Chapter 17 Forgiveness, Sins and Penance

“Sins may be forgiven. Crimes require punishment.” — George R R Martin

Outside Meat Locker, Lunar Commonwealth: Ginger Snaps

As we watch the two pegasuses fly away I have to grin at the others on my team. “Well, at least we slipped out of there before the security team got too heavy,” I say as I rub the sore spot on my jaw where I caught a hoof.

I notice off to the side Cowlick is having Twinks take care of some of his cuts. Seems he upset some of the Hoof’s Ferals when he used his horns to lift up one of them and toss them out the door. One of them then cut him using a broken bottle right before he climbed onto the stage and jumped spread eagle onto the Broken Clocks below letting out a great moo as he came down on them.

Epona off to the side grins a bit more and tells us, “By the way, the only reason we were allowed to escape is that I tipped the security team that we expected trouble and that we would not start it.”

Choo off to the side is shaking her head and asks, “Did you at least pass on to that the younger Enclaver that we would help with the ghouls that are trapped.”

Epona nods her head. Then I hear Sunny say, “I also passed onto him you’re warning about the Hoof’s Feral's plans to double cross them.”

“Do you think he took it seriously?” I ask.

I see him look up with his one unswollen eye and he shrugs, “I think so Ginger, but the question is, will his boss?”

Choo nods her head, “Well hopefully they do. While I do not care at all for this gun-running business they are doing, I would like it even less if these Hoof’s Ferals get enough weapons to become a major power. I think tonight we saw how bad that could be.”

We all nod our heads to this and then I ask, “So Choo what now?”

She turns her head to me, “I will be talking to the boss, depending on when we leave here, depends on when we head into no mare’s land. After that, I will talk to a few contacts I have made here. Now after Twinks and I finish taking care of these injuries, I want you to go catch a bit of sleep.”

Right after she says this from out of the darkness I hear the voice of the Chief of Security for Meat Locker say, “That is good advice. Ma’am, I also need to tell you that those of your people involved in the incident inside are no longer welcome into Meat Locker.”

Choo nods her head, “May I ask for how long?”

He lets out a slight harrumph and says, “Well I was going to make it a permanent ban, but what’s this about helping some ghouls trapped in no mare’s land, and why would you want to help ghouls?”

This time Sunny first looks at Choo and when she nods he tells the Chief what he was told by Ball Lightning.

The Chief shakes his head afterward and then says, “That’s a shame, that Fire Works seemed like a decent sort. His nephew seemed ok for a breather also. Never would have reckoned them to be Enclave though.

Sunny nods his head, “Well Ball Lightning, that is the name of the younger one, is pretty decent. He works with the Volunteer Corps. He gave us that information after asking us to do it as a favor for him. I think he still has a conscious. So, for now, how about cutting him some slack.”

“What about Fire Works?” the Chief asks.

Choo smiles the grin I have begun to understand shows her dark side. She then tells him, “Well, since you know the truth about him, and he does not know you know, he is yours to use as you want. Not an agent, but an asset to be manipulated if you want.”

The Chief gives Choo what seems to be a grin back and tells her, “You know, Pillow Mint was right about you.”

Choo looks at him with a raised eyebrow as the rest of us stand there quietly curious as to what he will say. Finally, he says, “You’re not much different than us and you care. Even for us ghouls. There are times I wonder what the Princesses would have thought of us.”

Choo quietly answers him, “No worse than me and my kind I would think, after all, neither of us chose our fates. Besides, they were always forgiving. From what I have heard according to the Book of Little Pip they were even willing to forgive the zebra Cesar at one point.”

“Yeah, I suppose your right.” He looks up, and then he says, “When you’re ready to head into no mare’s land, let me know. I may know a few ghouls who would be willing to help you.”

I nod my head to this as Choo smiles and tells him, “I will Chief. And thanks for understanding.”

He nods back and tells her, “Thanks for the heads up there would be trouble. It helped keep the damage to a minimum.” He then looks at Cowlick, smirks a bit, and turns to head back inside.

“Choo, here comes the…Ouch!” I say as I pull away from Twinks and I tell her, “Next time let me know you are going to be putting in the stitches.” Before she can answer I turn back to Choo and tell her, “Here comes the boss.”

Choo turns in the direction I am looking and waves a wing. “Good evening, sir,”

“Evening Choo. Mind if we talk?”

“No, Trader Jewel. I was just going to look for you anyways.” She answers.

“Ok, I need to know what happened in there.”

This time I step forward, “Sir, Choo was not inside, but if you would like I can give you the rundown.”

He looks at Choo, who then tells him, “Sir, if you do not mind, perhaps a report from those who were actually involved would be best.”

He grunts and then nods towards me, “Yeah, go ahead Cookie.”

I then tell him about what we had overheard previously as well as what Sunny had discussed with Ball Lightning. Then I go into details of the fight and how we interfered with the gang members just enough that the pegasuses could escape.

Once I am done, he asks, “Do you think it was wise to let those two escape?”

“Sir, we got some excellent leads, and to tell the truth, we know when they are going to be too busy to bother us when we go into no mares land if you allow us the time to do so.”

He nods again, then he looks at Choo, “I want to talk to you privately about this, but thank you for telling me so much.” He nods his head in the direction of his wagon and Choo follows behind him.

Once they are both inside, I ask Epona, “Ok Epona, what all do you think we will need for this job?”

I see her smile, “Not at much as you might think. Cowlick, what do you think we might need?”

He smiles, “Well, shovels would be a great start. Lots of shovels. Maybe some wood for bracing. But I am sure we should be able to find some from up there. Give me till morning to think on it, and I will give you an answer.”

Soon Epona and I wander off a bit leaving the others by the campfire to discuss the upcoming job. I notice something is bothering her. “OK sis, spit it out, something is bothering you.”

I see her look around and then she says, “Is it weird that while I miss our family back home, I kinda don’t want to leave?”

At first, I take it as a straight question, but then I realize there is something deeper. “No, but is it that you really don’t want to leave this place or certain ponies?”

Even in the dim light, I swear I can see her blush. She seems to almost squirm uncomfortably. Then she says, “Sis we haven’t been here long enough for any permanent relationships.”

I look at her with my head twisted slightly away with one eyebrow raised, “Ok, which one is it, that pegasus buck, or that little filly from Mega Mart.”

I watch as she starts to move her back hoof back and forth as we used to as foals and our parents were grilling us. Finally, she says with a tone of shyness, “Both maybe.”

I put a hoof on her shoulder, “I understand Sis. You know we probably will be back here a time or two. Don’t limit yourself.”

“I know I shouldn’t, but sis, you have your buck. I am still looking for that special somepony.”

I slide my hoof over her shoulder and I tell her, "Patience Sis, I know it is hard, but even Mama Mollygirl used to feel like that before she met Mama Magpie and Papa Badger. I heard Mama Sumac say so.”

She leans into me. “Thanks, Sis, I needed to hear that.” She tells me. Then she changes the subject and asks, “Have you two thought about setting a date yet for the wedding?”

I shake my head, “No, not yet. I know Persimmon would kill us if we did it without her being there.”

I hear her laugh lightly, “Yeah, but she does consider you a daughter already, how many years has she been teaching you how to cook his favorite meals?”

I smile back, “Yeah, but…”

She puts a hoof to my muzzle, “No buts Sis, a mother does not do that unless she is ready for her son to marry someone.”

“I know, Mama Sumac even told me that when we were having tea.”

She smiles as she knows how much is worked out and discussed over tea in our family. “Speaking of tea, what do you say we go brew a couple of cups," I tell her.

She smiles back, “Sounds good, shall we invite Rosie and Nellie?”

“Yeah, sounds good,” I tell her and we walk back to the fire, and begin to make tea. Goddesses, I love my sister.

*****

Trader Jewel Caravan, Lunar Commonwealth: Xochitl

That night we continue to take shifts on guard duty. I wake up in the morning when Epona comes over and tells us, “Ok, time to take over, I can’t keep my eyes open any longer.”

As we get up, we leave our bedrolls in place so the off-going guards can use them. I grab a quick cup of warm coffee from the pot hanging over the cook’s fire and then begin to patrol around the perimeter of the caravan.

Halfway through my watch, I begin to see the sun come up. In the predawn light, I notice the light mist that covers all of the low spots that I can see. It feels both peaceful, and eerie at the same time. Just over the horizon, I see what must be one of the largest birds I have ever seen. As I watch I see it swoop down and then rise into the air again. I guess that is one of those Roc things that Choo and Sunny got so excited about. I guess I can see why now. What really bothers me about it though is that it looks to be flying in the direction of no mare’s land. Wonderful, one more thing to take into consideration. Hopefully, we won’t have too big a problem with it.

After breakfast call, Choo calls our team together, “I talked to the boss last night, we will be heading from here to Fluttershy Medical Center. He has a delivery to make as well as we will be picking up Pistachio again when she is ready. We may be there for a few days.”

When she mentions the Fluttershy Medical facility I decide to ask something that has been bothering me for a while so I ask, “Choo, with the University having a large hospital as well, why didn’t Trader Jewel have you take her there instead of Fluttershy?”

I half expect her to not have an answer, but instead, she shrugs and tells me, “I asked him that myself. He told me that since they reopened it, they were able to recover much of the technology and put it back into operation. This allowed them to be probably the best trauma center in the region if not all of the wastelands.”

“But where did they get the doctors and nurses?” I ask.

She smiles at me and tells me, “Probably like they did back home when they formed the CEF and needed personal. They transferred them in from other areas, particularly from the University Hospital to there.”

The others around me all nod their heads.

Two hours later we are on the move again as Trader Jewel has me lead the caravan out. As we leave Meat Locker, I see several of the ghouls there watching us leave. I also notice a couple of them have decided to accompany us to the Fluttershy Medical Center as we leave. Shortly after this Trader Jewel comes up alongside me and keeps me company on our march.

The trip takes most of the day and we are ambushed twice by raiders, but for some reason, they back off quickly when they are suddenly fired upon with the minigun by Choo. She laughs as she begins and uses her invisibility spell during the fight for the first time.

The second time those who hit the rear of the column are startled when Cowlick turns back towards them with the cart and opens up with his machinegun mounted on the battlesaddle he had modified. I swear I could hear him laughing from the front of the caravan.

When we arrive at the medical center, we form what I now realize is our typical camp. Once camp is set up, I join the others on the team. Twinks smiles and uses her horn to light the campfire for us. I cannot help but smile at her enthusiasm when she tells Choo Choo, “Thanks boss for teaching me this spell. I can really use this one.”

Choo smiles as a teacher with a prized pupil, “Your welcome Twinks. I would have taught you earlier if I had known you did not know it.”

Twinks looks slightly crestfallen. When Choo sees this, she tells her, “Twinks as quick as you learn I forget what all you may not know yet. You are that good.”

I watch her shyly look at Choo and ask, “You really mean that Choo?”

Choo reaches over with a wingtip and lifts her chin, “Yes Twinks, look how far you have come since we formed the team. We all trust you and have faith in you.”

Twinks blushes slightly and looks at the rest of us and I find myself nodding as well as the others.

“Thanks, guys,” she tells us. Then she tells Choo, “Thank boss. I really appreciate your teaching me so much.”

Soon after this Trader Jewel approaches us, “Choo, the rest of you,” he says as he nods to us, “I will let you know how long we will be here in a bit. I am just about ready to head in and talk to the doctors.”

Choo smiles knowingly, “I would appreciate that. Would you like me to accompany you inside again?”

I see him think about it briefly then he whispers, “Yeah, but let’s make it like the first time.”

She smiles, “You got it, boss.”

The rest of the evening is spent with us rotating two guards at a time around the fire. The ghouls who came over from Meat Locker join us. It seems they spent time in no mares land themselves and that is when I find out that they are planning on going into no mare’s land with us for this job.

“So, Xochitl,” one of the ghouls asks,” how come your team wants to go into no mare’s land?”

I look at the other members of the Repair Ponies sitting around the fire with us, then I look back at the ghouls as they share the bottle of Wild Pegasus with us. Then I answer, “Because we have friends, mentors, and co-workers that are ghouls. We know they are just ponies inside and it is not right to leave anyone trapped like that.”

Ginger is sitting next to me and leaning against me as she nods her head along with the rest of the team who are not on guard. One of them then asks, “So all the folk up where you come from feel the same way about us?”

This time Cowlick answers before I can and he tells them, “Honestly, no. Not all of them, but even those who do not care for your kind, well they just avoid them rather than being openly hostile. The change happened about ten years ago when they crossed the river to help us after the battle of Manesville. The Dead Quiet militia also really helped us about a year later when we had some problems in Hereford. Since then, we have integrated them into our society and they even have a representative on the regional governing board.”

“Dead Quiet you call it?”

I nod my head, “Yeah, it used to be the west side of Manesville on the other bank of the Hoofrock River.”

The ghoul nods his head, “That name sounds familiar, did there use to be a carriage plant there?”

I nod my head and tell him, “Yeah, many of our ghouls used to work there. According to High Grade when the attack hit that day, it was at shift change and most of them were up on the ridge watching the show when Manesville was hit.”

He nods his head, “Yeah, I understand. I was just leaving work at the end of my shift at the shipyards when the bombs started to pop off. I thought I was dead, or should I say, really dead. Not, not this.” He tells us as he waves a hoof over himself.

I nod my head in understanding. He then says, “I had a brother that worked up in Manesville at the carriage plant. His name was Crescent Wrench, he was a mechanic there.”

“Well, I tell ya what, I will talk to some of the ones we know back home when we get there to ask,” I tell them.

He nods his head, “Thanks, that or maybe I will just head up that way. Some of us ghouls tend to wander a bit. Nothing better to do than explore sometimes. Be nice to head somewhere else we are welcome.”

A bit later Choo comes over and tells us, “Ok, in two more days we go in. Trader Jewel will have the caravan wait here. He has a couple of old scavers in his crew who will be going in with us.” She pauses and then turns to Cowlick and tells him, “This means taking the cart in with us. Sorry, but we will need it.”

He simply nods back to her and tells her, “Choo, I would rather carry our supplies in on the cart than on my back, so I am good with it.”

Soon the conversations die out as we begin to settle down for the night. While I really am looking forward to exploring the remains of no mare’s land, I am a bit concerned with what we may encounter there. I am thinking along these lines as I drift off to sleep near the fire.

Two days later we are up before dawn, fed, and heading on our way to no mare’s land. Besides our team, we have the four ghouls from Meat Locker who have joined us and four more members of the caravan as well as a couple of scavers that Trader Jewel knew from over in Mega Mart.

As we get closer to it, we see fewer buildings still standing as well as more open areas. There are fewer trees, or even the remains of them left as we go forward. I have one of the ghouls, Hard Shell is his name, with me on point. I ask him about the trees and he smiles grimly and answers, “Son, we used most of them for the trenches and dugouts.”

I nod my head in understanding and then he asks, “You ever seen trenches?”

As I scan the land and sky ahead of us, I quietly answer, “Yes. A couple of times.”

He seems surprised and asks, “Where did you see them?”

“Back home in Manesville, they used them around the stable in the fight against the Spring Monsoon. I never spent any time in them though. Just snuck in a couple of times as a youngster. The other time was a few months after the Battle of Manesville.” I find myself not really wanting to talk about it, and as I begin to tell him I can hear the pain in my own voice. “The other place was called Serenity Valley; we were under siege for a week there. We lost a lot of good ponies and cattle there.”

He looks at me sidelong and asks, “You don’t seem that old. How long ago did those things happen.”

I sigh as I tell him, “About ten years ago. I knew we would not all make it out alive, but it still hurts, Ginger and I should never have been there.”

He nods his head, “Yeah kid, I understand, I think it is that way for all of us who have been there. And to tell the truth, none of us should ever have been there, if you know what I mean.”

I nod my head as we continue on. I see Choo and Sunny flying ahead of us looking for traps as we go.

Twice I see something suspicious in the road ahead of us. Both times we untack Cowlick and have him and Twinks come up and check it out. The first time is nothing, the second time we find an old IED set in the middle of the road. I realize that this particular path must not be used much if it is still there.

This both makes me relax knowing we most likely will not find any raiders or such trying to ambush us. But it also makes me worry about what other kinds of traps we might find.

Soon we find ourselves entering what were the rear areas of no mare’s land. As we pass a large crater Hard Shell nods his head that way, then he says, “That is what happened to a lot of our supply dumps that last day. Balefire eggs set off by zebra infiltrators.”

“I am surprised they bothered to do that.”

He shrugs as we walk and explains, “If they cut off our supplies, they figured we would have to give up as soon as we ran out of ammunition. I guess they never expected us to do the same to them.” He laughs a quite bitter laugh, “Or else like our leaders, theirs really did not understand the implications of what they were doing. They did not realize they held the power to destroy Equus in their hooves.”

I find myself nodding my head. Then I tell him, “Hard to believe sometimes. I would have loved to have seen what it used to look like.”

We continue chatting as we move up. Soon we begin to find the old artillery emplacements. The guns mostly look unserviceable. Especially the Magical energy weapon pieces. I notice a couple of the old-style pieces that look like our old 75millimeter Celestia, only these look to be bigger. He sees me looking and tells me, “Yeah those were the old 155-millimeter guns. Better range and hitting power than the earlier 75’s, but harder to move, especially in mud.” It is here that we take our first break. I watch as some of the scavers begin to examine the area. They begin to make stacks of equipment that is still useable, but not as valuable as they hope to find later.

In one of the bunkers, we find several old radio sets. The scavers all look at each other and I hear one of them say, “We get this on the way back.”

I am looking off to the side and I see the old maps on the wall. As I look Epona walks in and I hear her say, “Wow, this is a lot like what Ma had at the Hackamore base during the Battle of Harness.”

I smile, “I guess she had a more permanent setup there than we had in the Valley or on the expedition.”

She nods her head as she moves some of the files on the shelf next to the radio sets. Then she notices something tucked under them. She seems to smile as she hoofs to me a technical manual for the radio. As I open it, I see the schematics for the command-style radio sets. I am sure some ponies would love to get their hooves on these. As I look through them, she tells me, “Here let me give these to Twinks. If these are what I think they are, she will love to get her hooves on them.”

From across the room, I hear one of the scavers say, “Well look at this,” as he pulls a gold pocket watch from the front pocket of one of the long-dead bodies in there.

As he is holding the watch up by its chain, I look up in time to see a unicorn ghoul come running out of the dark corner of the bunker. Before any of us can react, it is on the scaver and has ripped his throat out. Epona is barely quicker than I am and before the feral can move on to another victim we have helped it to cross over for the final time.

Right after this, we are joined by a couple of others, including Hard Shell. He looks at the now eternally dead ghoul and shakes his head. I hear him mumble, “I always wondered what happened to Spy Glass. Damn, I had hoped he had crossed over that day.”

Epona shakes her head and I ask him, “You knew him Hard?”

He nods as he answers and I can hear a pang of sadness in his voice. “Yeah, he was the G-2.” When he sees that does not mean anything to us, he says, “He was on the divisional general staff as its Intelligence officer. You can tell by the insignia on his collar. He and I went through High School together.”

I nod, I guess I can really understand how that would be. As we get ready to leave, I notice the other scaver is taking the now dead one’s plunder and putting it in his saddlebags. I want to say something, but I then realize, that is just life in the wastelands and Hoofington.

Soon we are back on our way to our destination. As we get closer, we begin to see the increase in the number of depressions around us. We all begin to walk much more carefully. Now I have Tater with his PipBuck along with me. Hard Shell is only a half dozen meters behind us. Then we begin to find the bodies and destroyed weapons. I turn to Tater, “These bodies are only a couple of months old.”

“Yeah, I have to agree. Look at all the energy weapon burns. I would bet on the Enclave for this.”

“I guess that means we are getting close to where we want to be then.”

He looks at the map on his PipBuck and nods his head, “Yeah, not much further,” he responds.

We continue on for another klick and then we can see the dirt that was moved when they closed up this bunker. Choo lands nearby and tells us, “Ok, time to begin digging.”

Behind us I see Cowlick begin to unharness from the wagon and he has a grin on his face as he begins to issue out the shovels and then asks Choo, “Do you want me to use a couple of small charges to blow some of the dirt loose?”

She shakes her head, “No, this looks to be loose enough. But we best be getting to it.” She says as she takes a shovel in her TK and begins to lead the efforts to dig out the entrance.

It takes us most of the day and it is starting to get dark by the time we finally get a hole big enough for one of us to fit through and enter the structure. I get ready to enter it and I feel a hoof stop me. I turn and it is Hard Shell. He shakes his head no, and tells me, “We need to go first. If they have gone feral we will take care of them. No need for any of you to endanger yourselves when ya don’t need to.”

“I appreciate that, but how about two of you go in first, and Tater and I will follow.”

I see him consider it. Then he answers, “I guess, but let’s see what Choo says first. After all, she is the boss of this outfit.”

We wave her over and then we discuss with her our options. She nods her head and tells us, “Xochitl, I like your idea of you and Tater following them in. Go ahead.”

Before we go inside, Ginger comes over and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek, “Be careful dear.”

I nod, “I will.”

I see Twinks looking worriedly at Tater, but neither of them says anything. Then I watch as Hard Shell and one of the other ghouls low crawl on their bellies into the entrance we have made. Once they are in, they call, “Next,” and Tater and I follow them in.

*****

No Mare’s Land, Lunar Commonwealth: Choo Choo

As I watch them go in, I can’t help but worry and hold my breath. Then I hear over the radio, “Were In boss, the entrance is clear, send in Danger and Cookie.”

Behind me, I hear one of the scavers speak, “So when do we get to go in? We didn’t just come out here to look at the scenery.”

I turn to them and in my best faux Luna impression, I coldly tell them, “We have a plan, we follow it. Do not try to jostle my hoof. You will get your turn once they say it is clear.”

He tries to stare me down, then he says under his breath, “Yeah, once they know where all the good stuff is.”

I shake my head slightly and remind him, “Remember, we are not from around these parts, most likely we will never be back this way. However, you live only a couple of days travel from here. You can come back as much as you like. And by then it will be cleared of the ferals from the last day.” Then I realize after I say it like this, that while the ferals from the last day may be gone, new ones may roam into there. But that is not my problem.

He nods his head finally, “Yeah, I guess your right. But it is hard waiting is all.”

“Rust Bucket, I understand, believe me. I would prefer to have gone in myself. But not yet.”

Eventually, we hear a couple of shots fired from inside the bunker entrance. Those of us outside want to do something, but I know it is best to let things sort out first.

Soon I hear over the radio, “Were OK boss. I guess the Enclavers must have missed a couple of ferals. They wondered right up to Hard Shell and Sparkler without saying a word, but tried to attack the rest of us.”

I can see that in my head. For some reason, the ferals never attack the normal ghouls unless they are attacked first. “How far in are you?”

“Big Blue, we are just arriving at the bottom of the steps described by our source.”

As we wait for more news I hear Sunny call to me over the radio, “Big Blue, looks like they took us seriously.”

“Ok Wild P, why do you say that?”

“Because I count over fifteen vertibucks leaving Mirimare and heading in the direction of the Hoof’s Ferals territory.”

“Ok, keep an eye on them and let me know if they change directions and begin to head this way.”

“Roger Big Blue.”

While we are waiting the scavers begin to enlarge the entrance into the old headquarters bunker. Finally, it is large enough that even Cowlick could enter it.

Then I get a call over the radio, from Ginger. “Big Blue this is Cookie, come in.”

“This is Big Blue, go ahead Cookie.”

“Big Blue, I think we need you to come down here. We have an issue.”

When she says this, I feel myself becoming frustrated. I have so much to take care of topside, now this. I reluctantly answer, “Roger, I will be there shortly. I turn to Epona, “Keep an eye open up here. Let me know if anything changes.”

She nods her head and I enter the first room of the complex. As I go in, I can see where the blasting charges had damaged the structure on this level. I pass by several old offices and squad bays. I notice lots of equipment and supplies still in many of these. I also notice the previous defenses as well as the deceased defenders who were here so long ago. I notice there is no Enclave dead here, but I do see a few pieces of broken power armor including a helmet that is broken in half. I can even see the evidence of fairly recent combat damage from small arms as I go, well that and the remains of a couple of scavers.

Finally, I reach the third level. I see what looks like a well-defended checkpoint. On this side are Hard Shell, and Sparkler, along with my team members. The new ghouls I notice were once pegasuses.

They look up at me as I walk in and I hear one of them asks, “Princess, have you come for us?”

I let out a sad sigh and tell them, “Please, call me Choo Choo. I am not she who you think I am. Though I do remember her as if it was yesterday.”

Then I hear one of them tell the other, “Did you hear that? She looks like her, but isn’t. Just like that white mare said.”

When he says that, I feel a chill come over me and I look at both Ginger and Xochitl. I notice they look nervous as well and Xochitl nods at me, “Now you know why we asked you to come down here.”

I think I understand and I ask them, “What do you mean the white mare told you to expect me?”

The sergeant then answers, “After they blew the tunnel, she came. She lit up the hallways around here. She was all white, except for a black mane and tail and her eyes. They were a light gray that looked so sad.”

After he pauses, I ask, “What did she do?

He tilts his head, “She told us that some ponies would come and help us and to not give up hope.”

“Did she say anything else?”

He looks as embarrassed as a ghoul can. Then he says, “she said we should go to Manesville. Ma’am. Some place called Dead Quiet. Ma’am, why would she tell us that.”

“Honestly, I am not sure why. But she has guided us before and helped lead others to the Manesville region. Honestly, I have never seen her myself, but many others have.” As I tell them this, I turn my head and look at both Ginger and Xochitl.

They both look abashed and nod their heads in agreement. Then Ginger says, “Her name is Mareigan. I have seen her only a couple of times. Some of my family members have seen her more often.”

“But why would she come to us? Why us, it was bad enough when that officer talked to us a couple of weeks ago and told us good luck before they closed us in here.”

This time I tell him, “I do believe we know who that officer was. He is the one who told us where to find you. We have opened up the entrance again. If you want to leave with us when we do, you are welcome to. If not, you are welcome to stay or even go your own way.”

Finally, Hard Shell says, “Ma’am, we still need to talk to those further down.”

This time I am surprised. I turn to them, “How many are still left in here?”

They look at each other, "Only a couple of more. But ma’am, we have a problem.”

I feel my ears slide back slightly as I raise an eyebrow, “And what is the problem?” I ask.

“Ma’am, it’s the General.”

Feeling exasperated I ask, “What about the general?”

“Ma’am, he, he won’t give up. He says we still need to fight the zebras. He has given us orders not to leave our post.”

I hear myself sigh as I put my forehoof to my forehead. “Sergeant, please take me to this general so I can talk to him.”

I hear his raspy voice sound exasperated as he tells me, “Yes Ma’am.”

He allows me past his barricade and I notice the condition of the whole complex as I follow him with my horn lit. The peeling paint on the walls. I notice that unlike many of the buildings from back then, instead of using magic tube lights. These use simple bulbs that are surrounded by a heavy glass cover and a metal cage. He leads me past several more bunk rooms and a mess hall. Finally, we pass a communications room and an operations center. Off to the side is an office that I hear growling out of. I turn to the Sergeant and ask, “Sergeant, how long ago did he give that order?”

The sergeant tells me, “I don’t rightly know ma’am. But he started to growl like this after they blew the entrance shut.”

I briefly close my eyes and I shake my head. I am pretty sure the general has gone feral. I turn to the sergeant and I tell him, “Sergeant, please return to your post.”

After he is out of sight, I approach the office entrance. Inside I see a pegasus ghoul. His uniform is in poor shape, to say the least. His wings have no feathers left. But what I notice most, is his eyes. They are not the normal ghoul eyes, but instead, they are empty, lifeless. In a split second, it charges me and as I leap to the side, I use my horn to disintegrate him.

Once I get my heartbeat back to normal, I go into his office, and using the light from my horn I begin to examine the room. I notice a nameplate on his desk, Lieutenant General Thrown Biscuit, Commanding Officer, First Airmobile Division

When I get behind his desk, I notice his computer screen is still lit and I begin to read it. The entry was from the final day.

To: All Equestrian Armed Forces

From: Commander and Chief Luna, Supreme Command, Equestrian Armed Forces.

Code Final Twilight. Repeat, Code Final Twilight.

Zebra Balefire bombs reported launched and inbound. Full use of Mega Spells is authorized.

Repeat: Full use of Mega Spells is authorized.

Equestrian military forces in the field, Hold your positions at all cost. Stand strong and believe we will survive this exchange and through your efforts, we will be proven victorious.

Princess Luna

I read this and knowing what happened to her in Canterlot I want to shake my head. I shake my head more after reading a paper-printed message, I skip over the headers but what I read saddens me.

General Flying Biscuit,

Canterlot has fallen. The princesses are dead. Once the attacks are finished, if the Zebras fall back, call for a truce so that both armies can return home to begin trying to save what we can. There is no honor in dying for a failed cause when others still need our help.

It is recommended, if possible, use your division to lead recovery efforts in Hoofington and to deliver suppli

The message stops abruptly with a large portion of the page still empty. I understand what that means. Whoever was sending it, never got the chance to finish it. I can only pray they died quickly.

I continue to look over the desk and while I find no additional messages of interest, I do notice the general's personal pistol as well as helmet hanging on the wall behind the chair.

I then look over the pistol. First off, I notice the finish of it is chromed. Then as I look closer, I see the fancy engraving on the slide as well as the frame around the grip. The grip itself is exceptional in that it is made of checked soft rubber. On the back of the grip, I see the general's name engraved as well as From a Grateful Princess.

This makes me wonder what he had done to get awarded such a nice E1911. I place the pistol and holster in my saddlebag and begin to return to the barricades.

As I do I hear Sunny report over the radio, “Boss, this is Wild P. You should see the light show up hear. Looks like something is going on over by the Hoof’s Ferals territory.”

“Roger Wild P. We will be up shortly, let the scavers know they can come in now.”

*****

Miramare Air Station, GPE Territory, Lieutenant Ball Lightning

Once back at Miramare I tell Air Burst what the wild pegasus has told me about the Hoof’s Ferals plans. I see him look thoughtful and then he asks, “Nothing is free in Hoofington, what did you give them in exchange for it.”

I smoothly lie to him, “I told them where we found a destroyed headquarters complex in No Mare’s Land, one we blew the entrance to when we left, only some dead skavers and ghouls were left inside.”

He smirks, “So if they get in there they will have to deal with ferals. Nice, good thinking Ball.”

“Thank you, sir. What now?”

“Well Ball, I think it is time we taught them a lesson. I don’t like being double-crossed. We set up the quick reaction team and if shit goes down, well we eliminate the Hoof’s Ferals as a threat.”

This does make me smile. I nod my head, “Ok, sounds good. Let’s go get things set up.”

“My thoughts exactly.” He tells me and leads me over to the hanger.

Once inside the hanger, we are met by Down Draft. He seems surprised to see me and asks, “Hey Ball, good to see you. You got something for us?”

I smile and tell him, “Hey Down, we just might. Air Burst and I need to see the higher-ups first, if so, we will let you know.”

He grins, “Ok sounds good. So have you been chasing all those mares out there?”

I shake my head, “No, no I haven’t I have seen a few who would be interesting if they had wings.”

He shrugs, “I was also wondering if you happened to run into Sundancer down there.”

I nod my head, and I hear my voice sounding somewhat hurt and hoarse as I tell him, “Yeah, yeah, I saw her. It worked out pretty much the way you said it would.”

I see him look at me with pity and he tells me, “I am really sorry to hear that for you. Damn, I had hoped I was wrong.”

I shrug back, “It happens. You learn to deal with it.”

“What kind of buck is he?

I grin at him and tell him, “He is your type if you know what I mean.”

This time I see him raise an eyebrow and he asks in a flirty voice, “Really, you don’t say. Big and handsome then?”

I nod my head, “Yep, just like you like ‘em”

Behind us, I hear Air Burst say, “Figures a colt coddler. Ball, I will meet you in the operations room in five. Hurry up your hellos.”

I nod my head and once he is far enough away Down burst asks, “Did you really mean what I think you did?”

I nod my head, “Yeah, part of her cover it seems. Air Burst doesn’t want me to know.”

Down Draft grins, “Gotcha. Our secret.” He pauses, then asks, “Maybe a foursome someday?”

I laugh lightly and shake my head, “Talk to you later Down, thanks for the laugh,” I tell him as I head back towards operations rooms.

Once I reach the office, I see Air Burst is already talking to the Major and Captain Summer Mist. As I approach, he tells them, “So you see, that is why I want the ready reaction force in the air. If things go normal, good, no problem, but if they go down the way I suspect, well, then we want to hammer them with the hooves of the Goddesses.”

I notice the Major raise an eyebrow at this and ask him, “Are you sure this is not personal?”

He shakes his head, “No, its not. I just want these mudders to know that they can’t cross us like that. So If the deal goes as it should I will give you the wave-off password over the radio. If they cross us, I will call out Broken Wing on the radio. Then the RRF can take care of them.”

“How far exactly do you want us to take care of this?” she asks, “I mean, just a quick spanking or a full out beat down?”

Air Burst looks at the ceiling briefly as he thinks about it. Then he tells her, “I would say handle them with extreme prejudice. The fewer of them who walk away, the better.”

She and the Captain both nod their heads. Then they look at me, “What is your take on this Lieutenant?”

I shrug and tell them, “I feel that our source is a reliable one. As for how to handle them, after seeing how they were at our last meeting. I would say I agree with Air Burst on this Ma’am.”

She grins, “You ready to put your power armor on for it?”

I quickly nod my head. She grins, “Ok, I believe your sincerity. In that case let’s talk about which assets to use and who.”

Two days later Air Burst is leading our teams on hoof to the feral territory. We left the University yesterday afternoon with a full load of weapons and supplies as agreed to before with the Hoof’s Ferals. As we go, I notice how run down the area has become the closer we come to the meeting point.

When I point this out to Air Burst he simply nods his head and moves his ears in a relaxed manner. Then he tells me, “Well, this way not many others will try to take over their territory. From what I understand, most of their real territory is underground. They have a section of the old subway system that had both ends collapse, this provided them with an effective barrier to outsiders. They also have made use of the underground tunnels, basements, and subbasements of the buildings that once were here.”

“Interesting, sounds like they really made due with what they have.” I tell him. Behind me I notice Funnel Cloud is walking with his MEW rifle carried at the ready. Gunter and Anan both are the same way. Behind us are Alto pulling the cart again and Skydancer right next to him. Bringing up the back of our column is the rest of the Volunteer Corps team.

Soon we are at a crossroads when we are met by the ghoul named Howler that we had met at Meat Locker. Beside him I see the runt Dipstick. I notice his right eye is still swollen shut. As he looks at me I swear he is trying to sneer, but again with the swelling on his face, I am not able to tell if he is sneering or grimacing in pain.

As they approach Howler tells Air Burst, “Fire Work, you and your people follow me.”

We follow him through the wreckage and debris-strewn road further into their territory.

We finally come to a wrecked building that has a sign pointing to a subway entrance. Once we are there Air Burst says, “If you are ready to pay me, I will send the message for the additional deliveries to begin.”

I hear a low growl come from Howler and he then says, “I have reason to not trust ya. I have talked to the Broken Clocks and Mayhem’s Mares. So no, you deliver the goods, then I will pay ya.”

We have deployed so we are not all tight together making it harder to kill us. I watch as Air Burst tells him, “Ya know what. As an act of good faith, we will do that. He then takes out a radio transmitter and calls into it, “This is the salesstallion, begin the delivery.”

“Roger, delivery inbound salestallion,” is the reply we hear over the radio speaker. As if on a signal we unhitch Alto from the cart. We all mill about as we move closer to what we feel would be decent defensive positions. We sit there on the wreckage and debris of the buildings next to the landing zone.

I watch as the Hoof’s Feral lay out the lights in the pattern of a runway and then step back. Soon we begin to hear the first of the three sky wagons come in to land.

It is as the second sky wagon is being unloaded that we notice them start to act unusual. I then watch as Air Burst goes up and talks to the crew of the sky wagon. They nod their heads and I see one of them smile and wink at him as he gets ready to take off.

Soon the third sky wagon is in the air. In the far distance, I can hear it as it flies towards us. After it has been unloaded and takes off again, I can barely hear in the distance the blades of multiple vetibucks. I watch as Air Burst begins to walk toward Howler and I join him.

Howler turns around, “What do you want?”

Air Burst calmly tells him, “Well, we have done our part, now it is time for payment.”

Howler sneers as best he can. He then answers, “You really are a lucky son of a buck, the only reason I did not kill you a long time ago is that my boss wanted what you had for sale. Now, well now were done.”

“What are you saying Howler?” Air asks. But I noticed he has changed his stance.

The ghoul pushes him with one hoof, “It means we're not paying you the way you thought, in fact it means I get my wish,” Then he goes to reach for the pistol he has in his holster.

As he does this, I throw Air Burst to the ground and fire into Howler's chest on full auto.

All Tartarus is opened as our people take cover and begin to fire on the Hoof’s Feral who are engaging us. Soon we begin to have more of them emerge from underground and join the fight as we fall back to a central position to defend.

I hear Gunter call out as he is hit, followed soon by Anan and Alto. I turn and See Sundancer is treating the wounded.

Most of us are wounded or dead as I hear the rotors scream overhead and watch as the troopers do a hot jump. I can’t help but begin to laugh as I watch them soar down, MEW’s firing and clearing the Hoof’s Ferals who are topside.

As they land, I am approached by one of the officers who asks, “Is that the main entrance?”

I nod my head, he calls out and I watch as a platoon of power armored pegasi troopers rush the entrance and begin to fight in the tunnel beneath.

Soon afterward another one comes over to me and removes his helmet. It is Down Draft. He grins at me, and tells me, “Damn son, you can’t help but be a bullet magnet can you.”

I grin up at him, “No, I guess not. But If I hadn’t done it, Air Burst would have bought it.”

He shakes his head, then he looks over to where Sundancer is treating some of the other wounded along with Alto. He grins and asks, “So is that him?”

I look at Alto and nod my head, “Yeah, that is him.”

He grins at me, “Yeah, your right he is my type.” He looks around to make sure no one is close and then adds, “And my offers still stands. Once you are feeling up to it again.”

I begin to laugh again and realize how much it hurts when I feel the movement between my broken ribs where the rounds hit my barding. I am just glad they weren’t closer, or I would have really have been in trouble.

Soon I see one of the vertibucks begin to land and I am loaded into it along with the rest of my team. As I am being loaded, I hear Down Draft yell to me, “The rest of you will be catching the next vertibuck you are all being evacuated.”

I yell back, “Thanks for letting me know. I will see you back at the base Down Draft.”

He grins and I am stunned as he quickly gives me a kiss on my forelock and tells me, “See you there.”

Then the door to the Vertibuck is closed and I feel the aircraft lift off the ground and gain altitude as we head back toward Miramare.

*****

It’s another good evening here in the Hoof. Welcome back to all my listeners, this is Chromed Microphone bringing you the best of local news and music. For those of you in the southwestern part of town, you may have noticed a bit of a dust-up recently. It seems the gang wars in that part of town may have come to a climax as word has it most of the Hoof’s Ferals gang have been either killed or driven from their territory. Sources refuse to say who is responsible for it, but hopefully, that will help calm things down for a while.

Meanwhile, the Representatives from the Grand Pegasus Enclave have once again sent envoys to talk with the council of leaders for the Lunar Republic. Rumor has it that at this time they are not offering any assistance besides equinitarian aid.

As a reminder out there, the Society is once again having a large sale on day-old produce at Elysium. Anyone who wants to may purchase said items at a discount price, while not completely fresh, it is still edible, and nutritious.

Now for our next song coming to all of you is No One Gets Left Behind.

Author's Note

Choo and her team have kept their end of the bargain by helping the trapped ghouls. In payment, they have found some gear and information that they can take back with them and use. The surviving Scavers with them receiving their pay not just in what they found this time, but in knowing where to look in the future.

Things have finally come to a head for Ball Lighting and his crew. He and the others with him have experienced a lot that most Enclavers don't. They have seen the seedy side of intelligence work and have gotten caught up in it. Now the question is, will Ball go back to being a normal Enclave scout officer, or will he be dragooned again back into the underworld of Air Burst?

For those who would like to listen to this chapters dedication song, the YouTube link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdJK8K2OUsM