Chapter 42: Through a Looking Glass

“It’s not a bad idea.” “It’s a terrible idea,” Oi said. “It just has the advantage of being better than the other option.” ― John Scalzi, The End of All Things

Baltimare, NCR Disputed Territory: Ginger Snap

For three days and nights, we survey the Ministry hub before Choo decides we are going to make our move the next night. The Fixers are going to be our backup for this one.

In the background, I hear one of the locals tuning in on a radio station. I recognize the familiar martial music as that of the Enclaves Radio Free Equestria, it is funny to me that they choose that name out of all the ones they could have used.

I hear the now familiar voice of Hollowed Dreams saying, on tonight’s show I have some special guest. They are among the first ground-borns that have become full Citizens of the Grand Pegasus Enclave, and here with them are their two adoptive parents Ball Lightning and Sundancer.

When I hear these names, my attention is drawn. Then I hear a voice I recognize, Thanks for having us on tonight, Sir.

No, thank you and your wonderful family for coming. Now for those who are wondering Ball Lighting is an officer with our armed forces and his wife Sundancer is a member of the Volunteer Corps. They are also expecting their first natural-born foal in addition to having adopted all these youngsters. Among which are a unicorn and earth ponies as well as a ground-born pegasus.

I notice Sunny turn his head towards the radio and smile, then shake his head. So, I ask, “What’s so funny?”

“Well, being they used his name and admitted he is in the military, he can no longer go undercover. Oh, and I am surprised at them adopting too.”

“Yeah, I can understand that,” I tell him.

Then I hear Epona say, “Wow, I knew he was cute, but I did not realize just how much of the father type he is.”

I soon hear another voice over the radio, this time it is a young filly after being asked why she wanted to be an Enclave citizen.

Because the Enclave were the first ones to actually care about us. First Pa saved us and made sure we got to the Volunteer Corps office. They gave us a warm bed that night, some hot food and let us keep the blankets so we could keep warm. All the others we ran into in the Hoof just treated us like scraps.

Hey sis! Don’t use my name like that.

Sorry Scrap. I didn’t mean it that way. But you remember that night too.

I hear him sniffle a bit, then the young colt says, yeah sis I do, thank the goddesses for Pa, Ma, and Miss Alizée and all the Volunteers with the VC.

Hollowed Dreams then asks, Who is this Miss Alizée you mention?

Oh, she is a merchant at the Rainbow Dash Skyport. She helped to take care of us before Ma and Pa could. She is also teaching our big sister Savannah how to run a store.

Interesting, now Savannah, what makes a young hen like yourself want to join the Enclave? Hallowed Dreams ask smoothly.

Well sir, like my siblings I have to say that the members of the Enclave were the first ones to treat us like we meant something to them. They cared about us and are giving us the tools to make our lives better. Tools like how to read and write. How to do math, and even how to understand magic and science a bit.

That sounds like a lot of good things that you are learning and can use to go forward in life. He tells her.

We continue to listen to the interview of the family as we are preparing for the mission. Then we hear a bit of a ruckus coming from outside.

I am just about ready to go see what is going on when I hear a stallion’s voice call out, “Hey princess, good to see you again.”

“You too Mort. how was the trip in?”

I step out and see another team outside the barracks. The leader of which is talking to Choo. I first notice his red mane and tail as well as the light blue coat he has sticking out from his uniform. Then I notice the scar on his face that goes over one eye. In reply to Choo’s question he answers, “Oh, you know how it is just dropping in on some pony. Oh, by the way, we made contact with a couple of settlements on our way here since the other night. We also ran into the Steel Rangers. They have a pretty good size base over there. Might be a good idea for some of us to try and recruit them to our side, if possible.”

“Yes, we probably should do that, perhaps in a day or two. We have an op lined up for tonight already.”

I notice Mort’s eyebrow raise and he moves his ear in a questioning manner.

“Mort, let us get your troops some bunks and a hot meal. After that, I will give you a quick rundown of the lay of the land and what mine and Mudwing’s teams are planning for tonight.”

“Sounds good Princess, by the way, who is this little filly over here listening to us?”

Choo nods in my direction and tells him, “Mort, this is my second in command Ginger Snap, but usually we call her Cookie.”

“Your second in command and I haven’t met her before?”

“She and a part of the team were on a job down in Hoofington when we met you. But she and those who were with her are veterans too.”

He looks around nervously, then quietly asks, “So, uh Princess, does she know about the doorway?”

I find myself laughing at this and he looks indignant. Then Choo tells him, “Yes, she and those who were with her have all been through it. In fact, her sister came from the other side.”

He looks surprised, “Really?”

I nod my head, “Really. She came through just under ten years ago, and believe me things were different on her side of the doorway.”

As I am saying this, Epona comes up and I hear her say, “Sis, did you mention the doorway?”

I nod my head and tell her, “Yeah, Mort and his team were the ones with Choo while we were in the Hoof.”

“Ah, ok, that explains why you mentioned it then.”

I nod my head as Twinks and the others had told us all about having gone through without us and what it was like on the final day. That had to have been a mess I think to myself. Then I tell Choo, “We are almost ready Boss.”

As we enter the barracks with Mort and his team behind us, Mort sees Morning Mist and tells him, “Hey, I got a letter for you from Love Tap.”

Morning is really surprised but grins and asks, “Really? Thanks, Mort.” After this, he turns slightly and says, “By the way, it is good to see you again Smiley.”

I finally really look at Mort’s team and I notice a very somber-looking forest green stallion with an unusual mixed light and dark green mane that circles his head rather than following down his neck. That is followed by my noticing how his horn is not shaped like a typical unicorn horn and that he has what looks like armor on his back and a tail like a donkey’s. As I look at him with what must be a surprised expression on my face, he calmly tells me, “If you are wondering, I am a Kirin.” He pauses as much for as effect as anything else before he continues, “There are not many of us who wander the wastelands, so I am sure I am the first you have met.”

I nod my head in agreement and then I hear my husband say, “A pleasure to meet you, Smiley. Just call me Xochitl or Flower.”

He nods his head solemnly and replies, “You as well.”

After this, the three teams make introductions as we finish preparing for the raid on the MWT Hub. When we tell them where we are going, I notice the Troubleshooters all seem a bit surprised. I even hear one of them asks, “You sure you want to go with only two teams?”

“Well, a third team would be nice, but we are ready to go already and we would have to adjust our plans.”

“Yeah, I get it. Best not to cause any extra confusion.”

Shortly afterward we head out for the raid. The Repair Ponies first with Xochitl leading on point and the rest of us in our normal staggard two-column road march formation. Behind us are the Fixers. And after them, we have a ten-changeling team who will provide security outside as we enter.

We maintain this marching order until we are only a few blocks from the Hub. Choo calls for a halt and we begin to shift to our fire teams to get ready for the assault.

As I peer ahead of us, I see two pegasi in their power armor as I had expected. What I had not expected is what looks like a security ponitron behind them. After I see it through the scope of my SIR, I use the whisper mic to let the others know what I am seeing.

Choo replies, “Stick to the plan.”

“Roger, boss,” I reply quietly.

Once Mudwings teams are in the overwatch position and the Changelings in a quick response one, Choo calls over the radio, “Raider Team One Go! Go! Go!”

As we burst from cover and gallop at the guards, I see a rocket fired by one Mudwings team soar over us and hit near the robot. While it does not seem to damage it, the blast knocks it over, and it struggles to right itself as it also fires pulse MEWs at us.

One of which hits me in my barding and I hear it sizzle as it tears its way into the barding, but fortunately for me it does not penetrate all the way. However, the surprise of it causes me to stumble and I slide across the ground a bit before recovering my hooves just at the barriers.

As I get up, I look over the barriers and see that both guards are down as well as the robot. I also see the rest of my team is still moving forward. I look back and see half of the Fixers running up to the barricades as the others are on overwatch. I jump the barricade and run to catch up with my team as they make it to the main entrance of the MWT Hub.

From inside I can hear excited yelling as well as what sounds like furniture being tipped over. We wait briefly as we reorganize. Behind us, I can hear the Fixers coming as well as the changelings coming up.

Once in place, Choo gives the order to go again and we rush through the doorway into a large open lobby. As we enter, I see several turrets turn toward us.

This is why Choo had our team go first. We all have a PipBuck with its Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell. I call out, “Sunny Xochitl Epona, target those Turrets.”

I hear Choo ordering the others to engage those who are behind a rough barricade of furniture near a door that says, “Administration offices.

As we begin to fire and take them out the other fire team passes us and heads across the lobby and to the next door that has a sign near it pointing down the hall that says Research and Development, with an arrow pointing in that direction. As we run to catch up with them, I hear the Fixers mopping up those behind the barricade, securing the lobby behind us.

So far so good. We have taken no casualties yet and we have secured the best way into the building. As we pass down the hallway, we pass several offices with doors either open or knocked off their hinges. It seems strange, but I notice that there are no corpses in here so far. The Enclave had to have really gone through this place and cleaned it up, I think to myself.

Soon we come to a stairwell next to an elevator. Xochitl opens the door to the stairwell and performs a quick scan. He turns back to us and tells us, “Looks clear, but the stairs only go down.”

Choo looks at us and tells us, “Quick check for wounds or injuries. Then we continue.” She then gets on her PipBuck and calls back to Mudwings, “Raider Two, this is Raider one. We are proceeding underground it seems. I will report back to you if we find it.”

Over our radios, we hear, “Roger Raider One, Raider Two out.”

Choo then looks back at us and asks, “Any injuries that need treating?”

We all tell her no and before she says anything else she looks at Twinks who shakes her head no. Then Choo tells us, “Ok Flower, lead us down.”

*****

MWT Hub, Baltimare, NCR Territory: Xochitl

Underground again. Goddesses how I hate going underground, I think to myself as I reopen the door and begin to go down the stairwell with my carbine at the ready.

Tonight has been a mess from the beginning if you ask me. Our preps got disrupted by the new arrivals. Then we had that unexpected robot at the barricades. Now we must go down when we had expected to be going up in the hub. I am just beginning to wonder how far when I notice a faint beam of light reflecting off the dust near the bottom of the stairs.

I hold up a hoof and check it out to make sure it is only a beam of magical light and not a curtain. I have Danger come up and once she is done examining it, I step over it carefully and continue into this level of the building.

Ahead of us, I see several doors leading to labs and offices. As I approach one of them, I hear a voice say, “Well, I know I would not want to be hit by this thing.”

“Other than the obvious, why not?” another voice asks.

"Well, it seems that this long arm was designed, not to kill, but to blind, well at least according to the files on this computer.”

As I listen to the exchange, I hold up a hoof to signal the others to stop. Then I signal with my ears that we have hostiles ahead of us.

“Why would we want something that only blinds somepony?” the second voice answers.

The first replies in an exasperated voice, “Who knows? Maybe it would cause a strain on their medical systems. You know having to lead the blinded pony out of danger and then all the extra resources needed to take care of them. Sort of like using weapons that were mainly to wound not kill.”

“Well, I guess Research Paper, but still.”

“Particulate Floater, are you sure you want to work in the field recovery branch of R&D? I mean I could arrange for you to be transferred somewhere else.”

As they are arguing Double Back and Morning Mist both come up to join me. This is the weapon we were sent to recover. However, we are also to see what else we can grab or destroy as well.

The three of us are just about ready to make our move when I hear the one they call Research Paper call out. “You, in the hallway, who are you and what are you doing here?”

We all raise our weapons as Ginger calls out, “Hooves in the air or your dead ponies.”

Just then there is a flash of magical light and suddenly Double Back starts to yell “I can’t see. My Eyes, I can’t see!” as he drops his rifle from his mouth and rubs his eyes with his forehooves.

Morning Mist empties a magazine into the offending pony. I am just about to pull the trigger when the Enclaver yells out, “I surrender.”

I rush over and cover him as Morning Mist checks him for weapons. As we do this, I hear Choo telling Twinks, “Pour some of that healing potion onto his eyes and be quick about it.”

I still hear Double Back screaming as she does this and I want to see more of what is going on, but I am still covering Morning Mist with the prisoner.

Then I hear some words I wish I had never heard from Epona in one of the other labs, “Boss, get in here you are going to want to see this, and pronto.”

As Choo trots over to the lab I hear her say, “Ok, what is the big deaa... Oh, Buck! Where did they get a Doorway?”

About this time, I hear an alarm sounding in the facility as we first hear the screeching of a metal door opening. Then we hear over the radio, “Choo, one of my people found some controls for several doors that will allow both teams to work our way out through the loading docks.”

“Roger Raider 2,” then she pauses in her reply as we all hear the now familiar sound of ferals. “Raider 2, have them close that door quick!”

Behind us, I hear what I now realize is an Enclave scientist and salvager exclaim, “Oh dear Celestia, they just opened the shelter for this hub. We were afraid to go in there after we saw the camera footage of all the ghouls. We need to get out of here quick.”

Then I hear over the intercom, “Attention all personnel, unauthorized personnel have been detected in the building. Security has been activated and deadly force is authorized. Have a good day.”

Ghouls and robots, that is not good. Then I hear Cowlick’s mg open up. I quickly turn my head and I see him backing up towards us and yelling, “Big Blue, they have cut us off.”

Over the radio, I hear Mudwing call out, “Raider one this is Raider two, we have more company up here, you need to fall back now.”

“Raider Two, this is Raider One, we can not comply, our egress route has been cut off.”

From another hallway, we can hear the ghouls getting closer. But we also hear the robots firing on the ghouls.

We are all being driven into the lab Choo then tells Twinks, “Fire up that doorway, it may be our only way out.”

As we begin to make a fighting withdrawal toward the lab with the Doorway, I begin to hear it start up. The surviving Enclave prisoner moving with us more in fear than of obedience. As we move, I hear him holler in a near-panicky voice, “What do you mean fire up the doorway? What is it?”

As he asks this, I hear Days End yell to him, “Just shut up and you will find out, but you best stay with us.” Just as he says this, I see him take a MEW beam across his cheek. He yells in pain and I watch as he fires several shots with his combat shotgun at the offending robot.

The robots that are fighting us are pressing us hard. I suddenly get hit by a bolt of lightning from one of the robots. As I hit the ground in pain, I feel somepony grab my collar and drag me into the lab. Right after this Cowlick runs into the room, tosses something behind him, and hits the wall controller to close the door. He then calls out, “Everyone down,” which is followed by a loud explosion with the windows on that side of the room shattering into spiderwebs, but not giving way as the force of the explosion hits them. Then we hear the roar of the ghouls renew.

From the next room, I hear the now familiar sound of a controlled portable portal as it starts and begins to run up to full power. Then I hear Twinks call out to Choo, “Big Blue, it is almost ready, we may want to give the coordinates I am setting to Mudwing or the others so they can find us.”

I look up as I hear Choo’s voice above me as she pours a healing potion down my throat telling Twinks, “Your right Danger, give me a second.”

“Ok, boss, it’s about ready, here are the settings,” then she reads them off.

Choo, then calls on the radio, “Raider two, this is Raider one, we are trapped by ferals and robots. We have several members down. We have found a Doorway and are going to use it to escape. Have Mort contact our friend Daring Do and give her these coordinates.”

“Roger Raider one, I am writing them down, but who is this Daring Do?”

“Raider Two, he will understand.”

By this time, we hear pounding on the door as ferals try to enter. I am just getting on my hooves when I hear the doors to the other side begin to open. I look up and the area on the other side of the door is overflowing with ferals and robots. We begin to fire into the doorway as we move back to the next room.

Twinks then yells, “It’s ready boss, best to get moving now.”

Once we are all back in the lab with the doorway, Choo tells us, “Sunny, you lead the way, Epona, Ginger, you are next. Those who can, help the wounded. I will go last.

As we go through the doorway, the last I see is Choo using her horn to rip shelving off the wall as well as cabinets and countertops to block the doorway.

Then I am staggering through the doorway. When I come out the other side, I am stunned as I reenter what seems to be a heavily wooded area. Standing before me I can see a well-built light blue earth pony stallion with a mixed main and tail, of light with dark blue stripes. I also notice that he is wearing glasses and is about our age.

I see him looking at Sunny with fear in his eyes and I hear him screaming, “Please don’t hurt me.”

And I see Sunny holding up his forehooves and telling him, “Relax, we are not going to. Just relax.”

Well, this is different I think to myself as I am bumped by Choo and I see the stranger's jaw drop and I hear him stutter, “It’s, it’s you, your still alive,” then he bows low and says, “Forgive me, your highness, I had not expected to find you.”

*****

Cantersville, Baltimare District, NCR Territory: Choo Choo

“Your Highness, while I appreciate your offer, for our upcoming operation, I would prefer to keep it small, so maybe we could use a squad of your best changelings to support us, but keep the rest here.”

The changeling regent looks from me to Mudwing and back, then she tells, us, “If you insist, we can do so. However, I would still feel more comfortable with more of my people on standby.”

Mudwing answers her this time, “That would be fine your highness. But overall, I have to agree with Captain Choo on this.”

Queen Chrysalides nods her head and then asks, “So when do you plan on performing this so-called raid?”

Mudwing answers again, “That depends on what we see today. So far it seems that they have been keeping a few squads of troopers there to guard the place. That would allow us to focus the fight and blast through where they are in the building. If things have not changed, we will go the following night.”

“Hmmm, yes, that makes sense. Ok, but as I said, I want some of my subjects to be there to support you. This will also help to get them a bit more, spicy.”

“Yes, but I think you mean seasoned. However, I understand what you meant your highness.”

“Perhaps I should have my head of security attend these meetings.”

I find myself nodding my head then I tell her, “That would be good. However, I know that the Co-op that became the Manesville District felt it was best to separate the law enforcement elements from the military. Something about how the military was to protect the state and the other to serve and protect the citizens, and if you put the military as both they tend to begin to look at the people as possible enemies of the state. With that in mind, perhaps you should begin to have the militia become under one of your changeling's command.”

“But what about what you mentioned before about the militia becoming part of the regulars for the NCRA?”

I shrug, “In Manesville they were absorbed into the regulars during emergencies. I am sure it would end up the same for your people as well.”

Later that night we return from making our observations and I have seen that there have been no changes to the outer security setup. Part of me is really surprised at this, but I will not complain if they make our jobs easier.

As we enter the gate around the changeling village Mudwing asks, “Well?”

I nod my head, “As we agreed upon earlier.”

She nods her head, “Sounds good. Let us talk about it inside.”

I nod my head and while the rest of my team goes to relax in the bunkhouse, Mudwing and I head to the Village Constables office where the militia and security have set up their headquarters.

The next day in preparation for tonight’s raid, and after our briefing, Mudwing and I are finally heading back to the barracks to relax when we hear a commotion from the gate.

I have just arrived when I see Mort and I hear him call out to me, “Hey princess, good to see you again.”

I find myself smiling warmly at the old mercenary. Then I reply, “You too Mort. how was the trip in?”

In response to my question, he answers with a grin that reminds me of Colonel Milo, “Oh, you know how it is just dropping in on some pony. Oh, by the way, we made contact with a couple of settlements on our way here since the other night. We also ran into the Steel Rangers. They have a pretty good size base over there. Might be a good idea for some of us to try and recruit them to our side, if possible.”

“Yes, we probably should do that, perhaps in a day or two. We have an op lined up for tonight already.”

I can see our answer to his question surprises him as Mort’s eyebrow raise, he uses his ears to signal that he wants to ask a question.

“Mort, let us get your troops some bunks and a hot meal. After that, I will give you a quick rundown of the lay of the land and what mine and Mudwing’s teams are planning for tonight.”

“Sounds good Princess.” He tells me, then he turns to look at Ginger and asks, “By the way, who is this little filly over here listening to us?”

“Mort, this is my second in command Ginger Snap, but usually we call her Cookie.”

“Your second in command and I haven’t met her before?” he asks in surprise.

“She and a part of the team were on a job down in Hoofington when we met you. But she and those who were with her are veterans too.”

He looks around nervously, then quietly asks, “So, uh Princess, does she know about the doorway?”

He looks upset when Ginger laughs at his question so I tell him, “Yes, she and those who were with her have all been through it. In fact, her sister came from the other side.”

His eyes go wide and his jaw drops, “Really?”

Ginger moves her head in confirmation then tells him, “Really. She came through just under ten years ago, and believe me things were different on her side of the doorway.”

As she says this, Epona comes up and we hear her say, “Sis, did you mention the doorway?”

Ginger then casually tells Epona, “Yeah, Mort and his team were the ones with Choo while we were in the Hoof.”

“Ah, ok, that explains why you mentioned it then.”

Ginger then tells me, “We are almost ready Boss.”

As a group, we enter the barracks with Mort and his team behind us. Several members of both teams exchanging greetings. Including Mort hoof delivering a letter from Love Tap to Morning Mist.

Once this is done, I take Mort to another room and quickly explain what is going on, and where we are going. He nods his head and tells me, “Sorry we are too late to get in on the planning for it.”

I smile at him and shift my wings slightly as I tell him, “I know your team would be there to support us. Next time Ok, for this one we still have the Mudwing’s team as well as we are taking a team of the local militia for external security.”

He nods his head, then he asks, “So what can you tell me about these locals?”

“Overall, it is the typical stable survivors coming back topside to try and resettle. Though these ones are a bit different.”

He gets a skeptical expression on his face before he asks, “Different how?”

This time I find myself looking down briefly and my back hind hoof moving back and forth slightly like Moon Lilly does when she is in trouble. I hear him ask me again, “Ah, different how Choo?”

At the use of my name, I look up and I sheepishly smile as I tell him, “Well, they are changelings.”

He laughs and then tells me, “No really, stop pulling my hoof. Really how are they different?”

I shake my head and tell him as I shrug my wings, “, I am serious. They are changelings. However, they are a bit different than the ones from the stories. Their colony was loyal to Equestria and worked heavily with their intelligence branches as well. I have heard some of them talk about their hive working with the Ministry of Awesome on raids behind the Zebra lines.”

He looks dumbfounded and sits down hard. Then he says, “You're serious, aren’t you? Princess”

“Yes Mort, I am. A couple of the members of Mudwing’s team are from here originally. Most of the civilians you are seeing here are also members of the colony.”

“Well, I’ll be,” he says to no one with a tone of astonishment.

I nod my head, “We were surprised as well, but to be honest, this group is good people. Their queen is even working with some of the other settlements to form a more central regional government. We have discussed with her how it is done in Manesville and has proposed it to others as well.”

“Interesting, well, Let's head on over to the HQ and you can introduce me, Princess.”

Once I have introduced Mort to the head of security and the militia here, I head back to gather my team for the raid. As I arrive Ginger tells me, “We are ready to go when you are boss.”

“Very good. If the others are ready, we shall be on our way.”

Once the other teams have all gathered and are ready, I give the word, “Ok Raider Team 1, Flower, you take point. The rest, normal urban travel formation.”

With that, we lead out with the Fixers a short distance behind us and the changeling team taking the rear.

Once we are at our jumping-off point, I have my team shift to an assault formation by fire teams. As we do this, I notice the other two teams doing the same thing. Once ready, we move forward some and suddenly Xochitl calls me, “Big Blue, we have trouble. It looks like a Security Ponitron is at the barricades with the guards.”

“Stick to the plan,” I whisper over the radio.

“Roger, boss,” he replies quietly.

Once I hear Mudwing tell me her team is in position as well as the Changelings, I call over the radio, “Raider Team One Go! Go! Go!”

With that my people leap forward into action, bursting from cover and galloping at the guards. As we run a rocket fired by one Mudwing’s team flies past us narrowly missing the robot and knocking it over with the concussion. As it struggles to right itself it continues to fire pulse MEWs at us.

One of which hits Ginger, knocking her off her hooves. I feel a bit of worry as she stumbles and slides across the pavement stopping at the base of one of the barriers as I run and jump over it, still yelling at them “Move, move, move.”

I look back to check on the other teams and see Ginger has gotten up and has rejoined us. Behind her, I can see the other two teams running forward, one providing overwatch for the other, then shifting forward after they have reached us at the main entrance to the MWT hub.

Inside we can hear shouting as those assigned to this building for security hastily make new barricades out of furniture and whatever else they can pile between themselves and the main door.

Outside the doorway, as the others move up, I tell my people, “Ok, reform the stack and get ready for my command.”

As soon as this is done and the Fixers have reformed theirs, I turn and nod to Mudwing. She nods back and I give the order, “GO! GO! GO!”

My people and I move in the manner we have trained, “Heading for the opposite corner of the room while fanning out. As we run in, first the guards start to fire, then I see MEW turrets activate and begin to fire at us. I cast a quick defensive shield on those closest to me and I call out, “Sunny Xochitl Epona, target those Turrets.” As they engage them, I tell the others, “The rest of you fire on the run and suppress those guards.”

Ginger’s fire team all slow down and stop as they engage the turrets with their SATS. The rest of us keep running across the lobby toward a door that leads to the Research and Development section of the building. We stop and wait for Ginger and her fire team to catch up with us outside the door. As we are doing this I turn and see the Fixers clearing out the few guards left behind the barricade. This means we have secured the lobby and can continue.

I am feeling good at this point as it seems we have not taken any casualties and the best ingress and egress route into the building is secured. I give the word and we begin our trek down the hallway to find the weapons lab we have come for. It is frighteningly strange to me that as we move down the hallway, we pass several offices with the doors either open, or knocked off their hinges, but no corpses in here so far. I know I should be thankful, but it unnerves me slightly.

Soon we come to a stairwell next to an elevator. Xochitl does a quick sneak and peek into the stairwell after which he reports, “Looks clear, but the stairs only go down.”

I take a deep breath and slowly release it. Resettle my wings and as I look at them, I order, “Quick check for wounds or injuries. Then we continue.” Next, I use my PipBuck to call Mudwing to let her know our approximate location and where we are heading.

After hearing her confirm her understanding I ask my people, “Any injuries that need treating?”

They all answer they are ok, but I still confirm it with a quick glance to Twinks who lets me know that there are no injuries. So far so good, only a few unexpected twists I tell myself. Then I tell Xochitl, “Ok Flower, lead us down.”

He does so cautiously. We are reaching the bottom of a long set of switchback stairs that must have taken us at least two or three stories underground when suddenly I see him hold up a hoof and I hear him whisper over his radio, “I need Danger up here asap, I think I have a trip beam.”

I nod to her and Twinks advances from her position up to him. She nods her head and looks things over. Then I see her use her horn to cast a magic detection spell so she can make sure it is only a single beam of magical energy and not more. Once she is done, she tells him something that I do not hear and I watch him step carefully over it as he makes his way onto this level.

After him, as each of us approaches the beam Twinks is there, quietly telling us to watch our steps.

As we continue to advance down the halls of this level, we pass several labs and offices that are currently locked. But ahead we can see some with their doors open. Then, I hear two voices. Both are male but with slightly different accents to them.

The first voice says in what I recognize as a Thunderhead accent, “Well, I know I would not want to be hit by this thing.”

The other in a haughty accent that I think might be Neighvarroian asks, “Other than the obvious, why not?”

They then begin to talk about what the weapon does and why. As they are doing this Xochitl holds up his right forehoof to signal the others to stop. Then signals with his ears that there are hostiles ahead of us. He continues with his signals to let us know he sees two of them.

“Why would we want something that only blinds somepony?” the second voice answers.

As they are debating each other, I have Double Back and Morning Mist advance to join Flower. This way we can hopefully capture the two obvious Enclave researchers, as well as the weapon we came for.

I am just about to give them the go signal when I hear one of the researchers call out from the lab, “You, in the hallway, who are you and what are you doing here?”

My ponies raise their weapons and Ginger calls out, “Hooves in the air or your dead ponies.”

Right after she says this, I hear a brief buzz and see a bright flash of what must have been magical light. Right after this, I hear Double Back yelling “I can’t see! My Eyes, I can’t see!” I hear his rifle drop as Morning Mist empties a magazine into the offending pony.

I watch as Xochitl swings his rifle to shoot the other Enclaver who yells out, “I surrender.”

Xochitl and Morning Mist take him prisoner and pat him down for weapons. As they take him into custody, I tell Twinks, “Pour some of that healing potion onto his eyes and be quick about it.” Which she is.

He has just started to stop screaming when I hear Serendipity call to me from an adjacent lab, “Boss, get in here you are going to want to see this and pronto.”

I am curious about what she has found and I trot over her. As I enter the lab, I ask, “Ok, what is the big deaa... Oh, Buck! Where did they get a Doorway?” As I see it sitting idly in the corner of the lab. I begin to wonder to myself, just how many of these Celestia-blessed things were made?

I am just about to it when we all hear the security alarm sounding in the facility and red rotating lights begin to turn as a large metal door can be heard opening nearby. As it screeches open, we hear Mudwing say over the radio, “Choo, one of my people found some controls for several doors that will allow both teams to work our way out through the loading docks.”

“Roger Raider 2,” I reply as suddenly we all hear the howls of ferals. “Raider 2, have them close that door quick!”

This is followed by our prisoner exclaiming in fear, “Oh dear Celestia, they just opened the shelter for this hub. We were afraid to go in there after we saw the camera footage of all the ghouls. We need to get out of here quick.”

From the intercom, we hear a cheerful female voice say, “Attention all personnel, unauthorized personnel have been detected in the building. Security has been activated and deadly force is authorized. Have a good day.”

I know we are in trouble as this means that the security robots have been activated. Dear Luna and Celestia. Discord must love having fun with us I think as I hear the Ghouls and robots engaging each other not too far away. This point is brought home when I hear Cowlick open fire with his battlesaddle-mounted medium machinegun. Then I hear him yell out “Big Blue, they have cut us off.”

This is followed by Mudwing informing me, “We have more company up here, you need to fall back now.”

I call back and let her know we cannot and why. We shortly see the ghouls getting closer as they overwhelm the robotic guards nearest them.

Soon the combined three-way fight has us being driven into the lab. I then make a snap decision in desperation as I tell Twinks, “Fire up that Doorway, it may be our only way out.”

As the others of my team begin to make a fighting withdrawal toward the lab I am in, we can begin to hear the Doorway warming up. The hum of it agitates the ferals even more and causes them to press harder.

Soon Xochilt and the others are performing a fighting withdrawal in the hallway. I see first Morning Mist take a grazing shot to his face, then I see a lightning bolt from another robot hit Xochitl fully. I watch in horror as he drops to the floor and convulses briefly. I use my Mini gun to cover them as Days End uses his mouth to grab Xochitl’s collar and drags him toward the lab while using his horn to keep shooting.

Right after Days End and Xochilt make it inside the lab and behind a lab counter for cover, Cowlick runs into the room. As he does this he spins around, tosses a grenade behind him then triggers the wall controller closing the door. As he does this, he yells to us, “Everyone down.”

The explosion is only mildly impressive, but the windows on that side of the room shatter into spiderwebs, and I see pieces of robots and feral ghouls go flying clearing the hallway outside briefly. Then we hear the roar of the ghouls begin again as another wave of them makes their way toward the lab we are in.

I turn and look at the Doorway and I can see the pink color inside the frame begin to swirl and become cloudier. Then Twinks tells me, “Big Blue, it is almost ready, we may want to give the coordinates I am setting to Mudwing or the others so they can find us.”

At that moment I am treating Xochitl and answer her by saying, “Your right Danger, give me a second.”

“Ok, boss, it’s about ready, here are the settings.”

I try, not fully successfully, to keep my voice calm as I call Mudwing over the radio and tell her our status and to have her contact Mort with the Coordinate setting from the Doorway so that he can give them to Spiral Notebook to come get us.

After a brief exchange on the radio, I know we must get moving as we can all hear the ferals pounding on the door. I am afraid of one of them getting lucky and hitting the outside controller just right allowing them to get in. Almost as if just thinking it makes it happen the doors to the hallway begin to open. The area on the other side of the door is overflowing with ferals and robots. My team fires through the gap in the door as we fall back to the next room which houses the Doorway.

I hear Twinks call out, “It’s ready boss, best to get moving now.”

I can see that everypony is in this section of the lab and I know with our wounded we cannot withstand them so I make a final decision. I turn my head briefly and order, “Sunny, you lead the way, Epona, Ginger, you are next. Those who can, help the wounded. I will go last.

As they go through the Doorway, I use my horn to rip shelving off the wall as well as cabinets and countertops to block the access into this room of the lab.

While the doors are still holding, I hear a robot enter the room and I see them begin to open slowly as it forces them apart. Suddenly I hear loud growling and I see a feral unicorn's horn briefly flash and the robot flies to the side. The others have already gone through. I call out one last time to Mudwing, “Raider Two, this is Raider One, my people have gone through and I am following them. The Doorway is still open. We have been overrun by robots and ferals.”

“Roger, Raider One, we are being forced back by an Enclave Quick Reaction force ourselves we will send help as soon as we can. Goddesses speed and may the Great Egg bless you.”

Without thinking over the radio, I say, “May Celestia guide and Luna protect all of you too.” Then I turn and walk through the Doorway into another universe.

As I come out, I see my ponies have put their weapons in the easy position and are trying to calm a poor stallion in front of them down.

As I slowly approach them, I see the surprise on this new pony’s face as he stutters out, “It’s, it’s you, your still alive,” I watch as he bows low and says, “Forgive me, your highness, I had not expected to find you.”

I am taken aback by his doing this and I cautiously tell him, “Please rise. I am afraid I may not be who you think I am.”

I watch as he stands tall again. Shifts his eyeglasses and says, “But of course, you fit the ancient illustrations and the description of you Princess Luna.”

I hear myself sigh as he says this and I tell him, “Sir, unfortunately, I am not her. Though I have met her. You may call me Choo Choo.” I pause as I watch him think about what I said. Then I ask him, “Since you know my name, what shall I call you?”

I see him looking nervously at all of us. Then he adjusts his glasses with a forehoof before he cautiously answers, “It is a pleasure to meet you Choo Choo, my name is Argyle, Argyle Starshine.”

*****

Rainbow Dash Skyport, Enclave Territory, Lunar Commonwealth: Ball Lightning.

“Good morning Alizée,” I tell the shopkeeper as Savannah and I walk up to the shop.

“Good morning, Captain, it is a pleasure as always to see you.”

“And you as well. If you do not mind, I may stop by later for tea.”

“No, I don’t mind. I always enjoy our conversations over a good cup.”

I then turn to my daughter and tell her, “Have a good day Savannah, I will see you later.”

I can see the smile in her eyes as she tells me, “Will do Dad. Now you best get going before your late for your morning meeting.”

I smile as we have both become used to this routine as I make my way to the battalion commander's office for our daily officer’s call.

The meeting seems to be going fairly normal until near the end when the Colonel tells me, “After the meeting I need to see you, Captain Lightning.”

My curiosity is raised more than anything, but I also feel a slight bit of fear of what went wrong that I don’t know about.

After the others leave, he has me close the door. Then he tilts his head as he looks at me and tells me, “Ball, what is it with you? Seriously. I have never had an officer keep getting grabbed for special details as much as you.”

“Sir?” I ask in confusion.

He straightens his head and tells me, “I have been told you are to report to Lt Colonel Sun Spot. While I do not know what for, I can only assume that once again you are being assigned a special detail.”

I am surprised and I tell him, “Sir, I am sorry about those other times. It even has been a couple of months even since my family and I did the dog and pony show when we adopted the kids.”

“Yeah, I know Ball. But it is aggravating. I need an officer in charge of your company I can trust and I know will be here when I need them.”

I find myself sighing, “Sir, I do understand. I would rather just stay with my company as well.”

“I am glad you understand son. And no, this will not go against your fitness report. However, it may go well for your platoon leaders, particularly that one you have, what is her name?”

“Bulls Eye Squall, Sir. Of my three lieutenants, she is the most competent.”

“Yes, I have noticed that. How long before she is eligible for promotion to Captain?”

“By the standard sir, about another year. With heavy casualties and the war, whatever the General Staff feels is appropriate.”

The Colonel nods his head to me, “Ok, well you best get going Captain.”

“Yes sir, I tell him. Then I give a brief salute and head on my way to the company HQ for a quick officers’ call with them before I make my way to the lone hanger that I have now become way too familiar with.

As I enter my HQ, I see my platoon leaders waiting for me. I give them a rundown of the orders of the day from the Battalion and when I finish, I dismiss them but tell Bulls Eye as she gets ready to leave, “Lieutenant, a word with you in my office if you don’t mind.”

As the others leave, she follows me into my office and I tell her, “Take a seat Bulls Eye, Coffee?”

She takes a chair across from me and tells me, “That would be nice sir.”

From the other room, I hear my clerk readying the coffee for us. Once he gives it to us, he leaves closing the door behind him. We both take a nice relaxing sip of it. Once she sets her cup down, I tell her, “I just wanted to give you a heads up that Battalion has noticed the quality of your work and it is appreciated.”

“Thank you, sir. It is good to hear. I know a lot of the brass does not care for us former enlisted.”

I nod my head then I quietly ask her, “How are things going with Funnel Cloud.”

I see a brief smile cross her face, “Sir, you know I generally do not talk about that as we have to keep it on the down low. But honestly, pretty good. Once he retires, we plan on making it official between us.”

I nod my head. “I understand. I am just glad to hear things are going well.”

She takes another sip of coffee and then asks, “Sir, I know you didn’t call me in here just for a cup of coffee and to chat, what’s going on?”

I find myself sighing and tell her, “I may have a possible detached duty coming up, so I wanted to give you a heads up so you weren’t blindsided.”

She smiles, takes another sip of her coffee, and tells me, “Captain, I really appreciate that, but if I see you heading towards that hanger over there, I already figure you are going to be gone for a bit. Funnel told me what he could about your previous outings.”

He really should not have even told her that much, but I let it slide. I know Funnel and if he trusts her this much, I can too.

We finish our coffee and she heads back to her platoon. After which I head over to the hanger. As I enter, I am met by Sergeant Major Funnel Cloud and Air Burst. I am a bit surprised and I guess it shows as Air Burst just shrugs his wings and tells me, “Good to see you again Ball. Any idea what this is about?”

I shake my head and tell him, “Not a clue, I did not even know you were dirtside again.”

To the side, Funnel says, “Well, there is a face I have not seen for a while.”

When I turn and look in the direction, he is looking I see Altocumulus approaching us. I quickly wave a wing at him and he trots over to us. Once the four of us are together I see Colonel Sunspot, with her fiery mane braided tightly this time. Her ever-present sunglasses hanging out of her pocket and with an expression of irritation on her face.

She lets out an exasperated huff and tells us, “Follow me.”

She leads us to a briefing room where we are told to sit down. Once seated she tells us, “Ok, we have a rapidly changing situation that has drawn the attention of the president, who thought you four would be the best for the job.”

I, as well as the others, are all taken aback by this. Then she continues. “Normally for these types of ops, we prefer to have more planning, however, there does not seem to be time for it.” She pauses then continues, “You are going to Baltimare. The Repair Ponies have been sighted there and the President wants you to contact them and to make a deal with them concerning our pulling out of our forces from the wreckage there. Our people currently control most of what is left of the downtown area, including the MWT Hub located there. The NCR has previously made raids there and we have since lost one of our top battlefield weapons research archeologists. If they have that pony, we want them back. Remember the President wants to pull our troops out of there, but negotiate for the best deal possible to allow us to do so.”

She continues and gives us a quick and dirty briefing about the units in the area as well as the local settlements which seem to have begun to band together in their efforts to fight us.

When she is finished, I see Air Burst raise a forehoof, “Colonel, is there anything special we should know about the threats there?”

“I have given you all the information I have. I am sorry I cannot tell you more. Go grab your kits and report back here in thirty minutes.”

We quickly begin to move. I send a message to Lieutenant Colonel Full Bright, letting him know I will be detached temporarily. Then as I get to my office, I grab my Get Out of Dodge City bag and kit. I send a quick message to Sundancer letting her know I am being assigned a special duty and will be back as soon as I can. Then I am off and running back to the hangar.

Once back we are loaded onto a vertibuck and are on our way to Baltimare.

We circle the wreck of the city as we approach it. Below us, I can see many old factories. Some of them are complete wrecks. Others, to my surprise, look to be almost functional and have settlements set up around them. I also can see the ruins of the old Neighfolk Naval base in the distance. I feel a quick chill as I remember the briefing mentioning how many there are estimated to have become ghouls.

Then we are over the downtown area and I see what must be the MWT Hub. On one of the upper stories there is a helipad sticking out and we land there.

We are greeted by a security detachment and escorted inside the administration wing of the Hub. Once there we are met by a Major from the regimental staff.

“Good afternoon. Thank you for arriving so promptly. We have requested a team to assist us in recovering one of our top researchers as well as to capture an NCR team of Rangers that have taken him.”

We all find ourselves nodding our heads and I wonder what has changed since I thought we were to meet with the repair ponies, not perform a search and rescue op.

He then says, “If you will watch this screen, you will see footage of the raid in which our researcher was captured.”

As I watch I see footage from several cameras of a team entering what looks to be a lab area. Then I see them exchange fire with a pony who goes down. As I watch I notice that there is a mule with them that grabs his eyes. Then I recognize the one they called Twinks running over to him and treating him. After a bit of time, I see one I believe to be one of the sisters that they called Epona leave the room. I then notice the big blue alicorn that is usually with them go into that room too. The camera switches and I see what can best be described as an empty mirror frame or doorframe that has several wires and devices connected to it. I watch the look of surprise and almost horror come over the face of the alicorn.

The camera image switches to another camera and I see rotating flashing lights begin and see all the ponies there looked surprised. I then watch as they engage in a fight with both robots and ghouls coming down the hallway towards them. Soon the camera switches and I can see they are cut off and they begin to fall back to a holding position in a lab.

The camera switches again and I am seeing inside the lab as some sort of cloudy glow comes from the center of the looking glass. Then I watch as the camera shows how desperate the fight is from the hallway. Another camera change and I watch as those in the lab begin to fall back into the lab with the looking glass and I watch them run through one side and nothing comes out on the back. I realize with a chill this is what the repair ponies had talked about. It is a Doorway. But how did one end up here?

I look over to the Major who simply pushes a button and the camera footage stops. He then tells us, “That footage was from a month and a half ago. We have just finished clearing out the last of the ghouls and robots. It seems that someone had opened the Hubs shelter for the staff while they were in there. Unfortunately, with the still high magical radiation levels in the shelter, it seems most of the Baltimare MWT staff had become ghouls on the last day.

With that said, other than a few ghouls running through whatever that device is, it has been running since. We were just about ready to try and send a team through when you arrived.

My team looks at each other and I hear Alto asks, “Well Ball, what do you think? Should we go rescue them?”

I find myself grinning. Then I tell him, “Sure.” I look at the Major and tell him, “Let us kit up fully and we will head to the Doorway. We already know what it is.”

“You already know what it is?”

“Yes. We're just surprised to find out there is more than one of these things,” I tell him.

Ten minutes later we are led to the lower-level labs and before us, I can see the pink-colored clouds swirling in the frame. I feel my heart speed up as I am very nervous about doing this, but in for a bit, in for a cap.

“Ok, I will lead us through,” I tell the others as I prep my carbine on my battlesaddle.

As I do this the others line up behind me and ready themselves too. Then I take one more deep breath. Think of my wife and our children. Then I take the first steps that will lead me to another universe.

*****

Good evening to all of you listeners in the Baltimare region. We have a lot coming up for you tonight with news and views you can use as well as tunes to peruse.

In local news, it seems that the Enclave forces have brought in more troops to try and suppress our people. They have also set up a broadcast station here for their propaganda to try and turn us against the NCR.

We will also be having an interview with the leadership of the Baltimare Unified Defense Agreement about what it all means for us, the denizens of the Baltimare region. Hopefully, it will help clear things up for all of us.

Now a message from one of our sponsors, “Remember for the best stills and pipe weapons around go to the market of the Baltimare Aircoils. That’s right, Baltimare Aircoils, a settlement, trade hub, and more.

Now for our first song of the show, here is Between Two Worlds.

Author's Note

There is a lot going on in this chapter and I wanted to end it so it built upon the next one. I have planned the events of this chapter for some time and it is laying a foundation for more of what is to come later. I do hope that it has come provided some excitement and surprises for you, the reader.

Also, just a reminder that if you have any comments you would like to make, please feel free to do so, or DM me if you would prefer. It is always good to get feedback.

Now, on to begin the next chapter.

For those who would like to listen to this chapter's song, the YouTube link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH1DDUNTMdI