Fallout: Equestria - Purity
A Fo:E side story by StormbadgerXIII

Chapter 1 - The Saviours of Equestria

"You're going down!"

"In history, maybe!"

The sun.

A great big burning ball of hydrogen and helium. A source of warmth, a source of light. A symbol of all that Equestria was, bright and ever-lasting, ever-constant. To see the sun while on the surface was a rare and much-remembered event, the warming glow evaporating all fears and invigorating all hopes; just for a split second you could forget there was a wasteland stretching indefinitely around you.

For me, it was just there.

You see, I grew up in a town by the name of Feathertip, which was located on top of the cloud layer that covers the wasteland. Needless to say, the town was primarily made of clouds, as all pegasus localities are. It's a cheap and abundant building material, easily replaceable and everywhere else. The sun shone down every day, warming the coat and feathers. The blue sky was always open and inviting. It was a nice, comfortable place, temperatures ranging from 10 to 35 degrees centigrade, almost always sunny (occasionally we'd have a bit of rain to keep the clouds damp). It was a great, peaceful, beautiful and comfortable place to live, the only worry being what you were going to feed the kids or how much you had to study for something. Most of the ponies were well-mannered, and the presence of the Enclave made sure that there was always peace.

You'd wonder why I'd ever want to leave that near-perfect life behind to go down into the wasteland below.

My last morning in Feathertip began with a buzzing noise, like every other morning.

I was in the deep throes of sleep; I had decided to go to bed early the night before, as I had been studying for the past week for the exam into becoming a corporal. I had done well on the exam, as many others had said I would, but I still had to put the effort in. I grumbled, rolling to my other side, pressing annoyingly - not to mention painfully - on my wing. Grunting from the pain and effort, I reached up to the pre-war alarm clock and pushed the snooze button, before falling back down and closing my eyes again. This happened a few more times before I finally gave up, the alarm clock winning its battle as I lifted my head off my pillow and yawned. I knew I looked a mess, and today was supposed to be the day I became a corporal.

Not as prestigious as Sergeant Major, like my father, but it was a step towards it.

I floated to the shower, taking care to make sure I looked good enough. One of my hairs wouldn't go down, no matter how hard I tried. I quickly grabbed something to eat, got into my nice, neatly pressed and folded uniform and flew out the door.

The sun shone down on my coat and mane, and I could feel the water from the shower evaporating off it. I grinned, taking a breath of the fresh morning air, before drifting along to the Enclave base.

I was feeling pretty good. I was going up in the Enclave, and soon I would be following in my father's footsteps. Dad had once told me 'don't be what I want you to be, but be what you want to be'. Holding that to my heart, I decided I wanted to be like him – he was kind, caring, friendly and pretty scary in combat, even in our playful fights and training exercises. You'd have to have known him and fought him to really believe it. He was someone I aspired to be like. Not only that, but after my mum had died, when I was about one year old, he was the only family I had. And I really didn't want to make him feel like I was a waste of space.

I drifted along, lost in thought, as another thing crossed my mind - being a higher rank meant I also got paid a little more, which means I could start living more independently. I smiled at the thought. I didn't need to worry Dad about having to pay for anything of mine.

The large white building that was the Feathertip Enclave base came into view, and I quickly alighted near the front. Flying around in the air, it wasn't as tall as it seemed on hoof. I looked up, smiling as I trotted forwards.

"Hey Nimbus!"

My sight snapped down and looked to where the voice had come from. Drifting into view was my friend, Final. She was about a head shorter than me, which would be considered cute were she not capable of being intimidating. She was, as far as I could remember, the only one who had ever stared down an NCO. As usual, she wore her full uniform, not as neatly-pressed as mine, but not a shabby mess either. I smiled and looked down at her (I had to, but she was used to it). "Hey Final."

"Today's the big day, isn't it?" She smirked, nudging me with a foreleg.

"Yup," I replied, taking a step back. "How do I look?"

"Clean," she quickly commented, before licking her hoof and running it over my hair. And again. And again. I grabbed her hoof on her seventh attempt.

"Trust me, I've tried."

"I doubt anypony's going to notice," she said. After a second, a grin caught her face. "You could just cut it off, y'know."

"Got a pair of scissors?" I asked incredulously.

She started to say 'yes' until she realised the answer was 'no'. "Eh heh heh... sorry."

I grinned, patting her on the head in a jokingly condescending way. "It's ok, I'll just grab a pair from my locker."

"Alright, sir," she replied with a grin and a half-assed salute.

I chuckled, shaking my head as I walked inside. Even though this place was made out of cloud, it looked more like a white brick that had been hollowed out. Inside was no more different, with a statue of Feathertip's first and greatest Enclave leader, Thunderlane, in the centre. I smiled, looking at it; the statue depicted the famous well-built buck of Equestria's past, rearing up with a battlesaddle over his back with twin magic energy rifles on his sides, his wings outstretched. Thunderlane was highly respected in this building and town, being known as a great leader and a good friend to the ponies. I, like many other ponies, aspired to be like him. My father was the best living example I could see of it. And, to be honest, I'm sure if he was my own age, Thunderlane'd be one hell of a handsome stallion.

Shifting that thought aside for later, I trotted to the locker room. The designer of this place decided to forgo the concept of gender, making it one shared locker room. Of course, none of us were dumb enough to abuse it. As if by wrote, I found my locker and opened it up, reaching in with a hoof to find a pair of scissors or, failing that, a knife.

My ear perked as I caught my name being mentioned in an off-side conversation with some of my unit. I could only find a knife, so I grabbed it in its holster and slid it over my hips, turning to face the group of ponies. I slammed the locker door shut with a wing. "Excuse me; I heard my name being mentioned."

"It's nothing," Virga, the timidest mare of my unit, quietly said. A small part of her lavender mane covered her eyes.

"It isn't nothing!" Bulwark, our heavy weapons buck and by far the largest guy in our group, growled to her, prompting an 'eep' from the introverted purple mare. He turned to me. "You mean y' haven't heard?"

"Heard what?" I asked, tilting my head and lowering an eyebrow.

"Yer-" he continued, before Leaf, our sniper and probably the most attractive mare in the Enclave, covered his mouth with a hoof. I'd never seen Bul blush like that before.

"Well, I'm afraid it's bad news... I'd tell you, but I think the CO's want to tell you in person."

Even though her voice was akin to laying my ears on a soft, plush cloud, I kept my professional attitude up and just nodded. But I couldn't shake the feeling that something was up. And I wouldn't like it.

"I-it's your... um... you're going to be a corporal now, aren't you?" Virga meekly added. I smiled.

"Mhm."

"Wow, and only in a few months," Leaf purred, sounding impressed. "That's close to the record, isn't it?"

I nodded dumbly.

"Good job, ya weedy buck," Bulwark joked, nudging me rather painfully in the chest. "Didn't know you had it in ya."

"Thanks," I said as I rubbed my chest, thought I didn't really feel happy for it. There was still that nagging feeling in my gut that refused to go away. What were my friends hiding from me?

The ceremony for going up a rank was less... grand than I had imagined it would be. A hoofful of NCO's and the base's commander stood around in their fanciest uniforms, gave me a medal, told me 'good job kiddo' and left it at that. My father was supposed to be present too, being one of the highest-ranking NCO's here, but he hadn't shown up yet. And I had completely forgotten to cut that annoying lock of hair off. All in all, I had prepared for something that wasn't going to happen, but I was still prepared nonetheless.

I wasn't prepared for what came next.

"Corporal Nimbus." One of the officers pulled me aside after everypony else had left. I turned to him, that feeling of dread returning to the pit of my stomach.

"Sir?" I gulped.

"I have some... bad news. About your father."

Oh fuck.

"I'm afraid he's... gone missing. On the surface."

Oh fuck.

"And there is a suspicion in upper echelons that he abandoned us on purpose."

Oh fuck!

I gulped, my eyes widening. My dad... gone? Without so much as a note saying 'bye son, I'm gonna leave you be now, take care and have a good life p.s. dinner's in the fridge, just reheat it'? I felt my mouth open, and I closed it after a second. My body was trembling. "W-what...?"

"I'm afraid your father's been declared a Dashite, should he decide to return he will be dealt with as such. And please, don't try and pursue the matter any further." The officer, solemnly, doffed his hat. "I'm... sorry to be the bearer of bad news."

I finally managed to stop shaking enough to manage a pathetic "it's ok", before snapping him a salute. He returned the salute, congratulated me on my promotion (for what it was worth now) and left me where I was standing.

I looked down at my lapels, where the new stripe had been added. Was this even worth anything now? I was supposed to feel good about becoming a corporal. I'd always wanted my Dad to see me be the best I could be, whatever it was. Hell, I knew he did too. Now... he was gone forever, and now I was the son of a Dashite, an outcast of the Enclave. I wouldn't be considered much better than my father, and that would ruin any chance I had at becoming a Sergeant Major.

I fell to my haunches. What the fuck did I do to deserve this?

"Nimbus?"

"What?!” I shrieked at whoever made the noise. It took me a second to realise that it was a familiar short beige pony. "Fuck, I'm sorry Final..."

Final frowned, looking up at me with concern. "You ok, sir?"

"Please,” I pleaded weakly with her, "Don't call me 'sir'. We're still friends."

"Right then. Are you ok, Nimbus?" She leaned forward, looking into my eyes. I didn't return the gaze.

"I... I'm..." I couldn't say it. But I had to. But I didn't want to and- sighing, I gave up, and in a low, sombre voice: "My dad's a Dashite."

To her credit, Final's mouth dropped wide open. "No. Way. Seriously?" I nodded slowly. She frowned, looking off to the side, thinking for a long while. "No way. He... he just wouldn't do that... well... not without a good reason..."

I sighed again, head low. After a moment's thought, I raised it up a little. Final had a good point, as she always did. If I knew my father half as well as I did, he wouldn't just up and go quietly without any reason. I still had that dark cloud over my head and heart about him leaving, but I knew it wasn't just a 'fuck you, you Enclave bastards' from him. I wasn't even sure how, but I had to find out what happened and why he left. Raising my head up with steely determination, I galloped off towards the door. Final flew up beside me, matching my pace - she was a much better flier than me, but I had the advantage of long legs to help me gallop faster.

"Where are you going?" she asked, zipping up momentarily not to smack into one of the archive workers.

"Home."

I growled loudly, threw my hooves up in frustration and fell onto the couch flatly. Final drifted under the dining room table, her head panning around. "Nothing blew under here."

"For fuck's sake!" I screamed, and punched a hole in the couch, which reformed after I extracted my hoof. "Couldn't he have left something obvious for me to see?"

"Maybe he's got something in his room?"

I sat up, staring into her eyes, a look of horror mixed with disbelief. Dad had told me to never, ever enter his room. Ever. I always assumed it was something adult-related, but I realised now, as an adult, it was probably a matter of privacy. I told Final this.

"Your dad isn't here, doofus," she scoffed, balking when I leveled a (probably spine-chilling) glare at her. "Oops." She cleared her throat, before speaking again. "Ok, let me try that again. Your dad isn't here at the moment, and even if he was, he wouldn't be allowed here."

"Still, I'm not going to just trot his room just because I can."

Final gave me a nonplussed look, before standing up and trotting off. "Wait, where are you going?" I asked quickly.

"Into his room, duh."

My eyes popped wide. I jumped off the couch, my mouth blathering off as I stumbled stupidly to move in front of her. "No!"

"Nimbus, look, we're never going to find out why your Dad left if you keep doing this."

I balked, but eventually I sighed and conceded the point. "Ok then, I'll go. You stay out here."

She gave me a salute, still grinning. "Ok, sir."

"And quit it with the 'sir'."

Snickering, she trotted off to the kitchen, and I walked up to the door of my father's room, a sense of apprehension in my heart. I knocked on it. It was a stupid and pointless move, of course, but just on the off chance he was hiding in here... There was no reply. I eased the door open, stepping inside and taking a look around.

The first thing that stood out was how... small it was. It had to be at least a quarter of the size of my room, with a small one-pony bed in one corner. The realisation that Dad had given me the largest room in this house dawned on me, which admittedly didn't help me feel any better. The next thing I noticed was all the photographs and things up on the walls. Pictures of Dad when he was my age, pictures of me when I was a little foal, a few of Mum...

There wasn't anything explaining Dad's absence. Nothing obvious, anyway. Dad should have a diary somewhere in here. 'Should' being the key word. Nothing was just lying around, so I went looking through the drawers of his desk. I found some old, mostly empty books and a hoofful of magazines (including a copy of Wingboner magazine, which I quickly put back), a few pens, and some bits. No diary.

Sighing, I closed the drawer, my eyes settling on the glowing terminal on his desk. I had only used terminals for a few things before, and most of them were public. Shouldn't be too hard to do something. I sat down on the chair, and hit a key on the terminal.

Some letters flashed up:

Welcome, Cloudius Cloudhoof.

Mission reports

Diary

Shut down

I smiled. Tapping the arrows until I had 'Diary' selected, I hit the enter key.

Password:

_

Ok, credit where it's due, I'd password-protect my diary too. I growled, hit the 'back' key and selected mission reports. These ones were a number of years old and weren't much different from the ones I had practiced on the terminals. That wouldn't really help, though some of them were interesting reads. I returned to the Diary screen.

I needed to find a password. I sighed, putting a hoof to my chin. I couldn't hack it - I had no clue how. Now... if I were Dad, what password would I use?

I typed in 'cloudius' and hit Enter. Incorrect password. I tried 'nimbus'. Incorrect password. I tried 'cloudhoof', 'enclave', 'password'... nothing worked. I frowned at the stupid machine. Obviously this thing thought I was an idiot. I vowed to crack its secrets, even if I had to use a crowbar.

I sighed, defeated, and got up to leave, before my eyes caught sight of a framed photo beside the computer. It was a picture of my father, young and handsome, standing next to my mother. It was hard to tell, but I think her stomach was bulging out. It took me a second to realise that it wasn't fat - that was me in there. I grabbed the photo and looked at her smiling face. I never really got to know my mother. She died when I was about a year old. But from the photographs Dad had shown me, she had seemed like a beautiful, kind mare. I ran a hoof on the photo, before placing it down. It took me a mere second to remember that her name was Evening Gale.

I typed in 'evening'.

Correct password.

Thanks, Mum.

Another list scrolled down, with about nine times and dates on it. I looked through them all; only three really stood out; one from about 20 years ago, one from 10 years ago, and one from... yesterday.

Entry one

Today was my first descent down to the surface. I have to admit... I was shocked. The world below was in such ruin. The city of Vanhoover is less city and more rubble. I saw a bunch of savage ponies descend on a caravan, shooting and swinging swords at a small group of seemingly helpless ponies.

What was most surprising about that, for me, was that there were living ponies, and not only that, but most likely a functioning economy down there. Equestria has been reborn under our noses. I would have stayed longer to find out more, but I felt my skin crawling so I'll need to get some good anti-radiation chems. I've got a present for Evening, and I don't want to be actually glowing when I do.

Entry seven

Today's the tenth anniversary of when I asked Evening for my hoof in marriage. I'm managing... barely. I've had a few drinks, but not too much that I want to upset poor little Nimbus with an angry, drunk and depressed daddy. Even so, I really don't want him worrying about me. I dropped him off at his friend's house for a sleepover. I just don't want the poor kid around me for a little while. I'll buy him something nice when I pick him up; the little trooper deserves it.

I've been thinking about the mission I was on before I asked Evening to marry me, and my most recent mission down there. Vanhoover isn't dead; it's alive, even if it's barely. I can't believe we're sitting up here and not trading or even talking with them. We could supply them with fresh water; they could bring us food and part of any crops they grow, if they even grow crops. We won't ever have to worry about

I had another few drinks. I just had another wave of depression. I'm going to go to bed. I'll expect my pillow will be damp tomorrow morning. Hopefully I'll be better before I pick up my little pony.

Entry nine

That's it. I can't just sit here anymore, letting the ponies below starve and die because we won't help them. I'm not entirely happy about what I'm going to do, but I believe it's the right thing to do.

I'm going to go down there.

I really don't want to leave Nimbus or his friend Final behind. I want to see them grow up, and I want to be there for Nimbus when he becomes a corporal... but they're already suspecting me of wanting to leave, and I can't leave this be.

Nimbus. I know you're probably reading this. I'd be stupid of me not to assume you'd have figured out the password. You were always a smart kid like that. In any case, don't follow me. I know you might want to, but there's no point. If you are going to leave, don't do it because of me. Do it for yourself. Actually, just don't. This is something I need to do by myself. Take care of yourself, have a good life up here, and for Celestia's sake, clean up your room!!! Dinner's in the fridge, all you need to do is reheat it. I'm sure you can bring Final over to help cook something. Please, stay safe. And remember, I love you. I always will. Make your mother proud.

After a moment, I realised my eyes were watering. I blinked the tears away, rubbing the rest with my hoof. Dad didn't just leave because he wanted to.

He left because he needed to.

I shakily stood up, shutting the terminal off. It was only a sentimental thing, but didn't want to disturb Dad's room any further.

"So, what's the plan?" Final asked me after a while. She had found Dad's meal in the fridge and had reheated it. Were it not for my blocked nose, not to mention my mood, it would have tasted awesome. It just tasted like sadness now. It still tasted good, but sad.

I looked up at her. "What?"

Final leaned forward, having already eaten her fill. "Well, you know why your Dad left and you're just going to sit there and do nothing to help him?"

"I'm not going to go find him," I quietly said, placing my plate down. I wasn't hungry. Final greedily grabbed it and began finishing it off. "He said that I should stay here." And, considering this was an atomic wasteland we were talking about, I'm not sure we'd even survive down there. Was Dad even alive? That thought gripped my guts and played with them like a filly with a bit of rope.

"I'm not saying we're going after him,” Final clarified through a mouthful of lettuce. "I'm saying we'll go down to help him, and the ponies living down there."

"We?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course!" She grinned, slamming a hoof to her chest. "Where you go, I go. That's what friends and subordinates are for."

I groaned, but that soon turned into a chuckle. "Friends, please. None of this 'corporal and private' stuff, please."

She shrugged, her grin ever-present. "Ok, sir. So, are we going down or are we just gonna sit here?"

"No, we're..." I hesitated. I know I had reasons not to go, but did I have any reasons to stay? I wouldn't be really that well-liked around here, considering my name would be forever associated with a traitor. I remember hearing the story of some Dashite's daughter in Neighvarro who was bullied constantly. I didn't want something like that to be a persistent problem in my career, not to mention everywhere else. And I couldn't just see myself sitting here; with everything I could ever want, in a perfect but ignorant paradise, knowing that old Equestria was below the clouds, ponies struggling just to live another day. Not to mention that we were trained and (hopefully) armed soldiers - if ponies with less training could survive down there, Dad, Final and I could probably manage it quite well. And, well... Final seemed insistent on the idea; if I didn't go down she'd go down anyway, and I'd rather not lose my best friend because I wussed out.

I sighed. "Actually, no. We're going down there."

Final smirked. Where you go, I go.

Despite every plea, I had to leave Final behind when I decided to sneak into the Enclave base and grab some gear. Well, to be honest, it was less 'sneak in' and more 'walk in during the evening'. The sun had just set over the horizon, the sky slowly turning into its usual black and deep blues, the moon high up in the sky. With any luck, getting everything we needed from here would be a piece of cake.

Entering the building, and giving a 'good night' to a pair of privates who were leaving, I looked up at the rearing statue of Thunderlane. I was still impressed. I was almost upset I would never see this statue again, but I'm sure the great hero would understand my reasons... if he was still alive, of course.

I trotted through the locker rooms, walking up to my locker and grabbing some kit from it. I doubted I'd need deodorant, but soap would be good. My knife rested at my flanks in its scabbard. I had plenty of food and water at home, and I could always grab a cloud if worse came to worse. I walked on to the general supplier and requisitioned about seven... no, eight, better make that eight canteens (I didn't want to run out of water). I knew deep down I was stealing these, but it wasn't as bad as taking it from somepony directly - ponies lost gear all the time, and the worst punishment I had heard about was latrine duty. I also grabbed a number of dried food packets just in case, and some other things we might need. I even decided to slip the mare at the stall some bits for her trouble, which brought a smile to her face. Though that may have been by how ridiculous I looked with everything covering me, making me look like tortoise.

I was starting to regret not having a few extra hooves around.

Now came the harder bit - weapons. From what I could gather, there were still savages down there, and we needed to have some way of fending them off. Neither Final nor I were any good at close combat, so a couple of knives wouldn't exactly help. The problem with trying to get weapons was that there was almost always a custodian in there, making sure we grabbed the right bits and weren't just taking them for no good reason. We had a good reason, of course, but I doubted the Enclave would see it the same way. I continued on, walking up to the armoury, pushing on the solid cloud-iron door and sliding in, all while trying to keep quiet.

"Hey Nimbus." Leaf, who was busy cleaning a plasma rifle, turned to me and smiled.

I let out a little yelp of surprise. Truth be told, I wasn't expecting her to be here this late.

"Hey Leaf," I said, trotting along the racks of weapons, grabbing a couple of plasma rifles and plasma pistols. For some reason, I always preferred plasma weapons over laser. I guess it was just that lasers weren't as powerful. More accurate, sure, but not as good at doing damage. I scooped up some ammo, too; enough for seven reloads each. "Wasn't expecting you here."

"Alas, I was no more than five minutes late for a drill, so I was forced to remain back and keep all these weapons as spotless as I possibly can."

"Uh-huh," I murmured. "Is there any armour here?"

"They're in the back section," she reminded me. I nodded and trotted into the back room. There was a lot of armour here, all of different sizes. I could grab some of them, but then we'd be too obvious and not very stealthy. But there wasn't any other alternative, really. My eyes scanned the room, and soon found a couple of crates, marked with a spray-on Enclave icon. Curious, I walked up and undid the latches, letting it slide open. Inside were these strange black bodysuits, glossy black plates over certain points, and some light helmets which left the wearer's muzzle uncovered. I lifted one of the body suits up, and it felt fairly light. It looked armoured enough to stop plasma, but was still stealthy. The words 'Stealth Armour MkII' were written on the sides of them.

Well that explains that.

I slid them into the bag, too, and then trotted out of that small room and to the door.

"So, you're going on a dangerous mission, eh?" Leaf said silkily, not even looking away from the cleaned rifle. I halted and turned to face her.

"How did you know?"

"You wouldn't be grabbing that much ammunition if you weren't." She looked up at me, half-lidded. I grinned sheepishly, feeling my face getting a little warm.

"Yeah, Final and I are going on a pretty important mission. Not sure when I'll be back."

She stood up, laying the rifle down and enticingly trotting up to me, swinging her tail and looking deep into my eyes. I took a number of steps back, until I was pinned on the rack of magic laser rifles. She pressed her body against mine, wrapping her forelegs around my torso. Oh hell, I could smell her desire from here. I blinked in shock, trying to wriggle away.

"Well, if you're going to be out for a while, allow me to give you..." she chuckled sexily. "...a 'parting gift'."

Leaf had recently hit one of her 'cycles'. Considering she was alone in a room, bored as fuck, with nothing to relieve any tension, it shouldn't have been a surprise she had jumped on the first thing with a dick that entered the room. "L-Leaf?"

She leaned further forward, about to come in contact with my mouth, but I stopped her before she could go any further. She looked up at me, a mix of lust and confusion on her face.

"Leaf, what the hell...?"

She chuckled again. "Oh, just that every time you look at me, you always have this... gaze, as if you're imagining what dirty things you could do with me... and that turns me on..." She grinned, pushing me further on the rack. I tried to protest, reminding her she was effectively going to rape me, but she managed to finally plant a kiss on my lips, silencing me.

I find Leaf as attractive as everybody else does, but despite all my hormone-fueled fantasies, I didn't want this! I had more important things to do! And while she was a damn good kisser, I didn't have time for this sort of distraction. Keeping my body upright with my wings alone, I panicked and pushed on her stomach with my hindlegs, forcefully parting our lips and sending her staggering, eventually falling on her haunches, her face stuck in a look of shock. I panted, wiping my mouth with a hoof.

"No, Leaf."

Leaf looked up at me, her forest green mane falling over her face. "But-"

"I'm sure you know that forcing yourself onto someone is wrong, even if you are in that sort of mood."

Leaf blinked a few times, before blowing her mane out of her face and standing up, rubbing a foreleg and looking down. "I... I'm just... It's been so long since I've..." She looked away, blushing from embarrassment, before turning back to me. "I'm so sorry, sir."

"Please, just call me Nimbus." I decided to turn around, opening the door. Part of me didn't want to leave the poor mare like this, horny without a stallion or mare to help, but another part told me Final was waiting and I couldn't delay at all.

"N-Nimbus?"

I turned back to face her. "Yes?"

"Please return quickly and safely." She gave me a salute.

Nodding, I decided to leave it at that.

As soon as I closed the door, I turned and was greeted with a snarling crimson face. "Cloudhoof!"

I hastily threw a salute. "Sir!" It was one of the highest-ranking officers on base, Wing Commander Brush, glaring up at me. Didn't help he was shorter than Final. Or was I tall? Probably both

"What do you think you're doing, corporal?"

I remained facing forward. "Preparing for a mission, sir!"

"What mission?" He lifted himself off the ground to look into my eye. If he weren't the sort of pony who'd tear you apart for the smallest of offences, I'd probably have laughed. "I didn't hear about any mission."

"It's need-to-know, sir. Only the top brass, Private Step and I are allowed to know," I lied. I kept hoping he'd buy it.

After a few terrifying seconds, he nodded. "Very well. I'll double-check anyway. Good luck, soldier." And with that, he flew off.

As soon as he disappeared I sighed and quickly got the hell out of there.

Honestly, I was expecting more sneaking and less talking during that trip, I thought as I returned home in the darkness of the night. I opened the door, and saw that Final was deep asleep on the couch, curled into a little pony-sized ball. Looking at her quietly dozing, I remembered a moment from our childhood, where she had jumped next to me to wake me up. I distinctly remember hitting the roof rather painfully.

I smirked. Time for a little bit of payback.

I crouched low, snuck up, and checked the wall opposite her to make sure it was soft enough, before rearing up and slamming my hooves on one end of the couch, sending the other up into the air like a catapult. Final shrieked before her back slammed into the wall, her head facing the floor. By the way she was hanging, her wings had pinned her down.

"Nimbus!" She shouted, struggling to wriggle herself free. I just fell onto the ground, clutching my stomach and sides as I laughed like a madpony. She finally popped free, falling on her face, got up and trotted up to me. I looked up at her, giggling. The cloud beard she had acquired just made me laugh even harder.

"That was revenge for seven years ago, wasn't it?"

I nodded. She smirked and held out a hoof. I took it and stood up, albeit still giggling like mad.

"I'm not surprised you remembered that."

I finally stopped laughing after a few minutes, then patted away her beard. "Ok, so I've got some weapons we can use, and some canteens. Plenty of ammo, and some extra food in case we run out or something."

Final opened the bag, smirking as she rummaged around. Her face changed to one of confusion when she lifted out one of the stealth armour suits. "What're these things?"

"Stealth suits," I said matter-of-factly. "Well, stealth armour, but still kinda the same thing."

"Sweet."

Well, they weren't exactly fashionable, but they certainly were comfortable.

"Does my flank look big in this thing?" Final muttered jokingly, peering over her shoulder. I shrugged in response, then stretched my wings and forelegs. A few seconds later she shook her head, smirking.

"Alright, I think we're good to go," I said. Water? Check. Food? Check. Weapons? Check. Armour? Check.

Final smiled and trotted out of my house. As stupid as it was to do so, I turned off all the lights and locked the door behind me. (The lights were unicorn-enchanted balls of cloud. Because trying to get electrical circuits through clouds is hard and only reserved for certain buildings).

We quietly slinked out to the 'edge' of the city. While the expanse of clouds continued as far as I could see, most of it was soft beyond the cities. We finally stopped about a hundred metres from the buildings, and I took the opportunity to look back at Feathertip, probably for the last time.

"You know... I'm going to miss this place," I muttered as a wave of... something... washed over me. Apprehension? Nostalgia? Love?

"Same here,” Final said. "But we'll be doing better."

I spotted some moving lights in the distance. I strained to get a better view, but quickly I realised that they were...

Oh come on!

I tapped my friend on the shoulder, then pointed at the unit of soldiers. "Final, we've got company."

Damn! Commander Brush must have found out, or Leaf let word slip about it. Either way, we had a bunch of ponies after us.

She looked back, and although we had no proper view of our eyes, I could just make out her pupils becoming pinpricks as she spotted them.

"Shit!" She began pressing against the ground. I, too, joined her in her efforts. The clouds were too damn solid, and even when I started scraping some of it away, it just fixed itself quickly.

I heard shouts, all the lights pointed towards us. I cursed loudly, and started pounding the ground. "Stupid...! Just...! Part...! Dammit!"

Final stopped pushing, then reached into one of her saddlebags, pulling out a black metal apple with a green band around it. I looked up, halted what I was doing, and blinked, making sure I wasn't imagining this.

"A grenade?!" I shrieked.

"Yeah!"

"What the... how... where'd you even get that?!"

"Stole some seven months ago!" she cackled, pulling the stem out, dropping the grenade, stomping on it, grabbing her helmet, and jumping off to the side. Without time to muse about why she stole some grenades, I did the same, and in a second I heard the kaboom of the explosion-enchanted emerald crystal inside going off. After a moment I looked back up, and saw a hole wide enough for two ponies in its place. Final, still grinning insanely, gave me a salute and jumped down fearlessly.

I snapped my head to the incoming Enclave soldiers. They were shouting at me, but I didn't hear what they were saying. The hole below me was slowly closing up, and looking down into it, I saw a black, limitless pit, with water droplets cascading off the edges into the abyss. I stepped to the edges, and fear gripped me. It was deep, dark, wet and most likely somewhat irradiated, and my body fought my mind for control. However, in a few seconds, the hole would close up, and the soldiers would be right next to me to cart me away to be detained, maybe worse...

Ok, now or never.

I lifted both my forelegs up, splayed my wings, and let gravity do the rest. Just as the soldiers arrived, shouting at me to stop, I gracefully and calmly lifted off the cloud and began the descent to the surface world, the hole closing up right behind me, locking me from everything I knew and in a strange new world.

Footnote: Level Up.

New Perk: Mare Killer -- +10% damage to the opposite sex and unique dialogue options with certain ponies.

Author's Note

After editing this several times, then running it through the pre/proof-readers, it's finally done! Oh, sweet fufillment!

I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter and are looking forward to the next one

~StormbadgerXIII