Chapter 73 In the Damage Path of the Storm

“Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.” - Mary Harris Jones

“War doesn't determine who's right. War determines who remains.” ― R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War

Enroute to the Manor House, Emporia, Coltlumbia: Ginger Snaps

As we again pass through the lines to head forward, we have a full set of scouts from the 3rd Manesville with us. They are running drag. Sunny and Morning Mist are in the lead with the others from their set. We are traveling down the roads in our typical staggard column-of-two formation. As we do so, we can hear the gunfire and artillery all around us.

I worry about my parents, especially Papa Badger with the air assault that was attempted earlier, and Papa Archer whose artillery has to keep shooting and moving to avoid accurate counter-battery fire. I pray to Sweet Cream that we all come through this in one piece.

As we slowly make our way forward, we are constantly looking along the side of the streets and into windows and down alleys. We have been moving for half an hour when I hear a shot crack out and we all drop or move to the side, look for cover, and quickly move there.

I hear Tater call out, “I am hit.”

Twinks calls out, “On my way!”

Tater then yells, “Stay put. He is using me as bait.”

I then hear Days End say, “I got you Twinks. We will use my shield spell.”

His horn then glows as they both run to Tater and as Twinks pulls Tater to cover I see two shots hit Days End’s shield as they flash. Once undercover, Days End drops his shield and brings his rifle to the ready again.

As this is going on I see Sunny pointing towards a building and moving his ears to indicate the window the shots are coming from. I bring myself to get ready, rush to the next bit of cover, and make my move. As I run, I hear a shot from the window and I hear the bullet pass me as he misses me. This is followed by my husband’s rifle Orcus firing three rapid shots. I watch from cover as both Ember Rose and Jelly Bean rush forward to the next cover.

As they run, I move so I can fire at any possible snipers if they are still there. While they move, I hear no gunfire so once they are in cover I jump up and begin to run again.

I am halfway to cover again when I feel a bullet graze my shoulder and I drop to the ground and slide in surprise. The bastard let the others run so he could surprise us again.

I stop and look for the closest cover and as I get up, I dodge right briefly before running forward again. Once under cover I look at it quickly and slap a field dressing on it.

It stings like all get out, but I have had worse, even just this morning. So, I decide not to use any painkillers.

Soon I am joined by Epona who asks me, “You Okay Sis?”

“Yeah, just a scratch. Sorry to worry you.”

She shakes her head, peaks around the steps I am hiding behind, and then tells me, “It happens. Sunny and the fliers are trying to sneak up on that building using the next alleyway over.”

I watch as Days End uses his shield again to help some of the others advance beyond me and my sister. Soon afterward I see Choo do the same. Both times their shields flare as shots hit them.

Before too much longer we can make our way to the door of the building that the shooter is in. We are just about ready to enter and fight our way up when we hear a flurry of gunfire followed by silence from up above. Shortly after this Sunny comes down the stairs and I notice that Box-End has a nice shiny Ironshod G113 sniper rifle. Beside her I see Counter Weight smiling with a Gauss Carbine. Box-end then tells us, “We got the sniper and his spotter.”

Sunny adds, “Boss, they are without radio comms as well. Everyone seems to be slugging it out the old-fashioned way.”

She nods and I hear her sigh before she answers, “Well, at least if levels the playing field, I guess. Ok, everyone, let us get moving again.”

Soon we are back to making our way toward The Manor again. As Xochitl slides past me Katie is right next to him, followed by Morning Glen and the rest of their set as they lead our team on point.

We only make it a few more blocks before we run across another group of Enclave soldiers running through a crossroad as we approach. Both teams are surprised at first and react as expected.

Fortunately for us, our team reacts more quickly, we move and drop and fire at them right away, and we then shift to cover as much as we can find. It is a brief fight, but when Cowlick opens up with his MG they break, running or flying as quickly as possible away.

After they are clear of the intersection we slowly begin to move again. Morning Glen takes the point and I almost smile when we all hear something fall around the corner as he is about ready to look around it. Instead, I watch as he turns and catches himself after three hops back down, the way we came.

I see the frustration on his face at his having done this, as he turns back around and moves up next to Katie and Xochitl. My husband lying on his belly, slowly crawls forward and looks down the crossroad both ways. Finally, he quickly dashes across the street and takes a ready position with his weapon as he signals it is clear with his ears.

Once the rest of his set is across the intersection, they retake the lead, stopping periodically to look, smell, and listen for anything out of the ordinary. We are three-quarters of our way to the Manor House when off to the side we see a local police station with a transport vertibuck on its room offloading supplies.

From behind me, I overhear Flight Plan telling Choo, “If you can get us up there, we can steal that thing.”

Choo replies, “That is not part of our mission Flight Plan.”

“I know, but we are going to need a new one to replace the Hot Shot after this is all done, and in the meantime, I can use it to move wounded while the rest of you hit the Manor. Maybe we can even provide a bit of air support.”

She thinks briefly and tells him, “I do believe you have a sound idea. We will do it.”

She then looks back at the scouts from the third and asks them, “Do you think this will help you lead the rest of the 3rd up?”

They look at each other and the sergeant in charge answers, “Yeah, but I do not know if we can make it back on our own. Maybe if you guys capture that vertibuck they can give us a lift back and we can go from there.”

Choo looks at Flight Plan who grins and tells her, “Yeah, that sounds doable.”

Choo tells us, “Black Bird, Fog, you two are up. I need you two to open the door for us there.”

I can hear the smile in Sunny’s voice as he replies, “You got it, boss.” He pauses then says, “Let us go Fog. Two Bit, you and Ballast hold back a bit. With your uniforms, they may figure out who you are more quickly.”

I then hear Box-End suggest, “You could always use us as prisoners to get closer.”

Sunny thinks briefly then shakes his head and tells her, “No, if they see you are Dashites, you are dead right then and the jig is up. Thanks for the offer, but I am not going to risk it.”

While I agree, I say nothing as it is not my decision. However, Choo then tells them, “Blackbird, I agree with your reasoning. You know how to do this best.”

He thinks briefly and tells her, “Boss, I will take the Flower and Branches as prisoners with me. It might give us a better in.”

Both turn their firearms over to Sunny and Morning Mist, then we watch as Sunny leads the others on their way towards the main entrance to the police station.

Once they are close enough, I can see Sunny begin to speak with the guards there. They he and the others are led inside by one of the two guards. The other police officer seems to be bored and is leaning against the wall when Choo tells me, “Cookie, use your SIR to take him out. I want minimum noise.”

I take the shot and I watch as the bullet hits him in the head and he drops down to the ground and does not move again. After this Choo tells us, “Move people.” As we begin to run towards the station, we hear gun and MEW fire being exchanged briefly.

At the door, we quickly form a stack and when ready, I open the door and step aside as the others rush inside behind a group of police officers who are engaging Sunny and the others.

The total surprise gets them to surrender and we lead them to the cell room where we take all their keys from them and then lock them in the cells. We then quickly begin to make sure the rest of the building is clear. As we reach the upper floor, we can hear several voices arguing about what to do. One of which says, “We do not have time to prep the bird, get to the roof and we leave it. We can always bring back more support.”

As they are arguing Tater pulls the pin on a metal apple and as he tosses it down the hallway, I see Twink's horn flares as she takes in in her TK and diverts it into the room that we heard the voices come from.

We all hunker down behind what cover we can as it explodes and we hear screaming and yelling. That is our cue. We rush forward again. Myself and my set in the lead. Twinks and her set all divert into the room. As she enters, I hear her say, “Hold your fire people. We have a couple of survivors that I can treat. Just watch my back.”

Right after this, we are up the stairs and on the roof. As we emerge, we find the vertibuck is there, half-loaded with ammunition, rations, and medical supplies. As the others follow us up to the roof, we spread out and form a perimeter around the roof with some of us watching the stairs.

As we are doing this Flight Plan and his crew run up to the aircraft and I watch him smile as he climbs in and begins to perform the preflight checklist as quickly as possible.

Before too much longer Choo has Jelly Bean go back inside to tell Twinks and her team to hurry to join us.

Shortly after this, I see them come out of the door. As the engines of the vertibuck begin to turn I hear her tell Choo, “Boss, I saved two of them and we moved them downstairs to outside the cells, they are stable, but I used my anesthetic spell on both of them. They should be out for another half-hour at least.”

“Good glad to hear it.”

Soon Flight Plan signals he is ready. I then hear Load Shift yell out, “Anyone who does not want to stay here needs to get on right now!”

By sections, we fall back and load onto the vertibuck. My section is the last to load. As we run to board, I see several pegasi flying in our direction. Once we are on, we take to the air immediately without even closing the rear loading door.

From the side doors, I hear our gunners firing, as we skim the rooftops on our way to our next destination, The Manor.

*****

Streets of Emporia, Coltlumbia: Xochitl

While our team has gotten fairly decent at handling ourselves in an urban environment, I will have to say, I do not like this big battle stuff. Too much can happen that we cannot control. My biggest wish right now is for us to complete our missions and hopefully be able to go home again with all of us still alive.

We are just arriving at an intersection when suddenly we see a squad of Enclave regulars approaching it at a trot. We both see each other at the same time and both teams react. I drop to my left and then roll behind some trash cans which give me some concealment if not cover. I then shift enough to open fire on them. I hear Katie yip briefly and then she is next to me, lying on her stomach as well.

I am just slapping a new magazine into Orcus when I hear Cowlick open up with his medium MG. I see chips of cloudcrete fly off a couple of buildings at the intersection and suddenly they are gone having decided that this way is too dangerous or perhaps just not worth the fight.

We wait a few more minutes before we begin to move from our cover or concealment. I am right behind Morning Glen as he gets ready to peak around the corner. As his nose is just starting to protrude from the corner, we hear something fall from down the street.

I almost wet myself trying not to laugh at his response to the noise and his own reaction of bounding away from possible danger a couple of times before he realized what he had done. Instead, I signal to him that I will go first. I then low crawl to the corner, look both ways down the cross street, then jump up and rush across to the other side.

Once there I bring Orcus back to the ready and as I keep a lookout, I signal the others that it is safe to cross.

Morning Glen comes right after Katie. Soon the whole team is across together. As we walk the streets I am constantly scanning for hidden dangers. This has me looking into many windows and doorways. Most of which are closed, but through the open ones I can see the many goods of the shops and how extravagant the apartments and townhomes are.

What confuses me is that most of them have a small box that is either in a window or passes through an opening in the wall. During a break we go inside a blown-out coffee shop I ask some of the others about them.

Flight Plan smiles ruefully and tells me, “Those my buck are air conditioners. They help to control the temperature in the rooms they are in. I can guarantee that if they have those, they also have magic heater units to keep warm during the winter.

Satisfied with his answer I simply nod, but I do hear Twinks ask, “How do they do that? Is it Pegasus magic or could we do it too?”

He shrugs his wings and tells her, “Honestly, I don’t know. I just know that I really appreciated them before I was branded.”

After we grab a few more items to eat and something to drink, I see Choo Choo, writing a note to the owner of the shop as well as a hoof full of bottle caps to pay for what we took. When done she tells us, “Ok, enough of a break. Let us get moving my little ponies.”

From the side, I hear Cowlick tell her, “I guess me and Branches will come to boss,” which gets a slight chuckle out of us including Choo as it breaks the tension, we have been feeling.

A while later as I look around a corner at an intersection, I notice a building down the road that has a vertibuck sitting on its roof. I then use my scope to examine the building and see a sign above the door that reads Police Station. There is a small barricade before the steps leading up to the door, and two police officers in riot gear stand guard there.

I peek around the corner and tell the others what I have seen. This is followed by Flight Plan trying to talk Choo into capturing the vertibuck. She hesitates but finally relents. She then has Sunny and Morning Mist escort me and Morning Glen as prisoners to infiltrate the station.

Before we go, Morning Glen and I hoof them our firearms and knives. I tell Katie to stay with Ginger. We then follow Sunny forward with our heads down and our tails tucked tight as if in resignation.

As we reach the barrier one of the police officers calls out, “What Cha got there?”

Sunny laughs and answers, “Just a couple of wastelanders who thought they could sneak into Emporia. Found them down the way raiding a candy store. They were so busy they did not even see us coming.

The guard laughs, “Sounds about right. I bet they never even had running water or indoor plumbing down there. Just uncivilized the way they are. So, what do you want to do with them?”

“I figured we could lock them up and after this is all done possibly trade them for some of our prisoners.”

He gets a look of disgust on his face and replies, “Not like they are worth much. Just look at them.” He pauses then says, “Flying Tackle, take them inside and lock these two up so the soldier boys can get back to work.”

The other police officer nods his head and opening the door tells us, “Alright follow me in.”

As we enter, I see a large room with several desks around it. Each of them has a computer terminal on them. I also see only four other officers here. We are just about to the jail cells when the officer tells Sunny, “Sorry but you have to leave your weapons here.”

Sunny sets mine and Morning Glen’s weapons on the desk next to the door, then he and Morning Mist both place themselves between the police officers and us as he says, “If you say so,” Then I watch as he fires his rifle into the officer’s chest with the barrel only a couple of inches away.

After this, all Tartarus breaks loose as the other police ponies grab their weapons at the same time Morning Glen and I do. Since we are at such close range, I grab my pistol and begin to fire as I pop back and forth around the door frame with each shot.

I lose track of time but have only gone through two pistol mags when I see the front door open and the rest of the team enter firing at the Enclavers’ backs. Within seconds they raise their wings and front hooves and drop their weapons.

Sunny then tells us, “Let’s get the survivors into the cells.”

We escort them to the cells and before they step through both Tater and I check them for any hidden weapons or keys. Once they have all been collected, we lock them in and leave the keys on the desk outside the lockup area.

After this, we begin to work our way up to the roof so we can get the aircrew and the scouts out of here.

We only stop once during our journey and that is when we hear several voices arguing about what to do and realizing they do not have time to escape on the aircraft.

They are probably armed so Tater takes out a metal apple and throws it in the direction of the doorway. When it is almost there, I see Twink’s horn light up and the grenade makes an almost 90-degree turn into the doorway and explodes a couple of seconds afterward.

After which Tater and their set rush into the room and my wife and her set lead the rest of us up to the roof.

Once on the roof most of us form a perimeter around it as Flight Plan and his crew quickly begin to make their preflight checks. Once done they start the engines and when at speed, we are all told to board the aircraft. I look over at Choo and she moves her wings to signal us to get moving.

My set and Katie load right after the Scouts. Before long we are all on board and I feel us leap skyward, but then we settle down and we fly just over the roofs of the buildings on our path to the Manor.

As we are flying the scouts, Corporal, yelled to me to be heard above the noise, “Is it always like this for you guys?”

I smile and yell back, “Not always, sometimes things get a bit wild, but this is not too bad.”

I watch as his eyes go wide and then he laughs out loud as he shakes his head. It takes us seven minutes to fly from the police station to the Manor. During our flight, we take fire from the ground several times, but nothing serious is hit.

From the front windscreen, I can see a large cemetery next to the Manor, and Flight Plan banks us so we are over it. Again, we are taking fire as he slows, and from about six feet above the ground the Crew Chief yells for us, “All the Repair Ponies, out now!”

With that, we all begin to jump out of the aircraft. As I land, I roll almost like with a parachute and then I am back on my hooves and running again, firing suppressive fire at a slow rate, to save ammo.

Once we are all out, the vertibuck leaps into motion again, spinning and flying in the general direction of the front lines and to safety. I smile to myself as I notice that they are not the only vertibuck in the skies above Coltlumbia. Hopefully, this will grant them some safety.

We move forward toward the grounds of the Manor using gravestones and mausoleums as cover and concealment.

Most of the way we are not taken under serious fire as we hear an explosion and gunfire on the far side of the Manor as well. I am guessing at least one of the other teams is being engaged.

It is during this time that Choo looks at the grounds and sees a rear entrance that seems to not be as heavily guarded right now and she gives the order, “To the left, let us go that way.”

Within minutes we are almost to the back gate when we take fire from behind a barricade there. There, Sunny and I use the scopes on our rifles and take out the two guards there and as a group, we are up and rushing past the barricade and onto the grounds.

As we run, we exchange some fire with guards on the roof and from several windows. I hear the call of medic twice during this run and once I reach the wall and some cover I turn back and I watch as Days End uses his shield spell while Double Back places Ember Rose on his back and they bring her forward to safety. Then with Days End still using his spell they reach Box-end Wrench and drag her to us as well.

Days End drops his spell as Twinks and Choo begin to work, but I notice he is covered in sweat and breathing hard.

“You alright?” I ask him.

He nods and after a few more breaths he tells me, “Yeah, it just took a lot more out of me than I expected.”

The service entry door we are at is locked and Twinks tells Choo, “Boss, this might take me a few minutes, maybe we should find another door.”

Choo shakes her head, “No, keep working on it, it is giving me a bit more of time to heal these two’s wounds.” She pauses then asks, “Is anyone else hit?”

When we all say no she tells us, “OK, form two stacks, one on each side of the door.” She looks at Days End and asks, “Finale, do you still have enough magic to do this, or should I go first?”

He tiredly grins and tells her, “I got it. Besides how much firepower can they have in there?”

“Very Well, then you lead them in.”

As Twinks continues to work, they set up a four-pony stack with Days End in the lead, Counter Weight right behind, followed by Double Back and Jelly Bean.

As the rest of us continue to occasionally exchange shots with the Enclave forces that are still outside of the building on the grounds, Twinks continues to work on the electronic lock. Once she has it, she calls out, “Got it boss.”

Choo nods her head and as Ginger opens the door from the other side, my set gets ready to follow Day End and the others.

I watch as Days Ends leads them in with his horn lit and battle rifle ready, followed by Counter Weight Double Back is just about to the doorway when we experience a powerful explosion coming out of the doorway. Jelly Bean is still safe as she was blocked by Double Back who had tripped just before he reached the door and just before the flames of the explosion come out. I am temporarily blinded and deaf from the explosion so I do not move. I just stand there until I begin to regain my senses.

When I get them back, I see that Counter Weight has been thrown out of it, and Days End was thrown back, but he did not clear the doorframe. Instead he hit it with such force that he breaks the frame with his body.

While I feel bad for both, all I can think is thank the Goddesses that the wall was made of reinforced cloudcrete or we would all be down.

My ears still ringing I move to help Counter Weight, as Choo and Twinks both use their magic to pull them to the side of the doorway. I look at my friend and teammate and realize Days End is probably not going to make it. I then look over at Counterweight and see Twinks shaking her head. I then realize it is my turn to lead the next stack in and I remember why when breaching a doorway, they are called murder holes.

*****

The Manor Grounds, Emporia, Coltlumbia: Choo Choo

I can see Days End is tired, but he says he can handle this entry so I decide to let him. After Twinks does her thing with the electronic lock, Ginger pulls the door and He yells, “Go, Go, Go!” as he uses his horn for a shield spell and leads his set in. He is all the way through, and Counterweight is halfway through the door when Double Back uncharacteristically trips and falls while still clear of the door. As he falls, I hear a click and then an explosion. I am looking away from the door when it happens so I am not blinded by the flash. However, I am briefly deafened by the explosion and I watch as in silence Counter Weight is thrown clear of the door. I look over and I see Days End is laying against a broken doorframe. His body is burned and twisted. I use my TK to pull him to the side as Twinks does the same with Counterweight.

I can see he is in great pain and I immediately give him a dose of Medix to kill the pain. I then begin to examine him and while I know he is not going to make it I have to try.

He then goes into cardiac arrest and I get ready to do chest compressions on him when I look up and I see her. Mareigan. She slowly walks over to him and sadly smiles at him and she tells him, “It is time to go home. You have earned a warrior’s death.”

I look up at her, “No, it is not fair, he cannot be dying. He is a good stallion.”

She just looks at me and shakes her head.

After she does this, he coughs a couple of times and then forces his head to look at me and he tells me, “Sorry Mom. It is time for me to go.” He coughs a couple of more times, and with tears in my eyes, I hear him tell me, “You and the others are my family. Thanks for giving me a second chance. I know I am wrecked now, please let me go.”

He begins to cough again and I see red blood become expelled with it. I nod my head gently kiss him on his forehead and tell him, “Go with my blessings and that of the Goddesses, Son.”

I hear him breathe in one last time and he is gone. I sniffle back a tear and I look at Twinks and beside her and Counter Weight is another white mare, but she has on armor and has her yellow main and tail braided.

Mareigan approaches her and I hear her tell Mareigan, “He is mine, Mareigan. We both know it.”

I see Mareigan tilt her head, and then she replies, “I can see how that would be so, but he has been fighting alongside of mine for a while now Val.”

The mare I now know as Val laughs and replies, “So as it may be, but he was one of mine and has returned to my territory. I let you have yours even this far from yours, but he is mine.”

I watch as Mareigan nods her head, “Agreed. He is yours; I will not interfere.”

I then see Twinks shake her head slowly as she sits back and howls in emotional pain at the loss of another teammate. Then we both watch as Val and Mareigan fade away.

I can hear more gunfire from inside the building and around the front. We put the two bodies together by the door and I take Days End's Ranger Badge, but leave a note pinned to both bodies that identify who they were and that they were Repair Ponies.

We all shed a few tears and I watch as Box-end approaches the corpse of Counter Weight and kisses him on the forehead as I did Days End. She then tells him, “I will see you again in Elysium, Love.”

She wipes a few tears away from her eyes and nods to me. I then tell my people, “We need to get moving again. Back on mission people.”

We reform the stack, but this time we are more cautious as we begin to make our way inside of the building. Twice more we come to areas where we think there may be a trap or explosives set. Each time we have Twinks and Tater check it out. The first time we were in the kitchen and it was nothing. The second time we are in a hallway on the other side of the ballroom when we find enough plastic explosives that my shield would have had a hard time dealing with it.

After this we find ourselves engaging in firefights as we clear our path forward, room by room. We are almost to the main stairway leading to the second floor when I hear radio chatter again. We hear on the frequency for the Alliance special teams, “Alliance High Command, this is TS1, we have met up with the General and the jammer has been disabled. However, none of the Hardliner Generals are in the Manor. I repeat the Hard Targets are not present.”

I hear myself swear at that. It was for nothing, WE lost three members of my team today, two of them taking this Goddess-forsaken mansion for nothing.

To say I am angry is nowhere near strong enough. I want blood now. I want retribution. But how much is a life worth, and how can you get that value back once it is gone? I think to myself.

I shake my head at these thoughts and then over the radio, I hear the Enclave President Winter Breeze speaking. We all stop what we are doing and listen. In it, she discusses briefly what has occurred and how her actions that had instigated the war were done to help those in the wastelands.

As she says this, all I can think is, the road to Tartarus is paved with good intentions.

After this, she even admits that she has caused the death of many good beings. She then tells the Enclave soldiers to stand down, including those who are still loyal to the last of the Wonder Bolt generals, General Cloud Chaser.

After the broadcast, I hear the fighting slowly fade to silence. My team all look at each other and I see tears start to fall. I understand some of them are from the emotional pain of those we lost, some are from just the stress of the last several months, and finally, some parts of the tears are from the joy of still being alive.

We then gather ourselves together and we begin to make our way out of the Manor. Above us in the sky is the largest airship I have ever seen. But it is no longer firing, and neither are any of the others, so I do not worry about it. On the grounds of the Manor, I can see Enclave soldiers stacking arms.

As we pass some of them, one of them angrily says, “Go ahead and gloat, you won.”

I turn to him and calmly said, “We are not going to gloat, what is there to gloat about, the bigwigs win and lose wars. People like you and me; we do not win wars. We simply survive them. It has taken me over two hundred years to learn that. I hope you learn it more quickly.”

I see him put his head down, and I hear him let out a sigh as he slowly sits down, and I try to act like I do not see him cry.

We make our way to the back of the Manor House and there we collect our two teammates. “No pony left behind,” I hear Cowlick quietly say.

I nod my head, “You are right Salt.”

I then get on my PipBuck and call out, “Hotshot1, this is Big Blue do you copy?”

I try three times before I get a response. “Big Blue this is Hotshot 1, I read you.”

“Hotshot, can you perform a pickup for us?”

I hear him sigh before he answers, “Roger Big Blue, give me twenty minutes as I am dropping off wounded right now.”

“Understood, we will be waiting,” I tell him and while we wait, we begin to check our gear to pass the time. As we sit, I begin to overhear my people talking with each other about what we all just experienced.

I find it interesting to hear each of their perspectives and I notice each feels there are things we could have done differently. As they are doing this both Twinks and I begin to treat the wounds that until now have now have been left untreated except for bandages.

Twinks and I are just finishing up when I hear over my radio, “Big Blue, this is Hotshot1, we are inbound, I am heading for your PipBuck tag right now.”

“Understood, thank you Hot Shot1.”

Shortly after this, I see a transport vertibuck approaching us and after circling the Manor House approaches to land.

As we begin to load, I notice a body under a sheet near the ramp. Love Tap yells to me, “We picked up Wing Clip on our way to you, we didn’t feel right leaving him behind,” as she passes me a crew helmet.

I nod my head, then I can tell when she sees the other two being pulled on folding stretchers onto the aircraft, she asks, “Who?”

“Finale and Wing Clip,” I tell her.

“Damn, I liked both of them. How?” She asks.

“How about we talk about it later.”

She nods her head and then I see her move over to Double Back and Morning Mist. I see the tears in her eyes of relief that both of her stallions are safe. Once we are all aboard, she returns to her position and we lift off. As she does this, I plug into the comms jack and listen to the crew talk.

As we make our way quickly back towards Flankton I hear that General Cloud Chaser has been arrested and the war is officially done.

I sit back in my seat and close my eyes and I relax as Flight Plan tells me, “Big Blue, we are cleared to land at the Manesville Brigade headquarters.”

“Roger Hotshot 1. Thank you for letting me know.”

*****

753rd Security Battalion Headquarters, Flankton, Coltlumbia: Ball Lightning.

As the orders go out to shift B and C company to pony a line against the Hardliner I get several messages. The first let me know that B company troops are all standing fast and waiting for orders. The second lets me know that C troop has lost a platoon’s worth of troops who have decided to stick with the Hardliners. The third let me know that contact has been reestablished with A company and Captain Cloud Seeder.

The last gets my attention most, followed by the announcement of the troops from B company leaving our lines for the hardliners. I then request a casualty count as well as the number of troops heading over to the other side.

While I wait to get them, I tell my radio operator, “Get Captain Seeder on the horn and let him know I want to talk to him.”

“Yes, Sir.”

A few minutes later I am told, “Colonel, the captain is on the radio right now.”

I take the headset and microphone and begin, “Cloud Seeder, I am glad you are back with us. I want to know what the buck happened in those tunnels. However, I need to know your numbers and if you and your company are still in any shape to fight.”

I hear a long pause then he tells me, “Sir, I will explain what happened in the tunnels later. Just know that I still have almost two-thirds of my ponies left and we are ready to fight against the Hardliners.”

“Alright, I needed to hear that. We are reforming the battalion on the north side of Hurricane Bay. I want you to fall in on the left flank of the battalion. If any civilians want to join the fight use them as auxiliaries such as runners or stretcher bearers as much as possible.”

“Yes sir, understood and will do.”

Once I get the full numbers, I contact Colonel Fulbright’s headquarters and let them know.

“Lieutenant Colonel, I have heard rumors about your A company’s behavior. Are you sure they can be trusted?”

“Sir, I do believe we can trust them in the fight against the Hardliners. However, I do need to hear from Captain Seeder what happened in those tunnels.”

I hear him clear his throat, and then he adds, “I think we both do Lieutenant Colonel, I think we both do, but later. We need to prepare for what is coming.”

“Roger Sir, I am already adjusting my troop’s positions. As such I will be moving my headquarters forward to be with them, sir.”

“Understood, keep my staff informed,” he tells me and I know we are done talking for now.

I then give the word, “Ok people, standard rapid deployment setup except leave anything unnecessary behind, we have work to do.”

With those words, my headquarters becomes a bee hive of activity and soon we are ready and moving out the doors and towards Hurricane Bay.

As we approach there, I see a splotch gray painted power armor suit with several escorts all sporting Manesville tabs above a patch I have never seen before, approaching me and I hear the voice asking, “What is your purpose here?”

I can barely tell it is a female voice through the voice modulator as she then says, “Good to see you again Captain,” She pauses, “No, Lieutenant Colonel Ball Lightning. ”

“You have me at a loss as I do not recognize you.”

She nods, “Oh, I am Blueberry Crisp, my husband Hard Tack and I owned the pub you were brought into when you were captured a couple of years back.”

Inwardly I groan as I realize my past is once again coming back to haunt me. I quickly change this line of conversation by telling her, “I am bringing my troops up to help defend Flankton from the Hardliners. Who can I talk to about where they want us?”

As we are standing there, closer to the center of Hurricane Bay, I watch and then see a large group of civilians being guided to the rear, and away from the front.

She sees where I am looking and tells me, “Colonel Sirrocco is not here,” She pauses, he has not yet returned from our efforts to save the 2nd Manesville. Colonel Mollygirl of the Third is busy on our far right. While I do not hold the rank to make such a decision and our XO is occupied, my suggestion is to move to the north side of this park and set up on our flank. Sorry I can not do more, but you got here at a bad time.”

I recognize the name of Sirrocco from him giving me a brief tour of White Cloud. I feel a chill as I realize who Colonel Mollygirl is and what happened the last time she and I were face to face. According to Sunny, I hurt her, but she almost killed me. I shake my head and I give the order, and what is left of my battalion moves in the direction of where we were directed. We have just set up our defenses when the first of the Hardliner counterattacks begin.

After the second one, I notice the NCR and Alliance forces begin to advance into the built-up area between Flankton and Emporia. I know I am supposed to defend Flankton, but I decide that the best way to do that is by keeping on the flanks of our now allies against the Hardliners forces.

“Sir, are you sure you want to advance that far?” Storm Rider asks.

I nod my head as I look at the map and tell her, “Yes, I am sure. We will not be going much further, but we are stabilizing their flank for now.”

It is not long after this that my radio operator tells me, “Sir, all frequencies have been jammed. I cannot broadcast or receive anything.”
“Understood, XO, we are back to doing this the old-fashioned way, use the couriers to carry orders forward and replies.”

It is during this time that I realize that because we are now involved in countering an insurrection by the Hardliners and we wear the same uniforms I give the orders, “Have all members of our battalion place a white strip of cloth around their left foreleg for easier identification.” I pause and then add, “Relay that also to brigade HQ as well as the reasons.” No need for blue-on-blue accidents, I think to myself.

“Yes sir,” she replies and soon I see several messengers flying out the door and low along the streets.

As we wait one of my guards appears with an old bedsheet and begins to tear it into strips. Once done he hooves them out to myself and the rest of my staff.

Soon we are all marked with the strips of white. I then return my attention to the map and realize I am too far back from the front lines to operate properly without radios, so I move my headquarters once again further forward.

It is after we are set again that I receive a messenger from the 210th battalion who has a blue strip of cloth around his left foreleg. As he approaches, he tells me, “With the Lieutenant Colonel's compliments sir, he requests that you move or extend one of your companies two blocks to the west to help stabilize our flank. He also is letting you know that we have had some leakers get through the gap between our battalions and that we can expect trouble.”

I nod my head as I contemplate how to respond. Finally, I just settle on telling him, “Very well, I will be extending my lines. Also, give him my thanks for letting me know about the possible infiltrators.”

It is not too much longer after that that I receive a set of very young couriers, both in what looks to be old-style recon uniforms. They look like they could be sisters even. At this point I hear the older of them say, “Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel Mollygirl of the Third Manesville request that your troops hold back and secure our rear areas and allow the forces of the 4th Manesville to advance through your positions and link up with the Baltimare Brigade again. She also would like to thank you for Captain Seeder’s assistance in identifying hostile positions and assaulting them in the apartment complex they have taken.”

I nod my head, “Please give the Colonel my compliments and let her know we will do as she requests. Also, have her pass on to the local units that my troops as well as all those loyal to the Enclave and President Winter Breeze are now wearing a strip of cloth around their left foreleg for quick Identification.”

The young mare surprises me with her military formality and answer of “Yes sir, will do. Go Pack!”

After she says the last part I ask, “Go Pack?”

The young one smiles and tells me, “Yes Sir. The 3rd is known as the Timber Wolves and we are a pack.”

I am about to say something at that but I suddenly hear what sounds like hundreds of wolves howling and an increase in gunfire. The older one says, “Sounds like some of them are attacking now sir. If you are done with us, we need to get your reply to the Colonel.”

Feeling a bit stunned by this, I nod my head and quietly tell them, “Yes, go, perform your duties.”

They both trot out of the room and I watch as they flow low and fast dodging from cover to cover as they make their way back the way they came.

Once again, I change my troops' orders and we begin to return to what our normal rolls are instead of that of main combatants. Along with securing the rear, we begin to assist in directing civilians to the rear as well.

As the alliance troops move forward, we slowly do also, directing those of the alliance with light wounds to the rear, and those returning from treatment back to the front. As the heat of the day reaches its height, I find myself loosening my collar and drinking more water than I thought I would. I can now tell what my previous injuries have done to me. I am more tired than I would have been doing this just two years ago.

This is brought home to me later in the day when right after we have moved my HQ again, Funnel Cloud approaches me, “Sir, are you alright? You are breathing pretty hard.”

I take a couple more breaths of air before I reply, “Yeah, I think I am. I just get pretty winded now by heavy exertion every since that last time I was in the hospital.”

He nods knowingly at me, “Very well sir, however, if you do not mind, I would like to have a medic do a brief check on you.”

I nod my head and as I do so, I hear my radio operator call out, “Sir the radio jamming has stopped.”

Well at least some good news, I think to myself.

This is followed by my radio operator saying, “Sir you need to hear this,” as he turns the radio onto a speaker from his headset.

I then hear the President’s voice in the process of already giving a speech, …make this a better world. I call upon you, the ponies of the Enclave who believe that they are still on the right side, to stop and think. Ask yourself, is this what you really want to do? General Cloud Chaser and his forces have not freed you, they’ve put you in chains that you’re forced to wade through every day. Don’t fight for tyranny, fight for liberty, fight for a better world that we can only achieve by working together, not by fighting one another. Those who live in Equestria have the power to create happiness, to make this life free and beautiful. In the name of democracy, in the name of a better future, let us use that power. Let us all unite once and for all, bring this war to an end and send a message to Cloud Chaser. The ponies of the Enclave will not break under his iron hoof!”

As she finishes, I hear combat throughout the city begin to falter and die out through most of the city. I step outside and I see the same occurring with the air combat. I think briefly that perhaps it is done; we have survived the war.

While most of the fighting is done, there are still a few of the extremist that are still fighing for Cloud Chaser. What fighting there is continues for another hour. That is when General Cloud Chaser comes over the radios and the PA systems of the city. During which he admits to having made mistakes and then he tells his remaining troops to stand down, return home and to be good citizens.

I simply shake my head and wonder if I even still have a family left alive. And if so, how will I get home to them.

I look over at Storm Rider and tell her, “I will be back in a few minutes, I just need some air.”

I step out onto the streets and walk a few blocks away just trying to clear my head. I barely notice the six ponies of my escort that are still with me.

In the distance, I can hear some of the Alliance troops cheering, but they soon stop. I assume their officers have told them not to. Down the street, I see a zebra, kneel along with several near him and I can barely hear him praying to someone called Sweet Cream, as well as Celestia and Luna, thanking them for allowing them to survive.

I nod my head and then say a brief prayer myself. Once I get my thoughts back together, I return to my HQ and give the order, “Recall our troops and have them return to their barracks. Weapons not used for guard duty are to be cleaned and turned into the armory.” I pause and then add, “Once A Company has returned to their quarters, I want Captain Cloud Seeder in my office along with his surviving Platoon leaders and 1st Sergeants.”

The battle for Coltlumbia and the heart of the Enclave is finally done. Now comes the cleanup. I then lead my staff back to where our day started. I walk into my office; I open my desk drawer and find that I have nothing left to drink.

I hear a brief knock on the door and I smile weakly when I see Storm Rider and Funnel Cloud both in the doorway. “Sir, are you okay?”

I shrug my wings and answer, “I am not sure, but I am still alive, and I guess that is something.”

*****

This is DJ Pon3 and I am bringing you breaking news and a speech from NCR President Reggie Grimfeathers.

Good Afternoon, as President of the NCR I have special news for all of you in the NCR and the Alliance. At this time the forces of the NCR and the Alliance Coalition have joined in an assault on Coltlumbia in what we hope is the last battle of a war that none but the Enclave Hardliners have wanted.

It has been brought to my attention that the citizens of Coltlumbia and its environs have been isolated and cut off from any news or messages from the rest of the Grand Pegasus Enclave and that they are being forced to participate in this unjust war. To them, I say, freedom is coming, we are on the way.

I would like you all to join me in a silent prayer for our peoples' safety, our mission's success, and those innocent souls caught between the forces of this fight.

Thank you and may the Creator bless us all.

That was a brief speech by NCR President Grimfeathers. Thank you for listening. With these thoughts in mind, I will now play for all of us Light in the Black.

****

Good evening to all you listeners out there in the NCR, I am Broadcast Nights and I have news for you.

As we broadcast this tonight the forces of the NCR and Alliance have begun the assault on the enemy capital of Coltlumbia. We have varied reports of casualties from these efforts. However, we have been officially notified that our forces have established a hoofhold in Flankton and are advancing towards Emporia.

These efforts have been supported by members of the Followers of the Apocalypse that have provided medical support to both wounded soldiers as well as the Enclave civilians that need to be evacuated from the areas of fighting.

We also have reports of a large naval engagement between the air fleets of the Alliance and those of the Enclave Hardliners. There are reports of several airships having been knocked out of the sky already, but no details.

In other news, it has been confirmed that contact has been regained in San Prancisco Bay with our brave troops who have been under siege on Ponytraz Island.

Hold on, we have breaking news that has just come in. Mares and Gentlecolts, Hens and Cocks, Cows and Bulls, it is official, the war is over, the Hardliner forces under General Cloud Chaser have surrendered and the General himself has been taken into custody to face trial for his crimes.

Along with this announcement, we have been informed that President Winter Breeze has resumed her position as the proper President of the Grand Pegasus Enclave, and has joined with President Grimfeathers in asking all beings to participate in a day of thanksgiving to whichever being you worship.

With this news, we will return to our normal broadcast schedule. To begin this our next song goes out to General Cloud Chaser and the other Hardliner generals; here is Doomsday.

Author's Note

And so ends the Enclave war with the NCR and the Alliance. We have lost some characters both those that have been with us for some time, as well as a few of the newer ones. With the war ending, things can go back to normal right?

One of the things that many people forget is that just because a war is over peace is here forever. However, there is still the peace to win. I guess we shall see.

The speeches in this chapter are verbatim from Fallout Equestria: Survivors Guilt by RuinQueenofOblivion. As is the concept of the battle of Coltlumbia, the Manor House, and the capture of the Hardliner General. The battle from the view of my characters is my own embellishment to that battle.

For those who would like to listen to the two songs for this chapter, the YouTube links are:
Light in the Black: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DtQvn6kI_4

Doomsday:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in6dF8Aedns