Chapter 13: Wake-Up Calls

Chapter 13: Wake-Up Calls

An ordnance technician at a dead run outranks everybody.

-The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries”

― Howard Tayler

Mega Mart, Lunar Commonwealth: Ginger Snaps.

The next morning, we wake up to Choo Choo telling us, “Ok, team meeting in ten.” She pauses and then says, “Tek, that includes you if you are interested.”

Tek nods his head, “I get paid again?”

Choo smirks and tells him, “Yes, at this rate you are almost on the payroll.”

He waves a hoof in front of him, “No want to be Merc. I just help.”

When he says this, I can’t help but tease him, “Really, you don’t want to get paid for helping us?”

I see his eyes go wide and he quickly says, “I do not say that either.”

When he says this, I can’t help but smile and laugh lightly, “It’s ok Tek, I was just joking a bit.”

I see understanding dawn on his face then and he smiles, “Ok, I get it.” He says levelly. But I wonder if he is just saying that.

We quickly finish wrapping up our bedrolls and we store them in our cart. From down the line of wagons we hear the caravan’s cook call out, “Breakfast will be ready in about twenty minutes.”

Seven minutes after Choo woke us, we are all ready for her. She smiles at us first then says, “Ok, today we go out as a team. Tater, Twinks, you are going with us today. I want both of you to be wearing your PipBucks.”

They both nod their heads and Twinks says, “I’m not sure where you got this one from Choo, but honestly, it has some really messed up files on it.”

Choo tilts her head and then asks, “It’s drives been damaged causing bad files?”

Twinks shakes her head strongly no. Then tells her, “No, messed up as in what in the buck is wrong with you, messed up. Some pony named Spanner Wrench owned it.”

Choo looks thoughtful and asks, “Should I listen to it then?”

Twinks again shakes her head and moves her ears as she says, “No, not unless you have some brain bleach. Most of it is just intimate stuff. But there is some really disturbing stuff as well as what I would call a descent into madness. We skipped around in the files for a bit.”

Choo then tells her, “When we get back you can delete those files.”

Twinks nods, then she asks, “So where are we going today?”

Choo holds up a hoof, “I will decide that after I hear your reports from yesterday.”

I then begin to give her the rundown of yesterday’s mission, including how our temporary prisoner denied knowing anything about the missing doctor. Right after I tell her this Xochitl jumps in and tells her, “But Choo, we did see several deliveries being made to them by sky carriage. At least two of them had weapons, ammo, and food.”

She nods her head and then says, “That could be just normal deliveries,” She pauses and rubs a hoof under her chin and then adds, “But then again, it may give us an idea on who is running the guns to the gangs.”

As she is thinking we are all watching her and waiting. While we wait, we hear the cook call out, “Breakfast is ready.”

I then see many members of the caravan begin to get up to get their morning meal. Xochitl then calls back, “Be there in a bit, Jambalaya.”

I look over and I see the yellow stallion with brown speckle in his fur wave back and tell him as he wipes a hoof on his apron, “Ok, I will make sure I save some for you all.”

Choo then asks Twinks and Tater, “Ok, before we break, what did you two end up doing yesterday?”

Tater smiles and tells her, “Well I ended up doing some needed maintenance on the mg turrets myself. I traded that for free access to Mega Mart for the week. Well, that and some more gun parts we may be able to use.”

She turns to Twinks who looks like she would rather not think about it, but answers, “Choo, I fixed a couple of light fixtures and a door they were having problems with. But remember that toilet I mentioned. You owe me big time for that. Bottle Cap even gave me a free shower for that job. I picked us up some more ration packs. Old ones from the war, but still sealed. Oh, and I got us some Sparkle Cola, including a six-pack of Sparkle Cola Rad for you.”

I see Choo’s eyes light up. “Thank you for thinking of me, as well as for doing such an unpleasant task.”

Twinks shrugs, “Well it allowed me to listen to some of the local gossip too, I thought you would want that.”

“Would you like to tell us all, or just me?” Choo asks.

Twinks looks at all of us, then says, “Just you Choo. I already told Ginger and them about it.”

“Ok, let’s all get some breakfast, we will have another meeting after we eat. Oh, and Twinks if you would like. Please come talk to me while we eat.”

“Ok, Choo, I will,” she says and then trots off with her mess kit ready as she heads to the mess line.

I smile as I see Tek heading for the line along with Xochitl and Cowlick. Epona on the other hoof approaches me and we chat about Purchase Order and Tek as we make our way to the line as well.

After breakfast, we all meet again. Tater then tells Choo, “Oh, and Choo, about that Second Hoof Arms dealer in there. If it is marked by the MoA, we don’t buy it unless I inspect it first. I heard a few things yesterday and he got really upset when I tried to field strip a couple of his weapons for inspection before buying one. I picked up a little .32 semi-auto, officer's pistol marked for the 1st Cloudsdale. I thought it might make a good backup weapon. But Choo, I noticed the spring was weak in the magazine eject and had to replace it right away. I had Twinks check it as well with her magic and we found another burr that would catch on the slide occasionally as well. Nothing serious, and easy enough to take care of if you know what you are doing. But Choo, most ponies would be screwed in a firefight if they didn’t know.”

“Ok, good to know.”

“Oh, and I heard him talking about having a few sights to recover equipment in No Mares Land.” Twinks says.

This gets my attention as well as Choo’s and Epona’s. Choo asks, “How were you able to overhear somepony say something like that?”

Twinks grins back at her, “Choo, when a pony is wearing filthy coveralls and working with tools it is almost like casting an invisibility spell. After they first see you and realize you are busy working, they begin to ignore you, then forget you are there as you no longer matter to them. I was working on a floor drain and he was talking to one of those Volunteer Corps ponies. They were arguing a bit though about him going into no mares land for salvage, the pegasus warned him that it was getting too dangerous to.”

This gets me to raise an eyebrow. It gets Choo to have that thoughtful expression come over her face again. Then she says, “Ok, that is interesting. For now, let's keep our eyes and ears open for anything more we can hear in that direction.”

We all nod. Then she says, “Ok, you have already checked out the Ferals. Maybe we should check out some of the others.”

I then tell her, “Choo, the Burner Boys sent a messenger late yesterday, they already sent a couple of their ponies to recon them also. Seems one of them did not come back from checking out the Mayhems Mares.”

I hear Sunny then say, “I wonder if we knew who they lost. Choo, maybe we should go talk to Burner Boys.”

Choo nods her head. Then she looks at Epona and me and sees we are both nodding our heads as well as some of the others. Choo then says, “Ok, Tek, we are going to talk to them, I would appreciate it if you are our guide still. But if you don’t, I do understand.”

Tek looks like he is considering it, then he sighs and reluctantly answers, “Ok, I lead you. May need me when you leave them. Make sure they know I am with you.”

“We will Tek, I will. Don’t worry.” I tell him as Choo nods her head.

I see him visibly relax in his body language and he says, “Thank you.”

Choo then says, “Ok, two hours to take care of what you need to do, and we head out. Ginger, Epona, I want to talk to you privately.”

The others take off and she takes us to the side. Then she says, “Ok, I really need to know, can we trust this Tek?”

Epona and I look at each other and I answer, “I think so Choo. Why?”

“Sorry, just making sure before we head into this. Oh, and I am going to be gone for a bit. I think Twinks had a good idea and I am going to follow up on it.”

With that, she disappears and I think I hear her hooves on the concrete heading towards the door of Mega Mart.

I look at my sister, shrug, and tell her, “Well you heard the mare, two hours. If your stuff is ready, go ahead and chat with Purchase for a bit. I know you have been wanting to since we got up.”

*****

Hoofington, Lunar Commonwealth: Xochitl.

Tek and I are out in front of the others as we make our way through the streets of Hoofington. This particular one was a divided four-lane boulevard with trees in the median as well as on the sides in front of the buildings and lots. The trees now are mostly dead, but a few of them are still fighting for life. There are still many of the rotting carcasses of the carriages and carts from the final day lining it.

Normally we would have avoided this route but Tek suggested it as it is one of the quickest toward our destination. It is also a popular trade route between Mega Mart and the eastern settlements of Hoofington. He carefully explained to us this would mean that the road is better patrolled by the Brood as well as the other major groups in the area.

Soon Tek leads us down a side street. I then begin to see markings of flames on the walls. He nods his head, “Good, we are almost to the Burner Boys territory.”

We are just coming up to an intersection where half a building lies in the street when we see a jet of flame come across the road. I quickly call out the password we were given previously.

Then I hear Kindling’s voice as he calls back, “That you Flower?”

“Yeah, I got the whole gang with me today, came to see the bosses again.”

“Ok, come on in, but take it slow and I want to see you one by one, and Big Blue, you stay visible now, ok.”

I hear Choo laugh lightly and she calls back, “Ok, I will, but why so careful?”

“We’ve been getting hit pretty regularly out heres on the border. Yesterday a couple of outsiders got in and left us a couple of presents then was gone befores we saws them.”

This gets my attention. As Tek and I approach, Kindling says to me, “Why yous gots a zebra scaver witch you?”

I smile as I tell him, “Well this is Tek. He has been our guide for the last couple of days. Consider him one of us for now.”

I see understanding come across Kindling’s face. Then he says, “Gottcha, ok, come on in, once you are all in, I wills have somepony takes you on back. I am sure Naptha or the Chief will wants to talks to ya.”

Shortly after this a short, brownish unicorn stallion comes into the building, we are waiting in. “Hey Smoldering Phase, Needs you to takes these guys back to the bosses. Naptha knows most ‘em already.”

The stallion eyes us sidelong. Then nods, “Ok, Tinder, but you sure about thems?”

“Yeah. Theys are the ones who brought the news about Flashover.”

“But I thought only five of them were here then. I see nine now. What about the others?”

“Good so yous can count Smoldering, now just do it. Besides, you don’t want to upset Big Blue there. She gets kinda mean.”

“Whatcha mean? I can be mean too,” the short unicorn says defiantly.

I watch his face though when Kindling says, “Like hanging ya by your back leg out the top floor window and letting ya go. I hear tell she could even throw ya like a dragon.”

I look at Choo who while blushing, says nothing. However, Smoldering Phase just stares at her with his eyes wide open and he says nervously, “She doesn’t seem that tough.”

Then Sunny quietly from the side says, “Just hope you don’t find out. I have known her most of my life and I have seen some of what she can do.”

He then turns his head toward Sunny and asks, “So whys you gots a Enclaver working for ya?”

I hear Sunny let out a sigh as he crosses his forelegs and rolls his eyes, then mumbles, “Here we go again.” Then he tells him, “Look, I am not an Enclaver. First, my parents eventually got married, second, Mom is a Unicorn and Dad is an Earth Pony.”

I almost burst out laughing at his answer. Then I hear the Burner Boy say, “Oh, so yous the Wild P they been talking about.” He shakes his head with a smile on his muzzle then he says, “Okay, follows me.”

Soon we are back at the station house we had been at previously. As we go inside, I notice one more of the lockers has a black ribbon on it. I sadly shake my head and Smoldering asks, “What's wrong with you? Yous act likes you knew him.”

I shake my head again, “No, I don’t think I ever met him. Just I hate seeing life being lost unnecessarily.”

“Whats, you some kinda peace nut or something?” He asks.

I laugh lightly, “Or something. Smoldering, you have to understand I was still a kid the first time I saw major combat. Not a gang fight. I am talking about the real deal. Artillery, dragons, massed charges. You name it.”

He scoffs at me, “No pony seen that kinda stuff for years now. Yous not old enough.” Then he looks into my eyes and says, “Well, yous saw something, that’s for sure.”

I close my eyes most of the way and nod my head slightly before fully opening them again as he continues to lead us upstairs to Naphtha’s office.

Once there She has us follow her to a larger room that appears to have been a training room at one time and we all sit down in the chairs there as she and Choo begin to exchange information.

We hear about the recent killing of a member of the Burner Boys from her as well. Then Choo tells her, “We have already checked out the Hoof’s Ferals a bit. Would you mind sending a few of your people with us to check out the Broken Clocks, then the Mahem’s Mares?”

I hear Naphtha huff out her breath. “We already lost two members this week. How much do you want us to risk?”

Choo tilts her head and says, “You lost two ponies who were by themselves. How about sending them in with my team. We go in. We check to see what we can see going on. Then we back out and make plans if it warrants it. Honestly, we know the Ferals have been bringing in weapons, ammo, and food. Unless you are already doing the same you are behind the eightball on this. Let’s work together. You want your territory safe; we want the doc back. Once we get him, we can leave, so you don’t need to worry about us wanting to take over your area.”

She shakes her head slightly, “And how do we know we can trust you for that?”

This time Ginger pipes up, “Look back home my family's clan has several non-members that we consider friends of the clan. They may not be members, but we can call on them when needed. Choo is an example of that. We are not asking to join or take over. We are offering to work with you for the common good. We could use the backup and so could you. It works better for both of us.”

“And what do we get out of it?” Naphtha asks.

This time I am surprised when Cowlick steps forward and says, “Well, I have a few toys I can teach you how to make.”

All the Burner Boys in the room turn to stare at him like he has two heads. Make that like he had a head fall off. Then one of them asks, “Did your one-headed brahmin just talk to us in ponish and offer to teach us?”

Both Choo and I nod, and Cowlick tells him, “Look first I am a cattle bull, not a brahmin. Second, they are not dumb, just most are not fluent in speaking ponish. As for the toys, fine if you don’t want to learn anything from our team’s explosive and heavy weapons expert, well, that is your choice to make.”

Naphtha licks her lips and then asks Choo, “Is he really your expert for those?”

Choo nods her head, “Yeah, he was trained in explosives by both one of our top Combat Engineers back home as well as a couple of ghouls who served time in the trenches in No Mares Land with the Equestrian Army combat engineers.”

“If he can teach us some new things, yous gots yourself a deal.” Naphtha says as she sticks out a hoof for Choo to shake.

As we are listening, I see Twinks looking at some filing cabinets against the far wall. Twinks then asks to no one in particular, “So what's in those cabinets?”

Smoldering shrugs and tells her, “Just some old rough drawing of the major buildings in this station's pre-Final Day territory. Also, some city plans.”

“Do these include the underground and service lines?”

“Not sure, why?” Smoldering asks.

Twinks grins and tells us, “Ya know, I bet a lot of those, especially the tunnels would still be fairly accurate. Can we look at them?"

*****

That is how I ended up in this goddess-forsaken tunnel leading our team with a team from the Burner Boys. Both Naphtha and Choo thought Twink's idea was a great one. Myself, I really did not want to go underground. At least these tunnels are wide enough that I can use my zebra carbine. But I still have my pistol ready just in case.

Tek has decided to stay with me on point. Between us and the rest are Tender and Kindling. Both are unhappy at having been told to not use their flamers underground. It was not until Tater explained to them how they would use up all the oxygen in the tunnels that they began to think, especially when he asked if they had any oxygen in any of the firefighters' back tanks, which of course, they did not.

Right now, we are slowly making our way through the old service tunnels that connect to one of the subway lines leading under the territory of the Mayhems Mares.

Tek is actually about three meters behind me, and with his dark cloak over him, he is hard to see in the dim light when I look over my shoulder behind me. As we advance, I am constantly looking for possible booby traps or tripwires. It is at one of the intersections that I first run into one.

I am just about to take a step and Tek tells me in zebracan, “Stop!”

I immediately freeze. He then looks around for any other devices and tells me to step back slowly. As I step back, he blows a hoof full of dust into the air and I see a thin red line of light leading to both sides of the tunnel. He clicks his tongue. Then he tells me, "I thought I saw something." Then I call Twinks forward. She looks at the device and has Tater come up as well.

Shortly after conferring with each other, I hear him tell her, “Yeah, I think you're right, Twinks. Still have that old bike reflector?”

She nods her head then has us move back. I stare from behind her as I watch her use her TK to move the white bicycle reflector in front of the sensor without triggering it. Finally, she moves it to just the right position to put a piece of rebar in the ground with some duct tape on it to keep the reflector in place. She then tells us, “Ok, get going, that should hold for now.”

As we begin to move again, I hear one of the burner boys ask, “Where did you learn to do that?”

Twinks gives a wry smile and tells them, “An old ghoul who was once EOD. He said he saw them used underground. They are just little magical sensors like they used on machinery. You break the magic light and then you have problems, so best we get moving along here.”

The same Burner Boy then says, “Yeah I guess so, don’t want to be around if that happens.”

Soon we are past that point. Tater taking up the rear over my headset I hear him say, “I found the device. Hey Salt, it looks like a homemade bomb using a lunch box.”

“Cool, we come back through here. I will set up my own toy for them. Got a couple of pre-made just for such an occasion.”

Soon we are at our next intersection and I stop. Twinks comes up and looks at the map on her PipBuck. This does two things. It makes me miss having one and it also allows her to compare it to what we are seeing and she tells me, “Take the left one. Only another couple of blocks and we should be just about to the subway leading to the Mayhem’s Mares.”

We begin to advance again and soon I see a pile of stones blocking the tunnel ahead. I stop and call back over my headset, “Choo, the tunnel is blocked here. We are going to need to go back.”

I then hear Twinks call back to me before Choo can answer, “Flower this is Danger. Don’t do anything. I mean anything. Choo and I are on our way up.”

“What? Why not?” I ask.

“Because it may not be what it looks like.” She tells me.

Now I am worried. As they approach, I notice they are being followed by one of the Burner Boy unicorns. They are just beginning to examine the wall when Tek looks at it and taps it as he asks, “What is wrong?”

His hoof slides through and suddenly I watch him start to twitch and flop on the ground as magical energy flows like lightning between him and a small box on the ground nearby. The energy then begins to dance towards the rest of us and I take a snapshot at the box destroying it with a large crack as the spark battery in it explodes from six meters away. The two unicorns and I all take up defensive stances as Choo checks on Tek.

She shakes her head and pulls out a healing potion and pours it down his muzzle. He chokes a few quick times and asks in his native language, “What, what happened?”

I quickly but quietly tell him, “You triggered a trap when you broke the illusion spell.”

As he slowly gets back to his hoofs, I give him a hoof up. The others are all on alert and when he is standing again, we begin to move forward.

*****

Hoofington Underground, Lunar Commonwealth: Choo Choo

I stare in horror as I watch the zebra guide Tek touch the illusion spell and then the magical spark generator shooting out lightning bolts of magic into him.

I really appreciate Xochitl’s quick reaction of shooting the machine, but I am also afraid he may have notified those we are close to that we are coming. Instead of worrying about this right away, I immediately begin to treat our downed trooper. My old medic training kicks in and I examine him for both the entrance and possible exit wound from those powerful magic bolts. I do not find an exit burn but I do find his heart has stopped and I use a quick spell to restart it. Then I administer a healing potion to help get him up again.

Once we are all standing again, I tell the others, “We need to be quick now. Haste is of the essence. I am afraid they know we are here.”

With that, I watch as Xochitl begins to trot forward into the connecting subway tunnel with Twinks next to him using her Eyes Forward Sparkle to detect any possible hostiles in our path. From behind me, I hear Cowlick tell the others, “Put Tek on my back so we can move faster.”

Tek at first goes to argue but then agrees for now. “Cowlick, when we stop, I get off. I fight then.”

“Yeah, sure Tek, I got ya.” Cow answers as I hear his hoofs hit the bed of the subway behind us. Shortly after this, I hear Tater call over the radio, “We are all into the subway Choo.”

As we get ready to enter the section that is the Subway station leading up into the building that the Mayhem’s Mares use as their main headquarters, I have the Burner Boys and Tek cover our six as we advance.

From the opening, I can see the tunnel opening wide, but it is barely lit by only a couple of lights. Most of the fixtures are hanging down. Xochitl leads off and continues down the rail bed. Twinks however jumps up onto the platform and I am quickly behind her. The rest of the team follows quickly with Sunny taking to the air as he enters the station. I hear him say to himself, “Finally some room to move.”

Myself, I am worried about moving as fast as we can and call for all of them to get up on the platform so we can reform and move again.

We form back up and I go with Xochitl on point. We first use the unpowered escalators to climb to the next level. There we find twin doors leading outside. Ironically, I find them chained from the inside. Tek comes up and picks the lock for us. I then use my invisibility spell and slowly crack open the door while the others wait behind me.

As I enter the lower level with stairs leading up to a large lobby above, I notice what used to be shops off to the side that have had the glass replaced with sheet metal, cardboard, or wood to block them. I also notice several of what I assume are Mayhem’s mares just hanging around. One of the shops has a sign that reads Chems on the outside of it. Near that I see another sign saying Medical. Under that in mouth painted letters it says doktur on duty.

No, it could not be this easy I tell myself. So, I decide to check for myself. I slowly walk around the lobby area finding out how many of them there are and where they may be. Finally, I am back to the medical shop. I look around one more time and slowly enter. Inside I see several beds. Some of them have ponies who are either sick or wounded in them. I also see a couple of ponies who look to be sawbones or maybe nurses working there. In the backroom, I notice a unicorn stallion who not only looks like a doctor but who is wearing an explosive collar. Nope, it never can be easy.

I slowly approach the doctor and look at his name badge. It matches the one for the doctor kidnapped from the Collegiate. I am just considering showing myself to him and letting him know we are here to help him when a ratty-looking mare with a dirty, unwashed coat and the tip of her unicorn horn broken off comes in and asks, “Where’s the doctor at?”

I hear the doctor sigh as he gets up. With his head down he begins to walk towards her and asks, “What can I do for you mistress?”

She smiles cruelly and tells him, “I am glad that you have finally learned your position. Your ride will be here momentarily. Be glad your release was paid for, or I would teach you a true lesson.”

I see him visibly gulp. Then he asks, “May I go grab my things, mistress?”

She laughs, “What things can a slave have? But sure, go ahead.”

He walks to the back room and I follow him. I see him take out a small medical kit and he sighs again as he looks at it shaking his head. He looks my way just as I bump a table. With hope in his voice, I hear him ask quietly, “Is someone there? Are you here to rescue me?”

I drop my spell and tell him, “I have a team here to save you. Do you know where the detonator is?”

He nods his head and tells me, “There are two of them, if I get too far from the shop, it will go off, or if that mad mare out there decides to trigger it.”

I nod my head as I consider it and I tell him, “Give me two minutes.”

He nods his head and I call over my headset, “Team, on my mark come up the stairs at a run, our target is in the back of the second shop to the right marked Medical. I am with our target, I need Danger, he has an explosive collar.”

“Roger Big Blue,” I hear Ginger reply. “Anything else we should now,” I tell them the approximate location of the Mayhem's Mares that I have seen. Then I follow up with the unicorn with the broken horn that has one of the detonators. I am just about to give the word for them to go when I think about one more thing I almost forgot. “Oh, and Cookie, tell our company that weapons are free. They can have fun here.”

I can hear the smile in her voice as she replies, “Roger that boss.”

“Are you ready?” I call back to her.

“Roger.”

“On my mark, Three, Two, One. GO! GO! GO!”

I hear the doors from below slam open and I look to see my team running up the steps, weapons firing. I even see two of the shops on the far side receive flames from the Burner Boys with us. They are making their way towards the shop and one of the Mayhems mares runs outside yelling for help.

Those gang members who are out in the open of the lobby either are shot, burned, diving for cover, or running at first.

I look outside just in time to see the wagon from the Volunteer Corps pulling up in front. The running escapee is gunned down by Tater and slides into the ground in front of them. I then see a look of astonishment on the face of the VC team’s leader. I hear him yell for them to run and get out of there. Half of his people provide cover for his other members as my team fights its way across the lobby.

Xochitl and Twinks are almost to the door when the unicorn mare steps in front of them, but behind a thick wooden counter and begins to shoot at them. She never sees me and I strike her with my lightning spell before she can hit them. I watch as she twitches briefly and stops moving. The MEW rifle she was using falls to the ground.

Twinks runs up to me and the doctor and begins to examine the collar on the doctor. She then calls Tater and tells him, “Mashed, I need your help here. I think I got it, but there is something I am not used to seeing on it.”

While the others are defending our position from outside I begin to hear the rattle of the machinegun carried by Cowlick.

Once Tater is there, they discuss the collar quickly and he begins to laugh. Twinks gives him a funny look and he says, “Twinks, this is a fake explosive collar. Look at how it is wired. And the plastic explosive. That is just clay. That wire was to make it sound like it was active.”

She finishes removing the collar and I ask the doctor, “Can you run?”

His eyes wide in almost panic he tells her, “Ma’am right now I can almost fly if it means getting out of here.”

I give the word to my team, “Fall back to the rally point,” and we make a fighting withdrawal. As I run out of the shop using my horn to fire lighting spells, I notice that only two of the Burner Boys are falling back from the shops. The other two I see are with Cowlick, one of them providing cover fire as the other watches him set an explosive device up at the top of the stairwell. Then when Cowlick tells them they begin to run down the stairs as well. Twinks and Tater have the doctor between them and I notice Twinks has put up a shield spell to protect them as they enter the subway below. I fire off a couple more spells from my horn and tell the rest. “Ok, there out of here, let’s go.”

As we get back through the doors, we originally entered through Cowlick stops and I am amused as he re-chains and locks the doors with Tinder’s help.

The Burner Boy has a grin a mile wide as he asks, “So you really think that thing will get them?”

Cowlick snaps the lock and says, “Yeah, we still have five minutes on the timer or if one of them tries to move it, let's go,” and they are running down the escalator stairs behind me.

As we leave the station into the tunnel we came from, I ask Cowlick, “Ok Salt, just what kind of present did you leave them.”

He smiles widely and tells me, “Oh, just a little something that Baily Bridge taught me. We should be far enough away now.” And just then we have a small earthquake, or what feels like one as we are almost thrown off our hooves by the explosion.

The doors from above are blown down behind us and slam against the station's wall. And I can feel a bit of heat as we continue to run down the tunnel to the service tunnel. Once inside of it, we all take a quick break and while we quickly treat what wounds we received, Cowlick says, “Oh, let me set up another surprise for them, ok boss.”

“Ok, just not one quite like that, ok?”

He grins, “Of course boss. I want to keep them on their hooves.”

Soon We are back on our way down the tunnels and on our way to what should be safety.

*****

Mayhem’s Mares Territory, Lunar Commonwealth: Ball Lightning

Yesterday was a day of rest for both my team and Air Burst. I decided to relax a bit and Funnel Cloud and I headed over for a pint of cider at the local pub. Our two subordinates were busy talking to some of the Collegiate members. Both I noticed on my way to the pub were talking to the mares on the farm plots.

It is just afternoon when Air Burst enters the pub and joins us. As we are drinking, he tells us in a conversational tone, “Tomorrow we have a package to pick up out in town and deliver. I want everyone to relax for it, but have them ready for trouble. Ya know, just in case.”

I nod my head and take a drink again, Then I tell him, “Sounds good Air. I will make sure of it. Do you think I should have some of my friends come over and help us with the delivery?”

He is just about to say something when the waitress comes up and asks, “So would you like to order lunch to go with your drinks?”

We all look at each other and then order the special of the day. As she walks away, I catch myself watching her go. Then I hear Air Burst say, “Oh about your friends helping us with the delivery. I think we should be good. But let them know that we will send a message if we need more help.”

The next morning, we get up early and begin to head into a section of town I have not been to before. As we are making our way across the wrecked cityscape I ask Air Burst, “So where are we heading today?”

He grins and slightly shakes his head, “Ok, a good way to ask. We are heading into the territory of the Mayhem’s Mares to pick up that package we talked about with Moon Dial. Once we pick it up, we will deliver it to another set of assets to take care of until we can do the final delivery.”

Both Funnel and I nod our heads. But I notice Funnel subtly raises an eyebrow slightly and shifts his eyes from me to Air Burst.

Our travel to the Mayhem’s Mares territory is uneventful and we are all feeling fairly relaxed. In the distance, we can see a gate set up on the road with the support walls going to the buildings on both sides. I can also see a pony on a raised platform looking down the street at us. I then check out the buildings ahead and see a couple of more with rifles just back from the windows of the rooms they are in.

As we approach the gate one of the guards cracks open the gate and slides through it, closing it behind him. Then he approaches with his rifle at the ready as he asks, “What cha want here?”

Air Burst raises a hoof and tells him, “We were told to meet with your boss. Tell her Fire Works is here to pick up the package, and to drop off a couple of goodies too.”

The stallion looks us up and down and calls our, “Ask the boss if she is expecting a somepony named Fire Works to pick up a package.”

We wait several minutes and finally we hear from a pony on top of the fence, “Boss says to send them in. She was expecting them earlier.”

The gate before us opens, and as I look down the street, I notice that there are wrecked carriages that have been picked over blocking parts of the street in a way that they prevent anyone from running straight down them. They provide little cover though as they are mainly just the frames remaining.

As we walk down the street slowly dodging around the wrecks I take in the neighborhood. Many of the buildings have been damaged and show wear and tear from over the years. About midway down the street from the gate on the opposite end of the blocked-off areas I see what looks like a once fancy business building. On the lower level, I can see where there once were stores. The once large pane windows have been covered over with whatever was at hoof. I also see an old subway station sign on the front.

I turn to Air Burst and ask, “Do they even use the Subway tunnels around here?

He shrugs his wings and tells me, “Honestly, I don’t know, and I won’t ask. Not my territory, why raise hackles.”

That seems good enough to me. Besides, I can only imagine what must be underground in this town. As we are getting ready to stop in front of this building, I hear yelling from inside followed by gunfire, the sound of flamethrowers, and screaming from inside.

As a group, we turn to look toward it and we watch as a stallion wearing the barding for the Mayhem’s Mares runs out the door his barding is already on fire and he is screaming they are being attacked. Then I hear a three-round burst of fire come from inside the building and watch as he is shot and collapses, skidding to a stop at our hooves.

We all bring our guns up and are looking for targets as my team automatically takes cover. The Volunteers follow our example. Air Burst calls out, “Hold your fire unless we are attacked.”

From several doorways around us, I see ponies run out in various stages of dress and sobriety, carrying whatever weapons they can grab. Several of them begin to look like they are going to attack us when one of the ponies inside the main building yells, “Not thems. The ones' insides here!”

They surge towards the main entrance and I hear the buzzsaw sound of a .308 medium machinegun firing in short bursts. While several are hit, even more dive for cover or just to the ground as the rounds snap over their heads.

I look up in time to see the mare Epona and the stallion Tater by the opening, behind some cover. The stallion looks at me over his sights, smiles, and nods, then he quickly turns to fire again inside the building. Epona grins at me and then I watch as she dodges to the side and rolls, she then fires at a target higher up. I see her get hit and she kicks in pain briefly and calls, “Medic up!” The mare she says is her sister comes over, puts a combat dressing on her leg, and slams a small syringe into her thigh and they are both soon back to fighting.

Through the windows I see the trail of flames leaping across the lobby several times into shops as well as at targets on the balcony above.

Air Burst upon seeing this, yells to us, “Run for the gate!”. My team provides cover for the rest as they turn and begin to run or fly as fast as we can to take cover and escape out the front gate. We are almost to the gate when one of the Mayhem’s Mares sees us coming, panics, and opens fire and I watch as Altocumulus, who is pulling the cart, is hit and tumbles to the ground. I hear Sundancer scream in alarm and as I begin to turn, Air Burst pushes me forward and yells “Get moving, the deal has gone south. MOVE IT NOW to the meeting point!”

His voice sounds like an order and my training kicks in. I keep flying as fast as I can, my troopers have formed up with me and we provide cover for the remaining members of the Volunteer Corps. As we catch our breaths at the rally point. Once there we are finally joined by Sundancer and a wounded Altocumulus without the cart. He is hurt badly, but after cutting him from the harness it seems Sundancer got a healing potion into him to allow him to make it this far.

We are just catching our breaths and taking a quick inventory of everyone and our equipment when I hear a very large explosion and I see a fireball reaching into the sky in the direction we had just come from.

Beside me, I hear Air Burst exclaim “Goddesses Damn IT! Six months! Six Goddess Damn Months shot to shit! What the buck happened back there?”

My jaw almost falls open in surprise as I hear this knowing what the implications mean. Fortunately, I am able to hide my surprise.

He looks at me, “Ball, what happened back there? Did you see what was going on?”

I sigh and shake my head some. Then I tell him, “I think some other gangs attacked them just as we got there.”

“Damn bad timing is what it was sir,” I hear Funnel Cloud say.

“Yes, that it was.” Air Burst replies. Then he turns to Alto and Sundancer and asks them, “You two, are you Ok?”

Both nod their heads. He nods with a grim expression on his face, “Ok, let's head back to the VC Office on the University campus, we need to let headquarters know what happened.” He pauses then says, “And we are going to need to get a new carriage. I just hope they are willing to give us one.”

We then begin to make our way back first to the University to stop at the office there and report in, then we will head back to the Skyport if need be.

As we walk, I am talking with Air Burst and he tells me, “They tried to rescue that doctor. I wondered if they had him. I was going to call in the strike group your team has back at the Skyport if I found out he was there.”

“Makes sense to me, Air. I wish you would have told me; I could have been watching for him. Do you want me to call them in to see if he is still alive there?”

He shakes his head, “No if he was there, I am pretty sure he didn’t survive that explosion.”

He nods his head, “Yeah, most of that building probably came down. I just hope not too many ponies were in there. Those Fuel air explosives are pretty nasty. I am just wondering who in Hoofington would know about them, much less how to make them.”

Funnel Cloud gets a funny expression on his face and he asks, “Air, I have heard about them, but never seen one used. How do you know it was one?”

Air Burst smirks and tells him, “Funnel Cloud, as I told Ball here a while back, I am a lot of things to a lot of ponies. I have gotten around in my time.”

“Understood Air,” Funnel tells him.

We are almost back to University when Sundancer approaches me and asks me, “Ball, that mare in the building during the attack. The yellow one. She and the stallion, looked like they recognized you. Do you know them?”

I grin at her as I answer, “No, not really. But a mare like that in a fight would be one to stick by your side. I would not mind getting to know her if she had wings.”

I see her expression crumble slightly and she nods her head. “I am sorry, Ball. I never meant to hurt you.”

I smile sadly at her, “I know, but it happened. That’s life. I am just glad Alto is going to be ok, you did good sticking with him when he was down.”

She almost smiles at the praise then she says, “Thanks, I am just glad whoever was shooting from inside that building took out the guard who shot him.”

This surprises me and I tell her, “I had not realized they had.”

She nods her head then tells me, “Yeah, when I looked back the shooter was flying in the lobby. He was a black pegasus. I saw his rifle smoking slightly. He tipped his hat to us, and then he turned and snapped off another couple of rounds.

I grin, as I realize who it had to be. “Well, whoever they were, I hope they made it out of there before the explosion.”

She nods her head, “Yeah, me too. That could have gone a lot worse for us.”

*****

To all our listeners this is HOOF radio. That last song was Get Your Pony on by Sapphire Shores.

Seems like some pony was really getting their pony on earlier today over on the west side. When members of the Brood attempted to investigate, they were told that the explosion was caused by an accident in a chem lab. Not sure what they are mixing up in there, but must be some powerful stuff.

In other news, the Collegiate has announced the return of their doctor who had come up missing earlier this week. A group of concerned citizens seems to have found him and with the help of the Volunteer Corps were able to help him find his way back to the Fluttershy Medical Center.

Now our next song goes out to those out there who are still putting up the good fight. Here is Toward the Fray.

Author's Note

Now we begin to see both groups having met are beginning to counter each other's moves in the Hoof. So far this has been unintentional. We also can see the alliances that are being built as well as friendships by the teams and their members with others in the Hoof.

I would like to thank my friend Crossfire for the commissioned art of Xochitl from this chapter. If you like his style, please feel free to contact him on Discord or Twitter at De's Art.

For those who wish to listen to the dedication song, the YouTube link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8AzsOxTYgw&list=OLAK5uy_mbBZSkTdJi4mtbsk9nRCZQBg3msignKDM&index=5