Chapter 4: War Ensemble

Dawn broke, and our little camp slowly came to life again. I awoke, groaning, feeling sore and hungover which I attributed to the whiskey. I stumbled to my hooves, thankful that Cherry was awake and there to steady me and nudge a cup of coffee into my view.

“Rough night, eh?” Cherry asked, her eyes spotting the empty syringe that stuck out from under my blankets. She picked it up in her teeth and tossed it into the cookfire with a deft motion. She continued to prop me up as she whispered in my ear. “You really need to be careful with that stuff.” She opened a small tin of what looked like mints and dropped a pair into my coffee, before tucking the tin into my bags.

I felt entirely too uncomfortable about this. I started to say something, fishing for some excuse. She touched a hoof to my lips, silencing me with a shake of her head, and trotted off to help finish the cooking. I took at look at the inventory screen of my Pip-Buck to see what she’d given me. The only new item I could find was “Fixer - Temporarily cures all addictions.”

“Addictions?” I scoffed. “I’m not addicted.” I sat with a huff and grumbled as I sipped my coffee, accompanying it with another one of those ancient cigarettes. The sun continued its inexorable rise, painting the landscape with its light. The mask of monochromatic blue that accompanied the waning night was pulled away to reveal the tans, browns and reds of the desert landscape, dotted by the muted greens of sagebrush and the occasional cactus. I could even spot little dottings of pretty little purple and orange flowers among some of those bushes, and that made me smile a bit.

By the time I finished my coffee I was feeling a lot more like myself. Cherry Bomb had returned to me with some unidentified but still tasty soup with bits of grain and vegetable in it, along with some cubes of something soft and white that I didn’t recognize but enjoyed all the same. Once again, she and I sat together to eat - our placement around the fire about the same as it had been at dinner. Cherry was making me giggle as she tried to guess who I had been before my brains had been scrambled, and kept coming up with more and more ridiculous propositions. I was happy that she hadn’t said anything more about the state she’d found me in earlier.

She was in the middle of weaving an intricate story about my being an exiled star princess who would one day save all of planet Equus with the power of love, when I heard a rumbling approaching from down the road. I didn’t need a magical sixth sense to tell me that this was bad news.

I peeked around the grouping of boulders that hid our camp from the road and saw an angry-looking stampede of ponies. It was hard to tell with all the dust their hooves were kicking up, but I counted twenty, maybe thirty bucks, all wearing the same prison clothes as the two I had encountered the previous day. In the center of their herd was a pony being carried on some kind of litter. Not looking sick or infirm, quite the opposite.

He was a giant of a white unicorn, ashen blonde mane and tail streaming in the wind, outfitted in some kind of cobbled-together body armor on his upper half, his prison jacket tied around his waist to form a kind of skirt that covered his flank. Stripes of crimson and black paint underlined his eyes, highlighting the intense glare of their blood red pupils. Over his muzzle he wore a portion of a power armor helmet that had been cut away to leave just the respirator mask and the two hoses that connected from either side to the rebreather apparatus that was attached to the back of his body armor. In an amplified, augmented growl of a voice, he was making some sort of speech that was keeping the other stallions whipped into a fighting frenzy, but from this vantage point, I couldn’t make out any of the words.

Any except, “Sweetsprings.” I felt my hooves go cold as the implications ran through my head.

I flitted back down and quickly kicked sand into the fire, dousing it. Both the traders and Cherry were moving in close around me, wanting to know what was going on.

“Sweetsprings may be in trouble,” i said, putting on one of the sets of prison garb I’d acquired yesterday over my Stable barding and holster. “Y’all should be okay here, this spot’s pretty well hidden from the road. I want y’all to hunker down here ‘till I get back.” The trader couple looked at me, shocked and incredulous. It was clear they didn’t like this plan one bit. But, I had to wonder whether at least part of that was because it came from me. I nudged Cherry Bomb with my nose. “You take care of them, all right?” The leather-jacketed pony answered with a salute that made me chuckle, and I took off.

As expected, this herd was so focused on the road ahead that they didn’t see me approach from aside, and I was able to join up at the back end of the group without any of them taking much notice of me. Now, I could hear.

“The town of Sweetsprings has hidden this traitor; this apostate from Us!” the unicorn roared over the thunder of their hooves. “They have sheltered and aided him in defiance of Our will! All its citizens are guilty; all shall burn in the fires of judgement!” A few ponies with flamers fired demonstrative bursts into the air as the whole herd sounded off their agreement in unison.

There was a feeling in the air, like these ponies were in some kind of state of religious ecstasy. I was beginning to feel it too. As I ran with them, listening to the unicorn speak, I started to lose track of what he was actually saying, only vaguely aware that he was speaking about the joys of killing, of how being soaked in blood was the purest and most righteous state.

It took me a moment to shake it off and regain my senses, and realize what I needed to do. I lit up every piece of dynamite I had taken from the two gangers yesterday, pushed off with my wings and jetted out ahead of the crowd. I passed by the unicorn mere centimeters from his face, and in that moment when our eyes met, time itself seemed to crawl as though I had activated SATS. He glared at me over that mask he wore, his gaze boring deep into me with pure malice as in that silent moment he tried to underline and highlight how weak I was compared to him, and how utterly pointless it would be to oppose him. I merely looked away, focusing on the road ahead and snapping my wings to fly out faster. Time returned to normal as I shot out ahead and heard his audio-enhanced growl shouting, “KILL HER!”

I started dropping dynamite along the road, and heard the screams of a few bucks as they started to go off, one after another. Not looking back I pushed my wings, demanding every bit of speed my body could muster as I headed toward Sweetsprings. After the explosions I heard some gunfire behind me, but by that time I was well out of their range. I felt the wind pushing me back harder and harder the faster I flew, but within minutes I saw the town ahead of me. I’d managed to cover in just a few minutes what had taken us a day and a half to walk, and I considered that a small triumph. I just hoped that meant I had bought them enough time.

I nearly knocked the door of the Sweetsprings Saloon off its hinges as I stumbled in, panting. “There’s trouble, Miss Blossom!” I exclaimed breathlessly. The Saloon looked empty, which made sense with it being mid-morning still, and my dramatic entrance had easily grabbed the barmaid/part-time mayor’s attention. “Twenty or thirty gangers in prison clothes like this,” I said, tugging the jacket off myself. “Led by some real nasty unicorn buck. Got him some power that whips them into some kinda blood frenzy. I dropped some dynamite on ‘em on the way here but I dunno how many I got.”

Apple Blossom gave a soft sigh, nodding. “War Bucks,” she said, knowingly. When I looked at her with a curious headtilt, she explained, “They’re halfway between a gang and a death cult. Buncha convicts out of that NLR prison up north. They revolted, killed off the guards and took over the place. Unicorn you mentioned is Frostwraith, though I hear they just been callin’ him Immortal, and you’re right, he controls them all with his magic. Not like directly, but he controls their moods and feelings. And they worship him like some kinda god.”

She uncapped a beer and set it in front of me without my even having asked for one and continued, “Round about a month ago we had a young buck come into town scared out of his wits. Said he’d escaped from the War Bucks and they were after him. Wanted us to help hide him for a while.” She sighed again. “Sweet Treasure, who runs the general store, was against it but I insisted.” She looked at me with a smile as I took a drink and continued, “I mean, if we can coldly refuse a pony who comes to us in desperate need, just what does that say about us? And how can we say with straight faces that we’re making the Territory a better place, even if it’s just here in this little area?”

Apple Blossom came around to the other side of the bar with a beer of her own and sat on the stool next to mine. “Anyways, that buck moved on about two weeks ago far as I know, but them War Bucks still think he’s here and have been sending little raiding parties to try and get him back every so often, sending us threatening messages, whatever.” She shrugged, then caught my gaze with her own and looked at me pointedly. “Now, I got somethin’ to ask you.”

“Yeah?” I said, curious.

“With Ol’ Hoss out of town and Cherry Bomb guarding that caravan with you, that puts us down our two main security ponies. Most of us at least know our way around a gun, but we’re not fighters. If they’re as many and as fired up as you say,” she paused, sighed and shook her head sadly, “I just don’t see how we’s gonna survive this without some kinda help in that area. So I gotta ask… would you mind fillin’ in for them?” I drew back and started to reply, but Apple Blossom cut me off. “Just till the battle’s over, I know you need to get back to the caravan.”

“I’ll pay you whatever I can out of the treasury. Just… please, please help us,” Apple Blossom said, looking at me with such desperation in her eyes, the tears that were forming in them threatening to betray her calm composure. And with that, I knew I couldn’t say no. Doc Greensleeves, Xinnia, Hoss, herself, Cherry… I hadn’t met all the ponies who lived in Sweetsprings, but every pony I had met had done their damndest to help me when I needed them. How could I do any less? “Okay,” I said. “I’ll do it.”

Apple Blossom hugged me so tight I thought my ribs would crack. “Thank you,” she whispered in a shaky voice, hiding her tears against my shoulder. I knew she didn’t want me to know, but I could tell from the ragged way she was breathing and the way she shook against me that she was crying. I held her for that moment while she needed me, soothingly brushing my wings over her back.

She drew back after a few minutes, turning away from me to dab her eyes with a handkerchief and re-compose herself with a few deep breaths. She flashed me a look that implied, “If you tell anypony about that, I’ll kill you.” And then returned to business. “How long do you think we have?”

“Well, they’re travelling top speed on hoof. Normal ponies would need to stop every so often and rest or else they’d be in no condition to fight once they got here. But with that kind of control they’re under I don’t know if that would still apply. Or how long they’ll need to reorganize after my little bombing run.” I grinned as I added that bit, and then took a look at the time on my Pip-Buck. “So not counting that I’d say we have around two hours to prepare.”

“Okay, so I’m going to go roust the townsfolk. I want you to head up to the gas station. I’ve been using it as a storage closet for the town.” She hoofed me a key attached to a key fob in the shape of a Sparkle Cola Quantum bottle - the liquid inside had lost its glow but was still bright blue. “See if there’s any weapons or anything else useful in there and meet me back here in about half an hour and we’ll start readying our defenses.”

I nodded and trotted out the door. Not wanting to waste time, I let my wings carry me up to the gas station faster than my hooves could. Unlike the rest of the town, the gas station itself hadn’t been used or maintained at all and was showing its age. The tiled facade had lost at least half its paint, revealing oxidized metal underneath and there were many places where it had rusted through altogether to show the concrete walls underneath. The support beam that held the awning that covered the area with the fuel pumps had bent and looked dangerously close to collapse. Despite this, the building underneath still looked reasonably sturdy.

I unlocked the door to the garage and slipped inside. It was dark, and the lights were off, but the flashlight function of my Pip-Buck provided enough light to work by. Inside the garage, the mechanic’s tools had been moved aside to provide space for shelving. Among those shelves, I found just about everything one needed to survive. Apple Blossom had a respectable store of extra food and water here, enough to keep the town fed for a good few weeks. There were spare medical supplies, I guessed that they were kept here so that there would be a stock in case the doc’s house was robbed. Other shelves held a few battle saddles, automatic rifles in varying states of repair, a few pistols, metal crates loaded with various ammunition some random pieces of body armor - a couple of which I tacked on to my stable barding - and a few grenades and mines. And one minigun, with about 500 rounds of ammo. I was tempted to take it for myself, but I didn’t have much skill with heavy weaponry, nor the strength to properly carry it - somepony else would be able to use it better than I. All in all, the armory supplies were nothing fancy, but they would be enough, I hoped, to arm the townsponies well enough to defend themselves. I helped myself to a modest bit of the food and water and a couple of the healing potions, then started gathering the rest of the weaponry and supplies into duffle bags to transport them back to the Saloon with me.

As I worked, I happened upon a surprise. In a dark corner of the garage, I spotted an elongated black case that looked strangely out of place here - it looked new and untouched, as though it alone had escaped the ravages of time. As I leaned in closer I immediately knew why. It was nimbusite, a plastic-like material made from compressed stormbutts. That explained why it looked untouched - because it was. Non-pegasi couldn’t touch it. The “Property of G.P.E.” logo embossed into the side of the case sealed it - there was no question that whatever was inside this case was Enclave tech.

I reached to take the handle of the case in my teeth when I got another surprise - a pair of sullen grey eyes staring at me from the darkest corner of the garage. I turned my Pip-Buck so that its light shone directly on this pony, and saw a slight, cobalt blue unicorn, somewhere between big for a colt and small for a mare, with a shaggy yet lustrous silver-white mane and tail that’d be lovely if they weren’t so unkempt. In fact, I almost mistook him for a mare due to his build and facial features. He was trying to level a pistol at me but between his own panicked trembling and the bright light shining in his eyes, he was having difficulty doing so.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I said in an even tone around the handle of the case before pulling it toward me.

“W-who are you?” he demanded in a quavering voice, trying and failing to sound tough. “H-how did you get in here?”

“Midnight Shadow,” I replied, smirking slightly, jingling the keyring that Apple Blossom had given me. “And I have a key.”

The buck hesitantly crept around the shelving to face me, still levitating the pistol with his blue magic. He looked half-starved, despite the abundance of food in this little hideout. “D-did Miss Apple Blossom send you?” he asked, and I noticed him looking me over while I nosed along the edges of the case, trying to find its latches. Eventually I’d found two, both with independent locks that I’d need to pick. What a pain.

I looked at his revolver and frowned, annoyed. “Put that thing away before you hurt somepony,” I said curtly. Seeing that I was not armed or moving to threaten him, he eventually did as I asked, and in return for his consideration I grabbed a box of Fancy Buck Snack Cakes from a nearby shelf and slid it over to him. “Anyway, yes, she did send me, but not for you. I expect you’re the pony that these War Bucks are making such a big fuss over? Y’got a name?”

“Sapphire Sparkle,” he answered while carefully opening the box and taking one of the cakes, as though they might explode on him. “No relation. Yes, I know it’s a filly name,” he said with a sigh, preemptively answering a pair of questions he probably was asked entirely too often. “And… yes, I’m the one. I… Oh sweet Celestia those guys are, like, so scary! When he took over the prison Frostwraith killed off everypony who didn’t agree to follow him, like really messily! So, I agreed. And then, the first chance I got, I ran. And then when I got here, Miss Apple Blossom stood up to those two ponies who’d chased me all this way like it was nothing, she even made ‘em leave just by talking to ‘em! And then she said I could hole up here for a while...”

“Yeah, she seems to think you’d left some time ago, though,” I said, slightly distracted as I tried to pick the first lock while listening to him.

“I was gonna,” he said, now munching hungrily on the cakes I’d given him. Despite being here among these stores of food, it seemed like he had not eaten for some time. “But it seemed like every time I’d try to leave the War Bucks would have some team out here looking for me, trying to harass the town. I… I got scared. I hid here, didn’t know what else to do.”

Curiosity got the better of me as the first lock popped open, and I looked at him. “So ah… you don’t really seem like you fit in with a crowd of violent jailbirds. What’d you do to get locked up with them?”

Sapphire looked intently at the floor and shakily admitted, “P...prostitution.” He looked up at me, abashed. “I… there’s a lot of ponies who want to… do stuff… with a girly-buck like me, you know? It’s good money. But it’s illegal in the NLR.” He sighed, “I got busted in a high-profile case involving a senator and his wife, and the judge decided I needed to be made an example of.”

I tilted my head, surprised by the admission. “Hey, I ain’t judgin’,” I said with a light shrug that seemed to reassure him. Looking at him again, beyond the disheveled appearance and malnutrition I could definitely start to see how ponies of both sexes would find him attractive. I started in on the second lock while I spoke again. “But, ah, speaking of example-making, it looks like Ol’ What’s-His-Name’s on his way up here to personally make an example of this town for defying him and helping you. And, you know, scary as that is, there’s a town fulla ponyfolk here who’re willing to fight him. Risk their necks both for each other’s sakes, and for yours. So… Y’know, if you’re askin’ me, I figure it’d be a little rude of you to not show up to the party. Seein’ as you’re the guest of honor and all.”

The second lock popped open and I lifted the lid of the case to reveal its contents. Oh, sweet Luna, be still my beating heart. Inside were what looked like a pair of pegasus wings, but made of a light substance I couldn’t identify with a matte black finish. Also inside were a brand new model of laser rifle and matched pistols, and a good supply of rubies to power them. “Is it my birthday?” I asked aloud, grinning at this little treasure trove.

I hadn’t noticed him move, but Sapphire Sparkle was suddenly standing next to me, looking into the case. I suppose curiosity had overcome his fear. “What is that?” he asked, pointing to the wings.

“Wingblades,” I answered as I pulled them from the case and fit them over my wings. As I spread and flexed them and gave a few test flaps I found them a perfect fit, so natural I might forget I had them on.

“Blades?” the buck asked, looking confused. “Where’s the knife part? They just look like armor to me.”

I grinned. “Oh? Check this out.” I trotted over to an empty safe that had been stored in the garage. I activated the blade parts, and the outer edges of my wings began to glow a soft blue. A single swipe at the safe divided it cleanly into two pieces, drawing a gasp from my audience.

I was never much for melee combat. I could shoot things from afar, move quickly and dodge reasonably well, but if things ever came to a direct hoof-to-hoof confrontation, I had already lost the fight. These blades were made for somepony like me, with a cutting surface that could compensate for their user’s lack of physical strength. More importantly, however, these served as armor to reinforce a pegasus’ most valuable and vulnerable asset - their wings.

I trotted back over to the case and picked up the rifle. Lighter, thinner and longer than the boxy design of most laser weapons, it had hoofgrips so that it could be fired while standing on one’s hindlegs the way zebras did - which made it perfect for firing from the air. It too was made of materials I was unfamiliar with, in a design that integrated a white shell with black machine parts underneath. Oh, but the features it had! A fire selector that switched between full auto, burst fire and concentrated single shot, and a recon scope that, while it’s view was only in greyscale, used infrared to highlight and mark targets. I bit my lip, thoughtfully. These weapons were special enough to need names. Sapphire reached out with a curious hoof to touch the rifle and gave another shocked gasp as it passed right through. I boggled. Butt material? Was that even possible? Still, it gave me the perfect name for the rifle.

I loaded a ruby into the rifle and kissed its side. “Phantasm,” I dubbed it, then slung its strap diagonally over my body, so that it could rest on my back. I kissed its two smaller brothers and said their names aloud. “Ghost and Specter.”

Sapphire was giving me a strange look as he watched. “Umm… what are you doing?” he asked, puzzled and seeming a bit concerned that I had spit my bit.

“Well, weapons this special need to be named, right?” I grinned, and winked at him as I added, “And a kiss from a pretty mare is supposed to be good luck.”

He smirked. “And not having one to hoof, you thought you’d do?” Ouch.

“So you do have some venom in you,” I said, with a wry chuckle.

“Here,” I offered, nudging my head toward the pistols. “See if your magic can pick those up.” He could and I smiled as he found he could wield both at the same time. I cleared my throat at him. “Now these are mine,” I said, overly clear and emphatic, “But I’m going to let you borrow them so that you can participate in the fight. Those should be nice and light for you, with no recoil to worry about.”

Sapphire Sparkle’s smile faded, and he slowly lowered the laser pistols back to the case. “I can’t,” he said, hanging his head. “I know I’m a buck, and even a con, but I… I just can’t.” He looked up at me with a pleading expression. “Please don’t make me do this,” he said, his eyes turning liquid. “I’m not a fighter. I never have been. I’m not strong like you or Cherry Bomb or Miss Apple.”

I laughed softly, trying to put him at ease. “Like me? Shit, you could probably take me in a hoof-fight.” He looked surprised. I sat on the floor and spoke more seriously. “I ain’t a fighter either. When all’s said and done, I’m just a mailpony. Thing is, none of these ponies are fighters. Well, except for Cherry, but she’s not here. But anyway, they’re farmers and doctors and bartenders and whatnot. But they’re all willing to fight. Not because they like it or because they’re good at it, but because… because they have to. They have to to protect this town and everything in it that they hold dear. To protect each other and the things that matter to them. Home. Family.” I felt my eyes misting, stinging slightly at those last two words. I wondered if I had ever had those things. Would I ever find them again if I had?

But this was not about me. The small blue unicorn was trembling as he sat there, silent. I reached out with a hoof and pulled him closer. “It’s not that we’re not scared. We all are. Honestly, there’s a good chance that some or even all of us might not walk away from this.” I looked him in the eye again. “But that chance increases the fewer ponies there are out there, backing each other up.” A saying came to me from nowhere, and I couldn’t recall where I’d heard it before. “The difference between a hero and a coward isn’t that the hero isn’t afraid; it’s that the hero doesn’t let his fear stop him from doing what’s right.”

Sapphire nodded slowly, and it seemed like he was beginning to understand. “These ponies are good folk,” I added. “They helped me when I needed them, even though they had no reason to and nothing to gain from it. Didn’t they do the same for you?”

“Y-yeah,” he admitted, looking down at the twin laser pistols resting there in their case.

I nodded. “So, they need us now. It’s our turn to help them.”

He looked up at me for a long moment and I watched him, hopeful. I watched the fear in his eyes slowly turning into resolve. Finally, he nodded, and picked up those guns again. “Okay,” he said in a whisper, then took a deep breath and said a little louder. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

With Sapphire’s help, I was able to carry all the supplies down in one trip. Apple Blossom had what I’d guessed was the entire population of the town in front of the saloon. It didn’t look good. I counted no more than a dozen adult stallions and mares apart from herself, Dr. Greensleeves and Xinnia, all looking nervous and skittish. There were maybe five colts and fillies running around underhoof that I didn’t want involved in the fighting if it could be helped.

“You’re late,” Apple Blossom said flatly as I joined the group. And then she noticed the pony helping me carry things and gasped. “Wha? You’re still here? I thought you said you were leaving. A couple of weeks ago, in fact.”

“I was,” Sapphire said sheepishly, “but... stuff happened. So now I’m here to help.”

Apple Blossom nodded to him. “Well, don’t you go thinkin’ we don’t appreciate it.” One or two ponies among the crowd were glaring at the unicorn though in silent recrimination. Apple Blossom looked to me and asked, “So what’s the plan?”

Plan? Me? I was suddenly caught with nothing to offer. Why were these ponies looking to me for guidance? “Um, shoot them until they either leave or don’t get up anymore?” I said dumbly.

Fortunately, Sapphire was there to provide a distraction and give me time to formulate something. He’d moved to the head of the crowd with Apple Blossom and got everyone’s attention by clearing his throat. “E-excuse me, everypony, I’d just like to say something.” The random chatter died down as the small crowd turned to face him.

He took a deep breath, and started. “I just wanted to tell you all how much I appreciate your helping me try to get away from the War Bucks, and protecting me from them as you have. I truly didn’t mean for any of this to happen or to bring you so much trouble. I’m gonna do what I can to make this right with you all. And… I hope that whatever happens here today, you don’t stop helping ponies who come to this town in desperate situations…” He trailed off, becoming much more self-conscious suddenly. “Um, that… that’s all I’ve got. T-thank you.”

He slipped back over to me, seeming relieved as the townsponies were no longer giving him such hard stares. “All right, everypony, I’ve got a plan,” I spoke up.

Half an hour later, things were as ready as they were going to be. We’d established a defensive line on the highway about 30m out from the Saloon’s porch and mines were laid out along the road and surrounding area in a U shape. That line I’d chosen based on a stallion’s average throwing distance, angle and trajectory, to keep us out of range of the War Bucks’ most powerful weapon - their dynamite. I felt confident in that estimate, even though I had no idea how I knew that or where I’d learned about such things.

I stood on the roof of the Saloon, amid a line of townsponies with longrifles that were gathered along the roofs of the General Store, the Saloon, and the other buildings that lined this part of the road. Inside the Saloon, the Doc had set up an emergency hospital, having recruited the younger ponies into being his assistants - they’d wanted to help too, and this both gave them something to do and, I hoped, kept them out of harm’s way. Xinnia stood by, wearing a zebra stealth cloak, ready to nab anypony who fell in the street and pull them to the Saloon for treatment. Finally, the ponies who felt more confident with smaller arms and shotguns were lurking between the buildings, ready to harass any of the Bucks who tried to use the alleyways for cover and push them back into the main street. I didn’t know where Blossom or Sapphire had gotten to, but I felt sure they were probably among those ponies on the ground.

A large lime green pegasus stallion I knew as Little Maverick - an odd name for a pony as big as he was - stood next to me wearing the battle saddle where we’d mounted the minigun. His hooves were shifting nervously as he watched the line. “I dunno about this, Miss Six,” he said without turning his head away from the spot he was watching. “If I’m flyin’ high and fast enough to keep from getting shot, I dunno if I’m gonna be able to hit much of anything.”

I screamed internally. Midnight Shadow. Why was it so hard? But I kept that to myself and just patted his shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry about it,” I said. “It doesn’t matter if you actually hit anything. You just have to get close enough to scare ‘em; keep ‘em from crossing that line and maybe herd them back into the mines.”

He nodded, and I returned to watching the horizon through Phantasm’s scope. All there was to do now was wait. Wait to see if this gamble would pay off. Wait to see if my plan would win the day or if I had condemned everypony here to die.

Nopony spoke. The silence was like a dull roar in my ears, broken only by the occasional breeze or slight creak of wood. It contributed to a tension I felt building like a taut wire wrapped around my neck, pulling more as the seconds went on, threatening to strangle me. Doubt crept in from the shadows of my mind. I should have told them to run. Just abandon the town and run. These ponies were all going to die and it was going to be my fault. They’d trusted me and I was leading them to the slaughter. I was everything those traders believed I was. Child of darkness. Bringer of misfortune and sorrow.

I had to try to calm myself somehow. Immediately my mind went there, and I slapped it hard. No. No Med-X. I needed my clarity and focus undiluted by chems. I popped an extra Fixer just to counter those thoughts, and closed my eyes for a moment, trying to center myself and focus just on my breathing. Slow, deep breaths.

Soon, that moment of anxiety passed and I opened my eyes again. I still wasn’t exactly relaxed, but I was at least better enough to be functional. I sighted down the scope one more time and saw the growing clout of dust raised by the stampeding herd. Immediately the recon scope’s functions kicked in and started tagging the incoming Bucks with a little red diamond above each of their heads. I couldn’t tell how many they were yet, as they were still distant enough that the markers looked like a single red blob.

“Incoming!” I called out, and heard the shout echoed several times through the gathered ponies, followed by random shufflings of hooves as those who’d gotten bored with waiting quickly dashed back to their designated positions. Little Maverick flapped his wings, ready to take off. “Wait for it,” i said to him, still watching through Phantasm’s scope.

The herd of War Bucks had drawn close enough that I could start to count the individual tags that the recon scope showed me. I was disappointed to find that my dynamite attack had not thinned them out as much as I’d hoped - I was still counting between 25 and 30 attackers closing in. Frostwraith still stood on his chariot in the center of the herd, the big albino unicorn being pulled along by his two subordinates. I did notice that many of the Bucks in the rear guard were hastily bandaged and limping along, driven on, I guessed, by the religious fervor that Wraith’s control spell instilled.

The herd drove right into our minefield, exactly as planned. War Bucks were collapsing into each other as they couldn’t stop themselves in time, tripping and rolling over the corpses of their comrades and into more explosives. Some reared up to bolt as they watched their comrades torn apart. Some tried to divert to the sides, only to meet their end amid more mines. The trap was sprung.

“Now!” I called out to Maverick, and zoomed the scope in as far as I could on the gang leader. Using SATS, I lined up a pair of Phantasm’s power shots on his head - which was all the actions the spell could handle.

I fired. The first shot went wide, but struck one of the Bucks to Wraith’s side, the flash of red engulfing his body and turning him to ash to be scattered by the breeze. The second deflected off his horn. It wasn’t what I’d hoped for, but it was enough to break his concentration as he flinched back. The War Bucks scattered in all directions as panic overtook them in the absence of Frostwraith’s control. A cacophony of gunfire sounded from around me and below. Maverick was cutting graceful loops through the air and strafing the ground with his minigun. Shouts, yelling, screams, explosions. The symphony of war played in all its horrifying glory.

Everything slowed to a crawl as Frostwraith’s glare met my eyes once more. I let go of Phantasm and stumbled back, gasping for breath as I felt his presence like the grip of an icy hand around my heart, threatening to crush it in my chest. I scrambled, flapping my wings and trying to take off, but the death-white unicorn teleported in behind me. He was reaching out for me with his magic and I only barely managed to slip away and drop onto the alleyway between the Saloon and the General Store.

I had another little moment of panic as he flashed into existence at the end of that alleyway, firing a pair of ornately gilded revolvers at me. There was no room to dodge in this narrow space, but I managed to shield myself with a wing as those large caliber bullets thumped and ricocheted off the little armor plates.

I laughed as those bullets bounced uselessly off my shielded wing. “Enclave tech, bitch!” I called out to him, taunting. But I had a problem. In this narrow space, there was practically nowhere to dodge to. I couldn’t ascend while using my wing as a shield, and he could easily overwhelm me with either his magic or simple brute force.

But, he seemed intent on emptying those revolvers first. The moment I counted 12 shots, I turned and dashed down the alley as fast as my legs would move. He tried to teleport himself in front of me but I was airborne before he had a chance to do anything. Once again his magic reached out, but in the air, I was far too fast for him.

I needed to keep his attention focused on me, though. I shuddered to think of the damage a unicorn with his abilities could do here. I spun around with Phantasm in auto-fire mode and sprayed him with fiery red bolts. All of them glanced off his shield, though the barrage succeeded in keeping his focus where it needed to be.

I took a moment to watch the fighting below but couldn’t properly tell what was going on. It looked promising, though. Maverick swooshed by, grinning at me. He paused for a quick hoofbump before getting back to his job of harassing the War Bucks as they tried to advance.

And then I felt the hot sting of a magical beam grazing my rump. Quickly I wheeled around to find its source and saw my own mirror image, grinning malevolently at me. She was oppositely colored, with a white coat, yellow mane and violet eyes, but she had my face, my mane-style, even the scar on her forehead was the same. To make matters worse, she had an exact replica of Phantasm.

She had my speed too. I had barely enough space to dodge another volley of green bolts from her and tried to dive away. I rolled and tried to return fire but where my version of Phantasm had to have its heatsink ‘clip’ changed out every 8 shots or so, hers didn’t seem to have that problem and I couldn’t do more than fire wildly while dodging the constant barrage.

Shit. I’d underestimated him. I’d never thought the brute was capable of such complex magic. Hell, I’d never imagined that a spell like this was even possible. But then, I was not a unicorn. I dove, trying to take cover between the ruined and abandoned buildings of what had once been Sweetsprings’ industrial sector. I ducked and rolled through some of the wrecked and fallen girders. My copy had no trouble pursuing, but the break in her barrage offered me the chance to line up a pair of SATS-assisted headshots.

The first shot struck right between her eyes, and I got to watch in slow-motion as the white pegasus’ body took on a bright red glow as it burned away completely, leaving only ashes to be scattered on the wind.

And then my satisfaction turned to horror as I watched those ashes swirl and gather themselves together again, once again forming the image of my smirking replica. I had to dive through one of the factory windows to avoid the spray of green beams that lanced out from her copy of my rifle.

She flew out after me and the chase was on again. I weaved low along the ground, taking what cover I could behind houses and between the scant buildings of the small town, but every time I thought I might catch a break there was another shower of green beams making me have to dodge and turn again. I was starting to get winded, needing some kind of break, when I realized in horror that I was back in that narrow alley between the saloon and general store. My double had been herding me, guiding me back here.

I flew directly up, and came to a sudden halt as the grasp of Frostwraith’s magic finally caught me, taking a tight hold around my neck. I pumped my wings, flailed my legs, even desperately wiggled my tail - anything to try and break out of that ethereal grip, but no matter what I did his hold grew stronger on me, crushing my throat, making me gasp for breath that wouldn’t come.

This was bad. Even if I dared to pull anypony away from their battle positions to help me, there was no way I could call for them now. His magic lifted me up and slammed me down hard against the edge of the roof. And then a few more times for good measure.

The first hit simply dazed me. The subsequent ones each brought their own unique forms of agony as I felt things snap and break inside me. Various alerts flashed in the corner of my EFS, warning me of injuries I was already keenly aware I had. He put me down again on the roof and I rolled over, still trying to push myself away with hooves that no longer moved as I wanted them to. Frostwraith approached me, his telekinetic hand still squeezing around my throat, threatening to crush my windpipe completely. I tried to raise Phantasm again and found that I couldn’t. I tried to pull Lily out and she dropped to the roof beneath me, my magic fingers’ grasp too weak to hold her. I saw the hatred in his eyes, as he drew inexorably nearer, and I felt my body weaken further with every moment of restricted air flow.

Well shit. I hadn’t even lasted a week and I’d already been handed off from one would-be murderer to another who was going to surely finish the job this time.

His face neared mine, his growl of a voice low and calm as he spoke, which made it even more frightening. “You think that you, a mere mare, can defy Us without consequence?” His hoof stroked my face and I tried to pull my head away from it, even though his magic was holding my head firmly. “It seems We must teach you your place. You look like you’d make a good breeder.”

Oh shit. Somehow this proposition frightened me more than just dying at the moment. He was already trying to position himself between my hindlegs. Goddesses, couldn’t he even wait until the battle was over? I squirmed and tried to buck him but he barely seemed to notice my kicks. I couldn’t even raise my wingblades with the way he had me pinned. Oh sweet Celestia why did it always come to this? Why couldn’t he just kill me and be done with it?

And then I heard a voice that sounded like the sweetest of angels. “Get away from her, you bastard!” Sapphire Sparkle called out with more venom in his voice than I’d ever thought the little buck had in him. A mouse had suddenly roared.

Ghost needed fire only once. Instantly I felt the relief of Wraith’s grip on my neck slackening, as those red eyes went wide in shock, then start to glow along with the rest of him. Time slowed once more as though I’d activated SATS, and I watched the giant white stallion’s body burn into a trail of ash that was carried away along with the wind. For a moment his voice was inside my head, and I heard his unfiltered low tone, warning me.

“I’ll be back.”

I collapsed against the raised lip of the roof, panting, just happy I could breathe again. It hurt to do so, and I could feel the grinding of at least one broken rib in there as I did, but I pulled in all the air I could. The air smelled like war. That peculiar mixture of gun smoke and blood, with dashes of ozone for good measure. Somehow the smell seemed familiar, and I hesitated to think of where I might have known it from.

Sapphire rushed to me, concern showing on his cute face. “Did he hurt you?” he asked, and I thought that was a peculiar way of putting things.

“Yeah,” I answered, pulling Sapphire to me with my wings since I couldn’t move my forelegs properly. I hugged him for a long moment, and whispered my voice quavering. “He did. But I’m okay now.” I gazed into those soft steel grey eyes, my own butting up as I said simply, “Thank you. I owe you one.”

The cobalt blue unicorn didn’t move, just letting himself relax with me, his cheek pressed against my chest. “You’re totally not okay,” he grumbled. “I can hear at least one broken rib in here, plus you’ve probably got-” I cut him off by touching a wingtip to his lips. “It’ll be okay,” I murmured. “Just give me a couple of healing potions.” As the adrenaline started to wear off, things were beginning to actually hurt. Like, a lot. “And a Med-X.” Hey, I deserved that much of a treat, I thought.

As Sapphire fished around in my saddlebags for the healing items, I sat up a little more. The concerto of gunfire was beginning to die down to sporadic shots. “So, how’s it going down there,” I asked.

He looked to me with a smile, and injected me with a healing potion. Immediately I could feel its tingle inside me, knitting bones, restoring flesh. Working even better as he jabbed me with the second. “Pretty damn good, all things considered,” Sapphire answered. “Lot of the Bucks were taken out by the mines, either killed or incapacitated. We lost Old Withers, had a few wounded but they’ll recover.”

He took a moment to peek over the edge of the roof, then returned with a quite pleased look on his face. “Looks like a lot of whoever was left are starting to run now that Wraith’s gone. The ones who’re still insistent on fighting aren’t doing a very good job without his mental guidance.”

I gave a giddy little smile as the Med-X started to affect my brain’s processing power while at the same time replacing my pain with incredible pleasure. “So, we won?”

Sapphire looked at me. His smile had a genuine warmth to it that I had not seen on the buck before. “Yeah, It’s starting to look that way.”

I heaved a huge, relieved sigh, and let myself pass out.

Author's Note

I feel like there should have been more fighties by now.

Also, introducing a secondary chara I think is cool. I honestly didn't notice the parallels between Sapphire Sparkle and P-21 from Project Horizons until much later but... he's his own character, really. Promise.

Also, our protagonist gets her first hints that morphine should not be used as a sleep aid...