Chapter 3: Training Days

“if a student ever states that he is dead, the right answer is, “No, you aren’t dead! I don’t give you permission to die. I don’t train people to die. I train them to live!” ― Dave Grossman, On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace

*****

Manesville, Manesville District NCR: Ginger Snaps

I am nibbling on a bit of old Radhog jerky while I watch over Twinkle Hoof's shoulder as she works on the toaster. She has the magic meter out and is testing it to see if she can find the short in it. As she keeps testing it I can tell she is getting frustrated. Finally she turns to me and says, “I know that Choo is related to your family and all, but honestly, I can’t believe she did this to me. Here I was thinking it would be a magic problem, now I just realized, it’s a mechanical problem.”

She quickly lifts a screwdriver in her TK and uses it to remove the cover. Once the top is off, she can see the reason it is not popping up is that it has a broken spring. While I find this slightly amusing, Twinks is fairly irritated by it. She looks at me, “I’m a tech, why would I expect it to be mechanical and not a magical issue?”

About that time Choo comes out from the armory behind her and says, “And that is why I bought that toaster. As our tech, you need to learn to look at how things work and figure out how to get them to do it when they won’t. Oh, and now that you have found the broken spring, please replace it, and then test it to make sure that is all that was wrong with it.”

I see Twinks get that sullen expression on her face when she hears this. Then as Choo puts a hoof on my shoulder when she talks to me, I wince from the bruise I got during our martial arts training, and I hear Twinks begin to giggle and as I turn to look at her, she laughs and shakes her head as she says, “I guess I got off easy for now.”

I am still watching as she puts it back together. Behind her I see Choo lean against the wall with one eyebrow raised as she watches Twinks. Finally, Twinkle Hoofs has it back together and Choo asks her, “Ready to test it?”

Twinks smiles and tells her, “Yep, I am.” She puts a couple of slices of bread in it and pushes the handle down, and nothing else happens. No glowing red coils or anything.

Choo simply nods and tells her, “Please continue, I know you can figure it out.” Then she turns to me, “Ok, Ginger, we need to work on organizing everypony’s gear. Do you have any suggestions?”

I think about it briefly and tell her, “Honestly other than lockers and maybe some Get Out of Dodgecity bags with special equipment in it, I can’t think of anything.”

She nods her head, then asks, “How about we begin to clean the second story rooms a bit and see if we can at least set up a bunk room and break room if we need it?”

I nod my head, “Yeah, that makes sense, Oh, how about we get Epona and Tater in here to help us set up a room for planning and maybe a radio. Sort of like what they told me Ma and them had down in Harness in their bunker.”

I see Choo Choo smile and nod her head, “Honestly that is a wonderful idea. Good thinking Ginger,” she tells me, almost in the same tone a teacher would say it to a prized pupil.

Before we head upstairs, I hear Choo Choo ask Twinkle Hoofs, “Oh, and Twinks, think about what spell you want to work on next. If I don’t know it, I have a few resources that may help us so we both can learn it.”

I see Twink's jaw drop as she looks at her new mentor and asks, “Choo, you mean that you are going to be learning more spells too?”

She smiles at Twinks and tells her, “Of course, we all have things we need to learn, including and maybe especially me. I want us to be ready when we really begin.”

Twinks looks around and then tells her, “Choo, there is something I wanted to ask you. Since we will be going in the field so much. Well, maybe we should hire a few regular repair ponies for appearances in the shop and keep it secure for us.”

I see Choo think briefly about this and she replies, “I want to think some more about this idea, but honestly, if you have some suggestions of who to hire, let me know, please.”

Twinks and I both nod our heads and I can not think of anyone. I then hear Twinks say, “Choo, I am not sure, but I will get back to you, ok?”

As Twinks keeps working on the toaster, Choo and I finally make it to the stairway and begin to go upstairs.

I notice the amount of dust-covered boxes up here. Goddesses what a mess I think to myself. Then I notice something I had not seen before. Off in the corner where one of the shelves had collapsed, and next to a long-abandoned desk. It is a battered picture of a pony family. I am shocked though when I see the mare who I presume is the mother, looks just like my birth mother Nugget, and the youngsters in it look like they could be my siblings. I briefly shake my head and I ask Choo, “Did you know them?”

She shakes her head and replies, “No, at least I don’t think I did. I really do not remember a lot from those years.”

“I wonder who they were?” I tell her.

She smiles and tells me, “Well maybe we can find some information about who used to own this building, and have Magpie research it for us. To be honest Ginger, I would not be surprised if they were your relations.”

As we begin to clean up the shelves we begin to also go through the boxes, several of which have been water damaged due to leaks in the roof. It is here we find several boxes of magical crystals and parts for appliances, radios, and even a few televisions, and while I have never seen one working, I do know what they are.

“Choo, before you bought this building, did you know what it was?”

She smiles, “I knew it used to be a repair shop of some kind, but not who owned it, or what it repaired.”

I shake my head, “Well, in a bit we need to get Twinks up here to help us sort this stuff, and we may need to get some ponies on the roof to fix the leaks. Maybe Sunny could do that?”

She nods her head, “True, but I had planned on him training some more with Captain Sunset and his crew. I have set up escape and evasion training for him. It coincided with Sunset’s desire to teach his new scouts how to look for those evading them or conducting counter scouting operations.”

I can’t help but laugh at this as I know what it means for Sunny. But then I gulp as I realize she will do that to the rest of us eventually also. Damn, that is going to really suck. I remember doing that for real back during the expedition and I really do not look forward to it again.

Then Choo smiles at me and tells me, “Oh, and Don’t worry we all get a turn at doing it. Before we go on our first mission, we will do it as a team.”

I groan out loud before I even realize I have done so and I hear Choo Choo laugh. “Don’t Worry Ginger, I feel the same way.”

“Then Choo, why do it?” I ask.

She smiles sadly and tells me, “Because I want us to be ready. The more we sweat in training, the less we will bleed in combat.”

I look at her funny and ask, “Choo, who told you that?”

She smiles at me and replies, “Just something I used to hear in the army.”

I shake my head and think, Great, I know how much we can trust the army after Serenity Valley. But then again, three of my adopted parents are still in service, so…

Choo seems to almost read my mind as she says, “All the civilians in the valley with us, if they would have been properly trained, well, maybe we would have lost fewer of them.”

Without meaning to, I blow out air through my nose and put my ears back and say, “But they could have at least left us some hope they were coming, Choo.”

She shakes her head and tells me, “Sadly dear, they used us as bait for Silver Spite and his followers,” she pauses then adds, “Along the lines of how you used your siblings when you were out radhog hunting.”

When she says this, I feel a chill go up my spine. “But Choo, they always knew we would be there for them.”

Gently she says, “But Ginger, when you're running scared do you really think of such things?”

Suddenly I begin to feel guilty about having used them for bait before. At least the last time Raven asked so she could earn some caps. But still.

*****

Undisclosed Location, Manesville District NCR: Xochotil

It seems that Choo is really serious about getting us up to speed. When I joined her for the Repair Ponies, I had not realized just how serious she was. I now know as I find myself in the situation I am in.

I am crawling on my belly through the mud and under what brush I can find. I am soaked to my skin and I feel my web gear beginning to chaff. Suddenly to my right I hear a twig break. I stop and hold my breath. Thank goodness the NCRA does not have enough PipBucks to issue to each of their troopers like the old Co-op did when the Co-op Expeditionary force was on its expedition eight years ago. But still, they are getting too good at this.

After hearing the twig break, I twist my ears back and forth listening to see how many there are still and where they may be. Once I decide that there are only two near me, I begin to slowly sneak up on them.

In my teeth, I am holding a single piece of chalk and when I get close enough, I mark them. Or tap them upside the head, whichever is better for me at the moment. I mark the first buck on his saddlebag and am just getting ready to mark the second when he turns and kicks out as hard as he can, hitting me square in my chest, causing me to roll backward.

He turns to me and grins, but that does not last long as he looks at his buddy and asks, “Why are you not helping me?”

His buddy says, “Hey, he already marked me, I’m dead, he is your problem now, you choose to fight hoof to hoof.”

The one that kicked me is just realizing what he did when I launch myself at him, and plant my shoulder into his side knocking him down and the wind out of him. I hit him three times in his muzzle with my forehoof and then I am off running again.

As I disappear into the undergrowth, I hear the one I had chalk marked laughing and telling the one with the now bloody muzzle. “Last week I got caught like that by the one they call Tater.”

Soon though I hear more coming in my direction. By the amount of noise they are making I can tell they are trying to drive me. Instead, I look at the nearest tree, I leap up hooking my forehoof pastern to it and using my momentum to swing higher up and begin to climb its branches. I am hidden above them as I watch them walk below me.

I hear one of them say, “That is strange, his hoof prints stop right here.”

They begin to look around but none lookup. I am wondering why when I hear, “You don’t think he climbed the tree do you?”

“Are you kidding me? When was the last time you climbed a tree? I was still a foal. Besides, he did not have time to.”

“I don’t know, he is half zebra and you know how sneaky they can be.”

“Do you really believe all those stories? Come on, I am sure that the militia corporal that the captain brought in was just making things up.”

When I hear this, I know they have just insulted my father, and while I should keep quiet and stay put, I have had enough. I am only 10 feet above them and looking down at them. I grin to myself and let out a primal scream as I drop straight down on both of them, knocking them down and then I am off and running again as I hear behind me, “What the Tartarus was that?”

But I am off at a run and am behind their driving line so they have to redeploy if they want to catch me. But then again, they also know where my destination is, so therein lays the challenge.

I spent two days trying to make my destination. I am almost there when I feel a tap on my back and as I turn my head I am punched in the muzzle and I hear, “That is for punching me in the muzzle.” He hits me again and tells me, “And that is for dropping down on me from the trees.”

He goes to hit me one more time and I roll and use the momentum to flip him over. As I find myself on top of him, I bring my forehoof back as far as I can to punch him in his muzzle again and bring it forward stopping just before his muzzle and I lightly tap him on his nose and say, “Boop!”

From around us, I hear his other squadmates start laughing. I get off of him and I hear Choo call out, “Close enough this time Xochitl.”

From her side, I hear Captain Sunset, the 1st Manesville Regiment’s Scouts Company CO say, “Good work all. I am happy with it. Oh, and Trooper Red Clover, never, never give a monologue when you are fighting an opponent.”

“Yes Sir,” The trooper I had just booped says as I stand up and offer him a hoof to help him get up also.

The chagrined trooper looks at me and asks, “So just where did you learn to sneak and peek like that?”

I move a hoof in the direction of Sunset and Choo and I tell him, “Those two and my father when we were on the Expedition. Our graduation test was the retreat to Serenity Valley.”

I see him shake his head, “But you are too young to have been there.”

I nod my head, “Yeah and so were a lot of others, but it is what it is. Nice playing with you and I look forward to the next time,” I tell him, as I walk over to Choo and we begin to head back to the shop so I can clean up from the last couple of days.

As we walk, I look at Choo and I ask her, “Did you have to choose to have me do this right after the scheduled rain started?”

She smiles at me and says, “Yes I did. I need you to be at the top of your game, and I am now sure you are at least where you were back then.”

As I go in the main entrance to the shop, I see Twinks stop from what she is working on, she motions her hoof in front of her muzzle and says, “Cohtil, you really need to clean up, you smell like you were wrestling with a dead skunk.”

I quickly smell myself and shake my head. She is right. Then I smile sweetly as I look at her and tell her, “Don’t worry Twinks, your turn for this will come soon enough.”

I watch as the color leaves her face and she looks at Choo and says, “But I am just a tech.”

Choo smiles gently at her and tells her, “No, you are my field tech. So, therefore, you need this training too. You and Ginger will be working with Xavier tomorrow to begin teaching you escape, evasion, and insertion techniques. I thought you understood you are part of my field team, was I wrong?”

“Uh, no ma’am. I just thought, well never mind ma’am. Let me finish up with this and I will begin to put my gear together for tomorrow.”

*****

Emerald Grove, Manesville District NCR: Choo Choo

“Ok Twinks, now align the foresight with the v notch of the rear sight of your rifle,” I tell her.

“But Choo, how can I see it clearly, this is not like firing it for an earthpony?” She asks.

“Focus. Use your TK to hold it steady and adjust for recoil by holding it more firm. Look down the barrel, center the front sight between the two rear sights, now hold your breath and use your TK to pull the trigger.”

I hear the rifle fire and excitedly Twinkle Hoofs says, “Wow, look at that Choo, I actually hit the target, and almost in the center ring.”

“Yes, very good, not let’s see if we can do it a couple more times, and try to hit in the middle please.”

We continue firing for a while longer until I am satisfied, she is doing well enough. Then I tell her, “Good job Twinks. You have really improved. Oh, and once we get back to the shop you will need to clean and oil your weapon.”

We begin to walk back to the shop when she asks me, “Choo, were you a teacher at one time?”

I am a bit surprised and I tell her, “Well, no, not really, why?”

She shrugs and replies, “It is just that you are good at it. My pa tried to teach me how to shoot once, and I just did not get how to use my TK that way.”

I nod my head, “I understand. I guess it is just that for the last several years I have been a mentor for Ginger and Epona’s little sister Moon Lily.”

She nods her head and laughs lightly, “Yeah, we have heard about that a bit.” She pauses and tells me, “I just wish my magic was as strong as hers.”

I nod my head, “I understand Twinks, but while you may never be as strong as her, you can build up both your strength through use and your knowledge of skills.” I stop and so does she, then I put a hoof on her shoulder and tell her, “And do not judge yourself compared to others. You have skills she does not, and she has skills that even I have problems replicating at times.”

I see Twinks look surprised and she tells me, “Choo, I never heard a unicorn, much less a pony of your kind admitting something like that.”

As I put my hoof back down, I smile and ask her, “But young mare, what kind of teacher would I be if I could not admit I was not perfect or that I could still learn some things as well?” Then I remind her, “Besides, at one time I was a unicorn.”

I hear more than see Twinkle Hoofs stop. She looks at me funny and tells me, “I forget sometimes that you used to be only a unicorn too.”

I then gently tell her, “Dear, between you and me, at times I still wish I was.”

I see the questioning expression on her face and she asks, “But why Choo. Look at you, plus being so powerful.”

As we begin to walk again, I tell her, “But I did not look like this when I was a unicorn.”

She seems to think about this and asks, “So what did you look like back then?”

“Have you ever met the midwife Doula, you know the mother of Sutures? Ginger and Epona’s adopted grandmother.”

“Yeah, I have, last time I saw them was at the graduation party but I have seen them on their runs before. Why?”

I smile and tell her, “Because Doula not only is a descendent of my unicorn self, but she looks just like I did back then. All except her cutie mark.”

I watch her jaw drop and I hear her sniffle. Then she asks, “Were you really good at spells back then?”

I shrug my wings as we turn the corner that leads us to the shop and I tell her, “Somewhat. I was really good at TK, and I could start a fire really well with my horn. That helped with getting the cold steam engines warmed up to run. But there were so many who were better than me. Who were taught more spells than me.”

I see her turn her head a bit and she asks, “How come they got taught and you didn’t?”

I sigh and I tell her, “Because I was not of a noble family or born in Canterlot or one of the big cities. That had a lot to do with it.”

She then surprises me and asks me, “Uh Choo, where were you born?”

I feel myself blush and I tell her, “I don’t really remember. I barely remember my parents and I think I had a sister or brother. But I can’t tell if those are my memories or a remnant of Unity.”

“Choo, what was it like in Unity?” She asks me.

This time I sigh, "Generally we were of a hive mind. We felt and experienced what others felt at the same time. However, it really depended I guess on whether our mother liked us or not. For some it was not too bad, for others it was very bad. I remember a purple like Quick Frost. Our mother hated her for some reason and she would send all of the new alicorns’ bad memories to her.”

We are just outside the shop when she asks “What happened to her?”

I tell her, “Honestly I don’t know. I have often wondered. But she and I were not in the same wing, so when the event at Maripony happened we were not in contact. The only ones I know survived are my sisters and the few I have met since the Followers of the Apocalypse started taking them in and helping them.”

“That sounds sad. I thought it would be great to have that kind of power and magic.”

I shake my head. “Twinks, a lot of ponies think that way. But if that is why you want to learn magic and be on the team, maybe you are in this for the wrong reason.”

I see the hurt expression on her face and she tells me quietly, “Choo, no one taught me how to use my magic like you have, I did not even know you would teach me. I got into this because I figured we could make a few caps, spend more time with my friends and maybe, just maybe make a difference working with the rangers.”

This attitude I understand and can appreciate. I then make up my mind and I tell her, “In that case, you did it for the right reasons my apprentice.”

I see her eyes go wide when I say that and I open the door and we go inside. When we do, I am surprised to see the rest of the team fully fitted out in helmets barding and with long arms getting ready to open the trap door that we had not found time to explore yet. I almost laugh out loud when I see Twinkle Hoofs facehoof at the same time I do.

I simply shake my head and before I can say anything Twinks asks, “Maybe you should go in lighter armor and perhaps with a pistol and a light instead of the long arms. Granted, I am not an expert, but those would be hard to swing around in tight quarters.”

I watch as the others all begin to blush. Then I hear Epona tell them, “See I was not the only one to think that.”

I force myself to calmly tell them, “Ok, before we go underground like this, I think we should call in Bailey Bridge and his contacts from over in Dead Quiet. They really helped us a lot at 3rd Hereford when they went into the irradiated tunnels under there.”

I see both Xochitl and Sunny look at each other with an expression of frustration. Tater on the other hoof looks at Epona and simply shrugs.

Soon they have all filed back into the armory and stored their weapons and field gear. Once they are done, I tell them, “On the positive side that did help you get you more familiar with your gear, and I think it helped me realize another area we all need to work on.”

As we all gather around, I tell them, “I promise after we talk to Bailey and one of the trainers from Dead Quiet, we will check out the trap door. Besides, has anyone checked to make sure that they did not notice any hints of boobie traps?”

I see Ginger smile and she says, I already checked the handles and hinges for wires. Then I ask, “How about looking for magnets? Or mounting brackets for metal that could be triggered when a magnet is moved?”

I see her gulp some. “No Ma’am, I did not think of that.”

I shake my head slowly, “Ginger, While the others do their business down here, could you join me upstairs in the planning room? I have a few things I want your opinion on.”

She nods her head and says, “Sure Choo.” Then she tells the others what she needs them to do and before she leaves the room says, “I will be back to help in a bit.”

Once we are inside the planning room I make sure the others are not trying to listen, then I begin, “Ginger,I know you have experience as a scout, but where we will be going and what we will be doing is not the same as on the expedition all the time. Please, slow down and think things through. We cannot always go in guns blazing and blasting our way out. I need you to think and be on your top game.”

I see her frown and look a bit hurt. Then she says, “Maybe we should have Epona in charge then. She is the brains of all of us.”

I shake my head. “No Ginger, she may be the smartest of us, but you know how to lead. I need a leader too, but one who thinks some. Remember what I said before, Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. I trust you and I need you to be a leader when I am not around.”

“But if you trust me, then why did you stop me?”

“Because while I trust you, I will not let you get our people killed,” I tell her with a serious expression on my face.

“Choo, do you really think I could have gotten them killed?”

"Honestly, Probably not. But I am not sure what is down there or if it is rigged as a trap. That is why I am calling in some of the ghouls from Dead Quiet. Not only will they make sure it is safe, but they will teach us so next time we can do it on our own.”

“Choo, were you ever afraid you might mess up enough that you got others killed?” she asks me.

At first, I wish she had not asked that question, then I tell her, “Not only afraid, but I have. Ginger, I pray you never know what that feels like.”

She is surprised at this and she then asks, “I know you didn’t during the expedition so when did that happen?”

I sit and close my eyes briefly. “During my time in Unity. I had to order others to do things I knew would get them killed. Also, during my last deployment to Hackamore, I got cocky and screwed up. We lost a couple of our scouts because of me.”

“I thought things had calmed down after Ma and her battalion came back here. At least from the sounds of what Epona and Tater told us.”

I sigh, “Ginger, things had calmed down. But we got complacent. We stopped worrying about raiders or remnants of the Legion. Thank goodness the Enclave has not gotten back on its hooves yet. If it had been them, it could have been worse.”

“Choo, I thought the Enclave was destroyed between what the Light Bringer did and their own civil war?”

I find myself staring angrily at her when she mentions the Destroyer. Most of those in the Wastelands consider her the Light Bringer, the one who cleared the skies. I and most of my sisters consider her a mass murderer. She used a mega spell to kill our mother and so many of my sisters that she broke Unity. While at times that is a blessing, I felt the deaths of my sisters and our mother as if it was myself that died.

She sees the expression on my face and she asks me, “Choo, did I say something wrong?”

I shake my head, and I tell her, “No, you did not. It is just I see your Light Bringer in a different light per se than most others do.”

She seems really surprised and sits down, “How do you see her Choo?” She asks me.

So, I tell her, and then I tell her why.

When I am done, she looks stunned and she tells me, “I, I never thought of it that way. Dear Sweet Cream, I cannot imagine it.”

I smile again when she mentions the All mother of the cattle religion, she still attends their services occasionally with her adopted mother Mollygirl. I guess the fact that the cattle worship the Goddesses Celestia and Luna made it easier for her to attend and begin to adjust to their beliefs. I am quiet briefly and then I tell her, “Thank you for listening and understanding Ginger.”

“Your welcome Choo. Just wondering, is that why you have so much trouble remembering your past?”

I nod my head, “Yes Ginger. When Unity was broken, I did not get all of my memories back. I am still getting some of them back, but I fear I shall never have them all.”

I see her look at the ground sadly. “Choo, I am sorry about earlier. I just wanted to show you what we could do.”

I smile and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Dear, I already know what you can do, you have shown me many years ago. If I did not think you would be a good leader, I would not have entrusted you in your position.”

She seems surprised, then she asks, “Choo, when will we start on our missions?”

I smile at her and tell her, “Soon Ginger, soon. I have a bit more training I want to finish first, plus hire a couple of hooves to pony the shop for us when we are gone. I know we have to start earning our pay soon.”

Two days later an old friend of ours Bailey Bridge, one of the combat engineer platoon leaders for the 1st Manesville Regiment comes to the shop with two ghouls.

I recognize the first one as High Grade the commander of the Dead Quite militia. The other one next to him is a shorter unicorn ghoul that I don’t know. As they come in, I call the team together and once we are all in the front room High Grade introduces the second ghoul to us as Trip Wire.

He tries to smile at us and we politely nod back. Then he says, “Well, it is a pleasure to meet you. Lieutenant Bridge has told us a bit about your problem and that you wanted some instruction on how to deal with such possibilities if needed.” He pauses briefly then looks around before telling us, “Just so you know a bit about me. I was a Sergeant with the 10th Combat Engineers battalion down in the Hoofington No Mares Land. I have extensive experience with going underground, particularly into tunnels that the Zebs had booby-trapped.” He pauses and looks at Xochitl and tells him, “No offense intended, that is just what we called the enemy back then. Made it easier to hate them I guess.”

Xochitl then asks, “Then why keep using it when we no longer need to hate all of them?”

The old ghoul shrugs and says, “I guess you're right, but it is an old habit and the way we always did it.”

“So, why not just call them them Zebras and leave it there?” Xochitl asks, somewhat defensively but also with a bit of question in his voice.”

“Son, I will try, it, it is just hard after all these years. Heck, some of the best soldiers I knew back then were our Loyalist zebras, so please, don’t think I am trying to insult ya.”

Finally, Xochitl lets it drop and Ginger asks, “So what should we do now?”

Off to the side, I see Bailey and High Grade nod their heads and smile. She asked the right question, I guess.

The old ghoul answers her, “Well first off, let's talk about tunnel work, if you are going in tight, then I would suggest smaller weapons. Ya know like pistols, submachine guns with a collapsible stock, or even better a short shotgun. Something that will bite hard and can be moved quickly in a tight space. Also, carry only what you can in your pockets.” Then he looks at Twinks and tells her, “Young mare, as a unicorn on this team, you and I will need to talk more. We need to talk about how traps work and how to disarm them without blowing you or your team up.”

I see Twink's eyes go wide and she turns her head to me and says, “Choo, you never said I would have to disarm traps!”

I calmly tell her, “Twinks, you are our tech. You are supposed to understand how things work better than the rest of us, so I thought you already had that figured out.”

Beside her I hear Tater say, “Twinks I can help you some with that also, especially firing mechanisms.”

She smiles shyly back at him and nods her head, “Thanks.”

I then see Trip Wire look back and forth between the two and he asks, “You the company armorer?”

Tater nods his head, “Yes sir, sorry you can’t see my cutie mark under my coveralls.”

“Ok, good, later on, I will need to work with you some more too.” He looks at the rest of us and asks, “So, any of you want to become a demolition specialist for your group?”

No pony says anything and he says, “Really? None of you want to be the one to blow stuff up?”

Still, no answer and he looks at Cowlick and asks, “Ok, how about you? I can tell you are probably carrying the heavy weapons; you want to learn how to set charges and where to set them to make them most effective?”

Cowlick looks down at the floor, licks his lips and then he nods his head and smiles shyly, “Yes sir. I would if no one else wants to.”

I smile at him and tell him, “Ok Cowlick the job is yours, but I need you to work with Trip Wire for a bit also.”

Finally, Bailey says, “OK, so how about we begin the training so we can get going and check out what is under here?”

I nod my head and hear Ginger tell them, “Ok, you heard the buck, pistols, web gear, and flashlights.”

They all jump up and go to the armory and grab what they are told to get. Once back Trip Wire begins to tell us how to check for booby traps. He is just about to open it and then he hesitates and asks me, “Could you check for any warding spells also? You know just in case.”

I nod in agreement and as I cast a detect magic spell, explaining to Twinkle Hoofs how to do it. I find that it not only has one, but a pretty nasty one it seems by the power of the spell I feel. I am surprised I had not noticed it before and tell him, “I, I had not noticed the spell before.”

He grins as well as he can and tells me, “Ma’am, that is because you were not actually looking for it. To be honest, I did not know it was there, but if it was me and I wanted to protect something or someone, I would put a willy of a spell on such a door.” Then he tells me and Twinks how to cast a counterspell to disable it. Finally, he says, “It is safe to open it, but if I was ya, I would try to use a rope on the handle to lift it open.” He looks at Twinkle Hoofs as he says this.

She uses her TK to wrap a length of rope around the handle and then lift it open from a safe distance away. As we watch it open Xochitl gets ready to jump in first and the old-timer puts a hoof on his chest and tells him, “No son, this time you follow me and learn.”

Soon they are both underground and I can hear their voices quietly speaking. Then I watch as Tater and Epona follow Ginger down. Because of our size Bailey and High Grade motion for Cowlick and me to stay up top.

Shortly after this, I hear Ginger say, “Would you look at the size of this place.” Her voice is low enough that it sounds like she is some distance away.

It is a couple of minutes later when I hear hoof steps running to the access from below. Then I hear Tater call up, “We need High Grade down here and send for Xochitl’s dad right now!”

I feel confused and watch as High Grade goes down, just before his head goes under, he says, “Big Blue, go get the zony’s father.”

I run outside and fly off to their family farm right away. I find him in one of the fields and I tell him, “Corporal, Lieutenant Bridge, and Captain High Grade have sent me for you. They say they need you immediately.”

“Let me tell Sumac and we can go.” He responds, then he runs to the main house on the farm.

Once he comes out, I tell him, “Climb on my back.”

He nervously looks around and finally does and I take off flying back to our shop with him. As we take off, I hear him say, “I hope Persimmon does not see me on you like this.”

I am surprised to hear him say he is afraid of his wife seeing him on my back then I realize how jealous she can be. I simply nod my head and tell him, “Hopefully not.”

Once we land, Bailey meets us outside. He calls Xavier over and tells him, “OK Xavier, the kids are with one of the ghoul sapper trainers in some facility under the shop. They ran into a problem and need you to help.”

“Ok, Lieutenant, but what gear will I need? I left my kit at home.”

High Grade comes out and tells him, “Seems we found and woke a zebra mare and her foal who are now ghouls. We need a zebra to help calm them down.”

Xavier shudders slightly then he says, “I understand sir. Show me where to go.”

I follow them inside and watch as Xavier jumps down into the hole and I hear Tater say, “Follow me this way, sir.”

They are gone for some time. After about an hour I hear hoof steps down below and when I look into the opening, I see Xavier motioning behind him and for the first time in my life, I see a zebra ghoul, and next to her is what I take to be a zony filly ghoul. Part of me is horrified at this, and part of me wants to cry. I move out of the way so they can come up. Once they are there, I hear Trip Wire tell High Grade, “High, they just woke from the Deep Sleep. They don’t know what has happened fully yet.”

“For the love of Celestia, how do you think we should handle this?” High Grade asks him as he shakes his head sadly.

“I would suggest taking them back to Dead Quiet, we still have a few of the turned foals there, and at least this one has her mother still.”

“Yeah, that sounds good. Any idea what they were doing down there?”

I swear Trip Wire looks embarrassed as he says quietly, “Yeah, on the last day they were chased into the shop by a mob wanting to kill them. The owner put them and his family into the shelter to try and protect them.”

“Any others down there?”

“No High, the rest of the family that was there all crossed over it seems. I just wonder how come they got turned away too?”

I see High Grade shudder and he very quietly says, “Not so loud, no need to get them thinking that way yet, ok.”

Trip nods his head and then goes back to the other room where the mare and foal are and tells them, “Please follow us, I know I look horrible but we are going to take you to a place you will be safer at, and we will try and explain what happened there.”

The zebra mare looks at Xavier and he nods his head and sadly tells her, “It is alright Zhea, you and Xanthippe will be safe with them.”

She pulls the zony filly close to her and asks suspiciously as she looks at the remains of the building and asks, “Are you sure Xavier?”

He nods his head and then she asks, “How long has it really been for us?”

Xavier sighs and tells her, “Around two hundred and ten years. I know it has been a long time. Brace yourself for how the world looks now compared to when you went into the shelter.”

She meekly answers, “Ok sir, we will. Thank you.”

I see Xavier thinking and he looks at High Grade, and asks, “Captain, can I help you take them back to Dead Quiet. I know I don’t normally go over there, but maybe just to make sure they feel comfortable settling in.”

In his grumbly voice I hear High Grade say, “No, it's ok. I appreciate it. Besides, Bailey has vouched for you and told me enough about you that I would like to talk with you some more also.”

As we were talking, I noticed my other team members come back up also. After the others leave, I sit down and tell them, “Ok, time for a debrief. I want to know what you all found down there and I want to hear what you all feel you learned from it, and how we can improve next time something like this comes up.”

Ginger raises a hoof and then tells me, “Well, Choo, once we clean out the remains of the family who owned this store, we can clean up the dirt and dust and we will have our own bunker. The owner had it pretty well stocked but I think the magical radiation just was too much for the ward spells on the scrubbers to handle.”

I nod my head in thought and I hear Cowlick ask, “Is it big enough down there for me and Choo to go into?”

Ginger and Epona both nod their heads yes. Then Epona says, “They have several rooms set up for sleeping as well as a kitchen and dining area and a small library.” She pauses and says, “I, I think they even had a tv with a movie player on it. But I am not sure.”

Twinks then says, “Well, I am pretty certain that is what it was Pona. I just got to check them to see if we can get them to work.”

Next, I ask, “Do you know if this was the only way in and out?”

Tater then tells me, “Nah, I don’t think so Choo. I saw a panel on one wall that was marked emergency exit. But I did not open it.”

“That is probably a wise choice,” I tell him, then I say, “Ok, now onto the lessons we learned.”

*****

Restricted Location, Coltlumbia District, Grand Pegasus Enclave: Cadet Ball Lightning.

In the distance, I hear a branch break and hunker down further in the mud. On the horizon, I can see the mountains of Van Hoover. Further to the north, I can barely see the city of Emporia. As part of our officers' training, they have dropped five from our class dirtside and we are participating in escape and evasion training. When we were loading onto the Vertibucks from Thunderhead to come here we were told that the area was fairly well secured, but that there may still be some dangers out there.

I quickly use my tongue to toggle my IFF, Identify Friend or Foe. The Enclave military’s version of Stable Tec’s Eye Forward Sparkle. I can see three hostiles walking in my direction by the red marks in my line of vision. Raiders. Damn it, they are not supposed to be here. They did not give us anything more than our minimum weapons, no firearms or MEW’s.

I watch as they make their way past me and are getting close to one of my classmates, code-named Green Apple One. I am Green Apple Five for this exercise. None of us know who the others are, only our code names. I toggle another control inside my helmet and quietly warn them via a short-range radio and my helmet's whisper mic.

He clicks back twice to let me know he understands. As they pass and I see no other marks in my vision I get up and slowly stalk them from behind. As a foal, I never imagined being a predator, but now, now I grin a feral smile inside my helmet and as quietly as possible begin my hunt.

They are almost upon my squadmate when I hear one of them say, “There it is, I told ya, Now Skinner, you go wide and distract him. Pop Flare, yous gets to join me in shooting him. Remembers aims for the wings or the eyes. Eyes kill quick and we can get the scrap of the suit and anything else he has.”

I hear the one he calls Pop Flare ask, “Buts what if he has friends that helps him.”

I hear a harsh laugh and the first speaker says, “Then we gets another suit or two worth of scrap. We dones this before. What are ya? A coward?”

I watch from behind the brush as the one called Pop Flare starts to stand up straight, pushes him, and tells him, “Ya shouldn’t have called me that. You know not to call me that.”

I sit back and wait as the two begin to push each other back and forth and the third one drops out and begins to swing wide away from me and over towards Green Apple one.

I hear another click over my earphones letting me know that Green Apple One has seen the other hostile approaching him from my direction.

Soon they are no longer fighting and they begin to stalk Green Apple One. I am only a short distance behind them when I hear one of them say, “Yah know what, go let the others know we have some play toys in these woods of ours.”

“Yous wants I should bring all twenty of them up?”

“Nah, just whoever wants to play.”

“Ok Boss, I will be back in a bit, keeps em busy.”

“Yeah, Yeah, gets moving.”

As I watch the direction the third one is moving in, I hear the one they called boss rack a round into his bolt action rifle. I begin to move as quietly as I can when I hear him let go his first shot, which is at Green Apple One. When he does this, I leap into the air and glide downhill silently landing right behind him as he is racking in his next round. Without thinking I use my poison tail to stab at him. I know it does not have any poison loaded into it for the training, so instead of just trying to hit him, I target the stinger into his left shoulder using my suit's Stable Tec Arcane Targeting system. As it strikes him, I hear him yell out in pain and he tries to move the rifle to point it at me. Using my Ministry of Awesome Martial Arts Project techniques they taught us, I quickly knock the barrel away from me while at the same time knocking it from his hooves. As it falls, I grab it and use the rifle as a club against the side of his head. I hear the bones crunch, and he drops like a bag of rocks.

I have taken my first life and at this point, I can hear Green Apple One being fired on, no time to think. Instead, I quickly grab the saddlebag of ammo and possessions that the new corpse will not need. I load a new round into the bolt action rifle and quickly make my way to assist Green Apple One. I am just lining up a shot on the raider who has been shooting at him when I hear more coming my way. I take the shot and I see the raider go down, followed by Green Apple One taking his piece and ammo also.

I click my mike and quietly tell him, “We have company coming our way. Up to twenty more. Cover me.”

I simply hear back, “Roger.”

Soon I am making my way through the brush and the mud. Moving to the side some so as to swing in behind and above most of the others. As they come, I almost laugh as none of them are looking up. Stupid mud ponies always forgetting something simple like that, I think to myself.

Grinning, I decide to take advantage of their stupidity. I would say ignorance, but they have to know we can fly. So, I gently take to the air and fly up to the treetops. Once there I take a quick count. Fifteen of them, ok, we can deal with that.

I begin by sniping the last two of them in the column that they are traveling in. After I shoot the second one, not only is he screaming from his wound, but I hear a mare yell out, “Spread out, don’t give him a good target.”

I nod my head. Ok, now I know who to target next. I see them begin to move my way when I suddenly hear two quick shots from Green Apple one and watch as two more go down. Again, another one is only wounded, but her fellow raiders begin to try and drag her to cover.

I almost laugh at this as while they have cover from him, they are exposed to me, and vice versa. We begin to take slow deliberate aim and soon the few who still can begin to make a run for it. I grin to myself, as I realize they chose the music, now I can make them dance the dance.

I hoof signal to Green Apple One to join me. Once we are close, we use a combination of hoof and ear signals to make a quick plan and we are off again.

He and I use our IFF to keep track of each other, one provides overwatch as the other advances in the direction the raiders had come from. As we head higher up the mountain, I begin to smell smoke in the distance and I see five more red marks on my IFF, but I also see one yellow one. Not good, I tell myself as I wonder who got caught.

Once close enough we see the mouth to a small holler. I can see some shadow on the back wall light by firelight. As we get close enough, we can hear a pony screaming in agony. I think I recognize the voice and hope I am wrong.

I move further up the hill staying just below the ridgeline so they can not see me. I periodically check my IFF to make sure who is where. Finally, I hear a gunshot and the screaming stops. I know whoever it is, they do not have much time left, so I make up my mind and climb to the edge, crawling up to it, hoping I am not silhouetted against the sky at all. I bring the rifle up and watch as a mare with tattered rags wrapped around her body and head, with some plate armor on her sides and forelegs, lifts a knife and is moving to slice the wounded pony’s throat. I toggle my suit's vision enhancement and I can see that the pony is, or was a pegasus. They have already cut off his wings. I see the cutie mark on his flank and I know he was one of my classmates. But where is his armor?

I take the shot at the knife holder and watch as a chunk of her neck sprays out from their other side and they go down screaming, dropping the knife.

I shift to another of them. This one is a young teenage mare. She too has all the hallmark traits of being a raider and I add her to my tally. I am just getting ready to line up a shot on my third one when I feel the ground shake beneath me and I feel a rush of pain as I am struck hard enough in my side that my entire suit rolls over. I roll three times and I see a stallion wearing the missing armor, minus its helmet. He is rearing up to bring his forehooves down on me. I roll closer to him and sweep my hindlegs into one of his knocking him off balance and he falls. As he falls I roll away from him downhill. Once I stop, I leap into the air and bring my rifle to bear. As I do this, I feel a sharp pain in my side and then I hear the bark of a rifle behind me. I don’t know what caliber it is, but it has penetrated my armor. My suit automatically administers a healing spell, which hurts like Tartarus, but keeps me conscious. As I begin to try to get up from the ground the big pony comes closer and begins to laugh as he tells me, “Thinks yous a smart one does ya. Well, I am going to crush you and enjoy every moment of your last breaths.”

As he says this, he gives me time to think, I realize how close he is, and that he is not wearing a helmet. From the side, I hear another couple of rifle shots. This distracts the buck enough that he never sees my tail stinger coming. I nail him in the head with it, and as he collapses, I hear Green Apple One ask, “Green Apple Five, this is Green Apple One, are you there, over?”

“Rodger, I am here, over. Report.”

He pauses then tells me over the radio, “We have three dead raiders, one wounded and unconscious, and a pegasus who will die if we do not get help soon.”

“Roger, I am on my way to you,” I reply. Then I look down at the body by my hoofs. I want to spit onto his corpse, but can’t with my helmet sealed. Instead, I shake my head and tell it, “Never, give a monologue during a fight.” I pick up what I now consider my weapon as well as an old 10 mm pistol he had in a hip holster and a double-barrel shotgun. I sling the long arms and walk down to Green Apple One.

Once there, I administer a healing spell to my wounded classmate. I switch my radio to the emergency channel and call for a medical pickup. I am told that the Vertibuck is five minutes out and when I hear it, I am to use a smoke grenade.

Three minutes later I hear it coming. I look in the direction of the sound and pop smoke. As it hovers above us two medics drop out and fly down to us. They pull out a collapsible evacuation litter and put the pegasus on it. They use a winch to pull him up and I hold the line to stabilize the liter so it does not twist. As it goes up, I thank the goddesses they have the good sense to drop a grounding cable so I do not get shocked. They load up the wounded raider next so the intel ponies can interrogate him. I really would not want to be in his horseshoes when they get ahold of him.

Once they are loaded, Green Apple One and I get ordered to fly up to the Vertibuck to be debriefed. Once on board, I look out the door as the engines begin to change their angle from hovering position to forward motion. As we pass over where it all began, I can see below us the string of bodies that we left. I shake my head and as I begin to relax, I begin to feel my body begin to shiver, and I am not even cold.

After we have been debriefed, we are met by our lead Cadet drill instructor, Sergeant Major Funnel Cloud. He looks at both of us and I see him shake his head, “Cadets, I don’t know whether to congratulate you or feel sorry for you.”

Both I and Down Draft look straight ahead, but I do wonder what he means by that. Then he tells us, “I know, I know you have no clue what I mean. Well, you two are both being sent to the scout teams now. Of the five cadets of your cadre that dropped in with you, you two are the only ones that survived and are still fit for duty. Dust Storm should recover, but he is just an understrength earth pony now.”

“Sir?” I accidentally blurt out.

He shakes his head, “Don’t call me sir, I call you sir. Once back at Camp Spitfire, take a quick shower, pack your bags and meet me in my office. I will give you your orders there, congratulations, you both graduated.”

“Yes, Sergeant Major,” we both chorus.

As we walk away, I can barely hear the Sergeant Major say to himself, “Bucking Raiders.”

I turn my head back to look at him and he simply says as he walks by us, “They weren’t supposed to have been within seventy kilometers of the training ground.”

“Sergeant Major, may I ask what happened then?”

He shrugs and answers, “Sir, it seems from the surviving raider you captured that they got word that it was a training area and they figured they could get a good set of armor the easy way. It worked, almost. They did not expect you two to get weapons of your own I guess.”

*****

Well, that last one was by Countess Coloratura. This is DJ Pon3 and I am here to remind you that while things are getting better here in the Wastelands and the NCR, we still have to be careful out there. We still have to worry about Raiders and Feral Ghouls out there. But, remember, not all ghouls are feral, so give them a chance.

For those of you out there in the wastelands fighting the good fight, this one is for you, Here is Til I Collapse.

Author's Note

I have not done so yet with this story, but I want to thank KKat for developing this wonderful universe of Fallout Equestria, as well as so many other writers who I have enjoyed and often been inspired by. Also, I would like to thank you my readers for taking the time to share this journey with me.

For those who would like to listen to this chapters song, the YouTube link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFzYXid7tUk