Chapter 45 The Games Continue

“Not all days in the field were unhappy ones. You had to have fun sometimes or you would go crazy.”
― Lanny Starr, Vietnam Diary: A Memoir for my Posterity

After our tea, Tar and I, as well as her guard go upstairs to see Sutures. Both of our foals get a clean bill of health from her. Then Tar goes to her room for the night followed by her guard. I found out her name is Pepper Spray. To think it only took me this long to find out her name. I am embarrassed about that, to say the least, but will make an effort to get to know the rest of my MP’s tomorrow.

As I get ready to turn in, I am joined by Sutures. “Sweetheart, you don’t mind if I only sleep here until I have to get up for watch at the hospital tonight, do you?” she asks me.

“No dear, not at all. I understand how duty is.”

“Actually, I meant me possibly waking you when I get up, but yeah that too,” she tells me with a tired look on her face.

As we lay there together, I feel her hoof come around me and begin to gently rub my belly. Then she whispers in my ear, “By the way that was not fair teasing me like that earlier.”

Smiling in the dark, I try to keep the smile out of my reply, “Really, how is that?” I ask as I snuggle my back closer to her.

“You know, both you and Tar. Mollygirl, she is cute and all, and I will say I can only imagine what Archer or Badger would say about two black-coated mares together.”

“Sutures, are you saying you would be interested in my cousin?” I ask as I start to squirm at the thought of it.

She lightly nibbles my ear and runs her hoof over my side, “Oh, I don’t know, especially considering I know her barn door does not swing that way.”

My eyes pop open wide and my body stiffens slightly, “You knew all along, didn’t you?”

“Nope, but you just told me,” she says as she starts to giggle at me.

Dang it, this mare has me figured out too well. “Ok, you got me back dear,” I tell her as I roll over to face her, “We best get some sleep now while we can, ok,” I tell her.

She nods her head and puts her muzzle against my neck and tells me, “That sounds good.”

Then as I feel her start to relax, I strike, I move my muzzle just enough and I run my tongue along her horn, I feel her shiver and her head moves as she tries to look me in the face, “Oh you tease, you know what that does to me.”

“Got you again, but consider it a deposit on what I owe you, ok,” I tell her.

I feel her nod her head, “Ok, but seriously, we do need to get some sleep.”

I lay there holding her and being held for a while, then finally my eyes close and I fall asleep.

I wake up several hours later when Sutures's alarm goes off. She tries to get up without waking me, not realizing I am already awake. In the dark, I watch her silhouette as she gets dressed in the moonlight from the window. Before she leaves, she comes over and gently kisses me on my forelock.

I move a little so she knows I am awake, “Thank you, love, please be careful out there, ok.”

“I will, it should be quite in the hospital tonight anyways.” She tells me, then she heads out the door. As she goes past Tar’s guard, I hear her say, “Good Evening Flash Bang, I hope all is well for you.”

“Yes, it is Stitches, Is the old mare still asleep?” he asks her.

I hear her giggle again, “Well when I left, she was half awake, so hopefully, she didn’t hear you call her old.”

I hear him stutter as he tries to backstep, “I, I, I didn’t mean she was old, you know it's just a nickname for the senior mare, I, ah.”

I hear her actually laugh at that, “That’s ok Flash, relax, I am sure she would not take offense as long as you do not call her that to her face.”

“Thanks, Stitches, have a good night.” He tells her.

Then I hear her hoof steps go down the stairs.

__________

It feels like I have just gone to sleep when I hear an auto AM rifle firing in the distance. I get up and look out the window just in time to see a mortar launch a flare round over the far side of the ridge. I hear some more localized firing, then it stops.

OK, I am up and I need to use the restrooms so I put on my barding and grab my pistol and head downstairs to the sinks. As I pass the guard, I stop for a second, “You know Flash Bang, I was wondering, I don’t look old do I?”

I see his eyes go wide with fear for a second and his ears straight forward, “Uh, No ma’am. You don’t look old at all.”

I smile, “Ok, just wanted to make sure,” I tell him, “I will be back in a bit if anybody comes looking for me.”

He has recomposed himself by now and simply answers, “Yes Ma’am, I will let them know if they come by.”

I am just outside the back door and coming around toward where the basement doors are when I hear from the shadows Ginger tell Xochitl, “See, I told you we should have been faster. Two nights in a row with the Midwatch.”

As I pass by them, I hear Xochitl quietly say, “Good Evening LT, please be careful out here, there have been reports of infiltrators trying to breach the perimeter.”

This is the first I have heard of it, so I am surprised and now I am glad I grabbed my pistol. “Thanks for the heads-up trooper. I will be.” I tell him as I continue on to the sinks.

On my way back I think I see two adult shadows sneaking towards the house and I stop and draw my pistol. In the dark, I see slight movement from the youngsters as they see it too. I barely catch their silent communications by ears and hoof movements. I watch as Xochitl slowly sneaks wide of the two and Ginger takes position beside a small brick fence by the porch. Suddenly I hear Ginger call out, “Whoa, who goes there?”

The two figures start to swing their weapons toward Ginger and before I can even react Ginger and Xochitl have both fired two rounds and one target drops to the ground screaming. The other burst into flames and screams as he begins to run away, only for Xochitl to put another round into him.

I could easily tell the difference between who fired. Ginger’s SIR was fairly quiet and only giving a bit of flash, while Xochitl’s almost blinded me with its flash along with its loud bark.

I trot over to them, “Good Job you two. Now one of you go get a medic as well as some of the MPs.

Ginger promptly answers, “Yes, ma'am,” and takes off for the main door to the HQ, a couple of minutes later I see her running for the barn that is now our main hospital.

As she leaves, I see several of my staff come running out with weapons in mouth ready to fight. I simply point at the screaming pony on the ground.

Light Weight walks over to him and then looks up at me, “looks like a raider to me ma’am, why bother to try and help him. I can put him down easily enough.”

Suddenly the screaming shifts from just pain to also begging for his life.

I walk over a bit closer and kick his rifle further away. “No, I think we should interrogate him first at least First Sergeant. After that, we will see depending on what he tells us.”

“OK, if you insist LT, but perhaps we could just let the foals have a little fun with him first. After all, they are the ones who shot him and his partner.” After saying this Light Weight looks down at the wounded pony and taps him on the side where he was shot and asks, “How’s it feel to know you were shot by a blank flank eh. That little filly did you pretty good. Can only imagine what would have happened if the zony foals’ father had been here. I have seen him in hoof to hoof. One time I swear he put his hoof right through a stallion’s chest and drug his heart out and bit into it.”

I see the fear in the wounded stallions’ eyes, then I look at Light Weight and say, “You know 1st sergeant if he doesn’t talk, we can always hoof him over to Xavier. I mean it has been at least a week or two since he has gotten to have fun with a prisoner.”

I hear the prisoner weakly tell me, “I’ll talk, I’ll talk, please don’t give me to the zebra. Please.”

“Ok, 1st Sergeant, he is yours to interrogate until the medics get here, then after he is conscious again following surgery, you can continue. I’m heading back to bed now.”

“Yes ma’am, will do.” He tells me with a smile on his muzzle that I swear goes from ear to ear.

As I walk away, I hear a fear-filled voice ask, “Is that really her, the LT that DJ Pon3 talked about. The one that kneecapped that raider by JR 7?”

To that Paper Work answers, “Son, you lucked out, not only did you meet her, but the two youngsters who were with her that day, including the knee capper. He is the one who got your buddy.”

“Ok, what do you want to know, just keep them away from me please,” he tells them.

As I head back to the HQ, I see Xochitl and Ginger have returned to their guard post as if nothing has happened. Soon afterward I see Xavier come out from down below to check on the watch. “I heard the LT and 1st Sergeant up here with you. I hope you have not been causing more trouble.”

Of course, I hear the youngsters tell him, “No corporal, just a couple of infiltrators.”

I am just entering the door frame when I hear him say, “You two get to have all the fun.” I just shake my head and go on up to my room.

As I go down the hall, I see Tar poke her head out of the door, she has her battlesaddle ready and asks me, “So what was all the fuss about?”

“Nothing much, just a couple of infiltrators. Ginger and Xochitl got ‘em though.” I tell her.

Flash Bang looks a little surprised, “Ma’am, if you don’t mind me saying, those two youngsters are getting downright scary.”

“Yeah, I know, think how that buck feels knowing his partner just got knocked off by a colt and he was shot by a filly. I am thinking of paroling him just for that alone. That would surely mess with their minds.”

“Ma’am, if you don’t mind me saying, aren’t we doing enough of that already. I mean I saw that big blue scout of yours, painting her rump black and then adding two crescent moons. Now I don’t know what she is up to, but I am pretty sure somepony is going to be pretty freaked out come morning.” He tells me.

I put a hoof to my temple and shake my head, “Sweet goodness, what is she up to now?” I ask. Then I realize, I probably don’t want to know, and I will find out come morning.

“Thank you for letting me know Flash Bang. I really do appreciate it. Let me know if you hear them get back.” I tell him, then I go back to my room. I place my pistol on the nightstand next to the bed and make sure I close both the door into the room from the house, as well as the balcony. Letting in Woofers and Tweeters who had both been sleeping on the balcony first.

Once back in bed I close my eyes and fall into a fitful sleep. I pray that my scouts all come back safely from whatever mischief they are up to this time.

When I wake up it is starting to get light outside. The second thing I notice is that I have a small pony cuddled up to me. I lift my head and am surprised to not find one, but two there. Both Ginger and Xochitl, it seems have joined me. As I start to get up, I hear Ginger groan some.

“Is it morning already?” she asks groggily.

“Yes dear, sorry but time for both of you to get up,” I tell them.

From the other side of Ginger, I hear Xochitl ask me, “I hope you did not mind LT, but Ginger wanted to be near you after the infiltrators last night.”

“Well, I would have preferred to have known you were getting into my bed, but no, overall, I do not mind. I just hope you slept well.”

Ginger then tells me, “Ma, we tried to wake you to let you know, but you were really sleeping hard last night.”

“That’s ok. Once we are all ready, we can go get some tea and breakfast.” That is when I notice that they are both still fully fitted out. “Also, no pony sleeps in barding much less a battlesaddle and helmet in my bed, do you two understand that. If you are going to lay in a comfortable bed, then be comfortable.”

“Sorry ma, we just wanted to be able to protect you if need be,” Ginger tells me and Xochitl nods his head in agreement. My Goddesses’ what have we become when the foals feel they must protect the adults?

“Ok, well let me get dressed then,” I tell them as I splash some water from a pitcher and bowl into my face and quickly run a curry through my mane. Once ready I tell them both, “Ok, let’s go now.

As we go downstairs, I am followed by my entourage of the youngsters and the enfields. As we pass Tar’s room, I can hear her inside getting up herself. Taser is on watch again. I just happen to look back when the enfields are in front of him and he reaches out to give both of them a quick scratch and a bit of what looks like dried meat.

I have to smile at that, I act like I saw nothing and continue on my way. Once on the main floor, I stop quickly at the radio set and ask Specs if he has heard anything from Manesville yet.

“No ma’am, nothing for us. I have heard the normal broadcast from Soundswaves and Broadcast, but nothing that pertains to us. They have mentioned a lot of new refuges and possible changes to the rules for membership in the Co-op, but other than that nothing,” he tells me with a concerned tone in his voice.

I put a hoof on his shoulder, “Thanks Specs, I appreciate your efforts, and any news from home.”

I am then met by both Light Weight and Archer. Archer tells me, “Sorry about not waking you up for stand-to this morning, but Doc Treacle and I both agreed you needed your sleep. We would have woken you if anything happened.”

I nod my head, and calmly reply, “While I really appreciate the thought, next time please make sure I am up at least twenty minutes before stand to. I will see you both in time for officers call.”

They both look slightly chagrined and Light Weight answers for both of them, “Yes, ma’am, sorry about that, it will not happen again.”

Then I continue on outside, “What do you say we see if Stir Fry has anything cooking yet this morning?” I ask them.

“Sure thing LT,” Xochitl answers me.

Ginger, on the other hoof, gets excited at the prospect and tells me, “I really hope so, maybe she will have some radhog bacon or even some crawdaddies. Those are really good Ma, you were right.”

Inside I cringe at the meal I missed, but I put on a smile and tell her, “Who knows, hopefully, she will.”

Once we get there, I see Stir Fry is busy at her counter getting an order ready for somepony else, she smiles when she sees me and greets me, “Oh morning LT, morning Ginger and Xochitl, what can I do for you today?”

“What have you got for us?” I ask. She thinks for a bit, well I have a couple of things ready right now, seems we have some freshwater miretanks down the river a bit. My partner, now he found a small nest and we have some of their eggs, along with some radhog meat. Or we could just go with some cheese and butter sandwiches. Both of which are fresh.”

“Fresh butter and cheese? I thought you need fresh milk for those.” I ask.

She nods her head, “Yes we do, but on our way hear we met with several brahmins who joined up with us. One of them lost her calf and has not dried up yet, so she is selling me her milk. It helps her and gives us fresh food, so I am not complaining or one to judge.”

Interesting, I have not had anything made of brahmin milk yet, so I ask, “Is there any difference in taste between the brahmin milk and regular cattle milk made products?”

She nods her head, “Yeah, there is a bit from what I can tell, but not much. For the cheese, we introduced some of your co-op cheese from the rations to try and get the bacteria to transfer. It has not had time to age yet, but we are just trying the first batch today. The rest is in the cave aging.”

“Stir Fry, I know it takes a lot of milk to make cheese, how do you get enough really?”

“Mollygirl, honestly, she produces a lot, and to tell the truth, two of her friends are getting ready to wean their calves, so they are kicking in some of theirs too.”

“Interesting, I think I will try one of those sandwiches then,” I look at Ginger and Xochitl, “How about you two, what do you want?” I ask them.

They both look at each other, “Can we have the eggs and radhog please?” they answer almost simultaneously.

“Sure, I got this you two,” I tell them when I see them reaching into their saddlebags for caps.

I pay for our meals and once we receive them, we head over to a portable table to eat. As we are sitting there, we are joined by Fancy, Doc Treacle, and Sutures.

“Good morning LT, do you mind if we sit with you?” Fancy asks.

I swing a forehoof slightly and tell them, “Oh no, not at all. We would be glad for the company.”

As they sit down, I see Doc Treacle snort and laugh a bit then he talks to Ginger and Xochitl, “Now, I don’t know what you two youngsters did last night, but you put the fear of the Goddesses into that buck you shot.”

The youngsters look at each other and smile. Xochilt then tells him, “Doctor, we did not do much, they were sneaking into the HQ area while we were on watch and Ginger and I ambushed them. His partner did not respond well to the rounds from my Zebra carbine for some reason. Perhaps that was it.”

I put a hoof over my muzzle, then look at them, “Or it could have something to do with the first sergeant pointing out that they had been bettered by a colt and a filly. Oh, and that the colt was known for kneecapping.”

As I say this, I realize that Fancy is taking a drink of tea and am too late to stop her response from wanting to laugh while drinking. I almost pay the price of being sprayed with tea as she coughs it out.

As she is pounding her chest with her forehoof she looks at me, “Damn it Mollygirl, don’t say things like that when I am drinking.”

I give her a sheepish look and tell her, “Sorry about that Fancy, I really didn’t mean to get you like that.”

Next, I hear Sutures talking to Ginger, “Good shooting last night, you wounded him enough to disable him, yet not kill him. But as the Doctor said, you two have them terrorized.”

I see a devilish look on Ginger’s face as she says, “Really, can I go visit him? I want to see what he does.”

Without thinking, the first thing that comes out of my mouth when I hear this is, “Ginger Snap really!”

I watch as the adults at the table all shake their heads, Sutures then tells her, “No Ginger, you cannot visit him,” then she laughs lightly, “He made us promise to keep you two away from him if he talked.”

Now my curiosity is piqued and I have to ask, “So what did he have to say?”

Sutures looks straight at me, “Mollygirl, you and Tar were their targets. They were to either capture you two, or kill you both in retaliation for the radio broadcast by DJ Pon3 last night. It seems Silver Spite was a bit less than happy about the recording being broadcast.”

I have to smile at that and then tell her, “Well, I am glad we could get the truth out there and put a burr under his saddle then.”

Doc Treacle then interrupts and tells us, “LT, that is all well and fine, but think what that means. He sent in an assassin team to try and get you two. Please make sure you continue to stay safe.”

I answer back, “I will Doc, I promise, well I promise to at least try and stay safe.”

I hear him let out a breath in exasperation, “That is all I can ask LT. I have come to learn that about you.”

I look at my PipBuck and see the time, I finish eating quickly and then tell them, Ok, we best get going, It's almost time for officers’ call. As I Get up, I give a quick hug to Ginger, then I lean over and kiss Sutures and tell them both, “I will see you two later, be careful.”

Sutures just smiles and nods. Ginger laughs, and says, “But where is the fun in that ma.” All I can do is shake my head with a slight smile and wonder, how did we ever get this nonchalant about danger. I think about it for a second as I walk and realize that maybe it is just how we are all coping with it in reality.

Then I am at the door to the HQ and all musings that are not business-related has to stop for a bit. As I enter Specs approaches me, “Ma’am, we finally have something from Manesville, just not much and I really don’t know what they mean.” He tells me.

As he hoofs me the message, I read it and am confused as well. All it says is Stand fast and do not lose hope. Now what the heck do they mean by that?

I look at Specs and thank him, I put the communication in my saddlebags and continue on to the briefing room. Most of the others are already there waiting.

As the last few arrive, I see Dull Beak with Sunset sitting in the back smiling. I look at him with a raised eyebrow and he only nods at me. Ok, this should be good to hear. I step up in front of everyone and tell them “Good Morning, it seems we have finally received word back from Manesville, they only tell us to stay here and to not lose hope. While I can understand what they mean with the first part, I am still unsure about the second. I can only assume that means that they are organizing a relief expedition, but to tell the truth, I do not know for sure. Under that assumption, we will continue as we have already discussed.”

I step down and am replaced by Doc Treacle, who gives us the total number of current casualties as well as discusses with us the need for good sanitation and hoof care in the trenches, especially if we start to get rain. After he is done, we hear from Balanced Books concerning our level of supplies and his success in moving most of them from their wagons into the cave for ease of defense and centralization.

We next hear reports from each of the unit commanders. It seems that last night’s small probes were usually limited to the obstacles in front of our positions. Several of the enemy troops were caught in the open when the flares were launched with predictable results.

The final one is from Sunset, He stands up and begins, “Last night was fairly busy for us. As most of you know your two youngest scouts while standing guard duty outside of the HQ stopped two infiltrators. One was killed the other was wounded allowing for us to interrogate him. The results of that interrogation will be presented after my report by Dull Beak. What most of you have not heard yet is that we also sent out infiltrators into their lines. Our unicorn/alicorn set was able to not only infiltrate behind their lines, but has given us a map of the locations of their units and their headquarters, which I will upload to all of your PipBucks shortly. Finally, they also brought back two prisoners. This was assisted by the use of our alicorn scout disguising and then presenting herself as Luna. At this time, we have two very frightened raiders who think that she is going to prevent them from ever sleeping peacefully again.”

I am simply paying attention to his briefing until the last part, then I face hoof and have to shake my head as I can only imagine how amused Choo Choo has to be at this. The worst part is I can see Blondie, Chip and Blackberry Pie going along with this.

After he has finished informing us fully of the information his scouts have gathered, he then makes the transfer of information onto our PipBucks, along with the temporary location markers of Silver Spite's forces. As he does this, I see Archer begin to grin. I think he has a few ideas on how to target them now.

Finally, Dull Beak steps up, “The interrogation of the two prisoners who were captured by our scouts from within their line, yielded some interesting results. First Silver Spite's forces are made up of a combination of left-over troops from Red Eye’s army and his father’s units, as well as in increasing number of raiders who have been promised a share in whatever they can take from us, and no retribution for what they do to the CEF forces. The raiders are considered unreliable but may be used as shock troops during assaults. He currently has at least one more company of regulars, as well as several more bands of raiders that are reported to be coming this way.” He pauses, then continues, “The other interesting bit of information that we found out is that last night’s radio broadcast by DJ Pon3, particularly that of recording of the surrender ceremony and Tar Water’s rejection of being his mare, have begun to cause what I would call questions of moral concise to be raised in the regular troops. At some point, he may need to worry about desertions or a challenge to his leadership.”

“Ok, that makes sense, I am glad to hear it. Now what about the other one that we captured in our perimeter?” I ask Dull Beak.

“Ma’am, he was a specialist. Both him and his partner. They were part of a team of six that got separated coming into our lines. It seems the others backed out when the flare rounds went off and were killed or wounded when retreating back to their lines. This corresponds with what our front-line units indicated happening. They came in through the D-troop area, so we will need to tighten up the defenses in that area. LT, they were to try and grab both you and Tar Water, failing that they were to kill you. They were personally assigned by Silver Spite.” Again, he pauses to let this sink in to me.

I nod my head, “I understand. What I do not understand is how come no one else’s E.F.S. saw them.”

“Ma’am, it seems his partner and himself were only hostile to you and Tar Water. Therefore, they would only show up as yellow on anyone else’s E.F.S. That and not everyone who has a PipBuck keeps the E.F.S. on all the time.”

I let out a sigh, “Ok, that makes sense to me. All unit commanders, make sure that your troops know to have their E.F.S. on the entire time they are on watch, and to at least check it periodically while in the lines. Now back to the prisoners, where is this assassin?”

He then continues, “We currently have him under guard along with the other two prisoners. They are in the old security wagon and cannot escape. However, we are allowing them to talk to each other, and listening to their discussions. Ironically Choo Choo seems to have the other two fully convinced that Luna herself is alive and here assisting us.”

I sit there with my forehoof under my chin and say, “Hmmmm, that is very interesting. I have an idea. After we are finished here Sunset, I want you to bring me Choo Choo, the youngsters, Xavier, and the other unicorn members of the scouts. Doctor Treacle, I would like both you and Sutures to join me on this discussion.”

They both agree to it, Then I look at Dull Beak, “Dull Beak, I would like you in on this too if you don’t mind, I have a feeling you enjoy a bit of psychological warfare as well as direct combat.”

As I watch he rub his talons together, “Not at all Ma’am, I really want to hear this one.” He tells me.

I then end officers call and dismiss everyone. As I wait for them to return Choo Choo is one of the first to arrive. She smiles when she sees me, then she looks at her flanks and her eyes go wide, “LT, I am so sorry, I know I should not be pretending to be her, but it is so much fun, and it really messes with them.”

I raise a hoof up, “Don’t worry Choo Choo you are not in trouble for this. Although I have to ask, how did you get so good at acting like Princess Luna? I mean you seem to be very convincing to those ponies.” I tell her.

She smiles shyly, “LT when I was young and before I worked on the railroad, I used to cos-play. I went to some conventions and saw how others did their characters. I have to say it was funny to see a buck pretend to be Daring Do, but we had fun doing it at the conventions back then.”

I am a bit perplexed at what she means by cos-play and conventions, so I have to ask her about them. Once she explains them to me, I understand a bit better. Well, maybe we can put that bit of archaic history to use for us.

Once everyone else arrives I begin to propose a plan for tonight’s operation. Soon everyone is on board with it and even the youngsters begin to make suggestions. Once everything has been decided upon, we decide to implement the plan tonight. I have those most involved go get some rest, while the others go and make the preparations for it. Then I go tour the perimeter and the camp.

__________

When we go to implement the plan, I am there to witness the beginning of it. I have Sutures apply a general anesthetic spell to all three of the prisoners. Once they are unconscious, I have the former assassin removed from the wagon and transported back to the hospital where all the other patients are already asleep. Any that are awake are involved in the plan.

Once he is back in the hospital we put him in the bed he was in this morning and hoof cuffed the same way. I have all of the lights burning low, Sutures awakens him, but has a paralysis spell on him so that while he is aware, he can not move. She has often used this spell to immobilize a patient when needed for treatment, so she does it from a stall to the side with practiced ease.

As he lays there, I can see the panic in his eyes as he hears hoofsteps approaching but sees nopony there. Suddenly Ginger appears, standing by the side of his bed, Then Xochitl appears floating above him then landing on the other side.

I am fascinated by how Choo Choo uses her invisibility spell and tk spell to add to the performance.

I can see he wants to scream but cannot. Ginger leans up to the Buck then looks over at Xochitl, “What shall we do with him? He is all ours and nopony can stop us. His dreams are ours now.”

From across the room I call out, “No, not another one, no! Nurse, Doctor, anypony!”

Xochitl rounds on me; points with his hoof and screams “Not this time, He is ours, your turn will come later,” and suddenly Sutures uses that same immobilization spell on me so that he sees me freeze. Then he turns back to his original target, he looks at Ginger as she pulls an ax out of her saddlebags with a grin. “Ginger, shall we do this ourselves, or let father join us?”

Suddenly At the end of the bed Xavier appears and walks on his hind legs toward the bed, laughing like a maniac. “Yes, my children, you have done well. Let’s see what we have here shall we?” he asks as he pulls the blanket back from the bed, letting it hang over the edge. Again, he laughs, “ah he calls himself a stallion but sneaks in the night to attack foals and mares. Perhaps we shall make him a mare, what say you, children?”

At that point, I watch as Xochitl pulls out his family knife from his belt and Xavier pulls the moon metal one from his He then pulls out an apple from his saddlebag and drops it down onto the blade splitting it in half with no effort. Again, he laughs and looks right into the terror-filled eyes of the immobilized pony.

I can tell he wants to scream but cannot. I am under the same spell and want to laugh but cannot, so I know how he feels. Then I see Xavier and Xochitl both lean over towards his belly, moving his legs to the side, opening up his body for an attack. I see tears form in the pony’s eyes and almost feel sorry for him but know he is getting off far easier than I would have.

Just as they move their knives into position suddenly there is a flare of light in the air and Choo Choo, or our faux Luna appears above the bed. In a loud voice, she calls out, “Stop you, foul creatures.”

Suddenly, all three of them stop in mid-motion as Sutures applies the immobilization spell to them. She then lifts the spell on the pony in the bed, just enough so that he can move his head and speak. He is in tears, and spurts out “Thank you, thank you.”

She says nothing but only nods her head, hovering at the end of the bed. He looks around and asks, “Where are we? Who are you? Who are they?”

I see Choo Choo, smile softly at him and reply, “We are in your dreams where else, this is your nightmare after all. They are the ones you fear and if you continue on your current path, I will no longer stop them. As for who I am, who do you think I am my subject?”

I hear him stammer with tears in his voice, “Luna, Princess Luna? Please save me, I swear I will do what you want.”

The faux Luna lowers herself down to the floor and approaches him, “What Luna wants is for you to be a better pony. I want you to spread the word that I am watching you. Remember that Luna can see into your dreams, she can protect you in them, or allow this nightmare to continue. It is up to you.”

I see his eyes go wide as he tells her, “Please Luna, please, free me from this nightmare, I will do as you say and be a better pony. I will tell others what you told me.”

She smiles again, and places a hoof on his forelock, “Then I will release you from this nightmare my child, go do better and teach others to do so also.” She tells him. At which point Sutures or one of the other medical ponies knocks him out again with the general anesthetic spell and he goes limp.

Sutures then releases me, Xavier and the youngsters from the immobilization spell. As they prepare to move the prisoner, I get up and shake myself. “Ok, now for the other two, Is everyone ready for phase two?” I ask.

Everypony is smiling, Choo Choo rushes over to me and crushes me in a hug. “Oh, thank you so much Mollygirl, that was so fun.”

“Breath, Choo Choo, needtobreathe,” I gasp, and she lets go.

“Sorry Lt,” she tells me as she looks slightly embarrassed. “But I never got to have that much fun with pretending to be her before.”

I pat my friend, and scout, on her back, “Your welcome Choo Choo, you did great. Now we just have to complete the plan.”

She smiles broadly “OK, LT. Let’s go get the other two.”

We go back to the security wagon and perform a variation of the same theme on each of them. Leaving only one prisoner awake at a time inside the wagon, but allowing them to see the other appearing to be asleep. This convinces them that it is all a dream.

Once we are finished and they are all unconscious I have a team sneak the three of them back into their lines. The two that are unwounded we leave near where they were captured and release the anesthetic spell as Choo Choo disappears into the night.

The third they take back to the vicinity of Silver Spite's HQ and lay him down under a medical wagon. Before she leaves Choo Choo, still invisible, knocks on the wagon above the prisoner then moves back into the night, where a medic pony who has accompanied her releases him from the anesthetic spell.

Choo Choo watches him come awake and look at her, just as the medical ponies find him. He points a hoof at her and as they all look at her as she flies up into the moonlight, she does a pirouette and then she uses her invisibility spell to disappear again. Leaving behind her four very bewildered ponies all arguing about what they just saw.

She and the others who are with her tell this to me once they return. I have been waiting to hear they are back before going to sleep. As I fall asleep next to Archer and Sutures, I have to smile, it was a good day.

__________

I am awoken in the morning by a knock on the door and I hear a voice say, “Ma’am, it’s an hour before dawn. You requested to be woken up.”

As I stretch with a groan and move to get up, I reply, “Ok, thanks Paper Work, I will be down in a few minutes.”

“Very well Ma’am. I have tea on for everyone already. Oh, and we have some more fresh cheese, bread, and butter from Stir Fry for you.” He tells me, then I hear his hoof steps walk down the hall.

As I get up, I turn and give both Sutures and Archer a light kiss and a shake to wake them.

Archer smiles at me, telling me, “Now that is a pleasant way to wake up. Thank you, dear.”

Besides him, I hear Sutures groan as she lifts her head, “Is it really that time already. I feel like I have just gotten to sleep.”

“Sorry you two, but yes, it is that time, however on the bright side, Paper Work already has tea and breakfast ready for us down stairs.”

I then hear Sutures say with a smile, “That buck is a goddess send. He is going to make some mare a good wife someday.”

I laugh lightly, “Don’t let him hear you say that, I don’t want him to stop. It just makes me wonder how come the Major and her other officers did not appreciate all he did for them.”

“Who knows Mollygirl, all too often it seems ponies don’t appreciate others, or what they do. They just come to expect it.”

After we are all dressed, we head for the kitchen. Behind me is Woofers trotting along. As we pass Tar’s room, I can hear her moving about inside. Her guard is one of the other MP’s whose name I still need to learn. He comes to attention as I pass and salutes with a smile, “Good Morning LT. I hope you got some sleep last night.”

I return his salute and respond, “Some, but not enough, of course, I do believe that is our normal amount for the CEF. Have a good day trooper.”

As I pass the radio station, I see Specs shake his head no, before I can even ask. Well, at least that answers that. I then head into the kitchen and see Sunset already drinking a cup of tea. He is smiling and laughing as he tells Light Weight and Fancy about what all transpired last night. I see her eyes go wide and then she starts laughing.

Once she stops laughing, she looks at me then at Sunset and tells us, “Oh Goddesses, I hope Choo Choo didn’t start a new cult last night.”

Sweet mother of Luna and Celestia, I had not thought about that. Before I can say anything, Sutures smirks and says, “Well if it helps them be better ponies, then I guess we can not complain. Besides, think of all the trouble it may cause them on that side.”

With that, we settle down to what has become our normal routine. The next two days are relatively uneventful. On the fifth day of the siege, we see two more companies of troops arrive during our morning stand to. This has brought his troop strength back closer to where they were originally and I begin to worry some again.

Later that morning We see several of his units are pulled out of the lines and replaced by the new ones. In the distance, we can see the formations march to a location in the woods. After half an hour we hear several volleys of gunshots. A short time later they begin to march back to the lines again. I am just returning to the lines for stand to when I hear over may PipBuck, “Here they come again.”

I run forward to the lines just in time to see the last of them leaving their trenches and running towards our lines. I get on the all personnel frequency of my PipBuck and call out, “When they get one hundred meters out, fire.” I shift to the artillery frequency, “Archer, two salvos into Silver Spite's HQ, then shift to local fire.”

As I finish saying this, I hear the mortar tubes fire shortly followed by Celestia’s deep bark. I pull out the doombunny and ready myself. Beside me, Tar has her weapon ready and is already aiming. I give a short prayer to the Goddesses and without meaning to end it out loud by saying “Celestia protect, and Luna Defend Us.”

This is followed by the trooper all around me saying “Amen!” I then think to myself, so begins the Second Battle of the CEF at Serenity Valley.

__________

Dear DJ Pon3,

My troop of volunteers and myself, as well as our civilian camp followers, have intermeshed our fates with those of the CEF. We are a family now, each of us has learned to trust our backs to the others. Tonight, I look at the sky and think of all of them and pray for us. With this in mind, could you please play for those of us still here, Brothers in Arms.

Thank you

Clock Work

Lieutenant, Volunteer Company, CEF

Author's Note

My thanks again to Kkat for the creation fo FoE. I also thank so many others who have written and added to her world.

The fun and games continue during the siege at Serenity Vally, some of those games being much more deadly than others. We can also see the bond between those of the CEF and the civilian camp growing stronger as their fates become more enmeshed with each other.

For those desiring to hear the dedication song for this chapter, it can be found at the following Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dBRQvXe91g