Fallout Equestria : Storm Protocol

Chapters

Chapter One : Duty
Chapter Three : Into the unknown
Chapter Four : Tour of duty
Chapter Five : Giant's shadow
Prologue
Chapter Two: The siege of Sugar Grove

Chapter One : Duty

Written by : Thundercloud

(“Remember the Las Pegas Valley, and the soldier who loved you so true”)

Location : Equestrian Army Listening Station at Sugar Grove [ Town of Sugar Grove ] Time : 13:30 Equestrian Military Time

The facilities foyer was open to the air, doors being removed for scrap for the two week old settlement’s growing pains, and the glass in the windows being shattered when the Balefire Bombs detonated. The front wrap-around desks having destroyed terminals and bent desk fans piled up in the corner from the town's salvage operations. Shady and Racer standing at the top of a stairwell in the back that led deeper into the building.

For an infant town, it was surprisingly built up. Most likely a testament to fabled Earth Pony prowess.

“Lets go” I spoke cautiously as I nodded for Shady to open the doors. The doors opened with a mechanical ‘PSHHH’and my team, plus the President and Secretary of Treasury ( seriously, these Stallions are insane ) of Sugar Grove moved forward into the dim office center of the facility. The doors closed behind us. Most of the lights were off, but some still radiated the warm yellow of the gem bulbs. Racer began to flip some switches on the wall, to no avail.

“Dammit, spark reactor is offline Sir” she reported as she lowered her hoof back to the ground. Shady rummaged through his bag and brought out a long, plastic meter and started tracing power output. Mumbling to himself as he stepped over debris from the collapsed roof, he paused at all major power junction’s to find where the wires all stopped at.

I turned to Blackwood and Bullion, who stood in the corner away from my team's menacing appearance. “ President Blackwood, where is the command center. I dlike to be out of your town’s mane as soon as possible?”

Blackwood responded, “ down tha’ hallway. We sent’n team in here after tha’ noises. We haven't reached this salvage stage yet, only work’n on the outlyin’ structures and foyer.”

The interior of the building was still untouched, and it appeared that they had their work cut out for them. Shady still was following non-existent appearing wires along the baseboards.

“ So “ Blackwood continued. “ We’r gunna find the Spark React’ur rum, then pow’r this place up? “ he asked with a slight cock of his head. I wondered for a moment, what happened to make this place go into lockdown. The power obviously had been down for a while considering the townsPonies were using cobbled together generators

“Yes, that seems to be the plan. Shady, what do you have? “ I asked the tan Pegasus as he stopped for the tenth time to place the meter on the baseboard trim near a Sunrise Sarsaparilla machine.

“Reactor seems to be under the floor here Cap, I'm getting a hell of a lot of readings here” he said as he packed his meter away. In one swift motion, he turned his flank to the machine and bucked the center of it, causing five sarsaparillas to come rolling out of the tray.

“That was very uncalled for Lieutenant” I stated in a level voice as he took all but one sarsaparilla in his power armor’s built in manipulation spell matrix and deposited them into his saddlebags.

“Eh, better than cloud manufactured, “ he said with a shrug. I decided to leave it there. No sense in arguing with my second in command in a hostile environment like this. Especially surrounded by “mud-Ponies”.

I saw Bullion Squeezer take the last cola and shrink away cackling to himself about “delicious cola”. These Stallions needed a Psychiatrist…

We all slowly trotted into what once was a central office cubicle area. Files were piled high in the center, with gas and oil cans around them. “ Looks like they tried to burn them Captain, wonder what's on them? “ Cloud Buster observed behind me. A Robotic voice answered for us down the hallway.

“SENSOR ALERT, ANOMALY DETECTED” A very mare sounding Robot said, as we heard the ‘Fwosh’ of a charging pod open. Out trotted from a room down the hall, a drab green Robot. The head had a large red “eye” in the middle of its forehead, while the hooves were equipped with some sort of retractable talon’s.

“CYCLOPS, DOWN!” Bullion yelled as the Robot jerked its head towards us. We hit the deck as an orange light filled the room, before a huge, equally orange, beam tore over Doc Weathers head.

“YOU ARE DEALING WITH A CELESTIAN ROBOTICS CYCLOPS, STAND DOWN AND BE DISINTEGRATED” The Robot informed us, not caring that the mantra is “OR be disintegrated”

“We need to disable the power talisman. On three.” I said over the Bot clanging through the piled up files. “One” : My battle saddle powered up with a ‘Breee’, catchingBlackwood’s hearing. “Two” : Shady primed a magical spark grenade to fry the Bots circuits. “Three!” I yelled as I rose from the flipped desk I found as a very nice cherrywood “try not to get lasered” bit of cover. The apple-shaped grenade from Shady bounced and detonated under the Cyclops Robot. I followed it up with half a charge pack of magical plasma. The smoke cleared, revealing a very pissed Robot. The razor-sharp talons swung from indents of its hooves, and it charged.
Cloud Buster intercepted it and they went down in a frenzy a few feet from where Blackwood and Shady took cover. The Hooves of the Metallic Pony started to turn as I thought Cloud Buster was about to break them off. He turned, and turned, and turned…. and.. turned? and spun. Cloud Buster let go of the talons as the claws reached maximum velocity, the Robot reared back on its hindlegs and struck Cloud in the chest hard. He yelled at the pain. The Robot’s talons extended with the pneumatic pistons driving Cloud away. Impacting a filing cabinet in the corner of the office space and laying there. Doc Weather flew over to assess him. The Bot seemed to like that as it snapped to look at Bullion levitating a magical energy rifle near its head, switching targets.

“Knock Knock” The Teal Unicorn said as he telekinetically bashed the Robots head with the butt of the rifle. The Cyclops asked “Who's there?” by the form of another blast of head laser that burnt away his eyebrows in a near miss. “Huh, Guess it doesn't like knock knock jokes” he said as he uncapped a vial of a purple tinted healing potion when he dropped back into cover.

Shady fired from his beam rifle as he hovered in the air, trying to hit the military Robot’s spark talisman that powered it. He managed to get a shot through the Eye Laser, disabling it.

“Warning, Optical beam Cannon offline, contacting Equestrian Police for tampering with an M.W.S. Robot. Warning, no response. Reconnecting…. “ The Robot stated as it blindly lashed and bucked with its talon hooves at anything. A few desks crumbled from the impacts. I launched into the air and managed to get above it. The armor was warped from Cloud Busters onslaught and I managed to catch the arcano sparking of the Robot’s power talisman, where a normal fleshy Ponies heart would be. I booted my armor's integrated Stable Tec Assisted Targeting System, or S.A.T.S. and locked on to it. I felt the world pause around me as the spell went off, effectively freezing everything around me in time, or speeding me up. Whatever the spell actually cast, I didn't care much as I bit my battle-saddle’s mouthpiece, and sent a ball of hot plasma into the Robot. The superheated ball burnt through the wires and machines and found its mark on the talisman, which blew up with a ‘SKRECH’ sound. The Cyclops staggered for a moment, before dropping in a heap of mechanical parts.

I looked back to my group, Bullion and Blackwood were nursing their wounds with a combo of healing bandages and potions. Shady had flown over to where the Cyclops was destroyed and had begun to pick apart the most valuable tech from it. Weather was still healing Cloud Buster. The Cyclops had punctured his armor in the chest when the spinning talon had thrown him off. Blood seeped from his wound, and he groaned with pain. Blackwood tossed Weather a hypodermic needle filled with a magenta colored potion in it, Weather administering it into Cloud’s neck once he caught it. The MED-X kicked in almost instantly and he quieted.

I nodded in thanks to Blackwood.

“Is he going to be alright?” I asked Weather as I walked over to them, avoiding the remains of the fight.

“ A lot of internal damage from the toss” he said as he glanced my way. “ He will make it if I can medevac him”.

I glanced down at Cloud, he was in bad shape. If not for his armor, probably worse. He looked up at me and saluted me.

“Cough Ill be fine Cap, Ack.” He said. I could tell he was lying.

“ Sigh, Weather, you and Racer take Cloud outside and get him on a Vertibuck. The rest of us, let's continue the mission” I said aloud. Weather and Racer deployed a small foldable stretcher from his right saddlebag, and moved Cloud onto it, strapping him in for transport. Without another word, they placed the ends of the collars on their necks and walked towards the door.

I keyed up my comms to the pilots. “ Vertibuck 02-B, medevac inbound. Non-town’s Ponies related cas. How copy? “ The Vertibuck’s pilot, a mare, replied with two green flashes of the acknowledged light. I strod to the rest of the party, and flicked my head. “Let's keep going, we need to find the shipment.”

We continued into the facility. A few Protecta-Ponies locked on to us at a guard booth on the next level down. Orange beams flashed from their head domes as we took cover.

“PLEASE REMAIN CALM. THE SITUATION IS BEING DEALT WITH “ One of the Pony shaped Robots announced as they began to walk towards us.

A magical spark grenade bounced off the lead Robot's right forehoof. ‘ZAP’.Both bot’s went down in a flash from Bullion’s well tossed grenade. We walked past them, Shady stopping to pull bits and bobs from the shells. The guard booth held two skeletons, still dressed in moth-eaten and faded Equestrian Army barding. The name tapes were un-legible but I could make out the ranks. Two Corporals. The doors that led deeper in the facility were locked down, a red light flashed as a warning. I could see a working terminal in the booth though, probably held the door override. I tried the booth door, locked. Another door facing the booth was caved in with rubble.

Blackwood took a look at the door at the end and sighed. “ Thats tha’ door that leads ta’ command. Must’ve locked when we tripped tha’ alarm.” He started as he looked around. “Bullion, can ya’ use yo’r magic ta’ access tha terminal in the booth from here? “ He finished as he addressed the Unicorn

Bullion looked at Blackwood above his white glasses on his muzzle. “ You see, I can't buddy. That's the problem. I need to be able to see the terminal screen to manipulate the logs and keys.” It made sense to me and apparently to him as he nodded.

I turned to Shady. He was busy picking through a waiting room cabinet and pulling out pre-war magazines. He must have caught my gaze as he turned to face me. “Shady? Can you pick the locks on the doors?” Shady only shook his helmeted head.

“Sorry Cap, They are locked down tight”. Came the distorted, mechanical sounding response.

I looked at the door, there was a hole for a key, so copies could exist. I glanced at the wall. The sign on the wall read ‘COMMAND>>> BARRACKS, MAINTENANCE, and ARMORY <<<.’ Barracks and armory it was. If keys existed, they would be kept there.

“Shady, You and I will search the armory. Blackwoods, you take Bullion and search the barracks. There may be keys there for this door.” I indicated to the locked guard door and we strode down the hall. Some non-commissioned officers and officer workroom’s lay to the left, the small barracks on the right. The armory was at the end of the hallway. The door was locked due to losing power two hundred years ago. I glanced at Shady who had already begun to make his way to the maintenance room on the other side of the armory. The door was jarred open by a bit of drywall and we entered. The room was mostly filled with two large hulking spheres. The massive spark reactors colored yellow and blue. Tesla coils and wire connection conduits jutted from the sides of the spheres. Most of the terminal banks were burnt and destroyed, aside from an engineer console on a desk. Shady hacked into the system and got the password, ‘Sparky’. After navigating through various corrupted system messages, he located the boot button for the facility's emergency spark reactor. The arcano-reactor sprang to life with an ear piercing whine as the magic gemstones received the first power in two centuries. Shady got up from the chair, but not before rummaging through the lead engineers desk and pulling out a few bottle caps and some fiber optic wire, and we returned to the now open armory door.

A skeleton lay slumped over a desk in the corner. The weapons lockers still had guns in them. I walked to the poor skeleton as Shady took his helmet off and started opening some lockers with a multitool, pilfering the weapons and ammo inside. Mostly containing magical laser weapons, ballistic ammo and the weapons that used them still sat in their bays, and even a few magical plasma rifles to top it off.

On the desk, an orange rifle sat. The barrel was painted with cautionary yellow streaks in it. Almost like a warning. A large drum magazine sat nearby, with one loaded. Etched onto the barrel was the word ‘Whisper in the Dark’. The terminal that also lay on the desk provided the room with a greenish hue. I placed the skeleton on the ground and sat down on the still comfy cloth chair, doffing my bags and helmet. The pinions of my right wing navigated the up and down arrow keys and I selected the first entry.

SGT Muffins, 1st Equestrian Cavalry: Got a new shipment of weapons today. Usual MWT and MAS Laser Guns, also something new. Ironshod sent over their new IF65 “Stallion” ’s and buck.. They are sexy. The drums hold 130 rounds. And the sights are enchanted with night vision crystals. LT said we can customize ours if we want, since we ain't fighting damn stripes here. Just protecting spooks. I'm gonna paint mine to look dangerous cause why not? Reminds me of a mare I dated in High School. Wonder where she is now?

I flipped to the next log.

SGT Muffins, 1st Equestrian Cavalry: Painted Whisper today, named it after one of the training manual's. I am trying to jury rig a silencer onto it, but it makes it clumsy and heavier. Wonder if I can integrate the suppressor into the barrel? I'll ask Rain Shade later. she seems to be good at that shit after all. LT says the war is ramping up. Stripe’s have been testing Balefire Bombs near Dawn Bay. Fuck, where did they get that tech from?

SGT Muffins, 1st Equestrian Cavalry: Tested Whisper today, she does pretty well at the range. Laid out seven targets in under a minute. Others have begun to paint and customize theirs as well. Orders from HIGHCOM came in today, saying we are going to be deployed to reinforce the position’s near Hoofington. Damn Stripes have been hitting the place for awhile now. Same old shit. They hit the city, we rebuild. Rinse and repeat. Why are they wanting to kill that damn city anyway? It did give me the heebie jeebies when I was at basic there….

The last log was an audio one and was dated the day the bombs fell. I scrolled down to it. Shady could still be heard opening lockers and stashing weapons and ammunition in his bags. At some point during me reading the terminal logs, he had taken mine as well to also fill. I clicked play on it.

This is, *inhale* ,is Sergeant Muffins, 1st Equestrian Cavalry. Fuck. Fuck .. FUCK. Sirens have been sounding for an hour now. We could hear Cloudsdale go down from here. Word also is Fillydelphia and Manehatten have taken one as well. heard Ralneigh had one inbound, but havent heard an explosion yet. Maybe it got shot down? I know the Pegasi had Raptors on patrol around here. Mom and Dad are probably dead. They lived in Filly. Damn, Damn the Stripes and their shit. Whole guard platoon is going to meet here in a minute or two to discuss next actions. We have a lot of Radiation warnings here, and already people are getting sick. I need a fucking drink…. This is Sergeant Apple Muffins. May any who read this be safe.

The audio cut out in static and a beep. I glanced at the skeleton. “ We will Sergeant Muffins, we will. Carry on. “ I whispered. It was the best eulogy to a soldier I didnt know that I could, but I felt it was right. Locking the seal of the helmet back into place, I stood up and flew over to Shady, but not before taking Whisper in the Dark and storing it in a spare holster of my battle saddle. He was flapping his wings and remaining in place, while scooping contents of the lockers into bags using both forehooves. I scooped up two bags and locked them into place on my armor. My helmet’s inventory spells automatically updating and listing contents to the HUD.

“Seems like all of it.” Shady said as he practically slammed the last locker door closed. He winced as it flew shut with a loud ‘BANG’. The inventory spell listed over two thousand rounds of magical plasma and energy cartridges, and three thousand rounds of five five six, three oh eight, ten millimeter, and forty five. A lot less useful ammunition to use when most Enclave weapons were energy based. Shady turned his side to me and gestured to a machine gun, now mounted to his battle saddle. A long, cylindrical barrel made up most of the front of the gun, little ridges on the muzzle for what I knew air cooled the barrel sleeve sat at the front. The rear was a rectangle , with a thin circular magazine mounted on top of the gun. The wooden stock had seen better days. “Like it? Found it in a locker.” He said as he grinned with an obvious love of the gun.

“That's an IF 5 Rattlesnake, isn't it?” I said and drew a long whistle when he nodded. The IF5’s, more commonly called a ‘Rattlesnake’ or ‘Buckels’ for the city it was produced in, was one of the first automatic machine guns Ironshod Firearms produced. It was key in the defense of Flankders Fields, early in the war. Albeit very outdated compared to the IF 249 or IF 240 Machine guns, they were still deadly in the right hooves.

I looked back at Shady. “ I’ll allow it, only if you upkeep it Lieutenant.” I said. Shady almost jumped to the roof in joy.

“Have you found any keys? “ I asked, returning to the job at hand. He nodded, and produced a brass key from his bags grasped in his mouth.

“ Yeff fur’. “ He said through the key clasped in his mouth. I nodded for him to follow and we made our way back into the hallway, Shady retrieving his helmet as he went. This facility could be a treasure trove to the Enclave, and a great salvage place for Sugar Grove now that the power was restored and you could access every level. I made a note to discuss trade relations with General Star Chaser and Blackwood when the mission was complete.

“ Damnation. “ An accent called out as a stained mattress flew out of the barracks door. “ Kill that damn thang! Hate them damn radroaches” An oversized cockroach, or “radroach” as Blackwood had yelled, came streaking out the door back towards the guard post. Bullion came out the door in pursuit, holding a broom in his telekinesis.

“I am going to SQUEEZE you!” He yelled as he tried to squash the bug. Somehow, the roach dodged each attack. “ Stand still you insidious insectoid. “

Bullion finally squashed the roach under his hoof after a few moments of switching between the broom, and hooves. Mud Ponies are damn weird. I gave him a gaze as I went to meet up with the “President” of Sugar Grove. Blackwoods sat on a wooden chair, mumbling about “fucking roaches” and “little pests”. I smirked inside the helmet as he looked up at me in shock.

“Er, you heard that, didn't yah?” he asked as he met my visored eyes.

“Oh, something about “damn roaches”. Are you scared of bugs Mr President? “ I said teasingly through the speaker of the helmet.

he chuckled at my response. “Hate them damn thangs. All beady eyes’n shit” he said as he visibly shuttered at the thought. I chuckled at the absurdity of the idea that an Earth Pony could fear something so (relatively) small as a roach. Blackwood just shot me an angry look in response.

I held out an armored forehoof, and he took it. I helped him up and we started towards the door. Shady had produced two Sunrise Sarsaparilla and given one to Bullion, the latter seeming at awe at Shady’s trick to pop the cola’s open and was busy questioning how he did it.

I looked at Blackwood. “ Here, I want you to take this. I have no need for a weapon that cannot be armed and maintained reliably back home.” I said as I took Whisper in the Dark out using my left wing and handed it to him.

He stared at the weapon for a moment, then looked at me. “ Huh, thanks buddy. Where didya find this at?” he took the weapon in his mouth and slotted it into a mostly empty bag.

“From the armory. The buck that owned it named it Whisper in the Dark. Seems it is integrally suppressed and comes equipped with a night vision talisman on it. Consider it payment for the return of GPE Property.” I said as we trotted back towards the locked doors.

Blackwood made a “hm” sound in response. We had reached the foyer again, and Shady was unlocking the door to the booth. I stepped inside as he got the rusty door open and pressed the button for the override of the door. Thankfully, the emergency spark reactor we had activated had finished cycling fully and came online as the door’s pneumatic pistons pulled the door open… to a group of Ponies on the other side.

The general shock of seeing other living Ponies in the rusting building was equal on both sides. I acted fast, pumping five rounds of magical plasma into a Unicorn Stallion with a rust colored body and red mane to the right of Me. A bright green Earth Pony mare with a deep blue mane yelled a warcry and charged Bullion and Blackwood with a sharpened billiard stick that had a rusty cleaver tied to one end, and an equally rusty screwdriver on the other, forming some sort of Wasteland halberd. The halberd swung and almost spiked Bullion before he rolled under the mare, and shot her with his beam gun, the mare screaming as she disintegrated when the laser made contact.

Blackwood grabbed Whisper in his mouth and let loose. The gun was apparently automatic as the rapid fire “PIT PIT PIT PIT” sounds filled the air. Three Ponies, one Earth, two Unicorns, went down in the deathly silent barrage. Shady dispatched the last Pony, a white Earth Pony Stallion with a gray mane, using his beam rifle.

I stopped to catch my breath. Why were there Ponies in here? How did they get in here? Did they turn the power off? Questions ran through my mind as Bullion and Shady began picking through the bodies, pulling ammo, weapons, and even Sparkle~Cola bottle caps for wastelander trading (heathens). Blackwood watched from my right. By the way he was glancing at the bodies, the same questions ran through his mind as well.

A very gruff feminine sounding voice came from the bottom of the stairs that led to what looked like a command center. “Well, what do we have here?” A blur of white and tan feathers flew up from the lower area and landed in front of us. Yellow talons scraping against a rusted railing as she walked back and forth tauntingly. A creature I haven't seen since the Griffon skirmishes…

“Some mud Ponies made friends… ooooooo, this is too good. And Enclave no less? What a treat.” The Griffon’s left talon'nd hand rested on her left hip as she smiled a sickly grin.

I charged my plasma rifle on my back, Shady kicking with a back hoof to trigger a loading mechanism for his IF5 and beam gun on his battle saddle.

“Surrender in the name of the GPE Griffon…” I spat through my helmet. She only laughed and held her gunmetal gray combat armor. The symbol of a white talon was painted over with a red eye symbol which I had never seen before.

“Oh, oh first egg you are hilarious” she said through a fit of laughter. Regaining composure, she continued to smile that creepy smile. “I have wondered when you Pegasi would show up, considering we stole your fucking shit, oh, yesterday? she purred as she paced back and forth on the landing. “Getting slow I see..” She finished as she flapped her wings and reclined back, talons behind her head and legs crossed.

I placed one hoof forward and assumed a battle stance. “ Comply with my last order you savage. “ I growled as I lowered my head. Shady already had taken flight and was hovering along the door jam, Bullion and Blackwood taking cover behind the booth.

The griffin just chuckled at my order and landed. she stared right at me, that same creepy smile crossing her beak. “ Mmm, I like fighters. Doesn't take long to break ‘em in Filly. Love it when I can be there to see it as well.” she thought for a moment, a right handed talon under her beak in thought, “ Master Shackles would love to have yall.” She finally said. So this Griffon was a slaver. Still didn't answer why the shipment was stolen, or how. Whoever “Shackles'' is, he seemed to be the creature that was behind this.

In a flash, she pulled a IF21 ”Caramel” semi-automatic pistol from her holster on her left leg and let loose a barrage of ten millimeter rounds into my armor. I felt the punch of the rounds hit, but not penetrate as my team and I returned fire.

The Griffon dodged every round by reverse vaulting over the catwalk and landing on the lower level. Blackwood was in the process of loading Whisper when an apple fragmentation grenade sailed over the banister into our midst. I turned and kicked with my rear hooves and sent it back to the Griffon, exploding over the catwalk, sending the railing and part of the walkway falling to the ground. The Griffon let out a grunt of pain as bits of metal pocketed her hide. She rose to the air and sprayed another clip of rounds into the wall next to Shady, who ducked behind a tossed over chair in the corner.

Bullion levitated up his beam pistol and returned fire, The ‘ZAP ZAP ZAP’ scorching the wall behind the slaver.

I slipped into SATS and queued up two shots to her right wing with a eighty-eight percent chance to hit, taking advantage of the distraction. I bit the trigger of my battle saddle’s mouth grip and shot the two bolts. One missed, the other hit, and she screamed as she fell down to the lower story. She impacted with a thud and lay there quietly, still breathing but missing half of her right wingtip.

Bullion levitated a healing potion towards me but I pushed it away, my armor had taken the brunt of the low caliber rounds, though I would have bruises. Better than being dead after all. I still took time to nod in appreciation at the teal Unicorn. The Griffon groaned in pain from the drop down, Shady and I made the short flight down and flanked either side of the supine Griffon. Bullion and Blackwood walked down the stairs, weapons trained on the Griffon.

The Griffon had pulled a healing potion from her bag on her back and was sipping it, the damage in her wing already knitting back. Before it could heal all the way, a teal glow surrounded the potion and it yanked towards Bullion.

“Bad birdies don't get healies… “ The teal Unicorn said through a grin.

“ Who are you? Who do you work for?” I growled as I placed all four hooves around the Griffon’s chest, plasma rifles pointed at her head.

She smiled that malicious smile and spat a glob of blood to the left of me. “ Name’s Despoena, You will soon call me Mistress though…” She psychotically chuckled and giggled. I decided to attempt “enhanced interrogation” in the form of a hoof slap to the side of her cheek. She recoiled and giggled.

“Ooo, Spook's got a hoof.” She said as she brought a clawed hand up and massaged her jaw. She recovered and spat on my armored muzzle guard. Shady grabbed a spit muzzle from his bag and attached it over her beak.

I wiped the spittle off my mask, though it did not get through anyway. Turning to the “eccentric” Unicorn, “Bullion, can you levitate her up and out of here. I think I need to chat with Lady Despoena here further in a place less…. hostile.“ The teal Unicorn nodded and levitated the Griffon up in the air, she thrashed her claws wildly attempting to catch one of us. In another flash of teal colored magic, hoof cuffs from Shady’s grasp also joined in the air and attached around the Griffon's arms and legs, immobilizing her. She screamed and thrashed to no avail.

Blackwood glanced at the command room in front of us. I followed his gaze and found some off white colored crates at the bottom of the step-like command room.

I nodded and walked into the control room.

The room was very cavernous, with screens on the backwalls. A large map sat in the middle of the wall, showing old Equestria. Desks and terminal banks filled most of the room, with the work stations taking a step-like appearance. Most of the terminals were broken, wires hanging out. Only two were active, casting the dim room with a green glow. I took the left stairs down to the first terminal in the room, the screen wanting a password and username to login. The other terminal two cubicles down was unlocked so I sat down at its desk. The bottom held our objective, three off white colored steel crates bearing GPE on the side, with the Enclaves symbol. An E with stars surrounding it and wings off to the left and right of the letter. One was fully empty, while the other two looked untouched.

At the top left corner of the screen, a little welcome message read ‘USERLOGIN : SSGT Starry Gleam’ Welcome! There were a few entries, most looking corrupt, so I clicked one dated 10/3.

SSGT Gleam, MoM Intelligence. 10/3. More sightings of windigo today. Reports from out near Stalliongrad. Shadowbolts were dispatched and they managed to capture three of them. One got away. I swear, with all this tension and the war, it’s a surprise we arent covered by ice and snow by now. Colonel says to keep it on the downlow, we already have the witnesses in custody downstairs having their memories modified. The things we do to keep the public happy… SSGT Gleam out.

I had heard of the windigo. A race of ghostly equines that feed off hatred and fighting. Usually ending in a huge blizzard caused by their ride that ultimately, starves and kills the population. Back long before the war. Pegasi, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies were not friends. Hatred spread and caused starvation due to the power gain of the Windigo and near-constant blizzard that blanketed Equestria, until the leaders of each tribe made friends. That drove the spirits off. An old Hearthswarming tale that mothers and fathers told their colts and fillies the night before presents were opened and festivities had. A miracle indeed the malevolent wind spirits didn't attack during the war. I navigated to the next and cycled up a download of all files to my pipbuck, intending on locating where the Ministry of Awesome’s Shadowbolts had taken such powerful beings. I glanced to my left where Shady was busy hacking the locked terminal. Blackwood was behind the tan Pegasus’s chair, intently watching the small bar go up on the hacking tool. Bullion and our feathered prisoner were at the entrance of the room. The former having his laser gun and Despoena in the teal waves of his telekinesis. He seemed to be taking great joy in spinning the Griffon around and around while she glared daggers. I caught a chuckle from him as he saw the gaze. I winged the next entry.

SSGT Gleam, MoM Intelligence. 10/17. More sightings of windigo today near the Crystal Empires border. Raptor Contrail, Raptor Incus, and Frigate Typhoon were dispatched from Las Pegasus and made good timing. Incus was damaged by two windigo but managed to kill three out of the five. The two remaining windigo were then captured using a MAS faraday cage from the Typhoon. All ships made it home and Incus is undergoing repair in the Las Pegasus shipyards. Frigate Typhoon deposited the windigo at MAS research facility delta. Report classified per MoM doctrine. Fifty-two casualties as a result. SSGT Gleam out

My pipbuck beeped as my map was updated with MAS research facility delta’s coordinates. I made a mental note to go over all information in my briefing with General Star Chaser later on my mission I was planning. I glanced down at the rest, I could read them later. I unhooked the large round access cord from the terminal and stowed it back in my pipbucks port. I saw Shady had just gotten in the terminal and was browsing the files.

I got up and walked the short distance to where he and the “President” of Sugar Grove were gathered. “Anything to report, Lieutenant?” I said as I glanced at the screen.

The tan Pegasus just shrugged. “ Mostly finance records from the MoM. Want me to download it?” He said as he turned his armored head and looked at me over his shoulder.

“Go ahead and do it, all records are useful. Then wipe the data from the working termin-NET. We can recover the data from the destroyed ones later.” I then turned to face the orange Earth Pony. “ I will make arrangements for you to keep all salvage here. The GPE does not care about old terminals, just the data.” I said.

“Much’appri’ciated buddy.” He said with a nod. I'll admit, I was beginning to develop a sense of comradery with these stallions.

A clatter broke the air. Bullion had rotated Despoena too much and a little brown box had dropped from her armor. A box with an antenna and a red light active. The same type I had taken in the briefing. A Broadcaster. Shit. I swear, even through the muzzle, I could see that creepy smile.

I wasted no time taking to the air and coming smashing down on the broadcaster. It broke into tiny pieces. I jerked my helmet up and faced the slaver, plasma weapons charging on my battle saddle. “ WHO DID YOU SIGNAL, WHO, THE FUCK, DID YOU SIGNAL!” I spat the words. The response I got was a psychotic giggle from the Griffon. I slapped her with my right hoof for good measure. Bullion just looked like a deer caught in a Earth Pony hauling wagon’s lights.

Despoena, her secret now out, looked back at me. “I called my friends.“ he sing songed.

Blackwood raced past me, spun, and bucked the Griffon hard in the face. The impact instantly knocked her unconscious.

Blackwood fumed as he drew ‘Whisper’. Before he could pull the trigger, I slapped the rifle out of his mouth. It clattering to the floor. He spun to me and got muzzle to muzzle with my armor. I could feel the raw anger from him as he yelled “THA FUCK DID YAH DO THA’ FOR?”

“Blackwood, killing the leader of these slavers will not be beneficial. We still have a use for scum like her.” I said calmly, my anger getting checked from my outburst.

“LIKE HELL YA DO! SHE CALL’D’ER DAMN SLAVER BUDDYS TO SACK MAH TOWN!” He yelled as he turned from me and began pacing back and forth. I could tell his anger was now replaced by distress.

I went over my choices. Abandon the town of Sugar Grove and return with my team and objectives, leaving them to defend themselves. Or, let Star Chaser know I was going to defend my new comrades. I made my choice.

I opened my private communications relay and pinged General Star Chaser.

“ General Star Chaser speaking.” The speakers sounded inside my ear bloom. I was glad to hear the General's voice.

“Sir, This is Captain Thundercloud. I have a report.”

“Damn good to hear you, Captain. Go ahead.”

“Sir, We have recovered the shipment, data from the facility that might pique your interest, and a prisoner. A slaver Griffon that goes by Despoena. One problem, the Griffon signaled for reinforcements, and this will threaten the townsponies. Permission to stay and lend support to the defense.”

“Negative Captain. Stick with your mission parameters.”

“General, I think-” I began.

“CAPTAIN, That's an order.”

“ A STUPID ASS ONE GENERAL AND YOU KNOW IT!” I froze as I registered what I said. I heard Shady say over the team's comms, “I'll… be over here. “ He said as he flew over to the far end of the command room. My voice didn't carry through the noise dampening panels inside the helmet, so Bullion and Blackwood couldn't hear the outburst.

“Explain Captain.” Star Chaser replied calmly.

“Sir, I apologize for the outburst. I have seen nothing but courage, respect, and compliance from the leaders of Sugar Grove, and it would be an asshole decision to abandon them in their time of need. An army of slaver’s are approaching, and even though they aren't Pegasi, they still are good Ponies. I would feel ashamed letting civilians fall to scum such as them, same as any other GPE member.”

Star Chaser was silent for a moment. As much as the Enclave was tenacious in delivering the wasteland back to civility, Star Chaser and I both possessed immense respect for the non-pegasi races as a result of fighting in the Griffon wars. Finally, he spoke. “ These towns-ponies, who is their leader?” He asked

“Sir, he is right here. A stallion named Blackwood. Damn fine fighter. He has proven himself in my eyes. “

“Put him on please Captain.” His answer surprised me.

“Sir” I said as I glanced towards Blackwood. He had curled up against a wall with his hindlegs up and head tucked behind them. He sounded like he was crying. Bullion still held the rifle and Despoena in his magical grasp as he sat next to him, his right forehoof over Blackwood’s shoulder. I switched my speakers to external and walked up to the pair.

“Mr Blackwood? Was it?” Star Chaser’s voice made the orange stallion freeze, then slowly raise his head.

“Er, Yeh. Who’m I speakin’ with?” He said as he wiped tears from his eyes.

“General Star Chaser of the Grand Pegasus Enclave. Captain Thundercloud here has told me you are facing a threat. Tell me, If the Enclave was not a factor, how long would you fight on to protect your citizens?”

Blackwood straightened alittle and stared intently at my visor. “Sir, I’would fight till the last fur’ my family.”

Star Chaser seemed to like that reply. I could hear the proud smile in his voice. “ Captain, You have permission with the assets you have to aid in their defense. I expect you to show slaver scum such as this “army” the true might of the GPE. Goddesses speed Captain.” The communication line was ended by Star Chaser. Blackwood was overcome with joyful hysteria, grabbed my left forehoof and began shaking it very fast.

“Thank’ya.. Thank’ya… Thank’ya” He said in rapid succession, then realized what was happening. He retracted his hoof shake and cleared his throat, wiping tears from his eyes. “Lets kick’som slaver flank.” He said after gathering himself, a look of vengeance burning. We gathered Despoena, our gear and loot, the lost shipment, and the data, and made our way for the entrance. There was work to be done.

===~~~===

The preparations were in full swing two hours after we had left the facility. After the Vertibucks had returned to Ralneigh with the wounded Cloud Buster and Weather chaperoning, the data, the shipment, Despoena, and most of Shady’s “Loot” - Shady adding a threatening message about “If one thing is out of place” to the pilots - Blackwood gathered the town together and made a speech about what happened and what was to come. Most of the residents had taken up arms and began reinforcing the walls around the town, including blocking off a hole on the south wall, that led to a fire escape ladder that the Slavers had used to reach the roof. As soon as the dragonfly looking transports lifted off, and began the almost hour long journey back to Ralneigh, did a duo of little voices reach the other Ponies standing near me. A black Earth Pony colt, with gray mane, and a yellowish Unicorn colt with a dull red mane barreled to Blackwood standing next to me, and surrounded him.

“Dad! Dad! What was that thang! Super cool, like awesome. Awesomer than Rainbow!” The black colt said as he bounced on his hooves. The yellow Unicorn just made a foalish representation of the spinning blade sounds the Vertibucks made.

“Your colts I presume?” I said to Blackwood as he tried to keep up with the onslaught of questions.

“Er, yah. This’ere is Maplewood ( pointing to the yellowish Unicorn ) an’ Oak ( pointing to the black Earth Pony ).” The colts had just gotten quiet when they finally took a good long look at me.

I could tell a tirade of questions were about to be rapidly fired my way but Blackwood cut them off as the yellowish foal was taking a breath.

“ Oak, Maple, This’ere is Thundercloud. He’sa Army Pegasus.” Putting it into terms they could, probably, understand.

“Like tha’ ones yah said were ‘bass -tarts’ fur’ closing the sky? And the ones yah’ said you’d slap silly if they show’d their faces agen?” The black colt said, still staring at my black, carapice-like, armor.

I shot a look at Blackwood. My helmetless head sending the full “I am going to PT you till you die” look I gave enlisted Pegasi if they fucked up badly. He just laid his ears back and took on a wide eyed look at the karma for saying those things around his colts.

“Charmed.” I quipped as I smirked at his alarm.

Blackwood shook his stupor and turned to his colts. “Go ta yalls mom.” He said as he narrowed his eyes. The colts caught the hint and quickly sulked off.

He slowly turned his head back to me, still having an embarrassed smile. “Er, bou’t that-” He started. I just started laughing. He reached the conclusion I was not going to murder him and began an embarrassed chuckle alongside me.

I wiped a tear from my eye with a wingtip after regaining composure. “Blackwood, I am Enclave Intelligence, I have heard worse.” I said. “I will admit, probably holding off coming back and helping the wasteland was not the best idea by the GPE, as an example by our Griffon friend that probably by now is getting… “acquainted” with other agents who are much more meaner than I.``

“Hope’so.” The Earth Pony said.

Blackwood and I turned and walked back up the cracked asphalt road that led into the fortifications. The townsPonies of fighting age had reinforced the wall, and mined the sickly brownish dirt around the town in preparation for the Slaver assault to come, while the others not of ‘fighting age’ or who were too scared had been sent to a bunker in the rear of the town. Some ‘tech-savvy’ Unicorns, with the help of Shady, had repaired two mounted machine-guns, a Zebra DSHK-38, and a Equestria .50 cal ‘Duce’. Both of which were mounted on the left and right of the wall, covering huge swaths of the uphill run to the town.

The gate rumbled open as the rusty rolling doors let Blackwood and I into the compound. Much preparation other than the defense side of things meant the town was buzzing. A thin line of Earth Ponies made treks back and forth to the muddy creek, pulling water to be boiled and stored. The purifiers, little more than a-few ten gallon drums connected to hoses and running to another drum suspended over a fire pit, were working overtime. Two Unicorns kept the magical spark generators alive with their magic. I assumed they had stores of food ready as nopony was stressing over it.

A shot rang out, the Ponies inside froze and began looking around frantically. I spread my wings and flew to the wall, Blackwood following in a gallop. The Earth Ponies outside had made it to the wall and were closing the gate, adding a bar to lock it in place. Out in the distance, I could see four Ponies in worn leather and metal armor poking around the forest that flanked the destroyed road to Sugar Grove. One got unlucky and stepped onto a magical plasma mine, which went off with a static-y crackle. The others decided to back off into the forest after learning about the mines.

Blackwood, understandably, hated the Slaver scouts shooting at his Ponies and shot his laser gun clasped in his mouth at the retreating scouts. The beam missed by a mile and impacted a tree, leaving a black scorch mark on the bark.

Spitting out the gun in frustration, he shot an angry look to the forest. “Bunch’o Bast’rds. Shot’n at mah’ friends”

I could tell he was scared shitless at the fact that, very soon, his town would become a battlefield. “Blackwood,” I said with a sigh, “It will be fine. You have a brave heart, and that is shared with the rest of your town.” I said, trying to console the Earth Pony. He sniffed, then chuckled.

“You ev’r get scared Thundercloud, know’in somethin’s outta yur’ control and c’n end up all wrong?” He slouched and put his head down, admitting his fears to a professional soldier risking it all to protect not his own was a brave thing.

I thought for a moment, remembering the anxiety before battle that showed a lot during the Griffon war. “Yes. I have been in many battles over the course of two wars, Fear is a natural Pony emotion. Even hardasses like me get it… from time to time” I said with a smirk. Blackwood chuckled and straightened a small bit, taking the advice and small joke to heart.

“Thanks Bud, I appre’ciate you risk’n it all to help.” I nodded in agreement. In truth, I was dying inside. The thought of never seeing my family again really erking me. I excused myself and spread my wings, flapping to the top of the building where I would get better signals.

I brought up my communication interface inside the helmet, and selected call contacts. I scrolled until I found my house's landline and dialed, letting the pair request ping. It pinged three times before the signal was established, a mare voice answering.

“Hello?” My Wife asked.

“Hey Hon, it's me.” I said, trying not to let my anxiety be heard.

“Hey! Are you going to be home in time for dinner?”

“Uhh, I… I really don't know. Something came up-” I winced, searching for words to prevent leaking classified info. “-At work.” I finished.

“Oh… Well, that sucks. How's work so far?”

“It's.. uh… boring like usual.” I lied. “ Listen honey, is Storm back from school? Put it on speaker quickly.” I said, obvious anxiety leaking from my words.

Misty Days switched the call from private to speaker. “Okay.”

“Hey Dad! Guess what I did, Guess Guess Guess!” Stormcloud yelled from somewhere in the kitchen.

“Uhh, I don’t know. You know I am not a mind reader.” I gave a weak chuckle.

“Well, Me and Wind Rider and Breeze went and played dodgeball, and I threw the ball so fast, it nailed Galeforce in the muzzle, it was funny!”

“That's great bud, true marksPony material you are.” Galeforce had been a particularly spiky thorn in Storm’s side. Something to which his hippy, anti-Enclave parents had encouraged.

Misty Days cut in. “Let's let dad get back to work. Go and take this twenty down to the Super Duper mart and get me some pasta noodles, the big kind. You can get yourself a soda if you want as well.” I heard Storm scoot the dining room chair back and grab the money in his mouth.

“‘Fanks Mom, ‘wov, you Dad.” He said as he left the room for the door.

I heard the door open, then close. Misty sighed. “ You are on a mission aren't you?”

I grimaced. She always could tell when I was scared. “Yes. Things may get hard here soon.”

She stayed quiet for a moment, obvious worry hitting her now as well. She sighed and sniffed. “Look, you will come through, you always do. You have Shady and he always has your back. You know that.”

I nodded solemnly, “I know. I love you and Storm.”

“I love yo-” The signal went dead.

“Misty? Hello?”

A huge mass of Ponies and some Griffons marched in unison up the un-mined road. Already, the Sugar Grove citizens shouted and ran about to their posts. Shots began impacting the brick and rusty metal embrasures around me so I took flight and dove to the ground, landing in front of Shady, Blackwood, and a now uniformed Squeezer. The latter wore a green Equestrian Army combat barding, though still had his glasses and fedora on. The machine guns roared to life, sending rounds downrange to thin the wave.

“I counted at least fifty slavers and mercs before they started shooting.” I said, bringing my rifles and targeting spells online.

Shady took his helmet from his back with a wing and slapped the seals in place on his head. “We can go and flank probably, they don't seem too organized.”

I nodded in agreement. But before I could say anything more, a loud whining noise filled the air.

The .50cal machine gun, and post housing it, blew up. The Ponies manning it turned into a red colored rain.

A low buzzing noise replaced it. A low lying cloud drifted towards Sugar Grove, then broke apart. A huge Zeppelin, with steel gondolas bristling with machine guns and a cannon of unknown caliber moved slowly out of the cloud. The off-white and dark gray stripes on the ballast signified Zebra origin.

With a roar of the propellers, the Zeppelin surged forward, on the attack.

Author's Note

Hey Everyone! Glad you are reading still. Hope you enjoyed! I will try to put the next chapter up by the end of May, but this is a very busy time for me as I will be attending a convention in the middle of the month. Once again, thanks for reading! ~Thundercloud

Chapter Three : Into the unknown

Fallout Equestria: Storm Protocol

Written by: Thundercloud

Edited by: Mcmiky3332210 and Solstice

("..-All aboard, we ain't goin fishin'. Bunker down, and pass the ammunition and we'll all stay free-..")

Location: City of Ralneigh, Grand Pegasus Enclave

Time: 05:46 Equestrian Military time

I awoke with a start. Vague nightmares that I didn't quite remember were forced away as I squinted at my Pipbuck's bright green light, illuminating the dark room. Five forty-six in the morning? I hadn't remembered falling asleep, and was not supposed to be up for another hour and a half, give or take, but I decided to get up anyway.

I shifted on the couch. Misty stirred as I moved out from under her head and gave me a sleepy smile. I smiled back and kissed her on the muzzle, before heading into the bathroom.

My uniform was still lying haphazardly in the washer that I’d apparently forgotten to start. I grabbed a cup of detergent with my wing, dumped it into the slot, then closed and started the machine.

I turned to look at myself in the mirror, sighing as I did. The bandages covered my many cuts, scrapes, and bruises that I had received during the fighting, but I could still feel the throbbing presence of them as I took extra precautions to lightly comb my mane where the rocket hammer had hit my helmet. I still managed to hit the huge bruise there and wince in pain. Misty had swarmed all over me with a household medkit disinfecting my wounds, and the entire house when I told her about the swamp, and bandaging them up. All the while, Storm asked an entire class's worth of questions on how I had received them. Curious foals and all.

I checked the bandages. While not the magic-imbued ones like the Enclave used, a weak healing potion combined with them did the trick. I decided to just take them off, as they were useless even when they were applied. One thing I could not shake was the growing urge in the back of my head for Med-X. Did I feel… jittery? It was a very strange sensation to say the least, mind you one I had been feeling for the better part of yesterday. I looked down at my Pipbuck and tabbed over to a menu labeled "Status".

A plethora of red-tinted popups appeared, detailing the wounds on my body. They all had some sort of report that ended with "Bruising, Sore, Cut, Abrasion, or Crack", and I winced every time I read one. Despite the great healing powers of actual chems, and my wife being anal about every single wound on my body, I still had a fair bit of healing to do. The one alert that made my heart sink was at the bottom of the seemingly never-ending list, labeled as "Minor MED-X addiction".

"No. You aren't addicted at all. You just need it for your leg pain." A small voice in the back of my head said, before reinforcing the statement with a jolt of pain from my leg.

I rubbed my leg and squinted. Yeah… I had seen and arrested enough junkies. I was not about to become one. I made a mental note to go by the medical bay and almost could hear the screams as the addiction voice was pummeled by the tiny Thunderclouds in my head.

I showered, finished up in the bathroom, stretched my wounded leg for a minute or two, then walked back into the living room. Misty was up and in the kitchen now, and I could smell the welcome scent of brewing coffee. Storm was another story. He lay on his stomach, one leg under his cheek coated in drool, and the other three in various positions on the couch he occupied.

I chuckled and shook my head, then grabbed him in my hooves and flew him up to his room, tucking him into his bed. He murmured a bit in his sleep as I went to leave. I took a look around his room as I went. His dark blue walls were tacked with various pictures and posters, most of which were his comic book characters or Wonderbolt posters. I looked over his toy box, desk, and shelves, all dotted with knick-knacks and personal belongings. His prized Red Racer BB gun sat squarely in the middle of them all.

He had begged us for the better part of last year to get one, citing it as a "training opportunity" or "learning experience". I had broken down after a week, but Misty had not. She seemed to believe he would shoot his own eye out if he got one for Hearth’s Warming, though she finally relented and ordered one from a catalog book. We had made a small firing range out in the tiny backyard of our flat with trash from the junkyard on new year's eve to test fire it. He now insisted on using it at every of his marks-ponies tournaments. His first competition being the most special, bringing home the first of many trophies, and his newly appeared Cutie Mark, depicting a silhouette of a pony drawing back a bow and arrow.

I looked at Storm again, knowing it would be a while before I could see him again, and silently closed his door. Returning downstairs, I sat down at the table, opposite Misty, and drank my coffee.

"So... You are going to be gone for how long?" Misty said, a twinge of anxiety in her words.

I sighed. "I'm really not sure. I suspect it may be a week or two like I said, though I hope it isn't much longer."

Misty stared at her cup for a moment. "Do you actually have faith in those savages on the surface?"

The word felt alien now. Sure, I had used savage until about yesterday to describe the non-pegasi races, but it just felt horrible now. I drew in a long breath. “I didn't tell you two about this as it is very traumatizing, and I still am getting over it myself, but I almost died yesterday, Mist…"

Misty froze as if she did not understand. She looked at me with renewed fear and anxiety.

"The only thing that allowed me to sit here now was that zebra, Anakvad. As well as Bullion and Blackwood. I have learned that their ways of life are very different from ours, but they still put aside their differences sometimes to help others. They… hate us down there Misty. I heard Blackwood's foals repeat some of the things he had said about us, though I am sure he regrets saying it now. Savage.. doesn't seem right to label three non-pegasi who saved my flank. It would seem more apt to label them as brothers."

Misty stared at her Coffee. "I-I worry about you Thunder… What would Storm do if you- "

The words hung in her mouth. I understood fully where the train of thought was going. Truth be told, I thought the same exact thing a lot yesterday.

"Look Misty. You cannot lie that death does not come with the job. Hell, it is entwined with it. But I would not, ever, do something or invite some-pony without my one hundred percent trust. Plus, I will be on a ship for the journey. Just pop to the location, do what I need to do, then pop back. You know? It will be no different from the times you were on deployment with your Raptor."

She seemed to agree, then rose and walked over to the sink. She placed her empty cup in the basin, then switched on the small radio mounted on the wall.

The last notes of some instrumental melody echoed out into the kitchen, replaced by a mare's soft voice.

"And that was Flight of the Pegasi, you are listening to Ralneigh Enclave Radio. Serving the greater metropolis. This is Snowberry and this next song is the Battle Hymn of Equestria. Showing that, even in the darkest hours, Equestria still lives on. Waiting for us to reclaim and heal her."

The first notes started. Misty had walked over to the small pantry and began to pull out ingredients for oatcakes. I rubbed a small bruise on the back of my neck and hummed along to the patriotic tune. Enclave radios were usually presented in the same ways. A hardy mix of old-world patriotic music, pre-war popular songs, and news from all over the Enclave’s territories.

I checked my Pipbuck to see what time it was. 6:15 a.m. The smallest glint of sunlight began to catch the kitchen, making the window yellowish in color.

I rose, and went to stand next to my love. I draped a wing over her, and watched the oatcakes sizzle in the pan, pondering what my new friends did for breakfast.

Breakfast had been quieter than usual, besides my alarm going off upstairs. I had walked up to turn it off, and returned downstairs to find Misty packing some food into a small military knapsack she had bought after she got out of the Navy.

"Listen hon'. I have packed some snacks for the journey. Sweet rolls, Hay chips, stuff like that. She said as she placed it on the counter.

I chuckled. "Wouldn't want me getting skinny now, would you?" I half-heartedly flirted as I sat back down to finish my breakfast.

She chuckled and placed her plate in the sink. Deep down, I was boiling over with anxiety. This was uncharted territory for me and my squad, and the real idea of something going wrong perpetrated my thoughts.

I finished up my food, grabbed the snack bag and a canvas bag full of spare clothes, then gave my uniform a last iron and donned it. "Mist’, I’m heading in early. I want to tend to some things and check on Cloud before we ship out."

Misty popped her head out of the kitchen. "Thunder, call me when you get ready to leave. Please… Be safe, and come back. I love you."

"I love you too Misty. I promise I'll come back." And with that, I blew my mare a kiss and headed for the unknown.

===***===

It was a blur catching the train, checking in, and heading first to our ready room. As with every squad stationed at the base, we had our own ready room. Nothing more than an octagonal, light-purple colored room. Lockers ran most of the wall, each labeled with Omega Squads names and ranks. At the far end of the room, facing the door, our armor, minus the helmet, sat suspended in a yellow maintenance cradle, one for each set. I made my way in and stored my bags inside my locker. I then headed to the hospital facility. Star had said first thing in the morning, but I needed to check on Cloud. Weather had said he would be fine, but I wanted to see for myself.

I walked out of the main admin building and onto the covered walkways perched atop the top cloud layers towards the medical campus and flight line. A few Vertibuck's took off for some training and sped over the buildings, causing a gush of wind. Show offs…

A group of, mostly lower enlisted, parted and snapped salutes as I passed. I returned their salutes and wished them a "Good Morning” as I entered the swinging doors of the base's hospital complex, and made my way up to the desk nestled in between the supports for the upper floors. A few Nurses sat within the cubicle, idly talking. Only a few noticed me as a sea green mare, with a dark purple mane styled into two braids, seemed to lead the others on in a conversation.

I rang the bell, and they turned to look. One of them greeted me with a "Hello Captain, my name is Mocha. How may I help you today?".

Mocha, a dark chocolate colored mare, with a vanilla striped brown mane, sat down at her desk, and pulled up something on her terminal. The others resumed their loud conversation behind her.

"Yes, I am looking for the addictions treatment ward. I have a nasty one currently. Also, I am looking for a patient who came in yesterday. One Second Lieutenant Cloud Buster. I need to check in with him."

"Oh, addictions is on level two, room two-fifteen. And one moment with Cloud Buster." She hummed an unknown melody as she typed and searched through what probably was a patient archive. After a good three minutes, she piped back up. "Found him. He ‘s in ward four, this level. Bed number four-o-five." She said as she looked up to me.

I wished her thanks and made my way to the ward. After a few minutes of trotting down the dull white corridors, I finally found the ward that Cloud was being treated in. Alongside five other pegasi, one of which was bandaged from head to hoof in a full body cast. The only tell-tale sign of her color was the mahogany fur around her burgundy eyes that trailed me to the rear of the room where I could see Cloud Busters rear half.

I knocked a hoof against the metal of the divider curtain to Cloud's pod. “Can I come in?” I asked jokingly as he stirred.

Cloud Buster shifted out from under the dyed blue cloud-blanket and attempted to sit upright in bed. The blanket fell away down to waist line and exposed his barrel, wrapped tightly in bandages emitting a pinkish glow. “Don't see why not”, he joked back as he smiled faintly.

I snorted, and sat down on a small chair next to the bedside. “How are you feeling?”

He shifted, then winced. “Eh, it could be better. The bandages are helping a lot, and I have enough MED-X on demand to keep ten pegasi sedated, but it could be better.” He said, then smirked. “Say, why don't you go call that cute nurse down at the desk. The one with the dark purple mane. She has a cute smile and an even nicer flank. That would make me feel back up to one hundred percent, Cap’. ”

I winced when he said MED-X, and a little voice in the back of my mind snickered. But I shook my head and smiled. Joking was good. I quietly filled him in on what happened after he was wounded, and what my plan was.

After wrapping everything up, he drew a long whistle. “Damn. So.. I guess we’re shoving off today? I thought I would at least get some time to recuperate.”

I sighed and shook my head. “We’re supposed to be transported by Cloudship. I put in an impromptu requisition form to Star, so it really depends on what the rest of the council says. I would surmise that that's what this meeting is for, or something of the sort.”

Cloud nodded, and pursed his lips. “What about those grounders? What were their names? Blackwood and Bullion?”

I nodded. “Yeah, what about them?”

“Do you trust em’ Cap? After all, they aren't Enclave.”

“Wouldn't take them if I didn't. Besides, Star cleared a promotion to field agent for the lot of them. No worries, you can still boss them around if need be.” I smirked a tad bit at that. “Anyway, I need to get going. Briefing is in…” I looked at my Pipbuck’s clock, “-twenty-five minutes. So I am going to head on up to the Ops room. I will pass along the word to clear you for discharge, so pack your stuff.” I said as I glanced around his small pod. The only thing he owned was his jumpsuit, hung on one of the hooks mounted to the wall behind him. “Catch you later, Cloud.” I added as I headed back out the door. Cloud called out in goodbye.

First things first. Addiction removal. I hung right, then followed the path towards the atrium until I hit an elevator door, which I called. Stepping on, I hit the button for the second level, and felt the elevator rise. I felt jittery again, though I pushed the thought back into the deepest part of my mind. Not doing it… I thought.

Addictions was really a part of one of the outpatient clinic labs I assumed the campus had. I knew only of one more, the one I had my blood drawn for documentation when I moved to Ralneigh and started work at the base, but that was on the opposite side of the campus entirely. Regardless, I opened the door and stepped in.

The room was small. To the left, two bays with drawable curtains filled with one chair, a cart, and stacks of pull out drawers containing everything for lab work to be fulfilled. To my right was a small, circular waiting room with a few chairs, tables, and a magazine rack filled with magazines. In front of me sat a few lab techs at a lunar-shaped desk, watching me enter.

“How can I help you?” The smaller of the two, a yellow pegasus with a blue mane, asked as I closed the door behind me.

“I have an addiction from overuse of MED-X. Not entirely my fault. But, I have it. Do you have anything up here that can fix me?” I asked, a tad bit ashamed.

“No need to be ashamed, sugar cube. We get soldiers in here all the time with some sort of addiction.” The other one, a slightly chippy orange mare, with a striped orange and yellow mane, said as she stood up, and motioned me to follow her to the rear-most area of the lab bays.

She motioned me to sit in a chair that sat in front of a window overlooking the front of the campus, facing the road, then turned around and began to rummage through one of the carts, pulling out various needles and associated supplies. I, very awkwardly, fiddled in the chair, being I had a phobia of needles. Quite funny in retrospect as I was, usually, the first to get shot at, and meaning I was first to be healed or stuck with some needle.

“Ah, found it.” The orange nurse said as she pulled out… A very, very large needle-tipped syringe filled with a purple liquid. Well, fuck me…

I glanced at my Pipbuck, fifteen minutes till I had to meet with Star Chaser. A small burning sensation took my attention back. I looked over to see the nurse spritzing my left forehoof’s shoulder off with a wing-held bottle , most likely filled with the same medical grade alcohol in everything else here. She then grabbed the syringe with a wing and brought it closer.

I fucking hate today…

The needle hurt going in. I could feel the rush of whatever potion that was previously in the vial enter my body. Instantly, besides the big ass needle stuck in my arm coming out very rapidly, a certain clarity entered my mind. I felt normal again, though I had not even noticed I felt different.

To her credit, the orange mare gently removed the needle, and quickly slapped a gauze pad over the prick, and tapped it down. Eh, a waste of gauze for such a small wound, but whatever.

I bid the mares farewell, and backtracked down the elevator, out the lobby, and towards the office building. I also took that time to take off the gauze, and dump it in the nearest trash can.

As per usual, the ground floor was buzzing as I stepped in. Though, maybe a little too much. I looked around quizzingly as I walked to the hallway that held the elevators. Something strange was going on, though I settled to ask Star Chaser after our meeting. I checked my Pipbuck one last time. Five minutes to go. Right on time. The elevator closed, and began to rise. I stepped off after the doors opened, and took a right to the large briefing room. I could see Star Chaser inside through the window on each side of the double doors, so I just let myself in. The room was very large, bearing strong resemblance to the lecture halls of Neighvarro's college where I studied. The downward sloping seats terminated at a round center situated at the back of the room. Large monitors were hung in a semi-lunar orbit around the rear walls.

Star Chaser acknowledged my presence with a nod in greeting, before motioning with a wing to get closer.

I obliged, and walked down the carpet covered stairs to where he stood.

“Morning Captain. The other councilors have not joined yet, so we have a few minutes.” He looked around a second, before continuing. “Where is Lieutenant Shady?”

I was about to open my mouth, when Shady opened the door in a rush, panting and wheezing as he quickly trot down the stairs.

“Sorry, Cap’, got held up at security.” He said while trying to catch his breath.

I nodded. “Quite alright. The other councilors haven't joined the call yet. In the meantime, have you packed? I don't know when the ship will arrive, so best be prepared.” I finished, looking expectantly at the General, and hoping that he would fill in that blank space for me.

No dice. Star Chaser shook his head. “No idea. I'm sure we’ll find out though.”

After a few minutes of apprehension, a small red button glowed, signifying a call coming in. I tapped it, and formed the connection. Automatically, the lights dimmed, and the screens were lit up, showing multiple pegasi. As well as their names, ranks, and origin of the call.

Most councilors of every Enclave city followed the same structure. Three civilians and one general, though there were exceptions in certain places. The multitude of major Enclave settlements, bases, and cities were spread across the monitors. I recognized most of the councilors, as I had seen them on the TV when they were debating some issue. Though a few stood out. I was able to recognize Straight Stream, one of my friends while I was at the academy of Neighvarro during my training, so I gave a small nod to him. Apparently, he had been recently promoted to leader of the Military training city. The middle screen held another group of pegasi. One stallion, and two mares from the Ralneigh government building. Comet Blast, Star Sapphire, and Minty Breeze all sat around a half circle desk inside the city hall's private auditorium. I nodded at them as well in turn.

Star Chaser greeted the Pegasi. Then quickly got to the point. “Good morning, every-pegasi. Our first order of business is attached in the document sent to your terminals. You may open it now.”

A collection of tapping sounded from every monitor, as the Pegasi opened the documents on the terminals before them, or on their Pipbucks. I caught a few surprised sounds and looks as they quickly skimmed the synopsis of the mission.

“Is this some kind of joke, Star?” Said one of the councilors. I hadn't caught who, as I also went to open the briefing.

“Do I look like the kind to joke about, Dusk?” Can the witty retort of the one-eyed pegasus.

Hearing it caused me to snicker, then catch myself and cover it up with a cough. The counselor, Dusk Bolt from the settlement of Galeward, shot Star a piercing look. Then cleared her throat.

“So.. This is about the Windigo. Please.. Spare me the joke. Those are old-foals tales, even before the Last Day. This, Captain… Thundercloud. I assume he is the stallion next to you?”

I nodded. “ Yes Ma’am. And I can support my claims. I have intel fro-”

“From a “Slaver Airship”. Do you really think we should believe that the savages on the surface can aspire to repair more than a crudely fashioned pool-cue?”

“Scroll down to the next page…” I shot back. Yup. I had detected the bitch in the group.

She scrolled one down, then shot me another look. “So I am mistaken.”

The next page held pictures of the airship. Crashed, and pulled from my helmet footage as Shady and I had boarded it.

"As you can see, this so-called "Slaver Army" is organized, and also interested in seeking them out. Now, Slavers are usually not my first choice of info. But, they had an entire group looking for these creatures. I feel like we should at least humor the idea that they are still out there. Not only for the continued protection of the Enclave, but to ensure that we have an Equestria to reclaim."

My college public speaking professor would be proud…

"Thunderhead agrees with the Captain's statement.." Came the voice of Councilor Stargazer.

Great news. Neighvarro and Thunderhead are the largest influencers in politics, so if I had one, maybe the other would follow suit.

"Neighvarro is currently undecided on the matter. What other info can you give us on the matter, Captain?"

Damn. "Bits and pieces from the leader of that expeditionary force. A unicorn named Geiger. He had mentioned that it was top secret from another, a pony named Red Eye. I claimed his tablet after he was dispatched, but have yet to comb through it. It could lead to valuable intel regarding the matter."

Straight Stream and the other councilors of Neighvarro displayed worried looks, and began discussing something in hushed tones, then turned to face the screen again.

"Neighvarro agrees to the mission, but only temporarily. Should nothing be found within two weeks, we shall recall our vote. In addition, we ask you to carry out a side objective when the time comes."

I gave him a suspicious look, but resigned myself and smiled, performing a small bow with my head.

"Now. About a Cloudship for the good captain." Star Chaser said as he turned to face a projector console. A blueish hologram of a much smaller vessel appeared on it, and began to rotate slowly. "This is the Prowler Eye of the Storm. She just came back online after a lengthy repair break, and her crew is eager to have something to do besides patrol."

The Eye of the Storm looked very much like a shrunken Raptor-class Cloudship. The typical maritime style of ship hull allowed it to be used as a maritime vessel, as well as a Cloudship. Though with some distinct changes. Along the keel, a smaller bulbous protrusion extended downward. At both port and starboard of this inverted tower sat the outlines of ball turrets.

Towards the top deck, the bow had two similar looking cubes coming outward, one on top of the other. The port and starboard held two large anvil-shaped clouds, with a runway on the top of each. A large hangar door also allowed access from these strips. The stern was relatively normal, though having a strip cut out at the back, just under the deck plating. The large propeller modules sat atop one another, port and starboard. In total, four propellers provided thrust for movement through the air.

"How many are crewed aboard?" I asked, not taking my eyes off scanning the small model for anything else.

"Fifteen. It mostly runs off an old AI module fitted to it during the Great War, but needs a skeleton crew to round out the other tasks. The Captain is one Cloud Skimmer."

Turning to the other councilors, "All in favor of deploying the Eye of the storm ?"

A mass of "ayes" came through all the monitors, though some passed the vote.

"Motion carried. The Eye will be routed to Ralneigh, and should arrive later today and into tonight. Thank you Captain. Collect your stuff and team. Then pick up the small terminal pad you recovered from my office. Then, you may go home and get some rest. You are going to need it. I will alert you once the Eye is near the docks."

I snappily gave a wing salute and nodded for Shady to follow me out. First step is getting our gear and stuff, then probably going home and resting for a while until our ride is here. The door closing behind us allowed the next matter to be briefly heard.

"Now… Matter two. Councilor Sky Striker, what is the update on that "Security" pony…

===***===

The hoof-held terminal pad was laying on Star Chaser's desk. I grabbed it and stowed it into one of my smaller saddlebags. "Why don't you follow me home, Shady. We might want to see if this thing has any useful information regarding the Windigo."

Shady shook his head in agreement, then followed me out into the hall.

It was quieter than usual. Not much traffic like a bustling E.I.A. office should have. This was very strange. I managed to catch sight of a green pegasus, with auburn hair, walking along an intersectional hallway, so I stopped him.

"Hey Corporal. Where is every-pegasi?"

He looked at me for a second, then responded. "No idea, sir. Above my paygrade. I just file documents."

With that, he continued along his way, probably towards the archive room.

I frowned. Something strange was happening, and I was out of the loop of what it was. I hated being out of the loop as my squad was the one Star called upon almost every time if something needed to be done or some-pony needed their heads cracked. Resolving my internal struggle to just ask him when the ship arrived in port, I motioned for Shady and I to head out.

Aside from a napping elderly stallion, a mare looking overstressed and overworked, clinging to two bags of groceries, and a group of young cadet colts, the train was lightly populated. Shady and I took a seat on the far end of a general occupants car, not wanting to walk back to the military car.

The train jerked, and moved out of the station, heading for the first of ten stops it had to make before arriving close enough to where we could fly back to my house.

I watched out the window to the left of me as the city gradually moved past. My mind raced. Why hadn't I been told what was happening? I ran the strange events back. First the busy office space, the lack of workers on the admin floor, and the mention of a security guard?

“Hey Shady?” I asked my friend as we zipped by a factory.

Shady was engrossed in tinkering with some sort of electrical doodad that he had, apparently, produced from his saddlebags. I swear, he either sees everything as useful, and perpetually carries various tech around with him at all times. Or he is a robot sent from the future.

Probably not the latter…

“Hrr?” He half heartedly replied from behind a screwdriver in his mouth.

“Did you notice anything… Strange, in the office?”

Shady looked up from his tech, thought still held the screwdriver in his mouth. He sat it down by him, and squinted. “Not sure. I guess there were more workers on the ground floor today. Why?”

I shook my head. “Nothing.” I went back to staring out the train window.

I heard Shady make a confused noise, but then go back to messing around with his trinket.

“What is that thing, anyway?” I asked, clearly intrigued.

“”Eet iihhs..” he said through the screwdriver, before laying it back on his side. “That homing device that Despoena had.”

I lowered my eyebrows. “Why do you have it?”

“Well. I saw when I picked it up, it is nothing more than a radio that has been boosted. Sort of like a wired telephone or our armors com-link system. It not only can transmit the location, but connect to other devices connected to it.” He looked at me, I guess to make sure I was understanding where he was going.

“Which means-” I started. “We can tap into others' signals with the thing.” I was taken aback. We could listen in to the Slavers broadcasts or messages. “Great Skies, Shady. Remind me never again to poke fun at your collecting.”

He smiled. “Now, if I could only get past these problems. First problem is that it took damage. I think a bullet hit it, so some of the wiring is broken. Very, broken. Which leads to problem two. It had some sort of failsafe. I am fairly certain I can revoke that program though. It wouldn't make sense to permanently delete the operating system of a very rare, and expensive, device. I just need to tinker with it.” He said, as he spun it around with a wing, inspecting the internal wiring.

“Hmm.” I knew a bit about electronics, but had no idea how to aid him in recovering the programs. Still, this could be big if he could get it running again.

The train pulled into my home station, and we dismounted. Flying down the street that held my apartment, I landed on the doorstep, and unlocked the door.

Misty heard the door unlock, and had popped her head out of the kitchen. She looked very surprised to see me and Shady here.

“Mission not go through?” She asked, while drying a plate with a wing.

I shook my head. “No. We’re waiting on a Cloudship to arrive. We have some time to kill.” I said, holding the door open for Shady, then closing it behind us and locking it.

She popped back into the kitchen, probably to finish drying off dishes. Storm was sitting on the couch, eating cereal and watching a cartoon. I tousled his mane with a wing as I passed him, heading up the stairs.

“Hey Shady! Where ya’ going dad?” He asked between mouthfuls of Cloud Puffs, the frosted wheat cereal he enjoyed.

“To my study. Shady and I need to go over some plans.” I said as we made our way up the stairs.

Shady said hello back to Storm, and followed me up the stairs. My study was little more than a small walk-in closet. It held a desk, a small lamp mounted to the back wall over said desk, and some filing cabinets and bookshelves that held books, documents, and likewise. Not just for my service, also for more mundane tasks as, well, taxes.

I sat down, then motioned Shady to pull up a small rollie chair I had in the corner. He sat on it, then flapped his wings and propelled himself over. I gave him a side eye, but continued reaching for the terminal pad in my bags.

I laid it on the desk, then had a thought. I may have just let a bomb into my house, with my family in it…

“Shady.. Can you verify that this thing is not going to either explode or fry itself if I boot it?”

Shady leaned down, then started messing with it. Picking it up, looking at it, peering into the charging port. He then produced a scanner of some sort from his belt, running it over the device. Where had he stashed that?

“Nope. looks clean. Plus, General Chaser probably had it checked out.”

I nodded, then pressed the button. It blinked, then started to make a whirring noise, displaying code on a green background. I scooted back, making sure to shield myself if it did blow up. After a moment, it stopped whirring, and displayed a home screen. A collection of picture files, and a folder marked “Mission” were the only tabs on the tablet.

I tabbed over to missions. Only one document appeared in the lineup, and upon clicking it, opened to reveal a message.

-Master Geiger, you are to locate and find a previously lost facility, belonging to the Ministry of Arcane Science. The coordinates are attached. Upon doing so, secure the facility and the experiments inside. The images attached are pictures of the facility, and the test chambers. The key to our vision of a rebuilt Equestria is hinged on preserving and completing the research performed there. With regards, ~RE

I reread the message again, still visibly confused. It had no evidence to shed light upon the “Storm Protocol” I had read aboard the airship, nor anything concerning the “Asset” identity. Just great… In fact, it opened up more questions.

“So..” Beginning out loud. “Geiger was dispatched by RE. Doesn't take a genius to know that's probably that Red Eye character. But there was another called Shackles? I think. Despoena had said as much."

I pondered for a moment, then continued. "I need to look him up and see if we have any info about him. So, we have Geiger and Despoena, working for Red Eye and Shackles? And they all hail from “The City”.” I put mocking extra finesse into the last words, then cracked a smirk.

“So, here is a full timeline as I see it. This Red Eye fellow sends Geiger, and Shackles sends Despoena to find a facility owned by the MAS, holding the Windigo, and researching something about Storm Protocol. The convoy goes missing, aided by an inside pony. She then goes and claims our GPE shipment. The cache ends up in Sugar Grove overnight, where Blackwood and Bullion find them. The slavers must have triggered the security lockdown, and forced our earthen friends to leave. We come in, reclaim the weapons, meet Despoena and her squad.” I finished, then looked at Shady.

Shady held a wing under his chin for a moment. "Coordinates? They don't just know about the Windigo… They know where they are, and probably how to get to them."

The moment of realization hit us like a truck. "We dodged the first bullet, but that now places an even larger target on our and Sugar Grove's backs.” I said, looking back at the tablet.

“That means it will be a race.” Shady said.

I nodded. This whole situation went from bad to worse. I was banking on maybe they had no idea where the facility was, just that it existed.

I tabbed the picture files. One of two mares, standing outside of a large door. One clearly of the Windigo, with both of the ghostly equine's faces facing a grainy and staticky photo. (I couldn't help but feel a very primal and unplaced fear, as a shiver rippled up my spine) One of the guard posts, at the bottom of a hill with a road leading up to what I could guess was the facility. One of Ministry Mare Twilight Sparkle, floating a large set of scissors above a recently cut ribbon. And one that looked taken from very far away. I could make out a large steel building, protruding from the base of a snowy mountain range.

After a moment of deliberation, I determined our next step. We needed to talk to an “Old Friend”. “Shady, let's you and I go talk to our friend, Despoena.”

Shady grumbled something about, “We just came from there”, but relented and followed me back down the stairs.

“Misty? Shady and I need to go take care of something. We may be back.”

Misty turned on the couch and bid me goodbye and blew me a kiss. Storm managed to get something that sounded like “bye dad” out from behind a mouth of cereal, which prompted Misty to glare at him for talking with his mouth full.

We skipped the train this time, instead flying over the large city to the base’s gate, where we re-checked in and headed to the main building’s elevator. From there, we took the ride down to the lower portions of the facility.

Now, say what you will about the architecture of cloud cities, but no-pony can deny that lightning rods, and the fear of falling to your death some ten kilometers away makes it so that undesirables cannot break in or out of a major military base.

The elevator opened with a ding, revealing the cold steel of the reinforced strong room, underneath the HQ. In the event of a balefire bomb going off in the city center, the room was designed in a way to function similar to that of how a Cloudship levitates, though with a large amount of drag and sluggishness. Still, it could maneuver out of harm's way and safely land.

I walked up to one of the guards, situated behind a reinforced glass guard booth. “Captain Thundercloud and Second Lieutenant Shady Skies requesting permission to interrogate the griffoness Despoena.”

“May I have your IDs?” The guard said, as he typed something into the terminal in front of him.

I dug around in my breast pocket, before producing my wallet, and extracting my ID card, which I then placed alongside Shady's into a small tray that slid out from the wall. After a moment of the guard running it, he slid the tray back.

“You’ve both been logged into the system. Good luck getting whatever you’re after out of her…”

I nodded, and replaced my card into my wallet, and it into my breast pocket. Then continued through a hermetic door. The prison was a collection of steel catwalks and small, square cells. Once again, lightning rods and death by hitting the ground too hard.

The towers of cells, connected by catwalks and stairs, were suspended below the strongroom. The entire thing was covered by layer three of the many-layered cloud curtain. A zapping sound signified one of the protruding brass lightning rods discharging some static electricity. In the event of a breakout, they could be activated and, well, fry the escaping convicts. As long as they stayed in their insulted cells, they would be fine… maybe. Asd we passed the first set of force fields, that acted as the doors to the cells, they produced an electrical sound, almost like crackling. No doubt trying to connect with our bodies' natural static electricity.

We made our way to the center of the complex, a large control tower, suspended from the underside just like the cell stacks. The faded blue steel of the tower started as a column from the bottom of the strongroom, then reached the large bulbous overlook windows, then returned to a column, stretching down to the “floor’ of the facility.

One of the guards, a mare, in her power armor exited the tower and walked met us halfway down the bridge. “Good Morning Captain. Which of the prisoners do you need to speak with?”

“Despoena. She is a griffoness that was brought in yesterday.” I replied.

The guard clicked her teeth from behind her helmet. “Ah. Yeah, she is a problematic one. Follow me.” She spread her wings, and flew off the catwalks down towards the bottom. Once we had landed, she walked towards the last cell on the north cell stack.

“Get the fuck up Prisoner. You have guests…” She yelled, beating the steel siding with an electrified baton.

I stopped next to her, and peered into the cell. Through the blue-ish hue of the field, I could see Despoena’s face go from annoyance, to that fucking creepy smile.

“Thank you. We can take it from here.” I said to the guard, not taking my eyes off the slaver griffoness.

The guard saluted, holstered her baton, and returned back to the tower.

We stood there in silence, seemingly locked into a staring contest. Despoena finally lost, and broke the silence.

“Well, well, well. Miss me so soon, spooky?”

I snorted. “Couldn’t pay me all the bits in the Enclave to spend more than twenty minutes with you.”

She giggled. “Then leave. I was enjoying the fresh air before you began stinking it up.” She reclined back on her cot, closing her eyes, and interlocking her claws behind her head. “All of you “Intelligence” pegasi have the same rotten smell.” She said, exaggerating the intelligence by unlocking her claws and performing air quotes.

“Unfortunately for you, we’re going to have a nice chat. Now, what can you tell me about Storm Protocol? Don't play dumb either, I have the files from your airship that I downloaded before popping the fucking thing like a birthday balloon…”

Not opening her eyes, she sighed and rubbed her temples. “"I told that fucking idjit to shell the town, make it easier for us to get the fuck out of there and onto better things, but noooooooo, some-pony had to be a fucking smartflanks..." She ended the rant by spitting at the forcefield door. Some things never change I guess.

“On with the point.” I retorted.

She snorted, then waved a claw in a dismissive motion.

"Look, we can all play nice and you can tell us what we want to know, or we can play rough and I can beat it out of you," Shady added.

Shady's demeanor was usually that of carefree in nature, so hearing him getting pissed was concerning.

"Hey, spooky. Why don't you collar your chihuahua?” Despoena retorted in a mocking tone. She then stretched and yawned very loudly, and most likely falsely. "It’s about time for my nap. Which means yall need to get the fuck out of here."

I could tell we were getting nowhere with this questioning. "C'mon Shady. Leave the Interrogators for this one."

I turned around and began flapping up into the air. As I lifted off, Despoena called out again. "Have fun with what comes next, spooky pookie. Cause' it will be something I'm not gonna miss."

More words from the condemned. I couldn't wait for her to be marched up onto the gallows…

===***===

Location: City of Ralneigh, Grand Pegasus Enclave

Time: 13:42 Equestrian Military time

Lunch had found us in the base’s mess hall. Weather, Racer, and Cloud had joined Shady and I at a small table, near the rear of the large room. In between eating, I explained the situation, and let them poke around at the terminal pad. Midway through our lunch, I had received a message on my Pipbuck that our new home for the next week was nearing Ralneigh, and to be ready as soon as possible.

“I, for one, hope we get there behind them. I would love to get some action.” Racer said.

“Don't count on it. They’re tougher than you think, Racer.” I added, before placing my empty tray in one of the depositories.

“Anyone can be labeled tough. Though I didn't see any tough ponies when we landed, only scum and cowards who wanted to kill innocent foals and mares. Racer replied, depositing her tray on top of mine.

I nodded in agreement, though I still recalled being near death twice yesterday. “C’mon. Let's go get our things and kit.”

As usual for this time, the armory was bustling with activity. After waiting in one of the lines, we as a group approached one of the armorers, a purple-colored stallion.

“Omega Squad checking out our armor and weapon systems.” I said as I got to the till. The stallion typed something on the terminal, then buzzed us in.

I walked over to my locker and opened it, grabbing my canvas bag, snack bag, and then after a moment of thought, removing a taped picture of my family and I from the inside of the door. I opened the bag, and made sure it still held my items. I then stashed the terminal inside the bag, slung the bag over my barrel, and relocked the locker.

My armor looked almost brand-new, save for some dings and scratches. Reaching around with my teeth, I lifted the canvas bag off my midsection and placed it onto a steel bench, before walking up to the diagnostic cart, attached to my unoccupied power armor.

Tabbing through the terminal readouts with practiced skill, I confirmed a clear and clean read of my armor systems. Satisfied, I disconnected the plugs connected to my armor, and lowered it.

I began to strip, laying my uniform and officers cap inside the open bag, then donned the under-barding for the armor. Walking around to the back of my armor, I first inspected the small valve-like structure, just behind the shoulder plates. Making sure the main power core of the armor, a yellow cylinder basically operating like a miniaturized spark reactor, was at full power, before then twisting the valve clockwise. The armor hissed, and separated slightly, allowing me to pull open the back panel and step inside. Shifting until I got comfortable, I confirmed the seal of the armor from my Pipbuck, now interfaced through a connector specifically built for a Pipbucks receptacle. The armor once again sealed, and I turned to don my helmet, placed on a steel shelf near the repair cradle’s.

“Back in the saddle,” I mumbled before launching the programs built into the armor. I grabbed my bags and uniform, and slung them across my back, fastening them to the hardpoints using the telekinetic spell. I flexed my armored wings and cracked my neck, attempting to alleviate my body's soreness, then maneuvered into the doorframe to let my friends finish gearing up.

Out of all of us, Shady had packed the most. Three large canvas bags, filled with trinkets and scrap he had collected over the years most likely, plus his utility bags.

“Hey Cap’? When did we enlist a pack mule?” Racer said, halfway through booting her armor.

“Ha. Ha.” Shady said mockingly from behind his helmet. “Keep laughing Racer. All of this stuff is tech gold. What happens if we need something that hasn’t corroded from two centuries of exposure?”

I chuckled. “Don't make me turn this chariot around, foals.”

“Aw c’mon Cap. You could have let us know before-hoof. I would’ve packed more.” Racer said as she shouldered a small carry-on.

“I would have chucked it off the gangplank. Let some waster get lucky with your fifty pounds of makeup.” Shady said as he clunked his way over near me.

“Tssh, as if. I don't need makeup when I have a sparkly uniform and one-hundred fifty pounds of black titanium protection.” She said as she drew in a breath. “You all know Mares can't resist a uniform, especially if there are curves to go with all that brass.”

Cloud snorted, before slinging his ruck and joining us. “If you find any, let me know.”

“That makes two of us.” Weather said as he waited on a bench. Medical personnel did not need the bulky mass of power armor, so just like yesterday, he was wearing his shadowed combat barding and helmet with a large medical corps emblem painted across the extra plate, fused to the helmets “forehead” region. His medical saddlebags and plasma defender, a smaller and easier to handle version of the plasma pistol Mk.1, sat beside him.

Never hurts to be ready to take a life, to save a life, right?

Racer snorted, then walked over to join us.

I checked the time to find it was Fourteen-twenty four. "Alright guys, c'mon. Our chariot awaits." I said as I turned. As a whole, we made our way back through the checkpoint and out the front of the armory into the open sunlight.

The navy cloud dock was at the very end of the facility, at the back of a separation between the facilities grounds and the Ralneigh industrial district. I took off, followed by my squad, and together in formation we flew to the dividing gate of the navy dockyards.

Similar to that of an actual sea-faring or river-faring vessel port, the separation formed something akin to a river. Deep enough to allow a pegasi to look down from the fluffy, white, top layer of the cloud cover, to the gray, uneven, and swirling middle layer of the cover. I believe it was layer two of five? I was no cloud manufacturer, though I could see them across the expanse coming in and out of the cloud factories on the far side. Almost on cue, an alarm sounded on the far side, before a rumbling sound signified the expulsion of new clouds. The blueish pipes poking just barely out from the underside of the top layer let out a swarm of new, swirling, clouds. They were then guided by worker pegasi in white jumpsuits to where-ever the cover needed patching.

The actual navy ports, numbering about fifteen open spots and twenty in total, were arranged side by side. Large docking cranes and gantries occupied the divider between each port. Three empty ports from the entrance, then one occupied. A Raptor sat stationary in the space, looking like it was undergoing repair due to the gash in the armor caused by whatever in goddesses name could penetrate that armor. From there. Empty spaces and occupied spaces were sparsely organized.

A thrum of engines sounded, as well as a general readiness alarm. I looked behind me to see a familiar bow part emerge from a large cloud. It hovered a moment in the opening to the dockyard, most likely communicating with air traffic control, then proceeded to a space between a Corvette and Raptor a little farther down the row. As it passed, I could see the stencil engraved on the bow reading Eye of the Storm. The General was right, it did look like it had just come back from repair. The armor was dinged, missing, or battered in most places, but it looked overall fine. No reason for wasting materials to just make a ship look brand new.

"That… is the "Eye"?" Racer said as she was clear to proceed through the checkpoint and walked up next to me. "What a piece of junk." She said after staring for a moment.

"Don't say that too loud, I’d rather we start off on good terms with the crew." I replied, before watching as the rest of my friends filed through the checkpoint. Shady had the hardest time, with the guards giving him side eyes as they checked through his bags filled with scrap.

As we approached the prowler, two pegasi flew off the bow and secured the small warship to a mooring anchor on the pier, then retreated back onto the deck. The left side hangar door opened with a decompression noise, allowing a group of two ponies to emerge from the hangar space and make their way across one of the supporting storm clouds that held a runway. Because it was docked so that the large cloud was level to the pier, we could just step onto the ship without the need for a gangplank.

“Captain Thundercloud I presume?” A gray stallion, with a cobalt colored mane, reached the end of the runway cloud, then stepped off onto the divider towards us.

“Indeed. To whom do I owe the pleasure?” I asked in return, extending a wing to shake.

“Captain Cloud Skimmer. And this is my second in command, First Lieutenant Lavender Mist.” He said while shaking my wing. Lavender ruled up to her name, being a lavender color, with a light blue mane accented with a yellow streak starting from her right side, and running all the way to the back of her mane.

I shook Lavender's wing as well, and greeted her. “This is my Second Lieutenant, Shady Skies. Second Lieutenant Racer, Second Lieutenant Cloud Buster, and our combat medic, Second Lieutenant Gutsy Weather. Omega squad requesting permission to come aboard, sir.” I ended with a snappy salute. Even though Cloud Skimmer and I were the same rank, it was customary and tradition to request to come aboard a warship. Being selected to crew a large navy ship was easy, but being given command of one was a great honor and privilege. It also never hurts to be polite.

"We aren't getting any younger. Granted. Let's get this road trip underway." He said happily, before returning my salute and spinning around. "C'mon, I'll let you meet my wife." He laughed a deep laugh. "Old joke. I am talking about the Eye."

I snorted. "Alright you lot, let's not keep adventure waiting."

We followed Lavender and Cloud Skimmer into the hangar. It was extremely small, even for a hanger. Barely fitting two Vertibuck's arranged side by side, a bombing chariot, and a sky tank. What you could call the rear wall of the hanger, if you were in the bridge, held a caged in alcove that held the all to infamous large light gray Enclave shipping containers, more commonly known as "mane pullers". Who knows how they got coined this, but they certainly live up to the name, being a pain in the flank to move, unlock, and unpack.

Cloud Chaser nodded to an orange bodied, yellow maned stallion and mare, both gathered around the far Vertibuck making repairs.

We were led through a door in the wall, into a corridor. As usual with all navy ships, every inch of space was used to its full extent. Smaller crates sat next to pipe works, which were on a bordering wall shared with a metal table and seating. Down the corridor, we reached an X junction, and took a left corridor. This led to an elevator, which Cloud called. Surprisingly enough, the car was large enough to fit every pegasus comfortably. I assumed it was a cargo elevator of some sort due to the gear we were all carrying.

The car started steadily arising. “The Eye has five decks. We are heading to three currently to get all of you settled. Unfortunately, you will need to bunk with a roommate per room.” He turned to Racer next. “Mares with Mares, Stallions with Stallions. That is the foremost rule onboard. And.. No funny business. If you have feelings, be it homo or hetero, keep it under check. This is a warship after all, not a hotel. This goes for all of you, understand?”

I nodded. “I speak for my team when I say, nothing like that will happen on this ship. I trust you all will agree?”

A general collection of “Yes Sir” echoed around the car as it halted and the doors opened. A long corridor held doors to the left and right. Peaking into one as we passed, it resembled a college dorm room. A small common area with a steel table in the center of the room. The wall had insets to hold a fridge and kitchenette. I also could see two very small rooms to the left and right sides of the wall, which were large enough to hold a bed and an inset shelf. A bathroom and shower was placed inside a room on the far wall of the room.

I followed until we stopped at a bulkhead door. Cloud opened it with a metallic squeak, and we proceeded through. Another living block corridor met us. We proceeded until just before the next bulkhead door, where Cloud turned to us.

“Aaaaand, these are your quarters. I’ll let you decide who is bunking with who.”

“Shady, you and I will share a room. Weather, you and Cloud Buster take the other one.” I said as I pushed open the room door fully with a back hoof. I backed in and dumped my pack on a small sofa, previously obscured by the door. Shady dumped his bags on a bed, thereby claiming it for his junk empire. We would worry about unpacking when we got underway.

Back into the hallway, I saw Racer enter the last room on the right.

“Here you are, Lieutenant Racer. You will have this room to yourself for the time being. Every pegasus here already has permanent living accommodations.” Cloud said as he watched her enter.

I nodded. “Alrighty Captain. Let's see the rest of your home here.”

He chuckled. “Goddesses, I should have cleaned. This next part is my favorite.” He said as he opened the next door. We followed him into a very spacious cafeteria and common room area. The area was mostly packed with the metal mess tables common on all navy ships. The lunch line sat on the back left wall, wrapping around in an inverted L shape. Behind this, a small kitchenette followed the same path. On the far right wall, a few TV’s hung from the ceiling, while a jukebox, pool table, and some couches all sat atop a patterned carpet. What I assumed to be the cooks sat in this area, leisurely playing a video game.

Cloud pointed with a wing. “The white one is Coconut Sky, our head cook. The dark green one is Soaring Apple, and the purple one is Mango Striker. Best to stay on their good side, lest’ you want a loogie in your chow.” He said with a chortle.

Out through the door on the far wall, we reached another corridor, this time holding rooms mostly for storage, but with the exception of a sick bay and planning room. Beyond that, the corridor ended with an elevator shaft, and stairwell.

Taking the elevator up, we reached deck four. We stepped out into one corridor this time. The large cavernous space ran bow to stern, with circular rooms positioned two towards the bow, and one to the stern.

To our left and right, circular passages curved in an L shape back towards the bow, leading to a mostly glass ball turret, holding four magical energy miniguns per turret. A set in the middle allowed the user the ability to control the turret manually, if the option for the automatic targeting systems extended to the stations.

As we trot slowly down the bulkhead, Cloud Skimmer pointed out this and that. The Eye had three dorsal mounted heavy arcano-laser cannons, all of which extended downward to the second deck, and allowed access to the internals from the circular rooms. Walking in a crescent shape around the turret rotor, we came to midship. This held what Navy crew call a plotting room. The space was mainly occupied by a large holo-table, displaying all sorts of things from capacitor charge, to the feeds of the large cannons.

A few weapon tech's greeted the Captain with a cheerful smile or greeting, followed by a salute, but most were busy typing away on mane frame terminals gathering whatever readouts they were after.

The port and starboard of this room held large, barn like steel sliding doors. Except instead of sliding to the left or right, they slid upwards, revealing large battery clusters, capacitors, and other tech needed for the weapons.

"That room there holds the scorcher's capacitors." Cloud Skimmer said, nodding to an open room more resembling a small chariot garage.

"She has a scorcher?" I asked bewildered.

The DSEW-21 Static Energy Weapon system, more commonly called the scorcher, was the same large energy cannon that Raptors and Thunderheads use. Albeit unable to fire unless the bow was pointed to the target, they are devastating to anything caught in the business end of it. Firing a superheated beam of energized magical plasma like my beloved plasma-casters did, the beam has an effective range of about fifty kilometers, and is able to pierce heavy armor, dragon scales, or underground material.

"Sure does. The Eye is one of three who has it. We had to ditch the pinion missile pods for it though. Draws too much from the reactor if both of them are firing." Cloud said as he made his way out of the plotting room, around the stern cannon, to a door.

"This is the rear cargo deck and lifeboat room." He said as he opened it with a wing. The storage area was filled with strapped down shipping crates of various sizes.

Along the port and starboard walls, small orange five-pony life pods sat stacked two high. These were reminiscent of the offspring of an egg and submarine, and could be flown by one pilot when the small cloud generators were engaged, and the single propeller at the back of the craft was active. Very slow and sluggish to control, but it beats dieing.

We backtracked, and rode the same elevator up another floor. This opened to a short tower like structure, situated behind the midship cannon. It was furnished in dark-tan wood, probably pre-war, and sported a large dining hall table. Three-fourths of the walls of this room were floor to ceiling reinforced glass, providing a gorgeous view.

"And this is the Great Room. If you would like, I want to throw a big welcome party here tonight. Welcome you and your friends aboard." Cloud said as he walked out in front of us, then turned to face us.

"I am sure Omega squad would be happy to join your crew." I answered back.

This made Cloud Skimmer smile, before heading back into the elevator. "Wonderful. I am heading back to the bridge so we can get underway."

I nodded, and we filed into the elevator. I chose to follow him, instead of retiring to my room like the others. We backtracked back through the mess hall, and into the cargo elevator at the back. Riding it down past the hangar level, to reach the bridge.

Like many Cloudships, the bridge was mounted on the bottom, what could be referred to as the keel. We turned left after a short walk down a corridor, and I got my first look at this AI core that had been mentioned. More or less a large collection of data banks, terminals, and such embedded into the starboard bulkhead. We passed by a small seating area, unoccupied as of now, and stepped onto the bridge. The large bubble canopy curved upwards from the floor, and was a light teal in color. Behind it, was a large helm station.

The wheel was mounted to a table with many monitors, buttons, panels, and switches. A velvet colored pegasus mare, with a pale silver mane, sat behind the wheel. Busying herself with some readouts on the console.

"Captain on deck!" Lavender sounded from our right. The left and right sides of the room held similar consoles to the helm, though terminal monitors were mounted above them on the walls.

"At ease." Cloud said with a wave of a wing. He turned to me, and pointed to the control center on the left that was closest to the wall, and began listing the centers off going clockwise around the room. "That's damage control. The position is held by Second Lieutenant Caramel Twist." Almost on queue, the chair spun around to reveal a caramel coated, chocolate maned, mare. "Hey Captain. Hello Sir." She greeted us in turn, before swiveling back to her console.

"Sensors and utility. Occupied by Second Lieutenant Cloudless Sky." A light blue mare, with a white mane, waved in our general direction.

"Helm is owned by Velvet Rain, the drama queen." Cloud said with a chuckle. The Velvet mare turned in her seat, and stuck her tongue out at Cloud Skimmer playfully.

"Comms is occupied by Breezy Cookie." I thought for sure the seat was vacant, the occupant visiting the head located past the turn to the bridge. I was wrong. What I first thought to be a bright pink colt, with a deep purple mane, stood up in his chair and propped himself up on the back with his forehooves.

"Is that… A foal?" I asked, a little taken aback.

The room went silent, then roared with laughter. All except Breezie Cookie, who wore a look similar to that of Storm Cloud being denied a cookie for dessert.

"I'm thirty-five, not a foal. Also, I prefer "party sized"." Breezy said, sounding more annoyed than angry. This caused the room to go more towards hysterics.

My face went red with embarrassment. I felt like an idiot.

Cloud slapped my back with a wing, still trying to contain his laughter. "Don't sweat it Thundercloud. Breezy gets it all the time. Doesn't make it any less hilarious though."

"Maybe for all of you.." Breezie said, as he turned around and sat back down at his station.

Cloud finally was able to regain his composure, though with sparse giggles, and pointed at the final seat where Lavender sat. "And that's weapons. Anything that goes pew pew, Lavender controls."

I nodded. The Eyewas definitely proving itself as an effective tool.

"But enough jawing." Cloud said as he made his way to the Captain's chair in the middle of the room, and sat down. "Miss Velvet? Do we have departure clearance?"

"Aye sir." Velvet said over her shoulder with a hoity-toity accent. She would have fit well with the old Canterlot upper class.

"Take us out. Captain, would you be so kind as to upload the coordinates of your mission? General Star Chaser didn't give us any more details other than transit your squad."

I nodded. "I can do you one better. I cannot stress this enough that what I am about to tell all of you is very classified."

Aside from the dull thrum of propellers spinning, the room went quiet. I tried to piece together some response that didn't make myself look batshit insane, but decided to tell the story as a whole, sparing no detail. Describing from the initial mission of retrieving stolen cargo, to discovering Despoena's team, to the battle over Sugar Grove.

Once I had concluded, I fell silent, waiting for the barrage of questions. Cloud wore the look of some-pony who had seen not just one ghost, but an army of them. Wide eyed, he opened his mouth, searching for words.

"Yes, Windigo are real. And yes, we are going to make sure they stay just as a foal's tale." I said, cutting him off.

"Normally, I wouldn't believe anything you just said. Claimed you hit the bong or had gone loco. But.. This is from the council." Cloud said. He raised both wings, and began massaging his temples. "Fuck. What have I got myself into?" He asked no pegasus in general.

"Just another nightmare from the old world I'm afraid." I said, then shook my head. After a moment, I walked around to the helm, connecting my Pipbuck to it.

I tapped a few keys, and brought up the GPS marker for MAS facility delta. The connection shared the relevant transit info to the ships onboard computer, and a holographic HUD appeared, splashed across the windscreen and on the holo-table as a 3D model. I walked over to the table and stood over it. A map of the land loaded, claiming the old world name for the area Ralneigh was over was called the "Appleachian Mountain range."

I scanned the map, watching as it was filled out in dark green holograms. Funnily enough, Ralneigh and Sugar Grove were represented on the map as their name, and a small icon of the Enclave Symbol, and a building symbol.

:ERROR. ERROR. UNABLE TO LOAD GPS. PLEASE RELOCATE AND TRY AGAIN: The terminal presented in large, blocky lettering.

"The hell?" I said out loud, then refreshed the loading bar. It displayed the same message again.

"Looks like it cant render the flight path this far up. It’ll probably right itself when we get below the cover." Cloud said, studying the map as well.

"Probably. It’s somewhere in this general area." I said as I adjusted the map towards the bordering mountain ranges to the north.

"Hmm. That’s going to take a bit to reach. Maybe a few days top." Cloud said as he scanned the map.

"Yeah. We're in it for the long haul. But first things first. I need you to drop down here." I pointed to Sugar Grove. "Dispatch a Vertibuck when we arrive, I'm going to pick up three additional operatives. A unicorn, a zebra, and an earth pony."

Cloud recoiled slightly in his chair, and gave me a confused, yet resigned, look. "This is definitely an odd group of troops you are collecting."

"Don't discount them. They are good fighters. As for the zebra, Anakvad. I don't want to hear anything that could be remotely prejudiced against him. He has had a hard life, being a slave will do that to you I'm afraid. In other words, I want him treated as another brother in arms. Can you make sure of that?" I asked Cloud, with a small dagger in my voice.

"You don't need to worry, friend. I’ll make it crystal clear. My crew isn't a bunch of hardcore, prejudice-holding racists like you get from time to time." He said.

I breathed a sigh of relief. My friends would be treated well, I was positive.

"Miss Velvet? Have we exited the restricted zone?" Cloud said, swiveling back around to face the window.

"Yes Cap'n. We are away."

"Excellent. Put us into a twenty five degree nose down. Let's take her down slowly so as to not upset her new parts."

"Answering two-five, nose down. Aye Sir." Velvet said as she made corrections to the trajectory.

"Part issues?" I asked.

"Nothing of note. The Storm is an old girl, so she is running out of functional replacements in tip top shape. She should be fine. As long as we don't hit anything rough, We'll be right as rain." He said as he checked something on one of the LCDs, mounted to the arms of his chair.

===***===

Him and his big fucking mouth…

About an hour into descent, a large raindrop splattered against the window, then one became a light drizzle. Then a light rainstorm. Then a Goddess-damned torrential downpour. "What was that about not hitting anything-" Velvet called from the helm.

"Yeah yeah. I know. Save it." Cloud cut her off as fast as the question came.

Visibility was near zero, no thanks to the drastically darker landscape under the cloud cover. Heavy, non-stopping rain coated the windscreen at every second. The wipers situated above the helm didn't even make a dent in the oncoming downpour. On the plus side, the Storm apparently possessed high-powered flood lights that were situated in the hull. They were able to make the atrocious flying conditions about point zero zero zero five percent better.

The darkness was lit up with a vibrant yellow for a second, as lightning flashed in front of us, not close enough to be dangerous, but close enough that we squinted at the blinding light. A large crack of thunder sounded, the shockwave rattling the Stormaround more than it was currently.

“Helm, right rudder twenty degrees. We are being blown off course.” Cloud said, watching the computer rendered location of the ship drift off course from Sugar Grove.

The next hour consisted of precise alignment and fighting hard against the harsh windsheers, pounding rain, thunder shockwaves, and blinding lightning, until I could just make out the aura of Sugar Groves yellow lighting in the distance, hidden almost by the dark and looming swamp trees that surrounded it.

I pointed a wing at it. “There it is. I am heading down to the hangar. Ready a transport for me please, We'll be here and gone in a jiffy.” I said as I started out the door.

“Already on it. Meet Firefly and Sunshine in the hangar. They will get ya’ taken care of Thundercloud.” Cloud said as he watched me go.

“Much obliged Captain Skimmer.” I said as I exited the door.

I rode the elevator up one deck, then stepped out and followed the corridor back into the hangar. The orange mare and stallion I had noticed when we had boarded met me halfway down the hangar deck, saluting as they approached.

“How ya' doin' Captain. I'm Firefly. This is my wing-pony, Sunshine. We'll be your chauffeur today.” The Stallion said.

Both Firefly and Sunshine wore typical dark gray flight suits, almost like under-barding for Power Armor. The key difference is that they were padded for insulation, with an optional detachable oxygen mask hanging from a ring on the collar. They both wore a helmet, with a bulging visor over their eyes, and I could just make out the dark green glow of a hud from within.

I returned their salute. “I’m doing well. Has Captain Skimmer told you what your mission is?” I asked.

“Yeah. Going to gather some HV-Tee’s for you. Didn't say much other than that.” The mare, Firefly, responded as she turned back towards their Vertibuck.

I followed them back, and we mounted the craft. I noted the custom artwork on the nose of the flying machine as I flew up into the crew compartment. 'Thunder from the Sky' was written over the silhouette of a pegasus with a lance. A lightning bolt arched out from the tip of the lance.

I sat down on one of the troop seats situated on the rear wall, and made sure to pull the over shoulder seat belt tight. Raging angry thunderstorms plus small Vertibuck equals not fun flying conditions.

Sunshine turned partially around in her chair, and gave me the unique radio code for the Storm. I tapped it into my Pipbuck, then sealed my helmet. The staticky noise was replaced with Firefly's voice.

"Firefly to Hangar. Requesting permission to taxi." Firefly said lazily while he flipped switches and pressed buttons on the console.

"Hangar control to Firefly. Doors are unsealing now. Proceed to cloud way One-L. Be careful out there." Came the response from the overhanging hangar pod, suspended on the roof of the hanger.

"Taxi One-L. Firefly out." The connection to the hangar cut. "Alright Mares and Gentle-stallions, this is your, uhhhh, pilot speaking, uhhhh."

Sunshine punched him in the arm, and he cut the impression. "Enough. Look good infront of the Captain, not like an idiot."

"Aw c'mon Sis, you know I am just messing around." He replied in a tone feigning innocence, but wore a teasing smile.

That would explain their striking resemblance. Sunshine and Firefly were siblings. Not unheard of in times of peace to have family stationed aboard the same ship.

The roar of the propellers jumpstart sounded, and we began steadily crawling across the floor. The slapping of the high winds and rain against the relatively thin armor of the transport carapace placed some anxiety in my mind.

We reached the runway, then rotated left. The propellers revved loudly to full power. All at once, we rocketed off the pad, dropped about a yard, then steadily climbed into the stormy sky. I slowly maneuvered out of the divot I had made in the leather seat from hunkering down against the gees.

"Tartarus's terror." I said, feeling like I had just rode a rollercoaster times one-hundred.

"Eh. You get used to the catapult after a while." Sunshine said from the radio.

I had heard mention of some Cloudships having steam powered catapults for faster takeoffs from smaller runways, but had never experienced being slung in what was essentially an eleven ton metal bird before. It felt like the dizzy-tron training course from boot camp all over again, only so much worse.

"At least give me fair warning next time, please…" I said, annoyed.

And at that moment, the worst sound I could have ever wanted to hear made its debut. The cackle of electricity signified lightning was about to be released. On queue, a blinding yellow streak ripped across the sky in front of the Vertibuck.

"Fuckin Skies. I hated this kind of scenario in the sim-pods." Firefly quipped as he banked hard right to avoid the bolt.

The Vertibuck missed the bolt by a few yards or so and releveled, then shook violently as the shockwave caught it. The spotlight mounted on the ventral part of the nose barely shed light on the dark masses of trees under us as the small craft re-leveled once again.

The lights of Sugar Grove grew brighter and brighter, until I could see the town itself. The Vertibuck nosed up, and slowed rapidly, before we came to a soft landing in the center of town.

"Alright Captain, we’ll wait here until you return." Firefly said as he revved down the engines, letting them grow silent.

I thanked them, then unsealed the troop door on the left side. I slid it open, only to get greeted by the pounding rain. Without my armor, it probably would have hurt to be hit by the torrential downpour. Dropping down, I landed in what once was part of the dirt path, now turned to dark brown, sloshing mud.

I grimaced about having to clean this crap off my armor, but dizzily trudged on anyway to the familiar large residence of Blackwood. I knocked on the door, then stepped back.

A cream mare, with a walnut colored mane, opened the door. Probably Blackwood's wife. "Oh! Hello.. uhh.. Trooper? How can I help you?"

"I am looking for Blackwood. Is he in?" I asked.

"He is. Not sure what trouble he has found himself in now…" She said, giving the concealed interior a side eye.

She turned, and called upstairs. "Woody! There's an Enclave Trooper at the door wanting to see you."

"Hol'on. I’m’ma coming." Blackwood's gruff voice called from upstairs. He came trotting down the stairs and approached the door. "What c'n I do fur'ya, Trooper?" He asked, looking puzzled at the seemingly random Enclave trooper calling on him.

"You can let me in for starters, Blackwood." I said behind a sly smile.

His eyes went wide, and a smile spread across his face. "Dad'gum that wus fast. S'okay Walnut, ah' know this'un."

The mare, now identified as Walnut, opened the door wider and stepped aside to let me in. I graciously nodded to her and unsealed my helmet inside the… foyer? Not sure what Wasteland house entrances are called.

"Well well well well well. I see a-little-silhouetto-of-a Captain." Came the smooth and joking tone of Squeezer. The teal stallion sat in a wooden chair in the kitchen slash dining room area of the shack. I felt a tad bit more relieved he was able to stand up and leave the wheelchair I had last seen him in. The wonders of modern past medicine. Still though, he wore a wrapping of healing bandages around his barrel, but seemed otherwise alright.

"Feeling alright Squeezer?" I asked in greeting.

He made a series of thinking faces, then cackled. "Indeed. Indeed. Like I said. Nothing, a few bottles of wine and some healing bandages can't fix."

I chuckled. "Where's Anakvad?" I asked, not finding my striped friend present on the ground floor.

"S'upstairs with the colts. Blackwood said as he shut the door against the rain and wind. "He's real gud at keep'in them entertained with'is games."

I smiled, knowing he was probably reminded of his filly. I nodded and began heading upstairs, but was stopped by Blackwood.

"Hol'on buckaroo. Don't track mud through Walnuts' clean house now. Squeezer, show'em your trick if ya'feeling uptah'it."

I blinked in surprise. Cleanliness wasn't something I attributed to the Wasteland. Nor was the cryptic remark of Squeezer's "new trick".

Squeezer concentrated, then shut his eyes. He seemed to strain as a teal aura surrounded his horn. I took one step back, seemingly the target of a spell. My body was surrounded by the same teal aura, then in a flash of light, the mud was gone.

"Woah. Neat trick." I said, impressed. I admired my clean legs, looking fresh off the factory. I looked back at Squeezer, panting and coughing.

"You okay?" I asked, concern creeping into the forefront of my mind.

"Yeah yeah. Magic’s not a strong suit of mine. Still working on that." He said through sipping some water from a glass on the table.

"But… I saw you levitating a bunch of stuff yesterday?" I asked. This was confusing at best.

"Ah, yeah yeah. Figured you wouldn't know a lot about unicorns. Well, telekinesis is… like, the basic-ist spell we know. Hell, we don't even have to learn it. We just know how to do it from birth. Just. Hey Mam’, look. I can fly.” He cackled again.

I gave him a blank stare, still trying to process the magical equivalent of advanced trigonometry and how unicorns can fly.

Squeezer, probably using his ooga-booga unicorn magic, predicted the latter question, and headed it off. “Yeah. Did that, probably too much. Mom and Pops probably thought I was a Tartarus spawn with how many times I decided to levitate my hind-hooves into the air. One minute, I would be in my crib, the next, I would be slowly floating across the den. I’ve got fond memories as well of me losing my grip and going headfirst into the wall or floors.” He cackled again.

I chuckled, though I was still trying to wrap my mind around unicorn magic. I decided to ignore the question, and head on up the staircase, followed by Blackwood.

His upstairs was mainly a hallway that ran parallel to the staircase. There were two rooms that made up the second floor. One with the door ajar just enough to reach the conclusion it was Blackwood and Walnuts’ bedroom. The other had its door all the way open allowing light to come into the hallway. I could hear Oak and Birch laughing inside, so I continued on.

Looking into the room, I couldn't help but chuckle. Anakvad was wearing a blindfold and earmuffs, and attempting to blindly and soundlessly find Oak and Birch, both of which were perched inside a white cabinet above a counter type structure, facing a bunk bed. They both turned to look at the newcomer inside the doorway, and got big smiles on their faces upon seeing me.

“Yup. One’a his games. He’s pretty gud’ at keep’in em’ occupied whil’ Walnut’n ah’ go about with damage repair.” Blackwood said behind me.

I laughed again, then leaned against the doorframe, watching the sight unfold. Due to Anakvad not stopping, I could reasonably surmise that the earmuffs were sound insulating, so I decided to get his attention another way. I grabbed a piece of balled up paper from the wastebasket by the door, and tossed it with a wing. Hitting Anakvad in the head with a thump.

“Ah! My small friends, I told you. No throwing things.” He said, rather annoyed. He reached up, undid his blindfold, and removed the earmuffs. Then looked down at the paper, then tracing it back to me. He smiled big, walked over to me, and gave me a tight hug.

“Thundercloud, my friend. You have returned.” He said through squeezing the life out of me.

Now, I am not a big hugger, and pegasi are generally not ones who like to be confined in one way or another, so this hug was… Uncomfortable at best.“Anakvad. Please let go, you are strangling me.” I croaked out, before breathing normally again as he let go with a sheepish grin.

“I apologize, my friend. I assume the reason for your return means we are departing?” he said, with a twinge of sadness in his voice.

I looked back at Blackwood's' colts, still staring at me with goofy smiles etched onto their faces and understood the reason for sadness. I assumed he saw a bit of Melaka in them in one way or another.

I nodded “Right now in fact. Grab your kit and meet us downstairs.” I turned and began making my way downstairs, listening to Blackwood scolding his foals for staring and how it “Wasn’t nice”. I laughed a silent laugh and made my way back into the kitchen, where Squeezer had already gathered two large rolling travel suitcases, and an old Equestrian Army duffle bag. The latter was open, and Squeezer was humming a tune to himself as he stuck his nose almost inside, moving around what looked to be junk and scrap with his teal magic. I guess it was an easy spell after all.

“What'cha' got there Squeezer? I asked, moving over to him. I also caught a glimpse of something I hadn’t noticed until now, his cutie mark depicting a trio of gold bars, loosely stacked atop each other.

Still not coming out of his olive green canvas cave of wares, “Bartering stuff, junk, scrap, and such. You know about Bottle Caps right?”

I remembered that Bottle Caps were the primary source of currency for the Equestrian Wasteland, though a fact I had learned as recently as yesterday just before boarding the Vertibuck to travel to Sugar Grove. “Yeah. Not sure why Wastelander's use them for currency though. Seems a bit primitive in my professional opinion.”

“Ah, no no no no no my winged compadre. See, Caps are used because there is an overabundance of bits found almost anywhere. Now, these are also worth something, but holding a lower value than Caps. See, these little Sparkle~Cola and other drink branded caps cannot be made. Therefore, setting a fixed rate on them.” He said, still messing with whatever junk he was moving in the bag.

That made… Perfect sense in my mind. You can't make the caps. That means overprinting is not a thing. Counterfeiting is probably rare at best, but it wouldn't look like the pre-war stamped caps. “So, does any-pony down here still barter with Bits?” I asked again. I must admit, I was fascinated with Wasteland economics at that moment.

“N’yes.” He cackled, though I was not sure what was so funny about the response. He finally withdrew from the bag, seemingly at peace with whatever he was doing inside. “Settlements, from as far as I know, around the Equestrian Wasteland still do take Bits, though they are worth..” He looked into the air, probably running some sort of math in his head. “About a ten to one ratio. They are better suited to be smelted back down and used to repair anything that uses conductive components. My colt-hood home still uses them in fact.” He finished.

“Where do you come from, Squeezer?” Now interested in where he grew up.

He waved a hoof. “Not really a place I like to remember. Let's switch back to Squeezers first love, bartering and money.” He cackled again.

“Isn’t that two things?” I asked, confused.

“Hmmm. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t.” He cackled.

I could see Walnut look at me and shrug. I resided myself to just chock it up to Squeezer being, well, Squeezer, and let it slide.

Blackwood and Anakvad came clunking down the stairs, followed by Oak and Birch. Anakvad had changed back into his mechanics jumpsuit, now looking tailored and sewed back together. A small sash with a variety of pockets now was attached to his barrel, ending in a holster for his small pistol. I made a mental note to get him a better weapon when we were back aboard the Eye.

Blackwood passed by us, and went into his office. I could hear beeping from within, most likely an electronic gun safe that somehow still worked, and returned with Whisper in the dark, and a combat rifle, handing the latter to Anakvad, who seemed surprised.

"Know how'tah use this?" He said, as Anakvad took it.

"Yes. It is similar to the Type-93 rifles we had from the homelands." Anakvad said as he slung it across his neck.

"Don't those shoot incendiary rounds?" Squeezer asked as he slung his bag, and levitated the two suitcases into the air.

"Not all. They can be modified with a pyromancy or any other elemental talisman to enchant the bullets." He responded.

And, learn something about Zebra weaponry. Check.

"Welp. Best not to doddle any longer. Do all of you have your things?" I asked, pushing the departure time along.

All three of them looked at each other, and at me, confused. Blackwood was the first to voice their supposed collective thoughts. "We're goin' now n'this down-pour?"

I blinked, then shook my head to clear my thoughts. "Well.. Yeah? We have a deadline to keep after all."

"Wha' don't we wait ‘till the rain stops?" Blackwood questioned in return.

"What he means is, why are we walking all that way in one of Appleachia's favorite pastimes, monsoon?" Squeezer clarified, then cackled.

"Ooooh, no no no. We aren't walking. We have a Cloudship requisitioned for us for transit."

Silence… It may be a virtue, but this was the type that left doubt in a pony's mind.

"Uhh. We're fly'in in yur fly'in machines? Whatta call'em?" Blackwood asked, with a look of apprehension on his face.

Oh… This was going to be a fun outing.

"That Vertibuck outside is our taxi. We land back in the Eye of the Storm and travel to where we need to go."

"I think I speak for all of us to say that flying isn't a thing Zebra and ground-ponies do regularly. In-fact. I believe I read something about…Pegas, pe-guh, uh…" Anakvad said, trying to work the word out.

I decided to help him along. "Peg-A-Si, but go on Anakvad." I said warmly, sounding out the word for reference.

"-That pegasi are so very different from even Zebra." Anakvad finished.

"Well… There is no other way we can get to where we need to go without flying." I argued.

"Ah'know, Ah'know." Blackwood said dismissively, then sighed. "Alr'igh. Let's get'goin." He said as he picked his bags up with his mouth.

Walnut went to his side, and held his face in her hooves for a moment. She smiled, then kissed his forehead. "Please be safe, Woody. I love you."

Blackwood sat his bag back down briefly and returned the kiss. "Aint' nothin' to be worried about, Walnut. Ah' got Squeeze and Thunder to watch me."

I smiled just a tad, seeing a mirror-like image to Misty and I. I glanced around the room as the heartfelt goodbyes were exchanged between Blackwood and his family. Squeezer was hanging around in the corner, also watching the departure. A part of me wondered if Squeezer had a special some-pony somewhere in the hells of the Wasteland that awaited us.

I moved my gaze to Anakvad, and my heart sank. He wore a sad expression on his face, one eye shedding a tear. I moved over to him, and gave him a reassuring smile. He sniffed, wiped the tear, and returned a half-hearted smile.

I gave him a pat on his shoulder, then turned for the door. "Alright you lot. Let's get moving."

I opened the door, nodded to Walnut with a "Ma'am, and we as a party stepped into the howling rain. When I reached the Vertibuck, I slid it open, then popped the deployable staircase to allow easier access to my non-winged brethren.

Squeezer was first on board, choosing to sit in the crash seat that backed Firefly. Anakvad and Blackwood joined me in the rear crash seats.

I pointed to the overhead cargo nets, not just to show them where to safely stow their luggage, but to get their attention to don one of the sets of flight headsets strung into the netting.

"Hoooo-lee shit. Now there is something I never thought I'd see. Welcome aboard mateys. I'm Firefly, and this lovely assistant beside me is my co-pilot slash sister, Sunshine." Firefly said from behind his flight visor.

"How'da turn this thang on?" Blackwood said from behind his already active mic.

"It's already online. Just buckle yourselves in." I answered, as I sealed my helmet.

"Oh, uh. How'yall doin? Ahm Blackwood. This here is Bullion Squeezer and Anakvad." Blackwood asked while tightening the straps around his shoulders.

"I do not fly. I do not fly. I do not fly." Anakvad kept repeating to himself as he sank lower and lower into his seat.

I reached over and helped him secure his straps, before doing the same to my own. I banged the roof of the troop bay with a hoof, making a clunking noise. "We are green back here." Telling the sibling duo.

"Roger that, Sir. Beginning take-off procedures." Sunshine said, as she went about turning on the systems to the dragonfly-like transport.

The blades coughed to life, and gained momentum. We lifted off the mud soaked ground, and into the air.

"Oooooooooookay-. Squeezer is not having fun. Nope. Not at all." The eccentric unicorn said, grabbing ahold of his seat straps with his hooves.

"Aw. Soo precious." Sunshine quipped, then giggled.

"I was wondering what their reactions would be." Firefly said with a chuckle. He looked again at the mirror, mounted onto the windshield. He began to laugh. "Look at the Orange one Sun'. He looks green now, oh."

Firefly regretted his statement instantly as Blackwood puked onto the steel floor of the Vertibuck.

"Fuck bro. Why on my nice clean deck?" Firefly said, and clicked his teeth. " I'm gonna be smelling that for the rest of the return trip."

I had to temporarily disable my microphone due to the school foal giggling I was producing, although feeling sympathy for my non-winged friends.

Though the Eye had moved closer now, it still took about fifteen minutes to reach the relative safety of the flying mothership. Anakvad had kept mumbling in his native tongue, keeping his eyes shut wide in an attempt to be blind to the ravaging maelstrom we were flying through. Squeezer continued to hold on tight, letting his form sway and rock with each maneuver and correction as we played dodge the lightning bolt. Blackwood managed to only throw up the once, though he certainly had moments where he covered his mouth tight with a forehoof in an attempt to deny the vomit its exit. Only when we cleared a large cloud, did he perk up a bit. He and Squeezer both stared in astonishment at the Prowler.

"Land sakes… Look'it tha size of that thang…" He said, enamored by the dark silhouette of the Eye, contrasted to the dark and stormy sky.

"That's the Prowler I was talking about. Our new home for our journey." I said, trying to keep him distracted from vomiting again.

"Why's it small? The only-un I've seen is larg'r than that." He asked, still studying the approaching form.

His question caught me by surprise. Ground Ops involving Cloudship support was not a thing at all, instead delegating the aged warships to defense and patrol. "What do you mean "the only one I've seen?" When have you seen another ship?"

"Ther'sa crashed one close ta’ mah’ hometown. Got brought down during tha last day maw-maw always said. Large'un at that. Whaddya call'em?" He looked at me, waiting for me to answer the question.

"If it's large. Chances are it's a Raptor." I answered.

"Ri'gh. Well. This Raptor is'n two about an ha'rs trot from where ah grew up. Nopony liked goin' up that way. Said it wus haunted or summin."

Probably the security system protecting from unauthorized intruders. Ghosts were just, scientifically, not real. Every soul moves on to purgatory when they pass, just a fact. Still, good to know that parts for Cloudships were close by.

We came to an abrupt halt, and taxied up towards the bay doors, which had begun to part and retract. "Alright. Please note that most pegasi vessels have clouds as external walkways and that support the ship. We can walk on them. You all cannot. Do not walk on the clouds, even if you see pegasi doing so. Okay?"

It felt silly to need to state the obvious, but was nonetheless met with a collection of yes in different forms.

"Outstanding. Let's get you guys settled in." I said as I disembarked. Most of my companions waddled out from the transport, looking shaken and sea sick. I knew they would get used to it eventually, at least I hope they will.

All three of them gaped at the intricacies of the Cloudships architecture as we proceeded. As we came to the elevator, Cloud Skimmer stepped out.

"Ah. Welcome aboard. I'm guessing you are Captain Thunderclouds friends? I am Captain Cloud Skimmer, Captain of the Eye here."

I stepped aside, and allowed my friends to introduce themselves. Once formalities were out of the way, we rode the elevator up to the barracks floor, where Cloud placed Anakvad in the room to the left of Mine, and Bullion and Blackwood on the Right. I then left them to settle in and entered my room, and was immediately greeted by Shady's rear hooves dangling down from the door seal.

"Lieutenant, What… are you doing?" I asked cautiously as I leaned my head in.

"Trying to rig this old speaker to connect to the broadcaster." Shady said without greeting. He continued to flap in place, and poke around with a half deconstructed speaker system.

"Uh huh… And you decided to take apart Captain Skimmer’s ship… Why?" I said as I closed the door behind me.

"See Cap', if I can rig this broadcaster to connect to the speaker, we can listen to it without needing to crowd around that little table. Plus, the speaker is fully busted. Can't replace that thing."

Alright…. I decided to let Shady tinker around, hopefully not setting the system to ship wide. I pressed the button on my Pipbuck with a wing, and allowed the armor to decompress and open, where I then stepped out of it and stowed it in one of the very small armor cradles supposedly placed there by Shady or a crewmember.

I then made my way to my bed and flopped down on it. I brought my Pipbuck up to my face, and scrolled until I had the number for home. It rang once, before being picked up.

"Cloud Residence, this is Misty Days speaking."

"Hey Hon. We are away." I said, smiling slightly at my wife's voice.

"Well good. What's it like down there?"

"Raining heavily." I said with an upwards glance out the very small port hole above the bed. "A huge storm. But I am confident that We'll be fine." I added, predicting the worrying questionnaire from Misty.

"I hope so. Storm is off in the living room playing his game-buck. Let me put you on speaker for him." Misty said. I heard the tone of the call switch to broadcast, before Storm called out in greeting. "Hey dad! Are you on the ship?" He called excitedly.

"Yeah, I am. Shady and have a room to ourselves." I replied, watching as a bit of wire sailed from the roof past my ajar door.

"Cool. What kind of ship is it? Is it a Raptor?" He asked, with a level of enthusiasm in his voice.

I chucked. "No no. It is a Prowler. A little ship."

"Ooooh, okie dokie lokie. I hope I get to captain a big Cloudship one day, sorta like what Mom was stationed on. Then, I can fly all over and protect every-pegasus." Cloud said, rather eagerly.

"Keep your grades up and you may, bud." Giving him the all time oldest parental encouragement saying.

"I know Dad. Goodnight, love you."

"Love you too bud." I replied, then waited for the call to be taken off speaker.

"How's Shady and the rest?" Misty asked from the other end.

"Ah, you know. Cloud is healing nicely, Racer is itching for a fight, and Gusty is seeming apprehensive, at best. Can't blame them to be honest. As for Shady-"

Right on schedule, Shady could be heard loudly shocking himself, and flopping to the floor. "'M’good Cap' " He called out.

"Being Shady…" Misty said, with a betraying tone of amusement.

"You got it." I said, watching him jump up and shake himself off, then flapping back into the air to engage in round two of hoof-o-cuffs with the speaker system.

"What'd he just do?" Misty chuckled.

"He is convinced that taking apart a speaker system will allow us to repair a device we have. In doing so, he shocked himself." I replied, a smile across my face in amusement.

"Not my fault this stuff is two-hundred-ish years old Cap'." He called in a huff.

She laughed sweetly. "Alright you too. I'll let both of you settle in. Shady? Make sure to keep him out of any trouble." She jokingly said.

"Yes Ma'am." Shady called, while still fighting with the speaker.

"Alright babe. Love you." I said. She wished me a goodnight and I hung up the call.

I checked the time on my Pipbuck. Eighteen-thirty. Great timing. Cloud had said for dinner, so I assumed the feast would be around nineteen-thirty, the usual time the mess opened for dinner.

"Hey Shady." I called into the common room. "Go round every-pony up and tell'em to get freshened up. Cloud has invited us to a dinner party. I'm going to hit the showers while you do."

"Alright-o Cap'. Just 'gotta get this one… Wire…." Shady said, still stressing over the speaker. I heard an audible spark, and music filled the cabin.

"Oh my sweet frauline, down in Flankfurt town. Makes my heart start to yearn. And my Kirin doll, down in ole' Pyreprong. Waits for my return."

My ears perked at this. This was old world music, albeit broadcasting with a static-y overlay, not Slaver transmissions. I rose from the bed, and meandered out into the common room. Shady was watching the broadcaster with curiosity, probably pondering why Slavers had an old world radio station running on an encrypted channel.

"Did you tune it right?" I asked him.

"It's the same station it was dialed to when I got it." He said, taking his gaze off the radio to look at me.

"Woah, I'm a travelin Buck. Yes, I'm a travelin Buck. Yes, I'm a travelin Buck. Woah, I'm a travelin Buck."

The music died out, replaced by static. Shady "Hmph'd" in frustration, and walked over to the resurrected transmission.

"GOOOOD EVENING FILLYDELPHIA. NOW ITS DAY NUMERO DOS FOR THE NON-STOP BROADCAST OF DJ PON3. WOOO! RED EYE CAN'T STOP THIS DISC JOCKEY FROM PLAYING IN HIS BACKYARD"

The hell? I shushed and stopped Shady as he grumbled and tried to turn the dial.

“AND HOW GOOD IT STILL FEELS. THAT LITTLE STABLE MARE REALLY DOES WONDERS IF IT COMES TO TECH. AS USUAL, OUR HEARTS GO OUT TO THE QUOTE UNQUOTE WORKERS, OF THAT DAMNED CITY. YOUR PLIGHT IS NOT FORGOTTEN. NOW, SOME NEWS. THE FIRES SPOTTED OUT IN THE BACK END OF THE EVERFREE FOREST HAVE, INDEED, BEEN PUSHING ALL SORTS OF THE LOCAL FLAVOR OF DANGEROUS COAT FLAYING WILDLIFE TOWARDS MORE CIVILIZED AREAS. SO BE WARNED IF YOU ARE IN CENTRAL EQUESTRIA.

I listened intently to the news report. This DJ definitely didn't work for Red Eye, and really didn't have a strong opinion about him either. That Stable Mare mentioned must have hijacked the broadcast the slavers were using, and put his show on the air. Clever on their part, but really hurts ours. I quickly left the broadcast, and headed into the hallway, where I rapped on Anakvad’s door, then Bullion and Blackwoods, telling them to follow me as I headed back for my room.

“What’cha need?” Blackwood asked after a moment of standing in silence, aside from the radio broadcast in the background.

“Listen” I said, annoyed.

“Tha’ broadcast? We hear that all’tha time.” Blackwood said after a moment.

“This is on a slaver station though.” I questioned. Surely this Pon3 didn't have that big of a radio empire. Fillydelphia was over a thousand kilometers, give or take, from Ralneigh.

“Yeah. Ahm impressed the DJ got throu’. S’been static since ‘ah can remember. But Pon3 has always been tha’ big fish on tha’ airwaves. All’them white towers carry’is voice and music from that Tenpony tower in Manehatten ‘ah think.”

Now that piqued my curiosity even more. “White towers? What do you mean?” I asked, head tilted slightly.

“Ah dont’know what they were. But the DJ always bounc’s his signal off’a them towers. Most’of ‘em are down’n the heartland. Manehattan, Hoofington, Friendship City, and Fillydelphia tah’ name a few.``

I gave thought for a moment, before reaching a conclusion. “These towers wouldn't stretch up all the way to the cloud cover, right?”

“Ye’h. They do. Why?” He asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Those are S.P.P. towers. Er, Sustainable Pegasus Project. They help keep the cloud cover formed. They are Enclave property, and I don't really like the idea of a random Stallion being able to access them.”

He huffed for a moment, before laying his ears back. “Never’got stopped be’fur. Way’s I see it, yall abandoned them.”

I waved a wing dismissively at him. “Probably never tripped the sensors. Regardless, a problem for later. Captain Cloud Skimmer wants us to join him for a banquet soon, so go freshen up and put on some nice-ish clothing if you have them.”

“Oooo, goodie. Food is always a route to my heart.” Squeezer said, then cackled.

I swear, he really needs to tone back on those glasses of wine.

With a collection of affirming statements, my earthy friends returned to their quarters. I closed the door, then got Shady's attention. “I am going to freshen up. Keep monitoring that channel for anything useful.”

“Aye Sir.” Shady said with a nod, then sat down at the desk, offloaded some scrap from his bags, and started tinkering.

I quickly made my way into the small bathroom unit of the quarters, showered off, brushed my mane and teeth, and donned my clean dress uniform, now nicely ironed by myself. Shady and I switched places, and I took charge of radio duty while he got ready.

“~There's just so much I have to tell. She's just the way I want her to be. Her spells burn hotter than T-N-Teeee. Megaspell baby, little, Megaspell.”

The upbeat melody ended as Shady stepped out of the bathroom, wearing his uniform.

“That DJ really likes oldies, doesn't he?” Asked as he passed by me, heading for his bunk.

“Looks to be that way, yes. I must say, he does have a great selection of songs.” I finished. I rose from the seat, and tucked it in behind me. “Let's get going, I’d rather not be late.”

Shady followed me out into the hallway, where I gathered every-pony. We rode the elevator up, and stepped out into the great room, which had been furnished with extra seating around its large wood table. Lit candelabras sat atop a white tablecloth, while a second table held covered silver platters and associated dining utensils.

Blackwood drew a long whistle as he stepped out, then commented “Fanc’ee”. Bullion had spotted one of his loves, a rich cloudberry wine stock inside an ice bucket, and had walked over to “investigate” it. Anakvad stood agape at the large hall.

“This reminds me of Mayflower Field’s town hall.” He said as he took in the sights.

I nodded, but realized he was not going to reminisce about his ransacked home. The elevator dinged softly behind us again, revealing Cloud Skimmer in a pressed Uniform. “Ah, Captain Thundercloud. So good of you to make it.” He said, smiling warmly as he sauntered up beside me.

“Wouldn't miss a free buffet for all the bits in the Enclave, Captain.” I jokingly replied. “Where is the rest of your bridge staff?”

“Ah, they’ll be along soon. We’ve decided to moor for the night, so Velvet is being anal on finding the right cloud we can dock too. After that, put on the auto-target function, and close up shop for the night. I suspect we are going to do this a fair bit in the coming days.” He answered as we walked towards the table.

“You don't have a relief crew on board?” I snorted, in agitation towards Enclave command. “Figures. It's whatever though. Do you have some-pegasus on watch?”

He nodded. “Neon Lights is on watch tonight. She is down that ladder on the bridge deck. It leads down to a small walk-about positioned in the hanging tower. I may assign you and your friends and squad-mates to watch one night. Wouldn't want a shithead Wastelander tripping on whatever chem they snorted, shooting a rocket at us while we sleep after all.”

That was a real possibility, especially for the previous events the day prior. Not wanting to dwell on the morbid subject any longer, I decided to ask Cloud Skimmer about his personal life.

“Well, that isn't really a lengthy story. But alright, I'll bite. I was born in High Cloud, graduated, stationed in Neighvarro, given command of the old mare here, and that's about it for backstory.” He laughed heartily. “I’ve got a wife, Starry Dawn, and two fillies, Ocean Breeze and Starry Night. Yourself?”

“Eh, fought in the Griffon Skirmishes back a while ago. As for family, I've got a wife, Misty Days, and a foal, Storm Cloud. I was born in Neighvarro. Mom and Dad always wanted me to join in the family business. Mom was a Navy techie, Dad did Infantry. They moved with us to Ralneigh when I was transferred.” I stopped, and thought about Mom and Dad for a second. They were close to Misty and I’s house, and always made the trip for Hearth's Warming Eve. “That's… Really all. Contrary to popular belief, I am no secret agent or Wonderbolt.” I chuckled.

“And here I thought you were some Golden Eye descendant. Sent from Elysium above to steal documents and get **all** the Mares.” Squeezer said with his trademarked insane cackle as he joined us, bottle of wine in his teal-colored tow.

Cloud Skimmer adopted a look of surprise on his face at the sight of Squeezers beverage of choice. “Oh? A Stallion of class I see. Tell me, have you ever had Cloudberry Wine before?”

Squeezer squinted, obviously confused. “Cloudberry? I’ve never heard of that before.”

Cloud Skimmer nickered, then produced a slim smile across his muzzle. “You’ll love it. See, crops are really hard to grow in the sky, spoiler alert. Well, aside from the rare instances where buildings poke out above the cover, we pegasi have had to germinate special types of produce that can grow from water-rich clouds. It's… Sorta like irrigation? You could say. Here.”

Cloud Skimmer reached across the table, and grabbed the bottle in a wing. Uncorking it with his teeth, he slid a glass to each of us, including Blackwood who had just sat down at the prospect of learning about the intricacies of cloud farming, and poured a bit of the purple liquid from the bottle into each.

“I propose a toast.” he said aloud, scooting back his chair and tapping his full glass with a wing-held spoon. “To the health of Thunderclouds friends, new and old. And to the success of the mission we have partaken in.”

A chorus of “Hear hear” responded, me included. Though my flightless friends did not seem to understand the tradition. I will admit, it was beginning to feel less like a deadly mission to Celestia knows where and more like your typical end-of-year dining out ceremony, where cadre of the Enclave would meet for promotions, awards, things like that.

Mostly to get drunk from the endless stock of booze…

I swirled the purple drink, then courtly sipped from the glass, enjoying the overly-sweet and bitter taste. Squeezer was a different story. Taking one sip, he puckered up, then proceeded to try and not spit it back out. Upon seeing there was no other way, he swallowed painfully, presenting a queasy smile.

“Mmm, yeah. That’s… Uh. That's a… Taste alright.`` he said, trying to be reassuring. I caught the final motions of Blackwood and Anakvad “accidentally” knocking their glasses over.

I stifled a laugh as Cloud Skimmer shot all three of them with a dirty look. “What.” He asked. “What's wrong with it?”

Squeezer shifted uncomfortably in his chair, before coming up with his only available answer to the wine based interrogation. “It's shit. No disrespect to you Captain’s, but it tastes like a dung-covered hoof that was dipped in sweaty sock juice.” He chortled, then produced a bottle from his coat with his magic.

He lay the bottle upright on the table, and twisted it to produce the label. The golden label read the words “Refined Taste presents, Muscadine Red.” In accordance with the label, the liquid inside was a deep, dark red.

Cloud Skimmer leaned over the table to get a better look at the presented bottle, almost like a king examining tribute. “Hmm.” He said after a moment. “Let’s give it a taste test then.” He said as he regained his signature slim smile.

“Ah, good choice, Sir. One serving, coming up.” Squeezer joked with, you guessed it, a cackle.

Why has the conversation changed to wine tasting…

Squeezer popped the cork, and with a hiss, poured the drink into the now empty glasses. Cloud Skimmer regarded the wine, and took a cautious sip. He smacked his lips, then looked deeply at the glass.

“This is the best wine I have ever had.” Cloud said with a nod and a grin. “Where did you get this? I could get used to drinking this for celebrations.”

Squeezer grinned widely. “Now that's a funny story.” He twisted the bottle to show the label again. Pointing at it with a hoof, “Refined Taste. That's my great great great great great grandfather.” He listed the greats in one breath, while staring at the ceiling. “Don't really know much about him, other than he lived here in Appleachia before the bombs.”

“Your grandfather times five has great taste.” Cloud said while swirling the filled glass with a wing. “What about the rest of your family? Where does Bullion Squeezer come from?”

I attempted to interject, knowing all too well about Squeezer’s lack of want to disclose his past, but he beat me to it.

“The ground.” He cackled gleefully.

Cloud Buster furrowed his brow. “No lie?” He retorted sarcastically, then snorted. “Where on the ground I mean.”

“Squeezer… Does’nt lik’ tah talk’about his past.” Blackwood said hesitantly from across the table. “Never could get anything out from’em.”

Squeezer nodded. “My past is my own, and it shall remain as such. The only thing that matters now is finishing this exquisite bottle of wine.” He whinnied.

Cloud huffed in resignation. “Then what about you two? An earth pony and zebra must have some tales to share.”

“I would rather not talk about my past as well. It possesses unhealed scars.” Anakvad said with a sad tone.

Cloud Skimmer nodded solemnly. “I understand. Mr. Blackwood, care to share?”

“Uh’, ye’h sure thang. ‘Ah lived in’a settlement up’till about three weeks ago. Mah home decided to expand a’bit, so they wanted me’n Squeeze tah scout fur’ a location, as Mom’s the Mayor of Flatwoods. Walked three days ‘till we got chased by some radigators. We took shelt’ur in what’s now Sugar Grove.”

He paused for a moment, then continued. “Well, Squeezer’n I agreed that it’d be a great location. Raised elevation outt’a tha’ swampy shit, good soil fur’ plantin’. Radio’d back tah my home, sayin’ we found a great location. Flatwoods sent’a huge caravan comin’ and we got’a nice town started.” He sighed before continuing. “Figur’d our luck was too good tah be true. The guards on duty kept complain’in throughout tha’ night ‘bout some noises’n strange shadows. Thought it’d be best if we investigated. Found some strange boxes with tha’ letters G P E on ‘em in tha’ command center.. Imagine our surprise when they were filled with M E Dubbiyuhs. Ri’ght as we picked’em up, the place went crazy. Had’tah leave fast. Tried’tah reenter, but couldn’t. Three hours’ later, them fly’in machines yall have were land’in on our lawn. Rest is history.”

Cloud shook his head sadly. "Any Casualties?” He asked Blackwood with a sad look.

Blackwood’s ears drooped at the question. “Twenty-four.”

“I’m sorry for your loss. It’s never easy losing ponies you care about.” Cloud said after a moment.

Blackwood nodded, and said “We’ll manage.” His commitment to his town, as always, unwavering.

Dinner banter got progressively more lighthearted as the night drew on. The Eye’s crew came up shortly after the sad conversation, and we tucked into a nice meal of pasta, which was apparently much better in taste for my earthen friends who had never grown accustomed to cloud-grown foods before. We talked and enjoyed a jukebox’s selection of old-world songs throughout the night. Around one after midnight, we finally departed for our quarters. Shady and I bid goodnight to our friends and were welcomed to DJ Pon3’s broadcast, softly echoing around the cabin. I wished Shady a goodnight, and gently closed my room door, locking it. Sloughing off my uniform, I climbed onto the soft bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

===***===

A shell streaked near me, hitting the closest shack and enveloping it in a large fireball. I took cover as another shell sung its deadly whistle, and attempted to rise after it hit, but was met with a field of death. I took a few steps back, glancing from corpse to corpse. Orange earth pony, teal unicorn, zebra, tan pegasus. Everywhere I looked, lay the bodies of my friends. I turned and ran as another shell came screeching down nearby. Sprinting through the dark and thick fog, punctuated by dark trees and swampy mires, I skidded to a halt and began to tremble at the new sight. Misty and Storm’s limp bodies lay on the blood soaked couch.

Why couldn't you?” My wife’s cadaver asked.” Why couldn’t you save us?”

“It's what a soldier does, Anakvad.” My disembodied voice stated, sounding like it was coming from all around. “It's what a soldier does, Anakvad.” “It's what a soldier does, Anakvad.” “It's what a soldier does, Anakvad.” “It's what a soldier does, Anakvad.”

I fearfully backed up, and backtracked through the swamp, all the while being berated by my own words. All of a sudden, the dark fog was lit with a putrid green light, and filled with a freezing temperature and ear splitting roar. I gazed with dread at the green mushroom cloud, and watched as ghostly equines, colored the same horrific green as the cloud, emerged from the rapidly rising spell. The world burned, and froze at the same time. “It's what a soldier does, Anakvad”

This is the way the world ends.

===***===

I woke, with a gasp, and almost fell out of bed. I was covered in a cold sweat, and trembling without control. I glanced at the time displayed by my Pipbuck, squinting in the green light. 3:01 a.m. In order to calm my nerves enough to at least let me get back to sleep, I drew long deep breaths, listening to the, once-again, pouring rainstorm outside.

It felt… So real. The image of my friends and… No. I shouldn't think about the couch. I could now remember, clearly, what my dream the night before held. Not much had changed from it.

After an hour of attempting to forget the horrific nightmare, I finally drifted back to a, thank the goddesses, dreamless sleep. I slept until around eight am, as I was not present to come into work in the morning.

Shady gave me a worried look as I emerged, finally, from my room. “Mornin’ Cap’. You alright?”

“I’m fine.” I mumbled, scratching the back of my head with a wing. “Why?”

“It's just… I heard you last night, crying. You were mumbling about Misty and Storm.” Shady said slowly.

I waved him off with a wing and changed the subject. “I am going to the mess, do you want anything?” He gave me another worried look, and scratched his bedraggled mane. “If they have muffins, get me two.”

I nodded and before he could continue his line of questioning, exited the cabin. The mess hall was crowded with the usual technicolor of pegasi, though Blackwood, Anakvad, and Squeezer sat alone at a far end table, nibbling on oatmeal.

Blackwood waved in greeting, which I returned with an uneasy smile. Yeah… Not in the mood right now. I grabbed a tray and claimed a bowl of oatmeal, two large waffles, and two of Shady’s desired muffins. I also grabbed two cups of coffee and a Sparkle~Cola. Rather than joining my friends, I opted to go back to the room and eat.

I opened a door with wings, still balancing the steel tray in the grip of my mouth, and was greeted by the radio’s melodic sound.

“Would all this be true, if I didn't care, fooooor yooooou?”

Dammit radio. Don't make me sad again. Rather than the deep voice of the stallion that owned the station, the final notes of the old-world song were replaced by the starting notes of a mare singing.

“As I lose myself to time, I can’t help but stop and feel. How the time has gone, since I’ve seen you go on.”

In silence, we ate our meal while enjoying the song. I could tell Shady wanted to continue the previous talking point, but didn’t know how to approach it, or how I would react.

“I believe in you, I believe in your mind. With the knowledge you’ve moved on without me. You’ve moved on with life, and your memories stay, oh, without me there! I believe in you, I believe in your mind. Though it’s been a whole year since I’ve seen you. I stay here, for you. Though the time piles on, oh, I wait for yooooou! In all my memories, oh, I believe in yoooouuu.”

The song ended, and was replaced this time by the voice of the DJ. “AND THAT HARMONIOUS MELODY WAS OUR OWN SONGBIRD FROM STABLE TWO, VELVET REMEDY. BIG THANKS TO HER FOR RECORDING IT FOR US. NEWS FLASH FOALS, SOME STEEL RANGERS HAVE BEEN SEEN MOVING ALONG THE ROADS TOWARDS PONYVILLE. STEER CLEAR OF THAT ROAD FOR A WHILE, LEST’ YOU WANT YOUR TOASTER FORCIBLY REPOSSESSED AT MAGICAL ENERGY CANNON POINT. IN OTHER NEWS, SECURITY CONTINUES TO CLEAN THE HOOF UP. REPORTS SAY SHE WIPED ANOTHER MANTICORE NEST CLEAN OUT. IF ONLY SHE WOULD DO THE SAME OUT HERE. NOW, HOW BOUT’S SOME MUSIC, MY LITTLE PONIES? HERE IS CIVILIZATION, A GREAT REMINDER OF WHAT WE NEED TO ASPIRE TO REBUILD.”

I swallowed the last bits of the meal, and sat the spoon back in the bowl, which I then replaced onto the tray. The news segments were interesting, though I wasn’t sure what the Stallion meant by Steel Rangers, Security, or the Hoof. Perhaps code phrases? Regardless of the nonsensical meanings behind the reports, I rose and began to return the tray to the cafeteria.

“Hey Cap’, Can we talk?” Shady tenderly asked from in between his second helping of muffin.

“Shady.” I started with a warning tone. “If it’s about last night, I don’t want to talk about it. Anything else, I’m free game.” I said over my shoulder. I had no idea why the Stallion wanted to talk this much about a nightmare.

“Oh…” He said with a defeated tone. “Never-mind.” Seemingly still wanting to attempt to pry the subject out, he rose and followed me out, separating from me and heading over to where the rest of my party sat and exchanging worried looks and whispering my way.

I ignored them, and returned the trash filled tray to the mess. I attempted to return back to my room, but was intercepted by a pink mare, with an auburn mane.

“Captain Thundercloud? Captain Skimmer requires your presence at once.” She said snappily.

I nodded. “Alright. Tell him I am on my way.” I said, resigned. No rest for the weary. I had just enough time to change into a fresh uniform, before exiting once again… To bump right into Shady’s new emotional support group.

“I nodded in greeting to each one, but explained I had to go. Apparently, that now meant, “follow and bug the Captain about his mysterious dream.” Nevertheless, I rode the elevator down, accompanied by my friends, and stepped off onto the bridge.

Cloud Skimmer was turned towards the door, fore-hooves leaning against the map table in front of him. He seemed agitated, and was studying the map like a college student reviewing for a final. “Captain Thundercloud reporting as ordered.” I said as I drew to a halt on the other side of the table and gave him a snappy salute, which he returned without much energy.

He drew in a long breath, and cut his focus on the hologram. “I have good news, and bad news I’m afraid.” He said with a disappointed tone.

Fuck. “What might those be?” I asked slowly. This couldn’t be good.

“Well…” He started, protracting the word. “The bad news is we got scammed. The techies attached a heavily damaged spinner to engine number four. We could, usually, fly on this no problem. But here is where Discord decided we were fun play things.” He pulled up a readout of the engines, with number four being portrayed as red. “Got hit by… Something, last night. No fire, thanks to this damned rain, but we still have an issue. Can't fly on it. Even if we could, climbing above the cloud layer would risk total strain on the system, which could cause more damage. So, we have two choices.”

He held up two pinions of his left wing. “Option one. There is an Enclave supply outpost about five hours away. We can definitely make this, but at a much slower rate.”

He lowered the first feather, and continued. “Or, option two. We can tuck our tails between our legs and return to Ralneigh for repairs. This could take a long time, but cuts down on the chance for field repair to just be like putting a fresh coat of paint on a Wasteland wreck. I thought I should get your opinion on the matter as it is your mission, Captain.”

I looked at him, then to the map. I huffed in anger, though directed at no pony in particular, and started to weigh my choices. Though that's when Blackwood decided to speak up.

“Tha’ way ah’ see’it, we actu’lly have three.” He said, stepping forward.

Cloud Skimmer and I both raised our eyebrows at him, but I motioned for him to continue.

He looked at me. “Remember that story ah’ told’ya on’tha ride here?”

I nodded in agreement, recalling him talking about his town, though I wasn’t sure where he was taking this train of thought. Then, it dawned on me. A raptor crashed near his home, and parts were interchangeable enough to warrant production of only one type or so. He must have seen my eyes widen in understanding, as he pivoted to face Cloud Skimmer.

“Captain Cloud Skimmer, wou’d yall be able tah’ salvage parts fr’um a larg’r Cloudship?” He asked, pointing a hoof at the Stallion.

“Hypothetically. Why?” He asked with the smallest hint of suspicion in his voice and squinting of eyes.

The orange earth pony smiled slyly. “Ah’know where ya’ can get sum’ parts…”

The flight was not long at all, despite flying very slowly to avoid unduly engine strain. About two hours later, around half the time it would have taken to get to the supply base, we caught the first glimpses of Flatwoods. We parked right on the outskirts of the pre-war town, which was set in the valley of two, scenically framed, mountains on either side. Most of the defenses of the town consisted of large sheets of the same dark-gray armor, obviously salvaged from the obvious silhouette of a raptor, off east from the town into one of the steep mountain’s bases that concealed the small town. The large wall wrapped and defended three sides of the town, with a fourth being impossible to erect due to the very large and wide river, snaking its dark and murky waters far deeper into the mountain terrain. Though the town had a large pre-war bridge spanning the river’s banks situated inside the walls, interestingly enough, the town had a functioning wharf, where some repaired paddle steamers and smaller boats sat moored or shoving off. I could also just make out the silhouettes of ponies of all colors, as well as griffons and zebras, mounting the walls in response to the ominous flying warship, mooring high above the town.

I chuckled as I left behind my power armor, opting just for my uniform, and hopping aboard the sibling’s Vertibuck, sitting next to Anakvad, Squeezer, and Blackwood. This felt all too similar to yesterday. We landed, and dismounted in a small clearing which was apparently an apple orchard, as Blackwood informed us. Together, we walked towards the town.

Despite the hiccups, the mission was coming along well…

LEVEL UP! PERK OBTAINED. FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC, RANK ONE! YOU HAVE BEFRIENDED THREE DIFFERENT RACES TO YOUR OWN, AND HAVE GAINED THE PERK AT LEVEL ONE. YOU NOW HAVE +10 RESISTANCE TO ALL DIFFERENT RACES BESIDES YOUR OWN, AND NOW LOOK LESS LIKE A PEGASI SUPREMIST IN THEIR COMPANY.

Author's Note

Authors note : Well well well, been a while huh? I guess life has a way to see that you are enjoying doing something, then proceeding to say “fuck you” and throw as many speedbumps your way as possible. I guess that's just life though, and I have rolled with the punches.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this chapter, and are excited to see where Thundercloud and co. (Trademarked) are going to end up next. As usual, I would like to shout out the people who keep me strong in this effort. Williams, Squeezer, Xythis, Silent, and Sharps. And my absolutely 20% more awesome editors, Solstice and Miky, who scream, yell, and beat me when I misspell a word or snort too much moondust on an idea. Yall are the best! And finally to Kkat, Somber, Heartshine, and all the other writers who work tirelessly to keep this fandom fueled with more tales from the Wasteland. Yall are the best! Until next time. Thundercloud; Out!

Chapter Four : Tour of duty

Fallout Equestria: Storm Protocol

Written by: Thundercloud

Edited by: Mcmiky3332210 and Solstice

("You know you train-trained to be a soldier at war. It was a game-game, ah but that was before. We heard the bang bang. And then it started to change. We took the train train to the bottom again")

Location: Settlement of Flatwoods. Equestrian Wasteland

Time: 11:25 Equestrian military time

“THA’S FAR EN’NUFF!” A voice laden with the same Appleachian twang as many others had ordered. I looked around for the owner of the voice, finding a blue face, and pink mane, half obscured by a sheet metal embrasure, crudely welded to the side of the metal shipping container placed atop the gate closest to us.

“S’all’rigt’. Ah’ know her.” Blackwood said as he maneuvered around me. “Pin’? We need’tah talk with mom.” He called to the near-hidden mare.

“Blackw’ud? Tha’ hell are ya’ doi’n back home? Mom sent yall tah’ build up that low-cal. And when’d ya’ start work’in with Enclave Bast’rds?” The mare, Pine, called back.

“Your sister is very charming…” I quipped, just loud enough for him to hear.

He snorted sarcastically. “Onl’y tha’ ha’f of’it…”

Blackwood shifted his weight. “Jus’ open tha’ damn gate, ‘for tha’ gators get us…” He called, with an annoyed tone.

The gate took just long enough to open for me to survey the surroundings, finding a quartet of large, sickly green alligators, sunning themselves on a rock down by the banks of the murky river. Because I didn't want to get eaten alive, I flapped my wings and began hovering about a head’s height above the cracked asphalt as we made our way through the opening gate. Our procession passed towns-ponies of all ages, as well as griffons, a zebra or two, and to my surprise, a kirin, peeping outside to catch a glimpse of the “scary Enclaver” that had entered alongside Blackwood.

For a town built before the bombs, Flatwoods was very well kept. The town consisted of two roads. Both branched from the one that held the “south” gate, the one we had entered from. From here, it split into a high road and a low road. The high road led up a steep incline to the left, and appeared to contain mostly well-kept looking homes. The low road is what we were led down by Pine, as well as a griffon holding a large anti-material rifle. At that moment, I felt extremely small and weak. I had purposely left my battle saddle and power armor to notseem like a huge threat, opting only for a concealed plate carrier under my uniform and a small plasma defender pistol, tucked in my neck holster.

That all being said, the low road was dedicated to storefronts. Every shop we passed sold something different, and their colorful signs listed the genre of the wares or services they sold. Armor, Tailor, Barber, Weapons, I read as we sauntered past in a brisk trot. They even had a bookstore that was stocked. If it wasn’t for the constant downpour of stinging rain, I would have lingered more looking into storefronts… Maybe later.

I flew up next to Blackwood, intending to ask about something that didn't add up completely. “So… If you are a president, why is your mothers title, mayor?”

Blackwood snorted. “Semantics most’ly. Be’in called President sounds loads much nic’r, y’know?”

I chortled. “Whatever you say, Mr President,” I teased.

Adjusting my helmet with a hoof, I followed the rest of the group into a large governmental building, quarried from tan-colored rock. Landing inside the atrium, I brushed the loose droplets of rain off with my wings. No reason not to look professional.

Pine, the griffon, Squeezer, and Blackwood were led into a first floor room, but when Anakvad and I attempted to follow, the griffon stopped us with a wing.

“Sorry Boss.” He said with an extremely raspy, and hostile, tone of voice. “Only for them.”

I squinted at him, then backed up three steps. He shot me a menacing smile and slammed the door. “Rude” I mumbled, as I turned to Anakvad.

The zebra shrugged in response. “Become a slave for them for a while, and you get used to it.” He said with a downcast look.

I sighed, then motioned for him to follow. “C’mon. Let's go check out the mercantile. I’m sure you’ll find something you like.” As we made our way out, thankfully sheltered by a covered porch, I pulled an earbloom from my PipBuck and pinged Shady.

“What’s up Cap?” He asked when the connection was paired.

“Bring down some of your scrap for bartering. There are a lot of stores down here, and I want to see if anything piques our interests and pockets.” I joked with a lighthearted tone.

“Already on the way Cap.” Shady said, then ended the connection. No-less than two-minutes later, Shady landed under the covered porch, wearing four overladen saddlebags of various things.

I was thankful he had opted to only bring a small magical energy pistol, holstered in a leather sleeve around his neck, and wear his uniform. Being seen as conquerors was not desire, after all.

We stepped down off the raised porch, and onto one of the faded crosswalks bisecting the worn and cracked asphalt roads. Thankfully, these two were covered by the same overhangs that made up every awning in the “shopping district”. All together, this formed a consistent and unbroken shield from the onslaught of the rain, and boom of thunder and lightning, looking like a blocky “U” shape. We crossed the road, and walked back up onto the raised platform, greeted first by a bakery that wafted delicious smells out the propped open door.

I popped my head in to take a look around the small shop, attracting the attention of the green coated, blue and teal striped mane, stallion standing behind a confectionery case.

“Hey! Y’all are those Enclave pegasi that entered.” He cheerily greeted as he made his way where we could see him better. I took notice of his Cutie Mark, a Bagel with a plethora of spreads and toppings on it as he neared the checkout counter. “Aw shucks, where are my manners? I’m Everything Bagel, proprietor of this fine bakery.

I nodded at the excited young stallion. “Captain Thundercloud. And this is my second in command, Lieutenant Shady Skies.”

Everything Bagel smiled wide. “Wow. I heard tales from Ma’ that Pegasi were still out there, and they lived in the sky, but I never thought I’d get to meet them one day. It's like, guh? A race that all but disappeared on the last day is still out there? Blows my little mind!”

He sure did like to talk… I waved him off with a wing, and changed the subject. “You said this was a bakery? Can I place an order? I haven't had lunch yet, and we may be here a while.”

“Mhm, sure can! We also do sub’s as well. Make’em fresh, myself.” Bagel said with an affirmative nod. He then gestured, somewhat dramatically, to a collection of shiny metal tubs, filled with fruits, vegetables, and condiments, embedded in one of the counters.

I curiously approached the selection. Aside from a strange, lumpy tomato, (or was it a potato?), an off-purple fruit, and some strange pods, everything seemed fresh. Well, fresh as you can get in the wasteland I suppose. I pointed at the strange lumpy fruit. “What is that?”

Everything Bagel followed my hoof, then responded with a quizzical look. “You’ve never seen a tato before?”

“A what?” I replied with a flat look.

“A tato. It's a mutant.. thingy. A cross mutation of a potato and tomato.” Bagel replied, clearly attempting to explain the horrible-looking produce.

“That's… “ I struggled with what to say next. Thinking about two foods that mutated to one disgusting abomination of their former selves threw my emotions, and stomach, into a fit.

“It’s not the most appetizing thing, I know. But, it is a good alternative to starving.” Bagel said with a weak smile.

I shook my head, still engrossed at the sight of the “tato”. “Uh, well then. Can I just order a provolone cheese sub on white? Mayo, Lettuce, Tomato, Salt and Pepper, and Green Bell Peppers.” I recited, knowing all too well what I usually ordered from the sub shop, near my home.

Bagel gave me a flat and confused look. “Uhmmm.. What is provolone?”

***===***

After failing to explain what holed cheese is to Bagel, I finally conceded and just took the only type of cheese, an off-yellowish colored cheese that smelled like dirty socks, and apparently came from something called a “Brahmin”, whatever that was, Shady, Anakvad, and I sat down in one of the window booths inside the shop. I listened to the rain pound against the window while I ate, until Bagel turned a small radio on and let it play from the shop's speaker system.

“-From multiple reports that the fledgling settlement of Sugar Grove fended off an attack by a group aligned with Red-Eye’s Slaver Army, based in Fillydelphia. Now, folks. Don’t freak out when ‘Ah tell y’all this, but we’ve confirmed that a team of Pegasi Enclave Troopers landed that very morning before it all went down. It’s rumored that two of’em helped take down an airship that was shelling the town. We also have reports of an encampment of them within the guarded walls, or patrolling the swamp. ‘Ah don't need to tell y’all ‘bout the Enclave, every creature knows what they are. So, ‘ah need to warn y’all. Sugar Grove has a sizable force of them just sitting in it right now. Though. They aren't doing a whole lot more than just guarding the place. Who knows? Maybe they’ve finally got their wings out of their asses and came down to help our lovely quagmire paradise.”*

I was astounded. There I was, being talked about on the news. Yes, he also threw a few underhooved comments about the pegasi who I left to guard the town, but. I was on the news.

“Did’ya hear that, ‘Cap?” Shady excitedly asked in between a bite of his sandwich.

“Yes, Lieutenant.” I said, annoyed. Sometimes, he can get too excited…

Anakvad smiled slightly. “Good. A formidable blow to my enslavers morale. Serves them right, Wanaharamu.” He said, before returning to his food.

I continued listening to the radio broadcast. This voice belonged to a Stallion definitely, but not DJ Pon3. This had a more country twang in his dialect. Akin to everypony else I had met around Appleachia.

“-And remember, my dear foals. If you see any floating caps in the many rivers, think twice about diving in to get your newly found treasure. Those Tackle-Lure sure do love pony-fillet. Now, some music. Here is “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones. Keep that dial tuned my dear foals.”

The music started up after the voice went quiet. To be honest, I was still trying to understand the mention of “Tackle-Lure”. I squirmed out of the booth, and made my way up to where Everything Bagel was washing a large saucepan. “Who was that on the radio?” I asked, wanting to know more about the many stations, apparently still operating down here.

“Hmm? Oh.” The green-coated stallion said, obviously not expecting a conversation. He remained viciously scrubbing the pan, not making eye-contact, but continued. “That’s Dial Turner. His broadcast is based out in Whinnington; A settlement called Skyscraper. It's the largest settlement this side of the Mountains if you don't count Sunnytop, but that's Raider territory.”

Good to know. Sunnytop equals bad. No go to Sunnytop. “Any other stations down here?” I continued.

“Really just the DJ. Well… There is Mr. New Haygus out in Caledonia, and Lonesome Pony near Salt Lick City, but other than that… Hmmm.” Bagel stared at the pan in deep thought. I decided to end the conversation there.

“No worries. I get the gist. Well, thank you for your hospitality. We’re gonna go and visit the other shops. See you around.” I said with a friendly smile and a slight wing wave.

“Nooooo problemo. Come again soon.” The young stallion said, before looking back at the pan, which by some miracle, appeared more dirty than it had started with. As we left, I swear I could make out Bagel grumbling as he restarted his scrubbing.

Making our way towards the gate where we entered, I paused at the next building next to Everything Bagels bakery, a general store, then entered after a second of deliberation.

The door opened, catching a bell and making it jingle. A radio softly played music somewhere in the back of the cluttered and crowded store. The shelves overflowed with all manner of tech, wires, and other mechanical doohickeys, into boxes and crates haphazardly strewn about the floor.

Shady took one look at the mess, before his eyes lit up and a large smile creeped along his face. Looking like a foal at a toy store, he took flight and instantly headed for the closest crate, overfilling with what looked to be copper wire coils. In his rush, he nearly ran me over, swerving out of the way at the last second with a “Sorry Cap’.”

I rolled my eyes, and followed Anakvad as he made his way to the right. We settled on the row, partially up against the right wall, and began pursuing its displays. It was mostly stationery items, office supplies, and the like. Though I lifted up a binder to find a collection of pre-war Captain Andromeda comics. I continued down the row, leaving Anakvad to study some tools on a rack, and went to find the source of the radio, as well as the soft voice singing along to the song that played.

“Sugar in the morning. Sugar in the evening. Sugar in the supper time. Be my little sugaaar, and love me all the time.”

I rounded the corner, avoiding some stacked cardboard boxes, and found the source of the singing. A blue-coated, yellow and green maned mare faced the far wall, semi-dancing, more like wiggling, to the music as she stocked a back shelf behind a counter.

Her mane and tail were frazzled and wavy, being swept off to the left side of her head. And by the fact she was placing candy-filled jars up onto a shelf without magic, I could tell she worked there, and was an earth pony.

I cleared my throat loudly. “Ma’am?”

She stopped singing and turned around with a smile. She did a onceover of me, before greeting me with a cheery tone.``Well Hiya! You must be one of those Pegasi from the flying boat.” She paused for a moment, then continued. “Well nice to meet’ya. I’m Party Mix.”

I nodded. “Captain Thundercloud. Nice to meet you as well.”

She grinned, before turning around and grabbing a jar of candy in her mouth and bringing it to the counter. She laid it down with a soft clunk. “Want a piece? I make it myself.”

I sauntered closer, looking at the candy within. They were small, hard, tube-like pieces, all colored the same way as her coat, and coated in a thin glazing. I thought about it for a moment, before caving and picking a green candy.

I must admit, I had zero confidence that the small treat was going to taste remotely edible. Still, I popped the candy into my mouth with a wing. The small green candy had a green apple flavor, and I was taken aback by the clearness of the flavor. After all, Enclave candy was either pre-war, or was crudely flavored to semi-taste like cloud-grown food.

“Goddesses, that's good.” I said, genuinely impressed.

Party Mix beamed at the praise. “Awesome possum! I know it's probably not like what y’all have up in the clouds, but every creature around here says I'm the best confectioner this side of the Shanendoeah River. See, I make all my sugar local, and get the honey from up in the mountains. Keeps my bright little store and candy counter running without worrying about finances.” She beamed again, and pranced in place.

“Interesting, but we came in here for a certain part. See, our prowler ran through a bad storm last night. Lightning struck one of the engines and all but destroyed its spinner, so we are looking for a replacement.” I explained, wanting heavily to change the subject from candy.

Party Mix “hmm’d”, before ducking down below the counter, only to come up with a translucent red clipboard, holding a huge stack of papers, in her mouth. She plopped it down unceremoniously, before taking three bits of candy out of her jar and chewing on them as she flipped through the pages.

“I may have what you want. But it won't be cheap.” She said in-between sucking on the sweets.

“How much…” I suspiciously asked, narrowing my eyes. I swear to Luna, if I got scammed by a filly no older than Shady…

“Mmmmm. Market value is…. Five-thousand caps. For a near-mint one. Only one I got. Sorry friend.” She said, presenting me with a nervous smile.

I had to keep my jaw from hitting the floor. “How am I supposed to come up with five-k?” I demanded.

Party Mix panta-mimed thinking for a moment. “Weeeeellll, I have some work you can do. And if you complete it, I can give it to you. Is that fair?” She asked.

Something tells me she had this planned out…“Depends on what it entails…” I replied, now suspicious of the kind of work a young mare can have for highly trained pegasi operatives.

She waved a forehoof in disregard. “Nothing too hard, I just need you to go collect some honey for me. Not super hard, I do it all the time.” She said, trying to give me a reassuring smile.

I narrowed my eyes. Something was not adding up. “Why can't you do it?”

Party Mix shifted nervously. My interrogation was working, huzzah! “Weeelllll…” She drew out. “I need you to go up to one of the caves at the base of Mount Snowshine. There, you need to look for dripstone caverns. Inside is where I think the honey is being made and stored.”

Made? Oh Goddesses, what was I getting myself into… “What makes the honey…?” I asked, doubling down. Charisma, don't fail me now..

Party Mix laughed nervously. “Well… An entire colony's worth of flash bees to be truthful. See, their honey is key in my candies. Not just for sweets, but to keep away Swamp Fever. It is bad around these parts, and highly deadly.” She paused a second to make sure I was following, before continuing. “I use it to help fight back against it. Always have, ever since Mom…” She stopped, before continuing. “Point is, the last time I went looking, they had moved their hives deeper into the swamp. Add to it, it is mating season for them. So they are… Let's call it feisty. I need you to get as much honey as you can without, you know, dying.” She gave me another uneasy smile, before waiting to hear what I had to say.

I wanted to say a whole lot… But we also needed that spinner. “Let my friends and I pick something else from your store here for free, and you got yourself a deal.”

I could almost imagine a tiny Thundercloud in my head throwing up a “wing guns” gesture and donning a pair of radical sunglasses, as she quickly shook her head and replied “deal.”

Excellent. Gold star for myself for bumbling my way through a trade deal. Never was really good with economics, my grades showed that much. I much preferred knocking down doors and smacking heads together. Shady, on the other hoof, much preferred the art of the deal over shoot shoots.

A large crash sounded, then a thud. Right on schedule Shady. Right. On. Schedule. I turned around, to just catch a purple and blue streaked mane breaking out of an avalanche of parts and two unfortunate shelves. Shady looked around, before catching my flat look of un-impressment. He smiled sheepishly, then pulled himself out of the mess he made, shook himself off once, and sauntered up to the counter.

“Heh. Sorry about that. Thought I saw a box of spark conduit’s.” He nervously laughed, and rubbed the back of his mane with a forehoof. To give Party Mix credit, she didn't really seem to mind.

Party Mix waved a hoof in the air. “Ah’, don't worry about it. I needed to clean this place out anyways. Names Party Mix. You must be a friend of Thunderclouds.”

Shady shook his head. “Mhm. Shady Skies. You've got a lot of tech here, mind giving me a manifest or something? I want to see if you guys have some parts on my list.”

Three minutes inside, and he already has a shopping list…

I cleared my throat, trying to draw the attention away from another episode of how it's made. “Lieutenant, this young mare here has a proposition for us. I have already agreed, but wanted to get your advice on it.”

Shady seemed skeptical, but nodded for me to continue. So I explained the job, allowing Party Mix to interject as she saw fit. Once I was done, Shady seemed to mull the plan over a few times.

“How bad are flash bee’s even?” He asked, somewhat apprehensive at the prospect of the colony guards.

Party Mix shifted her weight to her right side. “Alone, not bad. Worse case, you'll get a bad shock. Now a swarm however, that is the real danger.” A look of dread filled her face, as if remembering a pained memory.

“Any who, feel free to peruse my wares. Anything you see, just let me know and I will set it aside until you complete your task.” She smiled warmly.

I nodded, turning around only to get the shit scared out of me by a striped muzzle inches away from mine. I flew back from the sudden jump-scare, courtesy of Anakvad. How did I not hear him come up behind me?

“Apologies, my friend. I wanted to listen to the conversation.” He said with an apologetic smile.

I shrugged. “No worries. Find anything you like?”

He nodded once, before pointing at a small red tool chest, lying on the floor beside him. The small chest showed much wear and tear, with a considerable dent on the top, just below the mouth grip. The slanted roof closest to us bore the branding, Sawhorse Tools, with a logo inset around the curving name plate depicting the silhouette of a unicorn mare, holding a hammer and screwdriver in her telekinesis.

“Interesting find. I’ve never heard of Sawhorse Tools before, but nonetheless interesting. Place that up on the counter, and Party Mix here will hold it for you until we complete the job.” I motioned towards the counter Party Mix stood behind, the cheery earth pony waving. Anakvad seemed to debate the consequences of engaging in a protracted, more one sided, conversation with her, but finally picked the toolbox up with his mouth and carried it over.

I, on the other hoof, randomly picked an aisle and started down it, looking for something interesting. “Junk. Junk. Teddy Bear. Junk.” I chanted under my breath as I took my time lazily sauntering down the row. I paused for a second at something that caught my eye. “Wooden train that looks… burnt?” Who would want to sell that? I turned the train to its side, reading a message engraved in the caboose. Property of Button Mash. Whoever that was, found your train.

I continued down the aisle, hanging a right and started down another aisle. Most of the displayed items were tech related, nothing purely of note. The next row peddled plastic-y stuff like planters and cartons. It wasn’t until I turned down the next row that I found something of interest to me.

Hidden partially behind a plastic lawn flamingo and a molding cardboard box filled with vacuum tubes, was a rusty bin. Inside, a collection of yellow and dark gray parts sat, clearly once serving in a construction role, but being transformed into a weapon. I took the box out to investigate further, removing the parts and delicately placing them on one of the shelves. A metallic beam represented the “stock” of the weapon, being broken in half just in front of the trigger guard. The other half of the strange gun was mostly made up of a large cylinder, with an indented top, mounted horizontally on the frame. The cylinders' glass roof was cracked and broken, exposing the inner chamber. Blue wire was strung along the side of the chamber, which appeared easily soldered back together if needed. From the main cylinder, some sort of accelerator sat towards what could be considered the “muzzle”, transitioning into a smaller barrel, with two sets of three coil-like protrusions, arranged left and right, on the dorsal plane of the barrel. Struts, braces, and similar reinforcements were fitted to all sides of the broken weapon, giving it all a reinforced vibe.

Turning the broken fore-piece over, I squinted at some chiseling just under the latch attempting to read its message obscured by dirt and mud. I picked at it with a forehoof, finally flaking away enough so it could be legible. The message read, “Just like birds of a feather, pegasi stick together. Volare”.

I wasn’t sure if it was the previous owner's name, or the actual gun's name, but I liked the sound of it, remembering the lyrics of the similarly named song. I hummed the familiar tune as I balanced the box on my back up to the counter, where I slid it off. “I'll take this.” I said affirmatively.

Party Mix gave the gun, then me an odd look. “Are.. You sure? This thing has been returned so many times. Noone could ever get it working without shocking themselves.”

I shrugged. “They probably also did not have tools suited for repair of weaponry like this. I’m sure. Now, show me the location of this cave.” I held up my PipBuck to the counter and switched to the map. While only displaying three locations, Flatwoods being added at some point during our time here, the map showed little more than that, and some basic geographic lines.

Party Mix took, more like yanked, my forehoof towards her and “hummed.” She studied the map intensely, trying in vain to get the right location. “It is somewhere around… Here.” She accented with placing a custom map marker on a portion of a 2d mountain that embedded slightly. “But I need to warn you. Those mountains are dangerous. Anything can be up there. Hellhounds, Radigators, Gulpers, Trap-Jaws.”

She stood silent for a moment, looking apprehensive. “Stranglers. Those swampy mires are no joke. Plus, the Steel Rangers now. They have set up shop and love to come down to our town and harass us for tech. I've had them come in here a few times, trying to clean out my shop. They aren't the friendliest bunch.”

There is that term again. “What exactly is a Steel Ranger? I've heard that term quite a bit since I have been here.”

Party Mix was taken aback by the question. “Figures you wouldn't know. They are kinda like y'all. Fancy power armor and enough tech to end the world again. I've even heard that they have those flying machines you showed up in. Even an airship or two. Only difference is their armor is pre war. Old school sets like T-51 and T-45. Maybe other models.”

Party Mix thought for a moment, before continuing. “They have a massive boner for tech, and will almost always rob you at grenade launcher point for even a desk fan if they suspect you have it. If they don't outright kill you that is.”

“Sounds like raider activity.” I quipped. These “Rangers” appeared to be a bunch of assholes in outdated armor.

“Don't talk too loud. The Enclave doesn't have a very good rap sheet either.” Party Mix retorted indignantly.

I resignedly shook my head in agreement. I decided to change the subject. “Anyway, we’ll head that way soon and get your honey. Don't sell that part.”

Party Mix promised, and I took that as my cue to head back. Stepping out under the rain-hammered covered porch, I started back towards the town hall building with Shady and Anakvad following closely behind. That is until the zebra increased his pace and walked up beside me, whispering in my ear “we are being followed.”

I glanced over my shoulder but maintained my pace. Sure enough, a kirin of indeterminate sex was behind us. I must admit, I had no idea how to tell kirin gender apart as the only other time I had seen one was in a biology textbook from before the war. With the muzzle being smaller and more petite, I assumed it was probably a mare. Regardless, not really a cause for suspicion that we were being followed, could just be walking the same way.

“The kirin? What if it's just walking the same way as us?” I whispered back.

“Follow close.” Anakvad replied, then quickly ducked into an alley. The rain stung as I exited from under the cover, but I maintained my speed, making for a bend in the narrow passage where I believe Anakvad had gone. Truth was, he sped away so fast, I wasn’t able to see where he went.

Hoofsteps behind me and Shady signified that the strange creature was, indeed, following us. “Plan B”, I muttered to myself, and turned to confront our stalker.

“Hey! What's the big idea following us like that?” My voice carried down the enclosed space. The kirin stopped and cocked her head at my question. She said nothing, but continued her approach towards us.

Goddesses dammit Anakvad, where did you go? I was about to start treating this kirin like a threat.

As the kirin passed an overflowing dumpster, a streak of white and gray stripes emerged from behind a water tank, blocking its retreat path. “You should know better than to seem malicious, friend.” Came the exotic accent of Anakvad.

The kirin merely stared, emotionless, at Anakvad mere inches away.

Shady uneasily shifted his weight beside me, looking around apprehensively. “Something isn't right, Cap’.” Shady said, clearly displaying anxiety in his tone.

Now that he mentioned it, something was indeed not right, almost like we were being watched by unseen eyes. I did a periphery glance around the alley, though through the stinging rain it was very hard to really spot something out of the ordinary. A quick shimmer, probably unnoticeable to most, and too quick to process caught my eye for a second, before it was gone.

I did a double take, attempting to get a better look at it, but it was gone. “Fuck this” I muttered as I launched E.F.S. on my PipBuck. The lower edge of my vision was filled with a sea of yellow squares, representing non-hostile creatures as the spell matrix launched. Spinning around in a circle, I tried to catch a glimpse of any red marker hidden in the yellow.

I grunted in frustration, deciding there were just too many yellow markers, and fiddled with the range knob. A hoof full at a time, the yellow markers disappeared, until only four remained. That didn't add up… Two in front, the kirin thankfully and Anakvad. One beside me, Shady. So that means…

I spun and kicked at an approximation of the yellow bar, my hooves surprisingly hitting something hard in a place where nothing seemingly was.

“GAH!” The air yelped in pain, and from out of thin air a zebra mare fell to the ground, her cloak sloughing off just enough to clearly show her head and face. Her stripes were a mess, almost like they were drawn on by a foal. Each had different azimuths they followed as they snaked up along her neck. Around her neck, a piece of wood attached to a silver chain necklace, engraved with single male and female gender glyphs, glowed a dim red.

“Mahiri! Are you okay!” A stallion’s voice called out from behind me, just before the kirin pushed past me, kneeling down next to his friend. New info I guess, kirin stallions look like mares, which makes sexing kirins even more impossible…

“If you can speak…” I started, a hint of edge to my tone, “why didn't you talk to us instead of acting like a fucking creep?”

The kirin looked up at me with a diffident look. “That's something we all do. Well, the ones that haven’t taken the oath of silence anyways. Just a way to pull some creatures' legs.” He looked down at the zebra, now identified as Mahiri, with annoyance. “I was having a blast, until this one decided to sneak up on y'all. The hell were you thinking, goofy.”

I was about to, probably, retort with some smart ass comment, when Anakvad beat me to the punch. But instead of his anger being directed to the prankster kirin, he laid a dagger-filled gaze onto Mahiri. “Starkatteri! Nini maana ya kuwasili kwako! Uwepo wako uliolaaniwa peke yako unalaani mji huu!” Anakvad babbled, his tone clearly displaying malice.

Mahiri looked at Anakvad in confusion. “Uhhh. Translation?” Her question asked in a scratchy voice was addressed to no one in particular, but the kirin decided it was for him.

“I don't speak Zebrican, doofus. Of all the creatures in this alley, you are the only other one who would know the language.” The kirin said with indignation, before rising to his hooves, and offering me a hoof shake. “Moss Light. This idiot is Mahiri, and you may be?”

I rolled my eyes, but accepted the shake. “Captain Thundercloud, Ralneigh Enclave Intelligence. So tell me exactly why you thought it would be funny to wordlessly stalk two Enclave soldiers?” I looked at each of them, waiting for one to speak.

Mahiri was the first to talk. “I saw Moss Light stalking you fellers, and wanted to make sure he didn't get himself killed by accident. Hence the mist cloak.” Mahiri gestured to the invisibility cloak, obscuring her lower body.

Moss Light nonchalantly shrugged. “Again, trying to pull yall’s leg. But I actually did want to discuss something with your crew. Or detachment. Or whatever it is, look. Point is, Mixy probably told y'all there is a group up in the hills that aint too friendly towards our quaint town.” Moss Light finished, and looked at me almost expectantly.

I suspected his question, but gave him a look of non-understanding. “And we factor in this… How?”

Moss Light looked slightly peeved at the question. “Oh, don't play coy. It doesn't take an egghead to put two and two together and assume yall are the group that saved Blackwood's dumbass. That’s hyper apparent as y'all came in right behind him. Listen… I am putting together a militia of sorts. Mayor Wood has tried in vain to keep things diplomatic, but this type of situation requires…” Moss Light paused for a moment, searching for the right phrase. “A different sort of persuasion.” He flashed a bitter grin.

“So, you want us to go in there and clear them out? Is this… sanctioned by the mayor?” I asked, now suspicious of Moss Light's plans.

The kirin shrugged. “What she doesn't know won't kill her. Besides, she will be too busy thanking us to be that mad. And I’m sure, with a reasonable amount of eavesdropping, that y'all need parts for your boat. That Raptor is a treasure trove, even after all this time salvaging it. Whaddaya say, friend?”

Moss Light once more extended his hoof, which I now felt hesitant to shake. “Let us… Think about it. I need to run it by Captain Cloud Skimmer as it's his Prowler.” I said, turning sideways against Mahiri and Moss Light.

“Say, twenty-four hours time for an answer? This is happening with or without y’all. Those Rangers are going to pay, either way.” Moss Light said as I began to usher the fuming Anakvad and perplexed Shady away from the alley and back under the rain covers.

I nodded, but kept my pace. “I will give you an answer as soon as we make a decision. And do try not to sneak up on any more soldiers please.” I scolded.

He seemed to take it in stride, and flashed a grin my way again. “You got it, Thundercloud. I look forward to working with you.” With that, he returned back to scolding Mahiri.

As soon as we stepped up onto the covered porch, Anakvad let loose. “THEY DARE LET STARKATTERI INTO THIS TOWN. THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT SHELTERING ONE WROUGHTS UPON A GENERATION. NO WONDER THEY ARE UNDER THREAT, CURSED IS THIS ENTIRE SETTLEMENT, WE MUST LEAVE POSTHASTE BEFORE WE TAKE ON THE CURSE!” He pleaded with me.

“Anakvad, compose yourself and start over. You are making a scene.” I calmly ordered, continuing my journey back to the town hall.

Anakvad huffed, but restarted. “Starkatteri. She is cursed. Zebra history has a reason the one is not included with the other twelve. They dabble in dark magicks. Necromancy, soul harvesting, possession, spirit killing. They were the ones responsible for the Day of Doom, the very day the sky rained sun-fire and dark magic.” Anakvad said with a detached tone. He seemed very frightened at what he called a Starkatteri.

“This tribe, I assume? They were the ones who kicked off the Last Day? I thought it was the zebra's Caesar who did so?” I asked, puzzled.

Anakvad spat on the muddy ground. “It was their vote that broke the tie for the Last Caesar. Upon his ascent, he gave them power for their loyalty. That began the Night of Bloodied Stars. Many tribes moved to purge the Starkatteri from the homelands, wishing not to be slaves of Nightmare Moon.” He coldly replied.

“You mean Princess Luna. Nightmare Moon was vanquished by the Ministry Mares early on in their friendship. In fact, if I remember my history correctly, it was the catalyst for its formation. But what you just described sounds an awful lot like genocide.” I retorted. I was shocked that Anakvad could be this cold against other zebra’s. Especially after his enslavement.

Anakvad snorted in indignation as we crossed the covered crosswalk and neared the door of the government building. “Believe me. They have long since given up what made them equine. They have corrupted themselves entirely and without care for the other tribes. Genocide is not the correct term, if it applies to Starkatteri.”

I never knew zebras could be this intense. I decided to drop the subject, as it seemed to only cause Anakvad to either beg and plead for escape, or fly into rage.

Trotting back into the town hall, I looked around for Blackwood or Squeezer’s return from the office.

"Well now... I haven't seen a pegasus in a while. Salutations, my feathered friend." A voice to the right of me spoke with a raspy, all though spaced-out, tone.

I turned to identify the owner... Before my heart leaped into my throat. Anakvad stood confused as Shady and I soared high into the air. Bonus points even for managing to hit my head on the ceiling in panic.

Before me stood what looked to be a zombie from one of the old holo-movies. I could tell her coat was green at one point, though not as sickly colored, rotten, and mangled as it was now, giving way to twisted and deformed gangrenous muscles. Her face was sloughed, drooping far below her mouth like an old hound dog, and I could clearly see inflamed gums and yellow teeth from holes in her skin. In contrast, Her mane consisted of unkempt pink braids, with accents of nougat. The largest of which crowned her head like the rim of a hat. A faded yellow bandana, with a daisy pattern etched onto it, lay tucked inside the strange looking hairstyle. Her cutie mark was that of an apple tree in a heart pattern. Her amethyst-colored eyes tracked my ascent, and widened when I started for the small MEW pistol in my holster.

"My foal, no. I am not a threat. Calm down." She said soothingly. It did little but make me loosen my mouth's grip on the pistol's holster guard. "It is nice to meet yew..." She continued, "I'm Treehugger."

At the animate corpse talking towards us, Shady decided a hanging bronze chandelier was a great place to hide. I, on the other hoof, could do nothing but gasp, and jabber incoherently at the zombie pony. I'm sure if I was a lesser stallion, I would have wet myself.

About that time, the door to the office we were denied entry to opened, and Blackwood stepped out. He gawked and stopped mid step to view the events unfolding, causing the pony behind him to slam into his back. "WA'IT, WA'IT. THUNDER, SHE'S NOT'A FER'L." He screamed, causing me to break the fearful stare at Treehugger.

"Cal'm daw’n. That's mah' Maw-maw, Treehugg’ar." He said after a pregnant pause.

Treehugger smiled brightly at Blackwood. "Woody? I knew I could feel your vibrations. Come give me a hug, child." She asked, holding one forehoof up in a gesture of a hug.

Blackwood trotted over to his zombie grandmother and returned the gesture, before looking back up at me. “Thund’r…” He started in a soothing tone. “This’s Treehugger. Maw-maw, this’s Thunder. He’s frum’ tha’ Enclave.”

Treehugger narrowed her baggy eyes at me. “An Enclaver? Woody… What did I say about them?” She deadpanned, apparently not at all pleased at me.

Blackwood rolled his eyes in dismissal. “He aint one’a tha’ bad’uns, though. Hell, he help’d defend Sugar Grove. That's worth summ’thin in mah’ book.”

The zombie pony ignored his defense, but continued to deliver me a death stare. “And here I thought you were just a mercenary.” She said coldly.

I tried to form a defense, but it more or less came out as “eep”. My hooves trembled below me as I gently lowered myself to the ground, not daring to say anything.

Blackwood rubbed the nape of his neck. “Nev’r seen’a g’oul be’fur?” He asked. Upon seeing me vigorously shaking my head no, he sighed. “Well, makes’ense. A g’oul is ah’ creat’ure whos’ taken to’many rads. They’ve’ben changed, maken’um more’r’less immortal.”

He waited for a minute to make sure I was following his train of thought before continuing. “Well, maw-maw here’cn live’offa radiation now. Keeps’r health’y.”

Treehugger snorted. “Woody. Don't believe what the government told us, all of that stuff is dated to during the Great War. Besides, it's the aura of the forest that keeps me going.”

Crazy zombie mare…? Check.

The shock was beginning to wear off, but the sight of Treehugger was still heart stopping. Sure, the effects of radiation were well known in the Enclave, but to turn some creature into… This? How did the Enclave Science Administration not know about this?

The chandelier high above us shuddered as a unicorn on the second story attempted to pry Shady off, to no avail. He whimpered, and tightened a hug on one of the branches as it rocked back and forth dangerously.

My mind raced as I tried to comprehend what Blackwood had said. Immortal? How in Equestria is that possible? Nothing can live that long, it is scientifically impossible. “A… Ghoul.” I started slowly. “Is this a common occurrence down here?”

Blackwood nodded. “Most’r lucky not’tah be’come one. Rads’r ‘evry’wer, and’its hard ‘tah avoid’em. Most g’ouls are frum’tha war.”

“The war? Like…” I stopped dead in my sentence, dreading what I was about to ask next.

Treehugger's ears drooped and as she hung her head low. Her voice came out naught as spaced-out as it usually was, but solemn. "I saw it happen."

Blackwood draped a hoof around her neck, and softly said, “Ya’ don’ hav’tah talk about’it, maw-maw.”

Treehugger sadly smiled, and one of her forelegs over his in response. “I think it may shed light onto my condition, woody.” She drew in a long, raspy breath, then continued. "I was heading for Canterlot on the train. Fluttershy wanted to discuss the national park's initiative I was setting up to preserve the Appleachian Mountains over lunch.”

She looked up, though seemed to be looking through me as she continued. "Canterlot wasn’t too far away, maybe eight kilometers or so, when the train halted suddenly at the peak of the last hill over the mountains. Out in the distance, I saw a brilliant green light take over where Cloudsdale would have been. Then, the Royal Palace and Canterlot was covered by a large, pink, shield right as another contrail broke through the clouds. All we could do was watch in horror as the missiles broke through the clouds, just to be stopped by the shield. We thought..." Her voice wavered, and her eyes began to change from amethyst, to milk white as the tears rolled down her deformed cheeks.

She drew in a ragged breath. "We thought they would be alright. I met the Princesses once before the war, at the Grand Galloping Gala. They were so powerful, so regal, so wise beyond their years, surely nothing could harm them. The shield looked to be strengthening in the middle of the overhang. But all it was was that. DAMNED. GAS." She roared.

I could have sworn I saw what she was talking about, reflected in her glassy eyes. She wrenched them closed and shook her head, causing me to look around the room to find everyone in presence wincing back or starting for a weapon. All this for a bit of rage? Overreacting much?

She opened her eyes again, to reveal them to be the amethyst color once more. "The shield fell, but that gas stayed. Some say ponies still live in the Stable under that Tartarus-damned city. I don't know how. But if they do, they are stronger than most.”

She sniffed back some tears, before continuing. “The train went into a panic. Some jumped off and began running back down the hill we had come from. Some sat in shock. Some sat there watching the death of Equestria. Do you know what I watched?” She turned her fiery gaze towards me. ”I watched as blue-clad forms of Equestrian Skyguard began pushing large clouds together. It took. Two. Hours. Two hours for the Equestria I loved to be reduced to ash and covered by an unyielding cloud layer, forcing us to brave the cold weather without the sun. Three days later, the snow came. Not just the regular first day of winter unpacking snow, but snow that was glowing that damned green. Some drank it, thinking it was fine. I was one who did. We thought the pamphlets claiming to boil radioactive snow were true, they weren't. Most died who did, they were the lucky ones. I became like this." She said, gesturing herself with her forehooves.``

“I'm-” The words faulted in my mouth.

She rolled her eyes. “You are going to say “I’m Sorry”. I’ve heard that countless times, and I’m plum tired of being pitied. The way I see it, you serve the very organization that sealed the death of the world I cared about.”

“What am I supposed to do then?” I angrily returned. “Last time I checked, I am not two-hundred and thirty. I wasn’t around for the Last Day.” I scowled at the ghoul.

“Ight, both’ov yall.” Blackwood interjected. “Thund’r, mom wants’tah speak with’ya. Best not’tah keep’er wait’n.” Blackwood gestured to the ajar door that he came out of.

I shifted my gaze around the room one last time, before muttering “excuse me”, and moving my way to the door. Inside, the dim office smelt like my grandparents' house. An aromatic smell of aged wood and whiskey. Atop a fancy, decorative desk, a terminal bathed the room in its greenish glow, illuminating a far wall covered by books and their shelves.

Behind the desk, a mare sat. Her nougat coat was similar to Blackwoods, though her mane was that of a faded gold, with strands of silver clearly showing her age. Her eyes sported crows feet, and she squinted and studied Shady, Anakvad, and I over a pair of black reading glasses perched at the end of her muzzle. Pressing her forehooves together, and reclining in a puffy desk chair as we took our seats in front of her, she silently looked over us, almost like a principal to a group of trouble-making school foals.

Now that I mention it, she really resembled my principal from my younger school years…

“So-” Her deep country twang rang out. “ Yall’r the ones mah’son told’me about.” Her voice had an interrogative edge to it, and she seemed to be building up to something.

Blackwood walked into the office, and quietly shut the door with a click. “Mom, this’s Captain Thundercloud, Lieutenant Shady Skies, ‘nd Anakvad.”

She nodded cordially to each of us as our names were called out, before clearing her throat and introducing herself. “I’m Written Memo, but you may address’me’s Mayor Memo. Or Mayor Wood. Tell’me, what brings’ah group’ah Enclavers tah’ mah’ little town?”

“Our ship was damaged sometime last night, and your son offered an easier and quicker solution than returning back to port.” I explained. “We need a certain part, and we believe the wreck you are salvaging has it, so I am sure we can come to some deal?” I added in my most formal-sounding voice.

Written Memo tapped her forehooves together in thought, before making a satisfied noise and nodding. “I’ll tell y'all what…” She started. “If yu’can do somethin’ fur’ me, I’ll get’cha what’ya need.”

I nodded. “Thank you. But we have already been promised the part in question by Party Mix if we complete the job she gave us. Perhaps, we could take a few extra parts just in case?”

The mare chuckled dryly and shook her head. “That mare. Always lookin’ fur’a trade deal.” She sighed heavily. “I reckon’ we c’n do that. Now, onta’ mah’end. You’see, Flatwoods is’a major exporter’f timber. All across thah’old waterways, we ship’ur lumber tah’ any who buys. In’order tah’ do this timely’n efficiently, we’use tha’ lumberjack variant of’tha Protect-A-Pony.”

She paused, motioning out the window. A single file line of the familiar yellow equine robots walked down the road towards the bridge, their orange rotating lights lit and spinning. Though, a notable difference was the metal utility saddle on their backs, sporting a buzzsaw-tipped mechanical arm.

“Usually, they cut’n we load. But hard tah’ do’it when you’re gettin’ harassed’by ponies’n power suits. ‘Bout five days ago, they came down from tha’ mountains. Claimed we were pros’pectin’ their shit, ‘nd forced us tah’ stop salvage ops on tah’ Raptor so they could set up shop. Now, I'mma reasonable mare, but when y’all push out first claimers, and proceed tah’ steal our bots’n steam tractors, that's when’I approached’em with a quarrel.”

I nodded in understanding.“So, you want us to go in and clear them out?”

She shook her head. “Not with violence. That’kinda force would mean retaliation against’us. I want’yall tah’ talk with their leader and tell’em to leave in peace. We don't want no trouble, but they’re gettin’ aggressive.”

“Hmm, understood. I do have to warn you though. I was approached by a kirin earlier who wanted to recruit us for the same reason, just more… Violently.” I honestly explained. I felt it was the right move, as Moss Light could do something rash.

Written Memo rubbed her temples and groaned. “Moss Light…” She said through gritted teeth. “If he wasn’t mah’ best guard, I’d strangle his’nec.” She sighed. “I’ll talk with’em.”

I was about to ask some finer details on the group's strength, when the world outside erupted in an ear-splitting alarm. Mayor Memo flew out of her seat, muttering about “bastards” and threw the door open. I followed behind her, with Blackwood, Anakvad, and Shady in tow, out through the lobby and onto the covered boardwalk.

Even through the howling rain, the origin of the siren was apparent. An old air raid siren, mounted atop a church steeple, screeched its eerie song. A green unicorn waved one of her arms at Written Memo, then pointed out towards the bridge. Memo understood the gesture, and took off that way, dashing from under the covers into the rain, down the road that the Protect-A-Ponies took, and to a guard booth just on the edge of the bridge.

As we neared, I could make out the last dregs of a report, given to the mayor by a gray earth pony. “~commin’ from the hills. They should be here any moment, but have’em hot on their tails.”

Written Memo nodded, then turned to me. “Ah’ need ya’ to fly up’n tell me what ya’ see.” She offered me a small radio jack, which I plugged into my PipBuck and paired with.

Ominous questions aside, I did what she asked, climbing high against the searing rainstorm until I found a suitable perch on top of a low floating cloud, just high enough to make the ponies below me look small. I pulled the brim of my service cap lower to shield my eyes from the rain, causing the helmet to shift slightly forward, and scanned the horizon. Up into the mountains, a steady stream of smoke made its way towards the town. The source of the smoke was made clear when a steam tractor, carrying a flatbed cart laden with logs, came screeching down the hill. The olive-colored unicorn operator glanced behind him as he neared the bridge, clearly searching for what was pursuing the machine. As the tractor crossed onto the long bridge, another tractor raced after it, this time holding heavily armored and armed soldiers.

One of the power armor-clad ponies leveled a rifle at the fleeing machine, but hesitated. No shots rang out as the rangers slowed to a crawl, then a stop, just a hoof step away from the bridge. By this point, the tractor had made it to our side of the bridge, and had stopped to talk to Mayor Memo.

I keyed the headset up, intently watching the harassers. “I count five of them. Two in T45 model armor, one in T51 model, and two in underbarding.” I half yelled into the headset. Not that it mattered, as the roaring of the rain and wind drowned out any sound outside of a few meters at most.

“Keep’n eye on’em. We’re workin’ tha’ issue.” Memo’s voice responded.

I squinted against the rain. The rangers idly sat, though conversing amongst themselves. Lighting lit up the sky silhouetting a dark, imposing shadow, managing to catch the attention of a cobalt-colored unicorn stallion, wearing one of the sets of orange under-barding. He pointed towards the Eye, and the group's attention was shifted towards the moored cloudship.

Upon another session of conversing, the rangers loaded back on top of the tractor, and putted away. I made sure the vehicle disappeared into the thick forest line, before coming off my low lying perch and floating to the ground.

The olive-colored unicorn huddled under a raised guardpost, talking with the mayor. Naturally, I trotted up to them. Besides the stink eye I got from him, he continued talking. “We got about sixteen logs b’fore they came. One of tha’ Protect-A-Ponies warned’us first, giving them the usual spiel of’a protected worksite’n such. Didn't matter, they’d already popped tha’ spark grenade.” He shook his head, and groaned in frustration.

“ ‘ny casualities?” Memo asked, a spark of hatred in her eyes.

The unicorn shook his head. “Not besides tha’ bots. A few’ove tha’ crew wanted tah’ go for their weapons, but ‘ah told’em not to. Not after Briar Light.”

Both of them looked solemn. I assumed it was the name of an unfortunate soul, but couldn’t be certain.

The unicorn brushed his wet, rust-colored mane out of his eyes, and assessed me again. “Whos’tha’ jarhead?” He asked, not breaking his gaze on me.

“Thundercloud.” Memo responded in a flat tone, gesturing towards me. “He’s apparently’a friend’a Woodie. Helped’em out for Sugar Grove.”

I nodded. “Took down an airship with my two-eye-cee here in the process. A bunch of slavers showed up to… Sack the town. We all prevented that.” A half truth. Though one better than causing a panic.

“Mmmhm. And ‘ahm sure yall Enclavers did’it out’tha goodness of yalls heart?” The unicorn snidely retorted.

“They had something of ours that we wanted back. We achieved that goal, and leaned back the help given to us in our time of need. Anything else?” I professionally returned.

The unicorn “hmph’d” but relented. “Ah’ assume yall are bein’ contracted to take care’of’em?” He sighed. “They’re up at tha’ crashsite. Give me’a day tah’ get mah’ supplies restocked, and i’ll take’ya up there.” He extended his hoof towards me. “Iron Shard.”

I shook it, then turned to Mayor Memo. “Do you think any residents would be willing to aid us in talking with them? If they see we have a larger force, they may accept the offer.”

Written Memo nodded. “‘Ah can think’f a few. Imma call’a all tha’ guards together, see’f anyone wants tah’ help. Fur’ now, go’n rest. If’ya need’a bed, tha’ inn’s gotcha covered. Not that yall probably need one since yall got that warship.”

Her demeanor had softened significantly. A sure sign she was warming up to me and the others. “Thank you for the kind offer, but we need to head up into the hills for Party Mix. We won't be gone, long.”

===***===

Location: Other end of the Clopawha River Bridge, Route 19. Equestrian Wasteland

Time: 14:40 Equestrian military time

As we moved off the bridge and up the road, the forest was eerily silent aside from the downpour. Still, we moved quickly, not wanting to remain in the rain for longer than we needed. Blackwood shifted and attempted to scratch an itch underneath the harness he wore, connected to the wooden wagon he pulled. Shady and I flew above it, keeping pace with the impromptu convoy, while Anakvad sat in the back, clutching his rifle and attempting to use one of the large raincoats given to us by the mayor as a cover. Squeezer trot merrily aside Blackwood, humming softly to himself as he kept watch.

The path was long, taking roughly an hour and half to navigate. Finally, we reached the turn point, a Stable-Tec billboard, still proudly displaying the image of a line of ponies, waiting to enter a Stable. We hung right, entering a trail road that led into the dark forest.

I will say, with the cloud cover blocking the sun already, not much light gets into the thick, swampy forests that reside within Appleachia. So when I say dark, I mean dark. The kind of dark that loves to play tricks on your eyes, made worse by the raging thunderstorms.

I flicked on the headlamp, mounted to the left of my helmet, and was surprised to find that it illuminated little. I huffed, but kept scanning the area. Shadows danced as the light caught the ominous trees and what grew on them, making the world around us seem like a scene from a horror novel.

I flew ahead, wanting to study the large trees. Their “bark” actually consisted of slimy, red vines. They hugged every inch of the tree, almost as if they were embracing it tightly.

“I wouldn't get too close, bud.” Squeezer commented as the cart crew passed by me. “Those aren't normal vines, nor are they ivy.”

I backed away, and caught up with the cart. “What do you mean?”

Squeezer jerked his head in motion to another vine-covered tree. “See how they grow? Those are Strangler vines. Though they seem harmless, they can, and will, infect everything. Including unfortunate creatures that get within their or their minions grasp.”

I went wide-eyed. “Let me get this straight…” I started. “Those vines are infectious. Like… a virus?”

Squeezer nodded. “The science-y types have an old ponish name for it, but we just call it the Strangler virus.”

We rounded a corner, and avoided another set of the strangler vines, this time bridging the gap between two trees like a spiderweb. “Not much is known about it. It starts by ingesting, or inhaling, spores from what we call pitchers. You will know them by the clouds they emit, and the yellowish lights they produce. Well, if these spores enter your brain, it's over. Around seventy-two hours after initial exposure, you develop mood swings, then amnesia, then enter a catatonic state. After that, well, you change. You aren't…” Squeezer struggled with the word for a moment, before continuing. “Equine, anymore.”

“How so?” I pressed. Squeezer only shook his head.

“It affects ev’rypony diff’rently.” Came the gruff voice of Blackwood. “Usually, it’s bloodshot eyes. Act’in jumpy’r aggressive. That sort’a thang. Lasts’a few days at most, till tha’ body starts growin’ mushrooms’n shit. It varies frum’there, but all infected have vines’n shrooms growin’ frum’em.” Blackwood finished, still staring ahead.

I stared at another passing tangle of vines in shock as questions ran through my mind. The most prevalent of which being why anyone still lives in the region and how did this happen? This was wrong and dark. And definitely something the Enclave would want to know about, to attempt to vaccinate against. Or to cauterize it before it spread further.

“How long has this been occurring? And how far does it reach?” I slowly asked.

Blackwood stopped, confused. “Tha’ Enclave don't know?” I shook my head and he groaned in frustration. “What’da’ yall know’then. This place used’tah’ be’a forest. But tha’ swamp took’it ‘round fifteen years ago. Tha’ virus is tha’ swamp, ‘nd vice-versa.”

My head swam with questions. The swamp was… Alive… And voraciously expanding across the land, perhaps even Equestria entirely. The Enclave had to know about this. I brought my PipBuck up to my face, and rolled one of the knob’s at the bottom of the frame, until I reached the info tab. One button click, and another twist of the dial, allowed me to begin recording my thoughts to the audio recording spell.

“Log: One. Captain Thundercloud on… Exploratory… Mission below the cloud layer, Appleachia region.” I stopped and thought for a minute. The lie was necessary in the case of capture of my PipBuck for whatever reason, but where would I even begin? I decided to retail the story from the start, beginning on the day we first went below the curtain.

Around the forty minute mark of us being across the bridge, Blackwood stopped us with a raised hoof and “shh”. He unhitched himself from the cart quickly and quietly, and then crouched forward, rifle in tow. He lay prone for a few minutes, before signaling us to come closer. I flapped up into a particularly leafy tree canopy, and rested atop a thick branch. The perks of having flight magic after all…

“Hear’that?” Blackwood grufly whispered. I strained my ears, attempting to catch the noise he was referring to, though the swamp echoed with typical bird and swamp creature noises.

“What?” I hissed back.

“Tha’ buzzin’. Its’a swarm ah’ reckon’.” He replied, still scanning the dark perimeter, with a look of terror on his face.

I listened again. Sure enough, I managed to separate the typical swamp noises for a faint buzzing noise, accompanied by a noise similar to zapping. I traced the noise to an unremarkable tree, covered in a blue-stripped, yellow-ish bark.

Wait a minute…

I squinted at the strange tree. Sure enough, the “bark” was actually tens of thousands of small insects, scuttling around the tree. My heart jackhammered against my chest as I watched a swarm take flight, and move as a cloud of blue and yellow lightning, perpendicular to our position.

When I got back to Flatwoods, Party Mix was dead…

“Nah” Blackwood muttered, then pushed himself backwards. “Nope. Not’fuggin with that’.”

I rolled my eyes. “Blackwood!” I hissed. “Ignore the bugs for now, concentrate on the honey. We need to follow them back to their hive, ok?” I tried, in vain, to keep the orange stallion from high tailing it away from the swarm.

Blackwood shifted uneasily in the mud, clearly fighting his flight instincts. He whimpered, but relented, picking himself up and hitching back up the wagon. Slowly, we tailed the swarm through the rough terrain, to a sheer cliff face. The weathered stone jutted out in jagged points, allowing enough of the swampy terrain to cling to the vertical face, obscuring the mouth of a cave behind some lichen.

The flash bees pushed past the lichen, singing it as they passed deeper into the cave. I gave the swarm a few minutes to delve deeper within, before I motioned for my companions to follow. We exited the lush and swampy undergrowth, into a sparse clearing, all the while listening for signs of a new swarm, or the previous one, approaching. “Alright…” I started, turning around. “The honey is in that cave, so we need to go in, collect as much, as fast as equinely possible, then make a quick exfil back to Flatwoods. Easy peasy, livin’ breezy.”

The small pep talk didn't dissuade Blackwood's nervousness. He rocked left and right, shifting his gait and eyeing the cave. He chewed his lip, and pushed his ears back. “Ah’ll stay here’n protec’ tha’ cart. If ‘nythin’ comes along, ah’ll hollar.”

I shook my head. “No good. I need you there. The cart is fine by itself, but we are going to need all hooves on deck to gather as much as we can. Put your Entomophobia behind you. I know you are scared, but I need you to focus up.” Hopefully, that would spark Blackwood to focus.

Blackwood blinked, then raised an eyebrow. “Endo moe... Wha’?” Blackwood confusedly asked.

It’s amazing how fast my hoof soared up into my face…

I rubbed my face, trying to rub away the frustration. “Fear of bugs.” I admonished. I stomped my hoof, regaining my train of thought. “C’mon guys.” I ordered with an undertone of dread to my tone. I brushed the lichen away, taking notice of the bright orange berries, just barely glowing. Inside the space was pitch black, even for the time. I flicked my helmet lamp and PipBuck light on, doing little to illuminate beyond a few meters ahead of us. We all filed in, feeling the sweltering heat and stinging rain being replaced quickly by the cold of the underground. Navigation was tricky, the path being blockaded by an obstacle course of stalagmites and stalactites. Finally, we exited the tightly packed collective, and began to walk down a slope.

Shady flew up to a long stalactite, and broke the tip off, gazing at it in wonder. “Woah…” he trailed off, before turning to the broken end to face us. “These things are packed with gems.”

Sure enough, a huge ruby gleaned dimly in my helmet's light. I scanned the walls and ceiling of the cave. Everywhere my light touched shined with rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and other colorful gemstones. It looked like a jewelry store with the amount of precious metals and jewels this one single cave held.

Blackwood whistled quietly, awestruck at the discovery. Squeezer, on the other hoof, salivated. I could even have sworn his pupils changed to look like the bit symbol.

“Focus on the task at hoof, guys.” I said, still scanning the glittering surface of the cave. “If we have room in the cart, we may be able to take a trip or two of these, but let's not be greedy. I'd rather not get stung.”

Anakvad studied a stalagmite in the far end. His forehoof raised to his mouth in thought as he leaned in closer. After a moment of this, he lashed out and punched the rock. Shockingly, it shattered with a loud roar. Too loud in my opinion as the rest of us squinted our eyes, and clenched our teeth, shrinking down against the noise. Anakvad fished around in the debris cloud, before producing a gemstone colored a kaleidoscope of all different colors, looking like it was dipped inside a Rainbow Factories vat.

“Tourmaline.” He said, inspecting the rock. “I had no idea it occurred here. Back in the homelands, it occurs regularly, and wards off negative emotions.” He said, near distant in his words.

I lightly stomped on the stone floor twice, eliciting a clop clop from my hoof. “Honey…” I reminded them. Before they could protest, I flapped up into the air, and began to move again.

Bleep came the soft sound of my PipBuck. I halted in midair, to see what the arcano-device wanted, and read the prompt quietly.

Connection to cloud layer waystations lost : Attempting reconnection… Updating info…

Piece of shit… Cant stay connected to the antennas in a small cave… I shook it, smiling slightly when it began to reconnect. Leave it to Enclave-made PipBuck's to mess up when you need them most.

The PipBuck reconnected, displaying an updated map now of the cave system’s many, branching corridors. “Huh,” I softly exclaimed. I rolled the dial, focusing the map closer to our position. The title of the cave read flash bees’ cave. Real unique name, PipBuck… Following the path down on screen, the corridors branched out three ways, two of which double backed on themselves connecting to each other in their long, snaking, paths. The last one, situated to the very left, led back and downward a few hundred meters before dead-ending in a semi-circular chamber. If I were a hive of territorial insects, that’s where my hive would be.

I moved further back, now very much aware of the buzzing noise, coming from deeper inside. The air grew hotter, brighter, and thicker, a stark contrast to the coolness and pitch blackness of what we had been walking through. Light dimly cast from a corridor, jutting to the left at a near-ninety degree angle, so as a precaution, I peeked around it first. My face was hit with a wave of heat, worse than the humidity of the swamp outside. The next thing that got me was the smell. I gagged and retched silently at the odor of rot and decay, mixed with a sickly sweet undertone, no doubt produced by the millions of bees in the chamber. They were everywhere. On the walls crawling or sleeping. Buzzing along to whatever their task was by themselves or in their typical swarms.

“Wha’cha star’in at?” Blackwood whispered from behind me.

I pulled my transfixed gaze at the sight of the super hive, and backed up a few steps. “Our death…” I wheezed. Strange. I was suddenly out of breath.

Blackwood groaned slightly, then stifled a cough. I grimaced as a few barking spasms escaped before he was able to quiet it. Thankfully, the insects seemed to not notice, or care enough, to respond.

“Les’hurry’up ‘nd get’out. I’ve gotta’ headache.” Blackwood stated in a low tone. He dropped low to the earth, and began to army crawl towards the closest collection of blue striped hives.

Something was off, though I couldn't piece it together. My thoughts felt clouded from behind my own forming headache. I rubbed my head, attempting to piece the puzzle together.

*Beep Beep*

My PipBuck’s subtle beeping felt like a symphony being played in my ears. I pulled my foreleg down, and read the message displayed slowly. Warning! Blood O2 levels: critical. Seek medical attention, immediately. Warning! Ozone detected. Reach, minimum safe distance, immediately.

I coughed as I finished reading the message. My eyes widened as the message finally processed, and I hissed Blackwood’s name. Upon him turning his head, I motioned for the group to retreat. We retraced our steps, up the decline, and back to where Anakvad’s tourmaline lay abandoned. The fresh air felt good, and I closed my eyes as a small breeze caught my coat and wings.

Blackwood and Squeezer gulped up a few greedy breaths, before asking what happened.

I showed them my PipBuck’s message, before adding “flash bee’s. They emit electricity, therefore creating ozone. It’s a dead zone down there.”

Squeezer grumbled, “Party Mix, you moron,” as he sat down in a huff. Blackwood rubbed his face in apparent stress. “So’.” He started. “How’da’ we get dow’n ther’e?”

I took a moment to clear my head and think. The overwhelming amount of ozone around the hive not only posed an asphyxiation risk, but also a fire hazard. Ozone was too flammable, especially for the use of conventional firearms or Shady and I’s plasma weaponry. “Truthfully? I have no ideas. If we go down there, we can suffocate. If we cook off the ozone, we could burn to death.”

Shady rubbed his head as he flapped in the air. “We can go back to the Storm and grab some respirators.” He offered.

I shook my head. “That would push our time schedule back further. Better to order them and have a verti’ drop’em off. “

“It’ll take’a bit tah’ get’em loaded. Then’ they’gotta find’us ‘n all this shit.” Blackwood debated. I couldn't argue with that logic.

Squeezer shifted uncomfortably on his rocky seat. “I could try and throw up a shield, but I’ve never actually managed to perform the spell.”

I nodded. “If you think you can do it, try.” I encouraged the teal stallion.

Squeezer sighed, and stood up. “Here goes nothing.” He muttered. His face scrunched up as he strained. Sweat ran down his forehead as he shook, the light at the end of his horn growing brighter and brighter by the second, until the aura dimmed completely as he gasped for a pained breath. The teal unicorn fell to the ground, laying his head on a soft patch of displaced dirt. “Sorry Thunder.” He softly apologized. “Can't do it, and I think I just burned my magic out.”

I nodded solemnly. “No worries, Squeezer. We’ll find another way of doing it, it's better than hurting yourself, anyhow.” I turned to look around the mouth of the cave. Aside from the rare raindrops making their way into the cave, and the gemstone-encrusted cave formations, the mouth offered no solution to our problem. I glanced deeper into the cave, thinking deeply. While it was a stretch, that U-shaped passage could perhaps hold honey, or something that could help us get it. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” I sighed. “Shady. You stay here with Blackwood and Squeezer. Anakvad, let's check that other passage. Maybe the colony stores excess honey in there?

Anakvad, up until this point, had been gathering more tourmaline, stashing the colorful stones in one of his jumpsuit’s pockets. The zebra dropped down from atop a rather thick stalagmite from where he had been reaching for another gemstone, and followed me back deeper into the cave, gemstones knocking together in his pocket as he moved. At the branch, we kept straight, following the beam of light emitted by my PipBuck and helmet-mounted lamp. The natural corridor continued to snake back, seemingly being a portal to a void.

I squeezed past a few formations, and stepped on something that cracked with a brittle tone. I looked down, letting my lamp shine over a strange, slender, brownish-white rock. That rock led to another, and another, and to… A ribcage.

“Goddesses!” I exclaimed, jumping off the skeleton. My heart beat against my chest, as I shined my light, illuminating the final resting place of some pony. My examining light made something glint in the gloomy, dark passage, in between where the intercostal muscles would have been normally. I stooped down to the remains, letting the light shine off a brass badge that read “Equestrian Environmental Protection Agency”.

I continued up, finding the skull. A prominent bony spire in the centerline of the forehead, signified that this skeleton was once a unicorn. I paned my lights around the area, looking for more clues. One of the poor ponies' for-legs jutted sideways, still clutching a military-grade saddlebag. A good place to look as any. I took care to sidestep off the remains, crouching down beside the saddlebags. A small name-taper on the flap identified the owner as CPL Starburst.

I looked back at the remains of what I assumed was Starburst, remembering the sad sight of Sergeant Muffin's final resting place, back in Sugar Grove. Never mind that now. Focus on the bag. Inside, most of the space was packed tight, the largest item being another olive-drab colored bag, emitting a purple-ish aura. That perplexed me, and I inspected it first. My heart leapt at the text labeled onto the bag.

Equestrian Civil Defense. M9 field protective mask.

I flipped the bag around, searching for wear and tear. Nothing. The bag seemed to be protected by a spell of some sort, most likely a protection charm, though its effects were fleeting at best. Now, for the real test. I undid the button, and flipped the cover off. The mask was still nestled inside. Gingerly removing it, I checked the seals and single filter . Both were sealed and showed little signs of degradation.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I sat aside the mask, peering back into the bag. There were three cans of hay, all sealed tight with no bulging. The same couldn't be said for the fourth can…

A can of Chef Ponyardee ravioli had exploded, coating most of the bottom of the canvas in sauce refuse, long molded and dried up. The flakes of what was probably ravioli disintegrated from even a slight touch, so the prospect of cleaning up the mess was put aside. Next to the ravioli bomb, a small black orb rolled slightly at the shifting center of gravity.

I had only seen them in the Enclave’s tech identification manuals, so the surprise was felt as I realized the prize I had uncovered.

A Black Opal.

I fished it out, scraping what amounts of the chalky refuse as I could get away. The small, black, oval shined ominously in my flood lamp as I turned it over. I took a quick look back inside the bag, searching for its cradle, a device called a Recollector, but no dice.

Softly, I stowed it in an empty bag of mine, making sure not to damage or scratch it. I shifted the rest of the bag around, the remaining items all appearing worthless. I was about to sling the bag, and make for our impromptu base camp, when a flash of pink on yellow caught my light.

Obscured under a collection of pens and a notebook, lay a small figurine of a yellow pegasus mare, with a pink mane, and meek smile. Her cutie mark, a collection of three pink butterflies, instantly identified her.

The unremarkable black base of the Fluttershy statuette, displayed an inscription upon it. Be Pleasant

I felt a rush of… Something, as I pulled it out. It felt strange, like a wave of compassion and kindness washing over me. But it also felt familiar, like your mother hugging you. I stowed it alongside the rest of my newly acquired equipment, and turned to leave.

As we walked back, I glanced at the time. 16:56. It would be dark soon, and I would rather be back in the safety of Flatwoods before whatever creature decided that roast pegasus sounded appetizing.

My hoof slipped on a rock, and I lost my balance for a second, causing the rock to tumble noisily back down the packed earthy slope. Blackwood lept out from behind a stalactite, leveling his gun towards me for a second, before snorting and lowering it.

“Problem?” I asked, as I passed by a makeshift barricade of rocks.

He sighed. “Mak’n sure’no critt’rs ambush’us. Been’hearin rustl’in from back towards tha’ hive.”

I shook my head, but called everyone over. I opened my pack, and showed them the mask. “Only one I could find, but it's still damn lucky. Who is the most stealthy here?”

Anakvad gingerly raised his hoof. “That would be me. I can collect as much as I can, as long as the cart is close.” He said in his exotic accent.

I nodded, but warned him, “One trip. We need to leave and fast, before night fully falls. Blackwood, go grab the cart. Shady, you guard the entrance to the cave.” I looked at Squeezer, he looked very weak from the attempted spell. ‘Squeezer, stay where you are and rest. When we get ready to leave, do you think you can hold what we can get still with magic? We are probably going to have to exfil fast if we are to make it back before sundown.”

Squeezer half-heartedly nodded, though looked unsure. It would have to do, I reminded myself, before passing off the mask to Anakvad.

The plan went well, and Anakvad successfully entered the inner chambers, moving like a ghost. It helped that most of the Bee’s were fast asleep, tucked together in bunches on the sides of the cave walls and honeycomb. The stealthy zebra bounced from unoccupied comb to unoccupied comb, taking chunks out and back up to the cart, managing to get well more than what would be acceptable for Party Mix… After I got done kicking her flank for neglecting to mention the flash bee’s surprise gassing. The only problem occurred when Anakvad went to fish around in the last hive for another suitable chunk of honeycomb. From the top of the slope downward to the hive, I could hear Anakvad yelp, then scramble out and up the incline.

I was confused, but on high alert. A good thing too, as a hive followed him up… Wait a minute…

Not a hive, I realized, as the legs pumped faster and faster, threatening to trample the zebra as he neared the top. Vaguely resembling a flash bee, but impossibly large and grotesque, the large bee appeared to be inter-mated with a large hive, riding aloft on its back abdomen. Its wings vibrated angrily as it caught sight of us, and I cursed loudly as Anakvad threw himself into the cart. The creature was too close for an unaided shot, so I did the only thing I could do. I took flight, and followed the cart as Blackwood sprinted at full force back outside, alternating cursing and praying as he went.

“Just make it outside.” I growled to myself. I made the mistake of glancing behind me, finding the creature an uncomfortable distance between us. Flipping over in midair, I drew my plasma defender, and booted S.A.T.S. The spell threw me into the strange never-never land of time, and I took a moment to breathe and clear my head. All though in this slowed down/sped up time, I could still make out the beast hot on my flanks, I scanned the beast, now identified by the all-knowing PipBuck as a flash beast, and settled on its head as the target for my shots.

Satisfied, I dropped the spell and let the shots go, enjoying seeing the plasma splash against the flash beast’s head. One of its mandibles fell limp, like an appendage that needed amputation, but yet it came still, buzzing increasingly in anger.

Funny how fast I could fly when a large bolt of lightning, far larger than what I observed being discharged by the bee’s, ripped precariously close to my head, toppling a rock formation.

“Screw this…” I exhaled as I accelerated, pushing all my strength to beat my wings faster. The dim, rainy light was close to hoof now, and our fleeing convoy tore out into the rain. The creature continued, following through the overgrown terrain. I didn't see the armored ponies until we were right on top of them, bowling over them in our frenzied escape. The wagon, and Blackwood in tow, caught air and landed upright with a shattering crash. I had the fortune of colliding with a lightly-armored unicorn.

The indigo-colored pony shook himself off and regarded me for a moment, then registered what team I played for, and backed off. “DON'T MOVE!” He yelled, drawing a laser rifle in a red telekinetic aura.

The flash beast came next, making a bee-line, no pun intended, to an earth pony in a set of worn T51 armor. The iron-pony went down, and had little time to spool the oversized minigun on his battle saddle, before being torn apart by the rampaging creature. The other Steel Rangers yelled and engaged the creature, only enraging it more. A blast of lightning microwaved a mare to the side of me, while the unicorn decided I could wait, and engaged the foe.

“BACK TO THE CAVE!” I yelled, and tore off the way we came from, followed closely by the rumbling of the wagon, Blackwood's curses, and the report of Squeezers pistol and Anakvad's rifle. The rain stung as I blazed a trail towards the cave, finally seeing it close.

The fur on my coat stood on end, before I felt my body light up with pain, followed by a loud clap of thunder. I fell, and rolled into the cave, hitting a rock and coming to a sudden halt. My coat smoldered, and I felt my consciousness begin to fade. I watched briefly as Blackwood halted the cart, called after me, then together with Squeezer, sent some shots into a bush. Blinding bolts came from the wood line, and struck Squeezer, then Blackwood. Both went down, and were pulled into the cave by Anakvad, and Shady. Then, the world went dark.

---***---

“Why~”

“Why couldn't you save us?”

---***---

I gasped, and sat up, panting from the all too familiar night terror. Every nerve in my body felt frayed, and it hurt like hell to shift. The only light now came from a flickering campfire, close by. A shadowed form moved over, and I could make out the stripes on his muzzle.

“Here, drink this.” Anakvad said, laying a ceramic mug, most likely appropriated from Shady’s bags, into the grasp of my hooves. I stared at it, swirling the steaming liquid inside a few times. It smelt like tea, of some sort.

“What is it?” I asked, looking into Anakvad's worried gaze.

Anakvad semi-smiled and rose. “A healing brew we use in the homelands. Similar to a healing potion. I wasn’t able to gather all the ingredients due to the foul beast, but Bullion and Blackwood both agree it does not taste as bad as one might think.”

He trot back over to the fire, plucking a stick up in his teeth and stirring something around in a cauldron-shaped rock. Shady silently flew over, and sat in front of me, the fire casting a dim light over his worried gaze.

“Got that ass, huh Cap’?” He said with a shaky tone. He snorted awkwardly. “ ‘You doing alright?” He finally asked.

I swirled the drink once more, then took a sip. It tasted like rosemary, and sort of settled my nerves. “I’m fine.” I coughed. It hurt like hell. “How are Squeezer and Blackwood?”

Shady glanced over at them around the firepit. “Squeezer got it worse. Something about magic seeking magic. Blackwood is fine, just singed. You all have some pretty gnarly scars though.” He finished by pointing at a bandage, covering my left flank, just above my cutie mark.

I could just see a jagged line, stretching up away from the bandage. I winced at the sight, and looked away. “Let me finish this, then I'll make sure the coast is clear. If it is? We book it for Flatwoods." I said, still attempting to ignore the stinging of the wound.

Shady shook his head. "I got this, Cap'. Stay here." He flapped upwards a few meters above the cave floor, and began working his way, slowly, to the mouth.

"Are you sure, Shady?" I suspiciously asked. "That thing got me good. Not to mention Blackwood and Squeezer..."

Shady waved a forehoof in unconcern, cutting me off. "Relax. I'll be fine." He turned back to the mouth, hesitated for a moment, but relented and slowly flew up. Grabbing a hold of the wall, he peaked out quickly. His headlamp illuminated the dark canopy as he searched for the damn bug, but everything seemed normal. Well… Normal for an apocalyptic swamp.

Satisfied, he cautiously moved outside, landing in the middle of the clearing. He squinted in the dark, and did a three-sixty, making sure to cover all angles, before turning to face us. "It's clear. They left."

ZAP!

The blackness lit up for a moment as a bolt of lightning hit Shady square in the back. I got a great, almost cartoon-like, look at Shady's skeleton as he fell to the ground, smoldering from the discharge from the Flash Beast, hiding somewhere in the void. Blackwood sent a few unsteady shots down range, forcing the creature to retreat further into the swamp with a buzz, as Shady scrambled back inside the cave with us.

Shady's blackened form coughed a trail of smoke, before smiling with charred teeth. "Belay that..." He said, grimacing. “Sleepy time.” Shady’s form fell to the ground, out cold.

“Fuck…” I growled, and gripped Shady under his forehooves. I lifted myself into the air, and half-flew, half-dragged him over to a collection of rocks where Anakvad stood, grumbling in Zebrican.

I watched as the zebra tended to him, and thought of an escape plan. That damn bee had us pinned, with no way to exit without facing it. Smart bastard… I turned to Blackwood, who had himself now propped up against a rock, staring intently down the sights of Whisper.

“Blackwood!” I hissed. He sorta half-turned towards me, while keeping an eye on the mouth. “Any ideas on how to get past that thing?”

He shrugged. “Hell’if’ah’know. That thang’ is gunna’ cook’us if w’leave. Check Shady’s bag fur’ some’thin’, I dunn’o.”

I shuffled away, and began to riffle through Shady’s bags. Aside from the cup, I pulled out and arranged various tech trash, a hoof-full of pens and pencils, five bits, an empty Sparkle~Cola bottle, and some MF cells. Nothing spectacular per say, but it would have to do. I groaned at my lack of engineering know-how, but began to attempt to form some kind of plan.

Anakvad strolled over, and leaned down next to me. “Any plan on escaping?” He asked, still watching Shady’s knocked-out form. I shook my head, but kept thinking.

The zebra made a funny noise, and rose. “Sometimes…” He said as he returned to Squeezers side. “The best laid plan consists of the simplest solution…”

An hour later, and with me fumbling all the while, Shady came too. He now sat nearby, watching as Blackwood and I hefted the broken wheel of the cart, blown free by the flash beast, and remounted it on its axle. I held it while the earth pony hammered a warped nail back into its slot.

“The’r.” Blackwood grunted from behind the hammer held firmly in his mouth. He rose from his squat and backed up, surveying our work. Turning his head to the side, he spat the hammer out onto the trodden earth, and cracked his neck. “Now, remi’nd me again what tha’ plan' is.”

I pointed to the cart with a wing. “Simply, really. Roll the cart out as bait. When the bee strikes, we can pinpoint its location, and potentially do enough damage to make it flee. Then, grab the cart and beat hooves back to Flatwoods. Best case? We kill it. Worst case…” I paused for a moment. “We piss it off more.” I shrugged.

Squeezer cackled from the corner. “I LOVE this plan! It will definitely go down as one of the plans of all time.”

I rolled my eyes. While not as complex as I would have liked, I trusted Anakvad’s advice. “Alright.” I sighed. “Blackwood and Anakvad, get behind it and get ready to push on my signal. Once we all see where the blast comes from, dump your ammo that way. Hopefully, we will be out of this miserable cave soon.” Anakvad and Blackwood moved into place, facing away from the cart. I made sure to triple-check the digital readout, mounted to the side of the plasma defender held in place by my closed mouth. While I topped off the charge, I only had a hoof-full of spare energy cells to fall back on if one cell wasn’t enough to bring down the monster. I pushed that thought back, and took a deep breath. I nodded towards Blackwood and Anakvad, and with a resounding CRASH, the wagon was bucked forward and rolled freely. It gained speed heading downhill, and I began second guessing myself that the plan was a bust, until a bolt of lightning flew after it. It hit the wagon, blackening a side and splintering the wood in a huge chunk.

There you are, you bastard…

I charged out of the cave, and spun around. Sure enough, the fucker was crawling along the slanted cliff face above us, seeming confused that its prey was not near the cart as it rolled. It had just a moment to register it had been duped, before it began buzzing its wings violently and emitting sparks from its lightning bolt-shaped stinger. I clenched down on the trigger bit, and felt the heat wash over me as the plasma erupted from the barrel. The first shot missed, but the follow ups hit, burning its abdomen in many places. Despite the pain it probably felt, it managed to release the pent up discharge and send a bolt towards my head, missing by an inch or so, and igniting a small fire at the base of a bush, which was promptly extinguished by the torrential downpour.

Pfft Pfft Pfft Pfft Pfft

Whisper sing-songed its muted melody, hitting the bee and shearing off one of its antennae. The beast turned, and rushed Blackwood. It got within a few meters, before it collapsed and slid the rest of the way in the slick mud, Blackwood having to dive out of the way. There it rested, unmoving. I checked my PipBuck, no EFS tag, it was dead. I exhaled in relief, and holstered my pistol.

A quiet calm set in, only broken by the roar of rain. There it stayed for a few seconds, before I broke it by asking, “every-pony ok?” Blackwood rose, looking like some muck monster, and dead-checked the bug. Pfft. One in the head. The corpse shuddered as Whisper’s powerful round tore into flesh and exoskeleton. He spat a glob of mud onto the ground. “Ah’m good.” He breathed heavily. “Fuck all in’sec’s. Ah’ mean’it. Can't stand’em at’all.”

Couldn't argue with that… “Come on.” I hurriedly ordered. “We need to get back before the hive comes a’looking.”

With that, Blackwood hitched up the cart and off we went. Shining my lamp around the pitch-black swamp, I led the way, only supported by my EFS. Red blips appeared and disappeared rather frequently, so naturally, I was very much on edge and high strung. The shadows danced as I illuminated the path ahead of our little convoy, and I tried not to look as we passed by a power armor helmet, laying in a pool of blood in the middle of the road. I know I shouldn't have, but I felt bad for the Steel Ranger patrol, eviscerated by the rampaging bug in hot pursuit.

Blackwood’s beam of light from a mouth-held flashlight swept over the swamp nearby, and I caught a short glimpse of something taking cover behind a tree. Something vaguely equine-shaped. I halted, making the non-attentive Blackwood run into my flank. He began to reprimand me, but I shushed him with a wing.

The swamp was silent… Not the normal silent, accented with the call of nesting birds. This silence was deafening, not even the insects chirped. I recalled the mantra in my head, drilled into my head by my survival training instructor, “In the absence of sound, predators abound.”

I crouched low, intently listening for any signs of movement. My ears could just make out the sound of a faint gurgling noise. Blackwood must have heard it too, as his eyes got wide. “Douse y’ur light…”

I, confusingly, obliged; Letting the darkness blanket us again. The smell, I noticed first. A putrid smell of rotting plants, and flesh. I gagged, but tried to keep myself quiet. After a few moments, the gurgling got louder. Wet, sloshy, hoofsteps crossed what couldn't have been more than fifteen meters in front of me. Multiple of them, in fact. I struggled to control my breathing as whatever passed by us, did so loudly. For ten minutes, we could only stand still as whatever was around us, searched for us. It sounded like the swamp was alive with the sloshy sounds, clicking, and gurgling, almost wheezing, sounds of the unknown creatures. Eventually, the sounds resided, and stopped all together. After a few minutes more, birds began chirping again.

I panted heavily. “What… What, was that…?” I said through gasps. I clicked on my light again, and found my group all looking pale and distant. Blackwood shivered uncontrollably, casting quick, nervous, glances around the terrain. “Strangled…” He said quietly.

I blinked. “What?”

He paused for a moment, then proceeded to dive for a ditch and retch loudly. I gave him some space as he vomited, drawing near to Squeezer.

Squeezer also wore the look of sheer terror upon his face, his usual joking mannerisms gone for the moment. “You have no idea how close to death we were just then… I am guessing that it was a new horde. If it were vets…” Squeezer didn't finish that statement. I understood completely where it was going.

“So… Those were ponies, infected by the swamp?” I asked, trying to wrap my head around it. I have to admit, I was feeling sick myself now.

Squeezer nodded his head slowly. My breathing quickened, and I began snapping to shadows in the trees, making sure the horde was not returning.

“We need to get back… Now.” I ordered. Blackwood, now appearing green, managed to drag himself to the back of the wagon, and crawl into it. He lay down with a grunt, but remained staring into the distance. I sighed, and began to hitch myself to the cart. “Shady, break time is over. Hitch yourself next to me. We are going to fly the rest of the way home.”

The passengers, including Shady, groaned at that, but resided themselves to a rough ride. Shady flapped up next to me, and began hitching up. Once we were secure, we spread our wings and began to gallop, attempting to gain speed. The rain stung as we ran, but we continued, aiming for where the road pitched down to launch into the air.

“Cap! There’s light in front of us. Moving fast!” Shady exclaimed over the rain. Sure enough, a ball of light was approaching us, though it was probably the other way around.

I slowed my gallop to a trot, then all together, as the source of the light came into view. I unharnessed myself, and drew my sidearm, pointing it at the ominous glow. It appeared as if the light occurred from everywhere, but nowhere at the same time. The source of it, unknown, until the cloak came off. Mahiri stood there, lantern in mouth, looking at us with a worried expression.

“Thank the stars, we were worried about you.” She sighed as she sat the lantern down. “You need to hurry!”

I reupholstered my pistol, and attempted to ignore Anakvad's angry breathing, now doubt preparing for another verbal onslaught. “Why?” I hurriedly asked. Whatever it was, it wasn't good to warrant Mahiri, and probably others, looking for us.

“A group of Rangers showed up a bit ago. They are trying to get into town hall, wanting the Mayor to bring y'all to justice. Something about killing a patrol.”

Fuck… I rubbed my neck. “It wasn’t us, per say.”

Mahiri’s eyes widened. “Y'all killed a patrol. Fuck!” She cursed under her breath, though sounding more scared than angry.

I shook my head. “We got chased by a huge ass bee. It followed us out of its cave, and chased us until we ran headlong into that patrol. They tried to take us prisoner, but the bee slaughtered them.”

“Better it kill them, than us, accursed one. Or do you not agree?” Anakvad piped up, practically spitting his words. He jumped down from the cart, and stormed over to us, practically getting muzzle to muzzle with the strange zebra.

“ENOUGH!” I yelled. Probably a bad idea at the time, but I had to break them up before he did something he regretted. I stomped my hoof. “Anakvad! Mahiri! Get in the cart…” I spat, before re-harnessing myself. Off we went, the cart bouncing as it rumbled faster and faster, until we caught the right breeze under our wings, and we rose into the stormy air. I am pretty sure Mahiri screamed, though I wasn't sure if it was in fright or in excitement. I didn't really care though, all I heard was the roaring of the rain, and my heart beating loudly in my ears.

We neared Flatwoods fast, the tiny houses growing in size as we began to descend. “AIM FOR THE BRIDGE!” I yelled to Shady as we flew on. It was the perfect runway for our laden cart. A gust of wind rattled the wagon, and Blackwood rose a meter out of the bed. Gravity had enough of that instantly, and he slammed back into the cart, yelping as he hit. The bridge loomed up ahead, and we hit the ground running. The lone sentry must have thought we were the grim reaper, pulling his hearse, as we rocketed by his post. We stopped abruptly, and I threw the harness off.

I looked at the townhall as I galloped towards it. One of the doors hung limply to one side, showing that the Rangers had broken their way in. I growled as I flew up the steps, only to be greeted by a revving minigun, from a pony in power armor…

FOOTNOTE : LEVEL UP! PERK OBTAINED: ENTOMOLOGIST. YOUR ENCOUNTER WITH THE FLASH BEES HAS GIVEN YOU INSIGHT INTO INSECT BEHAVIORS. YOU NOW CAUSE 40% MORE DAMAGE TO RADROACHES, BLOAT SPRITES, FLASH BEES, SPIDERS, AND ANY OTHER CREEPY CRAWLY.

Author's Note

Well, well, well... I definitely dropped the ball with this one, making y'all wait and all. Sorry about that, life is shit right now, but I tirelessly type away anyway. with the return of King Somber (brand pending), I hope that this may be the herald of the FOE fandom's rise again. But stories require a lot of effort to be put into them, and this one is no different.

In other news, I will be down at Marefare 2024 in a few weeks, so if you see me, feel free to say hello. I promise I wont bite... Okay, maybe a little. Maybe just a nibble or two?

I would like to thank my editor, Miky, as well as my friends, Xythis, Silent, Sharps, Maple, Williams, Squeezer, TexasBlueWolf, King, and Mecha, for putting up with my insane, equine-related, ramblings. Y'all truly keep me together. Thank you. And to Kkat, Somber, Heartshine, and all else who slave away, carefully weaving great stories for readers enjoyment. And finally, to you, my readers, who put up with my disappearances, but remain standfast until I throw another chapter out.

See you next time! ~Thundercloud

Chapter Five : Giant's shadow

Fallout Equestria: Storm Protocol

Written by: Thundercloud

Edited by : Thundercloud, Sharps, Xythis, and Moss Light

(“I’m a travel’in buck. I’ve made a lotta’ stops, almost everywhere. And in every port, I own the heart of at least one lovely mare.”)

Location: Settlement of Flatwoods, Equestrian Wasteland
Time: 02:56 Equestrian military time

You know the feeling you get, when you realize you have just ran yourself up shit creek? This was one of those moments… In fact, this was me being cast away in a shit ocean, with a hurricane raging right on top of me. Thank the Goddesses, whoever watches me from up above had different plans to me becoming swiss cheese-cloud.

The iron pony spooling the minigun remained just that, not squeezing just a little harder and turning this stressful standoff into a firefight. I squinted into the gloom, letting the adrenaline flow as I did all in my power to ignore the minigun, mere inches from my face.

The gloomy atmosphere inside the town hall didn’t bring anything else good to the situation. In addition to War Machine breathing down my neck, I counted six other ponies, dressed in variations of power armor, combat barding, or some ridiculous cult-like robes, inside the foyer. Added to the ones visible, two near-completely hidden Magical Energy Rifles, one on either side of the door jam, pointed at my head.

Nine Rangers? Ok… Information gathered, now onto business. I growled again, puffing myself up and spreading my wings to seem commanding and larger. “If you don’t get that minigun out of my face, it’ll end up shoved up your metallic ass..” The spooling slowed, but did not stop completely. Progress, I guess?

One of the ponies in armor stepped forward. His armor was ornate, and almost looked fresh off the line. The silver-gray armor had accents of orange, painted in stripes around his pasterns, shoulders, and forehead. His left shoulder continued the orange color scheme , by displaying an emblem of a sword, bisecting a pair of wings. In this half-moon shape, three cogwheels sat, overlayed by the blade. His right shoulder displayed an orange silhouette of a shield, cut away near the bottom to appear like an inlaid sword resting on top, flanked by two orange wings. This, to what I could reasonably assume, was a rank. Though I wasn’t sure what the rank was exactly. But by the way he sized me up, I could tell he was calling the shots.

“So…” The voice rang out, deep and baritone from the active modulator. “The cowardly butcher finally returns home.”

I pinched the bridge of my muzzle with a wing. “Look dumbass, I didn’t kill your patrol.” I snapped. “A pissed off, big ass bug did. Now, with that out of the way. I would very much appreciate it if you took your merry band of morons out of this town.”

The armored pony scoffed. “Enclavers are all the same. Lying, conniving, cowards. If you say you didn’t ruthlessly butcher my stallions and mares, how do you explain the incomplete messages we received that detailed a pair of Enclave Pegasi, attacking them?”

I facehooved. “Damn. Recruiters must be getting desperate these days. If you used that bit of gray matter between your ears, you would understand the word, incomplete, and its significance in your proof.”

“Enlighten me…” The armored pony growled.

I exhaled harshly, I definitely didnt have time for this. “We were followed by a giant mutated bee, out of its cave. Your patrol just happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time.”

The armored pony laughed a deep, throaty laugh. “You may have not laid a hoof on them, but you led the creature to them. Therefore-" The laser weaponry mounted on his battle-saddle charged, “You inadvertently caused their deaths, making you responsible.”

“Now wait just’ah moment’!”

I scanned the gloomy room. Sure enough, Written Memo was standing inside her office. By her nightgown, she probably was roused from her sleep when the Rangers decided to come play.

“Ya’ herdem. Your patrol was caught ‘n tha’ open. Not kill’d by’em.”

“Mayor Memo… You had best learn your place, before we decide that your town is not worthy of our protection…” He chided, his tone attempting to sound smooth and friendly.

“Protection? Lik’ Tartarus! We dun’ told’yall enough, we don’t need y’all’s protection, Paladin! We do fine on’r own.” She angrily retorted.

Paladin? Are we in the middle ages now? “She is right, Paladin…” I said, drawing out his rank or name or whatever it was in a mocking tone. “The only damage that has been done was caused by YOUR subordinates; not anything we have done.”

A door at the far end shot open, breaking apart the dialogue, and a Ranger stepped out, dragging a pony in her telekinetic grasp. It was not until the figure shifted in the dim light that I saw the patchy and leathery skin, and mane style. Treehugger…

“Get!” She stated, struggling and attempting to twist out of the magical hold. “Get off me!” Her eyes locked onto me, and they narrowed. Written Memo growled, and began moving slowly her mouth down to her nightgown's pocket.

“Found the rotten zombie hiding in a backroom. Thought you should know about it.” The mare said with a scratchy tone.

Treehugger, to her credit, was able to break the levitation aura long enough to lash out with a hind hoof, missing entirely as the mare dodged just in time. “What are your orders, sir?”

He shifted an inch, most likely thinking about his next actions. “You may not have done anything,” he growled finally,“But you are part of a group that has caused the deaths of millions, both directly, and indirectly. For that, you and the zombie are under arrest and are to be put to death.”

I began to shift my weight to the side, bracing to take flight and hopefully avoid the hail of bullets. At that moment, my deflection training kicked in. Keep him talking, I thought. “Only a coward kills civs,” I accused.

The Paladin twitched for a moment, and then snorted. “Civ? No. That thing is an abomination, a mindless zombie. And the only good zombie is a dead one. Not that you care anyways, isn’t that the Enclave’s modus operandi? Purge the impure? Cauterize the wound so gravely inflicted during a war two-hundred years ago?”

I shifted my weight again, dropping my front half low and rising up my flanks in a textbook combat tackle stance. Her death wouldn’t be on my hooves.

“We prefer the term unwashed. And you, my friend, need to bathe more regularly, judging by the smell.” A feminine voice said from the rafters. The Rangers looked around, attempting to find the origin. I already knew who it was, confirming it when I found the silhouette of a manticore’s tail swishing in the dim lamp wash of the Rangers.

Racer had parked herself in one of the seals of the crescent-shaped windows. Her tail swished absentmindedly as she reclined there, not bothering to look at the Rangers. “Now friends, what was that about an execution? Hurry up will you? I want to make Captain sooner than later, and all this bickering is ruining my beauty sleep.” She said through an acted yawn.

The paladin sized her up for a moment. “One pegasus trooper? Tell me, filly… What was your plan? Sweet talk us through doe eyes?”

Racer stifled a giggle. “Good idea, but my barn door swings the other way. Now your friend there on the other hoof… She’s kinda cute.”

The mare holding Treehugger blushed profusely and wrinkled up her face, no doubt torn on whether to be aggressive to her enemy, or to be embarrassed from the flirtatious advance.

“No…” Racer said after a moment. “I am just here to distract you while the rest of the lads get around you.”

Another armored form appeared on the balcony, the dim light around him being washed up by the glow of his amber visors. The twin MEWs, mounted to his battle-saddle, hummed with energy as he pointed them downward. Shady came up beside me, and drew his own sidearm, clutching it firmly in his mouth. Not much of a counter-threat to their armor, but it was better than me being a one-pegasus army.

“Really…” The paladin asked sarcastically. “Four whole ponies, one of which not even remotely armored or armed-”

“You forgot the angry mob of towns-ponies, outside.” Racer interjected. True to her word, a small group of guards and civilians sat outside, waiting to jump in if a fight broke out. A green Kirin barked orders at the group, telling them where to go and what to do. When he caught my gaze, he gave me an evil grin, then went back to micromanaging the impromptu militia.

The minigun Ranger shifted nervously to and fro, then asked for orders. The paladin pony fell silent for a moment, then huffed. “They have won this round. Very well, we shall leave. But mark my words, your act of aggression will be corrected, Mayor Memo.”

“Kiss mah’ ass, Bronze Sheet.” Memo spat.

The paladin, now identified as ‘Bronze Sheet’ snorted indignantly, but didn’t respond to her insult. “Return to base. Only fire if fired upon.” With a great clanking, the armored ponies made their way past us, and out into the dark night.

I watched them go, before Racer playfully punched my shoulder with a hoof. “A ‘thank you’ would be nice, Cap’.” She offered.

“How did you know?” I asked, still watching the forms of the Rangers march across the bridge.

“Eh.” she started, “When your Pipbuck tag went offline, I figured something was off. So, I got the gang together and watched the town as a precaution. Captain Skimmer was hesitant to launch S and R birds this late in the night, and with these weather conditions. This downpour makes the visibility zero.”

I then realized that my coat was matted and soaked, stained by viscous, luminescent green insect blood and mud. I hadn’t realized until now that we were standing in the middle of what felt like an eternal monsoon. I shuddered a tad due to the cold wind and rain, and the general state I looked. Was the wasteland changing me already?

“Well, when we saw those tin-heads marching into town, we knew it meant trouble. The good captain had doubts as to whether or not the deployment of troopers would dissuade or encourage the attack, so he decided to let it play out. You know us, if trouble comes calling, we would rather be in the thick of it than the sidelines. So, the boys and I ‘deployed ourselves’.” She said with a twitch of her helmet. From her inflection, I could tell she was grinning mischievously.

“So the captain didn’t authorize force deployment. Does he at least know now?” I deadpanned, annoyed at the fact they had gone under the captain’s hoof, even though it saved myself and probably a lot of residents’ lives.

“He is a smart buck, he probably figured it out when we left the hangar.” Came Racer’s reply.

My blood boiled. “Racer…” I growled. I rounded on her, placing my muzzle square in-front of her helmet. “The next time I leave home and he’s in charge, you follow his word like it’s my own! Got me, Lieutenant?” I accentuated the rank, reminding her who was in command here.

“Be Pleasant.” A voice in the back of my head told me. Not my own thoughts, but somepony else, more mare-sounding. I couldn’t place the voice, but it sounded… Familiar.

“Well, EXCUUUUUUSE me.” Racer said, then snapped a sarcastic salute. “Next time you want your ass creamed, Cap’, I’ll let them. Now, if you are done pulling the rank card, do YOU mind telling me why you blipped on us? I thought Cloud was going to pace himself through the deck. I swear, all that muscle, and he is just a big softy.” Racer exclaimed.

“Must have been when we entered the cave.” I explained. Racer gave me a faceless stare, one I could read all too well… “I took a job to buy the parts needed for repairs. When we went in, the cloud network connection cut for a minute. Must have lost positioning for us, and never reactivated. Well, the lovely mare neglected to tell us that the cave where we were told to harvest some honey held a giant ass, pissed off, bee and its extended family, who promptly zapped us and chased us out. As it did, we bumped into one of your new marefriends patrol.”

“Let me guess…” Racer said, sarcasm practically drooling. “Mr. Friendly bumbly-bee greased them.”

I nodded. “Chased us back to the cave where we all got zapped. I was out for a while.”

“Racer stood still for a moment. “Skies got zapped, too?” She asked in a tone that was not at all indicative of worry.

“Yup.”

Racer howled with laughter. Shady, who was sulking nearby, muttered “s’not funny” and began over to us.

“Lock it down.” I ordered, and the laughing died away. “Those assholes are definitely going to be back. And when they do, they will take it out in the town. Tomorrow morning, we need-”

Racer shushed me, and jerked her head towards a group of ponies walking our way. It didn’t take the loud arguing to know who they were or what they were arguing about.

“I told you this would happen, Mayor! Now those Steel assholes really have it in for us! Do you truly think you pandering-”

“Negotiat’in...”

“GAH! Whatever you want to package it as! YOU SHOULD HAVE LET ME HANDLE IT!"

Memo walked towards us, leading a small group along behind her. Moss Light walked sideways beside her, though from her look, she was clearly trying her best to ignore his accusatory outbursts.

“Moss Ligh’. Do’me a favor’n shut yer’ mouth.” She coldly stated, before coming to a halt in front of us. “Ah’ hope y’all have’a righ’ good expanation as’tah why y’all pissed those fuckers off. Then, tha’ captain here’s gonna tell me how’tah’ fix this mess.”

“You can’t.” I asserted. “That paladin really thinks I killed his patrol. And they are going to be back, Memo, mark my words. The only diplomacy that is going to work now is gunboat diplomacy.”

She scowled. “Ah’ know you ain’t implyin’ that we take up arms against’em. Lik’ ah said before. If we decide we’gonna fight’em, they will bring’an army this way. You showed that yur’self when ya’ almost got tha' Grove sacked.”

Her accusation really plucked a feather. I tensed up and bared my teeth. “I saved… Your own Luna-damned son and his settlement… And I did it while disobeying the first rule of the Enclave. ‘The Enclave comes first’. What I did, Written Memo, is almost put myself and my team into early graves so that there was just a chance, A CHANCE, that Blackwood or Bullion could pull through with a defense.” I closed the gap, much to her startlement, and poked her with a wing.

“Be Pleasant…”The voice warned again, and I felt my anger drop.

“Tensions are high right now, I get it. But you going out on a limb and insinuating that I am intentionally trying to get every town we stop at sacked, is not the right move. Do you want me as your friend, or enemy?” I finished, an edge to my tone finer than any dagger.

She sniffed courtly. “A friend tah’ be sure. Ah’ apologize fur’ tha’ outburst.”

“That doesn’t make your stance any less shit…” Moss Light condemned. He rounded to the pack of creatures behind the mayor, and spoke up. “If tha’ mayor wants to bend the knee to those toaster fuckers, who would continue to be tyrants to us, then I won’t stand idly by and let the town I protect fall into that same appeasement.”

The crowd murmured amongst themselves. I knew where this was going immediately, and I began to intervene.

“Moss Light…” Memo’s voice drawled dangerously. Too late for me trying to de-escalate, I guess…

“No, Mayor. Not this time.” The Kirin retorted as he stomped a hoof. “Twice now in twenty-four hours, they have come to our homes with force, and tried to force themselves inside. They succeeded this time. What’s going to stop them from returning a third time, only that time, they will come in a blaze of laser fire and minigun rounds? Nothing! That’s what.”

“Mah’ job, ya fuckin’ idiot.” Memo spat. “‘N’less that head’ah yours forgot, Ah’m Mayor here. That means ah’ make tha’ decis’uns.” She snorted. “ ‘Nd if ‘ah say we talk, tah’em, we talk tah’em. What yur’ propos’in is ah’fight we can’t take.”

“TO HELL WITH THAT!” Moss Light roared. “They attacked our friends and family, invaded our homes multiple times, and killed Briar! MY OWN BROTHER!” Tears began to roll down his cheeks as he finished his tirade. Strangely enough, it looked like the kirin had begun smoldering as his anger boiled over. Little by little he had advanced on Mayor Memo, and it had reached the point that I had thought I would have to restrain him before he hurt her.

‘Not after Briar Light’

The words floated around in my head. This wasn’t self defense that Moss Light wanted. This was revenge. Cold, unyielding, revenge.

Iron Shard pushed his way through the crowd. “He has’ah’ point, Memo.” He solemnly commented as he drew near. “Now, Ahm’ not tryin’a go behind y’ur back, but they’re forcing our hooves here. The whole peaceful deescalation thing’s long past’us.”

Memo didn’t say anything in return. Instead, she worked her jaw and shifted her weight to and fro. I guess angry mothers act the same in every race.

I decided now was the time to butt into the conversation before Memo threw them out of town, or a lynch mob started. “Both of you calm down.” I ordered, spreading my wings out to push the two apart. “We’re all on the same side here, and I’d like to keep it that way. The Rangers want to see division here, it’ll just make it easier to roll up here and take over.”

The crowd murmured indistinctly again. Memo’s expression softened, and Moss Light wiped the tears from his eyes. “I didn’t kill their patrol.” I continued. “But I certainly had a small role in their death. Whether this makes up for it or not, I don’t really care. Those Rangers were in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and paid for it. Now, since the bug that actually killed them is now dead itself, I suppose it is only right for me to finish the job. My team is going to go up in those mountains tomorrow, and will not be back until this problem is solved.”

Written Memo clenched her jaw, which made me reiterate. “I will start with diplomacy,” I assured her. “No promises it will make any difference, but at least I can say I tried.”

She glanced around at the crowd, then sighed deep. “Fin’.” She admitted, and hung her head. “Ah’ hop’ to whatever diety ther’is that y’all don’t make this sit’i’ation wurse’.” She turned, leaving where she stood a quartette of muddy puddles. “ ‘Nd’ Thunder?” She added, halting as she made her way back to the town hall, “Be safe.”

I watched her go. Moss Light and Iron Shard quietly discussed something a few meters away, not that I could hear anything they said over the rain and thunder. Finally, they broke and faced me. “We agreed tah’ get’a team tah’ go with ya’. It’s not’righ’ tah’ send yall up tah’ deal with our problems.” The olive-colored unicorn finally said.

I nodded. “Only your best fighters. Everypony else stays here in case of a counter-attack.” I glanced back out beyond the walls and bridge, scanning the pitch black horizon for nothing in particular. “We head out at midday. I will see what I can do about support, but flying conditions have only deteriorated since we’ve been down here.”

Iron Shard grunted, and ushered Moss Light and the crowd off. Great… Another battle, and only two days into the wasteland. The icey realization hit me. This was do or die, and that meant one slip up from me could mean the death of every single creature in this town.

Blackwood shook his head as they went. “Ah’m commin’ with’ya,” he exhaled. He flicked an ear in thought, before adding, “ah’ think mom’s warmin’ up tah’ya.”

Squeezer laughed. “She definitely seemed less broody than normal.” Blackwood gave him a side eye, none too pleased at his joke. “Count me in, brother.

Anakvad nodded in solidarity.

“Thanks guys. I’ll be back tomorrow. Try and get some rest.” I spread my wings and rose off the ground, heading for the Eye. Her runways were lit up, making for an easy landing. As I ran along the runway, gradually slowing down, the hangar doors opened welcomingly to the warm, slightly bluish hangar lights. Cloud Skimmer stood by the bay doors, watching us. By his expression, I knew we were about to get an earful.

“Captain, welcome home.” He said in an interrogative tone. “Now, care to explain why you blipped for over six hours. And why your team-” He sweeped a forehoof across all of us, “decided to disobey orders and potentially turn a tense situation into a firefight…” He scrutinized each one of us in turn, waiting for any kind of answer.

And so, I gave him one. I relayed everything that happened from the time we stepped off the bridge, to the Rangers leaving. When I finally stopped, he grit his teeth and groaned. “Goddesses, what have I gotten myself into…” He muttered quietly. He took a wing and slid it over his mane, pushing it back and down, before continuing. “Alright, I will excuse it this time. But as much as I am your ride, you are my guides. We need each other, and this mutually beneficial relationship won’t pan out if you go gallivanting to an irradiated tartarus hole and get yourself killed. Make sure your pipbuck gets serviced.”

He turned to Racer and Cloud Buster. “As for you two, the same goes for you. If Thunder is gone, I am next in command. This may be your mission, but it’s my ship. Got me?” More stating it, than asking it.

“Yes sir.” Racer said unenthusiastically. Cloud Buster nodded, and added a “Understood, Captain.”

Cloud Skimmer scratched his mane with a wing, then lowered his authoritative tone for a softer one. “Alright then. Go get some rest. I’ll see what the weather’s like tomorrow, but no promises for air support or troop deployment. I only have a hoof-full of pegasi under me. And of those, only four are transport pilots. We are an escort ship, not a Raptor.”

He watched us make for the bulkhead door that would take us up to the crew deck, before sauntering over to two stallions, both of which by their uniforms I assumed to be the pilots who worked the night shift. One a pastel yellow color with a light blue mane, and another with a lime green coat and charcoal mane.

Shady chose to sit on the elevator floor as we rose, letting the water drip off his mane as he rested his head against the cage wall.

A part of me didn’t want to fall asleep, knowing that my dreams would be the same. That aside, I was still running on the previous night’s fitful sleep. Translation : not much, even for military service-pegasi standards. The cage rattled as it stopped, and I slid the door open to the cool deck. The overhead lights were dimmed slightly, but there was still enough light to see where you were going. I wished Racer and Cloud Buster ‘goodnight’, and silently slid my keycard into the slot, deactivating the door lock. The thought of a shower was enticing, especially after the day’s events, but I decided to just shed my soaked uniform and crawl into bed, making sure to lock the door to my sleeping cabin in preparation for the dreams I hoped would not come.

Eventually, they did come…

= = = * * * = = =

I gasped as I awoke. Trembling and covering in cold sweat, I shakily made my way out of the cabin and into the bathroom. I leaned on the metal sink for support, as I stared at my reflection.

I tried to forget the dream, the visions of being chased by a flash beast, having to dodge the bodies of creatures I recognized but couldn’t place names to. Fleshy monsters resembling Written Memo, Squeezer, Blackwood, and Moss Light joined in on the chase, their bodies growing vine-y tendrils and mushrooms that sloshed and slurped as they ran after me. Then came the couch… I knew what was on it even before it fully materialized out of the thick fog and rain. I didn’t even have to circle around it to see one of Storm’s legs, hanging off the back of it. That’s when I awoke.

My labored breathing must have been a bit too loud, as a knock sounded from the half-closed door.

“Cap’?” Shady said quietly. He pushed the door slightly more ajar, and peaked in. “Thunder?”

I gave him a side eye, and made for a cup that was quickly filled with water from the sink. I downed it, then filled it again. “I’m fine.” I assured Shady, still standing in the doorway with a worried look etched onto his face.

“I don’t think-” He began, but I stopped him with a wing.

“It’s not. Your. Place, Lieutenant.” I coldly admonished through gritted teeth.

He opened his mouth to interject, but let it hang for a moment before closing it. “Alright.” He said, throwing up both his wings in a ‘stop’ gesture. “If you want to talk, I’m here.” He concededly made his way back to his cabin, before his door clicked shut. I hung around the sink for a few more minutes, occasionally splashing water in my face but more or less staring at my reflection.

My fiery orange mane, usually shiny and combed, now was matted and mud caked. The bandage, once covering the wound on my left flank, had fallen off at some point, letting me see the large burn mark just above my cutie mark. Just a tad bit more down, and I would’ve now only had one.

The intercom clicked on, and the drawing notes of Reveille began to play. That told me what time it was, 6 a.m. I had only slept an hour and I could feel the exhaustion as I rubbed my eyes, so I just decided to sleep for a few more hours. Thankfully, the dreams I had were pleasant.

= = = * * * = = =

I rose at about 10 a.m., feeling at least recharged enough to get by. Not the best when you are about to potentially assault a Steel Rangers stronghold, but, one does with what he can.

I slowly let the door open. Shady’s door was ajar, and he was nowhere in sight, which meant he was probably in the mess. I wanted to apologize to him, but I was still upset with him pressing the issue over and over again. Whatever, focus on the here and now, and the here and now is the Steel Rangers issue.

I glanced out the porthole. To no pegasus’s surprise, it was dark and in the middle of a downpour. I took a moment to wonder if the surface was like this all the time, then cringed at the thought that we lived in the sun above the clouds, while others died in the dark below it.

Existential crises aside, I sluggishly moved to the near-empty mess. No Shady. Not even Racer, Weather, or Buster. Well… At least I won’t have to play therapy right now. I grabbed a tray and filled it with waffles.

I unceremoniously flopped the tray onto the nearest vacant metal table, and sat down. My head had begun throbbing at some point, most likely due to me only getting a fitful five hours rest. Whatever... I had worked on fewer in the past, so I just ate my breakfast in silence and rubbed my temple with a wing. By the time I was done, it was nearing 11 a.m. Just enough time to suit up and fly down. The problem itself didn’t lie in gathering my gear and double checking my armor’s BIOS, it lay in the worrying fact of being for the most part Shady-less this morning. He was not in the mess, nor was he in the cabin, so that left the entirety of the small warship’s corridors to search.

I groaned, and pulled up the Comms tab on my pipbuck, finding his code rather quickly and pinging him.

“Cap’?” His voice asked from the speaker.

“Meet me in the hangar. I am going to collect the others, and head that way.” I ordered as softly as I could. Hopefully, it would pave the way for an actual apology from me later.

“Already here with Racer, Cloud, and Weather.” Shady replied.

I narrowed my eyes. “Copy, coming down now.” I severed the connection. I didn’t want to imply that his attempts of starting a therapy club for my fucked dreams had grown, but the connotations were there. And I would rather not turn an Op into a feelings forum.

I shifted in my armor as the elevator took its sweet time descending. I guess I got hung up on something as I entered, because the gel layer had not formed perfectly to my contour, resulting in a pinched and restricted feeling. And if Pegasi hated anything as a whole, it was tight and restricting spaces. Call it a racial claustrophobia or what you may, our bodies just had to be free.

I stepped off the elevator after it halted, making my way down the corridor and into the hangar. Both hangar doors were wide open, and a general business was occuring in the hangar. The rain came down in thick sheets, worse than it had been since we started, and I could almost feel my mood souring as a result. I had hoped we could, at least, have the big guns ready if this plan went tits up.

Racer waved at me from across the hangar, motioning me to come over. She must have been out in the monsoon, as water dripped off her armor. She ran a gauntleted hoof over her short-cropped lilac mane, and shot me a toothy smile. “I think it’s raining, Cap’.” She sarcastically quipped.

I shot her an unamused gaze, then turned to face Shady. “What do we have?” I asked, already fearing the answer.

“Captain Skimmer says it’s a no-go for Vertibuck support. Too dangerous.” Shady reported, lacking just a bit of his signature tone.

I huffed. “Alright…” I muttered, “we need to get this show on the road anyways.” I pointed at him with a wing, “keep on Comms traffic, if things get hairy, Cloud Skimmer is going to need to either get those birds out of the hangar and risk the conditions, or complete a fire mission as we retreat.”

I pointed at Cloud Skimmer, “Cloud, I want you between Shady and I. Racer, you will bring up the rear. Doc’, once we secure our entryway, set up shop. I want an aid station as close as safely possible, casualties may be high. Objectives are as follows, protect the militia, and get the Rangers to leave. Any questions?”

“What kind of ordinance do you want me to use?” Cloud Buster asked, not at all attempting to conceal the excitement in his voice.

“Dawww.” Racer cooed, a grin on her face. “Is Cloudy excited to use the bottomless budget of the Enclavy-wavy to its fullest?”

Cloud Buster snorted, but didn’t return a comment. I looked around the hangar, trying to decide whether or not we should go heavy or light. Gusty would have his self-defense weapon. Racer, her magical plasma rifle (MPR). Shady with his IF5 and MPR. So that left Cloud Buster and I. Common sense told me that we would be up against heavily armed and armored ponies, with training and probably bots to boot, instead of the poorly-equipped slavers that had attacked Sugar Grove. That meant heavy firepower, but the presence of less armored ponies in the Rangers made me debate the use of heavy ordinance, citing it as overkill.

“Uhm…” I trailed off, still debating the question. “Go see if the quartermaster has a Gauss rifle. Bring extra cartridges if so, but I want you only using that if we get engaged with power armor units. Sling an MPR as well, and grab a pair of ‘casters for me.”

Cloud smiled wide and evilly, and made his way over to the bulkhead door that led to the elevator, on his way to deck two and the armory.

A few minutes of us planning passed, before he returned, laden down with the weapons and their ammo packs stowed in his armored saddlebags. I will even admit I got a bit giddy at the sight of the Gauss rifle, attached to a gimbal mount on his back.

The first time I had seen one was at my Special Warfare Center and School (SWCS). I had been sent as a result of me being accepted just after I graduated from the officers academy, and was placed into the mandated courses for an Intelligence Strike Team Operative (OSTO). In that roughly just over a year-long training regiment, I had been taught how to use various special weapon platforms just like the Gauss before me. The Gauss rifle was more or less a brick, with multiple halo’s arranged around the length of the barrel. These electromagnet coils propelled the two-millimeter ferromagnetic slug at speeds far greater than anything else, MEW or gunpowder. In layman’s terms, it is a coilgun, and would give the target a very bad day, if not outright wiping them from the face of Equestria.

The Gauss’s mounting rail, stabilized from one of his armor’s hard points, could extend and swivel up to, or down from, eye level allowing the user complete unfettered access to pose it however they felt. In addition to its poseability, the armor had an option to link its HUD so that the user did not even have to use the scope, rather seeing what the rifle was trained at and other data pertaining to using the rifle at extreme distances in the confines of the helmets screens.

This concludes Thundercloud geeking out over a rifle system.

“Got lucky.” Cloud Buster declared as he drew near. “Only one they had in stock. Quartermaster didn’t seem all too thrilled to be giving it up either.” He gleefully smiled after a few seconds of silence, before adding “is it the color you wanted, dear?”

I rolled my eyes. Cloud Buster seemed to take pride in the fact his tease elicited a reaction, snickering as he offloaded a pair of plasma casters from his back. Racer and Shady, being the tech experts of the team, hefted the weapons, with practiced precision, onto my back with their hooves. It took them a few minutes to bolt everything right, and connect the trigger wires to my helmet’s built-in trigger bit, but soon we were off.

The flight down was tense. It was only a distance of a kilometer or so from the airship to the ground, but it felt like several hundred kilometers. The rain, as per usual in this goddesses fucked wasteland, was falling with such force, the visability was limited. Add the general darkness of the cloud cover, and looming fog, it really sold the idea of “imminent death.”

A small group waited for us near the bridge’s gated entrance. Moss Light, wearing what looked like a form-fitting rubber suit, sat idly by as Iron Shard and the small group of around ten ponies stacked wooden crates onto a small cart. I ignored Racer and Cloud Buster snickering to themselves in the back, talking about how he looked like a gimp in that outfit, as I walked up to them.

As usual, I got all manner of goggling toward my armor. Opting to ignore it, I moved to catch Iron Shard as he returned with another box full of whatever.

“What’s all this?” I inquired.

“Morning tah’ you to…” He grumbled as he trundled past. I narrowed my eyes, and sped up to walk beside him, asking the question again.

He grunted as he shrugged the heavy crate off his back, cracking his neck after it hit the bed of the cart with a loud Whomp. “Supplies. I told’ja. Ammo, chems, whatever. Tak’in Rangers aint a walk’n tha’ park. Any luck with those flyin’ machines yall got?”

I shook my head. “Conditions are worsening by the day. Little to no possibility that we will even get evac birds.”

He groaned. “Damn these hills.” He cursed, as he hitched himself up. He stared at Moss Light for a moment, waiting for the oblivious stallion to stop playing with a small, multicolored cube, and focus up. After a few moments he yelled Moss’s name, jolting the kirin from his game.

“Wha’? Oh.” He said nothing more as he stashed the cube in a saddlebag, and rose to his hooves.

“Is that it…? Aren’t you, at least, going to pack a knife or pistol?” I questioned upon seeing his lack of ANY WEAPON, WHATSOEVER!. Goddesses, these grounders really plucked my feathers most of the time. You would think that living in an environment where even a little fucking bee could and would gore you to death would make somepony think about carrying at least a small weapon.

He smiled mischievously. “These hooves are classified as deadly weapons, my feathered friend.”

Iron Shard rolled his eyes and began pulling the cart across the bridge. Blackwood nodded as he passed me, followed by Squeezer. Anakvad started past me, but stopped before he crossed.

“Promise me something.” His heavily accented voice asked. “If I fall in battle, find my family. Tell them what happened.”

He turned to face me, wearing a look of sadness. I rested a hoof on his shoulder, and he flinched. Sighing, I removed it. “Sorry. Anakvad, you will be fine. Surviving the shit you went through shows that you are stronger than you appear. This…” I waved my wings in a wide arc. “This is nothing compared to what I have been through.”

But that was a lie. Griffons, although vicious in a fight, could not possibly match the Enclave, technology wise, in the border conflicts that marked the start of my military career. This was a whole ‘nother ballpark. Rangers had armor, bots, par or maybe even better weapons than ours. And all I had was a grounded corvette, and a small squad of ill-equipped militia ponies, and my friends.

The zebra smiled sadly. “Promise me. In the case you are wrong.”

“Alright…” I agreed in a soft tone after a few moments. “You have my word.”

He smiled again, and hesitated a moment, before embracing me. I hate hugs, as previously mentioned, but I decided to suffer through this one. At least for his sake…

After a moment, he stepped back. “Come. If you wish, I would love to be told of your fights with the griffons.”

And so, we walked. I declined the story telling, telling him that we needed to keep quiet and focused. He seemed to understand, but I could tell as the looming wreck grew closer, he grew more and more nervous. Truth was, I was boiling over with anxiety. Very nervous. Each snapping of twig, rustling of leaf, or stifled cough made me almost bite down on my trigger. It was exhausting, and I was already exhausted from the night.

The air grew thick and colder as we climbed the mountain pass. I began to take more notice of the scenery of pre-war Equestria as a way to take my mind off things. A rusted motorwagen here, a vine covered sign there. More and more, the swamp seemed to engulf the infrastructure and conceal any signs it was there to begin with. How could grounders live down here? I suppose they had no other choice, but this place was demented and sick. Neighvarro was no better, the once packed skyscrapers of the downtown metropolis now nothing more than empty husks. Ralneigh was better, but still nothing compared to Thunderhead. Even then, all pegasi cities were miles (figuratively and physically) above what Equestria was now. The wasteland, truely, was tainted; an infected wound that needed to be healed, before any progression could be made.

The Raptor grew larger and larger. Finally, the convoy stopped in a lush, overgrown grove, situated atop of a mountain overlooking the Raptor. Iron Shard unhitched himself, and waved me over with a hoof. Soundlessly, he pointed towards the crash, and offered me a pair of binoculars. I declined the offer, instead zooming in using my armors integrated magnifier.

From what I could see, the Raptor lay at an awkward angle, its hull position rising from the muck that engulfed the numerous decks below the hangar bay. I counted three in my first pass. Then five, then eleven, then twenty-five. More and more as I counted, I caught sight of new Rangers, both in power armor, and not, dotted about the wreckage. Powerful, occupied suits of T51, and maybe even a T60 model (though that one was up for debate as it disappeared as quickly as I saw it), patrolled the hull and uneven terrain around the raptor. Large scaffolding gantries gave way to huge gashes along the hull, whatever had brought this down, did so with force.

My heart sank as I recognized the crab-like carapace of a Sentinel robot. Not emblazoned with the Enclave logo, but by the cogwheel and sword emblem of the Rangers. Farther down the hull, I could see the hangar, packed with motor carriages in a makeshift motor pool that had been either brought by the Rangers, or stolen from Flatwoods.

“Fuuuc’ me.” Blackwood gasped as he low-crawled up next to me and accepted the binoculars. “Gotta’ be at least ah’ platoons’wurth’ of tha’ bastards.

Yeah… ‘Fuck me’ was right. This was a small army, just biding their time. And we had kicked the hornet’s nest. I continued to watch the stronghold, finding more and more Rangers as I passed over it. I decided to toggle my E.F.S., feeling like somepony kicked me in the gut as my armor’s HUD was filled with red marks.

“What’s the plan?” Moss Light asked as he crawled up on my unoccupied side.

I didn’t answer. The knot in my throat was too large to even begin to formulate a basic strategy. “Uhm…” I sputtered, but quieted down.

I flipped around and crawled back to our makeshift base camp, followed closely by Blackwood and Moss Light. I checked the time, 13:21, and scanned the forest canopy.

“Anypony got a mist cloak?” I asked the crowd.

A sky-blue earth mare, with a pale pink mane, shook her head. “Mahiri’s tha’ ‘nly one that has one.”

I heard Anakvad grumble incoherently at her name, as I cursed silently. “Stealthbuck?”

Again, no positive responses. Just the shaking of heads or some form of ‘no’.

I plopped down on my haunches, and pried my helmet off, pushing my bangs back with a muddy boot. No doubt, my stressful expression caused some apprehension in the camp, as some of the militia ponies shifted uneasily.

“What?” Cloud asked. He looked from pony to pony, searching for an answer. When none came, he repeated himself. “What?”

I shook my head. “I counted around thirty, just on the perimeter alone.”

Cloud Buster snorted and tossed his head. “Shit…” He exclaimed, before kicking a rock, flipping it over in the muck with a Plop.

“No way else we can get in there, either.” Squeezer interjected, lacking his usual nutty cheeriness. “I used to do appraisals before the salvage got shipped back to town. I know every entrance like the back of my hoof.”

“So, we knock some tin-heads together, and fight our way in.” Racer offered.

“Racer, think please,” I reprimanded. “If we head on that shit, we won’t even clear the treeline without getting killed or having the alarm raised.”

She huffed. I didn’t really care. Be mad all she wants, that is a suicide run. “Any other plans?” I asked the group.

The group murmured, but nopony stepped forward with an idea. Iron Shard flicked his ear, then got a strange look on his face.

“Ev’rypony down, now…” He hissed. I dropped into the mud, feeling it squelch under the weight of my armor. I couldn’t hear anything besides the roar of rain, thunder, and general swamp ecosystem, so I wondered what made him order us to lay low.

I booted my E.F.S. a second time. I surveyed as much as I could while lying prone in the muck, but it wasn’t a lot. No red marks, that was a good start at least. I shimmied around, and managed to get myself turned 180 degrees from my initial direction, finally finding a loan yellow mark deep in the woods. Not one of ours, but definitely not hostile.

“It’s yellow.” I reported.

“Wha’s that mean?” Iron Shard asked.

I rolled my eyes under my visor. “It means it’s not hostile. Racer, go check it out.” I ordered her, and encouraged it with a jerk of my head towards the direction of the signal.

She crouched low, but gradually left camp. After a few minutes, she normally walked back into the clearing, towing a flying metal orb behind her.

The orb kinda resembled a parasprite; A pest from pre-war that fed as much as it reproduced. I remember a report detailing how one parasprite managed to reproduce enough to take over Ponyville and Fillydelphia, only to be stopped by Ministry Mare Pinkie Pie and then-Princess Celestia. The nasty little cuss had a grill at the front, where a large grate sat fixed into its chassis. Under it, a pair of camera lenses sat, resembling large, beady eyes. Its semi-translucent wings beat rapidly, trying to get away from Racers’ manticore tail, woven into its front grate. Multiple small antennas, almost looking like legs, waved and vibrated at the forcible movement. I had seen these things before. Usually to spy on others, or deliver messages.

The Sprite-bot didn’t have any discernible markings, making identification hard. Nor was it actively broadcasting anything. I rose to my hooves, and cautiously walked over.

“Little shit was watching us. Tried to run when I saw it, but I am just too fast.” She said, braggartly. She pantomimed blowing her hoof, and wiping it on her breastplate.

“Enclave?” I asked, hoping the answer would come more from the bot than Racer.

She shrugged. “Don’t know. Too rusty and grimey to be really, but who knows how often service is done on recon units.” She flicked her tail rapidly, flinging the bot into the middle of camp with a sloshy bang. It struggled for a moment, but managed to levitate itself off the ground and upright. I half expected it to take off, but it just hung in the air with a near-indistinguishable hum of its wings and thrusters.

“Alright…” I sighed, “let me try something.” I moved closer, painfully aware of the small MEW barrel, mounted below the grating. Its thin antennae on the upper plating hummed, and it eerily reminded me of the Flash Beast. The eyes tracked me as I approached it, seemingly focusing solely on me.

“Nothing ventured…” I muttered as I squared up to it. “ Thundercloud, Captain, Enclave Intelligence Administration.”

The bot remained silent, only producing whirring and clicking noises, but not replying to my code.

“Well… Shit.” A little dejected, but worth a shot. I groaned in annoyance, and turned away. “Alright, if that bot was Ranger affiliated, they would be here by now. So that rules them out.”

I scanned the treeline, trying to pull any idea at all out of the ether. “Alright, alright, alright…” I repeated. “And this is just spitballing, but we could use a few grenades to cause a distraction. Lure a good chunk of them out so we can sneak in. It’s going to be a tight window, but it may work.”

“Cou’d wurk’.” Blackwood drawled. “Mig’t be a probl’m with tha’ timin’, but I’m sure we’c’n rig somethi’n up.”

Shady dug around in his saddlebag, producing another egg timer from its seemingly infinite space. “Here, my last one. Just like we did on the airship. Take a play out of our playbook, strip the wires in this and insert them into the cap. Set the timer, and run away. It should produce a spark large enough to detonate the grenade.”

I nodded in praise. “Alright, you guys organize yourself into teams of six. It won’t be easy, but you need to force yourselves into one of the entry points and keep fighting until you get deep into the structure. We will meet up somewhere inside and go from there.”

“How do we make’em leave?” A brightly colored magenta stallion asked from the back.

“Simple, really.” I started. “By now, the repair team is probably working on fixing the Storm’s propeller. When it’s done, we have a big ass bargaining stick.”

“Huh, ‘gunboat diplomacy’.” Moss Light spoke up with an impressed tone. “Thundercloud, you’re alright with me.” He praised, with a toothy grin.

I nodded, knowingly. “They can’t do jack shit against her unless they have hidden triple A batteries in those tin-flanks of theirs, so the sensible of their group would tuck tail and leave. We just have to worry about the nonsensical ones. A simple fire mission should remove that problem though.”

Squeezer cackled at that thought. “That would sure make’em run.”

Iron Shard nodded. “Ah’ll set tha’ nades’ uhp’. Caramel? You’n Strawberry Sorbet come with’me. Moss? Pick six of’em. Ah’ll take tha’ rest.”

Moss Light nodded, then pointed at six at random. The rest trot over to Iron Shard’s side.

“Take the hangar bay, and the energy cannon sponson platform accessible by the scaffolding. They are less guarded…”

Most of the group, including myself, pulled weapons and pointed them at the Sprite-bot. The thing had talked… Not a recorded message, but a legitimate bit of advice.

“And just how do you know that?” I asserted. I didn’t like the idea of a Sprite-bot suddenly becoming self aware.

“Take the advice, or not. I don’t really care about you, or your squad. I care about the innocents down in that town.” The voice retorted in its metallic synthesizer, strangely dripping in spite of the overall cutesy appearance of the robot.

Before I could argue back, the voice cut, and was replaced by March of the Parasprites as the robot drifted off, leisurely playing its tune. Gradually, the music grew softer and softer, until it was out of range.

I relaxed my jaw around the bit, and lowered my guard. “Alright…” I drew out, not really knowing what to do with the information just gathered. “We’ll take the bot’s advice. Moss Light, take your team through the hangar.”

“Ar’ we not gunna’ touch base on tha’ fact’that that bot was spy’in on’us long en’nuf tah’-”

I cut Blackwood off with a wave of my wing. “Not important right now. If it was Ranger-controlled, it would have called them to our position by now. That, or alerted them and tried to kill us, not tell us where to assault from.” I tried to assure him, but truth be told, I was not sure myself.

“Reckon so’.” He said with a shrug. He fished his rifle out of his sleeve, then took a long look at the wooden cart, stocked with all sorts of MilSurp gear.

“Take’ah’ battle-saddle if ya’ want, Blackwood. Got plenty of’em.” Iron Shard offered. Blackwood tipped his hat, and began sifting through the mound of gear, trying some on to find one that he liked.

I watched him finally settle on one made of dull red leather, with salvaged road signs bolted to the areas of his dominant shoulder, and chest. It took the combination of him, and Squeezer’s magic, to shuffle it on, but after a few minutes of struggling, managed to get it on and tightened. Adjusting her stock, Whisper slotted perfectly into the universal coupling with a satisfying click, and he smiled. “Nev’r used one’ah these befu’r.”

“Easy enou’f. Bite down on tha’ bit, ya’ fire. Kic’ tha’ leg that has tha’ chord ‘round it, ya’ reload.” Iron Shard explained.

Blackwood nodded, then filled his shoulders, trying to settle the armor more. “Kinda chaffs.”

Iron Shard rolled his eyes, “Try wearin’ it fur’ long shifts. Suck’it up.”

Squeezer cackled, and slapped Blackwood on his back. “Blackwood the guard. Regular soldier buck now. Get moving, recruit. Hup, two, three, four!”

“If you need us, contact me on my pipbuck.” I raised the device as an added measure, “we will try and support both groups as best as we can. My channel is an encrypted broadcast, input two-four, A, and you will be able to reach me.”

Moss Light and Iron Shard both produced an earpiece and radio box, small enough to fit in a shirt pocket, and input the code. Two pings from my earbloom, signalled that the pairing was successful.

“Let’s move out.” I gave the Enclave side of the group a head jerk, and took off. The rain stung as we flew low towards the looming wreck. Within five minutes of flying, I could make out the looming forms of armor-clad Rangers, and our insertion point. While the ground team took the… well, ground paths, serving in Raptor’s before had its perks. Most notably, knowing where the emergency exits and lifepod bays were. The problem lay in finding an empty pod bay where we could insert, and doing so without tipping off the guards. I keyed my radio, and quietly whispered, “Status?”

Iron Shard was first to speak. “Ready.” Moss Light echoed his response, and I cut comms. “Get ready…” I warned the pegasi behind me.

A group of explosions boomed nearby, and I could hear the shouts of the Rangers as they moved to investigate. E.F.S. Showed a decently sized group slowly get smaller, until they left the range. That left around fifteen red marks, dotted around the crash site. I cracked my neck, and rocketed forward. The empty pod bay grew larger and larger, finally reaching the diameter of a small motor wagon. I skidded to a halt inside the grimy bay.

Time and elements had not been kind to the aged cloudship. Those strange, red vines grew along the walls, and the general uncleanliness was very unsettling compared to the spick and span, well kept and maintained vessels I was used to.

I crept forward. Hopefully, the distraction would allow us to go unnoticed in the vast corridors. Behind me, Racer commented about the ship looking like “a dump”, and I shushed her. Despite the quiet rattling of rain on the derelict ship’s hull, it was silent as a tomb. Honestly? It did look like a tomb. None of the lights were on, and coupled the oppressiveness of the dark wasteland with this, made just five meters in front of my muzzle look like I was standing outside at night again. I flicked my headlamp on, watching as thick walls of dust were displaced as I cautiously moved deeper inside.

“Thundercloud to Weather.” I whispered into the mic, still listening intently for any signs that danger was close.

“Go for Weather.” Through his reply, I could hear gunfire and yelling. I winced at the thought of one of the groups, pinned down by the Rangers.

“Sitrep? What’s going on?” I had to know, despite me telling myself I shouldn’t.

“Wait one.” Weather answered. The mic didn’t cut, allowing me to hear somepony, a mare by the sound of it, alternating between screaming and cursing through the hot mic. “Hold… Still!” Weather ordered forcefully. Another scream from the mare followed. I laid my ears back, and turned the broadcast down. It sounded bad where he was.

“Engaged by three Rangers. We’ve taken some casualties.” I listened as a zip sounded through the mic, followed by “Fuck! I’m good, bullet’ went over my head. Listen, Cee-Oh, you need to get Skimmer on the horn, get us some support ASAP.”

Goddesses… “Anypony I know?” I hesitantly asked, hoping for the best.

“Negative.”

I let out a relieved sigh, knowing it might be in vain soon. “I’ll see what I can do. I am scrubbing the inital plan. Just try and force yourself into your breach. We are inside now, I think deck fifteen. Bridge is a deck down. I will update you as needed.”

“Solid copy. Be safe now.” Weather cut the comms, but not before the deadly symphony of magical laser fire was picked up.

“They can’t hold out long. Best way to get to the bridge is via maintenance corridors.” Shady commented.

I agreed, knowing all too well time was not on our side. I rounded a corner, and froze. My E.F.S. Pinged a small group of red dots, somewhere in the gloom ahead. I scrambled back, and cut my headlamp. “Red marks. Cloud, you and Racer on the far wall. Shady, with me on this wall. We advance cautiously until we know what they are.”

I could almost see Racers grin from behind her helmet. Raising her stinger tail, and feeding juice into her weapons, she silently flew past me and shimmied up next to the far wall. Cloud Buster humph’d, and got behind her. The crawl forward that came was near-unbearable. Every slight sound from the creaking of our armor, to the settling of the ship set me on edge. Couldn’t see anything but a very dim green and red glow of our M.E.W.’s, as their slight shine cast long shadows that played against the steel walls.

It wasn’t until I could audibly hear a rustling just ahead of us that I raised my wing and clenched the tip, signalling to stop. The marks were now larger, and I could very well tell that they were close by. By the direction my HUD gave me, they were inside a room on the far wall. The door was wide open, and from the low cast of the energy weapons, I could see a group of those giant cockroaches (Radroaches? Blackwood called them?) Skittering over a skeleton of a pegasus and the moldy paper-covered floors.

My breathing softened, and I began to relax. Not Rangers, a good sign. “Roaches. Nothing crucial to worry about.” I said low. “Let’s keep moving.”

“Aww. No fun.” Racer commented, but relented and kept moving.

Now that I knew roaches lived in here, as well, I had a pretty good feeling that even if we encountered a Ranger without being outright discovered, they may think we are a group of roaches. That also opened the doors for other horrors to live in here, though… I shuddered at the thought, but banished it from my mind.

Sounds of battle began echoing through the corridors, and it didn’t take a genius to put together that one team, at least, had entered the ship from their insert point. “Going to have to be quick.” I whispered to the silhouettes of my comrades, and pressed forward. Without the lights, it was near impossible to navigate. But it beat having the beam spotted by a random Ranger on their lunch break.

“Hold up, Cap’.” Shady quietly warned from somewhere in the gloom. “Maintenance corridor should be to your right, just a few meters ahead.”

I felt around, wincing and freezing everytime my my hoof clicked off every single greble on the goddesses-damned wall. I finally found purchase in the familiar indent of the latch, and pushed down. It was rusty, and made more noise than it should have, but finally moved after a few seconds of some elbow grease. The door parted with a teeth-clenching metallic scraping noise. Somepony had to have heard that, no doubt about it. But the hope was that the townsponies pushing into the ship would distract them away from us.

“You guys stay here, watch my back. I am going to scout ahead to the bridge. Shady? Get Cloud Skimmer and tell him to get moving. We dont have long.“ I called over my shoulder. The darkness was oppressive, but I could hear the shuffling of pegasi in power armor as they took up position around the door. Probably not a smart move to go alone, but I could move quieter if I was alone than in a small group.

Despite the cloud ship’s extensive damage, I managed to weasel my way into the maintenance corridor. It was a tight fit in my armor, and the warped and broken pipes and plating made it a challenge to navigate some areas, but I managed to make it to the path leading to the bridge. Halfway down the thin causeway, I began to hear voices up ahead. My light trot became a slow crawl at that instant, as I listened closely to the conversation.

“Nav box is gone, completely. Everything is corrupted or corroded all to Tartarus, Sir.” A voice said in a monotone, nasally, and downtrodden voice. He had a western accent, and almost sounded like he was sad.

“I didn’t ask about the status of it.” A gruff and patronizing voice replied. " I asked if you could fix it, Scribe...” I knew that voice… Brass Sheet…

The first voice hesitated for a moment. “Maybe, given time… And, it’s Journeyer Scribe, Paladin.”

I crouched low near the vent that carried the voices up. Peering down through the grate into the cavernous room, I could see the forms of, at least, three ponies; two earth ponies and a unicorn. They sat, situated around the once-bustling bridge. The bridge window was fully submerged in rock and mud, and glow sticks dimly illuminated the space in a variety of bright and colorful hues, giving everything a look right out of a fun house. Aside from the spick and spotless obvious silhouette of Brass Sheet’s armor, the earth pony and the unicorn wore a puffy, maroon-colored uniform, overlayed with a dark-gray combat vest that sported many pockets to the left and right of the wearer’s barrel. The shawls they wore, as well as the goggle-adorned field cap obscured their faces enough for me to get a good look at their features. Some kind of lesser class? Technicians, maybe?

Straining my hearing, I continued listening in on the conversation that had kept going while I was surveying the group.

“You know very well that the Elder entrusted me in this mission with command as well, Paladin. We are a team. You should really start treating me like an equal.” The first stallion, dressed in the maroon armor said as he turned in his stolen seat. He was thin, his fur looked disheveled and matted by the pouring rain, but still shone the color of cadmium. His mane and tail were light charcoal, with a stripe of blueish-gray running over his bangs. From under his barding, I made out his cutie-mark, depicting an ink bottle and feathered quill. The unicorn, colored off-white with a velvet mane and tail, turned in his seat to plug something into the aging and damaged console, but not before covertly rolling his eyes as the other two verbally sparred. Brass Sheet seemed to disregard his second-in-command, instead cocking his head slightly and remaining silent.

“A firefight has just begun in the hangar against some of the Flatwoods ponies, I will return shortly. You two will remain here and complete your mission.” He coldly stated, not seeming to care when the earth pony began protesting. He simply turned, and moved out of my sight.

I waited a few seconds as the rhythmic Clunk, Clunk, Clunk of their armored hoof-steps grew silent, before ceasing all together.

The stallion growled loudly, and pitched something against the wall. Defeatedly, he turned back to the device connected to the nav-box of the Raptor, and sat down next to it. The off-white unicorn side-eyed his comrade, before shaking his head and attempting to lighten his friend’s spirits with an accent that sounded like he had come from up north. Perhaps Manehattan? “Sketch, you know that the Paladin is a hard ass. Just lie low and make it through this one without pissing him off more than you probably have already. When we get back to base, go talk to the Elder about a transfer.”

Sketch grunted, but said nothing of note. In the brief moment that exchange happened, I seized the opportunity to remove the vent’s cover, silently, and slip into the room.

Some of the required reading during operative training was the Equestrian Covert Ops manual, which detailed how to effectively get the jump on enemy combatants. While these were not the racist caricatures of Zebra soldiers the book portrayed, they were still equine, and the same tactics applied. So, I crouched low, and slowly made my way up behind Sketch. I got a good purchase on the back of the command chair, and spun it hard to face me. He seemed confused, and a little annoyed at first, then finally comprehended that the armored stallion in front of him was not his superior. His eyes widened, and he glanced down at a holstered magical energy pistol. I made him think twice by loudly cycling my plasma-casters, and maneuvering my manticore tail to point towards the now alerted unicorn. “Don’t. Even. Think about it. Got me?” I growled from behind the vocoder in my helmet.

Sketch gulped, and nervously nodded. I slightly turned my head to look at his friend, who nodded as well. “Good... Now that we are on the same page, introductions are in order.”

“I-” Sketch’s voice caught and waivered, before he whimpered. “I am Journeyer Scribe Golden Sketch. " I nodded, then looked at the unicorn. “Field Scribe Red Velvet”

“Captain Thundercloud, Grand Pegasus Enclave. Now that we are properly introduced, you both are going to tell me what you’re really doing here. Then, you are going to march your happy flanks down to where your buddies are, and leave Flatwoods alone.

“And if we don’t?” Golden Sketch seemed to have mustered up some courage, and straightened slightly in his stolen seat.

I was not about to play ‘what if’ with two Rangers from the same group, currently shooting at my friends, or their friends. “I either call my ride to blast you to Tartarus, or I shoot you. Or, you can act smart, and leave with your life.” Three choices, one good ending. Seemed like a logical choice. I decided to press more, to gather as much intel as I could get before I decided to walk out into the open with two Rangers at plasma-caster point.

“What’s that do?” I nodded towards the object, connected to the maneframe terminal.

“Don’t touch it!” The unicorn, Red Velvet, pleaded. I raised my eyebrow under my helmet.

“Did I say I was touching it? I asked what it did, dumbass.” I deadpanned. He didn’t seem pleased at that…

He looked at Sketch expectantly, clearly wanting orders on how to proceed. I guess Journeyer Scribe was higher than Field Scribe, but all these kooky, made-up ranks gave me a headache… Why couldn’t they use logical titles like ‘Captain’, ‘Sergeant’, etc…

Sketch sighed. “It’s a dataspike.” He admitted. Didn’t really clarify what it did, or what they were looking for…

“Okay…” I prompted. “Keep going. What are you looking for?” I suspiciously probed. Something didn’t add up in all this. Tech reclamation was one thing, but sifting through a long-dead data server was strange.

Golden Sketch shrugged slightly. “Stuff…”

I really wanted to hurt him… Keeping my eyes on my new prisoners, I reached over and pinged Shady, who promptly answered. “Come to me. I’ve got some new friends here…”

“Coming your way.” Shady signed off. A few seconds later, Shady, Cloud, and Racer dropped through the vent I had taken. .

“Oh great…” Red Velvet sarcastically muttered. “There are more of you…”

Racer brushed the dust off her armor with a wing. “Makin’ friends, Cap’?”

“Always. Take these two over into the corner over there, so I can work in peace.” Racer gleefully chucked as she motioned for the two stallions to come closer. Out of the two, Red Velvet was the one who resisted the longest, needing Cloud Busters ‘encouragement’ of a not so gentle push to get him to move.

I crouched down. The dataspike was a standard model. A black cylinder with a silver plug at the end, nothing too complicated. A green light blinked above the power button, so I assumed that it meant it was done with whatever mining it was doing.

I ejected it, and rerouted the plug into my pipbuck. After running a security scan, and confirming it was clean of any malware, I opened the file cache. The files were mostly corrupt, but I managed to isolate the few that were unsavable. Surprisingly, one was the ship’s registry, the Raptor, Contrail.

Contrail… Contrail… I played with the word silently. That name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. “Shady? Does Raptor, Contrail sound familiar?” I asked aloud.

“Contrail? Not one I know, why?” He asked as he used his wings to wrap a length of a tape roll around Red Velvet and Golden Sketch’s hooves.

“Sounds familiar to me, and it’s the name of this ship.” I answered. I continued searching the files. Message from the Captain to the Equestrian Skyguard Command, interesting find, I’ll read that later.

Flight manifest? Perhaps. I opened and scanned the list. Nothing stood out, just standard provisions and manifest.

MAS Research Facility Delta Access Key…

The words made my heart skip a beat. I mashed the access button, only to find a partially corrupted log.

Raptor, C0$trail. Bri$% ##÷!@cts 015 and 016 to faci[Error:nulldataentry] .nd de$osit[errorcode:0xc000005]. Tr@nsm1t cod3 A, niner,[Error! Error! Data Corrupted. Contact local IT support, immediately.]

I reread the message again. That’s why Contrail sounded familiar… It was mentioned in the terminal back in Sugar Grove. This same Raptor participated in the capturing of windigo. To refresh my memory, I dug around my files until I found the log from Staff Sergeant Gleam, again.

SSGT Gleam, MoM Intelligence. 10/17. More sightings of windigo today near the Crystal Empire’s border. Raptor Contrail, Raptor Incus, and Frigate Typhoon were dispatched from Las Pegasus and made good timing. Incus was damaged by two windigo, but managed to kill three out of the five. The two remaining windigo were then captured using an MAS faraday cage from the Typhoon. All ships made it home and Incus is undergoing repair in the Las Pegasus shipyards. Frigate Typhoon deposited the windigo at MAS research facility delta. Report classified per MoM doctrine. Fifty-two casualties as a result. SSGT Gleam out.

“Huh…” Same ship. But why were the Rangers digging through it…

“What?” Shady asked, now admiring his tape work. I showed him the message, then the name of the ship.

“Wha-?” He stammered. “What is it doing here?”

I shrugged, then shifted my gaze to the restrained Rangers. “Sketch…” I called out. He flinched, but said nothing.

I crouched down beside him, showing him the message. “Want to tell me now why you are here, really?”

He noticeably swallowed, and shifted uncomfortably. “I won’t say.”

“I will give you your data spile back if you do. It doesn’t have to be a big issue. Just give us what we want, and you can walk out of here.” Silver tongue over here…

He shook his head. “Sketch, Golden. Journeyer Scribe. Appleachian Ranger division.”

Headstrong, isn’t he? “Alright… I’ll just sift through this spike till I find it, myself. Who knows? Maybe I will find out more. Even if it was wiped, I can still triangulate this devices location history to find your base of operat-”

“ALRIGHT, FINE!” He yelled. “You win, jerk…” He guiltily looked down, “the Elder sent us out here to look for tech, originally, but we discovered all this info about a research facility up north in the mountains. The black box was the last place we needed to search before we left.”

Red Velvet face hooved. “Sketch, you fucking moron.” Golden Sketch elbowed him in retaliation. “It was either this, or they level home. Which do you prefer?”

Red Velvet fumed, but said nothing. I nodded to Cloud Buster, who struck low with his stinger tail, severing the thick tape. Velvet shrieked, but realized he wasn’t struck, and gave a sheepish smile. Sketch rubbed his hooves as the tape took some fur with it. He gave me a suspicious look, but stood up. I fished the data spike out of my pipbuck, and presented it to him with a wing. “My end of the bargain.”

He looked perplexed, but cautiously took it in his mouth, stowing it in one of his tunics pockets. He cleared his throat, then began. “I half expected you to not keep your end of the deal…” He admitted.

“I told you, give us what we want, and you can walk. We aren’t done, yet. You are still threatening the town…” I told him, my tone portraying a hint of malice. Sometimes, it’s better to seem threatening, instead of bargaining.

“Ah…” He hesitated. “Brass Sheet is the leader in that regard. And I assume you heard the conversation before you unceremoniously dropped in?”

I nodded, and he groaned at that. “He won’t listen to reason, and definitely won’t listen to me; despite my rank and position of command. Look, Thundercloud. I do not trust you, nor do I like you. The same can, probably, be said from your compatriots and you. But I hope we can both agree that Brass Sheet is about to do something that will look bad on us.”

“To me…” I retorted, “the Rangers have a habit of fucking up everything in their path for a toaster oven…”

He sniffed, indignantly. “Be that view as it may, I’m afraid your attack here will set him over the edge, even though he was the one to cause it in the first place. Holding a town hostage just to wait for you to return to confront you about the murder of a patrol was an illogical step... Even for him.”

“I didn’t… Kill… Your… Ponies!” I sounded out, exasperated. “It was another horrific creature that I have seen since I came down three days ago…”

“He knows aa much.” Sketch pointed at the data spike in his pocket. “We were able to recover the combat recording of the fight. You just ran into them during your flight from the beast.”

I flapped my wings and threw my hooves up above my head. “THEN WHY DOES HE WANT TO BLAME ME!”

“Because it’s what he does…” Velvet spoke up from the corner. All throughout the conversation, he had made snide sounds or looked like he was about to kill Sketch, then himself. Now he looked more accepting of his situation. “Brass Sheet has a habit of overcompensating for something, and it’s not his armor… He is the Elder’s playbuck, his puppet, golden foal. Whatever you want to call his relationship, he is always trying to push others under the wagon to protect his own image. It’s. What. He. Does… He probably wanted to be seen as the avenger of a patrol, murdered by a vicious Enclave pegasi.”

I stared at the unicorn. All of this… Because he has small dick syndrome? What in Tartarus have I done to deserve this punishment, Luna? “Oh my fucking Goddesses…” I replied, very annoyed.

“You get used to it.” Golden Sketch said, a bit dejectedly. “Now, I hope you can change his mind. Because I see no alternative to you marching us out into the open and attempting to talk to him…”

Clever stallion…

That was exactly my plan. Red Velvet grumbled and complained as we moved through the corridors, occasionally mumbling “you and your big mouth, Sketch.” The ringing of small arms fire grew louder and louder, before we emerged into the hangar.

The scene unfolding was pure chaos, and I had a perfect perch on the suspended catwalk gantry we came out onto. Both of the militia groups had gotten themselves backed into a corner, and now were trapped behind a few motor wagons, a collapsed Vertibuck, and multiple cargo containers. I could see Doc’ rushing back and forth, tending to wounded ponies here and there. And the presence of piles of still-glowing ash and colorful bodies in worn and rugged gear meant that the losses were getting bad. Of the group, only a hoof-full remained, still fighting for their lives.

On the opposite side of the firefight, the Rangers fared no better. Somepony, probably Anakvad if I had to put some bits on it, had managed to activate the Vertibuck’s minigun, which roared and belched flame and death at any push the Rangers attempted. A few bodies lay on the floor, dealt in by the miniguns’ ferocity, so they knelt behind boxes, ducked and dodged through the various catwalks, or jetted from cover to cover, trying to avoid fire. It was a bloodbath, and both sides were losing…

A group of Rangers screamed out and fled as some of their cohorts were engulfed in a blaze of brilliant pink and red fire. They ran a few steps, but succumbed to the fire and fell. A flamer? Flamethrower? One of the militia ponies must have commandeered a Ranger’s fire weapon, and put it to good use. Another figure on fire stepped out behind the box, but it struck me as odd. This one seemed like it was already burnt, looking charred and blackened. What was stranger, it looked bothered by the inferno engulfing it.

“What the…” I started, but didn’t finish the thought as the figure roared and charged another group, their bullets pinging harmlessly off of the raging blaze. It wasn’t until I spotted the rubber suit that I realized who it was.

“Is that the gimp? Racer asked, trying hard not to snicker. I swatted at her, but she just lazily took flight and avoided it. “He’s got moves.”

It was. Moss Light, somehow not dead despite being literally on fire… Speculations ran through my head. Kirin spell? The suit?

“You brung a NIRIK?” Velvet called out, throwing his hooves up on his mane and pulling down.

“To be honest with you…” I started, “I didn’t know he could do that, either.” I was enamored at the path of destruction Moss Light was causing by himself, and I took back my words from earlier. His hooves were deadly weapons…

“It’s… a Kirin. They can all do that…” He yelled, seeming frightened by the sight more than I was. “What are those cloud heads teaching you up there? Get kirins mad, and they go fwoosh! It’s a thing they do!”

“Alright, smarty pants. Just because we didn’t know kirins can turn into flaming death machines, doesnt mean you have to… Shit…” Racer was quick to dodge as the first barrage of ruby-colored laser beams slammed into the bulkhead behind her. She slammed back-first into a group of crates and crouched. “Two of them, both in armor. I’m sure they are telling their friends where we are.”

Red Velvet took that opportunity to yell out, and attempt to escape. I struggled to grab him, but lost my grip on his uniform, watching him sprint down the catwalk. The Rangers, thankfully, didn’t gun him down as he pushed through them and began talking inaudibly to the pair. The lead Ranger nodded, then pressed his attack, firing indiscriminately with his laser gun.

Cloud Buster got a good purchase on Golden Sketch, who cursed loudly at the roughness. Though from the noise of the firefight, it sounded more like a whisper. Both Rangers were close now, deciding it was a safer move to stay far out of melee range. I had other ideas though than a bit of hoof-a-cuffs. The general state that the catwalk was in was horrid, and the decay definitely showed. Rust caked most of the grates, and the thin wires that held the walkway up were cracked and stiff. My only hope was that a well placed shot would be enough to sever the wires, and collapse the bridge.

“Cover me!” As quickly as I could call the order out over team comms, Racer and Shady suppressed the duo. The power armor took the brunt of the damage, and made them crouch low to try and escape the fire. It didn’t matter, that was only to make them sit in one place so I could get off a shot or two unchallenged. My plasma-castors roared as I bit hard. The first volley missed, the second didn’t, and I watched as the supports broke and dropped the section, including the Rangers, to the floor below. The fall wouldn’t kill them, but it got them out of the way so we could move on.

Red Velvet looked on in disbelief, before turning and galloping down the length of the catwalk. Racer tried to shoot him, but I pushed her barrel aside, claiming it” wasn’t worth it.”

“So… What now?” Shady asked. I had no idea. I was winging this plan more and more as it progressed.

I scanned the cavernous space, watching as the Rangers attempted another push. Their attack turned into a retreat as a trio of magically-thrown grenades sailed into their ranks, exploding and knocking the power armor-clad ponies away. I could almost hear Squeezer’s maniacal cackle at that fact.

I finally spotted the stallion of my target, adorned in his signature immaculate armor. Brass Sheet sat at the rear of the formation, letting a magical gatling laser go wild towards the militia lines. Already, a stupid plan had begun to form in my head.

“Goddesses…” I groaned out, “wait here. I’m about to do dumb shit.”

Shady didn’t get to ask what “dumb shit” was, before I vaulted over the railing and glided towards the floor. I landed hard on top of a pile of stacked mane-pullers, and rolled to a stop. Less than graceful landing, Thundercloud, but you have gotten this far. Operation: Dumb shit is underway.

A blaze of fire directed towards me made me dive down a level, and land inside an opened crate. I shook myself off, and thanked the Goddesses for the respite and bit of cover. I then thanked them even more when I found that my temporary shelter held a single crate labeled “grenades”.

What kind? Frag? Plasma? Spark? It didn’t matter, I greedily ripped open the lid like a foal on Hearth’s Warming… Only to find the box filled with smoke canisters…

“Yeah, screw you too.” I cursed loudly, hoping they would stop laughing long enough to hear me. Still, I removed the first five in their foam insert, and lifted the cover up to get more. The single grenade under it made my heart almost leap out of my chest. The unassuming dark gray cylinder had a single blue stripe around its midpoint, and the words “M49 Signaling Grenade - Strategic Bombardment pattern” written on it. It was only one, but it was enough.

I eagerly picked it up with a wing, and checked the seals. Everything was intact, as far as I could tell. Tossing it up and down as I slowly opened the rear door, I looked around for Brass Sheet, or one of his goons.

Luckily, I saw him before he saw me, which brought an evil smile to my lips. Alright… Time for some fun.

I slinked out of the crate and took flight. When I was just over him, I set loose a few shots which struck home in the mare in armor to his right. He didnt have time to register where it had came from before I landed in front of him, timed perfectly to just as he went to vent his guns. “Brass Sheet, we have some unfinished business to conclude…”

He took a step back, and tried to fire, but the venting cycle had not finished yet, which caused the gun to rev, but not open up. “Uh uh uh…” I teased as he began to advance on me. He halted, and cocked his head in confusion. I presented the grenade with a wing. “See this? You know what this does?”

“It rolls out of your cold, dead, wing when I kill you…” His voice maliciously answered. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Wrong answer, but good try. This… Is a signal grenade. If I pull this pin, it calls the nearest cloudship to this area… To bomb it. Think you can evacuate the area before it gets here? They move very… Fast…” To accentuate my point, I looped a pinion around the pin, and pulled it taunt. One jerk, and it would be free, and he clearly understood that.

“What do you want…” He asked after a tense few moments, the battle around us sounded distant and non-important to the current moment.

“I want you to leave… I know why you are really here, and I intend to give you back your ward, Golden Sketch. But only if you agree to pack up and leave Flatwoods alone. Or, you can shoot me dead, and try to escape as the Storm closes in on you. It’s your choice…”

“Your airship is dead in the water. You are bluffing.” He accused, oh how wrong he was.

“No… This was all a distraction so it could be repaired. And in about a minute, will have homed in on my signal and park itself right above your little stallion-cave here.”

He remained silent, but by his body language, became very tense and anxious. “You are bluffing…” He accused again, this time with a bit of a voice crack and air of doubt.

“Am I?” I asked again. My words stuck a dagger in his ego, and I could tell they were getting to him now. It also helped that I had begun slowly pulling more and more of the pin out of its receptacle.

“You will die too. Your deaths will be assured just as mine will.” A vain attempt at bargaining. Truth be told, my bluff was working. No way was the Storm going to see a signal flare in this bad of weather and this dark. No chance in Tartarus. But he didn’t need to know that…

“Honestly? It would be a worthwhile trade. My life for all of yours, and the town would be rid of you. Face it… You have just been dealt a bad hand. Play it or fold, your choice.”

He remained silent for a few more minutes, before sighing loudly. His speaker cut, and the sounds of fighting abruptly ceased. “Well played, Captain. Very well then, celebrate your… Meaningless victory. This isn’t over yet, we will meet again…”

= = = * * * = = =

Over the course of twenty minutes, the Rangers worked fast to pack everything they could carry into the few motor wagons they brought with them. The air was tense between the two sides who had just a few minutes ago been trying to kill each other. Golden Sketch had been released from our custody, and I watched him from across the room as he and Red Velvet avoided Brass Sheet like the plague. Every so often, he would stop and look at me curiously, then resume whatever he was doing at that moment. A strange buck, that one.

The militia kept to their side of the hangar, and the Rangers to theirs, occasionally shooting murderous glances at each other, or calling out insults to the other side. My group, thankfully, was all together and still living. Doc’ Weather had a few cuts and a wound that bled through a bandage, but he was otherwise fine. I, on the other hoof, was exhausted, battered, and beaten, but I tried to look like I was doing fine. In truth, I found myself suddenly jerking awake when someone called out to me, or something was dropped. I was on edge, no. I was off the edge, but managing to keep myself from plummeting by one small twig growing off the side of the cliff. If another fight broke out at any point, I would be in big trouble. Adrenaline is a helluva drug, but I was fresh off its high and completely bone dry of it.

Apparently, I was swaying a bit too much in my periods of microsleep, as Shady tapped me on the shoulder. Naturally, I went high alert and assumed a combat stance, relaxing when I realized who had done it.

My pipbuck pinged as a private connection requested access, I already knew who it was and what he wanted, but I sucked it up and accepted it.

“Are you okay? You are swaying a lot. Go get patched up if you need it, Doc’ is not that busy right now.” Shady queried.

I shook my helmeted head. “I’m fine. How long until the tin-heads leave?” I said, turning and watching them.

“Should be soon-ish. I don’t know.” We remained silent for a while, just kind of watching and listening for any signs of trouble. “Cap’? Are you actually ok? Like, I can tell you’ve got something going on, but…”

I shook my head. “Shady. We had this talk last night. I am fine. If I want to talk about it, I will. But I am content with dealing with something meaningless as nightmares by myself.”

“Nightmares?” Shady pressed? Me and my big fucking mouth…

“Go see if Doc’ needs help.” When he didn’t move, I added “That’s an order.” He sauntered off, and I could tell by the way he looked back at me, this conversation piece was far from over. I needed something to take my mind off things, and keep me awake, so scanning the hangar, I found Bullion, Blackwood, Anakvad, and Moss Light (Thankfully not a raging fire monster anymore), standing idly by the stack of crates I found the smoke grenades in. I walked over to them, trying to seem put together and alert.

Blackwood nodded at me as I got close, to which I returned a strained nod. Goddesses, my neck hurt. “What’s the issue?” I asked.

“Nothing much. Just watchin’em’.” Moss Light answered, and flashed his toothy smile. “Like my little party trick? I told you my hooves were deadly weapons.”

“If ya’ call burnin’ everythi’n in’a fif’ty meter range, ah’ ‘party trick’.” Blackwood gumbled. Moss Light grinned wider at that.

“You know you liked it. It was pretty cool.” Moss Light teased.

“Moss Light, you said the same thing after you burned down the gazebo on your tenth birthday.” Squeezer chortled, which made Moss Light roll his eyes.

The group laughed, and I found myself chuckling along. The conversation carried on as I watched the Rangers gradually leave. I breathed a sigh of relief as they were swallowed by the dark forest. “Alright, I am sending an all clear to the Storm. A Vertibuck should be along to pick us up soon.”

Iron Shard, who had walked up at some point during the friendly banter, scratched his messy mane. “Leavin’ so soon?” He almost sounded disappointed at our imminent departure.

I shook my head in sympathy, “sorry. This was just a stop over. We have a pressing issue that we really need to take care of.”

The unicorn grunted. “Well, take’ care’of yur’self. Fur’ what’its worth, you’ve got mah’ thanks.” He stuck his hoof out, which I shook.

“Just doing my duty,” I dismissed. He tilted his hat towards me, bade my non-pegasi companions goodbye, and returned to the group of militia ponies at their far side barricade. Moss Light gradually drifted that way, which left us standing near the portal, waiting for the evac bird to arrive. Anakvad seemed a bit downcast at the prospect of leaving the minigun behind, he apparently had been the one using it and had seemed to enjoy himself a bit too much, but was otherwise ok. The roar of rain upon the crashed hull above added a melancholic mood to everything, and the fog that had thickened at some point added to the ambience. Despite my fatigue, I both wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep for a while, and not go to sleep due to what I knew was about to happen. I couldn’t fight sleep forever, but I dreaded the nightmares I was sure to have when I finally did pass out. The distant droning of rotors, and the kickup of rotorwash signalled the arrival of the transport, its bright searchlight illuminating the dark hangar space like someone had flipped on the lights. Of course a group of curious ponies maneuvered to get a better look at the functioning flying machine, even going so far as to compare the functioning one to the decrepit one. I nodded goodbye, and watched as the group loaded onto the transport. “Last stallion.” I called out as I clambered on, and slid the door shut. Firefly gave us his customary greeting as he maneuvered the props to lift off. I didn’t bother to respond, preferring to just stare off into space and think about nothing in particular. A warm bed called my name, I needed a shower for sure, but sleep came first. And so, I did.

Author's Note

Thank you so much for reading. Special thanks to my editors, Sharps, Moss Light, Xythis, and Miky for all the help that they give me; I appreciate it. And to my friends to have to sit through my hours long pony-filled rambling. And to my fellow FO:E writers and content creators, I saw thank you, and keep on weaving your tales. And finally, to you, my dear readers. I appreciate all of you taking time out of your day to listen to my story. I know it is rough in some places, but I am improving with each chapter. Until next time, Thundercloud out.

Prologue

Fallout Equestria : Storm Protocol

Written by : Thundercloud

Edited by : Thundercloud, Sharps, and Xythis

(I don't want to set Equestria…on.. Fire!)

Location : City of Ralneigh, Grand Pegasus Enclave
Time : 0630 Equestrian Military Time

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria…

The alarm clock on the side of my bed sounded, that shrill alarm letting me know it was time to get up and continue service to the Grand Pegasus Enclave. I shifted in bed and after smacking the dresser made of cloud wood three or four times, finally shut off the alarm.

“Good Morning!” My wife, a white pegasus with a purple mane, sing-songed as she rolled out of bed, stretched, and planted a kiss on my cheek. She then made her way out the door and down into the kitchen to start on breakfast. I couldn't help but sneak a gaze at her backside, she was my love after all, and watched as her cutie mark of a crescent moon, overlapped by a small gear.

“Ugh.” I tried very hard to form coherent words and get my body in gear, but all I got was a heavy yawn. I took a few minutes to sit in bed, and watch as the sun rose over the horizon, casting orange glows into the bedroom. I was not a morning pegasus…

I finally shifted and rose, slipping on a quartet of slippers that sat under the bed, and began to follow her down the hall, making sure to stop in the bathroom as I went. The condensation from the shower I just took finally began to evaporate from the mirror, allowing me to see myself. My tan coat shimmered from the trapped water as I toweled off, and I attempted to wrangle my fiery orange mane to a manageable state. After determining I had combed it down to a reasonable level, I turned and exited the bathroom. As I went, the mirror caught and reflected my cutie mark, a trio of dark gray clouds that supported a bronze flagpole, flying a purple flag at full mast. Under the center-most cloud, a very vibrant golden-yellow lightning bolt projected earthward.

I had received my cutie mark in class around my thirteenth birthday, when one of my teachers, whom I remember to be very crabby in his advanced age, fell abruptly in class. I had flitted up out of my desk, almost like some ghost of a force told me exactly what to do, and began directing my classmates to call the office, help Mr. Chalk, or assure them everything would be fine and not to panic. After the ambulance had taken him to the hospital, I had noticed I had received my cutie mark, somewhere in all the chaos.

Say what you will about how I received it, but you cannot deny what it meant. I was born to lead others, that much was shown all throughout my career. But, there is a part of me that still questions if this is the right path. Sure, the Enclave has been great to me, but I sometimes find myself questioning if the Enclave should be isolationist anymore. We could do a lot of good for the wasteland if we tried, but the politicians are content with packing their pockets and telling us what to do.
I navigated downstairs and had just stepped off the stairs when I felt the sensation that something was off.

“DIVEBOMB!” Screamed a small voice, as a gray pegasus colt with dark blue hair came rocketing off the second story balcony… Right onto my back.

I fell in a heap as the mass of a seventy-pound missile impacted me. Rolling out from under my kid, I shot him a dangerous scowl. “Storm Cloud……”
He looked away guiltily, no doubt wishing he had not just decided to practice Washout’s stunt.

“Landing needs work,” I teased. He got a big smile on his face, and flittered to his hooves, all the while talking in one breath about the play-by-play of the stunt he just performed. I didn't really want to hear it, but as any parent would do, I silently nodded along while trying to forget the pain in my back. Finally when he was done, I ushered him into the kitchen where my wife, Misty Days, began scolding him for jumping off the balcony onto my back like some wild-pony. I chuckled and followed him in.

But, a little history lesson needs to be given, to understand how Ralneigh came to be the center of events yet to come. When the Last Day dawned, and zebra bombs impacted Cloudsdale, the current Pegasus Military Command issued a plan that was not to be ignored. All pegasi were ordered home, and a thick cloud cover was produced to prevent other Megaspell and Balefire bombs from finding their mark.

And now onto Ralneigh. Aka, my home. Being a pre-war epi-center of cloud production, ranked fourth on total cloud production in the region, the great factories shifted into overdrive and within a matter of minutes, dark, swirling clouds began to cover the sky. It must have been a sight to behold, but that also made it a prime target… Unfortunately, either a crazy or downright stupid zebra had the idea to launch a Balefire-tipped missile, right at Ralneigh. Though the bomb did hit its mark, it fell through the unfinished cloud curtain. Some fluke, some mechanical failure, or by the grace of the Princesses, the bomb then went on dud right underneath the metropolis. A few-hundred years later, the Enclave led a team of techs down and successfully disarmed the bomb, leaving it inert on the wastelands surface.

My family and I moved to Ralneigh two years ago, when the E.I.A. had transferred me to this sector. Even though I worked in intelligence, my job was not a cushy desk position. I was what was called an ‘operative’, leading a small team similar to a task force in field missions. Hunting dashites, rooting out cartels, collecting and disposing of contraband, you get the picture. I had been promoted to captain after I located the headquarters of a pegasi-operated cartel, who loved to traffick, murder, and pawn contraband to the seedy belly of Neighvarro for profit. I have a fond memory of showing up at the gate of the Neighvarro Detention Facility, and casually dropping off the prisoners and contraband.

===***===

After a nice breakfast of toast with cloud-berry jam, and washed down with some cloud-grown orange juice, I dressed in my freshly pressed uniform that I had excessively ironed last night. The tan and black uniform was little more than a dark tan overcoat with a black stripe down the middle where it closed around my neck and chest. The under-barding that went with it was a set of long-sleeve, black coveralls reaching down to my hooves. The collar of my coat was adorned with two connected silver bars, signifying my rank of captain. On down, the pocket on the right side of my uniform displayed a small name-tape, the left sporting numerous colorful ribbons from my various awards and service recognition. My shoulder’s bore patches of the symbol of the Enclave Intelligence Corps, a picture of planet Equis with small rainbow lines criss-crossing the planet, intersecting in the lower hemisphere. A large torch was lit upon the north pole, with the south having olive branches set under it. After pulling on and securing the black fliers boots to each of my hooves, I attached a small tactical pouch onto my right fore-hoof. And finally, the creme de la creme of my uniform… The Enclave pipbuck.

While everypony and their mother knows what a pipbuck is and what it does, these ones are different in their construction process. The Enclave does not have any unicorns, they just can't walk on clouds. No unicorns means no arcano magic manipulation to their degree, which means we cannot fix or reproduce the stock models of the devices. So, taking the blueprints, the Enclave reproduced the pipbuck system by system, only replacing those that required a unicorn’s touch with simpler, cloud-produced arcano-chips which gave life to a cheaper and simpler, but still fully functional, copy of the coveted Stable-Tec model. Only the leaders of high-risk teams, like the one I commanded got one, and I felt honored to be given the opportunity to use one.

I made my way back downstairs after dressing, meeting my family in the kitchen again. Storm Cloud was finishing up some homework from last night, while Misty was washing dishes. She turned away from dish duty to look over her shoulder at me. “Gonna be home tonight in time for dinner? I’m planning on cooking a casserole.”

She placed the cloth and still dirty dish into the sink, and walked up next to me, affectionately leaning against me. I returned the gesture, looping a wing around her neck, and replied, “I'll try. You know work is crazy right now with the inspections and civil unrest. The more times the ‘Thunderheaders’ press for helping those heathens down on the surface, the more we lose good ponies. And that usually means more paperwork from internal investigations and field duty for the saps like me.” I half-heartedly chuckled, but it didn’t discount all the weight surrounding it.

I sighed. Thunderhead, one of the other Enclave governmental cities located near the old Shadowbolt Tower out in what once was Hoofington, had started to send civilian contractors down to the surface to help the earth ponies and unicorns about a week or three prior. The intention was honest, virtuous even; starting to help reclaim and rebuild old Equestria in the safe hooves of the GPE. But non-pegasi started to treat the ‘Volunteer Corps’ wrong. Raids on outposts, mass execution, et cetera.

Regardless of the failed approach, the Thunderhead council are sticking to their guns, and will not see reason to end the VC experiment, or at least let ponies as sensible as Neighvarro or any other GPE councils with actual military knowledge to help protect the VC. They kept citing it as ‘isolated events’. Phh, My ass.

A horn sounding right outside cut my train of thought. Storm Cloud scrambled to grab his saddlebag from the chair, and his lunch pail from the counter. “Bye Mom, Bye Dad. Love you!” He yelled as he rushed outside and quickly mounted the waiting Sky-Bus, a large metal wagon designed to transport supplies and pegasi between other Enclave cities and inner areas.

Steered by a pegasus in a blue city utility jumpsuit, and powered by four large spark battery canisters located in the lower rear left and right sides of the wagon, The Sky-Bus allowed a levitation talisman to do most of the heavy lifting, quite literally, while the pegasus in charge directed steering and speed.

Misty and I shared a laugh with each other, remembering all too well our days of begrudgingly getting up in the mornings and making our way to school. “Well,” Misty began, “if something comes up, let me know. Mr. And Mrs. Sky will be coming over tonight as well for dinner, and I hope they will bring some of that okra they work hard to tend to each season.” She sealed the thought by planting a kiss on my muzzle. When I returned it, she went back over to the dishes and began drying them again.

My pipbuck began to beep, signifying I had to leave to board the tram to the E.I.A.’s office. “I'll call you and let you know” I called as I made my way to the door. “See you later, hon.”

It was returned with a “Love you!” from my mare.

Stepping outside of my two-story, cloud brick apartment, I shivered at the morning's coolness. I spread my tan wings and took flight, flying at a reasonable speed towards the inner city train platform. As with many other pre-war systems designed for non-pegasi, the Ralneigh Elevated Line transported ponies and supplies all over the city and to other nearby facilities within its reach. I landed close to my home station in a small roundabout, located in one of the shopping plaza areas. Large, two and three story brick buildings sat displaying goods, services, and stationary items. A small Trotline Diner, a pre-war diner chain, sat packed with pegasi enjoying their breakfast just off the ramp of the platform. I entered into the crowd, inserting two gold Enclave bits into the ticket terminal, and made my way up onto the raised platform and onto the car marked ’Military Personnel Only’. I returned a half-dozen salutes to the pegasi who stood at attention, and sat down in a booth towards the back.The dark blue, almost steel gray train carriages, operated on wheels and powered by miniature spark reactors in the forward and rear facing control cabs, began rolling along the tracks laid long before the nuclear holocaust. I sat idly by and watched as the train stopped at two other, similar stations in its route of the city, allowing other personnel to disembark and board the train. At one such stop, a tan pegasus stallion, with a purple mane highlighted with blue streaks in it, stepped on at the station near the tall apartments of downtown.

“Good Morning, Lieutenant Shady'' I greeted as he approached me. Shady Skies had been a part of my squad and friend group for a good year and a half now, serving as the technical specialist and my second in command. His uniform displayed a single gold bar on his collar pieces, and patches of the Enclave Technician insignia, a pegasus flying, wings outstretched. In their left forehoof, an olive branch sat. In their right, a wrench. A large ‘E’, surrounded by stars and three vertical bars on either side sat overlayed on the image. His cutie mark was very… Peculiar… A pixelated arrow, digitizing at the rear. I still have no idea as to what it meant…

“Morning, Cap’ ” he replied as he plopped down next to me. “Did you hear about the missing shipment?” He produced a Sparkle~Cola from his leg pouch with his wing, and in one fail swoop, he had flicked the bottle cap off the top in the air with his front left hoof, and pocketed it when it came back down. His usual ‘party trick’ but one that still bewildered me as to how he perfectly performed it each time.

“Probably going to be a cart full of paperwork, and field duty for us. That is usually what the big stallion does with these scenarios. Fifth time this month a shipment has gone missing.” Usually, the Sky-Tanks and A.F.W.s can hold their own against little less than a small army. The Armored Fighting Wagons usually came equipped with the most colorful assortment of magical plasma and energy cannons, alongside autonomous point defense turrets. Add those to the Sky-Tanks, twin-barreled, one-hundred twenty millimeter recoilless rifles, and you have the recipe for a few dead idiots who decided to try and challenge one to a fight.

Taking a swig of the carrot-flavored cola, Shady sat back in his seat and thought for a moment. “Hmm, it doesn't just seem to add up though, Cap…” He thought for a moment more, swishing his cola in the bottle. “Convoys are protected usually with a full wing of Pegasi, alongside four or five A.F.W.s, maybe even a tank or two. Who would be stupid enough to take one on?”

“Speculation will get you nowhere, Lieutenant Skies.” A firm voice ordered from the doorway. On stepped another tan stallion, with a black mane that perfectly matched the eyepatch over his right eye. He wore a similar barding to everyone else on board, but aside from the blue trim around the black inlay, his collar rested four stars arranged in a square.

Everyone on the carriage immediately stood at attention. “At ease” came the bored response. In contrast to his tan-ish barding, his cutie mark portrayed a downward facing sword, with a set of golden wings holding it aloft. A perfectly sane and sensible cutie mark, Shady…

“Good Morning, General Star Chaser.“ I said as he made his way to our bench. Star Chaser had been my XO, that’s executive officer for those not familiar with the lingo that the military just adores, for more than half of my career in the GPE. He had lost his eye in a skirmish with griffon mercs, when a griffon, armed with a glaive, managed to maneuver around his block and thrusted into his helmet's visor. He had almost died, but managed to pull through long enough for us to get a medevac.

“Good Morning, Captain, Lieutenant. Hmm. Do either of you have a lighter?''
Upon his request, Shady produced one out of his left saddlebag, more like thin air. I found it strange that he had one, purely because he never smoked. Well, he was a packrat after all, so attributing it up to that.
Star Chaser produced a small, wooden case from his inner pocket, and after a moment of deliberation, selected a thick cigar satisfactorily and accepted Shady’s lighter. As he lit it, he whispered to us,"I have info on where and how this most recent patrol was hit. Follow me to my office for your briefing.”

I nodded. The train made its stop in the military sector of Ralneigh, and we disembarked alongside the typical hoof-traffic this time of day. Following the general, we approached a large, brick building. If the numerous guard checkpoints and automated Sentinel robots patrolling were not clear enough, this was the headquarters of the military in the sector. And if all of that didn't ring a bell, the name certainly was a giant clue to its past purpose and significance. Ralneigh Strategic Megaspell Command.

Two-hundred odd years after the fact and it still served as the nerve-center for all military operations on or above the surface in this region. Clearing security, moved into the lofty main foyer and into an awaiting elevator terminal. This would take us to the sixth floor, which was home to the E.I.A.’s satellite office.

Stepping out into a world of ringing phones and beeping terminal arrays, the conversations of dozens of pegasi, both military and civilian contractors echoed as I passed them. Star Chaser finally reached his office, a large, raised room overlooking the wide open work-cubicles. Along the way, I managed to locate and gather the rest of my squad.

First was Gusty Weather, more commonly called ‘Doc’. A blue stallion with a mint-colored mane, and a cutie mark of a caduceus with a needle in the middle. He was a good soul, and an even better medic.

Racer, a pink mare with a lilac mane. Her cutie mark was a gust of wind moving left to right, and she usually was considered the ‘hotshot’ of the group. Racer liked to spoil for a fight, but still kept a cool head and helped with Shady’s technical know-how.

And finally, Cloud Buster. A peach colored stallion with a steel colored mane. His cutie mark was that of a shield, with a horseshoe in the middle. He didn't like to talk much, but excelled at being our heavy ordinance operator.

We all gathered in Star Chaser’s office as he sat down opposite to us at his fancy desk and pressed his forehooves together, observing us through a pair of glasses positioned on the end of his muzzle. “Now then,” He started. “As you all have noticed, shipments go missing from time to time. This can be explained by logistical errors. But, more have been lately, and command has found it harder and harder to continue to explain the disappearances with that excuse.”

He paused to make sure we were following, then continued. “Recently, we have begun packing trackers to discourage shipments from going missing. When this most recent shipment diverted from its chartered course, we got a notification.” Out from his desk drawer, he produced an envelope, sliding it across the desk to us. “We need you to retrieve it, and find out what in the Goddesses name happened.”

I nodded and took the package, emptying the contents out. Inside was a small radio receiver that was emitting static noise, and a printed sky-high view image of a building on the surface with a- Building on the surface? I rechecked the picture. Sure enough, placed on a hill next to what appeared to be a muddy river, was an old brownish colored building. I glanced back up at Star Chaser, the confusion in my eyes apparent. How did a weapons shipment end up on the surface? Star Chaser seemed to predict my question as he opened his muzzle to speak.

“That part is a mystery. The building pictured is over a hundred kilometers away from the convoy's flight plan. Gravity can't do that.”
I passed the photo to the rest of my friends, and absentmindedly turned the radio receiver over in my wing’s grasp. Their confusion was equally apparent.

“So..." Star Chaser continued, “that is where your team comes into the picture. Load up your squad with a tactical insertion kit; no grenades or heavy ordinance of any kind. Your mission is to discern how the shipment got to that building, what purpose did it serve to steal GPE property, and who took it.”

I nodded, already heading to the armory to gather my kit. “Yes sir, I'll make sure it gets done.” Star Chaser nodded, and wished us luck as we saw ourselves out. Cloud Buster said something about getting the equipment together if I readied the flight plan for the Vertibucks, and hurried off. This was going to be a long day…

===***===

A two-hour ride from the Ralneigh airfield later, and the Vertibuck jolted from some caught turbulence as we neared the insertion spot. Already, the cramped crew compartment was alive with final ready checking of battle-saddles, technical equipment, and trauma kits. We had no idea what to expect as the wasteland was a vile and harmful land, one that was said to easily turn an honorable pegasus into one of cruelty. I glanced up to the pilots, their wings outstretched and integrated into the control sticks. It was easier to use a pegasi’s innate ability to fly for controls like this, so the tech suit each pegasus wore allowed easy integration to and from the controls, allowing the flying craft to be a kind-of an extension to our biology.

The Vertibuck was designed to carry what a standard military cart could not, and to serve as a gunship if the need arose. The one we rode on, lovingly labeled Tart Cart, was one such model. Its main complement of mark-four, Tartarus-class incendiary missile pods strapped to the underside of the port and starboard wing, gleamed polished silver in the dull cloud-covered sky whenever the sun caught them. Forty-five rockets, slimmed down to just the size of a leg, could deliver a seventy-two ton, fiery blast whenever the going was rough. It was safe to say we felt relieved that we had two of the aircraft assigned to us for this Op.
“Twenty Seconds!” Called the green pilot mare through the onboard speakers. We stood ready, all of us encased in our black, insectoid-looking Enclave power armor. Racer swung her stinger-like tail in anticipation as I leaned out over the edge of the crew cabin towards the ground, trying to get a better view of the town. My first impression of the wasteland as I slid the door open was how dark, and cold it was. The air smelled stale, even through my helmet’s integrated rebreather, and it felt like I was looking at an alien planet.

Our landing lad was on an old pegasus chariot landing pad, on the uphill run of the facility. Didn't want to alarm the local yokels more than we had to by landing right in the middle of their town. I managed to spot a brick-layed sign, displaying the name of the old facility as the Vertibucks spun down their rotors.

Equestrian army listening station at Sugar Grove. MoI/MoM affiliate.

MoI and MoM? If I recall correctly, those were two of the ministries that governed Equestria before the bombs. Ministry of Image, and the Ministry of Morale if my History of Equestria course was remembered correctly… What were they doing here?

Racer’s scratchy voice broadcast through my ear blooms, interrupting my thought. “E.F.S. shows signals near the facility, around forty of ‘em?”

I booted my Eyes Forward Sparkle system, as well, to confirm the callout. Sure enough, my HUD was filled with marks, all painted as non-hostile yellow. “Alright, stay here.” I ordered the pilots. “We have confirmed contacts that are neutral reading currently. If anything goes wrong, I want you guys to fly in and pick us up… And make sure they pay for it.“ I added, and was satisfied when I heard the safeties switching off of the Vertibuck’s magical gatling beam-cannons and launcher systems…

I motioned to my squad to follow me up the hill. Up we climbed the narrow and steep driveway. It was a shallow dropoff on both sides, right into the muddy marshlands below, so we made sure not to lose our balance. We closed on the large gate and wall, built of various types of scrap and surrounding the building's perimeter. The wall was built out of a hodgepodge of wood, corrugated metal, tires, and earth pony long-hauling trailers, making up most of it. And the residents had dug a trench the height of an adult stallion around the base of the wall. The gate was mainly just a large railroad boxcar, with scrappy fortifications built onto it. Through the firing holes and on top of the walls, I could see earth ponies and unicorns scrambling around to meet the unknown foes with an assortment of scrappy weapons.

“Check your fire.” I whispered into my mic as I felt the tension get stronger. I took a deep breath to calm myself, and switched my mic to external speaking. “Your attention please! I am Captain Thundercloud of the Grand Pegasus Enclave. I come in peace, and wish to discuss a matter with your leader.”

I watched as an orange earth stallion, with a darker orange mane and a very disgruntled look, popped his head over the wall to look down at us. “Whaddah’ ya want’?” He spoke with a thick, appleachian accent. I could tell he was wearing a very clean black suit, something far out of place for the dirty wasteland, and a pair of black glasses on his muzzle, which began to slide off when he looked down. He quickly adjusted them, but remained still.
“We wish to discuss a matter in private. It won't take long.” I answered as I stared at him through my helmet's orange visors.

Seeming to think for a minute, he sighed and turned to an individual out of sight. “Let em’ in”

The gate creaked as the metallic doors retracted, to reveal a group of unicorns holding rusty guns in their telekinetic grasps. Made from what looked like plumbing pipe, the guns looked more likely to fall apart than to kill someone. They smiled sheepishly as we marched into the town. I spotted the stallion that had talked to us approaching us from the wall’s stairs, bringing in tow with him a teal unicorn with a dark gray mane. The unicorn wore a white, dapper-looking hat and sunglasses. What was this, a fashionista colony? It was a good thing I kept disbelievingly looking at their clothes, as both stallions openly carried magic energy pistols… We had a lead.

The pair stopped in front of my group and I, and the orange stallion cleared his throat. “Uhh, welcom’ta’ Sugar Grov’. Ah’m Blackwood, President of tha’ town. This here’s Bullion Squeezer, our head merch’nt and Secretary of Treasury” He gestured to the teal unicorn, who was eyeing up our armor with some sort of gaze that I couldn't really discern.

I stood aghast, these stallions must be crazy if they had a treasury this far into bum-fuck nowhere.

“You already know my name, but this is Shady Skies, Racer, Cloud Buster and Gusty Weather.” I gestured to each as they nodded or waved a hoof. “We are following a lead on missing energy weapons belonging to us, that is to say, the Pegasus Government.”

They must have caught my glance at their hips as the teal unicorn, named Bullion Squeezer, answered in an exuberant tone. “Indeed… You must have seen our guns I guess?” The unicorn crackled crazily, which set me aback a bit. “We got these from the facility here yesterday. A huge crate with GPE painted on the side.”

Well, that sort of explains how they got them. But leaves out everything else. “Okay? You found them inside you said? Can you go into detail on that matter?” I pressed, hoping I could get a bit more out of this crazed stallion.

Bullion Squeezer shrugged in response. “Found ‘em in this building's command center an hour or two after hearing weird noises through the night. All I can tell you. I reckon’ these are the guns you are looking for?”

Despite getting nothing else of substance from the line of questioning, I straightened up and assumed a commanding and professional voice “Yes, relinquish them immediately, sirs, they do not belong to you.” The two of them glanced at each other, and the orange buck shifted. “I also recommend you lead me to where you found them so that I may investigate further.” I finished matter-of-factly.

Blackwood coughed, it was more like a tension breaker. “We don’ want’ no trouble. We’can do that, but, I ask ya’ if you can’ share a drink with me ‘n Squeeze first."

I paused for a moment. Why offer a drink to me? Did they want to try and poison me? "Why so, Mr. 'President’?” I said suspiciously as I shifted, trying hard not to laugh at the absurd title the stallion had given himself.

"Gud drink is always great fur' negotiatin's" He responded with a shrug and upbeat tone.

I decided to give these stallions the benefit of the doubt and trust them for lack of another plan. “I accept. Afterwards, you can show my team and I the entrance.” Another glance between the two of them, so I decided to bring it up. “Is there… Something wrong?”

“Uh, yeah actually.... Tha’ door seal’d when we tried tah’ reenter tah’ investigate. Ah’ think that was… About three hours before y'all got here.”

Ok… Strange that it happened recently. But the most logical thing is that they must have triggered some security systems.

“No worries, I'll have my technical specialist tend to it.” I gestured to Shady, and he busied himself by rooting through his saddlebags and began pulling out a hack tool. “Lieutenant, you and Racer see to the door. The rest of you, follow me and stand guard.” Racer and Shady nodded, and set off towards the aged building.

We followed the pair to a large shack in the middle of what looked to be an old Equestrian drill pad. The torn and ragged flag of Equestria still hung limply on the pole, giving a solemn reminder as to what this once was.

The shack was a two story, wood and corrugated metal house that served as what I assumed to be a makeshift senate chamber, presidential mansion, and council chamber. Cloud Buster stood guard while Gusty rooted through his medical gear, checking it one more time. I, on the other hoof, enacted 'diplomacy'.

I was ushered into Blackwood’s office. The only furniture inside was nothing more than a very nice, but dusty desk, some raggedy old cloth chairs, and paintings of what seemed to be Blackwood and his family.

Blackwood sat behind the desk, me and Bullion Squeezer on the other side in the chairs. I sat down slowly, causing the chair to groan and act like it wouldn't support my weight, but it held fine surprisingly. “Huh… Good chair.” I praised, and the earth stallion nodded.

With a shuffle underneath his desk, he brought up a bottle of Wild Pegasus Whiskey, pouring a drink and taking a swig. He then poured one for me and the unicorn, then himself again. Well… If he insists… I thought. Then reached up and unlatched my helmet, lifting it off as Bullion looked at me with mock surprise.

“Egads! So he isn’t a robot after all.” He cackled, then took the shot in his telekinetic grasp and downed it in one, puckering up as he did. “SQUEEZE, that's good.”

My eyes widened, and I shot him a confused look.

“I usually stick to wine.” The teal unicorn justified. Okay? That doesn't explain why you yelled squeeze…

I swirled my drink for a minute, then concluding that it was, indeed not poisoned, drank it; letting the burn of the whiskey trickle down my throat.

Blackwood spoke in the silence. “Well… you're really gonna’ take tha’ guns?" He drawled as he looked me up and down. “Ah’ figure you have enou’f of’em.” He finished with a hint of sarcasm.

"This is the standard protocol, Mr. Blackwood. These guns belong to the government.” I explained coolly and professionally.

He sighed. “Daa’um. Ah’ was just gettin’ tah’ like mah’ survivors spec’al."

I blinked, then realized he was referring to the gun on his hip. Many pegasi troopers named theirs, though I had not found a suitable name to attribute to my plasma castor’s mounted on my battle-saddle. The thought died when a series of thudding and thumping from up above us broke out.

Blackwood groaned and took a broom in his right hoof, stood up in his chair, and rapidly struck the shoddy floor that separated the first and second stories, yelling, "keep'it down up there, you two!" The noise died down and I heard a young voice call out "sorry dad."

"Your foals?" I glanced back from the roof to Blackwood, who still stood balanced on the rickety cloth chair.

"Yea'. They’r prob’ly fght'n with those foam guns we found for'em. Got foals yur'self?"

I was about to answer when my pipbuck’s communications line buzzed from an incoming request. I took out one of its earblooms, and answered the call.

“Cap, we managed to get the door partially powered and unlocked. We are ready when you are." Shady reported. I was happy to hear the positive news.

“Thank you, Lieutenant, we will be there soon.” I replied. I picked up my helmet and resealed it. Blackwood and Bullion must have put two and two together about the nature of the brief conversation, as they followed me out the door. Opening the door, I filled Doc, Weather and Cloud Buster in, and we climbed the steps up to the foyer of the facility where Shady and Racer waited.

FOOTNOTE : PERK OBTAINED. DIPLOMACY RANK ONE. A SMART BUCK CAN GET ANYWHERE BY APPEALING TO THE FINER TASTES. GO FOR A DRINK!

Author's Note

Author's note : Thank you so much for reading. This is my first FanFic I have written at all so go easy on me Hahah. I wanted to start small, and work my way up. So pointers are welcome. I want to thank KKat for creating this fandom, and the rest of the Equestrian Wasteland story-tellers for fleshing it out. Yall the bomb! I will try and drop some hints and references here and there to other stories I have read so keep an eye out for them. If you want to join my discord server I have with my friends, here is the link. see you there! https://discord.gg/djBspntBZM. Once again, thank you. Thundercloud out!

Chapter Two: The siege of Sugar Grove

Fallout Equestria: Storm Protocol

Written by: Thundercloud

(“Highfalutin rootin-tootin son-of-a-gun from Appleoosa, Ragtime Soldier Joe.”)

Location: Equestrian Army Listening Station at Sugar Grove [Town of Sugar Grove] Time: 15:15 Equestrian military time

The Zeppelin surged forward, propellers roaring. The Zebra machine gun’s crew repositioned the barrel over to face the foe that destroyed its sister gun emplacement.

The tracer rounds struck the starboard ridge of the balloon but had no effect. The armored hull kicked up sparks as the brass glanced off the polished steel. I could make out the cannon’s barrel, peeking out of the rear-most hanging gondola. The cannon barrel swiveled and elevated, no doubt aiming for another ranging shot. The DSHK crew atop the wall must have reached the same conclusion as they brought the heavy barreled machine over. The gun roared its deadly serenade. Rounds impacted the steel-reinforced floor of the gondola, though not able to penetrate. I heard the gun crew leader, a midnight blue earth stallion, curse loudly, then yell for more elevation. A higher led burst turned something into a fine red mist as the heavy caliber bullets filled the cabin.
The cannon roared and belched black smoke and fire in retaliation, sending a shell toward the town. I dove for cover as it soared closer, then impacted a few yards away in a cloud of fire and smoke from the impromptu moat surrounding the wall. Most of the defenders on the wall ducked and covered their ears as debris fell from where it had been blasted upwards, then returned fire. A few Sugar Grove ponies had magical energy or plasma guns from Shady’s looted weapons, which he had donated to the cause. Though the majority still used their crude varmint rifles and pipe weaponry, as the attack had started before we could gear up everypony with the better firearms.

A “KRACK” filled the air. A sharp pain announced a bullet tearing through a weak part of my rear left leg’s armor plating and came to a rest inside my leg.

“AHHHH, MOTHER-FUCKER.” I yelled out in pain as I fell on my stomach.

I tried to push past the injury, but fell short and collapsed again. Alerted by my yell, Blackwood sent an automatic rifle burst into the air. A brief firefight ensued against the offending Griffon sniper in the air, dodging and weaving from the automatic rifle fire. Blackwood finally scored a lucky shot, causing the Griffon to falter, clutch its breast, and topple over and out of the air from the extra holes.

“Phucker,” He said through the mouth grip of the rifle. Couldn't agree more.

I turned to my side and looked down at my leg. The bullet seemed to have slowed when entering the armor, which meant that it was still inside my leg. Great…. I did a test flex of my muscle, it moved, but it sent jolts of pain up my leg. I had ended that hypothesis by half praying and swearing to the goddesses, while my Pipbuck politely alerted me that my leg was damaged.

Blackwood looked down at me. "How 'ad is’ht?" He asked through the rifle in his mouth.

“Bad,” I said through gritted teeth. I desperately wanted to inject painkillers and a healing potion, but I knew the chems wouldn't be able to remove the bullet. Only close and re-knit the wound.

He spat the rifle out. "MEDIC! Ah' need help here!"

I heard scrambling from behind me. A young unicorn colt came running up to Blackwood. Now, when I say young, I MEAN YOUNG. He was probably Storm's age.

Yep, I was dying today.

"Look, President Blackwood! Look! I got my Cutie Mark!" The young yellow colt, with a copper-colored mane, said as he turned to show his apparently newly gained Cutie Mark of an IV.

Mhm, this is where I die. Being treated by a foal who just got his cutie mark.

"Thas' great Smokey. Real proud. But riaght now, do yur job." Blackwood said hastily as he bent down to retrieve "Whisper" from the ground. The colt, called Smokey, huffed and turned to me. Greeeat….

Smokey grumbled about "Everypony saying that '' as he neared me. He bent down and began looking into the hole of what remained of my left leg armored servo. "Is that a hole?" He asked foalishly. I resisted the urge to smack him.

"Some Griffon shot me. The bullet is still in there."

"Hmm… Oh! I know what to do! This is my first time doing it though, so hold still Mr." He said as he lit his horn.

The fuck did he just say? The question never left my mouth, as the bullet came soaring back out, bathed in a mustard-yellowish magical hue.

"SON OF A BITCH!" I yelled. It hurt more coming out than going in. Especially since he did the magical equivalent of ripping something out. The colt gleefully laughed at his first “surgery” and trotted in place with his eyes closed and the biggest smile on his face, then dug in his bags. Coming out with a healing potion, he offered it to me.

I had already tongued my armor's administer button. MED-X, my own healing potion, and a calcium concentrate drug called Buck were injected into the ports in my right foreleg. A few unbearable seconds later, the pain relaxed as the Chems kicked in and my leg began mending. I waved him off as I moved.

Smokey shrugged, then deposited the potion back in his bag and ran off. Probably to answer another "call".

=== *** ===

I reclined further into the cushy couch and chuckled, though I did not hear a chuckle in return from my new “friends”, so I continued. “Pardon the attempt at dark humor. It's funny to recount my adventure now after all is said and done.”

“I don't see the humor in almost getting killed." The mare said from the sofa across from me.

“Heh, I guess you're right, but an old stallion can joke about his war stories, can't he? Anyways, where was I? Ah, … Right”

=== *** ===

My Pipbuck beeped again as the cartoon stallion updated from his left back leg being in a cast, to him fully fine and giving that “Hey Neighbor” smile. I still felt the pain crawling around but opted to ignore it, instead scanning my EFS for targets close by. The scan showed a mass of red signatures nearby so I lowered the range. The scan came back red five times near the southern wall.

I stretched my leg and felt the painful strain. Good. The pain would keep me aware and focused. Though my limp probably would stay around after the pain was gone, at least for some time.

Spreading my wings and taking flight, I flew over the large, razor wire-tipped wall to find some slavers setting up a cobbled-together ladder, near where the patch for the breach in the wall that Desponea had used was. Smart bastards. My evil grin probably shone through my helmet as I hung in mid-air over their wide-eyed expressions.

I shot the first one, who wore a utility saddle with wire cutters, in the head. The others got an apple grenade as a parting gift when they tried to flee from Bullion reaching the parapets, and blowing them apart.

A large “BOOM” sounded as the airship’s cannon fired another shell, whistling past in the air over the Pre-War facility, and detonating in the marsh behind. The machine gun crew was, apparently, doing a fine job as a few ponies and a griffon was slouched against their machine guns in the gondolas, with one just hanging limply in the air from a tether. The other gun emplacements were locked in a duel against the Sugar Grove ponies. Shady flapped up next to me and unloaded his IF5 into a survivor of the grenade that had played dead.

“What's the plan on that oversized party balloon Cap?” He said as we turned and landed back, favoring my uninjured back leg, in the fortress settlement where Bullion had met back up with Blackwood who was directing a group of defenders.

I ran through some ideas in my head. “Working on it. Really depends on whether or not it is floated by hydrogen, helium, or levitation talismans. Wanna do a test?”

Shady nodded his helmeted head once.

“We can fly up to it, load those incendiary rounds you acquired, and shoot the balloon. If it bursts into flames, it's hydrogen, and hope to the Princesses you aren't close enough when it erupts. If it flaps, helium. Those two are the best cases as they involve the damn thing hitting the ground in a fireball one way or another. Levitation will be a bitch to kill but is also relatively easy. Find the control module and turn them off, then fly off.”

Shady swished his stinger-like tail in thought. "Getting up to it will be the hard part." Shady looked back up in the distance, watching the airship trade fire with Sugar Grove. "Alright Cap, I'm on your six."

I motioned to follow and spread my wings. Together, we rocketed up and away from the town.

“Go get ‘em!” Bullion yelled as he readied a dozen more grenades of differing types, then cackled a crazed laugh and trotted towards the gate.

Yup, they are insane….

Shady and I banked left and right through the enemy machine gun fire, managing to have a few near misses.

Making it to a blind spot where the turrets couldn't track us, we split up. I flew close to one of the right-hanging machine gun stations and shot the yellow earth mare, who was in the process of reloading, in the chest. Confident that the machine gun wasn't going to be a problem anymore, I flew back over to Shady; Who had burst the side of the Zeppelin, letting a small rip expand. No explosion, good. I peeked inside. Then proceeded to curse loudly.

Large pinkish purple rectangles, wired neatly inside a polymer glass case, were mounted to the catwalk frames in a breaker box style. Wires coming from the box hummed with the current. Levitation talismans… In conjunction with helium gas. Clever, for savage bastards…

I made note of at least three sets of the boxes I could see inside the balloon hull, then decided to invite Shady and myself in. We landed inside the cleared machine gun nest, stepping around the green goo of the previous occupant.

The door opened to a blue unicorn stallion, with a seafoam mane accented with a teal streak. He managed an “Oh Fuck” before Shady shot him with his battle saddle mounted “rattlesnake”.

The stallion crumbled in the bulkhead. Shady's battle saddle reloaded, the mechanism replacing the spent mag with a fresh one.

I stepped over the dead crewmate and peeked into the hallway. Aside from the rattling of the automated machine gun turrets mounted in the reinforced airship's hull, it was quiet.

I motioned with a wing for Shady to follow close. We walked, and limped, out into the hallway of the gondola. To my right sat the now empty sister machine gun nest, the blue stallion being the previous owner. The hallway ended at an observation deck with a large, red-tinted window overlooking the howitzer raining Tartarus on Sugar Grove. The gun ponies were in the process of reloading the large gun. I pulled back before they could notice our infiltration.

I turned to Shady. "Alright, somewhere around here is the wheelhouse. They will probably have automated turrets and guards. So we need to disable or destroy some spark batteries, or reactors, in order to flatline the ship's power usage. They will concentrate on repairs and keeping it aloft, that's when we strike. Capture the officers, dispose of the rest of the scum." Shady nodded.

I looked around the cabin, up about two bulkheads in the back sat an indent in the steel walls. Situated just before the other wall. Lighthouse-like stairs sat in them, allowing potential access to the catwalks in the ballast. We made our way over and began to climb the narrow stairs, not being able to fly due to the close quarters.

My EFS lit up, showing two signatures. I double-checked by halting Shady, then slowly looking above the platform. Two slaver crewmates crouched with their backs to us as they strived to repair a large gash made by Shady in the balloon. I ducked back down and silently confirmed the targets by holding up two pinions of my armored left wing. Shady and I crouched and moved silently toward them.

"Fuckin' Worms. Shootin' 'Gas Bags'. Auuta' slit all their fuckin' throats." One slaver, a puke yellow mare with a dirty blonde mane, said as she bent down to grab a flapping piece of canvas with a hooked pole. Her comrade, a dirty brown stallion with a gray mane, grunted in agreement and took her pole to hold it while she grabbed some Wonder Glue to seal the gap.

Shady flew silently behind them, not making any sound despite the bulky and heavy armor.

The brown stallion lifted his head for a second. "It's gott-n cold. Have we gon' high'r now?"

Shady landed behind them. "Nah, your mom left the AC running. Better go and turn it off before the bill gets too high." Shady said, his helmet speaker broadcasting at a high volume setting. The low rumble distortion made it seem like his usual higher pitch voice was something more akin to a demon. Both slavers froze. The mare craned her neck around slowly to find Shady and I looming over them. She proceeded to make a noise like a fish out of water, piss herself, then faint. The brown stallion scrambled for a pipe wrench and got a blob of superheated plasma in his back for his troubles, turning into a mound of goo.

I stomped hard on the mare's skull, crushing it. Two problems out of the way. Two slaver shitbags went to Celestia and Luna for judgment. We kept on, Shady quickly looting what could be from the toolbox that sat in between the slaver corpses. Apparently, they had a pink kitchen timer, with a, let's be honest here, a creepy pink mare wearing a chef’s apron and hat who I knew was Ministry mare Pinkie Pie. The Ministry mare of the Ministry of Morale, or MoM. Shady’s levitation talisman lit back up and pulled out a pair of dandelion sandwiches in a plastic zipper bag that Shady took rather quickly.

"Do you know where those have been Lieutenant?" I asked jokingly as we walked, but with a serious undertone, as we made our way down the catwalk in search of something useful in our plan. He looked down at them in his unclasped left saddlebag, then discarded the sandwiches as we trotted towards the back.

Large stained yellow helium tanks flanked the catwalks. One possessed a string of hissing holes from Shady’s LMG burst. We passed in between the hissing streams of helium to what appeared like a battery bank. Large spark batteries sat alongside each other, with mixed and matched, but surprisingly not rusty, readout machines and computers dotted in the mix. The center of the large, square-shaped grated platform held a control area, where more computers and a central work area sat in an elongated circle style, with room for ponies to enter and exit in between the workstation.

Shady and I flew over the consoles and began hacking terminals. I struggled with my tool's educated guesswork until I found the correct password, "Buck", and opened the interface. Aside from some downloaded *ahem* wing boner magazine 'models', there was a two-pony authentication lock on the battery control.

Shady had just cracked his terminal and popped open a small hidden safe in the bottom drawer of his terminal bank. The safe swung open in a pinkish haze as Shady's inventory management spell took hold. Inside were some Sparkle~Cola bottle caps, said Sparkle~Cola, some prewar Bits, and a box of .303 ammo for Shady's IF5.

It's a miracle how fast those items disappeared into Shady’s bags.

Shady sat back up in his seat after plundering and taped the keys, sending a notification to my terminal which I pressed to agree. The batteries switched to their 'off' state with a buzzing sound. Instantly, the noise of the propellers outside shut off, then sputtered back to life. Klaxon alarms began sounding. Dammit. We must have tripped an emergency protocol or something. What was worse? A dozen hoofsteps and yells echoed around the interior of the airship, as the slavers came to see what happened. I tongued my safety switch off and began charging my plasma rifles, Shady topping off his IF5 and charging his plasma rifle. The plan could wait, the slavers flooding the catwalks were in for a fight….

=== *** ===

Location: Equestrian Army Listening Station at Sugar Grove [ Town of Sugar Grove ]
Time: 15:27 Equestrian Military Time

An hour ago….

Shady and Thundercloud took off, flying fast toward the airship. The orange earth stallion watching them leave felt anxious. A teal hoof rose up and sat on Blackwood's shoulder, Bullion patting him before levitating an assortment of grenades, cackling, wishing the Enclave pegasi luck, then making for the wall.

Blackwood watched them go, silently wishing for one of those hoof-mounted computers Thundercloud and Shady had. What were they called? Target location would be very useful right about now.

Blackwood took his gaze off the pegasi, looking instead to some waiting fighters who were nearby.

"Riat' Yall! We'need tah re'nforce tha sauth wall. Make shur’ to cov’r that hole. Git'on it!"

Three unicorns made for the southern wall past him with an old Red Racer wagon, pulling weapons and ammo.

"All tha' restah yall, folla' me." Blackwood walked towards the northmost wall, with the last of the group.

As he stepped up on the rickety stairs to the wall, Blackwood glanced up at the airship hovering a good ways away from the town. He could make out zips of black as the Enclave pegasi strafed the guns and balloon, before entering through a cleared gun nest. He released a breath he didn't know he was holding, then surveyed the defense. The slavers had taken cover in ditches made by shells or behind trees and old earth pony vehicles down the road. As well as Sugar Grove was doing, they were still losing ponies, and fast. The town doctor had set up a makeshift triage outside the 'clinic' of the town, Many towns ponies that lay on dirty mattresses with various wounds were tended to by a group of volunteers.

A loud whine filled the air as a shell flew over and impacted the listening post, erupting in an ear-splitting explosion and blowing half the side off. Blackwood hit the deck as rubble crushed a shack as it fell. He rose from where he took cover and looked back out on the battlefield, finding a slaver making a run for a ditch. The orange stallion leaned his rifle’s barrel on the wall. PFT PFT PFT. The slaver fell in a heap within fifty meters of the hole.

Blackwood dropped down and took cover behind a sandbag stack. Dropping “Whisper” from his mouth, He propped the rifle up with one hoof like he had seen other ponies and a zebra do in the past, and using his other, checked the drum magazine. Twenty-five rounds left before needing to reload. Blackwood slapped the mag back into place and pulled the charging handle.

“Ah’ really need a battle saddle”. He muttered to himself.

Two blasts threw up some slaver Zebras into the air. Bullion had landed two apple-looking fragmentation grenades in their midst as they made a beeline for the wall. The teal unicorn cackled in delight, primed a pulse grenade, and threw it clasped in his telekinetic grip, which singed and disorientated a Griffon in a tree making the mercenary fall from the branch it was perched on.

“Be right back.” Bullion said as he dashed off the wall in need of more grenades, his empty bag flapping behind him. Blackwood turned his attention to the Griffon, now getting back up from the electrical burst that incapacitated it. ‘Whisper’ spat five rounds, all making contact with the Griffon's torso, who fell to the ground dead.

Bullion came bounding back up the stairs with more grenades in his pouch. Blackwood wondered where the unicorn had acquired so many but summed it up to Lieutenant Shady and his looting skills. He made a mental note to ask about tips for salvage after the battle. That pegasus was freakishly good at looting…

Bullion had apparently found a victim, as he let out a war cry of "FOUR!". And then pitching a grenade into a cluster of the same black swamp trees Blackwood was named for. The grenade detonated and threw a column of water and debris, along with two unicorn slavers, into the air. Bullion giggled gleefully and set about finding more slavers, laughing about a "double bogey". Whatever that meant.

Bullets peppered the parapets that Blackwood was closest to, the earth stallion dropping down and taking cover. He and the slavers that were watching him exchanged gunfire for a few minutes. Opting to change the fire mode to one round burst, Blackwood flicked a switch on the base of the gun with a hoof tip. A unicorn fell into the hole he was hiding in, and his friends' rifles kicked up wood chips in vengeance against Blackwood's sharpshooting.

Another grenade sailed into their makeshift barricade. Shouts of "Shit, grenade!" And "Cover!" Ended with the detonation. Bullion had already galloped away in search of either more grenades, or more targets.

Blackwood's mind wandered to worry about the safety of his colts and wife, hopefully safely locked inside the old bomb cellar in the back of the facility.

Another push supplemented with rifle fire hitting dangerously close to Blackwood, suppressed his worry. Some slavers had taken cover behind a reinforced wagon and were rolling it toward the gate. The DSHK gun and Blackwood simultaneously, opened up, catching a green unicorn stallion outside the cover and riddling him with a burst of bullets. His comrades left him and continued to roll towards the gate.

A blue earth stallion slaver popped his head out of cover and took aim with a missile launcher on his battle saddle.
The missile flew out and impacted the gun nest, making Blackwood fly from the explosion. He stared up into the sky as he lay on his back from the missile explosion. The tinnitus in his ears got quieter as he finally regained his senses.

"Are you okay?" Bullion said as he ran up and levitated a healing potion from his other bag. Bullion pushed it away and nodded.

“I'll be fine,” Blackwood said as Bullion helped him up with a hoof.

The wall shuddered as the cart rolled to a halt in front of the huge gate. Hatches opened at the top and ladders pushed upwards, leaning against the top of the wall. ponies, Zebras, and a Griffon pushed upward, the latter flying over the wall. Blackwood shot down a few who made it onto the wall in a rhythmic pattern.

“Pft Pft Pft, Pft Pft Pft, Pft Pft Pft, Pft click”

‘Whisper’ sent the last bullet in her magazine crashing into an orange pony with a knife in its mouth, sending it falling onto the roof of the cart. Blackwood started to eject the spent mag with his tongue but was stopped as another unicorn crawled over the wall wearing some very rusty brass hooves and punched him. “Whisper’ was sent flying away, coming to rest on a wood pile.

Blackwood spat and pulled a knife from his right foreleg sheath and lunged. The unicorn sidestepped and Blackwood almost went over, catching himself, pivoting, and pressing his attack. The knife found purchase and cut the side of the unicorn's face, leaving a bloody trail across the mare's face.

Bullion had run out of grenades again and had resorted to sending beams of magical energy into the air from his laser pistol, the Griffon dodging and weaving between the emerald-colored beams. Flipping over, it shot Bullion in the chest, who yelled and fell.

Blackwood fell into a rage, hacking and slashing at the mare. She looked scared at the unpredictable attack patterns and backpedaled, trying to keep as much space as possible between her from the rage and vengeance-filled Blackwood. The knife in Blackwood's mouth came soaring into her right eye, going all the way through and getting stuck.

The mare roared in pain and rage and sent an uppercut into Blackwood. He fell on his back, furious and dazed. The unicorn stood over him with a grin and readied a killing blow. Blackwood closed his eyes.

BOOOOM

The earth-shattering explosion shook the walls of Sugar Grove. Windows of the shacks, and the facilities' remaining ones shattered. The slaver mare froze and shot her head to the side to see what had happened. Blackwood slowly and painfully turned his head to see the Airship crumple in the air in a fiery explosion, looking like a paper airplane after it hit the ground. It fell from the air and onto the battered landscape, erupting again in a secondary, larger, explosion. A black streak from where the airship was a moment ago body slammed the unicorn off the wall and made sure to pump a few rounds into her head with an armor-mounted machine gun. Another black pegasus landed behind the first, turned the Griffon to goo with a blast of plasma from his battle saddles, then held a hoof out for the earth pony. Blackwood took it and rose.

=== *** ===

Location: Aboard slaver airship
Time: 15:57 Equestrian Military Time

Present time…

The slavers came charging down the corridor, seeming to not possess firearms. Good for us… Shady’s IF5 rattled off, its “cake pan” magazine rotating. I caught a slaver in the chest with a glob of magical plasma, she fell and rolled, then liquified. A slaver threw a knife at me, it bounced harmlessly off my armor. I looked down at it, then back at him who wore a sheepish look, then shot him dead. Fucking idiot…

An alert on my armor started sounding. The plasma rifles on my back let out a huge cloud of green coolant, as they tried to cool down from overuse. Right as the next wave came…

A dirty blonde unicorn mare, with an equally dirty (Do they not know what a “BATH'' is?) cream mane, swung what looked like a sledgehammer, with a rocket haphazardly bolted to the back, into my head. The helmet buckled but did not break all the way. Thank the designers. But it still hurts like a son-of-a-bitch. I fell to the ground, hooves holding my head in what felt like a hell of a migraine. My Pipbuck beeped and sent a “concussion” message to my hud. Fucking great. Thanks for that, I didn't notice.

Shady bucked the unicorn and sent her into a battery bank. My armor's automated healing system and repair talisman kicked on and a Healing Potion was injected. At the same time, a pink glow surrounded my armor, the dent from the rocket sledgehammer being repaired.

I rose very unsteadily where I had fallen to see the sledge mare also getting back up and grasping the hammer in her orange-ish telekinetic grasp. She righted herself and levitated up a reddish brown inhaler from her leather barding, taking the puff quickly. Her pupils widened and she cast the used chem aside, lunging again with the force of a train. Fuck..

The rocket soared to life and propelled the sledgehammer toward Shady, who ducked in time. The hammer lodged itself in a steel catwalk pole. The slaver mare roared and pulled it free, swinging this time towards me. I dove at the last second and the hammer killed a control console. My plasma rifles finished venting and I slipped into SATS. Queuing three shots to the head would do it, I accepted and watched in slow time as the shots connected with the unicorn's head, turning her into green goo almost immediately. I also got a very good look at an earth pony stallion with a mouth-held ripper within bucking distance of me. Great….

SATS ended and everything reverted to normal time, also meaning the stallion began sawing into my torso plate. The armor held, even though I felt it breaking and straining, bless you, designers, seriously. Shady gunned him down. I sent two shots precariously close to Shady’s helmeted head and nailed a two-for-two special on dumb fucking slavers, then shot my manticore tail out and impaled a dusty red earth mare. Shady rattled some rounds off from his IF5 and bagged three more. The last fall off the catwalk onto the balloon below. A quiet calm took over as we took a moment to catch our breath, our plasma gun’s venting the new heat buildup in a greenish smoke cloud. They would have to probably be replaced or repaired after this.

“EFS shows no more Capt.” Shady said between gasps through his helmet's speaker."Hell of a workout right?"

I nodded and continued to inhale long and slow, attempting to get my breathing back under control from the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I knew I was going to pay for this tomorrow, but no time to brood on that now.

I righted slowly, still hurting from the leg wound, Smokey's "surgery", and rocket-sledge and chainsaw attacks. The gun sounded again in an ear-shattering roar, thank Celestia, followed by a massive explosion that I hoped had not hit Sugar Grove.

“First order of business, change back to internal comms,” I said annoyingly, the tinnitus still ringing in my ears. Shady nodded and we paired our speakers and ear blooms to each other's armor. The bloom paired with a Beep. “Second, The controls were smashed mid-fight by psycho Buck the Builder here. Good thing we shut the batteries off, but we still need a way to disable the gun and backup reactor.”

Shady mulled the plan over by swishing his manticore tail around and kicking his hoof on the grated catwalk. "Actually, why don't we do it all in one?"

I nodded my head for him to go on.

"If we can rig the shells to detonate, the explosion chain would kill the entire thing. No having to slog through the bridge to turn the reactor off, then to the CIC. And.. we could still take the CIC workers, prisoner. Shady thought for a moment then nodded in agreement to his own plan.

"Excellent idea Lieutenant. Let's get going then if we are going to pay them a visit."

"Well. Uhm. Before we do that." Shady said while looking at a slaver corpse.

I sighed and snorted. "Go ahead, Shady. I am going to check the remaining terminals for any sort of info or logs. I doubt an airship would be dispatched to deal with one town. No matter how large it is."

Shady gleefully trotted over to the dead slavers and began picking through their pockets with the levitation talismen. I walked over to a bank on the far side of the room and sat down at a terminal. The screen was left unlocked so I helped myself to the contents. It didn't add up. Why would they send Desponea's team, then an airship for backup? Why not just a small squad? I tried coming to an answer on why these events are transpiring as it is, but couldn't. So I began combing through the terminal.

What I like to call “usual raider logs” awaited me. Mostly ungrammatically correct sentences about colorful things such as rape, murder, chems. Oh, and more rape. Yeah, not the brightest (Or stable) of Equestria these lot. One did catch my eye though. It had a refined and corrected title. “Message to the crew”. I pulled the mouse down and clicked on it.

“To: ALL
From: Master Geiger

Greetings. We shall find the facility that Lady Despoena reported about in two days' time. She made mention of a town being constructed around the facility. Our primary focus though is to retrieve any information regarding the “Storm Protocol” the old MoM building in Fillydelphia made mention of, as well as retrieve the shipment of Magical Energy weapons our asset will have acquired and stashed for us from the Enclave. We will attempt to gather the town's ponies together for shipping back to the city afterward if the facility has what we are looking for. If not, we shall continue to follow the trail.

Regards, Master Geiger.”

Asset? Storm Protocol? I had read the entries on Starry Gleams terminal inside the communications room, but it made no mention of “Storm Protocol. And asset? Did he mean a spy in the Enclave? I would have to bring this up with Star Chaser later. I downloaded everything onto my Pipbuck, then planted a virus in the system to render the terminal null.

I got up from the seat. Shady was counting what appeared to be Sparkle~Cola bottlecaps he had looted from the corpses. I jerked my head for him to follow.

We began to make our way to the rear, clearing rooms along the way. I decided it was worth seeing at least when our Vertibucks were returning so we ducked into an empty bunk room that smelled… Odd, and opened a channel that both Shady and I could hear. I started the ping to Ralneigh Skyport where the Vertibucks would be. The ping went unanswered three times before a mare responded.

“Ralneigh Air Traffic Control. Flight Sergeant Sprint here.”

“Hello Sergeant, this is Captain Thundercloud, authorization code GPE-765647TC. We sent back two Vertibucks earlier from the surface. When should they be departing? We may need fire support and fast.”

“Hold on one moment Captain, let me see. What was their departure time?”

"Around 14:05. One should be called Tart Cart," I said, remembering the transport's custom name.

Terminal keys were heard typing vigorously as I assumed the Flight Sergeant was locating our transports. “Yes. Vertibuck’s B76 and B77. They deposited a prisoner, a wounded pegasus stallion, a box of…. Junk ( Shady huffed in his comms as he heard the description of his precious loot ), and a priority target. Are these the ones Sir?"

"Indeed," I confirmed

"They have finished refueling and rearming. They are awaiting clearance to take off. Taxiing them now Sir.”

“Thank you, Sergeant. Please pass the message to fly like Tartarus to us. We need them ASAP. Thundercloud out.”

“Yes Sir, take care Captain.”

The communication line disconnected. Shady grumbled something about “It’s not junk, it's got value.” to himself. I chuckled. If the Veritbucks needed time, we could buy it.

“Alright. Let's worry about the Vertis later. That sign-up ahead says fire control center on it. I guess they left their door open Lieutenant." I said as we made our way to an indented ladder shaft in the wall.

Shady nodded, then surveyed the shaft. “Leads down looks like. We could take it and pop up right into the fire control center.”

“Very good Lieutenant. Take point."

The passage was easy enough to fly down as the space was three ponies wide and long. A rhythmic humming and hissing filled the air as we hit the lower level. Pipes putting out steam and other mists was not a good sign for experienced and trained GPE mechanics, unlike these savages who had a fetish for cobbled-together shit. So many were in fact doing so that one look by a mechanic would cause a stroke instantly due to the sheer lack of care. Only one way to go from here, and that was back. The side rooms along the corridor held a server room, mechanic’s room, and other utility installations.

A rustling sound came from a very dark engine room, the yellowish generator humming slightly from our shutdown of the batteries. Shady caught it first and froze in place. Then turned to face the bulkhead of the room.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" I said as I turned to face the room.

"Rustling. Sounded like somepony scooting away from us."

I took point and shined my gem bulb lamp built-in eyes over the room, casting it in an orange hue. A vaguely pony-shaped shadow played against the wall behind the generator. Shady saw it and silently flew behind the pony.

"Hey, buddy, who are we hiding from?" Shady's higher pitch voice whispered out loud, causing the pony to shriek and sprint out from behind the generator bank.

The Pony, no. It was striped. A Zebra cowered in front of me, sat on his hind hooves, and shook with fear. He wore a pair of goggles around his neck and baggy, stained coveralls with a rather high collar to protect against hot steam. Most likely a mechanic caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. His, whatever the Zebra equivalent of a Cutie Mark is called, was a very tribal pattern of cogwheels, with a cloud of steam in the middle, seen through a large gash in the coveralls.

"Surrender Zebra," I said as I brought to life my plasma rifles. He visibly gulped and said something in Zebra that sounded like “Oofa Lah Sharlo'' and laid his ears back in fright, eyes still wide.

"Uhhh, Cap? Can we hear him out? I don't think he is a slaver." Shady said from behind the generator.

"And why would we do that Lieutenant?" I asked sternly. These bastards were bombarding Sugar Grove and our friends.

"Because he is wearing a collar…" Shady's voice struck fear into my heart. I flew back into the hallway again, trying to get away from the explosive around the Zebra's neck.

"Uhh, Buddy? Do you speak Equestrian?" Shady called from behind his generator. The Zebra said nothing and continued to stare at me in fear. "DO… YOU… SPEAK… OUR… LANGUAGE?" Shady sounded out again. If the Zebra didn't say anything soon, I was going to neutralize him before he could detonate himself.

The Zebra nodded slowly. "Yy-yes ponies." He said through a thick accent. I kept my eyes still trained on the collar. I could just make out a red pulsing light on the left side of his neck from the maneframe of the collar.

"State your identity Zebra," I ordered. Regardless of his slave rank or not, he was on board the airship. And he was wearing the latest in explosive fashion around his neck.

"I, I am Anakvad. From the tribe of Propoli. I was… captured alongside my village seventeen years ago." Anakvad stopped, then shuddered. He began sobbing at the thought of the horrible memory.

I stopped him with a slam of my armored hoof on the catwalk. He cowered back in fear. A likely story. One that any slaver could spin if they were cowardly and crazy enough to strap a bomb collar to themselves just to off us.

"I don't believe you Anakvad. For all we know, you could be some fanatic willing to blow your own head off to get us." I said coldly, my speech being demonized as it broadcast from my helmet. "But still-" I continued, " A fanatic wouldn't speak to us this much. I shall choose to trust you and escort you to our objective. You shall aid us in our mission, then we shall discuss this matter further."

Anakvad blinked, then began crying more, yelling out words in his native language that sounded like praise or thanks. I think.

"Lieutenant! Can you verify the make of that bomb collar for removal?" Step one was to remove the damn thing so it wouldn't go off.

" Let… me… see," Shady said, drawn out. He slowly inched his way to the crying Zebra, now attached to my leg and thanking me in Equestrian. Shady did a once over of the collar, then gingerly moved the collar of Anakvads jumpsuit out of the way. Shady's levitation talisman retrieved a lockpicking tool and began flipping through the sizes, testing them to the hole in the collar. Shady let out a breath and stepped back.

"Well, this sucks. The good news is it won't go off, right now. Bad news, the collar is on a sensor timer. Meaning that if I open it and it's still active, it will still go off. Though it will explode inward, it will still harm us. We need to find the pony with the trigger to deactivate it. Chances are, there is one. As easily rattled and unmanaged explosives don't fare well with an airship." Shady said.

I looked down to Anakvad, who was sitting at the base of my forehooves, still sobbing. "Mr. Anakvad, Who placed that bomb collar on you?" I wanted to give him next to no info about our plan to bring the airship down. If the detonator owner was high enough to control collars, he was high enough to own access codes. Find the detonator owner, and find access codes. Find access codes, and destroy the gun and airship. Easy enough said than done.

Anakvad sniffed. "Master Gieger. He is a horn pony with a yellow coat."

Geiger… I knew that name. "And where might he be at this moment?"

Anakvad paused and thought. "Control. He oversees mechanics and gun control."

Bingo. We could knock both out at the same time if he was still there. I nodded at Shady to follow and we began walking off. Anakvad followed us out at a reasonable distance.

The dim corridor was filled with sunlight as we neared a room. We slowly inched out onto a balcony overlooking the weapon control center. A mix of a dozen ponies and Zebras sat at various blinking terminal stations, coordinating and calculating the large howitzer being overlooked by a red-tinted bubble window. We melted back into the shadowy corridor, our stealthy black and dark gray painted armor making it easy to remain stealthy. Anakvad slipped into a utility room to, presumably, hide.

Conversation and general terminal beeping and blipping carried on. Azimuths were read, coordinates were listed, and orders were given. No Pony or Zebra noticed the two pegasus Enclave troopers inching along the shadowy coated catwalk. Nor did anyone see Shady launch off the balcony at my nod until it was too late. Shady landed right in the middle of the command center, conversations stopping suddenly as the slaver crewmates froze at the sight of the black insectoid pegasus in their midst.

“Hello there,” Shady said sarcastically, as he straightened up. Two blasts from a plasma rifle sounded, and two slavers goo-afied onto the deck. The crew split as chaos was set loose in their controlled, monotonous environment. Half ducked under their stations, and half ran up the staircase. Right into me. Their shock was almost hilarious, if I wasn't furious at that moment, as they ran into the lead runner who braked hard on his haunches.

“Going somewhere?” I asked as they panicked and climbed over themselves to go back down to where Shady was suppressing the ones who decided to try and take on a trained, power-armored clad, professional soldier with pipe guns and shitty caliber peashooters.

Shady dispatched another in a fiery burst of his light machine gun. The unicorn crumbled like paper. The slaver's who had hidden, or rushed to "eagerly" meet me slowed, and finally stopped. They all sat down and raised their front hooves over their heads, defeated.

Shady took a role of gray duct tape out from… somewhere, and began taping them together in threes. I made sure to exercise our power by patrolling through the crowd, making sure they didn't get any ideas. Shady finished taping up a trio of earth ponies together and walked over to me, the duct tape spinning on one of his armored pinions.

“So, what do we do about this merry herd?” He asked privately. I thought for a moment. Execution style was not an honorable thing to do, even more so if they surrendered voluntarily. But were slavers really honorable? I decided to try and find Gieger, or at least get some useful info from our prisoners.

I turned my loudspeakers to max volume. “Listen up! I am Captain Thundercloud of the Grand Pegasus Enclave. You may already be “acquainted” with my second in command. Knowingly targeting a civilian settlement is low, even for scum such as yourselves. And you are damned for it. Currently, you are under arrest by the GPE. Comply, and we will give you a fair trial.”

Soft murmurs echoed through the prisoners. I decided to make my proposition known. “We are looking for individuals who wish to comply by giving us info regarding any of your operations. I promise that any creature…. Who complies with this order will be viewed much more lightly in court."

No chance of that in the wasteland, especially for ponies that were one step up from Raiders.

A brown earth pony stallion spoke up. "Shut your damn fucking mouth, or I'm gunna-"

He was cut off by my plasma rifles liquefying his head. The ponies tied to his now goo-ified form whimpered.

"Any pony else have something to fucking say?" I blared. One stallion covered his ears at the volume.

I was not about to take a lip from these bastards right now. Shady pinged me and I accepted the two-way transmission.

“I don't think they really know anything, Cap’. Seems as though they are bottom of the totem pole. Or just playing dumb.”

A "ding" sounded. The doors on the far side of the room slide open to reveal an elevator and a sickly green unicorn, with a very yellow mane. His Cutie Mark caught me near instantly. A Balefire bomb mushroom cloud. Geiger.

"Orion. Have you gotten word from Master Red Eye yet? That mare and his greatest fighter in the pit escaping have sent him into a fit of epic proportions." He said in an almost homiletic-sounding voice. He looked up from his stack of papers held aloft in his yellowish telekinetic grasp and froze, eyes going wide.

"Stay right where you fucking are!" I ordered. He didn't move, though he released the magical grasp of his neat papers, them dropping and scattering over the floor.

"Lieutenant, secure him." Shady moved towards Geiger, while I kept my weapons on him. The green unicorn flared his magic once again and brought up a pistol of some kind. A very weird design that looked like a dish with a handle on it. Before Shady and I had time to react, he pointed and fired it at my friend. A wave of greenish color ripped out of the dish with a static sound and hit Shady, who was knocked back about three yards, though apparently not being affected. What a fucking idiot.

I took my self-comment back when my friend fell to the floor. Vomiting obviously inside his helmet. What the fuck?

Geiger threw himself behind a large workstation and switched to me. I dodged the halo -Esq waves and rolled behind a terminal, heating my plasma weapons up.

"Begone you foul pegasus. Take solace in the Goddess's swift and painless judgment!" Geiger yelled. I think I found a rival to Blackwood and Bullion's colloquialisms…

I peeked and let off a shot of plasma. It sailed over Geiger's head into a brace against the wall, leaving a seared mark and burning some of the metal away.

The now-captured crewmates ducked and tried to scoot away from the green waves. Some received a hit and vomited, or plain slumped over either dead or comatose.

I peeked again just in time to get a wave to the face. My PipBuck screamed as the meter of its Geiger counter soared above the one-hundred mark. Nausea hit me like a truck, but I repressed the vomit creeping up my throat. Ah. Geiger. I understand the name now…

A message in my helmet HUD let me know I had contracted minor magical radiation poisoning. Alongside all my other injuries. I fucking hate today…

Shady had finished throwing up. He slowly moved and crawled into a brace position and lined up a shot on Geiger, but received another dose from the rad gun. He fell again.

Geiger hit me with another wave for good measure. This time my stomach betrayed me and I vomited in my helmet. Then a second time from the smell.

Even though the cleaning talisman began the process to remove and disinfect the unregistered biologicals, the smell of vomited toast, with a hint of radiation, remained. Geiger walked into my line of sight and stood over my prone and sick form, smirking.

"Ahhh. My foal. It was unwise to challenge one of Goddess's devotees. Much less a humble servant of Master Red Eye. You would have made an excellent fighter in the Master's army if there were different circumstances." His soft voice preached as he squatted down in front of me. He lowered a hoof and began patting my helmet like I was a grumpy pet. I gathered up every remaining ounce of strength I had and willed my stinger forward, though it just flopped limply on my head. Motherfucker.

My helmet made a quiet ding noise and injected an anti-radiation chem called RADAWAY into my flank. I barely registered the needle’s prick. It wouldn't matter if he shot me again. My vision began to blacken around the edges from the combo of pain, anger, oh, and now major magical radiation poisoning. I only prayed that the Goddesses would show me mercy when I arrived. I watched as a blackish form approached slowly from behind Geiger, almost out of my sight. Was this what Goddess Luna looked like?

*WHACK*

Geiger's skull shattered from the wrench. He collapsed with that smirk still etched on his face.

"Pony? Are you okay?" Anakvad said as he knelt down and craned his neck to face my helmet's visor.

I managed an "ugh" and he seemed to take that as, "Get the detonator." Rightfully so. He rose up and began looting Geiger. The detonator was pulled from the dead unicorn and disarmed. Anakvad's collar beeped, then unlocked. It fell to the floor with a clatter.

The inside of my helmet dinged and injected RADAWAY again. My PipBuck flashing about the majority of the radiation I had received was purged from my system. After all that though, I still felt tired and strung out.

I unsteadily rose to my hooves as my vision began to clear slowly, and watched Shady do the same. I shakily turned to Anakvad, who pressed his ears back and lowered his head.

I stuck out my hoof, and he seemed to be surprised by the gesture. “Mr. Anakvad. I… I apologize for my tone earlier. Thank you for saving us.” Yeah, talking while still at risk of being rad sick was not a good idea, and I felt nauseous for a brief minute. But I felt that it was a very heartfelt apology for the time being.

Anakvad was silent for a moment, then accepted my hoof. “You are welcome. That is what we are supposed to do, right? Help each other?”

I suppose that was true. Anakvad could have hidden anywhere else. Or not betrayed his master when he was caught. In all fairness, he saved himself.

Shady had been looting Gieger, though more slowly than usual. “Captain. Take a look at this.” He said, then rose a small terminal pad up in the weak grasp of the armor’s levitation.

“Stow that Lieutenant. We can take a look at that later. Good find Shady.”

He nodded and returned to looting, as usual. He stashed the radiation gun, some bottle caps, and a few miscellaneous items in his saddlebags. He then reached back in with an armored wing and pulled a fully loaded pistol out, handing the mouth grip to Anakvad. Anakvad took it and placed it in his belt loop, then stashed the clips in his left jumpsuit pocket. Where on Equestria- you know what? Never mind.

“Thank you Pony,” Anakvad said.

“You can just call me Shady, Anakvad. And he is Thundercloud '' He said motioning to me. “It would be much easier if you called us by our names instead of Pony.”

I looked back at our prisoners, they still sat tied up. If we detonated the gun, the slavers would die. And it would take too long to fly them all down one at a time. slavers or not, they were coming with us. I decided to ask our new friend if there was any way to transport the prisoners off the airship and if there were any more slaves aboard.

“Mr. Anakvad. You know this ship. Is there any escape craft on board? Anything at all to get every pon- I mean, creature, we have captured or freed safely down?”

Anakvad nodded his head, seeming to understand that I wanted to free the rest of the slaves on board as well. “Yes, there is an airplane dock down near the cannon room. They have a propeller airplane docked for cargo purposes. We can use that to evacuate.”

An interesting bit of technology. Usually, The GPE’s Raptor and Thunderhead class Cloudships had hangers running port to starboard consistently for any manner of GPE vehicles. It seems the Zebra nation took inspiration during the war from the first-generation cloud ships and placed their own hanger in their designs. Fascinating.

I nodded. “ Can you take me there so I can survey the craft? Afterward, go and gather the rest of the slaves on board and arm them. Lieutenant Shady will stay here and watch the crew until we finish preparations. You shall be responsible for managing our prisoners when you disembark as Shady and I will go back to the town this airship is attacking and finish the defense, then come and find you. If there is a clearing or airstrip, even if it is just an old farmer's crop duster strip, land there and stay put. We shall find you afterward.”

Anakvad nodded and took the lead, walking towards the elevator that Geiger had come out of. I wished Shady luck and followed him into the elevator. As the doors closed, I watched Shady stumble over and begin shaking down a group of earth ponies for spare loot. Some things never change…

The elevator doors opened with a *ding*. The catwalk we stepped out onto overlooked a medium-sized hanger cut into the balloon. It would have seemed almost cavernous if it was not for the old airplane hanging in the middle. Large metallic doors mounted on the underside allowed the single-engine aircraft suspended on hooks at roughly eye level in and out, while a hydraulic arm could raise and lower the airplane. An interesting, albeit dangerous, and archaic idea compared to modern GPE cloud ships. At the front of the room, and down a lot of steps and more catwalks, sat the large howitzer in the gondola, divided by a wall with windows. The gun crew was struggling to load a shell and typing on consoles.

I bid Anakvad farewell and stealthily made my way to the gangplank of the suspended airplane. From what my armor told me, it was a Zebra-designed Antrotnov AN-2. The faded gray and black fuselage now donning a more rusted grime color. Regardless of the rusty bodywork, I could still make out the faded etching on the tail of the Zebra Empire. I entered the interior through a door installed towards the plane's tail. The inside was spacious, with two seats for a pilot and co-pilot. The passenger bay could probably fit about 12 creatures, sitting on the wooden benches bolted to the interior of the fuselage. Plus room for cargo… Or prisoners in this case. This would do nicely. I checked the fuel tank gauge. Half filled. More than enough to get away from the airship.

I stepped back off the airplane and onto the catwalk. Now all I needed to do was detonate that Goddess's damned gun. I sent a quick message to Shady telling him to start packing up the prisoners and escorting them down to be loaded onto the airplane. Then headed for the gun room.

I had barely made it to the door when it opened. Two slavers stepped out, no doubt to investigate why the CIC crew was silent. They took one look at me and backtracked. Slamming the reinforced door closed.

I chuckled and decided to fuck with them. I limped up to the door and gently knocked on the door with my right forehoof.

Knock Knock Knock.

I heard a slaver mare or was it a stallion? whimpering from behind the door.

“Can I come in?” I asked through my speakers, of course, tuned to demon mode. I silently lit my levitation talisman and pulled my lockpick tool out. I was not Shady when it came to this, but I knew enough to bumble my way through it. I set it to work on the lock.

An actual slaver mare responded. “ N-n No. Go the f-f-fuck away!”

I giggled like a school foal. The lock clicked, and I sat it back in my bag. I went to open the door but found it barricaded by some slavers pushing back.

Well, fuck. This is going to hurt. A lot. I turned and lashed out with my hind hooves, making contact with the door. Even though earth ponies were better at bucking, my armor forced more pressure against the door, releasing the equivalent of an earth pony kick, or maybe more. It also hurt like fuck. I yelled in pain, then tongued the drug administer and let the sweet MED-X roll. This stuff is gold, I swear.

The slavers barricading the door went flying to the opposite end of the gondola. They tried to get up but were stopped, well, dead. Gotta love my plasma rifles. I thought a little more about a name for them as I mopped up the rest of the gun crew.

My thoughts were thrown off. The elevator dinged and I spun around shakily, assuming a battle stance. Anakvad and a group of seven slaves of assorted Equestrian and Zebra races walked off, now armed with a mishmash of weapons, probably from the airship's armory. I relaxed. Anakvad waved and started over, the slaves following behind. We met in the middle, though an orange unicorn mare got to me first and began hugging and thanking me for freeing her and the others. I managed to wiggle myself out of her grasp and told her not to mention it. It's what a soldier does right?

Anakvad chuckled and turned to the mare. "Pumpkin, you and the others get on the plane. We will soon start a new life, my friend."

Pumpkin nodded and stepped onto the aircraft. The others followed suit, taking time to thank me as they passed. Anakvad watched them embark, then leaned closer toward me.

"So… how do we fly the plane?" He whispered. I was silent. Stupid brain. I had thought of everything besides who would actually fly the craft to safety, but I needed to think of something fast. One of the hostages had to know how to fly right? No, no. They probably would die before they aided us. Then, a little Thundercloud in my head switched a lightbulb on. "Anakvad, you can read Zebra writing, correct?"

"Small bits of it, yes. Do you want me to try and fly the plane? I have no knowledge of that."

I shook my head. "No, you translate what you can, and I can probably figure out what is what. Obviously, that stick is the rudder and aileron controls. Left for left, right for right, etc. It shouldn't be too much harder than pegasi learning to fly… I'd imagine."

Anakvad nodded and began studying the glyphs written on various gauges and buttons.

After a very short translation and lesson period, Anakvad eventually had the basics down pat. Glossing over the obvious button tests and the "what does this do?" moments. He wouldn't really need to fly fancy to get off the soon-to-be doomed airship, but he now knew enough to throttle forward and fly a short distance. Now all that was left was the cannon. Shady had finished transferring the prisoners into the cargo hold during the learning process, with the slaves kicking or spitting on the captured slavers as they went, and had joined us in the small space between the seats.

Shady moved to one side as I made for the door. I turned to Anakvad just before exiting. "As soon as you are clear from the hanger doors, push the accelerator to the max. I will disengage the lock. Fly as fast as you can. When you get safely down, wait there. We will find you."

Anakvad turned in his seat. He opened his mouth, stopped, and thought before continuing. "Thundercloud, thank you. I will not be able to ever repay your kindness."

I chuckled. Maybe not all Zebras were bad after all. "It's my duty. Protecting those who cannot protect themselves is what a soldier lives for."

Shady wished Anakvad goodbye and exited the plane. I wished him good luck, then stopped. "Anakvad?"

He made a "hmm?" sound as he powered up some additional consoles.

"For what it's worth, I really am sorry about earlier. I understand my tone may have come off…. Hateful. Good luck my friend. I shall see you afterward."

Anakvad sighed and turned in his seat. "Thundercloud. We all do things we aren't proud of. That just makes us better in the long run. My ancestors did something wrong, and we are still paying for it today. But I have learned to accept it and continue trotting with my head held high. Trust me, I forgive you." Anakvad smiled.

I smiled as well behind my helmet. I nodded in departure to him and stepped off the plane. Shady was poking at a crate that he couldn't open or had broken the lock off. I chuckled and patted his shoulder. "Can't get 'em all Lieutenant."

I walked up the raised section of the catwalk that held the controls. It was little more than a seat, with a small raised bottom panel in front of it. The joystick on the right of the panel controlled the boom arm, as evident by the total lack of correct spelling on a small, pinkish sticky note. They had labeled something as easy to spell as boom control as "Booem Controll." Stupid ass slavers….

Regardless, pressing a red button labeled as "hach dor" (Seriously? They can run a technologically advanced airship, but can't spell correctly? Seems this Red Eye character needs to adjust his goals. Or is this the idiot section?) Started the grinding of the semi-rusted bay doors opening.

The props of the AN2 started up with a sputtered roar. Anakvad gave me a small salute from the cockpit to let me know it was time. I returned the salute with my right wing and grabbed the joystick. I pulled it down slowly, letting the airplane-laden boom outside. The AN2 reached the free-hanging position outside and began throttling up. I let it throttle for about a minute, then sent a prayer to the Goddesses. I punched the button that disconnected the aircraft. It jumped off the hook at a high speed and banked to the left, flying away.

The air around the fleeing AN2 was filled with tracer fire from the still-operating automated machine gun blisters. A few rounds strafed the wings, pocking gashes in the wood and fabric skin, but still, the plane flew on. Finally reaching outside the range of the turrets.

I silently thanked the Goddesses that Anakvad and his friends were safe and underway.

We made our way over to the howitzer. I could tell it was original to the airship as the weld and bolt work was accurate and clean, as opposed to the scrappiness of the reinforced armor segments of corrugated metal and rebar. Shady had carefully moved a shell off the rack and sat it where he could work on it…

Then turned and began, in typical Shady fashion, looting the corpses.

I tittered and walked over to the platform where he was picking over the body of an orange unicorn mare, pulling out an engraved lighter and cigarettes.

"Do you have enough scrap to rig one of these shells to detonate on a timer?" I said as I looked into his left side saddlebag, filled with scrap, tech, and other…. Treasures.

Shady nodded, but continued to loot over the unicorn, then sidestepped to begin looting a Zebra. I trusted Shady's… quirks. But I really needed to blow this bastard to Elysium.

I stooped down to the striped corpse. Did Anakvad know this stallion? How did he treat him? I followed the corpse's stripes. I wasn't sure how or why Zebra stripes form, but these were different from what I could see on our new Zebra friend. The slaver's stripes had a more ragged look to them, almost like tendrils in appearance. I sat down and began also rooting through the dead Zebra's armor pockets with my armor's spell matrix. A few bits, a very dirty syringe with some off-purple liquid inside, which I immediately chucked off the side of the gondola (No thank you hepatitis.), some rounds for a 5.56 mm rifle, and a pack of cigarettes.

I pocketed them all in my left saddlebag. I turned the spell matrix off and rose to find Shady tinkering with the shell. His pink manipulation spell weaved wires through the open top of the shell, exposing the payload. I walked up and stood over his shoulder as he worked. Now, I am not an EOD tech, nor is Shady. Where did he get this almost super-pony way of making bombs? No idea. Possibly from Cloud Buster but, who knows? Point is, he rigged the shell with that battered novelty Ministry mare Pinkie Pie egg timer he looted earlier.

Shady glanced over his shoulder at me. "How long should I set it for Cap?" He asked as he finished soldering two mismatched wires together. I swear, if this went off early and killed us, I would kill him…

"Set it to about two minutes. Limit the time these scum can discover our "present"." Then we bail and use the explosion's shockwave to propel us further. I smirked into my helmet. This would probably end the battle straight up. And look cool. Coolness is always good.

Shady nodded and cranked the timer to two minutes. The Pink mare in a chef's apron and hat said "Time to bake!" In a cutesy voice and the timer began counting down.

Shady and I spread our wings and rocketed off the open gondola into the cloudy sky. thirty seconds passed, then a minute. Then as the egg timer reached its two-minute time limit, the Pink mare sounded "All done!" It was drowned out by the sound of the shell exploding, then the surrounding ammo rack. A huge explosion cut the air as fire bloomed up the side of the airship. It crumbled in the air, then hit the ground in another, more fiery, explosion. The shockwave, as expected, propelled us with a tremendous force toward the seemingly tiny town of Sugar Grove, which got larger and larger as we neared. I caught, somepony, standing on another pony. Only then I noticed the ragtag combat barding and black formal suit.

Blackwood.

Shady had spotted it and was faster, body slamming into the unicorn mare and shooting her in the head. I landed fast behind him and goo-afied a griffon about to kill Bullion. No one was touching my friends… I reached a hoof out to Blackwood, who took it and rose. Then fell as his exhaustion and wounds caught up to him. Shady raced up and popped a healing potion, giving it to Blackwood. The orange earth pony took it and drank like a dehydrated pony in a desert. Bullion was a whole different story. A huge hole in his chest, no exit wound, and was unconscious. This was bad. I ripped off his holed combat armor and now blood-soiled tuxedo to get a better look at it. Small rifle caliber. I could see the faintest glint of brass through the wound. Thank Celestia, the armor slowed the bullet down a lot.

Bullion stirred and opened his eyes. "Heh. Popped that balloon didn't ya?" He said with the faintest of smiles. He winched and coughed, bringing up blood. " I got shot, didn't I?" He said.

I nodded. "It isn't bad." A lie. But a necessary one. Squeezer groaned, then laid his head on the blood-caked wall. "Don't worry, Shady and I will have you fixed in no time," I said as I took a ripped section of his tuxedo in my armor's spell. "Squeezer, this may hurt… a lot."

Squeezer nodded softly and tensed up. I pressed the cloth over the wound and applied pressure. Shady grabbed the duct tape he used to bind the crew and taped the makeshift field dressing down. Squeezer, understandably, yelled.

"GODDESSES DAMMIT." The unicorn yelled. Blackwood began reassuring him. We all knew he needed an operation now or he might not make it. I shot my head up to the clinic in the middle of the town. It had remained untouched and was filled with the casualties of the town, and some slaver’s bound to chairs and beds.

The fighting picked up again. Shots traded from the wall and forest. In reality, Sugar Grove had won the fight. These slavers decided to fight to the last for whatever reason. We needed to get Squeezer to that clinic fast, or he wouldn't be here much longer. I started to throw him over my back when a buzzing noise caught my ears.

Some slavers looked up and around to find the source of the noise, others turned to run but were cut down from above. The buzzing sound got louder until two very familiar Vertibucks dove out of the rolling dark gray cloud cover and preyed upon the enemy. An incendiary missile left its pod, tracked to a group of heat signatures, and blew up, taking the crowd of slavers with it.

Sugar Grove residents cheered as the remaining slavers were hosed down in a barrage of magical energy from the Vertibucks Gatling laser cannon.

The Vertibucks swung around and made for a landing. “Tart-Cart” and its sister transport, "Hornet", unwrapped their dragonfly-like legs and came to a stop around the crumbled remnants of what once was a house, rotors spinning down. Out scrambled ten power-armored soldiers, two of which I recognized as Weather and Racer from their IFF tags.

Doc Weather spotted us on the wall and flew full speed toward us. Shady, Blackwood, and I helped him load Squeezer onto a stretcher and raced into the clinic. I stopped outside the doors alongside Blackwood. Shady entered the clinic to help in every way he could.

I could hear Blackwood on the verge of crying. He sniffled and tried to put a stoic leader face on, but failed and broke down. He fell to the ground. I didn't know what to do at that moment, so I sat next to him. We kinda sat there for a moment, him crying and I just dazed and strung out from the Chems finally wearing off. I knew I would probably be on addiction watch alongside surface quarantine once I got back to the cloud side but I hardly cared at that point. I was stronger to resist the urge to inject more. Blackwood eventually stopped crying to just lay there.

"He will be fine Blackwood. Gusty is the best field surgeon in the unit." I said reassuringly. Blackwood sorta nodded. Somepony cleared their throat behind us. A trooper, alongside another, and Racer in the middle stood behind us.

"Captain Thundercloud?" The obvious stallion asked. I nodded. "General Star Chaser wants to speak to you."

I nodded, then pat Blackwood on the shoulder. "I'll be back, Blackwood. Go and rally the survivors. They need your leadership right about now. Then find me. I need to discuss a terminal I found inside Sugar Grove."

Blackwood stood, then nodded. " Thank'ya Thundercloud.. Fur evre'thin." I smiled in my helmet. I snapped a quick salute to Blackwood, then turned, leaving him to rally the victors. As I followed Racer and the two unfamiliar troopers, we neared "Tart-Cart" for what I thought was a long-line radio, being the signals were still being jammed by an unknown source. I was wrong.

The door slid open and four guards stepped out, then Star Chaser. I, at once, snapped to attention and saluted. Star Chaser returned the salute. He had replaced his office barding with an all-gray jumpsuit, with armor plates on his chest. And had taken an equally gray operative helmet.

“Good to see you, Captain, it seems as though you took care of these ponies' problems.” He said as he surveyed the damage to the town with his eye.

I nodded in response. “Yes Sir. But it is not right to give all the credit to me. A lot of it goes to the residents as well.”

I decided it was time to pitch my idea. If what the terminals said was true, the Windigo was an unguarded time bomb, ready to go off. And we had a spy in our midst. “General, I would like to discuss some stuff in private. It is of utmost importance.” Star Chaser raised his good eye’s eyebrow in curiosity.

After a moment, he answered. “Oh? He prompted. "Very well. I am sure your friends and allies would like to be briefed as well, and I would like to meet this Blackwood fellow you spoke of. Where is he currently?”

“He went to give a speech and rally his fighters. He is probably down by the square.” I turned and began that way, Racer, the guards, and Star Chaser following. Racer caught up to me as we went.

“What happened after we left?” She asked as we passed a mare and filly picking up wood and sheet metal and loading them onto a cart, pulled by a stallion. Most likely a family.

I caught her up, leaving no details out. She seemed really interested in the events of helping Anakvad and his friends escape.

“Do you want me and a few troopers to go and look for them?” She asked as we neared the square. I could hear the murmuring of the crowd as he walked up the hill, heading towards Blackwood’s house, and what probably counted as the market and governmental section of the town.

“No. We will find them later and fill them in. Right now, everypony needs to hear what I have to say.” I felt bad leaving Anakvad and his friends, plus the prisoners, on their own for the time being. But time was short.

A microphone came to life in a static noise as we reached the gathered crowd. Most of Sugar Grove was still alive, maybe some wounded yes, but alive. The crowd of thirty-five or so ponies drew their attention from us and focused on Blackwood, who walked up on the small stage.

Blackwood made his way to an old microphone in the middle of the stage. He cleared his throat upon reaching it. I waited patiently for the large and victorious speech. One that any future member of Enclave high command would remember and talk about for the ages. One that detailed the sacrifice and honor of the brave.

"We Kick'd the’r sorry asses back ‘tah Filly!"

Oh... That works as well….

The crowd erupted in a synchronized "YEEE-HAW!" Hats were thrown in the air, stallions kissed mares, mares kissing stallions. mares with mares, stallions with stallions. You get the picture. I glanced at Star Chaser, who wore a wide-eyed look on his face. I chuckled and leaned over to him.

"This is a tame version of what they have been like most of the time."

A couple of hours ago, I wore the same expression on my face due to the antics here. But I now felt a sense of kinship to these ponies, whether or not they were actually my family.

Star Chaser shook his awestruck reaction. Then surveyed the crowd as they cheered, danced, and generally just celebrated their victory. Blackwood pushed through the crowd and made his way to us. Albeit very slowly as everypony slapped him on the back, or talked with him. He walked up and stuck a hoof out for Star Chaser, who seemed appalled at the dirtiness of it.

"Ah'm Blackwood. You must be Star Chaser."

Star Chaser relented and shook Blackwood's hoof. "It is good to finally meet you, Mr. Blackwood. I have heard good things from Captain Thundercloud here."

Blackwood chuckled and sat his hoof back down. "Thanks, uhh. What can'ah call you?"

"Star Chaser if you wish. Or General. Whichever one you choose." Star Chaser said. His head followed the festivities as they ramped up around us. Somepony had begun to pass out drinks, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic. Though it wouldn't really matter as I caught sight of a colt with a bottle of beer in his telekinetic grasp running through the crowd.

“Well, Star Chaser. Ah’ can't thank yah enough. You re’lly came through fur’ us. Both you’n Thunder, and ahm in your debt.” The orange stallion finished.

Star Chaser smiled. “Captain Thundercloud has given you a large amount of trust and help, which you did not betray once. If anypony should get most of the credit, it would be right to give it to the Captain.”

I sat down and flipped a hinge on my armored neck with my hoof, which unlatched my helmet's seal. I twisted it off with my forehooves. Once it was stowed in my empty right saddlebag, I smiled. “Thank you, Sir.”

Star Chaser nodded, then continued. “ I believe the good Captain has something he needs to discuss with all of us.

I nodded in affirmation. “Yes. Unfortunately, Squeezer is still getting patched up, so it will be me, Racer, you, and Star Chaser discussing this matter.”

Blackwood looked confused. “Er, is this about tha’ terminal yah read?”

“Yes. But let’s go somewhere more private. I would rather not - ”I lowered my voice - “Cause a panic.”

Blackwood agreed and led us to his house. Once again stepping into the spacious shack, we made our way to his office space. Star Chaser looked around at the rusted corrugated metal, and wooden shack. No doubt thinking the same as I did when I stepped inside the first time as well. After everypony got settled, and Blackwood offered drinks, which Racer and Star Chaser accepted, I began. I made sure to outline every step of my plan. To find this facility, lock it down if necessary, and station guards there until we can figure out what to do with the Windigo. If they were still there. I ended the briefing, with Racer, Star Chaser, and Blackwood all sharing the same look of alarm.

Blackwood was the first to speak. “ Windigo? ‘Ah thought that wus’ an ole’ Foals tale.”

I shook my head. “No such luck. And they are probably pissed and ready to break loose if no maintenance or upkeep has been done.”

Blackwood put his head in his hooves and massaged his head. I couldn't blame him. Star Chaser continued on with my statement.

“So, do you know where this location is? Where they are kept that is.” He asked.

I nodded. “Yes sir, I have the relevant data. I will upload everything, including my mission briefing packet when I get a chance. One more thing… This is probably going to be an extended mission. So I will probably need a way my squad and friends can travel fast, and can operate out. I wish to requisition a Prowler class Cloud Ship.”

Star Chaser blinked. Or is it a wink? Either way, he expressed surprise at my impromptu requisition form. He thought for a while, then nodded. “I will see if I can get one. Pull some favors. Though I am not sure if it will be approved or not. I will contact the other Generals.”

I saluted. “Thank you, Sir. This concludes my briefing, though I want to discuss one more thing with you General.” I was ecstatic about this mission, though I hid it behind my usual stoicism.

Star Chaser and Racer stood up and began to follow me out. But Blackwood stopped us.

“Wait, Yuh said friends?” He asked.

I turned and let Racer and General Star Chaser by. “Welcome to the Grand Pegasus Enclave, Operative Blackwood.”

He was taken aback. “Y’all are draft’n me’n Squeeze?”

I nodded. “As well as Anakvad, yes. I need you three as well on this mission as I know you can be trusted. This also affects your world as well as mine, so I couldn't choose any creature more qualified than you two. And I believe Anakvad can help if we need to read any Zebra or use his knowledge.”

He seemed to appreciate the sentiment. That I could trust enough to draft non-pegasi into the GPE. “All’ do mah best Thundercloud. You’cn count on it.”

I chuckled. “Good, We will need that where we are going. But, I say let's leave that for later. I need to talk to Star Chaser about something. Then, we need to go find Anakvad and the others.

He nodded and left with Racer. Star Chaser sat back down on the seat he had taken during my briefing.

“General. There is a spy in Ralneigh.” I bluntly said.

Star Chaser nodded. “I have suspected as much. Where did you get the confirmation?” He asked.

“A terminal on board the airship Lieutenant Shady and I boarded. One of the higher commands I killed was named Geiger. He sent a memo to the crew about two days before the assault began.

He nodded. “Make sure to separate that from the data packet. I want only Ralneigh working on this before we announce it to the other councilors and Generals.”

“Very well General.” If there was a spy in our Enclave, we wouldn't want him escaping.

=== *** ===

After collecting Shady, who gave us a good update on Bullion, we set out. We covered a huge swath of the swampy terrain until we caught a glimpse of what looked like a chariot field. We banked left and could make out a flash of rusty gray and black wings, against the backdrop of a black and brown wasteland. Shady, Racer, and I dove and flittered above the broken tarmac. I, very carefully, approached the old country sky chariot landing strip.

The hangars, once a sky blue it seemed, now looked like a rusty muted blue. The tower off to the side of the runway had collapsed at some point, spilling debris across the second runway. I could also make out what was definitely a Zebra aircraft, parked at the far end of the hangar rows.

I motioned for Shady and Racer to follow and we silently flew to the hangars. My EFS lit up with a dozen or so red and yellowish marks. We landed within a few yards of the aircraft. I could make out the faded serial number on the tail of the AN-2 and knew it was the same one from the airship. Shady had, apparently, seen something very important in the crumbled remains of the air traffic tower, and had flown off to “investigate”. I swear to Celestia, that stallion could see through five layers of steel and concrete debris for one Sparkle~Cola bottle.

I called out “Anakvad?” No response. I cautiously approached the plane and called out again. I heard rustling from inside the hanger. A familiar Zebra popped his head out to investigate the noise, then smiled at me and my friends.

“Thundercloud! My friend. I am glad you found us.” The Zebra opened the door more.

I could make out Pumpkin, and a blue earth pony, standing behind Anakvad. They both openly carried automatic rifles and seemed to be relieved that they knew who it was. Pumpkin lowered the rifle held tightly in her orange telekinetic grasp and gave me a cheery wave. Racer, in response, gave a sort of surprised wave back.

I chuckled, then turned to the Zebra. “I am glad to see you alright as well Anakvad. Do you still have our mutual… “friends”?”

Anakvad nodded and opened the door more. I saw the slaver prisoners locked inside the fuselage of a prop airplane. Some of them visibly groaned when they saw the armored pegasi at the door.

“Very intuitive. Can they be moved?” I asked.

Anakvad thought for a moment. “Maybe. How far will they move?”

“To the town about 5 minutes east from here. That was the target of the raid and bombardment. They will be safe there until the GPE can collect them.” I scanned the hangar, there were the usual utilities that anypony would find, scavenging through pre-war airfields. What I was looking for was a rope. Or winch. Or something that could pull the impromptu wagon. The next step was to make sure the aircraft’s wheels wouldn't give out when it finally rolled again after 200 years.

He nodded. “The wheels work. No dry rot from what we could see. We can easily pull them back.

“Then let's get to it. Stash the plane in one of these hangers. We can get it later.”

After Racer, Anakvad, and the blue earth pony pulled the airplane into an empty hangar and then hitched the earth ponies of the group to the converted prisoner wagon, we were off. Racer, Shady, and I flew high above the swampy trees as the caravan went down the road. It was strange that the swamp had almost expanded as a result, at least to my knowledge, of the Megaspell radiation. I glanced at an old billboard, now home to a lot of red-colored vines and a huge spider web, and an even larger spider. I read it as I gave the huge spider a wide berth. “Welcome to Great Gulf Swamp Park!” It read.

An illustration of a family of four, a mare, stallion, and two foals, one a filly and the other a colt, gazed excitedly at a frog sitting on a lilypad in some brackish water, though the portrait had seen better days.

A shot rang out. I dove and landed on the ground, only to find Anakvad holstering his still-smoking pistol. "WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR? SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME!" I angrily exclaimed.

Anakvad shrunk down, ears pressed back. Oh right.. Ex-slave. "Anakvad. *sigh* Sorry. We all are on edge right now, but you can't just shoot randomly when we all are on alert."

Anakvad perked up a tad bit. "No no. It was my doing Thundercloud." He said as he made his way over to the giant spider. "Gino Spider is a delicacy in my village. I have not had such a meal since my family.." He paused, then sadly looked at the ground.

I knew ponies on the surface would sometimes eat meat, instead of the usual vegetarian diet. I had, myself, tried an aptly labeled "patty" in response to a dare during the griffon campaign but was rewarded with all manner of stomach illnesses. I stuck to Enclave MREs after that one.

"Anakavad. Do you need help loading that, what did you call it?" I asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Ginospider." He said as I walked over and gripped the carcass. Even through my helmet, I could smell its putrid stench. This is a delicacy? I carried it up into the air with me and plopped it onto the roof of the airplane cart. Yeah. Let the scum smell it.

Anakvad sorta sulked back on track, heading for Sugar Grove. I landed next to him as the caravan moved down the overgrown highway.

“Anakvad, do you want to talk about it?”

His ears drooped more at the question.

“Sorry. I understand.” I said as I began to lag behind. He sighed, then motioned me back.

“They were… everything I could have ever asked for. My darling, Xella. And our daughter, Melaka. They were my light. Our tribe was mixed with another, the Zencori. Of which Xella was from. She had the most fantastic stories. We lived around the border of the once-Zebra empire and Equestria, a once-pony village called Mayflower Fields. It was spared all of the war, despite being near the frontlines. We had... hoped we would be spared if we were far away from Equestria. We were wrong." Anakvad sighed and muttered something in his native tongue.

"I see. I have a family of my own. My wife and colt are my whole world, and I am damn scared that the wasteland will creep into my home and take them." I said. I understood fearing losing loved ones, especially your own family.

"Is this why you fight?" Anakvad's question caught me off guard. Sure, it was the reason. But the way he said it seemed.. off."

"Well. That and the attempt to cleanse Equestria from its vileness. Or at least that is what the Enclave says. No... I think it is more in line with the purpose of a soldier like myself. Even though I have privileges that non-pegasi usually do not have anymore, I wish it was not like that. I wouldn't wish this hellish lifestyle of being a wanderer of the wastes on anypony, er, creature. Why wouldn't I fight to protect others, or attempt to, at least lay the groundwork for a better future? I could have just left Sugar Grove after completing my mission, but I chose to stay and potentially lay my life down for them. It's what a soldier does Anakvad."

Anakvad pondered a moment as we continued to trot down the road. I could see the smoke from Sugar Grove rising from the treetops now. Dusk had set in, although a lot darker than the cloud side due to the cover.

“You are a good stallion Thundercloud. Are you sure you are in the right place?” He asked.

What did he mean by that? “What do you mean Anakvad?”

“Are you sure you are not a slave just as I was? Just for a different kind of master?”

“You mean the Enclave?” I drew a long breath, then sighed. “The Enclave has been my home since I was born. It raised me into the buck I am today. Does it have its flaws? Yes. It's the government. But. Do I think, if changed, it can revitalize the wasteland? Yes.”

Anakvad nodded, then made a funny noise. “Just be sure to continue your free thinking my friend.”

I suppose that was a good bit of advice. It was not a secret that the wasteland residents hated the Enclave for something that happened over 200 years ago, though I suppose it's the same reason as the same residents and the Enclavers sometime hate the Zebra for the war. We were now walking up the steep incline into the town, so I took time to look around at the carnage.

A group of slavers was chained to a cart. The town's pony guards were watching as a few more “convicts'' were loading their dead friends onto the cart to be buried. But not before being looted.

A huge pile of weapons, ammo, scrap, and other users, and seemingly un-useful, items sat in a large shipping container. The working convicts glanced our way, then stopped when they saw the ex-crew imprisoned. One of them started to gallop our way but was tackled by a large unicorn. Never seen a unicorn that liked bodybuilding before. He was, well. Dragged is an understatement. More like thrown back to his friend.

The gate opened to allow us through. Anakvad got some looks, but those were relaxed when I entered. Racer and Shady walked up behind the prison caravan.

A trooper approached the convoy, and let it pass. Then snapped a salute toward me. “Sir, The General had a pressing matter to attend to back in Ralneigh. He left you a message.”

I nodded and returned the salute. “At ease trooper. What is the message.”

“He said to send the prisoners back cloud side, and then to meet him in his office in the morning.”

I nodded. “Very good trooper. Begin loading the prisoners. It may take two or three trips to get them back, so load two guards on each transport, then as many as the pilots can take.”

The trooper nodded. “I shall see to it you get back the first sir, you and your team deserve to rest.”

I shook my head. “No, we shall stay here, but thank you for your kind offer. Dismissed.”

The trooper nodded, saluted, then turned to meet with a collection of other Enclave troopers a bit farther away. A makeshift staging area had been constructed around the Vertibucks. A Vertibuck must have dropped off supplies when Star Chaser left. The Enclave troops had placed some dark blue fire cover around the Vertibucks, and a communications relay in the center. The comms tower looked a lot like a stalk of corn, just dark blue in color. It was topped by the actual “Bulb” of the dish antenna and adorned with the light blue colored lights, typical of Enclave spark batteries. I was relieved to find some towns ponies chatting with some of the guards. I had no idea how the troopers or towns ponies would react to each other.

I let the caravan by, then motioned for Anakvad, Racer, and Shady. “Ankavad, I need to speak with you. Shady and Racer, help load those slavers onto the Vertibucks. Make sure they are wrapped up nicely. You have a say in what guards go with them.” Racer and Shady nodded and set off.

I motioned him to follow, and we entered a small, secluded alleyway. I took my helmet off and stored it in my bag, then made sure the coast was clear. “Anakvad. I know this will be a high ask…. I need your help. Does the Zebra race have stories of the windigo? Ghostly equine spirits that spread snow and ice?”

Anakvad cocked his head in confusion. “What of them?”

“They are real, and probably ready to break loose. That is why the slavers came here. If they are released, Equestria will be a lot worse than it is now.”

Anakvad looked startled. “You need my help? I would be honored to follow you Thundercloud.”

I smiled and nodded. “I knew I could count on you. But for now, go rest.”

=== *** ===

The festivities lasted well into the evening. A lot of the residents were drunk or on their way to it. I myself, being responsible and needing to come back home not hammered, cut myself off at two glasses of whiskey. So I stuck to enjoying a semi-cold Sparkle~Cola.

The Vertibucks had already lifted most of the prisoners back to Ralneigh by this point and were on their way back for the last time. I had also called home, much to the relief of Misty and Storm, and told them I would be home soon. Though I left out I would be gone again very soon. I had decided to sit both of them down and explain a non-classified version of what I was planning. Better for them not to know…

Weather and Blackwood had joined us a few hours after the convoy entered the town. A band had formed and began to play and sing both pre-war songs and some new ones from one of the surface radio stations. The crowd clapped at the end of a song by a mare named Sweetie Belle. The cyan-coated, pink-maned unicorn stallion who I surmised was the leader of this band, aptly named “Balefire Bucks”, started talking about the history behind the last song. I tuned him out, but not fully. I managed to pick up some keywords like “Rarity” and other tidbits but didn't really pay a whole lot of attention.

“And, here is our next one. I am sure all you fillies and gentle colts out there know it as well, so feel free to sing along. This one is dedicated to those pegasi who saved our flanks today." The unicorn said. The band started up the song with a trumpet solo, mixed with an accordion.

“HEEEE ALWAYS SINGS, RAGGEDY MUSIC TO THE TROOPS AS THEY SWING, BACK AND FORWARD IN THEIR SADDLES, IN A MOOD, WHICH IS SYNCOPATED GAITED, THERE IS SUCH A FUNNY METER TO THE ROAR OF HIS REPEATERS, HOW THEY RUN, WHEN THEY HEAR THE PONY’S GUNS, BECAUSE THE ZEBRA FOLK ALL KNOOOOOW, HE’S A HIGHFALUTIN ROOTIN-TOOTIN SON-OF-A-GUN FROM APPLEOOSA, RAGTIME SOLDIER JOE!”

I had never heard this one before on any of the Enclave radio stations.

“OUT IN THE HOMELANDS WHERE THE ZEBRA’S ARE, THE ONLY THING TO GUIDE YOU ARE LUNA’S STARS, THE ROUGHEST, TOUGHEST PONY BY FAR, IS RAGTIME SOLDIER JOE. HE GOT HIS NAME FROM SINGING THE CAMP TO SLEEP, EVERY NIGHT THEY SAY HE PUTS THE TROOPS TO SLEEP. IN A BASS VOICE, RICH AND DEEP, CROONIN’ SOFT AND LOOOOW. HE ALWAYS SINGS, RAGGEDY MUSIC TO THE TROOPS AS THEY SWING, BACK AND FORWARD IN THEIR SADDLES, IN A MOOD, WHICH IS SYNCOPATED GAITED, THERE IS SUCH A FUNNY METER TO THE ROAR OF HIS REPEATERS, HOW THEY RUN, WHEN THEY HEAR THE PONY’S GUNS, BECAUSE THE ZEBRA FOLK ALL KNOOOOOW, HE’S A HIGHFALUTIN ROOTIN-TOOTIN SON-OF-A-GUN FROM APPLEOOSA, RAGTIME SOLDIER JOE!”

I started humming along, enjoying the music as the instruments took the lead again during the pause between lyrics. I went over the plan again in my mind, trying to find any flaws. Hopefully, we would be quick enough to not waste a week in transit to the borders of the, once, Crystal Empire. I wonder what happened to their crystal rulers.

“HE ALWAYS SINGS, RAGGEDY MUSIC TO THE TROOPS AS THEY SWING, BACK AND FORWARD IN THEIR SADDLES, IN A MOOD, WHICH IS SYNCOPATED GAITED, THERE IS SUCH A FUNNY METER TO THE ROAR OF HIS REPEATERS, HOW THEY RUN, WHEN THEY HEAR THE PONY’S GUNS, BECAUSE THE ZEBRA FOLK ALL KNOOOOOW, HE’S A HIGHFALUTIN ROOTIN-TOOTIN SON-OF-A-GUN FROM APPLEOOSA, RAGTIME SOLDIER - TALK ABOUT THAT SOLDIER, RAGTIME SOOOLLLDDDER JOOOOOOE!”

The song ended and the crowd began to clap. The stallions bowed and began explaining the history of the song. I was more interested in the voice behind me though to listen.

“I love that song.”

I spun around fast, Blackwood doing the same. An earth pony “orderly” pushed a wheelchair up to us, occupied by Bullion. Blackwood and I stood up.

"How ya feelin Squeeze?" Blackwood asked. The orderly stopped pushing the wheelchair and stood nearby.

"Nothing a few bottles of wine can't fix." He chuckled weakly, but clutched his side and coughed midway. The orderly moved to the teal unicorn's side and fished a Healing Potion out of a bag slung across the back of the chair.

The teal unicorn took the potion and vigorously drank it, the coughing subsided after a few gulps.

Blackwood, seeing his friend in pain, walked to his side and helped him drink the elixer. He waited until Bullion had regained himself before he spoke. "Er, Squeeze. Reccon' it's about time Thundercloud told’ya about a sumethin. Maybe leavin' Sugar Grove here soon."

I nodded in response.

"Unfortunately. Do you remember the terminal that we found inside the facility? It made mention of a MAS research center located somewhere around the northern Crystal Empire borders. It mentioned Windigo. The terminal had records of the pre-war ministries caging them. I feel it is in the best interest of the GPE, and the surface, to go and make sure that those…. creatures, are still under lock"

The teal unicorn sat silent for a moment. Seeming to not be fully recovered from his coughing attack. After a few good minutes, he finally spoke. "Why are you taking us two ground ponies? Don't you have pegasi troopers for that?"

"That is true. But, I feel it would be in every pony's best interest to bring along some outside sources. You and Blackwood have lived here all your lives. You know most of the terrain and settlements in the Appleachian mountain range. Truth is… I need your help."

Bullion pondered a moment before a goofy smile spread across his face.

"Adventure I hear? I see. I see. Count me in, my feathered friend."

I laughed. "Great to have you Squeezer. I will be back in a day or two to get yall. In the meantime, Anakvad and his friends will stay here. They were ex-slaves aboard the airship. Treat them well. Anakvad is coming along as well. Make sure to grab what you think you will need."

Both Blackwood and Bullion nodded. I heard the familiar thump of Vertibuck propellers coming closer.

"That sounds like my ride. You guys make sure to pack what you need. And make sure Anakvad gets outfitted. I will see you in a day or so"

The Vertibuck landed on the Sky Chariot pad. We all walked outside of the gates and down to the pad. It was still intact, even from the indiscriminate bombardment from the airship, and the battle. Shady climbed aboard, then Racer and Weather. I was last to climb aboard. I turned and waved, then closed the doors. When we were away, I asked Shady for a pen, of which he pulled twenty or so out of various colors. I took a black one and a piece of paper, also from Shady, and began jotting down a list of sorts for supplies we would need. We would probably be assigned temporary command of an inactive cloudship. Which meant that we would have the actual Captain and their crew going along with us, which may be problematic. Oh well, trot across that bridge when we get there, I guess.

=== *** ===

Two hours later we touched down at Ralneighs airstrip. We disembarked and headed to the armory, where we checked in our gear to the quartermaster. She was very confused at us coming back with more gear than we had been issued but checked Shady’s IF-5 in any way.

I had finally peeled off the last of my armor and flew it to an empty spot in the repair bay. The mechanics would piece it together, recharge the spark battery, and fix the damage. Though they would probably have a strong set of words for the amount of buckling and dents that the armor could not repair by itself. I changed back into my barding and walked back into the main bay.

“Lieutenant Shady, I have a release form for you to fill out for a… “box of junk”, from General Star Chaser. Is that yours?” The quartermaster said as she read from a clipboard in front of her across the bay.

Shady mumbled “S’not junk.” Then accepted the form.

The form was passed back to the mare. “Thank you. Please note that all technological, metal and ammunition items were confiscated. Everything else is in that cardboard box right there.” She pointed at a box marked “2nd LT Shady” that sat in a supply area to the right of the exit door.

Shady groaned, then flew over to root through the box. I nodded in thanks to the quartermaster, then joined Shady.

He was pulling items out and placing them on a table nearby. So far, he had pulled out two leather holsters, various plastic tableware, an entire party's worth of empty Sparkle~Cola and Sunrise Sarsaparilla bottles, and various other items deemed “useless”. Shady had just pulled out an empty shadowbox and was examining it.

“Those goblins took my colas, my duct tape, and my cigarettes.” He said angrily.

I laughed. “You do not even smoke Shady, why do you need cigarettes?”

He shrugged. “Could be useful later on down the line.”

“Don't sweat it Shady, we will have all the loot when we are on our way to that GPS point. But for now, I shall see you tomorrow. Make sure to be here earlier so we can meet, and get the final things ready. We should be ready to depart when the cloudship arrives.”

Shady nodded. “Night Cap’.”

I bid Shady goodnight and caught the tram home. I arrived home around one o’clock in the morning, and silently let myself in. I had just closed the door and locked it when Storm came running down the stairs.

“Dad! Why are you home so late?” He said as he ran up in front of me.

Misty followed him down the stairs, turning on the lights as she went. “Storm, shouldn't you be in bed? You have school in the morning.” She fussed at the gray colt.

“No Misty, we need to talk here for a sec. “ I decided now was the time to talk to them and tell them the plan. “Storm, why don't you go get some Sparkle~Colas and meet us in the family room?”

Storm lit up and scrambled for the kitchen, considering he was never allowed to have soda after nine pm.

Misty and I walked into the living room off to the left of the entrance and sat down on the sofa, Storm fluttered in and joined us with three colas clutched in his hooves.

I cracked open mine and took a swig of the carroty soda. “So, I have a mission. And I probably won't be home for a while.” I started, Misty looked distressed.

“Down to the surface? Is that why you were there today?”

I nodded. Storm Cloud’s eyes went wide.

“You were on the surface? What is it like down there? Are there any monsters? Do ponies really live down there?”

I cut his questions off with a wave of the hoof. “I will tell you all about it here in a minute. I cannot tell you why I will be down there. I know, it's stupid. But it is classified stuff. Just know that I will be away for maybe a week, or two at the least. Shady, Racer, Cloud, and Gusty will be with me as well, as well as some other ponies and a Zebra.”

“A Zebra, like the ones from the war? Is he nice? What do his stripes look like?”

I looked at him and he stopped. “Sorry.”

I chuckled. “Yes, His name is Anakvad, and he is nice. I will be traveling with an earth pony and a unicorn as well. Blackwood and Bullion Squeezer. They are all nice and have agreed to help me. I am going to leave tomorrow, but I will make sure to call you every day.”

Misty dropped her ears. I comforted her by placing a wing around her. “Listen, if I didn't have one hundred percent faith in these guys and Racer, I wouldn't be going. I will be fine. I promise.”

Misty seemed to accept that as she patted my wing, then got up from the couch. “Storm, you don't have to go to school tomorrow. Let's sit here for a while and listen to dad's story about the surface. I’m going to warm up some leftovers.”

Storm bounced up and down in his seat, then looked expectantly at me. I chuckled and said “Ok”.

Misty came back with a tray of food clutched in her mouth. We all took a plate and began eating.

“So, tell me about what happened Dad.” Storm said in between a bite of food.

I swallowed, “Well. It started with a town named Sugar Grove.”

=== *** ===

Footnote: Level two reached.
Perk ranks up. Diplomacy, rank two. “You now have the ability to make contact with other species and convince them to aid you.”
Perk obtained: Lockpick level one. “While no Shady Skies, you can manage to crack a lock with much deliberation and cursing.”

Author's Note

Author's note: Thank you all so much for waiting and reading. I know this has been put off for quite a while, but college has been very hard. But I passed. I want to thank my friends in the Heartmenders HQ for bouncing ideas off of, especially Sithilis, who came up with the name Anakvad. I would also like to thank the inspirations for Blackwood, Bullion, and Shady. Yall are, honestly, the best friends I have. And Xythis and Miky, who I have met along the way. They have both helped edit and plan this monstrosity of a chapter so I owe them a Sparkle~Cola, haha. More updates to come, this story has a lot planned so stay tuned. Thundercloud out, and Merry Christmas.