Fallout Equestria: Longtalons

Chapter 26

Beginning of the End

The next few days were as tense as one might imagine.

Serge wasn't able to do much more than get Amy put on light duty for a while, but it was better than nothing. He mentioned something about Talon Company getting pulled away to do some bizarre forest clearing work over by the Everfree, which didn't exactly sound like light duty and certainly didn't sound safer, but it was moot anyway. Even if we were crazy enough to want to be assigned to the Everfree, apparently it was more a matter of Captain Stern drawing your name out of a hat than anything, so we got stuck with more conventional and boring work. In her case that meant manning the guard post at the barracks overlooking the sole ground entrance, while I was given time to staff the clinic since I otherwise would be on patrol alone. I was honestly a little surprised they didn't assign me to patrol alone anyway, but maybe the mounting losses over the last few months convinced the higher ups to be a little more cautious in their deployments.

In any case, it was easy work for me for a change. I helped tend to those with lingering injuries from the boneheaded assault on the mall, but with magical healing potions to fix the wounded up there was soon little for me to do other than sit around and count the tongue depressors.

Amy had it little better. Manning the guard post at the barracks might have meant she didn't have to fly around the city, and more importantly wouldn't be a risk for missing some important detail in the field, but it did leave her with a lot of time to think and very little to distract her. Simmering on her sister's death and the circumstances of it all would have worked on even the strongest person, and every afternoon when I returned to the barracks I found her in the same state: on her cot in the dark in the sleeping area.

She didn't want to be bothered, Lita had told me. A sentiment I could readily understand.

That all changed out of necessity three days later when Serge handed out our new rotations on the duty roster. It was back to business as usual, and that meant the two of us were scheduled for a full day of flying around the city and counting the fleas on the ponies toiling endlessly below.

Things didn't get off to a great start. Amy was punctual. Despite everything, I'd never seen her shirk her duty or be late for anything, so she was on time. At least in body.

In mind, I was less sure. Her expression was dead and emotionless. She just nodded when Serge gave us our assignment for the day and followed me out without saying a word to anyone. Well, that part wasn't extremely unusual, but even her motions were lifeless. From a distance, her lethargic steps and slumped posture might even be mistaken for a ghoul's. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen her eat anything since Valerie's death, but if she'd gone that long without drinking something she'd be comatose by now.

There was a definite familiarity here. An eerie similarity to how I probably looked and felt all those years ago after the first Pit match I watched. Right before Ida…

No, I didn't need to go there. This would be fine. Maybe after our patrol I'd have time to pull her aside and talk to her. For real. Maybe I could get something meaningful out of her this time, unlike at the sorry excuse for a funeral that Talon Company gave Valerie.

I'd heard that the old schoolhouse had finally fallen down, so it wasn't an option. Someone had an overzealous love session in the upper lofts, Lita claimed. I was more keen to believe Leigh's explanation of a runaway cart plowing into it. But either way, it was gone and I'd have to find somewhere else. It wasn't like Fillydelphia was once one of the biggest cities in Equestria or anything, with some shortage of secluded, private places to take someone for a chat. I'd have all day to figure it out.

The patrol itself was pretty boring at first. Despite my apprehension about Amy's fitness for duty, she kept pace with me as we made our slow rounds around the outskirts of the city, and when I checked back on her she even appeared to be making an honest effort at watching the streets below for danger. She never dropped her gun and shot me either, so that was already better than my worst fears.

We passed near the gates at one point, fortunately never drifting too close to the chemical moat and the ghastly fumes it cast off, just in time to see a caravan with caged wagons drawing close. Security had been stepped up at some point and I counted over a dozen guard ponies on the walls this time, not to mention the three Pinkie balloons floating nearby with snipers perched in them. After the last few incidents, I guess whoever coordinated the guards among Red Eye's army wasn't taking any unnecessary chances.

I was glad that we didn't have to linger. New slave arrivals would mean that Captain Stern would be there soon to bid them welcome to the city, and neither of us were in much of a mood to see her at this point. Or ever again.

For the second half of the patrol I did my best to pick out a good spot to have a little chat with Amy, but there were so many spots I wasn't sure which to choose. At least half a dozen smashed office buildings lined the streets we passed over, and the top floor of any would be a fine choice. If they hadn't fallen in on themselves in two centuries, odds were good that a couple of griffons plopping down in them wasn't going to set them off.

I made a mental note to just pick the closest one to the barracks, since it would mean less backtracking once we were done with our rounds, and got on with trying to pay attention to my surroundings.

Despite everything that had happened, the industry of the city hadn't slowed a bit, and the mobs of ponies pulling supplies or finished goods back and forth were as populous as ever. Even more populous soon, given the new arrivals, but in the end I guess the massacre at the stable and the next at the mall probably really hadn't done much to thin the ranks of the slaves in the city. I didn't even know how many there were. I'd heard numbers ranging from five hundred to five thousand, and didn't really know which was close to true. Either way, a few dozen dead wouldn't make an appreciable difference.

I banished the morbid thought and banked to start a lazy circle around the smokestack of a refinery, which would take us into the deeper industrial districts that Red Eye had cobbled back together. A couple of plants for machining bullets and casings, the refinery for whatever alchemical gunk was being shipped in to make flamer fuel, a concrete plant and several others I still didn't fully know the use of stretched ahead. Three dozen ponies lined the streets, loading or unloading carts, arguing with each other or generally trying to look busy so the slavers wouldn't yell at them.

We passed another wing of Talons flying in the opposite direction as we rounded another corner at an intersection, where Amy gave me a not very gentle shove to get my attention. I flared my wings to throw on the brakes and whipped around to find her already descending toward a pair of ponies slinking through one of the back alleys.

One of them happened to look back at just the wrong moment, and realized that the jig was up. The white mare took off, much to the surprise of her stallion friend, who started a few seconds late and trailed behind her by half a block as they galloped for their lives down the narrow and obstruction strewn alley.

Whatever they were doing, it couldn't be good.

I swooped low after Amy and flapped hard to catch up to them, which was easy as always. Even laden with gear, it wasn't hard to keep pace with malnourished ponies who had to weave around dumpsters and jump over the twisted remains of fire escapes that collapsed a century ago, and we were nearing the outer wall of the city where the ponies would soon have nowhere to run. Flashbacks of one my first days on the job played in the back of my mind, where I chased that poor mare into that building alone. It was harder to corner someone on your own, and very dangerous if she'd been armed. Thankfully, this time, I knew where my partner was, and Amy's training had already directed her to swoop around and cut them off ahead where they weren't expecting it.

Everything went flawlessly for a change. I was just diving into the alley on the tail of the panting ponies when Amy crashed into the street ahead of them. Both locked their legs and skidded on the slick, cracked pavement, but there was nowhere to turn. Their only route was through either of us, or up the rickety fire escapes that we could ascend twenty times as fast.

The mare tripped and face planted, tossing her saddlebags free to slam against a pile of trash bins with resounding, echoing clangs. Two metal cylinders rolled out of one pack and spun in a little circle before stopping neatly in the center of the alley.

Her stallion companion danced over them at the last moment. He let out a startled gasp and threw his hooves into the air when he saw Amy aiming his way.

I drifted closer, keeping off the ground so I could maintain mobility while I kept my pistol drawn and pointing at the mare on the ground. “On your hooves, then hooves in the air,” I directed her.

She complied without protest, and backed against the wall with her friend. Thin streams of blood ran from her nostrils, caking in her already stained and dirtied coat. The stallion next to her, a blue unicorn, looked ready to faint. I wasn't sure if from exhaustion, terror or both.

“What were you doing?” Amy demanded

Stealing something, but the bottles weren't labeled. Now that Amy had both under control, I stooped down to grab one of the cylinders. I took a prospective sniff of the valve at the end, but got nothing. The bottles were too heavy to be empty, so maybe the seals were just surprisingly good.

“W-we were just taking a shipment to Wicked Slit,” the stallion said.

Fragments of shattered brick stung my cheek and I dropped the bottle. The stallion was on the ground now, eyes rolled back, and through the ringing in my ears I heard Amy shouting something about lying to her.

The mare flattened herself against the wall in an attempt to retreat from the gently smoking barrel Amy had rammed toward her.

Holy shit!

I reached for the rifle before she could kill both slaves, but stopped myself when I realized what I was doing. First, grabbing a hot barrel would be really bad for my claw, and second, that was the worst way to de-escalate this situation. If she panicked she might shoot me.

So, I just held the open claw up toward her. “Amy… step back. Calm down.” I could barely hear myself over the ringing.

She cut her eyes to me for a moment, but kept the gun pointing at the mare's chest. “Answer. My. Question.”

“We were stealing the reagents used to make the flamethrower fuel!” the mare blurted out. Tears were collecting in the corners of her eyes and starting to stream down her cheeks too now.

“Where were you taking it?”

“Th-there was-there's a pony in our group who says he knows how to-says a zebra taught him how to make-how to make healing potions with it! It-it's some kind of alchemical shit! We were taking it back to the Twin Carriages Hotel so he-so he could do that!”

“What's his name?”

The mare stared down at the gun barrel. “Uh...”

“I told you not to lie to me!” Amy's claw visibly tightened around the grip on her rifle. I reconsidered trying to grab the rifle.

“Bubblegum Bray!” the mare blurted out, doing her best impression of a sheet of paper as she pressed harder against the wall. “He knows a-knows a lot about chemistry and alchemy and shit!”

Something stirred at my feet, and over the ringing still plaguing my hearing, I heard a groan. The stallion she'd shot was starting to roll over and get back to his hooves. I didn't see any blood anywhere. Where had he even been hit? Prancing princesses on parade... if I had to waste medical supplies on this slave to save his life I was going to do more than have a friendly conversation with Amy. Heidi would pluck me if she found out.

Amy gestured with her rifle for the mare to move back into the alley. “Take the bottles. Get moving.” She didn't seem surprised that the stallion was getting back up, and the pieces were starting to come together. She hadn't shot him. Just the wall above his head. Either way, she prodded him with the tip of her barrel. “Get up and get moving.”

The trip back to the fuel refinery was tense, but uneventful. The slaver running the factory, some mare with an eye patch and whose coat color was lost beneath a layer of grime and soot thick enough to make her look like a chunk of animated charcoal, was absolutely livid when we got back. She hadn't ever heard of this Bubblegum Bray, but ignored that in lieu of spraying out an unending stream of profanity and colorful threats of torture and agony for these two for the amount of trouble she was going to get in for letting them steal who knew how much fuel.

I didn't want to think about the coming consequences any longer than I had to, and had something more pressing on my mind anyway. As soon as Amy and I exited the acrid smelling factory and returned to the street, I led us back around to the side alley. Somewhere out of sight but close. The two of us needed to have our little conversation now. Not when we were done with patrols for the day.

“Shouldn't we be getting back into the air?” she asked in a tired tone.

“In a minute.” I took us around one more corner, to a little gap between buildings covered above by a sheet of tin roofing that someone probably placed there for a makeshift walkway. As secluded as anywhere in this city.

She stopped just inside the gap, tail still hanging out in the alley. “What?”

“I think you know.”

The tired, disinterested expression on her face melted away to be replaced with a small glower as she cast a glance back toward where we'd captured the thieving slaves. She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I guess I do. What about it?”

“Don't you think you took that a bit far?”

She shrugged and flicked her tail. “I didn't shoot them. Seemed like reasonable force to me. Maybe even a little soft.”

I wasn't completely convinced she missed on purpose. Considering how her aim was after her injuries, she might have tried to shoot him in the forehead for all I knew. Or the horn.

“And what was the point of scaring them shitless by shooting at them after we'd already rounded them up? If they panicked it was only going to make it harder.”

“The slavers are going to shoot them anyway for stealing. Or toss them in the Pit if not. It would have been doing them a favor.”

“Amy, that's not the same-”

“Why?” She narrowed her eyes at me. “Because it's not you shooting them? You know, Kaz, there's something I don't understand. Why do you care? After everything the ponies did, why do you even care what happens to them?”

Whoa, what now? That wasn't the direction I expected this to go.

Amy cocked a frown. “Ponies murdered your sister. They murdered my sister. And besides all of that, it's their fault the world is even in the shape it's in. Them and the zebras. So, yeah, forgive me if maybe I think they're only starting to get a taste of what they deserve.”

It took me a few moments to process all of that. “Ponies didn't murder Liese. Brimstone Blitz murdered Liese, and he's one of the most infamous and bloodthirsty creatures to have ever lived.” I wasn't completely convinced he'd really pay for all the suffering he caused, but he'd been recaptured and was suffering here in the city with the others. I had to believe that was good enough. “And much like him, raiders killed Valerie, not ponies. And they're dead now.”

Her glower hardened, red irises catching light from a crack in the walkway above and cutting through the darkness. “It's not that simple. You and Liese might not have been that close but I can't just forget what they did to Valerie.”

“Yeah, and you never will,” I spat back. “But you can't stay mad at an entire species for what one psychopath did. You can't stay mad at the species because of what they did two hundred years ago. You want to blame ponies for everything? You've been in the lieutenant's office. Those antique guns aren't just for show. If the griffon kingdoms only fought in the war because they were paid to do it that still hardly makes them innocent. Do you want to take responsibility for that? For what our ancestors did?” I banged my fist on my breastplate. “Look what we're doing right now. We're helping to herd and work ponies to death like animals. Right now. How many ponies do you think hate us for that?”

“And how much choice do I have about that? I was born into this. Bound by contracts since the day I hatched.” She raised a claw toward me. “But you did. You said you did it for money, and that's it, right? If you really cared about ponies as much as you say you did, you wouldn't be here. So don't preach at me.”

I released my clenched claws. I guess she'd just forgotten the last five years we'd worked together. I guess she'd forgotten about the times I'd risked everything up to and including my life to help everyone, griffon or pony.

“Fine,” I spat again. I pushed forward, and past her. “I won't. Forget I said anything. We'll be late and that would piss off the lieutenant, and I'm not in the mood to hear that right now.”

She grunted again and fell in behind me.

What a waste of time. I don't know why I thought trying to talk to her would be a good idea. When had me talking to anyone ever been a good idea?

And what could I say that I hadn't said before anyway?

I don't really remember what happened for the rest of the patrol. I spent all of my time trying to keep my attention on the roads below, the clouds of noxious fumes ahead or the anemic sunlight fighting through the overcast skies while we went. Just enough to look like I was trying to do my job while not making eye contact with Amy, and hopefully without spotting any more ponies making off with liquid explosives to do pony goddesses knew what.

They weren't going to make healing potions with it. That much I knew. And as much as Amy was right about their fate…

For the dozenth time I snorted and tried to rivet my attention on something else. I hated Fillydelphia. I hated everything about it. I hated the smells. I hated flying past the same smelters, furnaces and factories every day. I hated the people in it, both the distant like Red Eye and Stern, and those I dealt with on a day to day basis. I hated what the city stood for and everything that happened in it. I hated myself for being there and how Amy was right about how in the end I was doing nothing but making people's lives worse.

An eternity passed before we were on our way back to the barracks under the waning evening sunlight that fought through the cloud cover, and by that point I wanted to just go inside, drop my junk in the first open spot I could find and flop down into my cot. Serge might chew me out for not stowing my gear properly, but I was far beyond caring about that. I just wanted to not deal with anything or anyone for a few hours, even if it meant just laying in my cot unable to sleep.

So, naturally, the first thing I spotted on our descent was the rest of our squad strolling through the long shadows of the stacked railroad cars. They came to a chaotic stop when they noticed us, waiting for us to join them.

Dammit. I hated people. Why did I have to interact with someone right now?

Carmelita was the first to talk, as usual. She threw up a little wave. “Hey guys, we were about to get something to eat.” She raised an eyebrow. “Jeez Kaz, who pissed in your soup?”

Oh, everybody. “Nothing.” Shit, that answer didn't make sense.

“Uh huh.” She glanced over to Amy, but didn't badger her. I guess she didn't look any more angry than the last few days. “Well, I smelled radigator so if you want to eat something decent for a change this is your only chance.”

Leigh suggested, “Just bring it back here if you're not in the mood to hang around.”

Fine. I doubted I was going to get much sleep anyway, but I definitely wasn't going to if I was hungry on top of it. I could just grab the food and leave.

The promise of radigator turned out to be mostly accurate. There weren't any neat little skewers of gator tail meat lined up for us like I was hoping for, but one of the new and more enterprising youngsters that had been pulled into kitchen duty had taken it upon herself to experiment with making stew. The gutted remains of a radigator out by the door told me that it was likely that the meat in the stew contained some gator, but there were a few turtle shells and bones from other critters, so it wasn't the only thing.

All academic. As long as some didn't literally piss in my soup I didn't really care what meat was in it. It certainly smelled good either way. Almost good enough to let me forget about earlier, but we spent enough time standing in line for Amy's huffs and irritated sighs behind me to keep reminding me. I tried to focus on anything else, like the conversation I could just barely overhear from a couple in the booth nearby about some giant explosion out north half an hour ago. No boom but something about a mushroom cloud. Weird. Probably just imagining things. It wasn't like someone just found a balefire bomb lying around and set it off for fun, and I didn't see anything like that during our patrol.

My turn was coming up, with the little pink griffoness at the counter gleefully ladling soup into a bowl for another satisfied guest. She must have had a few compliments already. A good sign. Maybe she knew the secret to not cooking the meat to death, or scrounged up some spices somewhere.

I heard someone else mumbling something about seeing an unusual number of alicorns out by the walls earlier, but whatever he was going to say was cut off when static crackled on the radio. Sweetie Belle's song ended in a twisted warble before dying out in the electric noise. Before anyone had a chance to ask what happened, a new voice cut in. A crisp, masculine voice I didn't recognize.

“Greetings, citizens of the Equestrian Wasteland.

“This is the Grand Pegasus Enclave. We have commandeered this broadcast to deliver an important message to all ponies:

“Do not be afraid. We are here to save you!”

The radio cut out again, this time for good. A series of clinks and clanks filled the old diner as everyone dropped their silverware and exchanged nervous looks. Amy gasped behind me. I stopped halfway reaching for my bowl of soup, just as the pink feathered girl cocked her head at the radio.

Serge clambered to dig his way out of the booth he, Carmelita, Leigh and Isaac had stuffed themselves into. He muttered something agitated about needing to speak with the lieutenant, as did two other sergeants I recognized in the diner.

I forgot about the food for a moment and glanced back to Amy, who looked like she'd stuck a talon in a light socket. Her eyes were wide and all of her feathers stood on end. “Fuck...”

I heard a lot of people say that. Pretty sure I said it too.

Even without what Amy had told me, I knew what this meant. Maybe they were telling the truth and planned to “liberate” Fillydelphia, but even if that wasn't their plan, it was probably a territorial land grab. There weren't many places in the Equestrian wasteland worth annexing now, with Fillydelphia and maybe Friendship City being the only two spots worth the trouble.

My stomach twisted into a knot as my heart started doing strange things in my chest. Red Eye had to have expected this would happen at some point. He had to have a plan. Captain Stern had to have a plan.

But how long did we have to prepare?

Not long enough, I was sure.

The first meeting came half an hour later. Serge dragged us all over to the grounds outside the train station that Heidi used as her office, where everyone in our platoon was gathering. Heidi waited on the train platform for everyone to assemble, Egon at her side as always. She paced along the breadth of the platform, occasionally cutting her eyes out over the growing crowd or glancing up to the dark cloudy skies above.

Agitated, sleepy and tired griffons in an array of colors and states of preparedness gathered around our squad. Heidi stopped to say something to Egon, but over the growing chatter and questioning among the crowd I couldn't make it out. Everyone knew something bad was happening. Most just didn't know how bad yet.

Heidi stopped at the center of the platform and flared her wings to get everyone's attention. When the chattering didn't stop, she discharged a pistol into the air, which rapidly shut everyone up.

“Listen up!” Her golden eyes tracked over us. “As some of you are already aware, thirty-six minutes ago, a broadcast claiming to be from the Great Pegasus Enclave was received, with a claimed goal of liberating the Equestrian wasteland. I'm here to bring everyone up to speed and issue standing orders.

“First, we're still working to gather information, but intelligence believes the transmission to be legitimate. Every major radio station appears to have been interrupted by the message, and all we have right now on main channels is radio silence. Local broadcasts were unaffected, so nothing is jamming radio, and that means the radio tower itself must have been compromised. We're working to confirm that now, but assume that a declaration of war was issued.

“Second, scouts have not reported any sightings of Enclave soldiers or aircraft near Fillydelphia or the forward bases near the Everfree. That said, we're operating under the expectation that an attack could arrive at any moment. The city garrison has already begun to deploy to defensive positions, and will begin activating triple-A assets shortly. Some of you will be called on to assist with deployment, but Red Eye's army will man all defensive emplacements.

“Third, we will be issuing additional weapons. Every squad will receive two anti-materiel rifles and twenty rounds of ammunition. Select squads will also be issued RPGs or MEWs as supplies allow. Ammunition for all of these weapons is limited so only use them when and where appropriate.

“Fourth, the city is on high alert and we're expecting Red Eye to halt work and pull slaves out of the streets and factories. We have zero time and energy to waste on them. If you deem something to be a threat, deal with it immediately. Slaves attempting to capitalize on the situation and flee are to be shot on sight. Deserters will also be shot. Do not waste specialist ammunition on slaves.”

She half turned toward the office. “Everyone is ordered to report to the armory immediately. Refer any questions to ranking NCOs in your squads. We don't have a tactical plan prepared but Captain Stern is assembling one now. Until you receive orders to the contrary, all squads are expected to assemble at your designated city defense postings, and should not deviate from your postings under orders from the city guard without approval from me, Lieutenant Ironclaw, Captain Stern or Master Red Eye. Expect updates to follow.

“Now, get moving!”

She vanished through the door to the office, followed by Egon. We all exchanged uneasy glances. A few troopers looked too stunned to do anything.

I honestly had no idea where our “designated city defense posting” was, but assumed Serge knew. For the moment, I consigned myself to just follow him.

And keep my eyes on the skies. Every shifting patch of darkness in the clouds seemed to jump out at me now. Any one of them could be a pegasus or ship preparing to dive on us.

We got lucky with our posting. Or so Serge said.

Three squads, one from each platoon, weren't so lucky. They'd been pulled off for forward scouting duties and sent above the cloud layer to look for Enclave ships and patrols, which was, as Carmelita put it, insanely dangerous. I didn't really know what the Enclave's technology was like, but I knew it was mostly prewar equipment and that had to be better than a bunch of binoculars and similarly low tech equipment that we could give the scouts. EFS was much too short range to pick up on anything beyond normal visible range, but I was betting that Enclave ships had magical radar systems that could pick up a squad of Talons long before they were in range to engage.

Instead of scouting duties, we'd been given the honors of joining the city garrison at the wall near the gate. A hundred pony soldiers of every size, shape and color, armed with an equal variety of large and medium caliber weapons had been stationed here, either manning machine guns on the wall or hunkered down under hastily welded together scrap shields that had been attached to the walls.

It didn't make a lot of sense to me, really. This was an effective defense against someone who had to attack from outside of the walls, but what was keeping the pegasi from just descending onto the center of the city from above the clouds? The emplacements weren't going to help a ton if that happened.

Not that it mattered much for us. We were ordered to maintain watch over the area, and that meant a lot of flying in circles, letting the butterflies accumulate in my stomach until I was sure I'd puke up a bouquet of them, all while expecting bullets, lasers or missiles to start raining down any second.

There were only a few sparing moments that we got any rest, when Serge ordered us down onto the roof of a building to catch our breath and recover for the next dozen passes over the defenses. We dropped down onto a creaking duplex home next to one of the “triple-A” assets that Heidi mentioned, which I'd quickly come to learn meant Anti-Aircraft Artillery when we got to help pull the massive piece into position. Normally it probably would have been hitched up to half a dozen earth ponies to pull, but we had to deal with just two helping us drag the rusted piece of junk out of a shed and over here. I sure hoped it still worked, since a flak cannon shell as big around as my waist gave me a tiny bit of hope that it might scare off any Enclave soldiers that got caught near the explosions. The team of ponies busy dragging wagon loads of ammo to it and other flak cannons along the walls implied that Red Eye had stockpiled plenty of shells to fire at least. Clearly he had been expecting this day.

One of the stallions working below ratcheted open the loading hatch and ran his hoof inside. “Chamber looks like it's clean of rust. This bucket of bolts might actually fire.”

“Let's hope,” his lankier friend muttered as he tested the handles to adjust the cannon's aim. “If we actually have to anyway.”

“You kidding? If the Enclave's going anywhere they're going to come straight here.”

Skinny pony hopped down from the gunner seat. “Sure, but what if they're telling the truth? About saving everypony?”

Bigger pony snorted and bucked the hatch shut. “Don't kid yourself. Even if the Enclave are coming to save anypony, it ain't us. Take a look around. Who in this city do you think needs saving?”

“Point taken. But hey, maybe when shit goes bad we can pretend to be slaves. Won't be too hard, and there's plenty of griffons around to keep up the guard act.”

Guess he thought we couldn't hear them. Carmelita made a quip about shooting him for desertion, but Serge pointed out that Heidi would be mad if she wasted a bullet from her anti-materiel rifle.

Big pony shook his head and started unloading the latest cart load of cannon shells. “Forget it. They're not coming to save the slaves either. I don't know what their angle is, or why they're doing it now, but if they wanted to save the slaves or anypony else they'd have done it twenty years ago. Back when we didn't have hundreds of armed ponies, artillery pieces and a small army of Talons protecting the place.”

His little buddy sighed and helped lug a shell out of the wagon. “Right, right, but the point stands doesn't it? Even conquering the place is way harder now than it would have been a few decades ago, so why now?”

“Don't know. Maybe all of the factories and shit caught their eyes lately. Or whatever it is that Red Eye's doing out in the Everfree. You hear the last rumors crawling their way back here? Somepony said he's building some giant military robot. Probably all bullshit but I sure wouldn't mind if he did have a giant robot waiting to help when the pegasi get here.”

I'd feel a little better about our romp through that Robronco facility a few years ago if Red Eye did learn enough from it to build a robot to save us all, but I knew better than that. Whatever was actually happening at the Cathedral, it-

Something exploded above and I jumped with a start. The world spun and my claws scraped against loose shingles. The roof dropped out from under me and I threw my claws up to catch the ledge at the last moment.

Thunder continued to roll above, and a drop of rain pattered off my forehead. Then another.

Thunder. It was just thunder.

Five pairs of eyes stared down at me from the others still sitting at the top. Amy sighed visibly. She ambled down, grabbed my claw with her good one and hauled me up.

“Thanks...”

She offered only a grunt in response as we returned to our position.

Down below, both ponies fought to rivet their attention on something other than me and the small spectacle I'd just created. The little one pawed at a cannon shell. “We're all gonna die, aren't we?”

Amy nodded once and muttered to herself, “Yeah. Probably.”

The tight feeling in my stomach knotted harder as the rain began to fall and drown out the background sounds of a city preparing for war. Up until today, during my time in Fillydelphia I'd mostly worried about the harm I was perpetuating. The times I was legitimately worried for my life were mercifully few and far between. But now, even Amy was convinced we were dead griffons.

For some time I weighed my odds of trying to escape, while the beating rain gave me a semblance of personal space and isolation. Odds were good that Isaac and Carmelita would hesitate to shoot me with their anti-materiel rifles. I might be able to reach the clouds before they got their act together. If I could make it that far, maybe I could lose them. If Fillydelphia got wasted in the attack, nobody was going to come looking for me.

But the clouds were also where any roaming Enclave scouts might lurk… and they'd have no compunctions about killing me.

I chanced a glance down the line of griffons to my right and dropped the idea. All of them were professionals except me. They'd probably hate themselves for it, but they'd shoot me. I knew it. Amy might not even regret it too much.

Her rifle was shaking. Almost too subtle to see. Maybe it was because of her bad claw. Maybe it was because of the rain. Or maybe her rapid breathing or the continuous shuffling of her wings belied a fear in her every bit as strong as mine. The difference was that she wasn't running away, even as much as she hated Talon Company, and as much as she hated everyone she was working for.

They were all afraid, but they'd fight for each other. I had to do the same, and as much as I hated this place and wanted to run, I knew they were all worth fighting for. As rotten as this city was, they were no more guilty of anything than I was. How could I judge anyone for that?

My thoughts were interrupted when Leigh cleared her throat. “Sergeant, I've got a message coming in from the lieutenant. She wants us back at the train station ASAP.”

“You heard her everyone. Get moving.”

So we did. I knew the news wasn't going to be good.

Heidi met us outside at the station, much like our last briefing, except now that rain was coming down in force it was much harder to read her mood. Five other squads trickled in over the course of a few minutes, but once she judged enough of us were present she shouted over the rain to get our attention and jumped straight into our briefing.

“The Enclave have been spotted. We're still gathering intel but eavesdropping on local radio transmissions has given us high confidence that much of their military force is approaching Friendship City now. One super carrier group of two we believe to be active. We're still trying to locate the second carrier group, but have high confidence that it's not currently approaching Fillydelphia or the Everfree.

“Based on what we know, we believe it would take the Friendship City group over a day to reach us in force if they turned this way immediately. Patrols have confidence that we have at least six hours of warning in the event the other carrier group turns up and is en route here. Accordingly, we're keeping the city on high alert but scaling down active deployments. You are all being taken off active deployment for the next six hours, after which you'll be rotated back in.

“This may be your last opportunity to sleep. I strongly recommend that you take advantage of it. Bear in mind that we are still under high alert and skirmishes could begin at any point. You may be called back up without warning.”

She narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Don't do anything that will compromise your ability to fight. Anyone caught drinking or using recreational drugs will be harshly punished. And as before, you are being watched. If you try to desert, you will be shot.

“Dismissed.”

It was a little difficult to believe that things weren't actively worse. Not that things were really any better either. I had no idea what the Enclave wanted with Friendship City, but if they weren't headed here and I had a chance to get almost enough sleep, I'd worry about it later.

Being sleepy didn't always mean being able to sleep, and for once it wasn't difficult to understand why.

I laid on my cot in the near darkness for an indeterminate amount of time, tossing and rolling over every fifteen minutes or so and hoping it would somehow make a difference. Which, of course, it never did. Every crack of distant thunder I heard outside snatched me back from whatever progress I was making toward sleep, for fear that it was the beginnings of an attack. Somewhere in the darkness of the room, Leigh's radio crackled over the patter of ongoing rain. If the lieutenant had to get in contact with us, it needed to be close. The white noise from the radio's static and the rain hadn't helped me sleep a bit.

Eventually, I decided that I'd had enough and dragged my worthless hide out of the cot and into the sitting room. The lights were off, and until I found the door handle to shut off the bunks from the sitting area I was going to keep it that way. The last thing I wanted to do was wake one of them up and rob them of sleep pointlessly. It could literally mean the difference between life and death.

With the most quiet clank I could manage, I latched the door and flicked the lights on.

“Fuck!”

Amy looked up from the table and blinked. “...did I scare you?”

Yes! “...no. No, I just… what are you doing?” Good thing I hadn't grabbed the pot of cold coffee we left sitting out earlier, or things would have been a lot messier!

She shrugged. “Same as you, I'm guessing. Can't sleep.”

Now that my heart had decided to return to an almost normal pace, I grabbed the coffee pot and a couple of cups on my way over to the table. If she didn't want any, I'd just drink it all.

“I don't know how anyone can right now. I guess I should be thankful that they even gave us the chance, but there wasn't much point. If the others can, good for them.”

Amy nodded and accepted the cup I offered her. She neglected to drink any of its contents and instead merely tapped her talons along the sides. Twice she opened her beak as if to say something, but both times she eventually decided to keep it to herself. Silence continued to hang in the air, only broken by the rain falling outside. What could even be said at this point?

To break the silence, I pointed a talon at the cup. “Want me to heat it up for you?” Maybe I was just too jaded to care anymore, but I could drink lukewarm black coffee all day and it didn't bother me a bit.

“Kaz… there's something I want to say to you. In case I don't get another chance.”

Okay, never mind heating up the coffee. Guess it was time for her to chew me out more. “Yeah?”

She clicked her beak a couple of times and cut her eyes away toward the wall. “I'm sorry. About what I said earlier.”

If I were drinking my own coffee I might have choked on it. “Wha…?”

Her expression hardened into a small scowl. “Don't make this harder than it needs to be. I didn't mean what I said. I know… I know that you've tried to do what you thought was right, and that you've had a lot of experience with ponies that I haven't. So… there. I'm sorry.”

That took a few seconds to process, and thankfully I had a cup in my claw that I could sip from to feign being busy to give myself a moment to think. “It's okay. I probably shouldn't have jumped on you like that either. We've all had a lot of reasons to be in a bad mood for a long time, so just forget it.”

“...there's one more thing,” she said, again tapping her talons on her cup as she avoided looking me in the eye. “Just, thanks.”

“For what?” Yeah, this had to be some kind of weird lucid dreaming experience. The Enclave were coming to raze Fillydelphia and in the midst of that Amy was apologizing and thanking me?

She shrugged again and stretched her wings a little. “For everything. You risked your life to save Valerie. If she could have been saved, I know you would have. And your sister. And you did save Serge and Carmelita... I know being here is the opposite of what you want, but you've stuck by us regardless. A lot of people owe you their lives.” She sighed and set the cup down. “And you know, despite our differences, you've always put up with being my partner. Most outsiders would have probably snapped years ago.”

Sometimes I wondered if I had and just didn't realize it. Not to mention I didn't really have any choice in whose partner I was. “I should probably say thanks for not snapping and strangling me.”

Maybe it was just sleep deprived delirium, but for the briefest moment I thought I saw a little smile form at the corners of her beak. “It's been hard at times. But it's like I told you years ago. I think we were on one of those fishing trips. I get it. We'll never see the world the same, but at least I knew you'd be there.”

Pinfeathers, now I felt extremely guilty for considering flying off to the wild gray yonder to escape this wretched place before the plasma bolts started raining down on it. Maybe she just judged me right for being an idiot who'd die here over some misplaced sense of camaraderie or loyalty to her and the other squad members.

Her smile was replaced by a growing frown. “And I know if one of us is hurt, you'll risk everything to help. So… if it happens tomorrow and I can't say it… thanks.”

If anything could kill the mood, that would. “Let's hope it doesn't come to that.”

Everything went quiet again, with Amy tightening her grip around her cup a little until it buckled.

“...I'm tired of being the bad guy.”

“Huh?”

She released the cup before she spilled coffee everywhere and continued, “I thought I was just tired of Talon Company, but that's really what it is. I'm tired of being the bad guy. Ever since I got here, that's all I've been. That's all the slaves will ever see me as. The slavers would throw us to the hellhounds to save their skins. And now, with the Enclave, that's all we are again. Just someone with a gun between them and what they want. Another bad guy. I'm tired of it.”

The door clicked open and a yellow griffoness strolled into the room with us. “You and me both, sister.” Carmelita rubbed at her bleary eyes and said, “I've been in this thankless outfit for entirely too long. I don't care what I do after this is over, but I didn't sign up to get shot at by the Enclave.”

Amy slid her still full cup of coffee toward her. “Couldn't sleep either?”

“Had to piss. Then I heard you lovebirds talking.” She ambled toward the exit. “Also, yes, couldn't sleep.”

When she returned from her bathroom break, she flopped down at the table with us and asked, “So, what do you think our chances with the Enclave are? How fucked are we?”

“Seriously,” Amy said flatly. “I never saw any up close, but we all knew that their army was comprised of exclusively prewar equipment. Specialized pegasus powered armor and more magical energy weapons in a squad than you've probably seen in your life.”

“Any idea how many of them there are?”

Amy shook her head.

Another feminine voice sounded from the door as Leigh chimed in, “We don't know. Guesses range from three hundred to three thousand soldiers.” She stumbled in and found a seat with the rest of us, followed by Isaac carrying the radio.

“Oh, goody. Anywhere to matching us to beating us ten to one. And with force multipliers on top. We really are boned.” Lita sucked down the cup of coffee in one gulp. “I bet those rusted buckets of bolts they set up don't even work.”

Metallic clicking preceded Serge joining the rest of us in the sitting room. “Lieutenant said that they test fired a few and they worked. It's the best we've got so we've got to trust that they'll do the job.”

Lita crushed the cup and tossed it into the corner of the room, nowhere even remotely close to a trash can. “At least the anti-mat rifles can punch through their armor. Works on Steel Ranger armor so I'm betting anything light enough to fly is easier to shoot through.” She wagged a finger at us. “Let this be a lesson to you: overachieving kills. They gave me and Ike the guns because we're the best shots in the squad. One or two shots and we'll probably be eating laser guided missiles for lunch.”

Serge stood near the door and snapped his organic talons to get our attention. “All right everyone, listen up. I know that the thought of fighting the Enclave is daunting, but everyone needs to can the fatalistic attitude. If you give up now then you don't have a shot when they get here.

“I'm not sure on the specifics, but Master Red Eye has more prepared for them than he's shown so far. Lieutenant Blackfeathers told us that the Cathedral in the Everfree has a number of experimental weapons that are being prepped right now to counter the attack. It's a basic part of military tactics. Feign weakness when you're strong so the enemy will be lured to their defeat.”

Lita leaned on the table with an elbow. “And if they're faking too?”

“They can't. The Enclave can't build more of the prewar equipment they've been keeping fixed up over the centuries, and what they have has been known for decades. Near as we can tell only half of their air force is even operational, and all of it green. They've been living a life of luxury up in the clouds while we've been toughing it out down here with the worst the wasteland has to offer.

“Not to mention we've got the homeland advantage. Fortified positions with AAA and other emplacements. Hundreds of ponies on the ground will be backing us up. Anything we destroy can't be replaced so the Enclave are going to be careful and sparing with what they risk throwing at us. I'm expecting a hard and heavy initial assault with all they have, which falls apart and backs off just as quickly once they realize they can't just roll over us. They'll be afraid to try again.”

I wished I could be so confident. Amy looked like she was about as defeated as ever at the thought of facing them. Lita looked unconvinced, while Leigh and Isaac just looked consigned to their fates.

Serge continued, “The lieutenant also told me that if things continue like they have been we'll have more time to prepare. Red Eye's army is trying to set up MEW emplacements using scavenged Steel Ranger weapons, and a few missile batteries near the Fun Farm since they're expecting direct assaults on the headquarters. She's also going to call squads in as rotations allow to practice air-to-air combat. It's what the pegasi will be used to so we're hoping the ground emplacements will throw them off, but we've got to be ready to fight in the air too.”

“Nothing like a crash course right before the test,” Lita grumbled.

“Take it or leave it,” Serge shot back. He circled around the table to take the last open chair. “The battle will be hard, but when it gets here, there's nobody else I'd rather face it with than all of you.”

A bold faced lie, I knew, since a cross eyed pony with a shovel would be better in a fight than me, but Serge was doing his best to keep morale up so I just accepted it without a word. So did everyone else. Even Carmelita.

“Gee, sarge, you're gonna make me get all teary.” Well, for a moment, anyway.

I pushed my empty coffee cup aside and joked, “Maybe I should land on one of their ships and bring them some bad luck.”

That got a small round of uneasy chuckles. Lita snorted. “Yeah, like that time the spark battery blew out in that skywagon last year right when we flew past them. Made some pretty fireworks but boy did the girls pulling it freak out. Good thing they were close to the city already.”

Another round of light chuckles. “Oh, or that time...”

Time began to fade away as we shared a few memories of our years together in the city. Of the crazy coincidences or strange things we'd seen. Leigh brought up a story I'd never heard about finding some slavers making out in a dumpster, when she thought some pony was getting murdered.

It wasn't much, but a couple of hours of talking about anything but the impending attack was enough to let me forget about the butterfly swarm growing in my stomach again.

I dozed off in my seat at some point, but as always, sleep never lasted long enough. Morning came to a rude awakening by Amy, who informed me that Lieutenant Blackfeathers had summoned us and a few other squads for another debriefing, pending our next rotation onto watch.

It was difficult to tell that it was morning.

The rain stopped at some point overnight, but the clouds still looked dark and ominous. Of course it was just the remnants of the storm system that rolled through the previous day, but in the back of my mind I kept wondering if it was part of an Enclave vanguard force using the thunderstorms as cover for an aerial approach. No ponies or lasers came lancing out of the sky at any point on our way to the train station at least, so I swallowed my apprehension and followed everyone else to the debriefing.

Like the previous day, Heidi was waiting for us on the platform of the old station. Her feathers were disheveled and frayed at the edges, and the bags under her eyes made it look like she hadn't slept in two weeks.

Most everyone present looked little better. I was sure nobody got any sleep the previous night.

Once she'd determined that we were all present, she called us to order and explained, “We've got an update on intel from the forward scouts. I wish I had better news, but it looks like the Enclave are continuing with their planned attacks on other cities with substantial military assets.”

She wiped her eyes. “First, we know that the old city of Canterlot was destroyed by one of their ships. Nobody has been able to pin down why, but to me it's a clear show of force. They're here to reassert what they believe to be order, and began by removing what was left of the old symbols of Equestria.

“Their forces are currently committed to engagements north of here. Early reports have come back that they have begun an assault on Friendship City, which has a significant remnant of old Equestrian Army defenses. At this point we're not sure if the Enclave plan to take the city for those emplacements, or are destroying them to prevent the city from fighting back while they annex it.

“Additionally, scouts have determined that their second supercarrier group is headed toward New Appleloosa. It may be a diversionary effort, or could just be on the way to their true destination, since the city has no known military assets of value.”

She let a dramatic pause follow. Or maybe she was just so tired she needed a moment.

“To be clear, that would put them headed south from their current location. Toward us. We're trying to coordinate with field operatives to verify their heading and plan, but it's possible they're headed for the Everfree and the Cathedral there. If not, it's very likely they're headed toward Fillydelphia. We have the largest industrial and military base left in Equestria, so there's no doubt they will try to take it.

“Captain Stern is drafting up field deployments to help protect the Everfree facilities, so it is very likely that some of you will be pulled away to redeploy there urgently. Until then, you are all on active patrol and high alert. You have your orders.”

She took a long, weary breath and waved a claw at us. “Dismissed.”

The butterflies in my stomach turned into another lump of stone.

This was it. It was now just a matter of hours until the shooting started.

Level 13 - Max level achieved.