Flashflood

"Into each life some rain must fall, but too much, too much is falling in mine."

Above, the clouds had been kissed by the sun. Below, the clouds turned wild. Sheets of rain pummeled the earth. Parts of the wasteland were beat into submission and warped into rivers of mud. Other cliffs defied the weather, stone faced.

A small settlement, miles away from the foothills of Dragon Mountain, hunkered down. A small bomb cart lay discarded outside of the town. A sentry on the wall peered out into the rain, trying to see clearly what it was he had glimpsed. He swore he could hear something.

“G… waited this out! ...soaked,” came through the din.

“Come now, Iron Heart, I never thought a little rain would get under your skin.” There was a laugh. “Or should I say your second coat… you know, because rain’s now you’re… oh, never mind. You there, on the guard tower.” The colt on duty blinked, surprised. He looked left, then right. “Yes, you. There’s no pony else up there. Could you please let us in, the weather out here is kind of sad.”

“…ad? …ad! I’m wearing rain like a second coat and you’re worried about getting depressed?” The sentry noticed two pony-shaped blobs through the rain.

Looking up at the wall of welded scrap metal, Iron Heart saw the sentry disappear. “Look what you did now.” He was raising his voice to be heard through the rain. Grey backed up a little, he thought his friend sounded scary. “Oh no, you don’t get to play the frightened little colt. You’re crazy antics-“

“Who goes there?” Even though they were still a ways off, Grey and Iron Heart both heard the voice. A new form had reached the battlements. Grey bounded around excitedly, Iron Heart shielded himself from the splashes.

“Look Iron Heart, another unicorn, and they know the same spell I do!”

“Who are you? State your business.”

“This is Iron Heart, and I’m Grey Grid and… our business is getting out of the rain.” Iron Heart snorted at the weak attempt.

“No refugees can enter. We can’t support any. Go away.” Iron Heart nickered.

“We’re not refugees!” he yelled. “Look there’s got to be something.”

“If you were gonna make a substantial financial contribution to this town’s welfare, we might be able to work something out.”

Grey leaned over and whispered to Iron Heart. “Iron Heart, I think she wants a bribe. What’re we going to do? We don’t have any caps.” Iron Heart looked at his companion, muzzle agape. After a moment, he spoke.

“Grey.”

“Yes?”

“You’re horn’s still glowing. You still don’t have that spell active, do you?” There was a sigh from the rain.

“Like I said, no refugees! Go away or we’ll bring out a patrol!” Iron Heart did face-hoof this time, despite any bruises it might cause. He looked up, but Grey was gone, he had approached the door.

“Stop right there or we’ll shoot!”

“You spineless cowards! Do you have any idea-”

“No, and I don’t care.” The guard interrupted Grey, but he continued talking.

“what we’ve been through? We’ve come peacefully and unarmed and you weaklings don’t have the common courtesy to let us seek shelter? What kind of a town do you think you’re running? You want to shoot, you’re going to have to come out here and look at the grays of my eyes when you do! That way, everypony and every town will know what a ramshackle, worthless, little bunch of raiders this town and its ponies are!” Grey had gone up to the wall, and he beat on it at the words “ramshackle” and “worthless” for emphasis. There was no reply. “Hello? Hello!” His tiny fore hooves added their pitter patter along with the rest of the rain as he stood on his hind legs and pummeled the metal with a miniscule fury.

Inside the town, the colt who had been initially keeping watch was rushing back to the guard post. His hooves splashed mud as they made their way through the narrow streets. He was almost there when a blur shot through the rain. He didn’t make it to the guard post.

Outside, Grey was still doing his best on the wall when part of it gave way. “Look at that,” he exclaimed, “Can’t even build a decent wa-aAH!” Grey cried out as he was pulled inside, tripped and rolled over onto his back. A combat shotgun greeted him, muzzle to muzzle.

“Well, the Mare can’t say I didn’t try.”

“Finally! Out of the rain! And whom do I have the pleasure of thanking?” Grey’s tiny voice was so close to the shotgun that it echoed a little in the barrel. The light blue of the unicorn’s coat complimented the lavender of her eyes and magic. A lock of her white mane nearly touched the ground. She was taken aback.

“You realize you have a shotgun in your face, right?” Grey reached out and hugged it.

“Yes, and it’s dry!” The mare looked disgusted and shook the gun with her magic. Grey waggled a little in the air and then hit the ground with a thud.

“Are you crazy or something?”

“Probably.”

“Like I said, we aren’t taking any refugees. You’re probably just a raider spy, anyway. So make your peace, time for you to die.” The door opened to the metal space that ran in between an inner and outer wall that housed Grey and the unicorn. “Glad you’re here, Fleet. You’re gonna get an important lesson on dealing with crazy strangers. Shoot first.”

“Good advice. I think I’ll take it.” That wasn’t Fleet’s voice. There was the click of a handgun slide cycling. The mare turned around slowly, keeping the shotgun on Grey. A gun was pressed against her temple.

“Nowh, ya haff dwo choisses. Pud dowm dhe gum, or shood him. If ya dry, I godda say I’m pro’lly fasd ‘nuff to shood firsd.” The unicorn followed the gun barrel up with her eyes until she met a silver-eyed face with a gun in its muzzle and the tongue on the trigger. His eyes seemed empty somehow. The unicorn knew that gun. It was Fleet’s. Her body shuddered.

“I-I don’t know you won’t shoot me anyway.”

“Neider do I.”

“Trick! That’s enough!” A new voice broke through the rain. “Look, stranger. Shoot her and we’ll kill you both.”

“Trick? Yes, I suppose everypony is on a hair trigger. Alright Grey, let’s see if we can defuse the situation. Sounds like a good idea!” The blue mare looked back at the ground. It was pointed at dirt. She gave a whimper. Iron Heart flew to her other side, keeping her between himself and the new voice. Grey had galloped over to the new group in the rain. It looked like a posse`. At the front strode an earth pony with a green coat and red mane. She wore a suit of combat armor. “Hello! I’m Grey! Over there, holding the gun, is Iron Heart… come on now, say hello!”

“Grey! Get back over here, we have to leave.”

“No need, they let us in, see?”

“Sorry friend, you’ll be lucky to get out of here alive.” The green mare looked at Grey.

“Oh please, if you were raiders, you’d have shot my friend and yours down long ago. If we were raiders, my friend would have killed her and taken the body, whatever happened to me. Also, your unicorn wouldn’t be wetting herself.” The blue unicorn was shaking with fear. A growing puddle of urine was collecting underneath her. “Tell you what. Take me to your leader. Ooohh, I always wanted to say that. I can sort this all out.” Grey put on a campy smile. The mare with the red mane looked at him, looked at Trick who was still shaking. She lifted her head proudly.

“You,” she motioned to the posse, “Shoot him if even one of Trick’s hairs is hurt. As soon as this is set, somepony shut the damn door. Alright you insane little unicorn. Follow. Bold, Brash, on me!” She strode off. Grey followed happily, flanked by two guards that left the posse. They were in combat barding, had brown coats and black manes.

The four ponies made their way up sheets of metal that had been welded into a sloping ramp. Grey slipped a few times, but never fell very far. A couple of times one of the guards had to help him up. Parts and pieces of machines and sheet metal had been cobbled together and laid out into a bustling town. The group passed a number of levels and buildings, all welded together as if no pony had laid out a central plan.

They went into the only building that wasn’t made entirely out of old metal. Instead, this was a concrete building that was surrounded by the rest of the town. They entered the first floor. A few guards led them through the dull halls into an office. A white unicorn sat in a large chair behind a desk. Her eyes and mane shared a brilliant sapphire hue. She looked up to regard her visitors.

“And what can I do for you O’Rielly?”

“Well mare, my outfit’s contract mentions raiders, slavers, and even hellhounds, but it doesn’t say anything about crazies, so you have to decide what to do with him.” The Mare looked at the pony she didn’t know. Grey had sat down and was staring, agape.

“Hello there,” she started, “who might you be?”

“My name is Grey Grid, ma’am. May I just say that you are beautiful?” O’Rielly looked at Grey, astonished. “Don’t be like that O’Rielly, look at those eyes, have you ever seen such a pure blue? And that coat is absolutely radiant!” The mare behind the desk blushed slightly.

“Now, Grey was it, flattery doesn’t work around here. What did you need?”

“Ma’am, flattery is flippant and insincere. That praise was completely sincere. Any pony to come and see you after even five minutes outside would be blinded by the brilliance of your presence.”

“Shut up you ass!” O’Rielly broke in. “This filth has an associate outside with a gun on Trick.”

“Grey, is this true?”

“Yes ma’am. My associate and I were searching for shelter from the rain, but the guard pointed a shotgun in my face, even though we were unarmed. Iron Heart, my associate, grabbed a gun from another guard and had Trick drop hers for my benefit. It was quite heroic, actually. I assure you neither of us mean any harm.” The mare behind the desk sighed.

“Don’t take that load a horse-manure. These two are a risk. Let me deal with them.”

“And just how do you propose we do that, O’Rielly? I can’t just dump them outside of town.”

“Why not? We’re already stretched thin.” O’Rielly protested.

“She brings up a good point Grey, you’ve shown up at a very bad time.”

“Might I ask what’s going on?”

“You may. This town has come under heavy assault in the past two days. Normally we can fend off any raiders that harass our town, but just this past week two factions hit us at the same time. A breach was made and a number of our citizens were kidnapped. Some, we believe, were sold, some are being held for ransom from the town. As a matter of fact, Trick has two foals that were kidnapped in the attack. That’s when we hired O’Rielly and her rangers to help secure our… Grey, where are you going?”

The unicorn had turned and left the room, astonishing O’Rielly for the second time. Bold and Brash had been waiting outside of the office when Grey came marching through. Bold looked in on the Mare and his captain while Brash followed Grey outside. The rain had stopped completely.

Brash blinked his eyes in disbelief when they reached the courtyard. Where there was a standoff moments ago, there was now a small group comprised almost entirely of rangers. Fleet and Iron Heart were in the middle of it. The group was sharing a laugh.

“What’s going on here?” Brash bellowed. “Cap told you all to watch him and make sure nothing happened to Trick.” One of the rangers spoke up.

“We are Lieutenant.”

“Yeah,” said another, “he let her go ages ago. He’s tellin’ us about the great wars up in the clouds. Come n’ hear what’s goin’ on Lieutenant.”

Brash’s face turned from brown to red. “That’s enough you lazy-ass asses! Get back to your posts. You aint gettin’ paid ta sit around!” There was a collective groan from the crowd that began to disperse. Grey saddled up to Iron Heart. He was talking to Fleet.

“Careful kid. I’m not saying that you could’ve seen me coming, but an aerial surprise attack is always a tactical possibility; you have to watch for that especially on guard duty. And here,” Iron Heart hoofed over the pistol he’d taken, “get more practice with this. Respect it and it can save your life.” The colt looked up and nodded.

“Iron Heart, did you see where Trick went to?”

“Yeah, she’s in the saloon, why?”

“Gear up, we’ve got a mission.”

“Gear? What gear? Where do you expect me to find gear without… any… money?” His voice trailed off as Grey hoofed straight past him and toward the saloon on street (or mud, in this case) level. “Hey! Grey!” he called after. “How’d the thing go? You know, with the scary merc bitch?”

“Better than you, apparently.” Iron Heart couldn’t name the tactical blunder he’d made, but he knew it was an important one. His head turned and met the hoof of a furious O’Rielly.

“Brash!”

“Yes sir!”

“Where in the hell are the rest of the rangers?”

“Sir! At their posts, sir.” Iron Heart started to laugh.

“Brash, did I not give a direct order to keep him,” she jabbed a hoof at Iron Heart, “at the end of a gun?” Brash stammered.

“Relax,” Iron Heart chuckled. “You told ‘em to kill me if Trick got hurt.”

“Oh, and perhaps you know what happened to the rest of my crew? None of my actual soldiers seems to have a clue, and what the buck is so funny?”

“Sir, you actually have them call you sir! I guess that’s how they do it on the ground. When I realized your outfit were decent military bucks, I explained what your orders actually were and let Trick go. After that we started talking. Decent outfit you got there.” O’Rielly swung at him again. He immediately took a combat stance and swung back, blocking her hoof with his. “Like I said, relax.” O’Rielly narrowed her eyes.

“Relax and you’re dead. You should know that,” she hissed.

“Walking around with that stick in your ass would make it impossible to relax,” he countered. Brash started to laugh. O’Rielly stared him into silence. She turned back and met Iron Heart’s hoof. She recovered and was about to reign down a flurry of blows when she saw Iron Heart had dropped his stance. “Look, we’re even now. C’mon, let’s go to the Scarlet Canteen over there and buy you a drink.”

“Fine, let’s settle this. Last one standing on all four hooves wins.”

Iron Heart smiled. “You’re on.”

“No you’re not. We’ve got foals to save and orphans to not make,” Grey piped, seemingly coming out of nowhere.

“What are you talking about, Grey?”

“We’re going to go get the townsfolk back from the raiders.”

“Are you insane? That’s a whole camp! Do you know how many raiders that is?”

Grey nodded. “Thirteen. I was talking with Trick in the Scarlet Canteen. Turns out she became a guard after her children were stolen. She was pointing a gun at my face because the town took in a hurt pony who was only acting hurt. He then opened the door to the town at night and let in the raiders.” Grey continued merrily, “Some of the rangers in the canteen then said they knew where the camp was and how many there were. I also met a zebra who said she could translate my book, but only if I helped her get her foal back, too.”

“Look, Grey, was it? What you’re trying to do is noble and all, but if it’s just you, you’re gonna get yourself killed.”

“Yep. O’Rielly? Could you help us?”

“I can’t send my rangers in. Their camp is covered by an M4A turret.” Grey clopped his hooves together excitedly. “What is it now?”

“You didn’t kill us, so you seem decent. With your rangers and our know-how, we can beat these raiders. We might even be able to get some of the townsfolk to help. I can reprogram that turret. You see, I have a plan.” Grey grinned.

“Uh-huh. Alright, I’ll bite. How do you plan to even get close enough to do that?”

“If we work together, we have a chance at getting everypony to safety. If we do nothing, those ponies are as good as slaves, or worse.”

“My contract is to protect this town, not put my ranger’s lives in danger.”

“So does that contract of yours tell you if that means the buildings, or the ponies?” O’Rielly stepped back, she didn’t like where that was going. “Because if it’s the latter, you’re wrong. Either way, this town won’t survive once every slaver camp hears it’s ripe fruit. Then you’ll have real trouble on your hooves.” O’Rielly sighed.

“Look, I won’t send my rangers in. I can’t. You don’t understand. Either way, I’ll have Brash here take you to our surplus locker, see if there’s anything there you can use.” She sighed again.

The walls of the town made a giant, if irregular, circle. Grey had fallen in to a side door one quarter of the way around circle from the front entrance. Brash led the group to the halfway point, directly opposite the front entrance. Underneath the town and underneath the wall, a cave had been dug out and reinforced. When asked about it, Brash excitedly responded, “A feat of engineering if you ask me! We were looking for a place to setup, but nothing was defensible or large enough, and that small office building just screams big, juicy target. So, we built down instead of up. Got plans to expand, too. We can lay the whole thing out like a honeycomb.”

“Like what?” asked Grey. Another look from O’Rielly shut Brash up again.

“Uh, nothing. Sorry, sir.”

“No need to apologize.” Grey apparently missed who the apology was for.

Metal platforms had been laid out inside the cave, supporting struts and beams made up a lattice work ceiling, and small lights were running off of smaller cables that were coming out of a larger, thicker cable.

Brash and Grey continued deeper into the cave. Iron Heart started to follow. He felt the pressure of a tug on his shoulder. He stopped to look at O’Rielly.

“You see this is a bad idea, right? Those ponies from town are as good as dead. Worst thing you could do is get yourselves killed, too.”

“Why are you trying so hard?” Iron Heart asked.

“I, well, I… my rangers. We’re not as big as we were. That’s my fault. Point is, I need more, and you’re military. What’s more, you’re Enclave.” Iron Heart snorted. “Look, that’s not a problem for me, I don’t care why you’re not with them anymore. Griffons have their own damned clique and I could really use a flyer.”

“Risk my neck for a couple of caps?” Iron Heart nickered. “That’s what you ponies use down here, right?”

“Don’t knock it ‘till you tried it. Good work. Performance bonuses, too. And I guarantee you we’re not like any other outfit. We’re loyal to each other, first. I wouldn’t ask any pony to do something I wouldn’t.”

“Except fly.”

“Smart ass.”

“Grey’s got this thing in his head, and he’s the best chance I have to figure out what happened to me. I woke up above the clouds in a world of shit and no memories. Grey knows a lot more than he’s telling me. I have to figure out what.”

“But he’s crazy! Please, for the love of Celestia, tell me you realize he’s insane.”

“Yeah. I don’t know why, but I like it. Maybe I’m going soft. Either way, he’s gonna need some pony to pull his ass out of the fire.” O’Rielly shook her head.

“Your funeral. Had to try, anyway.”

“Thanks. Don’t worry, we’ll be back.” Iron Heart put a hoof on her shoulder. She leaned in and opened her muzzle to say something.

“Loog ad all thish shduff!” Four heavier than normal hooves made a flutter of “tink” sounds as they clamored up from behind. There was a small metal clank as one of Grey’s hooves caught in the metal grating, sending him and a small armory of materiel, sprawling. The mini grenade that had been in his muzzle came rolling and bounced to a stop at Iron Heart’s hoof. Iron Heart breathed an unconscious sigh of relief, noticing the pin was still in.

“What in the hell Grey?” Grey’s ears drooped. He looked up from the ground like a colt who’d been caught stealing a cookie. “How old are you?”

“Older than her.” Grey pointed a hoof at O’Rielly.

“Then bucking think like it!” Iron Heart roared. “I’m trying here, I really am. I’ve seen you laugh at death and come out on top more times than some of my own. You bucking even made the poor bastards who tried to put you down sorry that they did. But if you’re not serious, than you’re gonna get us bucking killed. What if that pin was out?” Grey started crying. “Aw hell.” Iron Heart bent lower. “You saved my life. I’m with you. But this isn’t a game, this is life and death. Give me a reason to follow with you. Tell me your plan. Help me out, here. Do this right and I know we can come out ahead.”

“Really?” Grey sniffled. Iron Heart nodded. “O-okay. I know how we can reprogram the turret.” Grey rummaged in his saddle bags and came back holding a StealthBuck in his hoof.

“O’Rrielly.” Iron Heart looked back at the mare. “What can you tell me about this camp?”

“Canterberry. That’s a great name for a raider camp.”

“Shh Grey! How do you know what this place is called?”

“It says so on my face!”

“Your what?”

“On my face. It’s the spell for this mapping device that O’Rielly gave me. I can see a map of the local area, and a larger map. They’ve got all sorts of names in there. Also, when we enter an area it recognizes, I see the words pop up on my face. I changed the colors, too. You should see them.”

“Hush, I gotta concentrate.” Iron Heart had been flying low. Now, he was lowering on to a rocky hill, trying to find a place to set down. As the cart lowered, Grey worked to untie himself. He had scavenged some webbing from O’Rielly’s bunker and had made a makeshift safety belt. The cart listed to one side and began to tumble. Grey fumbled with the straps, which came loose, and jumped out.

Iron Heart scrambled and twisted, but stayed silent as he fought to right himself. After a tense moment of flapping and adjusting, he turned the cart around, set it down gently, and tested it to make sure it wouldn’t shift any more.

The two stayed low as they reached the crest of the hill and peeked over.

“Damn this’d be a good sniping spot. I could put three or four of ‘em down before they could even react. It’s laid out just like O’Rielly told us. This security barding they gave us is decent, but it doesn’t hold up well, so we have to be careful. What now?”

“We ask nicely.”

“Okay Grey, this is the part where-“

“You’re right, Iron Heart. You always have been. We all need to have all the information we need.” Iron Heart looked at his companion strangely. Grey unfurled the paper he used to layout the compound from O’Rielly’s explanation. He assembled the few explosives they had, checked the communicators they had been given, and looked at the hunting rifle attached to Iron Heart’s new battle saddle. He then pointed to the main entrance facing the rocks, the side entrance, and the turret over-watching everything from the back of the compound. Then he explained his plan.

Grey hunched over, waiting for the right moment. After the guard had passed along the wall by the side entrance, he dashed toward it as fast as his legs could carry him. He dropped what he was carrying and made his way along the wall a little ways to the back. Iron Heart waited out front. Grey said he was ready.

Iron Heart yelled as loud as he could, “Let your prisoners go now, put down your guns, and nopony gets hurt.” There was a sudden commotion from inside the base. After a few moments an earth pony appeared on the battlements. He was clad in armor made from at least three different suits. It was adorned with old medals and spikes. He lifted a speakerphone to his muzzle.

“Who’s there? Show yourself now! I promise you we won’t kill you. Shit, we’ll even keep you as our personal toys!” He laughed cruelly.

“Nice medals!” Iron Heart called back. “Getting ready for Hearth’s Warming?” The earth pony turned to a subordinate and said something. The subordinate nodded, laughed, and ran off. He lifted the speakerphone again.

“I take it back.” A generator hummed to life near the compound entrance. Two doors slid apart slightly. Three ponies ran out. One had a battle saddle with a large weapon attached. The others were toting smaller weapons. “We’re gonna kill you, after we have fun with you.”

“A little closer, come on!” Iron Heart sighted in on the lead pony… until he saw what was on the battle saddle. He smiled. One shot rang out, followed by a second, followed by a third. The three ponies stopped and looked up at the rocks nervously.

“They get any of ya?” the raider with the battle saddle looked at the other two. One of them, a unicorn, looked back, shaking his head. His muzzle dropped open. He tapped the other’s shoulder. “What’s wrong? Hey?” she asked. The other, an earth pony, looked back and started running away. “Hey, where ya going?” She started after him. The one with the open muzzle watched her go. As she moved, a pressurized stream of liquid poured across her vision. Her eyes went wide as she tried to stop. One of the six similar streams brushed on the flamer’s pilot light and erupted. The flames reached up to the tank, causing it to explode.

The explosion mercifully killed her. The unicorn standing in place went down, two new holes adorning his skull. The sound of the shot was all but drowned out by the fireball. The third pony was knocked to the ground and started screaming in agony. His screams became higher pitched as the flaming jelly spread fire all over his haunch.

By the wall, Grey heard a stream of obscenities and orders. Soon after, the side door opened. Three more ponies poured out. They were moving so fast that none of them heard a collection of irregular ticking sounds. Starting with the one closest to the wall, a line of mines exploded in almost instant succession. While raider armor absorbed some of the blasts, the only survivor lay in two on the ground, unresponsive. Grey took his hooves off his ears and activated the StealthBuck.

Outside the wall Iron Heart ducked behind a rock to cycle out his last round and reload. Before he did, the crack of a bullet split through the air as it sailed past where his head had just been. “Sniper, shit!” A shadow passed over his head. He stopped and looked up. A growing shadow was blocking the sun. “With a side order of bucking griffon shit.” As he spoke, instead of reloading he pointed the rifle up just in time to get a shot off and roll. Razor-clad claws barely missed him and bit into the ground where he’d been.

“Hello, beautiful!” The griffon wheeled and sprang on him with a cry. He jumped into the blow, feeling a fleeting pressure on his haunch and a gust of wind as a second griffon landed. He ducked the first griffon’s swing and bucked the second as it tried to slash at him. Iron Heart lowered his head, lunged, and reared. The first was thrown over his back and landed on the second. He heard a flurry of activity as they tried to recover. Staying low, He activated his communicator.

“Grey! There’s a bucking sniper. See if you can spot he-“ Both griffons attacked and he did the one thing that was completely natural that he was trying to avoid: he took to the air. He never stopped moving and spinning. There was another crack as a bullet flew by. Damn, she’s good, he thought. He wheeled upward toward the sun, snorting with the exertion. He didn’t speed up. Somewhere, as if from another world, a whispering voice entered his ear.

“Will do, good sir. But wait, why aren’t you whispering?” A moment of silence punctuated Iron Heart's world. As high as he was, there was nearly no wind. He started to roll away from the sun. The ground looked farther away than it was. For one serene moment, the world slowed down. “That's right Grey! I'm the only one who needs to be whispering! I'm a silly pony.”

A crack split past Iron Heart's ear; the sniper was getting close. He had stalled in mid air. A griffon with razor tipped wings rocketed through the air, a wicked smile across his beak. Iron Heart didn't see the other griffon. The griffon rotated and extended his wings to get in a good slice.

This slowed him down, but not enough. Just before they collided, Iron Heart somersaulted and bucked his hind hooves with all his might. The wing blades cut the air where Iron Heart's heart had been. Iron Heart's hooves connected with the griffon's ribs. There was a wet crunch.

The griffon sneered in pain and clutched his side. He slowed down and tried to keep flying, but Iron Heart grappled him close. The two began to free fall, spinning slowly. The griffon cut at Iron Heart with his wings, but the pegasus was too close. He was just about to swipe Iron Heart's face when Iron Heart found a broken rib, held the griffon close, and punched hard. The griffon spat an alarming amount of blood in the pegasus' face.

Looking up toward the approaching ground with one eye, Iron Heart positioned the griffon in between himself and the sniper. He kicked the griffon away, carefully adjusting his flight to stay level with the falling bird. Shoot, damn you! SHOOT! The griffon reached out. There was a sudden puff of feathers out from the griffon's chest. At the same time, Iron Heart heard the snap of another supersonic round and saw the griffon's stare go blank.

He adjusted his free fall moments before crashing on the rocks. His fall turned into a glide in that instant. His body grunted as something inside him shifted out of place. Iron Heart tried to slow down, but one wing folded in on it's own. He gave a mighty whinny, folded his other wing, and started to tumble. Back on the rocks, a griffon's body came down hard. A long shriek pierced the air, followed by several shorter shrieks.

Up on the battlements a sniper lowered her scope. Her muzzle twisted. She peered back through her scope with a sudden hatred. She was so focused that she didn't notice her saddle satchel open slightly, then close again. She did notice a tacking of the keyboard come from the turret a good distance from her emplacement on the battlements. She drew out a pistol and pointed it over at the terminal. There was nopony there, but the keys were moving on their own. An explosion tore her apart.

“Focus Grey, focus.” Tak-tak-tak the keyboard replied. “Why thank you Mr. Keyboard, how kind of you to recognize your friendly neighborhood maintenance pony. No, I seem to have misplaced my security password. Why yes, I'd be delighted to open up your terminal's maintenance subroutines to take a closer look.” Takkity-tak-tak, the keyboard offered. A compilation of gibberish appeared on the terminal. Amongst the gibberish were ten words, five letters each. “Right again, noble keyboard, I will need to look through these possible passwords for the real one. You'll even give me four chances to input the correct password? How generous!” Grey guessed once. It was incorrect, but the maintenance routine told him how many characters were correct. “Three out of five on the first try? How lucky! And the only word with two different letters is...” Grey entered the word, began to snicker and then laugh out loud. The password he entered was LAUGH. “Ha ha! New targeting parameters? Why me, of course. Why, you'll even add my friends too? You are too kind, Ms. Targeting Spell. No, no, no. Thank you.”

Two raiders rushed to the back of the battlements to see what the explosion was. A gleeful laugh grew louder as they approached the M4A magical energy turret. Looking around for the source, they saw a laughing gray unicorn materialize by the turret's terminal. They also saw the turret swivel on its emplacement and open fire.

When the threat had been duly vaporized, the turret started to track onto something else. “Is something wrong?” Grey asked the turret. It locked and seemed to lose its lock a number of times. A minute later and Grey heard the squeak of a megaphone.

“Come out! All of you, out here now! You can't shoot me, I know it. I've got them. All your filthy, worthless, cattle. Were they worth killing over? How many of us ya think you killed? Huh? Or should I say, how many more of us than them?” A shot rang out. Grey's world suddenly hung by a thread. He huffed along the battlements until he reached the front of the compound.

As he reached the front, he saw an earth pony covered in medals and spikes. A unicorn in spiky, metal armor was next to him. There was a collection of scared, miserable ponies huddled in front of them. The unicorn covered the group with an assault rifle while the earth pony held a gun to the head of a complacent unicorn ghoul. A bruised and bleeding Iron Heart limped toward them. Grey bit back a cry when he saw what was laying in front of the earth pony.

“Drop your gun!” the earth pony cried.

“No.” Iron Heart replied.

“I-I'll shoot another one!”

“Go ahead. I'll kill you, then. You have my attention. What do you want?”

“We go free and I keep this rotten meat as my property. MY PROPERTY!” Iron Heart looked at the battlements.

“W-what are you looking at?”

“Looking for other guards, other threats. Always do. Don't see nothing else.” The earth pony laughed crazily.

“Y-yeah! They're there, don't you bucking worry about it, mother-bucker.” He was getting hysterical. Iron Heart shrugged.

“Go on.”

“You'll shoot me, that's what you'll do. Soon as look at me.”

“Haven't done that yet.”

“Yeah, hah ha! Never will, ya coward, ya shit! You'll never forget the time you let me go. When I'm a slaver king, you'll remember the chance you had to kill me and never did it, hah, ha! The day you let S-” Iron Heart fixed the would-be king with a cold, dead stare. That wretch felt more alive than he did, but at the time he seemed like less of a pony. Iron Heart dismissed him.

“Nah, I'd just let him do it.” The earth pony turned to see a gray unicorn holding his breath and angling a shotgun underneath his head. Grey didn't hesitate. The unicorn's head flew apart with a throaty roar. The unicorn covering the cowering townsfolk lifted his rifle to take down Grey. Iron Heart shot, but his shot went far wide. The unicorn opened fire, but then his head came apart, too.

Grey went down. Iron Heart looked around frantically, but he was exhausted. He galloped over to Grey. “Looks like it's my turn.”

“Iron Heart I, I...”

“Right here, trust me, you're gonna be fine.” Iron Heart stripped off the security barding. He gave a small whinny. “See, armor grabbed most of it.” It was strange, too. Many of the bullets had caught in the armor and were poking through. A few more had gone through, however. “Tell me what to do, Grey.” His friend was breathing hard.

“Must be- hzzuh,” Grey let out a wheeze, “Went through. Normal bullet?” Iron Heart pulled one out of the armor.

“Yeah.”

“Must be magic. Get b-, get b-, them out. Fast as can.” Iron Heart nodded and set to what his friend asked, but Grey clasped his leg hard. “Must be all of it. All of it out. Iron Heart nodded.

As he looked at his friend, he realized that he needed help, he needed supplies, he needed a medic. “Wave? Wave! I need you now, where are you? MEDIC!” Iron Heart blinked. Where did that come from, he wondered. What also came was an earth pony in familiar combat armor. She wore two saddle bags with a cross of pink and yellow on them. Grey saw her approach as the sky went dark. Soon after, so did Grey's vision.

Grey's world blurred its way into focus. There was a constant rush of water and rain coming from outside. Grey made to get up, but lay back down when he felt suddenly nauseous. It was dark but he could make out vague forms. One was sleeping on a cot near him. He shivered, suddenly feeling cold. Cold and nauseous. The only way this could get worse was if... his body gave a lurch. He started to hack and looked around furiously for something, anything. Looking around made his head spin and he vomited over one corner of his cot.

He hugged himself and his teeth started to chatter. “O-oo-ohh-h,” he groaned miserably. “Filthy f-f-freezing furlongs! Look what you did now.”

“It's okay. Reconstituted rations are an easy clean up,” a voice mused behind him. Grey's teeth chattered as he looked over. The form that had been sleeping next to him was now assessing the situation around his cot. Grey stared into two luminescent green eyes. “Hey, you even missed the bed, good work!” Grey gave a toothy, chattery smile. It was actually harder to see the rest of her, now that she was up. She went over to her cot and brought back another blanket that she tucked around Grey. It was hard to see her because her coat and mane were dark, very dark. She jabbed a hoof at Grey. “Hey, watch what your teeth say, I might actually get offended!” Whoever this was, Grey liked her.

“I-I-I'm G-Gr-”

“Grey, I know. My name's Sable Eye. I don't know what you told your friend before you went under, but the information he gave me saved your life.”

“Y-your eyes-” Grey started. This time Sable Eye really did look offended.

“If you're about to tell the combat medic that spent three hours digging lead out of your hide that neither of her eyes are, in fact, sable, then you can go straight to unicorn hell.” Grey managed to shake his head, even though he was shivering.

“V-very p-p-pretty.” The eyes were even pretty as she blinked.

“Oh. Thanks. Sorry, I didn't...” Grey shook his head again.

“W-worth saying.” Sable eye looked at him a moment.

“Hey, I know the Mare even wants to talk with you, but let me get your friend... after I clean this up.” The combat medic turned on a camp lantern and worked fast. She then left the room. It was astonishing to Grey how quickly she had cleaned up the vomit, even leaving pleasant scent. Baraxo Lemon, at least, smelled better than vomit. A few minutes later, Iron Heart came in.

“Hey Grey.” Only Grey's face was showing from underneath all his covers, but he extended a hoof, too. It kind of vibrated on its own as he shivered, giving the effect of a wave, although Grey didn't voluntarily move it. “You're looking better.” Grey chattered in response and drew his hoof back in. Iron Heart came close. “Listen, you've been out of it for about thirty hours. You're sick, I know, but what the buck was in that notebook?”

“Th-the what?”

“I ignored it earlier, but you said something about a notebook yesterday. Something about a translation? You never mentioned it before.” A memory flashed across Grey's face. He nodded in fits and flutters.

“No idea, w-w-why?”

“Well, where'd you get it, at least?”

“Found it on th-the mountain. Couldn't read it...,” he remembered something else, “zebra said she knew-w zebra and pony words. From the Sc-Scarlet Canteen, I think.”

“Here's the deal. After we set out, O'Rielly has a pang of conscience, knew she was a softie, and sends her best recon buck and this crack medic mare. They came just at the end, and well, saved both our hides. They radio back to base and tell 'em what we did. The town goes crazy and this special caravan hauls ass out here. Well, the raiders had been torturin' and killin' some of 'em,” Grey looked down and started to cry, “No no no, don't do that. Hey, come here, look at me. Look at me, that's it. You didn't do anything wrong you lucky-ass insane-o-corn. We did awesome. That shit-head gunning down that colt right at the end, none of us could've stopped that. We saved so many, and that medic mare, she's a miracle worker. Don't you look like that. Stay with me.” Grey fought back some shivery sniffles and sobs. “You okay? You sure? Good. As I was saying. Here's the best bit.

“The caravan's got family and friends in it. There to comfort or grieve, or both, depending. So, who shows up but that zebra friend of yours? She embraces her foal and it's real touching. Then, she insists on getting that journal. Says a promise reflects on her clan or some shit, and that she insists we give her the notebook. She goes crazy. I mean, bucking insane. She shows us a translation and the original, and makes us take her to you. And she did this in, like, five hours. The whole thing. Continues on about about how she'll only give it back to you. We try and tell her you're out like a light, but she's inconsolable. O'Rielly and I kinda get worried, but we agree anyway. So we tag along as security.

“You're out of surgery and she starts talking to you. You don't say anything, of course, but she just keeps talking. She goes on about how you're a demon and how you used her only son to trick her into making a vow. She says that, “It is in your power now. You will do with it what you will. But I tell you to burn it! Burn it and do not loose your soul. Burn it, or the demons will come to claim their own!” She throws the thing on the ground, spits on it and hoofs it outta there. Poor Sable Eye had to clean it all with that Abraxo, or Baraxo, or whatever the shit.

“Now look, the Mare from town is coming. She's coming and she wants to talk to you. Grey, do you have any idea what's going on?”

Grey thought a moment. He sat there and shivered. He opened his muzzle, but then closed it again. After awhile he only shook his head. “I don't know what's in that notebook.”

“Grey. What's going on? Tell me. What is this about? I can't help you if you won't tell me what you're not saying?”

“It's about the promise I made to you. I want to tell you, but I n-need to figure out what's going on. Until I do that, I wouldn-n-n't kn-kn-ow what to say. Hey, d-do you have my stuff?”

“Alright Grey, I know that's what you want right now. But listen, I can't help you if you don't tell me. We all need all the information we need, right?” Grey nodded. “Okay buddy, let me get your stuff.”

After Iron Heart returned, he stacked Grey's things underneath the cot. Sable Eye entered. Grey perked up. “O-o-h! H-hi!” he shivered. Iron Heart looked at her, then at Grey.

“Visiting hours are over, Iron.”

“What's wrong? I was just visiting my friend.”

“Yep, and now you're done.”

“What gives?”

“You keep telling me I'm a miracle worker, but I'm not. You're friend needs rest. He's lost blood, he's sick, and he's cold. Everything's in short supply with the other refugees, and if things keep up like this, he's only going to get colder.”

“So, what?”

“So, you're leaving. Now!”

“Okay, okay.” Iron Heart left the room.

“Finally. Now I can work. Alright, out of that cot, mister.” Grey looked up pathetically. “Oh no, uh-uh, those doe-eyes don't work on me. Besides, don't you trust me?” Grey nodded and climbed out of the bed. It didn't take long for his legs to start knocking without the blankets. Sable Eye pulled the cots together. She suddenly grabbed a rock and hurled it at the window with a sudden ferocity. Iron Heart cursed from outside. Sable Eye put her fore-hooves on the window and shouted out. “Serves you right! Now get the hell out of here!”

She lowered herself back in the room and looked at Grey. All of him, horn tip to tail tip, was shivering. He looked small and sad. “Don't worry, my little pony.” This was the first time Grey got a good look at her. Her mane, her coat, her cutie mark, everything but her eyes were black. She gave him a warm smile.

She then padded the two cots as best she could. “Alright, you go in this one.” Grey hurriedly climbed in. Two blankets were then tucked in on one side of him. She pulled the blankets over gently and turned out the light. She then climbed in on the other cot and tucked the other ends of the blanket underneath her side. The room lay within the newly captured compound. Outside that room the wind was howling. The steady drum of rain turned dirt streets into streams of mud. They lay there for a few minutes. Grey's teeth began to chatter. She let out a sigh.

“I feel bad taking these military blankets considering what so many of the others have to use. The raiders had a good deal of mattresses and things, but they're filthy. Goddess knows what's been done in, on, and to them. We just can't bring anypony back until we're all safe to move. I apologize Grey, I'm rambling on.”

“Th-that's okay, you have a g-good heart. I-it's really nice t-to meet a good pony l-like you. A-and for m-making sure I was okay, ramble on just as long as you'd like t-to.”

Sable Eye moved to be closer to Grey. Her head lay down next to Grey's and she looked at him. He returned her gaze, getting lost in her eyes for a long time. Eventually, he didn't even feel cold anymore.

Morning had come. After the initial confrontation, the compound had become deathly quiet. Now, it was a hub of activity. All of which made it hard for Grey to concentrate. He was levitating the satchel Gash had given him and shaking it. He listened carefully to hear what was inside. “Rrgh!” It was dropped in frustration. “Aw, c'mon. It's like a Hearth's Warming present I can't open.” Grey's ears sagged and the satchel landed with a thud.

“Still can't get that thing open?” Grey looked up to see Iron Heart enter. He shook his head “So, how do you feel?”

“Much better, thanks.”

“After last night, I bet you are.”

“Do you mean to imply?”

“Don't deny it.”

“I deny nothing. I mean, everything, you can't just go around saying-”

“Aannd, you're gonna stop me?”

“I-uh, but...” Grey stammered. This was too easy.

“Just get ready, you've got a lot of explaining to do in a few.” He shook his head and cantered toward the door. Grey had picked up the satchel and was fiddling with it again. “Why would she give you something you can't open?” Shooting up, Grey's magic stopped and the satchel hit the ground again.

“She wouldn't! You're a genius, Iron Heart!” He was already gone. Grey started pulling things out from under the cot, letting them fall on the floor. When there was nothing left under the cot, Grey started digging through the blankets.

“Am I interrupting?” Grey's head poked out from the blankets, which he'd managed to get himself tangled up in.

“Mhm, pleh.” A scrap of paper wafted to the ground as Grey spit it out. “Nope. Just finished discovering the key I need to open my present. It's a piece of paper.” The Mare that Grey had met in town was in the doorway, looking confused. Even though the sky was thick with clouds again, her bright coat was still brilliant; almost as if she gave of a light of her own. Something inside Grey clicked, he couldn't tell what it was, but she seemed familiar. What seemed familiar was deeper than him recognizing a pony he'd met before. Currently, however, she was as confused as she was brilliant.

“Okay?”

“Please, come in Milady. Enter this humble habitat freely.”

“You are very flattering, Grey. Don't look upset, I believe you to be sincere, as well.” She gave a small laugh. “But please, call me Sapphire.”

“Very well, lady Sa-”

“Just Sapphire.”

“My apologies, Sapphire, I didn't mean to offend.” Grey bowed low and looked up at her, troubled. One of his hind legs was stuck to the cot and he was tangled in blankets up to his haunches. Sapphire laughed out loud. The room seemed to light up with her mirth.

“Were did they find you, Grey? Please, do not worry. Come, we have much to discuss.” They made their way to a desk at one end of the room. Sapphire noticed that the paper had landed on two notebooks, stacked together. “First of all, I really must apologize. Between how you and your friend acted on behalf of Trick, and how you avoided a single shot from being fired, after you had been treated so poorly... a simple apology is not enough.

“Further, you two, without promise of compensation, risked yourselves to save ponies you didn't know. You also solidified a special relationship between Kilowatt and O'Rielly's Rangers, I can't tell you how that will help our two cities grow.”

“Two cities?”

“O'Rielly has requested to make the ruins of Canterberry her primary headquarters. Without the ponies required to operate it ourselves, I agreed. With this agreement, she will be able to provide protection and we can establish trade routes. I fear she may be getting the better deal, though, as a number of our citizens have requested to join her ranks.”

“Kilowatt! That's the name of your town!”

“Yes, we have a small dam that we use to provide enough power for our town. Rain is something that has never been in short supply. Now, there are two reasons why I'm here. First of all, we cannot give you a proper reward, except to say that I've asked all of our merchants to give you a discount. Also, you will always be welcome in Kilowatt.”

“I only ask two things from one as lovely as yourself. The first is, a kiss.” Sapphire sputtered and snorted. That was too much.

“Wait, really?” Grey nodded at her as seriously as he possibly could. Sapphire laughed. “I'm afraid I can't. My special somepony wouldn't approve.”

“Oh, I'd never tell.”

“Once again, I must decline.” Sapphire made a show of batting her eyelashes and fanning herself, she stuck her nose up in the air. “My love is just too great. I could never sully our honor.”

“Luna's darkly swinging tail!” Sapphire interpreted that as Grey's laughable attempt to curse. “Alas, she has invoked her honor- the one thing I am powerless to overcome! In that case,” he looked at her with one eye while the other was covered with a hoof in a mock swoon, “how can I get to Paddock Promontory? It's not on my map thingamajig.” Sapphire shifted uncomfortably.

“I take it that is your second request. Interesting, that is also the second thing I needed to talk to you about.” Sauntering over to the window, Sapphire looked back at Grey. “What do you know about the great war?”

“Only what everypony else knows. The ponies and zebra fought an all-out war against each other, unleashing the worst weapons they had. When the fallout settled, the skies were dark because the pegasi cloistered, and the rest of our land was poisoned.”

“That is still more than most ponies know. I only know of Paddock Promontory because of my… affiliations. You only know about it because you read about it. In that notebook of yours. Zephyr is the zebra who translated it for you. She came to me almost hysterical, warning me that you were going to travel west to unleash a dark demon upon the earth. I'm not foolish enough to believe you're a demon, Grey, but I've also known Zephyr long enough to not ignore her warnings. I'm afraid I can never tell you how to get there.”

“Sapphire,” Grey had gone up to her and was now strangely serious, “I believe you. I know that what is there is evil. I know that because of what happened to my friend, Iron Heart. He doesn't feel. Something terrible has happened to him, and he knows it. He also knows that I've been hiding something from him. I need to go there to stop what's done this to him. I need to go there to make sure he can know Celestia's warmth one more time.” Something touched Sapphire.

“You know about us?” Grey looked left and looked right. He nodded to her slowly.

“Wait, know about what?” Sapphire backed up.

“Nothing, nothing at all.” Grey gazed at her intently, searching for something in her eyes.

“Sapphire, please, if there's anything you can tell me to help my friend. If there's anything I can do to stop this evil, I need to know.” An internal battle occurred on Sapphire's face. She couldn't look at Grey, couldn't meet his eyes. She went for the door. “Sapphire,” Grey called out, “please.” A final nicker betrayed her intention. A final hoof step betrayed her decision.

“Celestia's Chosen. That is who we are. Guardians of the light. Ever since some were excommunicated from the clouds, they set out to spread her light and her wisdom to every creature alive. They grew quickly. When they found me, I was dying in a gutter in Kilowatt. After I heard their word, I became Mayre of that very city. When I met her light, her love, I was transformed Grey, literally transformed. She made me new. My body, broken and suffering from numerous addictions, was given new life, and her magic was what did it. After, I was taught the spells that allowed me to be her voice in this wilderness. Her voice to her children that had been separated from her for so long.

“I am telling you all this because it is not a coincidence that we met. I do not believe you are a demon,” Sapphire punctuated her point with a neigh, “but rather her agent, as I am. Go. I will send word to the others.”

“Others?”

“You are not the first to undertake this quest. Beware, however, the very forces of darkness await you. My sisters, however, will guide you. Five miles due west is where the ocean meets the shore. On that shore is a small settlement called Seacraft Slip. Meet with my cousin, Ocean Salt, and he can provide you passage. I cannot tell you what to do when you arrive.” The gray on his face turned red as Grey got excited. He jumped, clicked his hind hooves in the air, and came down wrong. His hooves slipped out from under him. “Careful Grey, you umbph!”

“I hope you will forgive me,” he bowed, “for stealing what you could not give.” He rushed out of the room.

Dark clouds did nothing to bring Grey down. He galloped around Canterberry's commons calling out for Iron Heart. He eventually found the stallion helping unload military equipment.

“What's wrong?” Iron Heart asked. “Things go sour with the Mare?”

“”Nope. Sapphire's fine. At least she will be as long as her somepony accepts her apology, and probably mine.”

“Are you saying we've got a jealous stallion to avoid?”

“Probably.”

“What the buck did you do?”

“Kiss her against her will.” At that, Iron Heart started to look angry. “Look, none of that's important. She told me where to go next and how to get there. We can get there right now.”

“So what, right now?”

“That's what I've been saying! Haven't you been listening?”

“I don't know, Grey.”

“I do,” O'Rielly interrupted with a smirk. “Grey’s got this thing in his head, don't think he's gonna give it up. Besides, isn't this a chance to figure out what happened to you?”

“Precisely! Wait, how did you know that?”

“I dunno know why, but I kind of like it this idea. Maybe I’m just going soft. You should definitely go, Iron Heart.” Iron Heart stared at O'Rielly, betrayed.

“But I thought I could join your crew.”

“Sorry, that cloudship's flown.”

“Iron Heart, have you been fraternizing with the enemy? She's agreeing with us! Something's definitely wrong.”

“Yeah have you,” O'Rielly stopped when she realized what Grey said. “Since when am I the enemy?” she yelled. “And when is not agreeing with a psychotic pony a bad thing? One guess who's gonna “need some pony to pull his ass out of the fire,” now.” O’Rielly stomped over. Grey pointed a hoof at Iron Heart.

Iron Heart, as he was so good at doing, stepped into the blow. His shoulder caught the brunt while his muzzle went for a long, deep, kiss. Pulling back, he smiled. “Worth it.” He grabbed onto Grey by the scruff and flew off before O'Rielly could do more damage. He landed a few hundred yards away, unable to carry Grey any further.

They collected their things and went to the bomb cart. By it was a small crate. On the crate the was written:

“Don't open till you're dead, or better yet, wait till you reach HELL.”

“Look Iron Heart! You get a present, too!”

“Seems like it, Grey.” He loaded the crate and strapped it down while Grey got in the cart and strapped himself down.

“And hell is underlined for emphasis, too.”

“Yes Grey, I can see.” He looked back at Grey.

“It's even in all capitwaah!” Iron Heart lifted off as fast and hard as he could, getting no small pleasure out of shutting the unicorn up.

Addendum I:

Field Fleet Report 1024

Classified-Access Restricted

Security Authority Recognized......................

Decryption Initiated.................................................................................

Decryption Complete..............................................................................

Yes. The title is misleading. This is because only those with the proper security access should be allowed to even know the purpose of this report. That is not to say that the fleet status is not related to this report, only that the importance of this report's contents cannot be stressed enough. The Enclave must understand the nature of the conflict they are currently in.

Okay, first the bad news. Every last thunderhead has been brought down. The important thing is how they were destroyed. Once this is known, an appropriate response can be formulated. From the gathered battlefield footage, the dark boxes recovered, all the sensory data that was stripped, sent, and mined, and the analysis provided by our finest unicorns, we have some startling conclusions. What does it take to annihilate a floating city of war, as well as its entire crew?

Obviously, the Balefire detonation at Maripony obliterated one thunderhead. This hidden bomb seems to have been found and employed by agents of Red Eye, who, as far as we can tell, was killed by Colonel Autumn Leaf when his alien power cells detonated during his assault on Red Eye's Cathedral. As a side note, I do not personally believe this story. Why would he do that unless he had the time to rig a bomb, and no other choice. Rather, I believe there is another faction that killed him and rigged his lifeless armor. More on that faction later.

Here is where things get interesting. In this same assault another weapon of mass destruction was employed, bringing down a second thunderhead. This weapon is actually two, the team called Lion and Mouse. Lion and Mouse merged necromancy, chemical warfare, and another form of magic in order to poison, and literally bleed out the ship's entire crew. Throw a cybernetic dragon in the mix and things go from nasty to hellish.

If the name of Lion and Mouse sounds familiar, that's because wasteland hero, DJ-Pon3, has been singing their praises all across the wasteland. This same DJ pony has openly come out against Red Eye's forces in the past. Why is this all significant?

Because of the battle for Fillydelphia. In this conflict, an opposing force detonated a poisoned sonic rainboom, allowing a spell strike of unprecedented power (known to be named Celestia One) to be used against the last two thunderheads engaged there. The source of this spell? Tenpony tower, known to have been used as the central broadcast station for the very same DJ-Pon3. The Enclave has been played masterfully. We have been played against all sides from the beginning.

Now the good news. First, we know who is and isn't our enemy. We can now focus our efforts where they are truly deserved. Second, steps have been taken to ensure that spell will never be used against us again. Failing that, the repercussions on the enemy would be disastrous. Third, these attacks have resulted in such a loss of life that nopony will deny this is a fight for survival. This is no longer a who-shot-first situation. Those outside the Enclave have turned this into a slaughter. No pony can deny the horrors and loss of life. If the zebras weren't content with peace, but happy to destroy Equestria with the very same weapons being used on us, we now have the motivation we need to finish what was started. Finally, and this can never be underestimated, regardless of what erroneous actions were taken in the past, we're on the right side.

The cry from all around is that the Enclave is through. I say we haven't event begun.

LEVEL UP

New Perk: Mare Menace
Wiles, charms- whatever you call 'em, you got 'em.
You get a +10% bonus to damage against female foes. Also, conversing with the opposite sex will sometimes take unexpected turns.

Author's Note

-Ch 3 done, whew!
-Make sure weird weather is weird