After getting back, I walked around the base for a bit, making small talk with everyone. After conversing with Jackson for a bit, he said,

“Allen’s been in his new ‘office’ for a while. You wanna go check up on him?”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

Jackson gave me the ‘follow me’ wave, and I did. Along the way, he asked me “Have you heard of Jackie’s idea for our group name?”

“What, Wolfhound?”

“Yeah. I like it. What do you think?”

I nodded. “Same here.”

We walked for a bit more before he piped up again. “It’s kind of hard to believe that we’re officially a PMC now. I mean, we were always told that groups like PMC’s were bad, too. They fought and killed purely for money, and didn’t mind betraying, for a bigger paycheck. Guess that’s not always true. But still, we’re technically illegal, now.”

“But Celestia knows about us.”

“Yeah, she has to turn a blind eye. If she ever publicly acknowledges us, she’d be legally forced to take us in. So everything she does with us has to be under the radar.”

“Well, that sucks.”

“He** yeah, it does. At least we still get paid. I was there when she first came on the radio. She promised us that whenever we do a job for Equestria, she’d find a way to pay us.”

“Huh. Well, at least we won’t starve to death, trying to root these guys out.” I remarked.

Upon finishing that sentence, we came to Allen’s office’s door. Or, rather, double door. It had originally been the base commander’s quarters, but Allen converted it into an office. He still used the barracks with the rest of us. He’d become the unanimous leader of our group. Of Wolfhound. Score one to Jackie, for a great name.

When we entered Allen’s office, he was just finishing up a radio conversation on the commander’s personal radio set.

“-Yes ma’am. We’ll be there. Out.” He switched off the radio, turned, and saw us. “What’s up?”

Jackson spoke up. “Just checking up on you. What was that?”

Allen sighed. “Apparently, our guy did know something. Crimson Justice is gonna attack in a few days.”

“What, here?”

“No. Worse. Canterlot.”

Oh colt.

“Sh*t.” Jackson swore.

Allen nodded in agreement with Jackson’s assessment, then he continued. “But we still have some leeway. The attack’s in a few days, and it’ll only take us a few hours to get there. If you have anything you want to finish up, do it now. Jackson, tell the teams. Dismissed.”

Jackson saluted and about-faced. I heard Allen give a quick, quiet snort. Then Jackson walked out. I made to follow, but…

“Firestar.”

I turned back around. “Yes sir?”

“First of all, I’m not too big on formality. If we’re not on an operation, just call me Allen. Secondly, the attack is going to be all over the place. Really scattered. Celestia’s doing what she can, but the amount of guards she’s using to cover each area has left a couple areas virtually unprotected. And they’re right next to each other, so if they combine, they’ll be a real problem. I need a second team to cover the second area. Jackie’s admitted you’ve got a cool head, and Jackson’s told me he sees a lot of leadership potential in you. I want you to lead the second team. Is that alright?”

I stood there for a second, stunned. Allen opened his mouth to repeat, but then I stammered out “Uh-y-yes sir, Allen.” Then I deflated, thinking my stammering had just bombed me. But then I heard laughing.

“Don’t worry, Firestar. Jackson also told me how good you are with complements and sudden trusts. And this sure is he**a sudden.”

I smiled gratefully, and let out a nervous chuckle. Then Allen got serious again.

“So. I’ll take Jackson and Leon to one sector. You’ll take Jackie and Amber to the other. Yes, Amber’s agreed to officially join the group. I asked her myself.” He glanced behind him at a table with a stack of paper on it. “I’ve got some paperwork to do. Do whatever you need to do, then head to Canterlot. I’ll get Jackson to arrange everyone transport. Dismissed.”

I saluted and about-faced, like Jackson. I heard a snort of laughter from behind me, but he didn’t even attempt to contain this one. I smiled, even though he couldn’t see my face anymore. I walk out.

I found Jackie, Amber, and Leon lounging around in the only barracks we were currently occupying. “Did you all hear-“

“Yeah, Jackson told us.” Jackie spoke up.

I nodded and walked back out. I found Jackson in full gear in front of the Armory.

“What’s got you so ready to go?”

“Just being early. Allen put me in charge of arranging transport to Canterlot. Luckily, there’ll be no shortage of trains heading there, so whenever you’re ready, I can get you a ticket.”

“Maybe that’s part of why Crimson’s attacking. No shortage of inbound trains? No shortage of people. Lots of targets.”

Jackson nodded grimly. “That’s my thinking, too. Canterlot’s highly defended, but with so many people, striking there would be a huge blow. Possibly a turning-point opportunity.”

“Which is why we need to stop it from happening.”

“No chance of that. We’ll just stop ‘em from winning. But anyways, like Allen said, if you have anything else to do, do it soon. Or do you want to go now?”

I thought about it for a second, then shook my head. “I’ve still got stuff to do.”

“Alright, just come on back when you’re ready. I’ll be here.”

I walked off. I found myself heading into the Armory. Might as well get those tunnels explored.

Author's Note

Another Side Quest is coming up. This one, Firestar had previously put off.

Quick Note: Side Quests can usually be done in any order, but most of them can affect - in minor or major ways - what happens in the actual story. Even just going places can affect things. For example: If Firestar had never gone with Jackie to Ponyville in Chapter 2, he'd never hear of her name for the group, and Jackson would end up telling him what she came up with. But some Side Quests have even bigger impacts than even this one did...

I'll leave you to imagine some of the consequences of doing or not doing some of them. (Think Mass Effect, for example)