enter the armory, you scan around for Keepsake, though your search wasn’t long as you notice her reading something behind the ‘clerk’s counter’ (or at least that’s what you assume the counter was for.)

                                            >Keepsake seemed to notice you fairly quickly, motioning the two of you over to her.

                                            >As you get closer, you notice what she was reading seemed to be blueprints of some kind.

                                            “Hey Keeps! Find anything interesting?”

                                            >Keepsake prods the blueprint with her forehoof, underlining the words on the top, ‘Flight Core Mk.1’.

                                            >”Looks like whoever was here before us had some neat ideas! This one is one of my favorites.”

                                            >You look over the blueprint, to your surprise it didn’t seem all that complicated, as it only seemed to have a few parts. That being said you weren't sure what any of them were.

                                            >Dew passes a note to Keepsake, who looks it over and nods, getting up from her position, stretching momentarily before standing normally.

                                            >”I can see what I can do, but no promises! I'm not an expert at this sort of thing.”

                                            >Keeps turns to you. “Dew wants me to fix a radio later on, apparently it's rather finicky at the moment.”

                                            >You nod, it looks like you don’t need to convince Evening Dew after all.

                                            >Keepsake’s face sours. “I kind of expected an armory, to have, you know… arms?”

                                            “What do you mean?”

                                            >Keepsake trots over to a shelf with a rifle of some kind perched on it. She picks up the rifle with her… magic? Yeah you’ll just call it magic.

                                            >She waves it around like it weighs nothing, and then lets it fall to the floor, clattering as it makes contact.

                                            >”All these are hollow, expect for maybe one or two *actual* prototypes.”

                                            “So it's… Just a display?”

                                            >”Pretty much! I’ve found a lot of stuff pertaining to the forging of one, but not a single *real* weapon, well, except the wings in the display.” She gestures toward the mannequin with the oddly sharp wings attached to it. “But even that is missing something…”

                                            >She points to the blueprint she was reading before. “That being some ‘flight cores’! Though I don’t have the foggiest idea on how to make it.”

                                            >With the newfound knowledge of its non-threatening nature, it seems that Dew has gotten more curious, poking the hollowed out rifle with a hoof, with a perplexed look on her face.

                                            “Well then, I guess I didn't take a close enough look when I first looked in here, did I?

                                            >Keepsake shrugs. “They look real enough, If you had only looked at the displays, you’d be unaware of their true nature.”

                                            >Keeps lightens up a bit. “But, that being said, it's entirely possible to make the real deal. It’s been done before, if the records are anything to go by, just have to feed the right stuff to this here fabricator!” She points a hoof to the large machine behind the counter.

                                            >”It can do just about anything, to my surprise, here!” Keepsake pulled out a small figurine from under the counter, it seemed to be a purple unicorn, though the details were sparse.

                                            >”I messed around with it and figured out how it works, just have to put raw materials in this hole.” She gestures to the port on the left. “And the stuff you want comes out of this one!” She then points to the right most port.

                                            >Keepsake rubs the back of her neck. “I uh, wasn’t sure what to make, so I threw a couple of paper weights in there and hoped for the best. But, it worked out! It came out a bit… underdeveloped. I think I might have put too little into it.”

                                            “Impressive! I’m wondering if we can scrounge enough things up to build the parts for this flight core, do you think that thing would actually work?”

                                            >Keeps tilts her head, seemingly a bit confused. “Not sure, I don’t even think there was a prototype for this thing made, so it seems like completely new territory.”

                                            “Then I guess we’ll be pioneers! Taking our first steps toward a brighter tomorrow!”

                                            >You blink, you aren’t sure what came over you, but you left Keepsake even more confused.

                                            “But, uh, that can wait for right now though, I’ve got to read this manual that I…”

                                            >You trail off, realizing you might have left the manual in the archive.

                                            >You feel a tug on your tail, you turn to see Dew with the manual atop her notepad, you don’t remember her grabbing it, but you're grateful for the save regardless.

                                            >Taking the manual from Evening Dew you turn to Keepsake.

                                            “Well then, I’m gonna go read this. It's for the foundry, the main one I mean.”

                                            >Keepsake seems to open her mouth to respond, but Dew seems to interrupt her, waving Keeps over to her, pointing to a picture she had drawn of a droopy radio with a melancholy expression on its front. Keepsake nods a few times in quick succession. before turning back to you.

                                            >”If you excuse me, I’ve got a radio to save, so I'll let you get to reading. See ya soon, Boss!”

                                            >Keepsake darts out of the armory, tailed by Evening Dew who seems surprised by Keepsake's urgency.

                                            >Dew quickly slips back into the armory and does a rushed bow, before leaving once more.

                                            “Huh, well, I guess I got what I wanted.”

                                            >You decide to take a leisurely stroll back to the lab. You felt a bit more comfortable reading it there than in the archive, which will no doubt be filled with the sound of a screechy radio for the foreseeable future.