Chapter 26 A Nice Quiet Walk

"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life." Robert A. Heinlein

After I leave the camp, I cross the river on the highway bridge next to the railroad one. I look up and see the trestles of the railroad bridge above us, while this one is rather simple with only concrete spans. The road seems to stretch forever into the distance before Woofers and me.

It has been a long time since I have had this kind of solitude and right now, I really could use it. I watch the sun slowly creep higher as we continue to the east. On the map, it does not look far, but in reality, it is a good day’s walk. Part of me misses having somepony to talk back to me, but today I am just glad Woofers is such a good listener.

As I walk, he flies alongside me. In a way, I am really glad that the Major has ordered me to this. I have a lot on my mind and I can use the time to think. Last night weighs heavy on my mind. Do I dare really ask Badger and Magpie what Sutures suggested? What or who is that mare I keep seeing, and why and how did she stop my pain? What was that pain from anyways, I have never had any like it before? Finally, Will I ever see home again?

I discuss these topics for some time with Woofers, he doesn’t say much back. At least he does not think I am crazy, I guess. The occasional whine or bark makes me feel like he is trying to answer me at least.

Three hours into my walk I finally run across somepony else. I had just passed into a lightly forested glen that looks to have leaves budding on the trees and the first sprigs of grass growing. That is when I see her. She is a beautiful white cow with black hair on her forelock and tail and smaller horns.

I am stunned, to say the least, I check my EFS and see nothing which is somewhat confusing, to say the least. So, I call to her, “Hello, are you ok, do you need any assistance?”

She simply smiles at me and waves me closer. As I approach her, I feel peaceful, yet uneasy. Something just does not add up to me.

Once I get closer, I try to speak to her again, “Hi, I am Mollygirl, I am surprised to see a cow out here. I did not know there were any outside the Co-op.”

She smiles and then I see a brief shimmer and the beautiful cow transforms into the white mare I had seen before. I feel a chill run through my body as she begins to speak to me in a beautifully light Trottingham accented voice. “Hello, Mollygirl, perhaps this form would make ye feel more comfortable.”

I am struck dumb briefly, then I ask, ‘W-what are you?”

She smiles at me and replies, “Ye know what I am, now don’t you? Here I am a spirit; on other worlds, they have called me a goddess.”

Nervously, I ask, “Who are you?”

Her smile widens and her voice becomes more comforting, “Now that my child, that is the question that each of us asks ourselves. I have had many names and titles over the millennia, I have been known as the goddess of the earth and fertility, she who gathers the souls of those slain in battle, and as the goddess of battle and the dead. I have been known by both the titles of the Great Queen and the Mare Queen, but you, ye may just call me the Mareigan.”

I feel a chill go through my body. “W-what do you want from me?” I ask nervously.

She replies gently, “Ye have attracted my attention young mare. There are lessons I know ye need to learn. If your time to be chosen on the battlefield occurs, I will be there personally to help you cross over.”

“No, no you won’t, I have crossed over once, while I barely remember it, I would have remembered you.”

She sees the expression on my face, still speaking gently she continues “No, ye may not remember me, but I was there. I saw it all, that is what got me attention on ye.”

“Then, then why did you not just keep me on that side. Why did I have to come back, why?” I beg.

Her expression turns sad, “Because it was determined it was not your time yet. Ye made the decision to come back, not I. Again, this is what got my attention.”

Before I can say anything more, from out of the brush behind me I hear small hoofbeats running towards me. I hear Xochitl yelling at me, “NO! NO! Auntie Mollygirl, Run! You know not to talk to spirits; you heard my father. Do not talk to them!”

Behind me I hear Trouble, “Ginger, stay here, I have to get him.”

Xochitl runs between me and the Mareigan. He looks at her, “Please spare her, take me instead if you need a sacrifice, we need her.”

The Mareigan approaches closer and looks at him, “Hmmmm, I had not expected this, but you now have my attention young buck.”

He is scared, I can tell it, He kneels down before her, looking at the ground, “Please, spare the LT. She is vital, take me instead if you need.”

She looks at him with her head turned slightly and asks, “Do you want to die, is that it?”

I hear the tremble in his voice, “N-N-No, I don’t, but she is more important than me. She needs to live, I know spirits desire souls, I willingly trade my life and soul for hers.”

“And why little one would I do such a thing. I can be cruel and harsh, make no mistake I often am, but why do ye want me to spare her instead of you?”

He looks up at her, “My family needs her, and the CEF needs her. I am just another soldier, but still a soul and life.”

As the conversation continues, I hear Trouble running up behind me. He stops both ears forward as he becomes aware of what he is seeing.

The Mareigan then asks Xochitl, “Do ye think that tis all I care about? Tricking mortal pony’s into giving me their souls, or taking their lives?”

There are tears in his voice, “I am just a young buck, I am not sure, but I will do what I must to save my friends and family.”

She then takes her hoof and raises the young bucks’ eyes to meet hers. “Young buck, ye are now one of MINE. I can tell you have spoken true. I will not take your soul, at least not yet, As I have promised Mollygirl, if ye die on a battlefield, I will be there to escort you over, ye are mine. Now, look at your flank young buck.”

At that we all look at his flanks, he has gotten his cutie mark, or actually his glyph mark. None of us can read it. She smiles, “I have not given it to you young Xochitl, you have earned it and it stands you well.”

Next, she looks at Trouble. I see the look on her face, “Ye call yourself a bounty hunter, but ye are not. A mercenary perhaps, a solider now for sure, but I have seen you refuse to take shots at those you felt did not deserve to wear a bounty on their heads. You may collect a bounty, but you are no bounty hunter. Before you deny that, remember I can see a warrior’s heart, and I have received a lot of business from ye.”

I see him hang his head, “I have tried to be a fair judge and not take those whose only crime was to offend others or to prevent injustice, but, I have never tried to be a soldier.”

She scoffs at this, “Really, and the reason ye have a bounty on your head is why?”

Now, my ears are forward, I really want to hear this answer.

His head down still, “You already know don’t you,” he answers.

“Yes, yes, I do, I was there that day. Ye remember the crows, don’t you?” She says.

I see him tremble, “Yes, I try to forget them, but yes, I remember.”

I hear Ginger approaching cautiously from behind me.

The Mareigan looks at me again, “Mollygirl, if I only cared for lives and souls, I would nah have stopped your miscarriage the other day. Remember I can be kind as well as cruel. Be wary and pay attention to the signs of that I want you to learn. I will warn you that the worst is yet to come, stand fast, and be strong.”

She looks at the zony with a thoughtful look on her face. “Young one step closer,”

He does and she whispers into his ear, then she brings her head back up, and tells him, “Ye may tell no one or ye will suffer my wrath young buck.” She turns to the rest of us, “Now go, I am done here for now.” We all stand there dumbfounded as she transforms into a crow before us and flies away.

From behind me, I hear Ginger, “LT, are you, did she just say you are pregnant?”

My hoof slides to my belly, “Yeah, but remember what Xavier said about spirits, they can play cruel games. The doctors told me I couldn’t get pregnant anymore.” I tell her, but deep inside I really hope the Mareigan was not simply being cruel.

Trouble standing next to me then says, “LT, we best get going. When we get back, you might want Sutures to run a test for you.”

“Yeah, yeah you are right Trouble, we best do that,” I reply and restart my walk to Junction R-7. As we walk, I see Xochitl’s pride as he keeps looking back at his glyph mark, and hear him keep talking about it to Ginger, who while she is excited for him, I can see is also upset as she every so often looks back at her own blank flank. I know she is wondering when she will get hers and how I was there once myself. Now we both have questions.

__________

As I continue my walk, I realize what has happened and why. “What are you three doing here?” I ask them angrily.

Trouble holds up a hoof, “Calm down LT. The sergeant sent us. He figured you might need a hoof. Besides the four of us can work together as a refugee family.”

“I told you all to wait until you were needed. Now, look at what has happened. Not only have I attracted the attention of a spirit, but now it has focused on Xochitl too.”

“Mollygirl, he felt we would be needed, please do not be angry at the youngsters. If you want to be angry, be angry at me.” He tells me as he steps between me and them.

Then something clicks in my brain, he has just positioned himself to protect them from me. Was I that bad when I got angry or was there something else to it? I close my eyes and force myself to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth, while just trying to think of something relaxing. Finally, I calm down.

“Ok, thank you Trouble. I will discuss this with the sergeant when we get back,” I tell him.

Next, I turn to the youngsters, “Well Xochitl, congratulations on getting your glyph, when we get to town, we will have to pick some things up to celebrate when we get back to your father.”

I then notice Ginger looking down as she walks. Though I think I know what the problem is, I have to ask anyway. “Ginger, what is the matter dear?”

“It’s, it’s just that I still haven’t gotten my cutie mark yet LT. What if I never get it?” She asks with tears in her voice.

“Ginger, you will get it in due time, just relax young mare. I know how hard it can be. Remember I was in my late teens before I got mine.” I tell her.

Trouble nods his head, “Ginger, I was in my teens before I got mine also. It is rough waiting I know, but be patient and it will come when you least expect it.”

We are still walking down the road when we come near a couple of wrecked carriages. I am leading us past them off the road when we have four very skinny and dirty ponies wearing homemade armor with spikes attached to it jump out at us from both sides. They have us surrounded and their weapons are already on us.

The one closest to me and ahead of me begins to speak first, “Well looky here bucks, it looks like we have a couple of tasty morsels to enjoy.” His fellow raiders laugh at his mild joke.

Trouble speaks next in a nervous sounding voice, “What do you want? Please don’t hurt me or my family.”

The lead raider laughs again, "Well such a big tough buck wearing a battle saddle even and you beg for your lives without even being told to. Why shouldn’t we?”

Ginger steps closer to me and speaks, “Because we never done nothing to anypony, please forgive my parents, you know how stable ponies are.”

This gets a laugh from all of them. “Yeah, we know how stable ponies are. But that does not explain the zony.” Their leader replies.

Trouble is quick on that, “Well, we have been out of the stable for a few years now, and well, my wife, she just gave in one time to zebra fever, but I have forgiven her since.”

One of the other raiders laughs, “Yeah we know how that is, but what about their looking so close in age?”

I answer that one, “Well, you know how it is, we had us a set of Trottingham twins. My buck here just could not wait after the little buck was born, caught me in my foal heat.”

This gets them laughing even more, “Well heat or not I think we will find out how good you are as well as your daughter, now put the weapons down and nopony needs to die unnecessarily.”

I look at Trouble and answer, “Sure, as long as my husband feels it is a SAT situation.” To which Trouble nods in understanding. In my peripheral vision, I see the youngsters both nod their heads in understanding. I am stalling for time for us to activate our S.A.T systems.

“Ok, children put your weapons down slowly,” I see them start to take their weapons off and yell “Now” I use my battle saddle to draw my weapons, I see both Xochitl and Ginger, draw their weapons as they drop and roll. Beside me, Trouble draws his pistol and opens fire, from above I see woofers diving on one that is taking aim at Ginger. He grabs his ear with his teeth and starts to twist his head from side to side.

I open fire with my Angel Bunny SMG almost cutting the leader in half, Then I turn and get ready to shoot again, but they are all down. The one closest to Ginger has been shot several times in his chest and Woofers is walking away from him. The one that Xochitl had targeted has four knees taken out by his .22 caliber hunting rifle. He is still alive, but can not stand. He is trying to drag himself away from us. He is screaming in pain and has tears running down his cheeks.

As Trouble kicks his weapon away and stands over him, the raider starts to beg, "Please don’t kill me, please, it is all Big Hoof’s idea, he made me do it.”

I see Trouble’s ears lay back flat against his head, his lips curling baring his teeth as he speaks next, “All his idea huh, but you would have joined in the fun wouldn’t ya, you wouldn’t have given us any mercy, would you?”

I place my hoof on Trouble’s shoulder, He nods and fires three quick rounds into the raiders gut, “If you survive this, never let me see your face again, or I will kill you the most painful way I can think of. Ok LT, are you ready to get moving again?”

“Sure, thing Trouble, let’s go.”

As we walk away, I hear the wounded and most likely dying stallion scream, “Who are you, what are you doing here?”

Trouble turns back, “Co-op Expedition Force scouts, you bucked with the wrong family son, now shut up and get it over with.”

With that, we continue following the dusty trail that parallels the tracks heading east. I guess it was a good thing after all that the Sergeant has sent them to be with me. I better thank him when I get back.

__________

Late in the afternoon we finally make it to Junction R-7. In the distance, we can see that the town is made up of old railroad cars that have been converted to living quarters and guard outpost. Alongside this are wagons circling the tracks that form a perimeter. Inside the perimeter, we can see several buildings being built alongside some that are already standing.

As we approach, I see a mix of ponies and griffons, some of the ponies are in normal civilian clothing and are rather skinny, while I see others who are in better condition but are wearing what looks to be stable barding. Seeing the stable barding I look at Ginger, “Remember Ginger, be polite with any Stable ponies you may run into.”

I hear her let out a sigh of discontent, “Ahh, alright auntie Mollygirl. I will behave,” she tells me.

Next to her, I hear Xochitl, “Remember that Ginger, best manners, you are a trooper now, you need to act like it and follow orders.”

With that, she sticks out her tongue at him and then tackles him. Trouble grabs her and I help Xochitl up just as two of the guards approach, I tell them, “Knock it off and behave, both of you.” I tell the kids.

The guards ask us what our business is, and we tell them we are there to purchase some supplies, get something to eat, and a safe spot to sleep for the night. Before they can send us through, I see a familiar face.

“Hey Dull Beak, good to see you again,” I call out and give a wave.

He sees me and approaches “For the love of all that is profitable, what are you and these tagalongs doing here?”

“Well, we came to see if we could get any more supplies from here. I also wanted to see if there was any way, I could send out some mail to the old stable in Manesville. Oh, and just so you know, there are three, possibly four dead raiders about 10 klicks out of town between here and the river. They tried ambushing us.”

The one guard looks at Dull Beak, “You know these pony’s sir?”

“Know them, I would not say that, but I will say that I have run across them before. Her and her boss are two of the twitchiest mares I have ever seen, come out of a dead sleep ready to fight.” Dull Beak tells him.

“Can you say you blame us Dull Beak, come on, that was not the first time I woke with a knife to my throat. Besides, Woofers got you some too. By the way, how are your wings doing from that?”

“Not the first time? I thought it was quiet in Manesville. That is what it sounded like to us.”

“Usually it is fairly quiet, but do you think ponies and cows would have a military large enough to send out this large an expedition without having some combat experience. Besides, we were trying to run things under the detection spell until recently,” I tell him.

The other guard looks at us, “Doesn’t seem too large an expedition with just four of them.”

Dull Beak looks at them, “Buddy, you only seeing some of their scouts, there are about another five hundred of them out there. They took over a hundred prisoners already from Red Eye's warlords. Even Gawd was happy with that.”

“Well, they don’t look that tough at least, using foals.” The guard says.

Trouble looks him in the eyes, “Do not judge a book by its cover. That young buck there just put four rounds in the knees of the one raider that was still alive. I gut shot the son of a mule for having threatened what he thought was innocent ponies. I ever see him again; I will take his ears, then kill him. I do not tolerate raiders or slavers well.”

“I see,” Dull Beak replies. “Well whatever, we don’t like slavers ourselves and raiders are a dime a dozen and good target practice. Well, I will walk you into town.”

As we turn to go, I see a pale white unicorn mare with a light purple mane and tail accompanied by a large green earth pony stallion who has a black and blue mane and tail approach us. They are both wearing stable barding with the number two on the collar.

When they get close enough for normal conversation the mare introduces herself, “Excuse me, I am Cookie Cutter and my friend here is Taser. We were passing by and could not help but overhear you say something about sending mail to your stable. We are still new up here and would love to talk to others who have similar experiences like home.”

I see Ginger roll her eyes and Xochitl nudge her to behave. I cannot see Trouble fully but I think I see him facehoof himself and shake his head.

I stop and look at both of them, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, but you have to understand, our stable has been open for over a century. We still use it as a military base, but normally we live out on farms in the local communities or in houses or apartments.”

“Really, your stable has been open that long. You all look so healthy. I, I, the Overmare told us that we would die if we came out before we did. The only reason we came out was that we were attacked by some ponies that Littlepip called the Steel Rangers.”

Trouble looks at them with his eyes wide, “You mean you survived a steel ranger attack while still in your stable. You do not know how lucky you all are.”

The stallion guffaws, “No, it was bad, but it couldn’t have been that bad, could it?”

I nod my head, “Yes, yes it could. When our stable opened up the Overmare and Overcow heard about another stable being attacked by the Steel Rangers. DJ Pon3 told any stables that had opened up to keep themselves quiet or things would go very wrong for them.”

“Well, he may have been just saying that.” Taser said to me.

“Taser, I would agree with you but for two things. One, there are reports that Red Eye used to raid stables in the Fillydelphia area to get the tech and slaves. Two, just over a week ago, some of us found that stable he reported on. There were bodies everywhere. The Overmare and Overcow died in their office. Many died in the common areas and there were areas that were heavily fought over choke points. But they died. I imagine any survivors were taken away to be slaves also. But you can bet your bottlecaps you were lucky.”

Cookie Cutter seems to realize she has stopped us, “Oh, please continue, may we talk with you as you walk?”

“Sure, why not, maybe we can both learn something,” I tell them as all of us continue into the settlement. “Hey Dull Beak where is a good place to eat?” I ask.

As we walk, Cookie continues “Back in the stable I used to work what we called the overnight shift in the kitchen, I loved to bake. Taser here was on the same shift in security. That is how we got to know each other.”

I look at how Taser looks at Cookie and have to ask, “Is he your special somepony?”

She blushes, “Nah, we're just really good friends,” then under her breath, I hear her say, “He would not think of me that way anyways.”

Having been in her shoes before and taking a page from my Ivy’s book I turn to Taser, “So Taser, I see the way you look at Cookie, are you going to ask her out soon or not.”

He looks mortified as does Cookie, but stutters out, “I, uh we, she would never date me, she only thinks of me as a friend.”

I smile at that, “So you would like to have her as your special somepony, if she were interested?”

He only nods. I turn my head a little bit at the blushing mare, “So Cookie, are you interested in dating him?”

She quickly nods her head, “Excellent, now that we have gotten past that, how about you two set up a date. Don’t worry I have time, by the way, if you like, you two and Dull Beak can all join us for lunch, my treat.”

Dull Beak squawks a bit “Hey, I don’t need no charity, what’s it going to cost me?”

I sigh, I seem to have forgotten about what I had read about griffon culture, “How about getting someone to clean up those bodies we told you about. Their weapons were not that good so we just left them, but do what you want with them. We did not even search the bodies as we wanted to get here as soon as possible.”

We are outside a tavern at this point and Dull Beak waves me in. I see that Cookie has gone pale from that short bit of discussion. Taser looks at her, “Cookie, don’t be too surprised, I told you things were more violent outside here. I am sure they had their reasons.”

At that point, Ginger pipes up, “Yeah, the four of them thought we were just a family and tried to jump us. They told us they were going to molest the LT there and myself. Probably kill us, who knows, maybe they would have wanted to eat us too.”

I hear Trouble snicker a bit, and Xochitl tells Ginger, “Ginger knock it off, you do not even know if they were cannibals. They most likely were not. Stop trying to tease the stable ponies.”

At this point I have to intercede, “Please excuse my niece and nephew, they are a bit rambunctious today. They most certainly were not cannibals. I have only heard of a few places with that problem and most of those were down in the Hoof. Now knock it off you two or you can go wait outside with Woofers to eat.”

Then from by my hoof, I hear a light whine and notice that Woofers is right there with me. OK, so much for that threat.

After we are sitting down for a while, we order meals for all of us. I expect Dull Beak to order some meat, but I am surprised when Trouble does too. He looks at me, “What? Who doesn’t love bacon?”

I see Cookie look slightly nauseous. “Sorry Cookie, most of us are still vegetarians in the Co-op. But the reality of the wastelands is that sometimes we do need to eat meat to survive. Trouble here has been in the wastelands much more than most of us from back home. I never tried eating meat until the expedition, and still prefer a vegan diet, however, I do have to agree with him about bacon.”

As Cookie is trying to mentally digest this, I hear Taser ask, “So is Trouble your special somepony?”

I smile and tell him, “No, he is my cousin, my husband and wife are back home still.”

I see both of their jaws drop and hear Dull Beak break out in laughter, “Ahhhh, that is awesome, you really are a crazy mare, tell me are more like you?” He says as he leans forward in his chair and places both of his elbows on the tables and his chin on his foreclaws.

At this I blush, “No, Dull Beak they are not all like me at home. In fact, I have received some disapproval from some, but most just leave us alone.”

He is still laughing, “I can’t wait to tell them back at the barracks, they will never believe me.”

I simply shake my head and turn back to the two-former stable ponies. “Well enough about me, how about I tell you a little bit about the Co-op and its history.”

Cookie is still a bit nervous looking at me, “Well I really would want to hear about the stable…”

I smile at her, put a hoof across the table onto hers, and tell her, “Dear, the story of the Co-op is the tale of our stable. We were one of the lucky ones from what I have gathered since we have left home. I am lucky I have seen a few memory orbs of when the stable was first opened,” and I begin to tell them about Millie and the stable opening, then I follow up with the history of the Co-op. While I am telling the history of the Co-op our food arrives and we eat our meal as I talk. I notice some of the other customers are listening to me talk also. I guess it must be entertaining at least.

When I finish Cookie, Taser, and Dull Beak are all quiet. Finally, Dull Beak asks, “So you were Stable 48 then. It sounds like you have really grown and done well. Not many of the stables did so well.”

“I know, I think it had to do with us being so lucky in who the Overmare and Overcow were. They really did an excellent job of protecting us and working with the local communities as they slowly expanded and developed our agriculture.” I tell him.

Cookie then asks what I realize should have been an obvious question. “You said Overcow, did your Overmare really share power with a cow?”

“Still does too, at least that is what they taught us in school.” Ginger tells her, “We still have lots of cow families. In fact, Auntie Mollygirl here had one of their preachers speak at her wedding and give her and her spouses a blessing from Sweet Cream.”

I see an eyebrow being raised by both Dull Beak and Taser. “Really, you have schools, do just special pony’s go to them or anybody?” Dull Beak asks.

Xochitl answers for us “Anyone can. I go to school along with Ginger, we have some cattle there too, but I do not like some of them as they pick on me.”

Trouble laughs lightly, “Xochitl, I would be very surprised if anyone picks on you once we get home. You are not that shy little zony I knew just a few weeks ago.”

I see Xochitl beam with pride at the compliment. Ginger puts a hoof around him in a friendly hug “See Xochitl, didn’t I tell ya.”

After this, I continue to tell Cookie and Taser about how the stable is now as well as how the Co-op still works and is always looking for good ponies to immigrate as long as they do their farm time.

This really seems to interest them both. I see them both looking at each other thoughtfully. “You know that doesn’t sound too bad. I am still not too sure about this wide-open sky though.” Taser tells us.

After supper, we excuse ourselves from the two stable ponies and have Dull Beak lead us to some of the shops for supplies that the Major has said we need. I leave Trouble, Xochitl, and Ginger outside with Woofers while I go inside with Dull Beak While there, I find a beautiful silver barrette for Magpies mane. I also find a few small things for Badger and Sumac. I find a box of Sugar Apple Bombs for the youngsters to share also as a treat.

“Ok, that will be 8000 bottle caps for that much. How do you plan on receiving it?” the shopkeeper asks me.

“I guess I could send a messenger to get a wagon to come pick them up, that is unless you know somepony that would be willing to haul them there for us.”

He pauses for a bit, “Yeah, I know a couple of ponies and a brahmin that could use the caps. You need to discuss the fee with them though,” he writes down their names for me, “Here are their names, they hang around the old section of town. Go ahead and tell ‘em that Short Track sent ya.”

“Thank you very much. I appreciate it. We will not be picking anything up until morning at the soonest.”

I head back outside and see youngsters playing with a very young, skinny brown pegasus filly. She can’t be more than three or four years old. They are playing with a ball in the street with her. Across the street watching very nonchalantly is Trouble. He is sitting on a roofed porch with his back against a wall and his hat pulled low over his face. I can barely see his eyes, but I can tell he is alert.

“Who’s your friend Ginger?” I ask.

“Hi auntie Mollygirl, this is T. She told me her real name but I can not pronounce it, so I asked and she said I could just call her that instead.”

“Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Miss T,” I tell her, then I continue, “Ginger, Xochitl, I bought you guys something as a treat, please be nice and share it with your friend, ok.”

Xochitl looks at me and smiles, “Of course auntie Mollygirl, I would have it no other way.”

They take the box from me and all three sit on the porch sharing between them. While they are doing this, I walk across the street along with Dull Beak and start to talk with Trouble about setting up shipping for the supplies. Suddenly it occurs to me, I show the note to Dull Beak, “Do you know if I can trust these people to ship our supplies?”

He looks at the names. “Yeah, you should be able to. Never heard of those three breaking a contract. If they do you can be sure they will never get another one here in town.”

“Thanks, Dull Beak. Now, all we have to do is find a room for the night.”

He smirks at me, “Well luckily you are on the porch of our newest hotel, so you should be able to find a room here.

Trouble smiles and holds out a key. “Yep, got us one, but they said no pets, not sure what we are going to do with Woofers.”

“Well, we could always sneak him in by holding the window in and calling him.”

“Would be nice but the room is on the second floor.”

I smirk myself, “Uh, Trouble, He can fly much higher than that. That is part of why pegasi consider enfields such pest.”

He laughs to himself, “Yeah, your right, I just keep thinking of him and Tweeters as odd dogs.”

“Yeah, I understand, I have even noticed the sarge slipping him food now and again as well as petting him some in camp,” I tell him.

From next to us I hear Dull Beak, “Well if you ponies are done for the night I will catch up to you in the morning.”

“Ok, sounds good Dull Beak. See you in the morning.” I tell him as he turns and walks off.

As we sit on the porch, we continue to watch the youngsters together. Little T seems to be really enjoying the treat that they are sharing with her. Finally, we see a mare come out of the hotel and walk over to the little Filly, “Ok young mare, let’s go home. Momma is done working for now.

As she walks away, I hear trouble, “Poor little filly, her mother looks like she is dressed up a bit much for a maid.”

At first, I do not realize what he is implying, then I realize it and blush. “Your right, that poor filly. Ok, everypony, let's head on in for the night.”

__________

Once we get up in the morning, we clean up quickly and open the window for Woofers to fly out of. We then head downstairs for breakfast. As we eat breakfast, we discuss what our plans for the day entail.

“Ok, Trouble, I need you to contact the names on the list, tell them that I was told to tell them that Short Track has sent you.”

“OK, sounds good, once we have transport set up where do you want to meet and when?” he asks.

“Use your PipBuck to contact me and we will meet then. I want to check a few more things out here, I will take the youngsters with me. Just be careful.” I tell him.

He finishes his bacon and eggs and heads out the door. I let Ginger and Xochilt finish their breakfast before I get ready to leave. As we stand up to head out, I see Dull Beak at the door. He spots us and comes over. “Hey LT. thanks for the stories last night. The others in the barracks were howling. I mentioned the thing about schools and that up there in Manesville. It seems someone passed it on to Gawd. Now she wants to talk to the two youngsters alone.”

“Sorry, but I am not letting you take them without me,” I tell him.

“I knew you would say that. You can never do anything the easy way. Ok then, you can come up to Gawd’s car, I will leave the door unlocked, but you need to wait outside while she questions these two.”

I see Ginger and Xochitl faces, Xochilt then replies, “LT, as a trooper, I think it is my duty to represent the Co-op as is Ginger’s also. We will do this, do not worry.”

“Are you sure Xochilt? I will not ask you to do this on your own.” I tell them.

“I am sure LT.” He says and Ginger nods her head in agreement.

I then look over at Dull Beak, “OK, you heard them, lead on.” I tell him, paying the bill on the way out.

Once we get to the old train, I see only one passenger car. The rest are old cattle cars and such. I would not have known what they are but Choo Choo decided I should know when we came across a couple of derelict trains after we started to follow the tracks. The only reason I really paid attention was that it helped her jog her memory some, as well as seemed to make her happy talking about it.

Once there, Dull Beak opens the door and tells me to wait outside as he ushers the two foals inside. As they go in, I hear Xochitl, “Remember your manners, Ginger.” During the quick glimpse, I had of the inside the room I see several griffons as well as an almost black, charcoal-colored unicorn mare with a red and white mane and a zebra mare. I have to say that in itself helps to build my curiosity, but also makes me feel a bit more relaxed for the foals.

After about an hour I receive a message from Trouble letting me know the transportation is set up and will arrive at noon to pick up the supplies. I let him know where I am and tell him he can meet me here or at the store, as I do not know how long we will be.

Two hours later the foals come back out smiling along with unhappy-looking Dull Beak. “Thank you, Mr. Dull Beak, that was fun getting to tell them about home,” Ginger says.

Xochitl further explains Dull Beak's expression, “It will be nice to have you along with us sir,” Then he turns to me, “Auntie Mollygirl, I found out what my glyph means. It has a threefold meaning of loyalty to friends, family, and home or herd. The nice zebra mare told me I should be proud of it.”

“That is great Xochitl, I am very proud for you,” I tell him and give him a hug. Then I look at Dull Beak, “Well I guess you and I will be seeing a lot more of each other, welcome along,” I tell him as I stick out a hoof which he takes with his foreclaw and shakes.

“Well, not my choice LT, but Gawd said she wanted to send out a couple of envoys to your Co-op, two will be trying to fly there directly two more of us will be going with your expeditionary force. Guess which one I got.”

As we are walking away, I ask Dull Beak, “Do you want to go back there with us when we take the wagon back, or do you just want to meet us back at our camp? The wagon will be heading out this afternoon and we should be back in camp tonight.”

“I will go back with you, the other envoy is going to be a unicorn stallion, he is a medic and a real pacifist type.”

At about this time we run into Trouble who was coming to meet us. He joins the conversation, “Wonderful, a pacifist we will have to protect.”

“Well at least he is a medic, he can help us that way if we need it,” I tell him.

“Maybe he can do a pregnancy test for you LT.” Trouble suggests.

I involuntarily stiffen, “No, I will have Sutures do that once we get back, sorry but I do not know him and will not trust him yet.”

Then Dull Beak chimes in, “Ok, I best go get my stuff and collect Tourniquet and we will meet you at Short Tracks store also.” With that he flies off to his barracks, as he goes I hear him say “Did he say pregnancy test, ahahahaha, somepony fathered a foal with that crazy mare, I gotta tell the guys.”

Then I finally get to ask, “Ok, so what all did they talk to you about?”

Ginger smiles and starts to talk first, “They asked us about the schools and our hospital. They even asked us about how we worked the fields.”

“Yes, and then they were interested in hearing about the fight at Manesville and George. They also liked hearing about Choo Choo and her sisters. They kept asking what the others thought about them. They were surprised that they were accepted so easily,” Xochitl follows up.

“Yeah, and you should have seen their eyes go wide when the found-out George was a dragon and that you and Emerado rode her in the fight, and that we had her in the stable healing her afterward. I had to laugh cause Dull Beak about choked on hearing about you liking to fly LT.” Ginger continues.

“After that was when the zebra mare asked me about my glyph and how I got it. I told her, she got upset some, but told me I was very brave, but that I was very lucky that the spirit did not take me up on the offer.” Xochitl then interjects.

“Yeah, but they all agreed that the Co-op sounded good and that they needed to check it out more. I guess that is why Miss Grimfeathers is sending Dull Beak with us, and that Follower mare wants to send the medic.” Ginger finishes.

We are almost to the shop when Ginger speaks again, “You know Xochitl, I could swear I heard that Followers mare’s voice before.”

“But where would we have heard it before Ginger, not like she would be singing on DJ Pon3’s show right?”

“No, no, of course not, that would be silly, wouldn't it, but she did sound a lot like that one singer.” She says as she lowers her head while thinking.

Once at the Shop we meet the transport crew. On the side of their wagon is painted Two Bucks and a Brahmin transport. They introduce themselves to us and we reciprocate, then I give them half the caps for the job. After which I remind them of what Trouble has told them of receiving the other half once at our camp.

Once everything is loaded and Dull Beak arrives with Tourniquet we start to head out of the settlement for our camp. Before we can make it to the gate though we are flagged down by three ponies in Stable barding. I am surprised to see Cookie Cutter, Taser, and a new earth pony mare who they introduce as Sweet Apple to us. They have their saddlebags on and bedrolls across their backs.

Cookie Speaks up, “Last night when we got to our barracks we were talking with Sweet’s here and telling her about all of you and where you come from. Well, she liked the sound of it as she used to work in the stable orchards and would love to start her own farm, and well, the three of us want to join the Co-op.”

I am surprised, to say the least. Behind me, I hear Trouble, “Well, I wasn’t expecting this.”

“Cookie, I was not trying to recruit you, but you would be welcome. However, I need you to understand that we are heading back into combat. Not just a fight but a long drawn out campaign before we get back to the Co-op. IF you three are willing to endure that, please feel free to join us.”

They all look at each other, then form a circle and put a hoof out each. “Friends together,” I hear them say. Then Cookie looks back at me, “We are coming, where do you want us LT?” With that, we begin our nice quiet walk back to the CEF.

__________

DJ Pon3,

Recently, I have met a mare and buck that made my blood run cold. They left me for dead or to survive if I could. They have caused me to change my ways, As I lay here recovering could you please play The Pale Rider, for the only names I could hear mentioned being the LT and Trouble. Let it be a warning for any others who want to run the outlaw trail and play at being raiders. I pray to the Goddesses I never meet them again.

Yours

Notched Knife.

Author's Note

Thank you to Kkat for creating this universe as well as so many others who have added to it. In this chapter, I have mentioned a few of the familiar characters from the original FoE story, but as Mollygirl did not have any contact herself, we do not get to see them first hand.

For those who have read Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons- Speak, you may recognize the description of a little filly whose name Ginger could not pronounce, yes this is Threnody from that story and her mother. Heartshine did give me permission to use this character some, however, this is a slice of how I envisioned her young childhood. Thank you again Heartshine, for allowing me to do so. I also highly recommend her story.

For those who would like to hear this chapter's dedication song the youtube link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdtx1nF-Ki0&list=RDbdtx1nF-Ki0&start_radio=1