Chapter 15: Surprise Encounters

“Captain, the problem is not that I’m paranoid. The problem is that the universe keeps justifying my paranoia.” ― John Scalzi, The End of All Things

Burner Boy Territory, Lunar Commonwealth: Ginger Snaps

We wake the second morning with the smell of radhog bacon cooking and coffee boiling. I find I have risen up to a sitting position with my eyes still closed just enjoying the smells. As I open my eyes I look over and see Choo Choo over in the kitchen area with a huge smile on her face, whistling the way she always does when she has been up to mischief.

Oh Goddesses, what has she been up to now? I ask myself. Then I crawl off the top bunk and give a shake to Xochitl on the bottom one. As he wakes up, he smells the air and says, “Do I really smell radhog bacon and coffee?” I only nod and he quickly gets out of bed as well.

Soon the entire team is awake and getting ourselves ready for the day. Choo pops her head out the kitchen door and tells us, “Breakfast will be ready in about ten more minutes.”

With that, we all go and grab our mess kits and get ready to eat. As the food finishes being cooked, I help Choo carry it out to the table that used to be used by the shift of firefighters who would have been on duty. Soon after this, I hear Naphtha’s voice ask, “Oh my Goddesses, who brought meat and cooked it in the firehouse?”

Choo looks up at her sheepishly, “Oh, I did, I brought enough for most of your crew who stay here too.”

I watch as Naphtha has a range of emotions come over her face, from revulsion to appreciation. Then she says, “I will let them know, but we don’t tend to eat meat here.”

Choo nods her head, “I hadn’t thought of that. Sorry. Back home we tend to eat it a bit more. I figured today was a combination of me feeling good about last night’s package delivery and the fact of our planned visit to some of those who are causing problems still today means we will want some extra energy and protein so this would be a good treat for everyone.”

Naphtha raises an eyebrow and twitches an ear. Then she asks, “I thought brahmin were strictly vegans?”

Cowlick, still chewing on a piece of bacon, replies, “Normally we are, but I love the salty taste as well as the crunch of well-done bacon.”

She shakes her head and replies, “I see, well, I guess I will talk to my people. Even if they don’t partake, thanks for being willing to share with us.”

Soon after this, I see Kindling, Tinder, and Smoldering Phase, come up the stairs. I hear them sniff at the air, then Kindling curiously asks, “Yous really eat that stuff?”

I can’t help myself, “We sure do, want to try some too?”

Kindling cautiously asks, “What’s it taste like?”

“Well, it is kinda salty, but I don’t know how else to explain it.”

He finally says, “Sure, I’ll try it.” Then he cautiously takes a bite and I can see the pleasure come over his face.

Kindling then takes a seat, gets a cup of coffee, and puts a couple of slices on his plate. Tinder, and Smoldering both do the same.

I smile as I watch Kindling dig into the bacon, Tinder seems to enjoy it but is not quite as enthusiastic as Kindling. Then I watch as Smoldering takes a big bite and I see his face begin to turn green, He puts a hoof over his mouth and runs to the window and spits it out. He then turns back to look at us accusingly and asks all of us in general, “How can you eat that stuff? It’s meat.”

Kindling smiles and says, “Just like this,” as he takes another bite.

Tinder then tells him, “Here, have some coffee. It will help.”

Before he can sip his coffee Epona tells him, “you should try some honey in it, we usually have honey and milk in it back home. But we don’t have any milk available right now.”

He stops and adds the honey and then comments, “This is pretty good, where’d ya get the honey?”

Epona smiles and tells him, “We ran out of what we brought from home, but I found a merchant selling it by the jar at Mega Mart. He gives a discount if you exchange an empty one when you buy a full one.”

“Yous guys been to Mega Mart too?”

We all nod our heads slowly and Tater asks carefully, “You haven’t?”

“Nah, too dangerous to go by ourselves, and I’m not high enough up yet to get to go. Never been more than a few blocks from our tory, until the other day with yous guys.”

At first, I am confused when he says tory, but then I realize he has just shortened territory. I remember our teacher talking to us in school about how languages can change over time and with isolation. I guess that explains how they talk compared to back home.

Choo smiles as she brings out some bread that we picked up at Mega Mart also. She has some strawberry preserves on the slices and tells us, “Please help yourselves. We have a long day ahead of us.”

Tek, who I see sitting on the other side of Xochitl eyes the bacon at first, then he seems to make up his mind and takes some of the bread and preserves to eat along with his coffee.

With his mouth full, Tinder asks, “What you and Naphtha got planned for us today?”

She smiles and tells us, “Oh, a little visit to some others who we know have been causing trouble.”

This gets me to raise an eyebrow and Epona to put a hoof under her chin as she thinks. Tater just looks at Xochitl and they grin at each other. Then I hear Cowlick ask Choo, “Should I be making up some more presents?”

She shakes her head, “No, you should have enough already. Besides, I want you more for suppressive fire today than for blowing things up.”

I see the disappointment on his face, but then I hear Twinks tell him, “It’s ok big guy, that means it’s you and me again.” I have to grin as I watch him lift a forehoof to hers. Then they hoof bump, both smiling. Next, I hear Sunny ask, “Choo, this doesn’t mean more going underground, does it?”

This gets all of us to snap our heads in her direction. She smiles with a motherly expression and tells us, “No, not this time. But we may have to for a little bit. I want to talk to Naphtha about a few things first, then I will get back to you on that more. But I will talk to her about those things while all of you clean up the kitchen.”

After we finish cleaning up Choo Choo returns with Naphtha. Naphtha then tells her members who are with us, “Choo has said that her team would like our assistance again today, I will let you decide if you want to go with them after she lays it out.”

Her members look surprised. Then all four who are with us nod their heads. Choo then says, “Ok, let’s go to the training room again.”

Naphtha then leads us all to the training room and takes a seat off to the side. Choo then proceeds to give us the rundown of our day’s plans. After she is done, she asks, “Any questions?”

We are all still thinking about what she has planned when Naphtha looks at her people that are in the room and asks, “Still want to go?”

I see Tinder and Kindling nodding, but I notice Smoldering seems hesitant. Finally, he looks at the others and says, “Yeah Boss, I am in.”

Choo then tells us all, “Ok, go grab your kits.”

As the Burner Boys get up to leave, I hear Napatha tell us, “Tinder, you’re in charge of our people on this. Listen to Big Blue, but they are your responsibility, got me?”

His face becomes very serious, “Yeah, I got ya, boss. I’ll take care of them.”

“Good, and good luck to all ya.” She says and we watch her head back to her office and us to our gear.

Once we have our gear on, we follow one of the Burner Boys we had not met yet to another building.

This one looks like it was a school at one time. Once inside we pass the remains of the one-time classrooms, several of which are now used as living quarters for groups of ponies. As we go down the stairs to the basement, our guide tells us, no need to worry about ghouls down here. We cleaned them out a long time ago.”

As we go down, to our right we see the foundation for what would have been a stable door that was just being begun along with some areas behind it that were carved out in the low light. Ahead we see the building's maintenance room. As we go past the old coal boiler there, I can’t help but shake my head at the contrast between what the war killed, and what it was all about in such close proximity. Finally, we come to a door that is chained shut. Our guide begins to unlock it and tells us, “Ok, this is as far as I go. This leads to the old service tunnels and should get you out of our territory without being seen.

I watch as Xochitl leads off through the door with Twinks right behind him and Tek following a bit further back. We let them get a bit further ahead when I lead our portion of the raid in. Choo follows up and we are followed at the rear by the six Burner Boys led by Tinder.

As I enter the tunnel, I notice the bones of several ponies. When we pass, I notice many of them had small bags or pouches of belongings with them. I then realize they must have taken to these service tunnels to try and survive on the last day. I try not to think about it, but it still gets to me. This is not helped by the fact that in the far distance we can hear the growling that we all know typically warns us of ferals. While this makes us all more alert, we do not encounter any of them.

We travel for only about ten blocks like this before Twinks stops us and points upwards towards a ponyhole cover at the top of a ladder. She looks at her PipBuck and says, “Ok, it looks clear, no dangers nearby according to the Eyes Forward Sparkle.”

Choo then tells us, “Ok, Flower, you and Tek go first, and provide cover for the rest of us.”

They both nod and I watch as first Xochitl climbs up the ladder, then moves the ponyhole cover to the side. He looks at Twinks who tells him it is still clear and he climbs up and out quickly. I watch his hoof signal for Tek to follow then he disappears in the bright light to the side. Tek moves quickly and repeats the process. Soon we are all out of the service tunnels and are using concealment and what cover we can find. Choo quickly talks with Twinks and Tater using the maps on their PipBucks and soon we are on the move again. Our teams are divided into two. One team per side of the street, with the Burner Boys on drag but divided as well.

Soon, in the distance ahead we can see a tall, slightly damaged clock tower in the center of a large factory-type building. We are still about ten to twelve blocks away when we see it. Choo has us all go into a collapsed warehouse to the side. “Ok, just so we can go over the plan a bit more before we fully commit,” Choo tells us.

Tek Quietly tells us, “That is it alright, you can tell it is their terry by the clock tower. When we get closer we can see broken clocks marking it too.”

Choo looks at us, then asks the Burner Boys, “Last chance to back out, you sure you want to do this with us?”

I see both Tinder and Kindling look at each other and grin. I also notice the nervous expression on Smoldering Phase’s face. The other three show no expression but get up as Tinder tells Choo, “Nah, we came this far, we do this.”

Choo smiles and we begin to move forward again. Leaving through the opening of one of the old loading dock doors, but out of sight of the clockworks.

We are only a couple of blocks from the main building when we take cover again and move through another building that used to be a factory. We are very cautious as we move through it so that we do not wake any ghouls who may still be in there amongst the ancient machinery.

Once to the front of the factory, we all settle in for what we expect will be a long and boring day.

*****

Hoofington Casting and Die Company, Lunar Commonwealth: Xochitl.

The afternoon is a hot one, with a very little breeze as we sit amongst the wreckage of the old factory. We take turns resting and watching out the holes in the walls or looking out the windows while remaining concealed. It is late afternoon and the sun is going to set in about another fifteen minutes. I have just taken overwatch and I am using the scope on my rifle as a telescope so I can see further when I first see them coming up the road. I click my radio mic twice to alert the others that I have seen something.

As I watch I see a large white wagon coming up the road. I notice the ponies around it are armed and they seem to be alert as they come up the road. As they get closer, I begin to see them better. That is when I notice that all but one of them is a pegasus. I then realize I recognize a couple of them. Which almost gets me to laugh out loud. I then whisper into my mic, “Boss, you’re not going to believe this.”

I hear her whisper back, “What is it?”

“Big Blue, they are the same ones from the other day. What are the odds?”

I hear her quietly giggle over my headset and she then tells me, “Well, they are in for a rude surprise then. Besides, we know they are the ones causing problems around here.” She pauses then says with a smile in her voice, “Ok, the plan stays the same, Once the sun begins to set, we go.”

I watch through my scope as the lead pegasus talks to somepony hiding in a sewer through the grate. As they talk, I see several other ponies come out of the nearby buildings. While they talk, I watch the pony Choo had returned last night walk over to his comrades from behind the wagon. I then see an argument begin between the two groups. Finally, I see a mare who the Broken Clocks seem to give deferance as she approaches. She and the lead pegasus talk and I watch as she pushes a hoof into his chest and then begins to turn away, just as the sun finally sets beneath the distant skyline. I then hear Choo say, “Flower, take her out.”

I place my crosshairs on the back of the mare’s head as she walks away, I hold my breath and squeeze the trigger, just as she trips, and instead of hitting her in her head, I put a hole in her left ear. As my next round loads and I prepare to take the next shot the world explodes in gunfire as our team opens up. Hitting several of the Broken Clocks.

I then see the volunteers all take to the sky, except for the poor bastard who is pulling the cart, who is struggling to run down the street, the cart taking several rounds before it dodges around a corner.

The pegasuses in the air fire several shots at both us and the Broken Clocks as they fly away. I hear one of the Burner Boys get hit and Twinks calls out, “Tater, take feed, I got wounded to take care of.”

I see her leave the room she and Cowlick were in and low crawl to the Burner Boys though I can’t tell which one it is, through my peripheral vision.

Soon I hear Choo call out over the radio, “Ok, I am clear, fall back to the rally point.”

Twinks calls back, “Cover us, Fire Triangle is WIA and having a hard time walking.”

I watch as the rest of the Burner boys fall back. Cowlick provides cover fire for the rest of us. I am passing him when I hear him yell out to Tater, “Tater, reload now!” and I see Tater run the next belt of ammo over to the machinegun, pop the cover, and lay the links in. He then slams the cover and jerks back the charging handle and slaps Cowlick on the shoulder yelling, “weapons up!”

I am almost to the back door when I hear Choo call out, “Salt, do it now!”

I turn and see him take a detonator in his hoof and he triggers it. As I hear the explosions outside, he runs past me yelling, “MOOOVE IT FLOWER!”

Tater is right behind him laughing as we hear the sound of a large crash from the direction of the old clock factory and a cloud of dust follows us as we leave the factory and begin to fall back the way we came.

Twinks and one of the other Burner Boys are carrying the wounded Fire Triangle with his front hooves over their shoulders. As part of our plan, we leave tracks leading towards the Mayhems Mares territory. Choo lands after several blocks and looks at the bleeding Fire Triangle. She then tells Twinks, “He needs more help than we can give him, Get him on my back now.”

The wounded pony is tied to her back. She tells Ginger, “Cookie, get them home, I will meet you at the firehouse.”

Then we watch her take off and fly as fast as she can towards the Fluttershy Medical Center. Ginger then uses her hoof and ears to signal to get moving. As we cross the road where earlier we had been able to see the clock tower I look back and I notice it has broken off from halfway up.

Choo’s plan to use the distraction worked. She was able to use her invisibility spell to fly up and place the charges about where Cowlick had told her to. Without meaning to, I begin to smile. Soon I am back into my routine as we make our way back to the Burner Boy Territory. Once we reach the west gate. Tinder gives out the call sign and we are allowed to enter in a single file line, with our guns slung and the bits of our battlesaddles stowed.

This time we follow Tinder as he and his people lead us back toward the firehouse. I see him look down when he sees Naphtha as she meets us at the door.

Naphtha looks at him with a harsh expression and asks “Where is my little brother?”

I watch as Ginger begins to step forward to answer and Tinder puts a hoof on her chest and tells her, “Big Blue is taking him to Fluttershy. He was hit bad. Don’t know if he will make it.”

I watch the anger flare briefly on her face then pain crack her façade briefly, then she asks, “Was it worth it?”

He then tells her, “I think so, “We hit them just after they had a disagreement with those Enclavers we were talking about. It was a three-way fight. Oh, and that big clock tower of theirs, well it is broken real good now.”

She nods her head, “Good. Serves them right, hitting our tory.”

She then turns and begins to go back inside. As they do, she tells Twinks, “Danger, use our showers, get the blood off, and thanks for helping my brother.” She pauses then says, “Tinder, to my office, we need to talk.”

As they go to her office, we follow inside and back to where we were sleeping the night before. We each grab a piece of the floor and we begin to clean our weapons. After this, we each grab a ration pack and I hear Twinks say, “Cookie, we are starting to get low on rations, we need to talk to the boss about catching up with the caravan soon.”

After dinner, we begin to settle in for the night. As I move over to cuddle next to my little mare, I see her pulling out her copy of the Book of Daisy Jo. After she has it out, she lays down with it between her forelegs. This allows me to put my head on her back. As I do, I gently smell her scent and begin to feel myself relax. It is funny to me, but after all these years, her scent is now home to me. Where she is, I want to be. She stops reading briefly and turns her head just enough to gently nuzzle me. She then returns to reading. But as she does, I notice she too begins to relax. As we rest, I notice Epona is talking to Tek about something, but I can’t hear her. Cowlick is busy talking to Kindling and a couple other of the Burner Boys and I see him with a raised eyebrow as he finds something they said interesting.

Soon I find myself relaxing enough to drift off to sleep. As I do I hear Sunny tell Ginger, “Cookie, I am going outside for a bit. I will be back soon. Then I hear his hoofs walking away.

Soon I find myself being woken up as Ginger tells me, “Let’s go to bed love.”

I sleepily get to my hooves and crawl into the bottom bunk. As I do so I feel Ginger move me over slightly and she climbs in with me and cuddles up for the night.

*****

Former Municipal Firehouse #1, Lunar Commonwealth: Choo Choo

After returning the Broken Clock to his Enclave masters, I am in such a good mood, I decided to treat myself and my team to a wonderful breakfast. I fly over to Mega Mart to purchase some supplies for it.

As I land, I run into Trader Jewel. When he sees me, he asks, “Big Blue, where is the rest of your team?”

I promptly tell him, and then I let him know about our having returned the doctor. He smiles at the news and asks, “So that was you. Who was the Enclaver they reported being with you?”

I grin as I tell him, “Oh, that was Blackbird. We just decided to let them assume he was with the Enclave. That should cause them all sorts of aggravation trying to figure out who it was.”

He grins back at me and begins to laugh, “I would think so. So, what are your plans now?”

As we walk closer to the wagons, I begin to explain to him what I know so far and what I have in mind. As we do this, he asks me, “Blue, would you mind if I gave you a few ideas?”

I hesitate at first, then with a slight look of exasperation he looks around and finally whispers to me, “Celestia is the real Light Bringer.”

To most that would not mean anything other than perhaps a part of a debate about the one called Little Pip. But to me, it is a code phrase to identify ourselves among others who work for the NCR Rangers in covert roles.

Without meaning to, my eyes go wide in surprise as he smiles and nods. Then he says, “Figured it was about time to let ya know anyways Choo.”

I nod my head and ask, “What are your suggestions?”

“Well as we already know the Enclave is supplying weapons to some of the gangs, and promoting them to attack others, maybe you could hit the gang for the one you captured and as you leave, make it look like it came from one of the others. I mean this would really throw the Enclave cattywampus.”

I have to smile and then I discuss with him a few more ideas. Finally, when we are done, he tells me, “Go get some supplies from Jambalaya, if he complains tell him to take it up with me.”

I smile thankfully and tell him, “Thank You, Boss, I really appreciate it, and so will the crew.”

He nods then he tells me, “Oh, and I want you and your people back here in two days, we need to get moving over to Meat Locker and a couple of other stops. We have money to make. Besides, if we sit here much longer, ponies are gonna notice and begin to talk.”

I nod my head and I tell him thanks one more time before I get the supplies and fly back to the firehouse and my people. Once there I notice that my team is all asleep. I look at the time and begin to prepare breakfast for everyone. As we have been told not to use the kitchen, I assume that is because the stove is unsafe. So instead of turning the stove on, I instead use my horn to heat the radhog bacon and the coffee. I am just finishing up when I hear Ginger begin to stir. I let her know it will be done soon and finish my preparations.

After Breakfast I meet with Naphtha in her office and lay out the basis of my plan and request some of her people to help us again. After hearing the plan, she looks at me with her head tilted slightly and tells me, “If my people want to do this, I will let them, but I will not tell them to do so.”

I nod my head, “I fully understand, thank you for being willing to let them go if they want,” I tell her.

After the briefing, all six of her people who are there decide to go with us. We are then led to an old, unused service tunnel route that will lead us out of their territory without being seen. Once we are topside again, we continue to make our way toward the old Manehatten Watch and Clock Company. Occasionally we can see its clock tower in the distance, and we use this as a landmark to help us work our way closer.

When we reach our target observation site, we quietly enter and begin to watch the Broken Clocks main building for the day. At sunset, we will create a diversion by attacking some of their guards. When my team is doing this, I will plant some explosive charges on the clock tower so we can destroy it. Then when we leave, we will make it look like the attackers came from the direction of the Mayhem’s Mares territory. Hopefully, this will cause them to think they were the ones who did this.

Just as the sun is beginning to set, I hear Xochitl call over the radio through my earbuds, “Choo, you are not going to believe this.”

I am curious now about what he is talking about, and when he tells me it is the Volunteers again, I can not help but giggle. This is working out even better than I could have planned. Perhaps we can cause a few more problems for the Enclave intelligence agency as well. I am grinning as I tell my team, “Ok, the plan stays the same, Once the sun begins to set, we go.”

As the others watch I slowly move toward the roof to be in position for my portion of the plan. I have already cast the invisibility spell When I see a mare come out of the clock-works. She seems angry to begin with. Once she is face to face with the Volunteer Corps team leader, I can hear them begin to argue. This is intensified when he returns the Broken Clock member I had delivered to his wagon.

This gives me an idea and I use the whisper mic to tell Xochitl, “When I tell you to, shoot that lead mare.”

I hear him confirm he has heard me. Shortly after this, I see the mare push the pegasus Stallion with a forehoof, turn, and begin to stamp her way back towards the factory. I then tell him, “Flower, take her out.”

I hear him take the shot as I launch myself into the air and I tell the others, “Weapons free, keep them busy for me.”

As I fly towards the clocktower I watch the pegasuses of the Volunteers take to the sky and I so want to take a shot, but I dare not if I want to stick to our plan. However, as I fly to the clocktower and plant the first charge I glance behind me and see the fighting is now a three-way fight.

I have already planted both the second and third charges when I hear the call about a wounded team member. While my instinct is to fly back and immediately help treat them, I know I am the only one who can complete this part of the plan safely. Once I have placed the final charge I call back to my team, “Ok, I am clear, fall back to the rally point.”

Once I have gotten far enough away, I call out to Cowlick, “Salt, do it now!”

In the dark sky, I drop my invisibility spell and as the four charges explode, I open fire with my minigun from the air to help suppress those on the ground firing at my team.

As the clock tower begins to fall, I hear many of the Broken Clocks screaming in anger. Then I feel a burning pain on my side that almost gets me to fall to the ground. Instead, I fly as quickly as I can to our rally point. Once there I land. I see the badly wounded Fire Triangle and after a quick exam, I know he is hurt worse than Twinks or I can handle. I have them tie him to my back. I turn the team back over to Ginger telling her, “Cookie, get our people home.”

Then I am in the air again and heading as quickly as I can to the Fluttershy Medical Clinic. During my flight, I notice a half-dozen Vertibucks heading for the Broken Clock territory. They are about three-quarters of the way there when I see them all bank to the right and begin to fly back towards the Sky Port.

As I continue to fly toward the hospital, I am beginning to think that this is becoming routine for me. I have this confirmed when I land and I see the security guards run out along with a triage team and one of them says, “Oh it's Big Blue again.”

They cut the ropes tying the wounded Fire Triangle to my back and carry him on a gurney inside. As they are running him in, one of the other ER team members tells me, “Come inside Big Blue, we need to get you stitched up, you took a pretty good hit there.”

As the adrenaline begins to recede, I begin to feel the pain from it and I simply nod my head and follow him in. As I am being stitched up he asks me, “So what happened so that you got hit?”

I try to smile and sound relaxed, but do not do so well as I tell him, “I was grazed when I went to help him after I saw him shot by scavers.”

He shakes his head and his tone of voice says he doesn't really believe me as he says, “Scavers got a piece of an alicorn. Huh, that is a new one on me.” Then he finishes the last stitch and tells me, “Ok, with a healing spell that should heal with no scaring in about two days. Either have somepony help remove the stitches or return here and we will take them out. You can set up payment for this at the desk on the way out.”

I nod my head and I tell him, “Thanks.”

He smiles at me and responds, “Look, just be more careful out there. I know how dangerous those gangs can be.” He stops and shakes his head, then tells me, “Please, just be careful, even the Brood liaison for the hospital has mentioned he is worried.”

This surprises me, and I tell him I will be. Then after settling up my bill at the front desk and picking up a healing potion from their pharmacy. I head back to the firehouse to gather my team.

As I head back, I notice that Sunny is on the roof of a building not far from the Burner Boy territory and I see him talking to several others. When I get closer, I recognize them as the batponies we had met the other day. As I begin to land he smiles and waves and I hear him say, “Hey Boss, how did it go?”

After I land fully, I tuck in my wings and walk over to the group and tell him, “Hello Sunny, it went well. It looks like he will be ok, but we are starting to attract some attention our way.” I stop and then look at the entire group before I ask him, “So what has you out here tonight?”

He tries to smile as he answers, “Boss, I needed to clear my head and while taking a flight, I ran into these guys and we began to talk a bit and get to know each other.” He then points to the others and begins to introduce them to me. I find out that the two dark gray mares are named Ankareeda and Arrats. The stallion is Asra, and the white batpony mare he reintroduces me to as Morning Star.

They all give me a brief bow or curtsy of respect as he introduces them to me. Then I hear Asra tell one of the others, “She does look much like her royal majesty.”

At first, I do not realize who he is talking about, but when I do I feel myself blush and I tell him, “I appreciate the compliment sir, but I am not as beautiful as our fair Luna was. I remember seeing her and I could only hope to be half as beautiful as her.”

Then the one names Arrats ask in her high voice, “You have seen her?”

I nod my head, “Yes, at a distance a few times in person, and on television a few times when we still had such things.”

They are all surprised and they begin to try and ask me questions about her that I can not really answer, so I tell them, “Please understand that I never was close to her and never met her in person, so I can not answer many of your questions.”

I then tell Sunny, “Sunny, in the morning we are heading back to the caravan. We need to continue moving and our employer has asked for us to escort them during this move.”

He nods his head and tells me, “Ok, Choo.” He looks at the batponies and then he asks, “Do you want me to go with you right now, or can I wait a bit more and meet you in a bit.”

I am hesitant but I tell him, “Sunny you should come with me now, I hate to do this to you, but you need some sleep, and these ponies need to find a safe place to bed down for the day.”

They nod their heads in agreement and Sunny tells them, “Ok, well it was nice chatting with you, and I hope to see you all again soon.” As he says the last, I see his eyes are focused on Morning Star. I also notice that she has her eyes on him and her ears are forward. She is interested in him as well.

As they say their goodbyes, I can't help but notice the particular attention between Morning Star and Sunny, but I also notice the almost amusement of the other batponies at this.

As we all fly our own ways, Sunny smiles at me and tells me, “They were telling me that they are going to be at Meat Locker in two days. Something about a band they like will be playing there or something.”

I smile at him and ask, “So do you have a date set up?”

He shakes his head, “No Choo, I know I can’t tell others where we are going. Cousin Mollygirl would have my hide if she found out I broke op-security.”

I can’t help but smile at how highly he thinks of the Colonel and would not want to disappoint her. “Very good Sunny, if we run into them there, I will try to give you some time to visit with her. But promise me you will not hurt her on purpose.”

I see him stop in flight and when I stop, he tells me, “Choo, it’s not like that with Morning Star. She, she is special. I don’t know how. I hardly know her, but for some reason, I want to make her happy. I want her approval.”

I nod my head, “Ok Sunny, I will take your word for it.” I tell him, but inside I am smiling. Maybe our young stallion is finally growing up I think to myself.

Then I lead him back to land outside the firehouse. From just inside the door, I hear a familiar voice tell me, “Come on in Big Blue, we’ve been expecting ya.”

I smile and tell them, “Thank you Kindling. I hope you are having a good night”

“You to Big Blue. See ya in a couple of hours.”

Once inside both Sunny and I grab an empty bunk and catch a bit of sleep before morning. When I wake up, I find Sunny in the bunk above me snoring loudly. The other members of the team are already up and getting their gear together.

Ginger tells me, “Heard ya when you got in Boss. I don’t know for sure what you have planned, but we are getting low on rations.”

I nod as I get up and I tell her, “We're heading back to Mega Mart in a bit to meet up with the caravan.”

I then give Sunny a shake. He wakes up groggily and asks, “That time already?”

I nod and tell him, “Yep, time to get ready to head back to the caravan.”

I then tell Ginger, “Cookie, I will be back in a bit. I want to talk to Naphtha first.”

I then head up to her office and after I knock briefly on the door, I hear some shuffling inside the office. A couple of minutes later I hear her voice ask, “Yah, who is it, what do you want?”

I tell her, “Hey Naphtha, it’s Big Blue, just wanted to say goodbye before we head out this morning.”

She runs a hoof through her mane and tells me, “Thanks Blue, I appreciate it. Any idea how soon you will be back?”

“Not sure yet, but I will keep in touch for as long as we are in the region,” I tell her. “Oh, and the medicos said Fire Triangle should be ok. He was hit hard, but they were able to get it taken care of before I left.”

She nods her head and says, “Thanks for letting me know Choo. He is my little brother and I was worried.”

Then she notices the bandage on my side. She raises an eyebrow and asks, “What happened there?”

“I was grazed when providing cover fire as everypony withdrew. By the way, thanks for letting your people go with us. I am sure it made a big difference. Oh, also we left tracks leading towards the Mayhem’s Mare territory, hopefully, that will lead them to make a big assumption and take some heat off of you guys.”

“I really appreciate it Blue. Thanks.” She says before she pauses. Then she says, “I best let you get going. See ya when ya get back.”

“Sounds good Naphtha, take care and it was good working with you,” I tell her. Then I turn and head back downstairs to my crew. As we head out the main door of the firehouse, I hear Smoldering Phase ask us, “See ya tonight again?”

Ginger then tells him, “Na, not tonight. We're not sure when we will be back, but we will see ya then. Take care.” After she says this, they hoof bump and we continue on. I had not realized my team was getting so close to them.

As we continue on our way back to Mega Mart with Xochitl and Tek in the lead I ask her about it. She grins at me and tells me, “Choo, we fought alongside them, broke bread and slept in the same quarters, and we shed blood together, we are not part of their gang, nor them one of us, but they are as close as they can get otherwise.”

I nod my head as understanding comes over me, “Yes, I understand, sort of how the Volunteers were during the expedition.” As she nods her head, I remember the civilians and camp followers who volunteered to fight as auxiliaries after the First Battle of Two Step. Of course, they later were fully integrated into the Co-op Expeditionary Force, just like I was.

As we close on the gate of the Mega Mart I see a familiar-looking mare on the gate, and I notice a bit more of a bounce in Epona’s step as Tek waves to her.

Beyond the gate, I see Trader Jewel as he stands up from the fire and motions with his hoof and the other members of the Caravan begin to roust up also and the teams are harnessed up to their wagons. As we pass through the gate on our way through, I see Cowlick heading over to his cart. I notice the looks he is receiving from the brahmin of respect and the surprise on many of the ponies and other customers there faces as he removes his MG and allows himself to be harnessed into our cart.

*****

Hoofington University, Lunar Commonwealth: Ball Lightning

“Ok, who has a knife so we can cut this buck loose?” Air Burst asks in an irritated tone of voice.

Funnel Cloud answers, “Got one,” and he tosses it onto the tailgate of the wagon. After we cut the stallion loose, we take him into the Volunteers' offices. Once in there, Air Burst and I take him to a separate room to ask him what happened.

“We’es was attacking the Burner Boys. Things went bad and we were going home.” He starts and I watch as Air Burst nods his head. Then he says, “This big blue alicorn caught me and carried me high up. They threatened to drop me and everything.” Again, we nod. “Then she took me into one of their buildings and tied me to a pole. They threatened to take away my memories and leave me like a foal if I did not talk.”

He is visibly shaking at this point. Air Burst then asks him, “Why did you believe she could do this?”

“She, she said she was one time a unicorn with the Ministry of Morale. That she used to be a Pink. Everypony knows they could do stuff like that.”

I watch as Air Burst's face starts to flush, but he controls the expression on his face otherwise. “And you believed her?”

“Yes, when I tried not to talk, she began to cast the spell and I saw a glass ball near her. I had to talk or she would have emptied my brain.”

I watch as Air Burst grits his teeth. “Ok, so what all did you tell them?”

He begins to talk to us and lets us know he told her about how weapons were being delivered to his gang and how the Broken Clocks and the Mayhem’s mares were working together along with the Hoof’s Ferals against the Burner Boys and a few other gangs.

After he is done Air Burst shakes his head and calls out into the main area, “One of you want to take this pony and get him something to eat, and a bed for the night.”

After he is escorted out of the room, I see a flick of anger in Air Burst's eyes. He sits at the table across from me and tells me, “That could change everything. If that blue was a Pink, she could cause us a world of hurt.”

I nod my head, then I ask, “Why is that?”

I hear him sigh as he shakes his head, “I know you are new to this business, but you do realize the Pinks specialized in counterintelligence ops, right? I mean they were not just for keeping the public in line.”

“Well, I know from school that they were always trying to hunt down zebra spies and sympathizers.”

He nods his head to me, “Exactly. They specialized in finding ponies who were up to things like we are doing here. Do you realize how long I have had to work to be able to get to the point we were at two days ago?”

“I am guessing it will be quite a while,” I tell him.

He laughs in a sarcastic manner, “Quit a while he says. Do you even realize what our goal here has been?”

“I thought you were trying to gain loyalty from the dirtsiders for the Enclave in part. Most of that is through the use of charity such as blankets and food. I also understand that if we cause them to act out enough that the Commonwealth government might ask for our assistance and we could legitimately occupy the Hoof.”

He nods his head, “Good, you have been paying attention. Now think about what happens if our little tricks here are discovered and revealed to that same Commonwealth Government.”

This time my expression changes, I feel my eyes open wide and my ears slide back and a chill goes down my back. “That could set back relationships between our two governments to when the skies were still closed. We would never stand a chance of getting a sizable presence down here peacefully.”

He nods his head and smiles ruefully. Then the tells me, “Very good my young apprentice. Now, what should we do about this?”

I think briefly, “Well, we return that pony out there to his gang, then we tell them that since he opened his mouth to the wrong ponies we will have to suspend shipments to them for a while.”

He nods his head, “Pretty much what I am going to do. I will still provide medical aid and food. But no more ammo or weapons for a while.” He pauses, “Ok, come morning we do that. Go grab a bunk and catch some sleep. We may have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

With that I head back to the room I am sharing with my team to call it a night. As I begin to fall asleep, I can’t help but think of the image of that pony tied like that, the sign on his neck, and the fear on his face of having his memory stolen away. But I also begin to question, just what are we doing down here, and is it the right thing for us to be doing?

The next morning as we get ready to head out, Funnel Cloud pulls me aside, “Sir, I know it seems confusing, but right now we need your head in the game. Remember this is our job, what we get paid for.”

“Sergeant Major, what makes you think I am confused?”

Quietly he tells me, “Sir, I saw you tossing and turning last night after your talk with Air Burst. I was having a hard time falling asleep myself. But remember, our priority is the ponies of the Grand Pegasus Enclave.”

I put a hoof on his shoulder. “I appreciate your concern Sergeant Major and if the time comes, I will remember that.”

He smiles like a father to his son, “I am glad to hear that sir. That is all I can hope for.”

Soon we have had our breakfast, gathered our equipment, and are on the road again heading towards the Broken Clocks territory. Today we have a canvas cover over the back of the cart with the Broken Clock pony hiding under it.

As we make our way across the Hoof, I can’t help but think about who those ponies are that are causing us this much trouble. They seemed decent enough, even if they are just wastelanders. But are they really what they seem?

We make a couple of short stops along the way at small settlements in the ruins during our journey to the clockworks. It is getting late in the day when I notice the clock tower of the Manehantten Watch and Clock Company ahead. The sun is behind us and the shadows are laying really heavy in the streets around us. Soon I see broken clocks hanging at the intersections we are following.

As we approach the intersection where we met the pony in the storm drain before, we stop as we are questioned like before. After giving the passcode, Air Burst tells him, “I need to talk to Key Wind.”

A couple of the other ponies come out from the nearby buildings and none of them seem too happy with us. That is when Tic Tock gets out of the back of the wagon and walks over to his companions.

One of whom bitterly asks, “What’s this? Was it you that took Tic Tock?”

As Air Burst begins to reply I catch myself and the others starting to spread out some. Air Burst then tells them, “Of course not. That is the problem though. He got caught and then he started to tell tales out of class.”

“What’s that suppose ’ta mean?”

“It means he told ponies who can cause a whole lot of trouble where you were getting your guns and ammo from.”

That is when I see the mare known as Moon Dial come storming out of the clockworks building. Once she is in front of us things begin to become more interesting. “What is going on here Air Burst?”

I hear him sigh quietly. Then he tells her as his ears begin to move up and forward again, “Moon Dial, we have a real problem here.”

She gets defensive and her ears drop back flat against her head as she asks, “And what is that?”

“Your buck here got mouthy and talked to a former MoM agent who we suspect may be working for the Commonwealth Council. We can’t afford them getting wind of how we have been helping you above and beyond the normal equine way we do most others.”

Now she lets her anger really show and she moves closer to Air Burst almost face to face and asks loudly, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He tries to keep his voice level and not overly loud as he says, “That means no more guns and ammo from us for now.”

The dam breaks in her and she shoves him hard in the chest with a forehoof saying, “You got us into this mess, and now you pull the rug out from under us. Well, buck you and your Enclave too. We managed without ya before and will again. Now get, get out of our tory or you are done for.”

She then turns and begins to walk away from us back towards the old factory’s door. I am watching her when she trips and suddenly, I see a gunshot go through the middle of one of her ears, drilling a hole through it just before I hear the shot from one of the buildings down the road. That is when all Tartarus breaks loose. Several of the Broken Clocks are struck by a fusillade of fire and they turn to shoot at us.

When they do this, we all take to the air except for poor Altocumulus, who being harnessed in the cart again can not take off. Instead, he quickly turns the cart around putting it as much as possible between him and the incoming gunfire. As we are moving skyward I hear Air Burst call over the radio, “Storm Warning on location Bronco one! I repeat, Storm Warning on location Bronco one!”

I realize as I hear this that he has called in the security forces back at the Skyport for backup. Anypony down there without wings is a deader when they arrive. Right now, I am good with that I think as I take an aimed shot at a Broken Clock who is running for cover and firing in our direction. I am surprised when I see not only my shot, but a series of rounds from an MG hit him from the other side.

I am soon after buffeted by a blast wave from the clockworks. I quickly turn my head and I see the clocktower slowly begin to break away three-quarters of the way up and it begins to fall and tumble toward the ground. Leaving behind the shattered remains that remind me of a broken-off wolf tooth.

We are falling back as we try to return fire at both groups. I feel the sting of a grazing wound along the side of my neck which almost causes me to drop my weapon. However, the sling helps me keep it in my grasp as I fly as fast as I can around the next corner and below the level of the buildings.

We are several blocks away from where the fiasco occurred when we all land and gather around Alto and the cart. I notice that once again he has been shot. Gunter is giving him first aid as Sundancer is busy with another of the original volunteers who was wounded slightly worse.

It is as this is going on we notice that there is no more gunfire nearby. I then hear Air Burst get on the radio, “This is weather control, Clear Skies, I repeat Clear Skies.”

Shortly after this he nods his head and says into the radio, “Roger, thanks for the backup.” Then he turns to us and tells us, “Ok, when you’re ready we head back to the campus office.”

About a half-hour later, we have finished treating our wounded and are on the road again back to University Campus. As we travel, I notice how frustrated Air Burst is. I am thinking about what this means for our plans when I feel a wing tip touch my neck and I hear Sundancer says, “That is a pretty good graze you got their Chain, better let me put a magical bandage on it at least.”

I nod my head as she continues to treat my wound as we plod forward. After she is done, she says, “That should do for now, but see me when we get back, I think I need to do some more to clean it up and if not too late, maybe a couple of stitches.”

I hear myself sigh and I tell her, “Yeah, I’ll do that Sundancer. And thanks for taking care of it for me.”

When she hears this, she just smiles, nods her head, and continues to walk next to me for the rest of our journey back.

*****

It is ten o’clock, do you know where your foals are? This is HOOF reminding those of you in the Lunar Commonwealth that the curfew for youths has been temporarily reinstituted by order of the Commonwealth Council.

This curfew is a result of the drastic increase in violence in the last week by youths in several gangs and will be enforced by the Brood as well as the Zodiacs. This has been a civil service announcement.

This is Feed Back and my next song going out to all of you HOOF listeners is Hell's Comin' With Me

Author's Note

Thank you again to the other authors who have created and built upon the universe we know as FoE.

Once again we find our characters going through their adventures/misadventures. The blows and counterblows that can occur as well as the trust with allies that can be gained or lost. I hope you the readers are enjoying this part of the story as they all learn the Hoofington Way.

For those who wish to listen to this chapter's dedication song, the YouTube link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTHN1eWN7iU