“Run, run for it now!” Twilight barked, as she fired off magical beam after magical beam towards the group’s pursuers, a group of Mirelurks. Eventually, Henri and company managed to retreat into the forest, with the mirelurks deciding their prey wasn’t really worth the effort of either the chase or taking on a fully powered Alicorn. (Henri suspected the latter, one of the few things she was grateful for having Twilight around for.)

Speaking of Twilight, as soon as they reached a safe spot in a forest clearing, she whirled around and socked the former Princess of Friendship in the jaw with a powerful right hook.

“...Suppose I deserved that one.” Twilight admitted.

“You’re damn well right you do,” Henri said, ignoring the small zap that was sent her way by a language chastising Starglow. Henri snorted a little at that, that filly’s spunk reminded her of Puppysmiles. “Especially after what you pulled, leaving Starglow in that death trap!”

A groaning sound from nearby alerted everyone that Iron was awake, with Riptalon rushing to his side to see if he was alright.

“You alright man?” he asked, in a surprisingly concerned tone of voice.

“Ugh…” Iron muttered, rubbing his head. “I’ve been better… You?” he replied, noting the bandages wrapped around the griffon’s paw (Although honestly, given his size Iron was starting to suspect Riptalon was more Ursagryph than Griffon.) and the blood soaking into them.

“...You want me to lie to you and say I’m fine, or give you the cold hard truth?” Riptalon drawled.

“Well, you’re being snippy with me, so I’d say you’re good enough.” Iron deadpanned. Riptalon sighed to himself. Yep, Iron was definitely alright.

“You think I wanted to leave her like that?” Twilight snapped back at Henri, with everyone else watching in interest. “If… If I had known… a-about the skullcrawler…” she whispered her voice breaking. Henri honestly didn’t know why the Hell she was doing it, but she pulled the Alicorn into a hug.

“What I’m more interested in, is why you didn’t show yourself before now? You could have easily fled the island with Starglow in tow.” Iron asked.

“Think I didn’t try that?” Twilight asked. “Sadly, the Enclave set up some sort of anti-teleportation barrier around the island, and I don’t fancy going in and taking it out at least by myself with those Star Blasters they have… However, if we work together, we might just have a chance of making it off this island alive.”

“A-Auntie Twilight?” Starglow asked, finally getting the courage to speak. “I-Is that really you? You look so different…”

“Yes Starglow, it’s really me…” Twilight said, taking on a kind smile -Which, she admitted, was offset by the two small batpony-like fangs- and leaning down to nuzzle her student’s legacy. “I’m really here.”

“Which brings me to the obvious question,” Target asked. “Last anyone saw of you, you were under the Goddess’s control. Now, I’m not blaming you for creating her, it was a simple accident and you did what you had to do in war, but… How are you even alive?”

“That’s… that’s quite a story.” Twilight sighed.

“Well, we’ve got the time to listen…” Target commented.

“Well, in that case…” Twilight began...

A decade before…

I snapped awake and blinked in surprise when I looked around and found myself in the middle of a fog covered forest. Where was I and how did I wind up here? The last thing I remembered was hearing Pinkie's voice coming from that Unicorn's PipBuck... what was her name... Pipsqueak? No wait, LittlePip, that was it!

Okay, so where was I? I was laying on my back in a clearing in a forest, I got to my hooves and tried to take off but a sharp pain shot through my wings. I looked around and saw what was left of... something. It looked almost like some sort of oversized lobster or some other creature that I didn't recognize.

What was going on here? I was in the middle of a forest and I didn't recognize anything beyond that. My head was fuzzy, but I didn't hear the voices that I had before while I was connected to the Unity, so it was definitely gone once and for all. Thank Celestia for that.

I was going through all the places we had sent the Alicorns out that this could be. There was the Northern Wilderness, but this area was all wrong and they definitely didn't have overgrown crustaceans. I looked back at my body, I was in another purple Alicorn and I was in bad shape, like it had been in a fight before I was inhabiting its body. I keenly noted that the body I now inhabited bore my Cutie Mark.

"Okay Twilight, there has to be a settlement nearby, maybe you can find somepony there that can heal your body," I said to myself and started trudging towards the trees.

And then I stopped in mid-stride to see more bodies, more Alicorns that had apparently landed on the island and had gotten attacked by whatever that creature was back there. They were all dead, an entire wing of Alicorns had been killed by whatever was on this island.

I wondered how it had died, maybe the Alicorn who's body I now inhabited had managed to kill it. I hated the idea of even taking away another pony's body, in my last body I had felt the mind of the pony fighting back as long as I was there, trying to get her body back now that everything was freed. It had only been a temporary body so I was willing to let it go, but how had I wound up here?

There was no external mind fighting back this time either, it was just me in this body and I had no idea what to make of that. Maybe this was one of the few Alicorns that had been converted in a more, experimental way that tore away the pony mind completely and sent it into the ether. Or maybe for some reason the Alicorn couldn't have their mind restored by whatever force did that, this body was empty.

Not that it really made me feel much better, but at least I wasn't stealing somepony's body away from them, sort of.

I had to make sure I knew where I was before I could do anything else and since all I had was a rifle, I couldn't even teleport given that I didn't know where I'd be teleporting to so I pushed forward through the forest in hopes that I would find it. It looked like I was on some sort of mountain, that was better, there were a few mountains around Equestria that were like this and this was a good sign.

And then I pushed through the forest and found myself standing on a ledge looking out at something that made me stop again. I was on an island somewhere off the coast of Equestria which I could just barely make out in the distance. It didn’t take long before I realized where I was, with everything else I’d seen so far. The constant fog was a major clue as well.

"Mount Pleasant Island, figures," I said with a groan as everything came back to me. We had sent a wing here not long before LittlePip had detonated the Balefire Bomb under Maripony in order to investigate the island.

The wing had gotten attacked and we had lost the connection to most of them, and the last of them had been barely holding on and trying to heal herself with the local radiation when the Unity connection had been lost. I don't know why she had been lost, but something about all of this felt weird.

Still, I knew where I was and the radiation had healed me enough that I was able to walk. I looked around for a sign of the settlement that I knew was based on the island called Lost Cove, it was probably my best bet at getting anything done so I headed that way.

I just hoped that they'd be willing to help me.

As I made my way along the old road towards Lost Cove I kept finding my mind wandering towards everything that was happening. This was the first time in centuries that I actually felt like myself, even if my body was kind of weird. I didn't have the Goddess keeping me under control anymore so I could finally think about everything that had happened to me while I was part of the Goddess.

A lot of it was still a jumble, but there was one pony that kept coming to mind. She was dark blue with a light blue mane with streaks of blue and purple in it. I think she had been from Stable 13... Stable 13, that Stable was important to me for some reason but my mind had become more jumbled.

Why did she feel so familiar? I didn't remember her from before the apocalypse, not even the rest of the parts of the Goddess really knew. But she was important somehow, she had come to Maripony to do... something. Something that only they could do for some reason, and I hated that I couldn't remember who she was or why she was so important.

Lost Cove was a ramshackle town that looked like it had been repaired and expanded on multiple times over the years. It was however primarily built based around a pier that was jutting out from the island with several buildings leading up to it that looked inhabited. I just had to hope that I wasn't going to run into much trouble when I got to the wall that looked like it was blocking the way.

"Hold it right there!" A voice said from above me and I looked up to see the town guards aiming their weapons down at me. I tried to use a shield spell but my magic just fizzled out. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I'm..." I started to say but I didn't think about what might happen if they knew who I was so I had to think fast. "Uh, Sunrise Glitter, I kind of wound up on the island and need to see a Doctor. Do you have one in your settlement?"

There was a whispering above me, I think I heard the word "Fog Crawler," maybe that was what had attacked the Alicorns back in the forest. I was in bad shape, I was pretty sure that they'd be able to recognize that and that might be enough to at least get help from the town's doctor.

"Sorry, we haven't exactly heard good things about Alicorns," the first one said and lowered their rifle. "We're not letting you into the town right now, but we'll send the Doctor out. Is that going to be a problem?"

"No, I'll just wait right here," I said, I didn't want to do anything that could be perceived as threatening given that I needed the help and waited for them to send somepony out of the town. I looked back down the road towards where I had come from, I didn't know the layout of the island so I had to hope that they were going to be able to help since I didn't know where there might be any other settlements.

Maybe I should've taken my chances in the fog and hope that no more creatures attacked me. I was almost tempted to just go back and let the radiation heal me when the gate to the town opened up and I turned to see a pony walk out. They were a Unicorn mare that had a short blonde mane and light yellow coat, she was dressed in an old dirty coat and gave me a smile.

"Sunrise Glitter right?" She asked and I nodded as she took out her equipment. "I'm Doctor Silverlay. I have to admit I've never really taken care of an Alicorn before, but I do know what I'm doing so you should be fine."

"Thank you," I said with a weak smile as she started to work on my injuries.

"So, what attacked you?" She asked me.

"I don't remember, I think it knocked me on the head or something so the entire fight is kind of fuzzy," I said with a shake of my head. "I woke up and there was this large, lobster-like thing or something."

"Definitely a fog crawler," the doctor said with a shake of her head. "Even after everything that happened with Bright Feather awhile back the island is still dangerous. Of course, not so much in terms of crazy cultists at least so that's something."

"I'm guessing that's been a problem for you before," I said as she kept working on healing my wounds.

"Yeah, when I was a filly, there was this cult here that worshiped Nightmare Moon, a mare named Bright Feather beat them before leaving the island along with one of the local fisherponies," she said and sighed a little as she finished working on my wings. "Are you having any problems with your magic?"

"Yeah I tried to make a shield earlier, but it didn't work for some reason," I said.

"Looks like you're suffering from magical burnout, if you fought against a Fog Crawler that would explain a lot," she said with a shrug as she started bandaging me up. "Your magic should come back in time, but I suggest not straining yourself for a few days after that."

"Thank you," I said with a nod and looked back at the town. "They don't seem to trust me very much do they?"

"This isn't the first time Alicorns have come to the island," she said with a sigh. "They've mostly come from the ocean side of things and we've held them off for the most part. Still, it makes things rather uneasy around here, I don't even know why they come."

I was confused too, was it possible I wasn't remembering correctly or was there more Alicorns out there that were attacking the island? Something about all of this was weird, and I didn't like it. When I asked more she said that there hadn't been any attacks in a few years so that was something at least.

"So what are you going to do now?" She asked me.

"I honestly have no idea, I don't really have anywhere to go and it's not like the town will let me in," I said. I couldn't go back to Equestria, there was no point in going back after how badly I had failed Equestria as the Princess of Friendship. ...If I even deserved that title anymore, really.

More than that, I didn't know what kind of after effects there might be from the Unity collapsing, there was a chance that there may be Alicorns trying to reform the Goddess, and that might make me a big target. For now, I had to try and lay low and pretend to just be a normal Alicorn.

I just had to hope that it was going to be enough.

"Well, there's an old building not too far away from here that should be what you need," The doctor suggested and sighed a little. "It’s still pretty deep in the fog, but its well defended and you'll be just fine there if you want."

"Well, umm... thanks," I said with a smile. "That means a lot, I'll check it out."

The Doctor gave me directions along the road to the house and after she finished I headed that way. I sighed a little and looked back towards the town, I still had a lot to get used to now that I was out here, but I was going to do everything I could to figure out what to do.

I just had to hope that I'd be able to survive on this island.

The Present Day:

“Sunrise Glitter?” Riptalon snorted. “That was the false name you chose?”

“It… It was the best I could think of at the time! I was under pressure!” Twilight sputtered.

“Enough of that,” Iron stated, an air of authority in his tone, silencing Riptalon for the moment. “What I want to know is, presuming your appearance wasn’t like this before when you body-surfed, if you will, that Alicorn, then how did it change to your… classical appearance?”

“That… That’s something I honestly have yet to figure out for myself. Best guess is, with my mind inside this body, it adapted over the years to change itself in a form my mind would be more comfortable with.”

“Fair point…” Riptalon admitted. It was then Midnight finally chose to speak.

“Back in the labs, while you were under that… thing’s control, you said you didn’t want to kill and slaughter on a whim. Hell, you even struck a probably infected knife into your own paw just to snap yourself free of the mind control. W-Who the Hell are you, Riptalon Hawkwind?” Midnight stuttered out.

“You sure you want to know? You sure you want to have your whole world rocked?” he asked, looking at not just Midnight, but Target and Henri as well. All three nodded, and Riptalon sighed. “Well, in that case…”

3 and ½ years ago:

Riptalon stood in Gawd’s office. Now normally, Gawd would practically be looking down at anyone who stepped foot in the President’s office, but currently the older griffon found herself looking up for a change due to Riptalon’s abnormally large size.

“So, you called Madam President?” Riptalon asked.

“Yes, I did,” Gawd replied.

“Don’t tell me your back is finally giving out, and you need help around the office?” Riptalon drawled, and Gawd sighed to herself as she rubbed her temples. “Aren’t getting any younger, you know…”

“It’s hardly that,” Gawd replied, ignoring Riptalon’s poor joke. “Do you know something about the real world Riptalon?”

“Yeah, it’s crap.” Riptalon replied, in his usual blunt fashion.

“You’re close, but no dice,” Gawd replied. “The real world is not about happy endings. It's about taking the life you have, and fighting like hell to keep it. I’ve fought like that, Hell, just to keep what little life the NCR’s carved out of the wasteland. My greatest weakness? Occasionally, I give a damn about the rest of the world. And that means the rest of the Wasteland.”

“...Your point?”

“The Enclave, they keep on coming back.” Gawd replied, still quite vague.

“Yeah, they’re like cockroaches in that regard if you ask me… Can we just skip ahead to where you tell me what you called me in here for, or are we just going to keep dancing about like a bunch of flies on a trapeze?”

Gawd sighed to herself and rubbed her temples before she lit up a cigarette. “You ever wonder to yourself, how some of the attacks on these Enclave off-shots seem just that too pre-planned. Like they know something we don’t?”

“The thought has crossed my mind, I admit…” Riptalon replied, rubbing his beak like one would a chin with a claw. “I see what you’re getting at.”

“Yes, you do. Very clever of you,” Gawd replied. “Something stinks, and I’m not talking about the shit in the dumpsters. When an enemy knows too much, chances are they’ve got someone on the inside…”

“Yeah, and that means we’ve got a rat.”

“Or several. I’ve been doing some digging.”

“For graves, I hope?” Riptalon chuckled darkly.

“Oh trust me, if these worms actually deserved it, they’d get graves… But if I had my way, they’d be just left to rot, and their bodies stink up the place like the shit they are. Again with the but however. In this case, but sadly, we can’t all get what we want, can we?” Gawd asked, blowing smoke in Riptalon’s face making him cough a little. “Unfortunately, because all of these traitors are NCR soldiers, and because ponies just love war veterans and heroes they’d get graves. Coward’s graves, but graves, all the same, I’d have to give ‘em. If I didn’t, there’d be public outcry and I’m barely holding this joint together as it is...”

Gawd tossed the cigarette behind her into a garbage can. “Maybe it’s time I retire, get my daughter to run in my place…”

“She does know practically everything you know, and is just as ruthless...” Riptalon commented and Gawd chuckled.

“If I didn’t know you better, I’d actually say you were sweet on her. But, considering I found you in a bar getting your dick sucked by another buck…”

Riptalon smirked. “Completely worth the price in caps he was offering…” he trailed off wistfully.

“But back to the matter at hand, we need these rats dealt with, and dealt with soon,” Gawd continued, and set a piece of paper down in front of Riptalon. “Compiled a list of names, those who I know who are traitors, and those that I have a deep suspicion are ones… I assume you know what to do?”

“Take them out silently in their sleep or poison their food and water, make it look like they died natural deaths?” Riptalon asked, and Gawd grimaced.

“It’s an idea worth considering. But that’s not like you, is it?” Gawd asked, and Riptalon shook his head.

“No, while I’m all for getting the ugly work done quickly, I still want to give these soldiers the respect they deserve,” Riptalon sighed. “Now, before you get angry, hear me out. Traitors and cowards they may be, but they’re still soldiers and a soldier deserves to die on the battlefield. It’s what I’d want, go out with a bang.”

“You are aware what this means for you if you go through with it? You’d be exiled, wanted by the NCR, never able to come back here. Are you really willing to sacrifice everything for your own government, even your reputation?”

“Honestly, never gave a damn about that. Reputation, that’s hardly important in my eyes. That’s the way it’s been for years. Besides, think of it this way, if I had a bad one I could get into places no-one else in the NCR could…” Riptalon trailed off. Gawd’s eyes practically lit up at the possibilities. A former NCR soldier, wanted by the law could easily infiltrate any criminal gang and do whatever he needed to get whatever he wanted from them, or take them all out in one clean swoop. Riptalon smirked, realizing Gawd had figured out the same thing he had. “Yes, exactly. The NCR always needs a few extra funds to keep it going, and someone unknown robbing a few gangs blind and sending their caps to you while cleaning up the Wastes at the same time? Think about it…”

“Well, when you put it that way…” Gawd trailed off. “Alright, you’ve got the go-ahead. Be safe, Riptalon. Just don’t get yourself killed, okay?”

That’s how it started, Riptalon’s criminal career of sorts. The day he became the infamous Blackhawk, the NCR’s own version of a Dashite. But first, he needed to put on a little show. Holding the shotgun labeled “Lawgiver”, he cocked it and fired upon the first of the rats Gawd had told him about. Azure Stone, a loyal soldier on the outside, but secretly a coward hoping by getting in good with the Enclave, they’d spare him.

Riptalon chuckled as he watched Azure’s brain matter cover the floor. Not anymore, he wasn’t. He heard the thundering of hoofsteps and tossed Lawgiver aside. Wasn’t his kind of weapon anyways. Far too loud, and honestly given it’s famous legacy as the personal weapon of the famous self-appointed sheriff “Black Moon” who’d cleaned up the areas surrounding old Las Pegasus, it deserved a better owner than him.

During the ensuing battle the followed, Riptalon noted a pure black stallion with a lion-like mane stepping out of a saloon. Midnight Radiance, if he remembered. Good soldier and someone the griffon would have loved to fight alongside one day. Riptalon’s only regret was that Midnight had to see him like this.

And so, Riptalon’s infamous massacre began.

Interestingly, Midnight had noted, he never once picked up a gun from one of the carcasses despite having every chance to do so. It’d long been a subject of speculation why nobody had ever seen Riptalon just pick up a gun and use it to shoot somebody dead. Maybe he hated them on some sort of matter of principle, or maybe it was just because he preferred things up close and personal. Nobody had ever quite managed to figure it out.

Right now, as Midnight watched in shock at the blood frenzy in the streets, -forgetting for the moment at least, that he had a gun herself- he would lay odds that Riptalon never needed to pick up a gun as he never found himself needing one for any sort of situation.

Midnight’s theories, those on Riptalon, little did he know it were absolutely correct in most cases. Right now, this was his stage, if you will, and he intended to make the most of the little show he was leaving the NCR as a parting gift. Slicing a soldier across the throat with blood spattering his face, he then grabbed another combat knife and whirled around to place it squarely in the forehead of another trooper.

He then heard a sound that made his eyes widen in fear, the thundering of metallic hoofsteps that could only belong to one group. Applejack's Rangers. Riptalon swore quietly as their battle saddles began spinning up before finally letting out a spray of bullets, golden shell casings flying every which way. Riptalon snarled before he threw down a smoke bomb and Midnight coughed as his vision clouded.

“Activate your infrared vision and motion trackers now.” the lead member of the Rangers ordered before they searched the cloud for any sign of Riptalon. The gunfire had stopped, as in the smoke it would be impossible to make out friend from foe, or Riptalon from any of the civilians who had taken shelter in the nearby buildings or behind supply crates or barrels. But the odd thing was, he’d completely vanished from their sight. Then, Midnight saw him. He’d climbed above the cloud of smoke in the confusion and onto the rooftops. Riptalon used one of his charcoal black wings to make a very rude gesture before he took to the skies, and that was the last anybody ever saw of him in Junction Town.

Riptalon muttered to himself: “Gawd was gonna cut you down anyways, just sped up the process…”

Now:

“Y-You…” Midnight stammered out, his whole reality shattering before his eyes. The Blackhawk who’d slaughtered a entire platoon of soldiers just because he could, was in actually willingly branding himself a traitor just so he could deal with the actual traitors? Moreso, he actually wanted to fight alongside him, and admired him? “No… No, that’s not true. It can’t be…”

“Believe what you like, I don’t care. Stopped caring about my reputation years ago.” Riptalon shrugged.

“I believe him,” Henri said, shocking everyone. “Think about it, he’s had plenty of chances to kill us before now, and he’s taken none of them. That alone should lead some credence to his little yarn.”

“Sacrificing everything for your government…” Iron whispered -The words striking a chord in him- in an almost hollow tone of voice, and everyone turned to look at him this time.

“Something wrong?” Riptalon asked, in that same concerned tone of voice with that cold and uncaring mask of his finally able to break now that he was amongst ponies he knew he could trust.

“Yeah… I finally know who I am, and where I came from…” Iron/Nimbus whispered.

Ten Years Ago:

“Swear you’re going to get yourself killed one of these days doing that,” Clear “Buttercream” Skies (Or simply Buttercream, as everyone in Coltumbia called him) commented, bearing a Trottingham accent. Another tavern, another day. “I mean seriously, how many glasses have you drunk? Like you’re suffering from a bad break-up or something… Healthier ways to get over such a thing. Eat a bucket of ice-cream or two. Celestia knows you need to pack on the calories, looking awfully thin,” he continued commented kindly and his brother turned to face the speaker. It was a white pegasus, well mostly white. There were some splotches of cyan in his wings. Very large wings at that, a little too large for his body maybe.

If one had to make a comparison, he would have thought the pegasus to be similar to a cloudy sky, with small pockets of blue peeking through here and there. On his flank rested a gust of wind. Nimbus however, was the exact opposite in every way. Less religious focused, and his coat color was a deep, dark storm of angry grays befitting his demeanor. His Mark, was a storm cloud with a angry bolt of lightning seemingly cutting it in two.

“Brother of mine, not your place to chastise me on my drinking habits,” Nimbus replied in his usual gruff tone of voice. “Believe me, if you want to scold me like a little foal, do it when I’m actually doing something wrong. Like murdering somepony in cold blood. Then you can get on your high horse and chastise me like the pretentious, self-righteous arsehole you are,”

“Just sayin’, if you want to make your place in heaven with Celestia, quit now while you still can,” Buttercream remarked. “I love you mate, honestly I do, but just don’t want to see you dying a foolish death no thanks to your own stupidity,”

“With all due respect, go and bugger off eh?” Nimbus commented, flipping him a rude gesture with a wing. Sometimes he wondered how he and Buttercream were related. “Honestly, I don’t regret my life choices. The drinking, gambling, none of that. Unlike you, I’m not so blessed as to be given a good cloud crop and gotten rich off it. I have to earn my keep,” he remarked. “And another thing… For Celestia’s sake, will you stop listening to that preaching that evangelist Stormy Skies is spouting off eh? He’s a nutter, plain and simple. Celestia’s no god. ...If she was, we wouldn’t be sitting here above the clouds and the Wastes below wouldn’t have turned into a living nightmare,”

“Earn your keep?” Another mare asked, this one in various shades of light blue with a snowflake resting on her flank. She chuckled. “Gambling away what little life spendings you do have, that’s a funny way of earning your keep...”

“Great, so you’re ganging up on me with this arse, Madam Breeze? For Celestia’s sake…”

“No, not ganging up. I’m just trying to look out for my fellow pegasi. Ask yourself, what would your family think if they found you dead in some alleyway, stabbed by a bookie or your liver finally giving out? They’ve got a reputation, a nice one, and I just don’t want to see it ruined by your own follies,” Winter Breeze told him, in that horrendously kind voice of hers. “We’re all family here, that’s all we’ve got up here. Just… us,”

“You yourself sound like you’re preaching something Winter, Altruism I think it’s called. Well, here’s something for your sermons. For every choice, there is an echo. With each act, we change the world,” Nimbus remarked. “Yes, I know that sounds like a quote I probably stole from somewhere, but I’m just speaking my mind here. Just doing this out of my kind heart, or maybe I’m as stupid as Buttercream thinks I am, but we as a species do need to change. We’re too closed off. Can’t survive up here forever. Open up your eyes madam, see my standing. That birth control crap that was created? How many ponies do you think actually listen to it? Ponies are horny little bastards, you know that. Doubt they can keep their libido under control for long,” he continued in his drunken tangent. “Sooner or later, somepony, somewhere up here, they might just… slip up. Don’t count on anybody else, that’s my motto. Least… Don’t count on them obeying rules and laws that were set down. Ponies don’t like to be constrained, least of all us pegasi. We once flew free, and now here we are. Trapped like rats in a cage. Gotta fly free, if you will, in some other way…”

Nimbus got up from his seat and reached for his Novasurge rifle. “Now, if you excuse me, I’ve got better things to do then quibble about with you lot. I’ve got firing squads to teach. Some damn idiots still haven’t worked out how to use a Novasurge rifle properly...”

With that, he walked off, but not before hearing Winter Breeze and Buttercream mutter amongst themselves.

“Teaching a firing squad while completely plastered…? How the Hell is that supposed to work out?” Buttercream wondered aloud.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Nimbus, it’s that he’s stubborn. He’ll figure something out. ...Unless he ends up shooting his entire class out of frustration,” Winter Breeze remarked with a sigh before walking off. “Now if you excuse me, I’ve got things to do. Classes to teach. Celestia knows the questions that are going to be asked as to why I’m late, especially when I turn up smelling like a drunkard…”

“Hey, if he does end up shooting his entire class, least they’ll know how a Novasurge rifle works.” Buttercream muttered darkly. After the class ended, (With nopony getting shot shockingly enough) Nimbus found himself in a crowd of pegasus ponies dressed in insect-like armor high in the sky, amongst the clouds. Atop a podium stood a pegasus similar in coat coloring and appearance to Calamity, but with a lighter shade of fur. It was tan, instead of the dark brown Calamity bore.

Next to him were effigies, one of a rainbow-maned pegasus with light blue fur, and another of a purple-maned pegasus, with orange fur.

“Now, you all know what they are, who they are! Their names… We shall not grace them with a name, they don’t deserve that, not after what they did! You all know the stories, they abandoned the clouds to help those worthless souls down in the Wastes below!” Autumn Leaf shouted to the populace before turning to the effigy of the rainbow mare. “Now, before Operation Cauterize begins, I just want to remind everypony of what we’re trying to do. Burn anypony like these traitors, these Dashites, and anybody who supports their cause!”

With that, he set the first effigy alight and the crowd roared and stamped their hooves in approval, and Iron heard a small growl come from nearby. He looked, and saw Winter Breeze vanish into the crowd with a disgusted expression on her face. Nimbus’s eyes widened in abject shock.

“Winter…? What’s she doing here?” Nimbus thought to himself. “More importantly,” he pondered to himself upon observing her reaction to the Scootaloo effigy being burned, “What got her so worked up about Scootaloo’s likeness being…”

His eyes widened as he then realized. “So that’s it! No wonder Stormy Skies hates her so much… Well, I’ll be damned.” He then let out a low chuckle at the irony. A member of the Enclave actually being related to the very first Dashite. Wouldn’t that throw everypony in the city into one Hell of a tizzy? Oh, what’d he’d give to see their reactions...

It wasn’t long before Nimbus found himself being suited up for war, and put into armor. He was next to a Vertibuck, helping some pegasi clad in insectoid like power armor load supplies into it. A giant monstrosity of a Raptor class Cloudship hovered ominously in the background.

“Shame you’ve decided not to come along, Nimbus,” Autumn Leaf asked, as a pony with a white mane and beard stood by him. “As Stormy here likes to say, you’re a damn good soldier or some such shit,”

“Please, if you’re going to take on the Equestrian Wastes… Well, I think with everything you’ve loaded up, along with all the bodies -And trust me, there will be bodies- you’re throwing at this, you’re plenty prepared. You don’t need me, honestly. Swear to Celestia. Cross my heart and hope to fly,” Nimbus remarked.

“Yeah,” Autumn Leaf replied. “There will be bodies, yes. But they won’t be pegasi bodies… at least, none of our pegasi. Any of them who chose to hide out in Stables, well… that’s another story entirely…” he chuckled.

“So let it be written, so let it be done…” Stormy added. “This is the Wastes’ last day of impurity. The land shall be cleansed, and only the pure, untainted shall live in the Hell below, and transform it into paradise,”

Nimbus turned to Autumn as Stormy walked off towards a waiting Vertibuck. “Surely you’re not listening to this religious nut, right? Why he’s a soldier, I’ve got no clue. Bit too… preachy for my tastes, really,” the stone gray pegasus remarked, with more than a hint of disdain and disgust.

“Yes, I admit, he’s possibly not all there, and worships Celestia a bit too much, but he’s harmless in the end, really…” Autumn tried to reassure.

“Yeah, well, that’s what they said about the zebras, and look what happened there, eh?” Nimbus retorted. “From nobodies to nightmares, that’s what they became. And if I’m right, and we don’t keep a close enough eye on Stormy, we could end up with a similar situation.”

Predictably, Autumn ignored him.

“That’s entirely different, and you know it. The zebras are scum, they sought to destroy everything Equestria stood for, while Stormy Skies is a loyal soldier to our grand Enclave,” Autumn Leaf replied. Nimbus raised an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah? Keep telling yourself that, and you might just believe it…” Nimbus muttered before whispering to himself: “In all honesty, I think the world’s going to end bloody.”

And yet somehow, he found himself fighting in that war no matter how much he disliked it. He found himself fighting in the final battle of the war for Equestria’s freedom, against Littlepip and her band. The remaining Enclave was waging a final siege, one last desperate effort. And Nimbus found himself in the middle of it, on a Raptor Cloudship with Stormy -Ironically enough- as his commander.

“Sir,” a male stallion’s voice yelled, almost as if in fear. Horrifyingly, he sounded as if he was in his early teens. “The cannons! They’re-”

“Damn the cannons, ignore them!” Stormy shouted as he slammed his hoof against something hard, presumably the center control console. A roar was heard from somewhere nearby, and a massive winged shadow flew by them smashing right through another Cloudship as it erupted into an inferno of green flame.

“But the ship, it’s going down! We should evacuate!” the first voice shouted, seemingly the more sensible one of the two. Nimbus found himself agreeing with the first voice, and not with the probably-suicidal idiot ordering him about.

“No, not yet! We can still put up a fight, and I’m not letting those ground-dwelling mud-ponies get the better of us, and that’s that!” Stormy disagreed, nearly screaming by this point. Weapons fire, all centered on the Cloudship came from all around them, some even from Fillydelphia’s SPP Tower. “Now, you’ll obey my orders unless you want me to shoot you for insubordination!”

“But sir-”

A gunshot went off accompanied by a scream. The young soldier fell to the floor clutching his bleeding foreleg, as explosions erupted from behind them. An engine, Nimbus knew.

“W-Why?” the younger voice coughed out.

“You know why soldier,” The older voice answered gruffly. “I value loyalty in my troops, and I am impressed you care for your fellow ponies. You’re a damn good soldier, damn good. However, I can’t just live and let be. Remember, your loyalty is to me above all else. Celestia forgives everything, but I’m just a simple soldier. So I don’t have to. Amen.”

There was then another gunshot, silencing the first voice forever. History continued, as history did. Operation Cauterize ended in disaster, and the Enclave erupted into utter chaos. Splinter factions broke off, each trying their hand at conquering Equestria and continuing the work left behind by those before over the years the followed. Two bided their time, both building up their power and influence from the inside. One faction, led by Stormy Skies, and the other led by Winter Breeze. Nimbus knew a clash between the two was inevitable. “Give a buck or a mare power, and watch it all go all to their heads…” he liked to comment to anypony who’d listen.

Honestly, he wanted to stay out of things. But sadly, that’s not what fate had in mind for him. As it turned out, Buttercream was quite loyal to Stormy even after his failures at the final battle for Equestria’s freedom in Fillydelphia and the Day of Sunshine and Rainbows.

Nimbus, out of pure fear for the path his brother was heading down confronted him.

“You complete and utter idiot!” Nimbus shouted. “Stormy… Just following that madman of a preacher’s orders is going to get you killed!” he snapped before his voice broke. “I… I just don’t want to see the only family I have left…” Nimbus trailed off, holding back a sob. The rest of his family, his parents and sister had been killed in the disaster that was Operation Cauterize.

“I understand Nimbus, but ponies are choosing sides. ...I-I know you’re right, but I don’t have any choice in the matter…” Buttercream trailed off.

“Of course you have a choice in the matter! We can go and end this now, shoot Stormy in the head and join up with Winter’s forces!” Nimbus snapped.

“And risk throwing the city in even further chaos when it loses one of it’s crucial figures?” Buttercream asked before pulling his brother into an alleyway. “Besides, Stormy has eyes and ears everywhere… Followers by the dozens. If he even heard we were trying to do him in, much less succeed, they’d come for us. I don’t want to lose you. I’m doing this to save you, keep you out of his little batch of insanity.” Buttercream whispered, and Nimbus’s eyes widened in shock.

“You… You…” he trailed off, finding himself at a loss for words. “You’re willingly doing this, just to save the brother you never cared about?”

“Oh Nimbus… I’ve always cared about you, no matter how much of a dick you became.”

Nimbus chuckled. “Finally got you to curse. If anything, that should count as a minor victory. Be safe.”

“I will be brother, I will be.” Buttercream smiled before he walked off.

Somehow, though, Stormy Skies did find out about Nimbus’s wishes to see him dead. He knew of the old saying, keep your friends close, but you keep your enemies closer.

And so, he found himself amongst Stormy’s forces fighting a civil war he never wanted to be in. Leading an execution squad through the streets, Stormy had asked him to go right for the heart of his troubles and hit Winter where it would hurt most, her family.

“Gentleponies, before we get started, I’m the only authority you’ll ever need. Now, you lot… You all know our mission. Got some… dissenters who’d rather return to the Wastes below as they feel life’s better down there than up here in our little slice of paradise. Our little Garden of Eden in what’s otherwise Hell all around us,” Nimbus lectured, inwardly wanting to slaughter all of the soldiers under his “Command”. “Our job, teach them it is not to disobey the will of the Enclave. We are Celestia’s chosen, the only pure faction left in the Wasteland! We do not tolerate those who think otherwise. After Rainbow Dash, after Scootaloo! They were examples of what happens when things go wrong, those who would carefully upset the balance we created.”

Ponies were dragged out of their houses and fired at with Novasurge rifles and turned to nothing but ash. Ashes beneath his hooves that fell through the cloud cover below and became nothing but dust in the wind. There was only one word for it. Fanaticism. Fanaticism, and a twisted sense of loyalty to a country that decided who got to live, and who got to die. That was the cold hard truth of the Enclave. You decided to become a Dashite, and you earned yourself a death sentence. That was the rule of law here.

Looking at the pile of ashes in front of him, Nimbus smirked and spoke into the radio. “It’s done… Commander Stormy. Scootaloo’s great-grandchildren are dead.”

“Good. You’re a damn good soldier Nimbus. Damn good. I may just strike up a friendship with you yet. After all, isn’t that what they said in the old days? Friendship is Magic?” Stormy asked, and Nimbus chuckled in seeming agreement with that. But in actuality, things had worked just as planned. Little did Stormy or his execution squad know it, but the ponies they had just killed were some of Stormy’s own supporters. Nimbus had played them both, and that was the source of his amusement.

The higher-ups, they decided what the truth was, and right now, the truth was Winter was the enemy. Soon however, Winter found out about what had happened, (At least that’s what Nimbus thought, he’d probably never know)and her own troops struck back in the battle for supremacy with an armored black alicorn at the lead, killing any of Stormy’s supporters that got in their way.

In rage and fury, they came, burning down Stormy’s church and base of operations leaving all but Nimbus dead in their wake. And Stormy, of course, needed a scapegoat and someone to take his rage out on.

“So…” Stormy asked as ragtime piano-based music played in the background. Nimbus was in front of him, strapped down to a table, bruised and bloody. “That’s your position?”

“Yeah, so fuck you and the high horse you rode in on mate,” Nimbus’s responded. “Been wanting to say that for a very long time, and now I finally get to tell you that face to fucking face,”

“Well then…” Stormy answered before the sounds of crackling electricity filled the room as Stormy pulled out an electric prod and then, horrific ear-piercing screams of pain. “Let me teach you a lesson. Something I learned in my youth. As a young little colt, I had a dog named Bill. Like all dogs, Bill was a loyal friend. If we had not fed him, Bill would have been loyal. If we had struck him, Bill would have been loyal. Only when the inferiors below us, the ones in the Wastes the Zebras created, can we make that claim will he take his place in society,”

“You’re... “ Nimbus coughed out. “You’re sick. You and your sense of morality… Completely fucked up beyond belief. You’re completely insane, you know that? My brother was right about you. Right before you killed him.” he snarled, learning from Stormy himself that his brother had died several days before.

Another scream of pain, and laughter followed it.

“You know… Despite all your preaching about how it’s the Zebras fault about Equestria went to Hell… You seem to forget history,” the other stallion continued to comment, despite all the pain and suffering he’d been put through. Iron had to admire him, whoever he was. The buck had serious balls, cast iron ones probably. “You wiped the slate clean to fulfill your own mental reasonings. Celestia, as much as you worship her, is as much as at fault here as well. She abdicated, you know. Right after Littlehorn Valley. If she hadn’t… Well, then this whole mess might not have happened eh?”

A roar of rage, and another scream followed.

“We’ll keep going at this, right up until you submit. President Winter Breeze will have you one way or the other, that’s my promise to her,” Stormy snarled, a devilish smile on his face. “She wants one of my men dead, the one that killed her relations, so I promised her I’d give her you. Just didn’t say what condition you’d be in, that’s all.”

“Funny, would Winter Breeze actually let you go through with this? Torture till I’m nearly dead?” Nimbus smirked defiantly, actually enjoying the look of sheer panic on Stormy’s face that came with his next question. “Let me ask you this… Hell, ask yourself… Who are you more afraid of? Celestia’s judgement… Or hers? That alicorn of Winter’s… Oh, I’d hate to be in here if he barged in this little room right now. No, strike that, I’d enjoy it, as suffice to say, you’d be fucked.”

The older stallion faltered for a moment, for just a brief moment. But soon he regained his composure. “Lady Celestia forgives everything, but I'm just a prophet... so I don't have to. Amen. Now… ask yourself, are you afraid of Celestia, Nimbus Breaker… Or are you more afraid of me?”

And then the screams started once again. “You’re a determined one, aren’t you? Tenacity should be a reward in itself in this group of ours, always keep trying to escape like a rat,” Stormy asked in surprise. “Celestia’s given you gifts, and I must admit… You do know how to use them. Though a hundred crooked paths may conduct to a temporary success, the one plain and straight path of public and private virtue can alone lead to a pure and lasting fame and the blessings of posterity. I’d suggest you’d heed my advice.”

“F-Fuck… You.” Buttercream’s voice coughed out from a room nearby (Nimbus’s eyes widening) before the sound of hoof hitting flesh was heard and then a scream of pain and the sound of a bone cracking joined it.

“One buck goes into the waters of baptism. A different buck comes out, born again. But who is that buck who lies submerged? Perhaps what it is, it’s that swimmer is both a sinner and a saint, until he is revealed unto the eyes of ponykind,” Nimbus continued to preach. “No animal is born free, except the for us, the pegasi. And it is our beast of burden to care for the rest of creation. Do you understand now? Our duty?”

“Again… Fuck you.” Buttercream rasped out before Stormy sighed.

“Oh well, I tried… You could have been a good soldier for us, but it seems not all can be… turned.”

Next thing that was heard was a gunshot and the rest was silence. Or, at least that’s what Stormy would have liked to have heard, as the door to the small room was soon kicked in and there stood Buttercream with a Novasurge rifle in hoof. He swung out with a hoof, and knocked out Stormy before freeing his brother.

“Would… Would this be a good time to say I told you so?” Nimbus laughed weakly.

“Yeah yeah… You can lecture me later. For now, we’re getting out of here. There’s some Cloudships nearby, all that’s standing between them and us… are Stormy’s troops.”

“Fine then,” Nimbus snarled as he grabbed a nearby Novasurge rifle. “Let there be blood and fire in the blue sky. Been waiting to get some payback.”

Like a hurricane, they swept through anything that got in their way, and made their way through the city of Coltlumbia in full armor (At one point, Nimbus smirked when he saw some Dust Devils emblazoned with Stormy’s Cutie Mark on the side high above fleeing from the city with Vertibucks in classic Enclave livery -Winter’s forces, he knew- in pursuit) and cutting down anypony who dared stand in their way. Once they reached the port, they both shared a nod.

“We’ll take separate ships, split up. For now, we’re both targets. Dashites. For now,” Buttercream whispered softly as he boarded a Cloudship and took the controls. “This is where we part ways… I love you, brother, you know that right?”

“Yeah, I know. Be safe.” Nimbus replied as they both took flight from the city. To their credit, they made it a few miles out before Stormy’s forces caught up with Nimbus, and with a lucky shot blasted one of the ship’s engines and soon, Nimbus saw the Wastes below rushing up to greet him…

Now:

Reactions varied, but one thing was clear, Nimbus knew nobody in this group would be looking at him the same way.

“So… So you waged a one-man war against Stormy Skies and his Enclave, all to protect your brother?” Riptalon whispered. “You gave up everything, for your own government just to protect those you loved?” he asked, actually beginning to see similarities between himself and the pegasus. Both former soldiers for a government, both willing to ruin their own reputations for the greater good, and both having those they cared about and a defiance that would strike fear into anyone who crossed them.

“Yes, but it’s not over yet,” Nimbus growled. “Stormy’s on this island, and I intend to finish the fight, and then find my brother. Henri, you take that Dust Devil and get Starglow and everyone else off this island. Me and Twilight, we’re going after the Enclave and killing every last. single. member on this island, even if we die in the process ourself.”

“Hell no,” Riptalon said as Midnight joined him by Iron’s side. “You’re not going on that mission alone. This isn’t just your fight. We came to this island to take out the Enclave, and we’re going to finish that mission. You don’t have to fight this war by yourself.”

“He’s right,” Target said, tossing Nimbus End of the Line. “Take this, you’re going to need it. ...Just come back safe, okay?”

Nimbus only replied with a simple nod, and a reload of the sniper rifle.

Author's Note

IOkay, first off... Huge thanks to RuinQueenofOblivion for writing Twilight's side of things, and taking the time out of her own writing to do so. Also, a thank you to Notsonewbrony for suggesting the reason why Twilight couldn't give as much help as she could have to the party.

Now, on the chapter itself. Few things I want to point out. Yes, most of Iron's (Or should we say Nimbus, now that he feels comfortable enough to call himself by his real name) backstory is the flashbacks we've seen previously, but with a few extra added bits to fill in the gaps, and lined up in the correct order. Also, originally I was going to have him and his brother escape by Dust Devil, but I remembered the fact that the story opened with a Cloudship crashing down, so... Also, on Cloudships, originally one was going to shoot him down, but that was axed for two reasons. One, waste of resources, and two: I doubt a fleeing sect of the Enclave would have the ability to grab a Cloudship just to kill one pony.

Now, as ever... Comments, thoughts, and critique are welcomed.