Fallout Equestria: Wounded Worlds

Chapters

Prologue: A New Era
Chapter 1: September
Chapter 2: Angels and Demons
Chapter 3: Bootcamp
Chapter 4: Spot Me
Chapter 5: Homecoming

Prologue: A New Era

Prologue: The New Era

In the beginning, there was nothing... I'm kidding. There was Equestria and the Goddesses, Celestia and Luna. The mighty alicorn princesses that brought night and day upon the citizens of their modest country. The zebras were from a faraway land that nopony ever really cared or knew about. The only thing the two really understood about each other, is that they had what the other needed. Equestria was practically sitting on a two mile deep hot spot of gems and the zebra land had an overabundance of coal. The zebras needed the gems for their incantations and miscellaneous spells and the Equestrians needed the coal to fuel their trains. So, naturally, the two countries traded. There was harmony between them for over a millennium. But on one fateful day, trade between the two locations ceased. Equestrians were without their transportation and the zebras without their spells. The countries reached a boiling point and war struck. Equestria changed for the worse, for it hadn't seen war in thousands of years. And as many know by now, war, war never changes. The greed, sickness, hysteria, and general lack of friendship tore the countries apart in anarchy. It was as if Dischord were there and behind the whole mess, but he had died along with the statue his soul was bonded to when Canterlot fell. When the megaspells struck, Equestria's greatest minds had prepared shelter for most ponies in the form of a Stable, or a fallout shelter, to protect them from the radiation and explosive force of megaspells. When the megaspells struck, everypony either withered away from the radiation or impact, or were safe in their Stables. That is, all except for the pegasi, who abandoned all their fellow pony after the strike on Cloudsdale. The day Cloudsdale fell would go down as one of the most horrifying attacks against pony-kind. Hundreds of thousands of pegasi were killed, injured, or left homeless. That day, the pegasi turned on their reserve cloudmaker and sealed the sky up forever. Nopony ever ventured from the stables to figure out what happened. Nopony ever left the clouds, such was the way of the Enclave. Our story starts here with a pegasus 150 years after the last of the megaspells fell. This is his tale. This is my tale.

Fallout Equestria: Wounded Worlds

Author's Note

Author's Note:

This is my first fanfiction I have ever written. I hope that you enjoy. This is a spin off from Fallout Equestria by Kkat. I am in no way affiliated with the author of the fanfic titled: "Fallout: Equestria". All of my thanks to the Dev. team and storyboard writers of F:E for the great inspiration. If you have not played the fallout franchise games, or read "Fallout: Equestria", you may be very confused. This story was co-authored at points and gramatically corrected by my friend Sam and my cousin Jacob. I owe you both. I am open to constructive criticism. Think something should be added? Drop a comment, shoot me a PM on the site, or email me at Halcyonpony@gmail.com I hope you enjoy reading as much as I did writing it.

Chapter 1: September

I was, yet again, above the cloud cover. The crisp autumn air whisked around me and through my mane, kicking it up into a heap. I knew it was a death wish to come above the clouds for somepony like me, yet, what did I have to lose? The Enclave has already stripped me of everything and everypony who had ever cared for me or loved me. I felt a nickering in the back of my head. It was my subconscious reminding me that the guard patrol would be back in a minute or two. Just one more look is all I need. Just one final peak at what had once been the home of my wife, two kids, and mine. I glanced at the corner where the guards would round in about seven seconds. I quickly flew towards a fluffy, white house and hid behind it. I took a deep breath and began to wait.
I counted down from fourteen. ...3...2...1...Go.
I turned, putting myself perfectly between the two guards and right behind them. I walked with them, staying cleverly away from anything that could catch me in their peripheral vision. The street was dead silent, minus the light breaths I could hear the two guards taking. Just as they started to turn to complete their round, I sank just into the clouds so that I couldn't be seen or stepped on. I waited 23 seconds for the guards to be out of sight, then returned to my initial task of finding the house. According to my inner sense of direction, my house was a left, a right, continuing on a straight away, then a final left and it was the eighth house on the left. Even though I had been away from this cursed city for 4 years, I still remembered it like the back of my hoof.

In no time, I was at my house. I stared at it for almost five minutes. I wanted to enter so bad, but I knew I couldn't. First off, the new owners probably wouldn't appreciate the lone dashite barging his way into the house. Second, if I entered the house, I risked an emotional breakdown of rage and sorrow. That was a risk I wasn't about to take. I took another long glance. And flew back down towards the Equestrian wasteland. But, of course, as I left, somepony saw my flank. Of fucking course. Alarms rose up around the city of New Haven quickly. Apparently the pony who had spotted me knew me before I left the Enclave. There was almost nopony left who would know me in New Haven. Though confused as to who could have recognized me, I made my escape before the Enclave even knew how to respond to the threat. I dove below the clouds to be greeted by the sweet tingling sensation of radiation glowing from below. The area was known as Fillydelphia when it stood, proud and tall. The city was, by all means, no longer glorious. It was a pile of rubble with a mile wide crater just east to the towns center. I flew past as quickly as I could as not to draw attention to the raiders and slavers that might be inhabiting the area.

I had made a new life for myself in Friendship City as Harbinger of Greatness with Capricorn. I didn't deserve the title. I was far too dark with a much too horrible history to have such an alias. Capricorn had left with me, but I asked him to stay below the clouds. He was far more recognizable than I was with his coat. Practically nopony had a black coat in the Enclave anymore. I landed on the outskirts of the city on top of an abandoned grocery store where I had left Capricorn to go to New Haven. As I touched down, he rushed out in a fit of rage. "I heard the alarm from down here, what did you do?!" He was worried I had done what I was afraid I would do. He thought I had entered the house.

"No, I stood there too long. I can't risk going there again anymore now that I know somepony still knows what I look like. Help me remember that please?"

I gave a weak smile. Dread filled Capricorn's face. He stammered, "Wha-wh-g, FLY!" He turned and struck out for the edge of the building and swooped to the ground in an arc that would put him at the entrance to the store. I spun my head while starting to take off to see the stark black armor of Enclave soldiers shooting towards me. I flew to the indoors where Capricorn would be waiting and we would have the upper hand in the firefight. I used the door on the far left and did my best not to set off any of the traps we had rigged up for invaders, or now, the Enclave. I met Capricorn behind the barricade of flipped over and sideways shelves that we had made. The traps hadn't been intended for the Enclave, they were meant for the bandits, raiders, and slavers that stopped by here on occasion, but I guess saving my reckless flank was their destiny. I quickly threw on my battle saddle, custom fit with two laser rifles, and took aim at the entrance. The soldiers burst in through the doors, and were met by an onslaught of grenades. A massive explosion rocked the room as they went off all at once. The battle was still far from won. The frags only took out 2 of the five fully suited personnel. I took to the air and fired the lasers as fast as I could, concentrating on the closest target. Capricorn supported me with a double barrel shotgun from the ground. I emptied my second clip into the nearest soldier before he died. I dove back to cover for a reload. I heard the blast of Cap.'s double barrel and the satisfying sound of blood and internal organs flying everywhere follow. That meant four down, one to go. I spun off from cover and squeezed off 5 rounds from both rifles when the last target vaporized from the heat of the lasers. I smiled, and heard another shot. This wasn't the friendly 'bang' a shotgun, but the zip of a plasma pistol. I fell to my right side from a lack of balance. One of the soldiers hadn't been finished, and hit me. I was bleeding everywhere uncontrollably from my newly stumped right hind leg. I screamed. Nothing I had ever done had even remotely prepared me for the pain and sudden nausea of losing a limb. I puked on the ground, and continued to scream. What was better still is I had used our last healing potions and bandages on a local back in Friendship City. I felt a little light headed from blood loss, but stood with my good legs anyways. I collapsed from pain and promptly passed out.

Chapter 2: Angels and Demons

It was my senior year of Pegasus School. If you were to look me up in the yearbook, you would find that my name is Halcyon. I'm a navy blue pony with a straight, shaggy white mane that came to about the top of my shoulders at it's lowest point, and had light green eyes. My cutie mark, although invisible in the photo, is a silver set of binoculars. What you wouldn't have seen, even if the mark was in the photo, is the reflection of a monster on the glass of them. As far as I know, I am the only pony that can see it.

I was on the other side of the building as it happened. My brother, Cloudway, had never been the strongest willed pony. And it didn't help that there was a gang in the school. The Boltock gang was notorious for their bullying and extracting of lunch monies. Cloudway made an easy target as a freshpony to the seniors Buck and Squeaker. That day, they would never forget. Buck was the ringleader of the gang. He was a black coated pony with a brown mane and deep brown, commanding, eyes. He tugged at Cloudway's mane with his teeth. "Give us your lunch money, kid!" Buck spoke as if he were president of the Enclave. Demanding and cool. Buck had Cloud pinned on the ground. Buck's back hooves driving into his back and fore hooves keeping his wings on the ground. Cloudway sobbed quietly. A small, high pitched voice came from behind Buck. "Let me pull out his wings if he doesn't cooperate." Squeaker was the strongest pony in the school. A white stallion with a close cropped mane the color of hay. He lifted every day. Sometimes twice a day. Buck laughed and let Squeak in on the fun.

I had felt something was amiss. There were a few less ponies on their way to classes. More specifically, Buck and Squeaker weren't harassing passing ponies. That usually meant that they were in the freshpony hallway. I'd better help the poor soul being tortured today. Again. This wasn't the first time I'd been breaking up a fight. Something felt different about this one though. As I approached, I noticed a crowd of ponies circling the fight. The only other thing I saw, was that sky blue mane of Cloudway's being pulled longer than it should be. Time seemed to slow, then stop. Everything turned a sickly shade of red. I targeted the side of Squeaker's head. Faster than anypony anticipated, I struck him with all I had, knowing if I wanted to beat him, I had to do it all at once. Before he hit the ground, I bucked him again. This time in the chest, and sent him into the crowd. I had felt ribs crack under my hooves and, to my surprise, smiled. I hadn't needed to administer the second kick. I knew that. It was reassurance that he wouldn't want to fuck with me or my family. Ever again. I turned to face Buck and saw that he was scared shitless. His eyes widened with horror as he saw his companion in a useless pile on the ground. As an act to try to put something between me and him, he pulled out some of Couldway's mane. Before he could spit it out, I lost all restraints. I charged full force into him and hit him in the muzzle with my forehead, knocking him off balance. What happen next, I can only describe as what i saw in the aftermath. I beat him within an inch of his life, then stopped. I had regained enough control over my body to stop beating him. I looked at the deformed mass beneath me, drowning in a pool of it's own blood. I decided that I had the courtesy to not let him die, and rolled him over, then spat on the clouds next to him, still seething with rage. The Enclave had arrived to stop the Boltock gang, and instead arrived in time to see me as the monster I thought I had locked away years ago. The monster that did unspeakable things to anypony it touched or got in it's way. They trotted towards Cloudway to carry him to the infirmary. I shot them the most dangerous look I had and spoke. The intensity in my voice grew with every word until I was practically yelling. "Don't. You. Dare. Touch. Him." They backed away and instead turned to the medical attention of the two gang members. The two were rushed to a hospital. The group of ponies parted as I neared. I wasn't sure what I smelled on them. Fear, or respect. As I broke to the center, a beautiful mare helped my brother to his feet. I gathered Cloudway from her. I looked into her eyes and quietly thanked her, then made progress slowly to the nearest door. "Let's get you home Cloud."
"What happened back there Hal?" Cloudway was still dazed. He blacked out when his head hit the ground after his mane was pulled.
"I became the monster I've strived to lock up for so many years. I lost control to save you from those bastards. Don't worry about it though. I got the better of it before too much damage was done this time. For now, let's get you home to rest and heal."

A few days later, I was going back through the usual routine again. Honors Physics, Advance Placement Literature, Chemistry, and Sociology. It felt like everypony was avoiding me. behind my back I heard them whisper and call me names. The one that I heard most commonly, was "Malignant". The treated me as if I were a disease or that I were the monster that i caged inside of me. (To be honest, I would do the same thing.) Everypony except Summerfly. A mare that was not only attractive, but of high intellect as well. We shared classes for the last half of the day. She had a golden yellow coat and a blonde mane. Though, it was her eyes that held my attention most. (As an added bonus, her wings were nice). Her eyes were a kind of hazel that often seemed to change color to green, blue, or brown. My favorite was when they looked a mix of all four. She was also the mare who helped Cloud to his feet. I stared at the nearby wall. I had finished the lesson and reading for the day thirty minutes into the class. A group of Enclave soldiers interrupted my Soc. class. "Mr. Halcyon?" asked one of the soldiers.
"Yeah, that's me." I replied in bored voice.
"We wish to speak with you in private." I looked to my teacher, Mr. Sovereign. His look told me that I was excused. They led me away to the most remote part of the school, which was odd. They were in a formation around me. Two in the back and two in the front. Something wasn't adding up... Wait... They were going to jump me to see if they could provoke the monster again. I wouldn't let them. Just as they cued each other to turn on me, I pulled my signature move. To be honest, I only have a slight clue as to how I can, but I can sink through clouds at my own will. Change their density or my own. Haven't figured out which yet. I sank through the cloud floor and they all smashed into each other. I ran down the corridor back to my class. (Which, in hindsight, was pretty foalish). I entered the room and everypony looked at me expectantly. I sat down again and resumed my what would be studies if I hadn't finished them already. Instead I turned to converse with Summerfly, who had finished reading today's section while I was out. Not 45 seconds into the conversation, an Enclave soldier reentered the room. "What the hell do you want from me now? I've already declined whatever offer you tried to make." I tried to be subtle so as to not wound the officers pride. "I, umm... Please, Mr. Halcyon, could you just step into the hallway this time?"
"If it's what's best for you, then I guess." I stood up again and gave Summerfly a quick wink before leaving. Pretty sure I made her blush.

There was a familiar face in the hall as I stepped outside. General Spectrum was there. He was a military green with a close cropped, white mane and a similar, white color for his eyes. "I was watching the monitors this afternoon and couldn't help but notice my top four body guards collide into each other where you had been standing not seconds ago. I thought it was magic at first, but remembered you weren't an alicorn. So, how did you do it, kid?" Spectrum asked, almost excitedly if I might add.
"And why the fuck should I tell you...sir?" I still wasn't amused with their plan of trying to release my demon again.
"Ahem. Need I remind you that you are referring to your superior!" Spectrum was almost red-faced.
"Sorry, Specs, but I don't like it when ponies try to bring out the worst in me. Your guards are lucky I discovered their ploy before it happened. You might not have had any guards left. Sir" I continued. "I'll have you know that the skill I displayed is very complex and the only reason I can even fathom doing it is because of the level of physics and science I comprehend."
"How dare you call me that!" The general was seething now, but slowly calmed. "Even then, how does the understanding of physics and science help you sink through clouds like an earth pony?"
"I'm glad you asked! This proves you know little to nothing about ponies as a species. Here is your lesson for the day: All ponies of Equestria are magical in one way or another. Unicorns posses the most obvious, raw form of magic. Telekinesis and spell casting. Earth ponies can invent and create things to help them do things they could never accomplish, or allow them to do more with less effort. Pegasi can apply their knowledge to most things they do. Because I have a vast knowledge of densities, I can apply subtle changes to them around or in me. I think."
The general looked at me blankly for a moment, then nodded as if he really knew what I was talking about. Summerfly snickered from inside the room. Just audible enough for me to hear that she had been there, listening the whole time. The general gave me an impressed look. "If you would join the Enclave you would be immediately promoted to major when entering due to current progress in your classes and to our "recent observations". You are clearly fit to lead as soon as you come out of Bootcamp, which, of course, will be shortened for you."
The General continued to gush me with the things he read about me on my file, always steering clear of my outbursts of anger. He also offered me a free two month leave for every year I served. To this day I regret not telling the Enclave bastard to go clop with his grandmother's hooves. The reasoning behind picking me was one of the most sick and twisted reasons ever. The only thing that I can think of saying yes for, is that they flattered me in front Summerfly. So, of course, I accepted. Only one good thing came out of this. I met and made a lifelong companion.

Chapter 3: Bootcamp

I thought Bootcamp would be a breeze. It wasn't. Eighteen hours a day of hard physical labor for seven days for a total of two weeks. The next part was easier for me, as much as I didn't like it. I always excelled at hoof to hoof combat. During the exercises, I spotted a pony who seemed to have the same problem with hoof to hoof that I had. He was good. Really good, but he never wanted to fight. I soaked in his details. He had a black coat and mane, making him easy to remember. I'd like to meet that stallion someday. I thought. On better circumstances, of course.

We then moved onto the the weapons phase and learned to use and how to fire them accurately. There was much more down time, but it was all monitored. We perfected our marksmanship over a course of seven days. Then, Blue phase struck. Harder than I thought it would. Blue was a combination of everything we had done. A lot of it was physical prep with weapons at our sides. Most of the platoon I was in failed and was sent to a new platoon. All but two of us in fact. Myself, and the completely black stallion I had observed in hoof to hoof. Our commander looked at the two of us and laughed quietly at first, then louder and harder until he was crying from laughing so hard. "Oh. Ohohohoh. Hoohoohoo. I bet. You are wondering. Why I'm. Laughing so hard." the commander took breaths spasmodically so that he wouldn't choke himself. "No, sir. I have not a clue." I replied. "Not a clue, sir." repeated the black stallion. "Because you two are the most adorable little recruits to ever pass! Useless maggots! How the hell you two passed and nopony else did is beyond me. Regardless, I was told by my superior officer to make you bitches fight for the spot on his platoon."
"What if ve choose not to." this was the first time I heard the other pony speak with his accent. It was slight, but obviously Germian.
"Then you go with the rest of the retards who didn't pass and re-start Bootcamp. Your choice queers." I looked over to the charcoal pony. As we faced each other, I was taken a back by his eyes. The icy blue seemed to chill me to my very soul. For the first time in a long time, I think I was intimidated. It was a new experience. Out of respect for my opponent, I lowered my head and whispered, "Sorry we had to meet like this."
"I am sorry for the way it will end." the charcoal pony solemnly replied.
The fight was one of the most intense fights I had ever fought. I constantly had to use my sinking technique to avoid his fast blows. I occasionally threw a few hooves back, but he parried them with ease. Every now and then one of us would land a strike to the side of the body or legs. Nothing really crippling or injuring though. The fight went similar to this for almost an hour. Neither of us had landed a devastating punch yet. It was obviously not as one-sided of a fight as the drill sergent thought. He had lost interest about a quarter through the fight though.
I could barely move anymore. It needed to stop. I asked my adversary to hold while I fought for my breath. He stopped his assault and gladly went for a breather as well. I hadn't even noticed he was fatigued until he withheld. This wouldn't end. Not until one of us passed out from exhaustion, or got a lucky punch off.
"Why are you stopping?!" Yelled the sergeant.
"Sir, because fuck you. If making your officers platoon means injuring this pony." I paused, taking another breath. "I'm out."
"Why you insubordinate shit. I should..." Much to my surprise, General Spectrum stepped in front of him. "You are dismissed, sergeant." The drill pony grumpily trotted away, muttering something about revenge. "I am General Spectrum, I know that we have met before Halcyon, but I am unfamiliar with who you are, recruit. State your name soldier."
"I am Shadow Shot, sir." Shadow Shot was clearly trying to avoid eye contact by staring past the General. I knew why. His eyes were practically a weapon on their own.
"Well, I was watching the display of physical prowess and honor you both showed in the past hour and have come to a conclusion. You are both being immediately administered directly to my platoon."
"Thank you, sir." both Shadow and I said in unison.
"You are both dismissed for the rest of the day. You are to report to cabin number 1-9-6-8 for curfew and share the open bunk."
"Again, thank you, sir." I said.

We had the rest of the day to ourselves. So, I decided to really meet Shadow Shot formally. "So, you're Shadow Shot?" I asked.
"Yes. Though just Shadow if fine. Who, may I ask, are you?" Shadow seemed like a really hard character. The way he said everything seemed to be well thought and solid. It was almost unnerving.
"As I'm sure you heard the general say, I'm Halcyon. Hal is fine though."
"Nice to meet you under circumstances where we aren't fighting each other."
"Yeah. No kidding." I laughed a bit. "Whereabouts are you from?"
"I'd prefer not..." Shadow looked away.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't..."
"It's fine. Other ponies usually press about my past. They don't end up finding out anything other than that I hit hard."
"I can agree. I'm not proud of some of the things that I've done. Or who I can be." We made a silent agreement out of respect to not bring up the past. Yet.

Over the course of the next week, Shadow and I became fast friends. We spent hours training together. Many exercises were combat scenarios. Whenever there was a sniper role, Shadow took it, and I was his spotter. After the final week of Bootcamp and basic training ended, Multiple ponies in our platoon commented on how we acted almost as a single unit rather than two ponies. The general had held to his promise. I was immediately promoted to major. The only thing I really wanted to do now, was more negotiations concerning my leave.
"You want me to what?"
"You heard me right. I want to split my leave of two months with Shadow Shot."
"I don't understand what it is you see in that one." The general was skeptical.
"The thing is, I don't understand what you don't see. He is brilliant with a sniper rifle, practically a ninja, and an expert in hoof to hoof. Keep him with me, and we'll go places."
Spectrum thought for a moment. Shadow Shot had improved in all areas dramatically when I accompanied him. Our score for the combined accuracy course was nearly unfathomable. In the end, he conceded.
"I guess, only if you keep quiet about it though. I don't want the others to think I'm answering to you."
"You won't regret this, sir."
"Dismissed, now leave before somepony sees you." I happily trotted out of the generals quarters and decided to have a check at my mailbox. I hadn't talked to Cloudway in close to 3 months now.
When I stepped outside after reading and sending mail, there was a group of warrant officers waiting for me. "Here comes the general's fuck-buddy now. Speak of the devil."
"What do you want?" I shot at them, I felt rather impatient to get my mail today. They got off of the roofs they were chatting on.
The pegasi fluttered into a semi-circle around me. There were eight of them. "We are here to put you in your place. You don't deserve your rank. We have been here for upwards of 3 years at the least!"
"Yeah! Then you show up for, like, 3 months and are already 5 commendations higher than any of us!"
Really? That's what this herd was gathering over?
I sighed. "Are you really bitching about rank? How low do you get?" I muttered the last part under my breath.
"Actually, this is about Buck and Squeaker. They were family to all of us. You are the reason that they were both hospitalized." The pony speaking must have been the leader because he was doing the majority of the talking. "I'm Buck's oldest brother. I hope you know that he almost died from blood loss..." The orange pony stopped to compose himself. This was obviously painful for him.
"State your name, officer." I said in an official tone.
"Why the hell should YOU, of all ponies learn that?!"
"So that I can give proper condolence to your family. I see that I am the cause of this gathering today and don't want any trouble."
"Can whatever condolence you give allow Squeaker to live with both lungs again? If no, then you pay. Right here. Right now." He stepped out from the semi circle towards me, just enough that his cutie mark was visible. It was a silver badge with a star in the middle. I made a stab at what his name could be.
"Justice, is it?"
"H-how did you...?"
"You really don't want to do this. Engaging me in combat it a mistake you won't forget. Think of what happened to Buck. You can't leave him alone with nopony to care for him, can you?" Justice bit his lower lip, and backed away, only for another pony to take his place.
"They were caught unaware of your potential. I watched the fight. You may be quick, but you can't get all of us." This pony was trying everything in his power to keep his battle righteous. He smirked. "And we have you surrounded." I thought for a moment. Quickly glanced around the rooftops so as not to attract attention to my gaze. What I saw was a black figure shoot sneakily around the tops of the buildings. They had no idea ho one sided this fight would be now. I backed into a corner as if intimidated by the group of pegasi. "Wait, I have something to tell you all before you pound me." I put on my best scared face. They all laughed.
"And what, pray-tell, would that be?" One of them snarled.
I revealed my plot by removing my scared appearance and grinned.
"Duck." The smart ponies ducked immediately. The others stood confused for a moment, then were taken out by Shadow's powerful, fast attacks.
The fight was now 6 on 2. Shadow retreated to my side, glaring into the eyes of the enemy. One of them fled in fright. I guessed that the only ponies left were direct relatives of Buck and Squeaker. I decided to freak them out, and sank into the clouds. I had spent enough time with Shadow that he knew my plan. He sucked up all the attention he could by making vulgar insults and playing defense. My attackers were moving enough that I could see where they were from the clouds they were disturbing. I pulled them under the clouds when they were in the back of the group and knocked them unconscious while they were dazed from being pulled down. After there was an unconscious enemy, I tossed them back to the top of the battle field. I only got two of them before they noticed and took to the skies. I flew out of the clouds and back to the battle. Shadow and I were next to each other again. We dropped to the ground and fended off the enemy from there. Justice flew to the sky and dove straight towards us. I don't know how it happened, but Justice dropped to the ground for no reason and started convulsing and foaming from the mouth. I bucked the pony that was on Shadow's back off of him and ran over to aid Justice. The last pony rushed at me. Shadow tackled him away. "Leave him awake, but don't release him. I need to help Justice before he dies!"
I rushed at the pony and slid to a stop. I leaned my head down and put my ear to his mouth. He was still breathing. But the breaths he was taking, were shallow and heavily strained. It would be only another few minutes before he stopped all together. I flipped him on his back to get a better view of his chest. It looked like nothing had happened, then I saw it. There was a slight nub on the side of his neck that I hadn't noticed earlier while he was addressing me. I prayed that I was right, and tore it from his neck. There was little blood, but it looked painful. The good thing was, that he woke up and was instantly breathing better. I spat the small capsule looking piece of tech to the ground. "You okay?" I hastily asked.
"What the...aaag. That...mmmph. Hurt." Justice was dazed in his state of pain.
"I think something was shot in your skin while I was under the clouds that triggered inflammation of your trachea."
"Speak Equestrian, please." Justice, I decided, was not a smart pony. I did give him credit for nit attacking me right away, however.
"The metal thing in your neck was keeping you from breathing."
"What? Are you implying that I was a target of somthing?"
"No. I can only assume that it was a misfire from somewhere in camp."
"Wait. I wanted to kill you, you knew this, yet, you still save me? Why?"
"Because you were helpless. I don't kick my foe while they are down. Now, anything to say for yourself before I turn you in?" I threw a healing bandage over his wound.
"Why? Why did you hurt my brother like that?"
"For the same reason you came to fight me today. To protect my family. He was attacking Cloudway. I will never permit that."
"I see. Then I hope you can come to forgive Buck, for me. I'm sorry." I barely heard the last sentence as he was drug away from Shadow and I by some lieutenants. A couple of medical ponies rushed towards Shadow and me.
"You two okay?"
"We're just fine. The ponies you should be worrying about are the ones scattered on the ground, unconscious."
"Y-yes, sir." the pony flustered at his own stupidity. I trotted away with Shadow Shot to finish our day. "Hey, I got the general to split my leave with you."
"Why did you do that? I don't have anywhere to go or anything to do." Shadow lowered his head.
"So that we could hang out! I bought a cloud for you just around the block from me!"
"Why-that's-but...Thank you, Halcyon. Nopony has ever done something like that for me before."
"Well, now I have! The thing is, I'm planning something for when we get back. And I might need you to cover for me." I had been writing Summerfly after we had finished Bootcamp. I was going to get Shadow settled in his house first off. A date with her was next on the agenda.
"What exactly are you planning, Halcyon?"
"I'll tell you when I'm certain." It was going to be a big month if everything went my way.

Chapter 4: Spot Me

Shadow and I would normally get our month leave in a couple of weeks, but we were in the middle of a war now. The Enclave was attacking Hatsevoir Mountain for resources. The reason it is a war was due to the not-so-friendly flock of griffins that lived on the mountain. It wasn't so much of a war as it was shoot-the-near-defenseless-griffin-for-their-gems. It was wrong. As far as I knew, we hadn't even tried diplomacy. Despite my thoughts on it, orders were orders. Shadow and I would snipe from a cloud 700 meters out.

We arrived at our location 45 minutes early, as per norm. It was about 4 in the morning based on the sun, but after Celestia passed, it was always hard to tell. Our power armor that had been provided was stiff from the chill of the early morning. Our mission today was to stop bomb carts from reaching friendly positions 500 meters south of our location. The hostiles were assumed to approach around 0700, 1500, and 2100 hours. Shadow and I set up adjacent to each other. I set up my spotter scope. It was a 21x zoom, built in with a wind gauge and S.A.T.S. (Stable Assisted Targeting System). It was a dull job, sniping, but we (more so, I than Shadow) needed to stay focused so we didn't miss anything.

It was around 0630 when the first cart showed up into view. I peered dow the sight.
"647 meters out, 50 degrees left, wind of 5 kph to the south. S.A.T.S. says 43% chance to hit torso."
"Horsespples." Shadow squeezed off a round. The bullet hit it's mark. The griffin went limp and the bomb cart fell beneath the cloud cover. The next few hours were well spent. I spotted sparrows as they flew around 300 meters out and Shadow shit them with his silencer attached to the barrel. We stopped at 1300 to prep for the next cart. It wasn't as much of a cart as it was a giant metal machine of death. In stature, it looked to be around 40 meters high, and 70 meters long. It also had 3 smaller ones chugging along on its sides and back. The shape reminded me of blimps from the pre-war times and currently of our Thunderhead Battle Platforms. I peered back down my sight. "1200 meters out. To hell with what direction it is, and wind speed of 7 kph east. S.A.T.S. Isn't even picking it up."
I was pissed at whoever had collected out intel. There was no way that we were taking that down short of a miracle.
"Watch this." Shadow lined up, then shot. A few seconds later, the war blimp fell from the sky in a spiraling fashion, also knocking the smaller blimps out of the sky. It took me a few moments, but then... "Holy. Fucking. Fuck. You shot the pilot out of the fucking blimp! How the hell did you do that?!"
"The sparrows warmed me up." I knew there was something more behind it. I didn't press though, considering it probably concerned his past. That was something neither of us wanted to ask about really, regardless to how much we wanted to know about each other.

After the war-blimp, the day felt boring. We sucessfully shot down the third cart at the time it was supposed to come. I guess the intel pony wasn't completely worthless. When we arrived back at base, there was General Spectrum. He always had a knack for finding out where I was. And when he was looking for me, he wanted something. As the general drew near, Shadow and I stood at attention next to each other and saluted with our left wing. "Sir!"
"At ease gentlemen. Major Sparkle, you and Officer Shot have a new mission. In 72 hours, you are to be the diplomats for the Enclave and negotiate the terms of surrender in the Griffin's military base atop Hatsevoir Mountain. You will be going in without armor or weapons. We will have armed guard escort you to the objective point. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir!" we said in sync.
Spectrum cantered off.
"Well...we have 2 days on base with nothing to do." Shadow looked bored already.
"C'mon! I guess you didn't notice that there is a weight room. We are going to have plenty of fun. The only thing I ask, is that you spot me when we lift, because that's happening." I glanced in the rough direction of the weight room.
Shadow lowered his voice. "Is that a challenge?"
"It is if you are accepting. Yes." I smirked back at him. "Unless you're simply a little filly..." I held his gaze. Shadow poked my chest with his hoof. "You're on." "Bitch." he added. This was going to be good. We decided that the looser of the lift-off was paying for three rounds of shots. Then we would play pool. The winner was determined by whoever squatted the most weight. You did five reps for a set, then the next pony either matches, or increases. If the previous pony matched, you had to increase.

Shadow showed up around 15 minutes late, which was strange and unlike him. No matter. It had given me more time to stretch and psych up. When he did show up, he seemed short of breath. Perhaps it was a warmup prep I hadn't thought of before. "You ready to pump iron?" Shadow asked. I beamed. This was going to be exciting.
"Hell yes. Where were you? I said that we would start in five minutes from now and to show up 15 early."
"I thought I would just make it. Guess I'm faster than I thought." I think he was missing the point. Or avoiding his reasoning. It didn't change the fact that he was here now. The weights were an interesting mechanism. They are designed to hold clouds, then condense them to water to make them heavy when lifting and easy to transport when switching or not lifting. For some odd reason, we had built up quite the crowd with just the 2 warmup sets. I guess it was a good thing too. All the specialists offered to switch weight for us. I decided to set a moderate standard. "Set me up with 195." The soldiers set up the weights and I went to work on ripping out the five reps. It was easy. Joining the Enclave had significantly strengthened me. Shadow decided that was child's play. "Give me 250." Shadow said blatantly. He destroyed the reps like an obese pony to cake. I raised him 50. He increased by 25, then I by 15. We kept going until 475. The two of us were gassed. I barely managed to march him. He only increased by five the next set. I looked over the crowd, dazed from exhaustion, and thought I noticed a specific blond mane... No, we were on a military base. Civilians weren't allowed. I decided it was time to go big or go buy the shots now. "Let's do 500."
"You sure about that Halcyon? You struggled with the last set." Shadow sounded like he was mocking me. I got under the bar and lifted it to my back. It was really heavy. I barely managed to rack the weight after dusting out five reps. I was determined. I knew that Shadow had seen the new fire in my eyes. He smiled slightly, got under the bar, did two reps, then collapsed to the ground on the 3rd. The catch bars only barely managed to stop all of the weight from cascading down upon him. He dropped on purpose. He was clever in how he did it, other than he didn't actually have the struggle written in his eyes. He had meant to drop. Everypony cheered for my victory. I guess I was the only one to catch the flop. I'd had pressed the matters later, but the soldiers that hadn't already cleared, parted into a path, leading straight from me, to Summerfly. But, how did she get in? More importantly, how did she learn about the lift off? "Ummm...Hey, how are you Summer?" I decided to let that question work it's way in.
"Oh, just fine. Yourself?" Summerfly seemed uncomfortable in front of the other soldiers.
"I'm great. Let's go elsewhere to talk. Follow me. I know a great place," I turned and addressed the soldiers in the room. "and I'm not speaking to any of you." they laughed. "Dismissed." the ponies started to file out of the room. When it was empty, save Summer and me, I opened the back window. "The roof is always quiet and empty. Let's go there." I jumped out and hovered while waiting for Summer. She jumped out after me and I led her to the roof. It was about three stories above the cloud level of the base and had a platform large enough to land a couple of raptors. We landed on the roof and didn't speak for a few minutes. I just stared into those magnificent eyes of hers with a small smile on my face. I was surprised when she spoke first. "Your friend Shadow Shot found me and told me to come at once. I assumed the worst, but it was simply a lot of testosterone in one place..." she looked down as to impose a cuter appearance about her.
"That's why he was late." I chuckled a bit. "Figures. I talk about you so often you were probably a breeze to find."
"I was at home. I'm guessing that he read my address from one of your letters. He didn't read any did he?" she sounded slightly worried.
"The letters are censored both ways sending and receiving by the mail ponies. I thought you knew that." Summerfly blushed a deep red. "I'm just playing. No need for them to be censored at the time being. I don't know anything key to our success, so they will not censor my mail. Especially after one pony rushed to my desk after reading one. He looked so embarrassed. After that, I had all the mail delivered directly to my box and paid a few extra caps to have the mail ponies deliver my replies straight to you." She flushed again. I saw that I was in control of the conversation now. It would be awkward for her to speak. I decided that my agenda didn't consist of talking until we were a little farther from the base. I lifted her chin with my wing so that she was looking into my eyes. I held her gaze for a moment, then brushed some stray mane back behind her ear with my wing. I looked for another half second, then moved my head slowly towards hers, closed my eyes and kissed her. It only lasted a second, but it felt... different kissing her... like it was meant to be, however cheesy that sounds. As the kiss ended, she followed my lips, wishing for it to continue. "I-I'm sorry, we should wait. I don't have your fathers, or mothers consent to be dating you, and this is a military base and civilians aren't allowed. I am, however, inclined to escort you home." I felt bad for ending the moment. I wanted more of it. It felt almost wrong to stop. But it was the right thing to do. Summerfly looked slightly disappointed, but held and understanding look. She nodded and walked to the edge of the roof. "You must be mistaken. I am walking you all the way out and home. Walking." I had another trick up my sleeve still.
"And why would that be, soldier buck?" she questioned playfully. I guessed it was around 0400 hours now.
"Because New Haven is to the east if here and the sun raises in about an hour and a half from now. We would be walking into the sunrise." It sounded real cliché, but she fell all over it. Summer practically welded herself to my side. I put my wing around her body and walked her outside the base. The whole way, her head nuzzled softly on my chest.

The next hour went by quickly. But as I had promised, we were soon walking into the sunrise. It was so beautiful, the sun. The way all that clouds seemed to dance around in vibrant pinks, purples, and blues was astonishing. I was compelled by it's beauty to kiss Summerfly again. Accept, longer because we weren't in danger of anypony mocking us on the base. I didn't want the moment to end this time. I let it go until she stopped for air. "Halcyon, there is something I have been meaning to ask you." she sounded worried. I hoped that she hadn't put the pieces of my past together, for her sake, yet.
"You can ask me anything and get an honest answer from me." I tried to keep my face in the same cool fashion it was, trying not to spoil my worry for the question.
"Please, for me, don't go anywhere near the battle. I know its not your decision ultimately, but if you are given the choice to, please, don't say yes."
"Hey, I could never dream of doing that to you. You, Shadow and Cloud are all I have left and..." I had let on to more than I had meant to. Shit. I looked away. It pained me to think of this again. The horror of the secret behind the death of my parents. "Oh my goddesses. I'm so sorry. I really had no clue." Summerfly was spouting now. I quieted her fretting and kissed her cheek. "There is no way you could have known. In fact, I think the only ponies that do know are the police. Let's get you home so you can sleep. I don't want your parents worrying." I wrapped my wing around her again, only, hers was under mine. Our wings crossed between us and enveloped into a hug of their own. When I walked her up the steps, an orange pony stepped out. He had a brown mane and the same hazel eyes as Summerfly. "Sorry for being out so late, dad." She put on a weak smile. However, the pony kept his gaze locked on me. So, I stood up at attention. I was thankful I had put on my standard uniform before taking Summer home. "And who the hell might you be, young soldier?" He was rather defensive of his daughter. This was standard though. Dad was playing tough to intimidate me. I guessed it would be best to play nice, but formal. "I am Major Halcyon Sparkle, sir. It's an honor to meet you."
"Major, huh? Say, you're pretty young for that title, aren't you?" I see. Dad was a clever one. I could play that game too. "Yessir, I turned 19 not too long ago." Dad was still not impressed. If he was, which I'm assuming he was, he had some practice hiding his true emotion.
"Well, how can I believe you?" Dad wasn't believing me. Time to change that.
"Sir, if you wish to see my uniform as proof, be my guest. If you still don't believe me, I would be inclined to contact General Spectrum to see that you are sent a copy of my commendation."
"Well, now that I know who you are, I suppose you should know who I am." The orange pony loosened his appearance and relaxed. I had been accepted. "I am Summerfly's father, Westwind. And if you would be so inclined to come inside, I would like you to meet my wife."
"I would love to, sir." I stepped forward.
"No, please, call me Mr. Wind."
"If you insist, Mr. Wind." He smiled, and we stepped into the house. I was instantly overwhelmed by the aroma of breakfast being cooked. By the smell if it, it was coffee cake. A personal favorite of mine. Mr. Wind spoke into the kitchen. "Honey, we have guests." A completely white mare with blue eyes stepped into the living room. "Halcyon, this is my wife, Winter Rush." I nodded my head in her direction. "Ma'am."
"Ah, you're just as charming as Summer said you were. I've heard so much of you. Oh, where are my manners, please sit down and join us for breakfast. We are having coffee cake!"
I took another sniff at the air. There was a strong presence of peaches in it too. Damn. I was going to regret this. "I would love to join you in eating the lovely peach coffee cake you are making, but I should really get back to base. I am going to receive hell from the officers and sergeants for being out so ling as is. I'm not on my leave for another month or so."
"I never said anything about it being peach coffee cake, did I?" Mrs. Rush looked worried. I knew it was because she feared that I hated peaches.
"No, I could smell it. It smells so good, but I really should go, as much ad it pains me. Take care. It was nice to meet the both if you." I walked out the door after waving goodbye. Summerfly trotted back up to me before I got to far, "One for the road?" she asked. I accepted the departure kiss in front of her parents, returned the gift, then flew off to the base.

When I returned, word had spread of my 'undying love' for the sexiest mare anypony had ever seen. In reality, all jokes were made out of jealousy. The way everypony teased made it quite obvious. They were just trying to get a laugh in. I spent 15 hours sleeping because I lacked rest from my excitement between the sniping mission and Summerfly. I woke up at around 2100 hours and ate a late supper before deciding to try to sleep again. I woke up at about 0300 to a strange sensation. The room was pitch dark but I felt something was in the room with me. As subtly as possible, I turned my head to face the rest of the room. The air tasted foul, and there was no noise except for the ringing in my ears from the silence and the sound of my heart beat. The room looked completely normal, other than a transparent silhouette in the shape of a pony near my bed, slowly drawing nearer now that I wasn't moving. The breaths were nearly quiet, but erratic, as if he were nervous. The scuffing of its hooves ever so quiet because of the stealth field created by the stealthbuck. I stayed still until whatever it was was right over top of me. I played the worst case scenario in my head. It was an assassin trying to kill me. Best case scenario, it was a soldier pulling a prank. Better act for worst. I slid off of my bed and swept the legs out from underneath the attacker then drove both fore-hooves to the rough location of the attacker's chest, but only lightly enough to knock out their wind, not crush the trachea. I felt a satisfying release of pressure and heard a slight gasp for air. I got off of the attacker. "Reveal yourself!" I challenged. There was a flush of color at my feat and a pony lay, gasping for air. Best case. "I expect a full report explaining your actions tonight after you recover in the infirmary." I called the medical ponies to my room, but ad I turned around, I notices the pony pointing at something. (Either that or he just fell that way). I looked at my bed and noticed a knife sticking out from the floor just beside it. Worst scenario. Even worse, the attacker was still in the building. Fuck, they were going to attack Shadow next. I raced to his room just in time to see that he was gagged and had his wings bound. Shadow was promptly thrown our the window and was caught by another unseen force that slowly pulled him up higher and higher. I followed as fast as my wings would carry me until there was almost no air left to breathe. Shadow stopped ascending, then a griffin tore a mask from it's face. It was the strongest looking griffin I had ever seen and it was at least twice as tall as I was. "Drop him. Now!" I couldn't think straight. This griffin had what little left that I considered family in his claws.
The griffin glowered. "Poor word choice." he lifted Shadow over his head, and threw him down. "NO!" I bolted after Shadow. I didn't think it was possible to move so fast. But Shadow had an unfortunate lead on me by a good 50 meters. I needed to go faster. I closed my eyes. I couldn't let him die. I wouldn't. He was one of only three that gave me strength to continue living with myself. I couldn't let him go. I won't. I opened my eyes. And pushed faster. I felt an energy pulse around me as I continued gathering speed. I ignored it. Shadow dropped through the cloud cover with me only trailing by a few meters now. I broke through the clouds and saw that Shadow had been struck by lightning. His limp body plummeted down towards the depths of the ocean below. Rage pumped in my veins. I couldn't take it anymore. The energy buildup had started to hurt and burn my hooves. I let out a yell of pain, both physical and mental. What followed next, I can only describe as a sound that nearly blew out my eardrums, and me moving fast enough that after hearing it, I had rainbows spewing from my flank and I got to hear the sound of a sonic rainboom, my sonic rainboom, twice. I shot back up through the cloud cover and angled myself on a crash collision course with the griffin that had thrown Shadow. With Shadow in hoof, I smashed into the left wing if the griffin, knocking me unconscious, and tearing the griffin's wing into 800 little different pieces of gore. The last thing I remembered of that night was being caught and saved. I was too tired and hurt to care any further.

Chapter 5: Homecoming

"I won't let you go in there without backup! Especially after the incident last night!" Spectrum stomped on 'especially' to emphasize.
"With all due respect sir, the griffin was sloppy. If it were an assassin, Shadow and I would be dead. This was the act of a radical individual with no consequences in mind." I hated the idea of imposing a military rule over another society. I wanted the griffins to see our views and be our friends. I might be ignorant enough to believe that would work, but I'm not stupid enough to go in makings threats on a diplomacy mission.
"That still doesn't allow you to go in there with no reinforcements. There are very likely more of the radicals in their base!" Spectrum hardened his voice. "You are taking my personal guard as your own, is that clear?"
"Yes, sir." Fuck that. I would just pay the guards extra to escort us and say they were there protecting us. I trotted out of the generals office. I figured I should check in on Shadow. He had been really beating himself up over being caught off guard, last I saw him.

When I entered Shadow's room, I caught a stifled laugh. The sound came from him, except, it wasn't a real laugh. It was hysteria settling in, taking it's serene pleasantness and casting it's humorous veil over his thoughts. "We, more so I than you, almost died. I don't know what to say. If I hadn't been so, so unaware, so stupid, I may have stopped that from happening." Shadow chuckled to himself. "The only reason I even live right now is because of your quick wit and how perceptive you are. It's almost like you can see a few seconds into the future." I whinnied.
"If I could see things as clearly as you say I do, or if I could be smarter, this wouldn't have happened. The attack would have been avoided completely. Do you remember the sniping mission we took two days ago?" It was time to reveal what I had learned from the attack. "Yea, what about it?" Shadow looked intrigued. He knew that if I had something to say, it was always relevant. "There were two bomb carts and a war-blimp, right? Wrong. There were two MERCHANT DELIVERY carts and a war-blimp. The aggravated griffin from last night is simply a radical civilian who didn't know when to stop." An unsettling pause followed my words.
"Oh-my...Holy shit...I killed...civilians?" Shadow was practically standing now. There was concern in his voice.
"It gets worse, but it makes me glad that we are doing this the diplomatic way." He needed to know. Shadow may be the only pony on the base that would believe what I was about to say.
"What are you getting at, Halcyon?" Shadow actually stood up this time. I noticed ghat his hysteria had faded, but I took mental note that it would probably kick back in once he had more time to think of the families to which the merchants belonged. Of the lives that had been destroyed. Of the children that wouldn't see a parent or older sibling again because we were blind. It cut me deep just thinking of how Shadow would be reacting and thinking. That could wait. Back to reality.
"I'm saying that the griffin military base is actually a merchant outpost and civilian city. There was no way Spectrum would believe that the way we are attacking their population will not be done in an honorable fashion. He won't believe that the griffins are not a military or a militia. You are the only pony that will see any sense in that." Shadow thought for a moment. I suspected that he would agree with me. He nodded to confirm my beliefs.
"If we are going on a mission in there, we are going to need to disguise ourselves in some way. If one griffin knows what we look like, they all could." I grinned happily. Finally, Shadow had returned to himself and was hatching ingenious plans. "Good. I believe that we need to show as little aggression as possible and be unguarded." Then an idea passed my head and struck me hard in the chest. "Shadow...do you have any idea as to HOW the griffin knew what we looked like? Doesn't it strike you as odd that he knew where our rooms were and how to navigate the base and all?"
My thoughts returned to the new recruit that had been at the foot of my bed just last night. That traitorous bastard was leaking information to the griffins! To be honest, after all of the assumptions I had made of the griffins, if I was right, I would be leaking information to them too. Shadow pieced together my stream of thought in words. "The radical griffin had a contact, didn't he? Somepony on the inside."
"Yes, and I'm pretty sure I know who it was. I was attacked at almost the same time you were. I can only assume that the recruit that was in my room that night had, or has, something against me. Enough to want to kill me and have you go down in the process."
Shadow grimaced. "Well, let's have a 'talk' with this recruit."
Shadow had no intentions of talking. "Shadow, we need to get information out of him. He can't help us if he is beat to a pulp." Shadow looked rather disappointed at my remark, but nodded slowly in understanding. "I'm going to commandeer the radio broadcaster in Spectrum's quarters and have all recruits and privates, in case he was recently promoted, report to the mess hall. I want you to be there to have them all stand in a line so I can identify the one who was leaking to the griffin."
"I hope you know what you are doing, Halcyon." Shadow departed to gather the recruits when they came.

I stepped into Spectrum's quarters. It was a large rectangular room with a closet on the left of the entrance and a bed in the back right corner. In the front of the room there was a water hole and a counter with an intercom broadcaster on it. To my surprise, the room looked really bare. there was a lot of open space between all of the objects. I was completely alone. Upon other circumstances, I may have been disappointed, but I needed to borrow his intercom. I pressed the orange button on the radio box and began speaking. "This is Major Halcyon Sparkle ordering all recruits and privates to the mess hall. Repeat. All recruits to the mess hall." I removed my hoof from the button that allowed me to project my voice and turned to leave. I was met by the unhappy face of General Spectrum. "What the hell do you think you are doing? You shouldn't have access to this room." I jumped in surprise. I hadn't heard him enter while I was making my announcement. I relaxed, the general was typically real soft on me.
"Well, if the locksmith job wasn't so poor, I would have bothered to try the terminal." I smirked. It felt almost too easy. Any child that knew a room could be broken into could have done it.
"What? How did you pick the lock?! Are you an alicorn after all?" The general widened his eyes and went to move my mat of mane away from my forehead. I took a few steps backwards and laughed. As I spoke, I rubbed the back of my neck with my wing, grinning the whole time.
"The lock was so easy to pick, I did it with my tongue! Even then, it isn't had to see that the password for your terminal would be the name of your daughter. Sureshine, isn't it?"
"Damn you, Halcyon. What is the gathering you have called for about anyways? If I find out that is is some horseapple reason, then I will make sure that you will never see this base again." I had almost forgotten why I was here. Shadow was probably waiting for me with the newbies all standing in their lines.
"Sir, I called the Privates and Recruits to the mess hall on regards of last night. One of them was involved with it, and I feel like something is wrong with this. There is a piece missing to the puzzle and they are the key to finding it. Now, I must be going." The general piped up again, wanting something out of me for the intrusion.
"You can leave on one condition. That you make my room shine by 2300 tonight." Fuck. How did I know that that was coming?
"Yes, sir." I grumbled, then quickly trotted down the corridor to the mess hall.

I was only down the hall when I heard the commotion coming from the mess hall. There were shouts of questioning and uncertainty in the air, and most of them included my name. Majority of them were simply wondering where I was. I quickened my canter to a trot so as to lighten the bombardment of questions from Shadow, seeing that he was overwhelmed as I entered. The instant I walked in, everything ceased and all ponies returned to their lines. I quickly saw the respect that they all held for me. It only took one glance, and they were also afraid of me. Good, that's what I wanted. I walked up and down the first row of ponies, studying each ones movements and image to see if they were the attacker. I stopped longer on some ponies to build suspense in the others. It was too much fun to toy with them like this. I decided that my fun with the first of the three rows was done. "Row one!" All of the ponies stood at attention and raised their left wings to their brow. When they spoke, it was in unison and in a monotone.
"Yes, sir?" I looked at the ponies of the first row, pausing for dramatic effect.
"Dismissed." Sighs of relief flowed from the first row as they filed out of the mess hall. The last pony from row one rounded the corner, and I turned my attention to the second row. The entire process was the same, walk up and down the row, stare into the eyes of the recruits and privates, the stench of urine staining uniforms as I went to dismiss the row.I dismissed the second in the same way I did the first. As the ponies from row two dispersed, the third became visible. My eyes were drawn to a pony near the center of the row. There was no doubt in my mind that he was the one I was looking for. I made another pass by all the ponies, then stopped in front of the recruit on the next one. The pony who had failed at killing me in my mots vulnerable state. unfortunately for him, and, sadly, others to come, I was a light sleeper. I stared into the ponies eyes, being ever so cautious as to reveal no emotion what-so-ever in my eyes or on my face. I stepped back enough to give the recruit room to step forward, being mindful to keep the same appearance of boredom. I sighed. "State your name, Soldier." My tone was perfect. I sounded like I was conducting a drill for a higher up authority. The recruit relaxed, taking the bait wonderfully.
"I am Recruit Sterling, sir." Now that it was day, I could see him for who he was. He was a black pony with golden eyes and a blonde mane that came down in two bangs in front of his face and was braided in the back. He couldn't have been any older than 17; although he was shorter than I remembered. I kept my tone the same so I wouldn't give away anything. I was playing stupid, and him innocent. There was no way that he could keep it up much longer either. Even if he didn't bring out the truth, I had Shadow to back me up.
"Follow me down the hall, Recruit." I hardened my tone to a moderate growl. "As for the rest of you, dismissed." The ponies from the third row rushed out of the mess hall as fast as they could without being disrespectful. I turned to leave the opposite way the recruits and privates went. As I did so, I motioned for Shadow to take the rear escort position.
"Now, Sterling, you will stay as close to me as possible without tripping on my hooves. If you look to Second Lieutenant Shot, you will understand that he is not going to hurt you, unless you refuse to keep up." Sterling looked back to Shadow and was instantly met with his icy glare. Sterling quickly turned away from the petrifying gaze, and walked right behind me the rest of the way to the cells.

We walked into the cell I had cut from the mainframe of security before my morning announcement. It was no longer being monitored or bugged. nothing could see or hear from outside the room. I sidestepped and Shadow pushed Sterling inside, shutting the door behind us and watching for passing ponies.
"What is going on? What do you want from me?" Sterling took a basic defensive stance: his legs were slightly bent and just out out from his shoulders and hips. I slowly shook my head.
"That is what I came to ask YOU, only without the same brutality you have just displayed. You are the recruit that was in my room last night, are you not?" His eyes opened wide with surprise.
"How could you have known that? I was in a full suit of armor and had a stealthbuck active!"
"Oh, please. Nopony gives me enough credit. It is; after all, my talent to see what others cannot. In our brief skirmish you were scuffing your hooves implying that the armor you were wearing was giving you a height boost at the hooves. The way you sound when you are breathing nervously was the same today when I passed you in the line as it was when you were standing over me as I woke. And, as friendly advice, don't trust stealthbucks. I can see the distortion it creates as light passes through. It shows a wave line of your body." He sat down, looking stunned.
"You got all that in a five second battle?" Sterling frowned. He knew more that he was letting on to. "Yet, you could notice that the carts you shot down were delivery trucks?!" Damn. I knew that would come back in my face soon.
"I didn't think much of it until I was asking myself why the lone griffin would dare come attack Shadow and me in a military base. The intelligence pony got the details wrong and I was blinded by the mission at the time." My voice wavered and looked away, shutting my eyes hard in attempt to block out the tears. "It was only when I realized that the difference in time between what we were told and the actual appearance implied that the carts weren't pre-loaded. Then I remembered back to the mission, and saw what I had missed so obviously. The symbol on the side of the wagon that marked it as merchant cargo." Tears were flowing freely now. Upon opening my damp eyes, I noticed Sterling looking at me strangely. I glanced to him and back to get him in the center of my vision. He was surprised by my surge of emotion, and me having shown it so openly.
"Hey, kid. Don't look so. Surprised. It's. Raining." Every pause brought fewer tears to my eyes until I was fine again.
"I'm sorry, sir. Its just that..." He looked away then back to me. "Am I the only pony to have seen you cry other than Lieutenant Shot?" No. I couldn't bare to think of the past. It was to painful then, and worse now.
"No, but you, him, and only two others have seen me cry. That's all you get to know." I quickly changed the topic to stop my past from haunting me, yet again. "Let's cut to the chase. You were planning on killing me last night, and, at least previously, leaking info to the griffins. Yes, or no. I am not going to press charges or turn you in. I just want a simple or explained answer."
"But, aren't these-" The recruit started.
"No. I made sure that there was no way that what happened here was exposed. I turned off all monitoring and surveillance of this cell." Sterling nodded, and got to the point.
"Well, the truth is yes. I was leaking your appearance and names to the radical organization against the Enclave. I just couldn't believe we are attacking civilians, I-" I smiled.
"Great!"
"What do you mean? I almost got you and Lieutenant Shadow killed by-"
"You are going to be a consultant for our diplomacy mission to Hatsevoir tomorrow. We know that we are going to have to change our appearances, but we need somepony who is already on good terms with them and is on the inside. we are going to figure out how to resolve this without further fighting. You in, shorty?" Sterling's eye twitched. Shadow knew what was coming next, from what I'm assuming was experience. He rushed over and restrained Short-stuff before he was out of his chair.
"NOPONY CALLS ME SHORT! I'M NOT SO SMALL THAT YOU NEED A MAGNIFYING GLASS TO SEE ME!"
"Ha. I can respect that. Say, tell you what. If you come with me, I will make sure nopony or griffin ever calls you small. Got that?" Sterling calmed and nodded. "Good. Now we get some rest for tomorrow. Meet me at the west gate by 0600. We leave for Hatsevoir then. Now, I have other business to attend to. See you then." I nodded to Shadow, then left the room to go clean the general's.

I wasn't surprised with how messy Spectrum left his room. There was trash littering the floor accompanied by dirty laundry, most of which I wasn't entirely sure were his... I picked up all of the laundry between my hooves to prevent from getting substances on the clothes on my mouth. There were laundry bins in the back corners of the room to put the, occasionally, wet clothes and the dry clothes. When i had finished cleaning the floor I decided to take care of the horrendous smell. The entire room reeked of ecstacy and alcohol, but I needed to find the source, or sources, of the stench. I looked under the bed first for more bottles, but found it shining. I did a damn good gob with the resources given to me, a bucket with about 5 ounces of water and a coat-brush. I was about to give up on finding the smell when I passed the closet. The horrid smell intensified around it and seeped through the cracks.
"Wow. You have GOT to be joking..." I stared at the closet for a couple of seconds, then cringed. "I'm not cleaning that up." I finished the rest of the room, and decided that Spectrum was cleaning up the prostitute. As i walked out, I noticed the broadcaster again, the glow from it's orange button just enticing me to go and press it. Just a few words. Just push and speak. I had to look away. It was just so much fun to hear my voice through the entire compound as I spoke. I glanced back to the broadcaster sadly, then walked out the door. One of Spectrum's guards was at their post outside the room, looking drowsy as ever. It was about 2200 hours, putting me an hour ahead of schedule. Guess I could have a little fun before I leave. I looked back to the guard, who had just fallen asleep standing. "Hey, wake up!" I din't want him to be demoted, he was going to not protect me tomorrow, after all. The guard jumped to attention.
"Wha-huh? Oh, Major, its you, I was worried that it was Spectrum. Done cleaning?"
"Yes, but there is one thing... could you tell the general that I didn't clean the hooker out of his closet? It would have been really awkward." The guard paled and I didn't wait for a response. "Great, thanks! I knew I could count on you." I trotted quickly off so he couldn't regain his senses and tell me no, and went to my room. It had been a long day and I was still curious about the Sterling kid... When I entered, I locked the doors and windows before plopping down in my bed. I didn't want any visitors tonight. I liked my room, for it was the same as Spectrum's, but not nearly as empty and no intercom. There was something interesting about the recruit, but I couldn't quite put my hoof on it. My mind refused to dwell any longer on the subject, and I fell asleep.

I opened my eyes to a room that was not mine, but looked as if it belonged in a hospital. It was a square room and I was standing near the back, I thought. The room was completely dark with the exception of a single light, hanging just a foot to the right of the center, so it was impossible to tell my location relative to the room itself. The position of the light bothered me, so I looked at the ceiling as little as possible. The bulb swayed lightly back and forth as if something had brushed past it. There were overturned gurneys everywhere and the air had a metallic tang to it. It was the taste you only got if you had recently been bleeding from your mouth or nose or if sweat had been beaten by the wind on your coat. I felt around the inside of my mouth with my tongue, but felt no bleeding. The same went for my nose. The air was warm and stuck to my coat, but strangely stagnate. That left only one other choice. I tried to think of other possible solutions, but none came. The air had an intense amount of blood in it, which was aiding in it sticking to my coat. I looked at the bottom of my mane over my shoulder and saw that it was already turning a slight pink. The floor was slick from a small amount of liquid all over the ground. I heard a thud from behind me, and whipped around only to see the empty darkness of nothing. I now realized that the light in the room was dim enough that I couldn't see the walls. I opened up my wings to hover over the floor, but some unknown force kept me grounded. I stretched and flexed my wings to make sure that I still had them, which I did. It was time to leave this place. I shuffled to the right wall while keeping the light in my line of sight so I didn't get too far away if the wall wasn't where I thought it was. I touched the rounded wall with my hoof. The room was actually a circle. I reached out my left wing to touch the wall, and followed it while still keeping the bulb in sight. I ran into a few rusted gurneys, but pushed them out of the way. I followed the wall until I hit a flat surface, making the room a semi-circle. I guessed that the door would be in the middle, and started walking. My wing quickly touched a handle for the door, but it was almost right next to the wall. I looked at the off center light, then back to the door. I shouldn't have been surprised. I tried the handle to open the door only to find it locked. I cursed under my breath. Why were the doors always locked? I looked towards the door to find that my eyes had adjusted and I could see the walls and door. The door looked flimsy and had rusted to the point where it was practically falling down on its own. Kicking it down would be a cinch. I bucked hard, only to get knocked on my flank from the repercussion. The door still stood strong, not even hindered by my kick. I figured it was the same force that had held me down on the ground earlier that strengthened the door. I guessed that I would need to find a key. When I turned back to the center of the room, the light was even darker than it was originally and there was a dark, shapeless figure standing directly below the light. Its form constantly morphing between a horrifying two legged creature with a long body and a small neck, to ponies, to unspeakably wicked renditions of creatures from the books I had read on the past of Equestria. It seemed to like the first form the most, because it spent the most time on that one before switching again. The monster stopped shifting and turned into the creature with only two legs permanently. It's arms and legs were about the same length with a thick torso and a small neck. The head of the creature was small in proportion to the rest on it's body. It had only a little hair on the top of it's head and under its arms, but nowhere else on the torso. the lower half was covered with blood-stained leggings and it's feet had weird nubs coming off of them in the front, like talons, except fleshy and small. The creature was a peachy pink color, and would tower over me. I was frozen in place in fear as it approached me. slowly stepping and dragging its legs as if they were too long. The creature was smiling wildly with a sheen covering its eyes, making it look dead. It opened its arms, as if to hug me, but there was murder in its smile. The creature's arm morphed into a large knife, and Yelled as it swung the knife at me. I could do nothing but watch in horror, and the creature cut off my left wing, which was still touching the wall. I screamed in pain, not knowing what else to do but sit there, staring at the malicious being. It swung again, dismembering my right foreleg cleanly. The blood was gushing from my stumps. If this, this thing didn't kill me, I would die of blood loss. It cut my back right leg off, putting me off balance. I fell for what felt like hours, then hit the ground. I landed on the stump of my foreleg and pains shot through my body. I scrawled in agony, laying helplessly on my right side. It cut at me again, this time only wishing to see me suffer longer by slowly slicing tendons and muscles until the bone was visible. It continued until the only thing left to chop off was my head. The thing towered over me, now looking into my soul. It crouched and whispered into my ear; "I'm so sorry. I didn't want to, but-" It sounded sad, like It really meant it, but the voice cut off and the maniacal smile creature returned. "DIE!" shrieked the thing as it swung down to decapitate me. Time slowed as the blade arm sliced towards my neck. When it drew close, I felt my muscles tense in my neck, then relax. I had never felt so blissful or at peace with myself. My eyes slowly shut in finality.

I awoke with a start to my regular room. It had all been a dream. I tried to shake the looming, black, depressing feeling of death from my aura. My head cleared after splashing my face in the small water hole in my room a few times. I was not going to forget that anytime soon. I needed to get to the gate to meet Shadow and Sterling for the mission, but how were we going to disguise ourselves before we went? I trotted out the door and left for the main gate. It wasn't too far from my room, it was just down the hall to the left and out the door. When I stepped out to the base's main exit, I was greeted by two bodyguards now walking to my left and right, both fully suited in the signature power armor of the Enclave. It was stark black armor that was magically powered by gems and came equipped with a plasma rifle. The spell matrix from the armor whirred with life as the two guards walked beside me. It was kind of awkward walking the length of the field between the door and the gate with them. I would have liked to converse, but they would have remained silent. When I got to the gate, Sterling and Shadow were already there, waiting for me. They too had been greeted with two guards to escort them to the gate, and from there to Hatsevoir. The guards were going to make the disguising and bribing thing very difficult, I had intended on this being just Shadow and I, but when I added Sterling, I forgot about the personnel that were accompanying us the whole time. I trotted up to Shadow for some idea sharing, and got only a slight nod and a wink. I hoped that meant that he had it under control. A courier rushed to catch us before we left to make sure that we were all properly accounted for and in healthy condition. His eyes bounced from pony to pony, then stopped on Sterling. "Major... who is this, and have his saddlebags been checked? There was only supposed to be the six of you going." His tone quivered, as if I were doing something dangerous, or he was regretting doubting my actions.
"It's okay, I asked the General. This pony is very knowledgeable in griffin affairs and will be of great use on this mission." I lied. "As long as the General is okay with it, sir. You are clear to leave." The pony hurried away to attend to other matters that he had a checklist for. The enormous gates opened inward as if on cue. I quickly trotted to the head of the group to lead, but a guard swooped in front of me and held his ground. The armor made his voice sound hollow and metallic when he spoke. "Sir, we are escorting you to Hatsevoir. That means I will be taking lead."
"Lead away then."

The trip over to Hatsevoir mountain was about 20 minutes by flight, but to avoid being attacked, we were walking there. There are reasons that pegasi have wings, and that is to fly. I hated being denied the right that I had had since birth, even though I may not have been able to, nopony ever stopped you. The walk was boring and quiet, the guards didn't let me get near Shadow or Sterling. I looked over to Shadow, and he looked from me, to the clouds, then back to me and nodded. I guessed it was time to stir some panic, or start our escape, or whatever Shadow's plan was. I stumbled to grab the attention of my escorts, then sank into the clouds. From above, I heard cries of surprise, followed by those of pain. I resurfaced to help Shadow, and found all of the guards tied to one another with rope. And, of course, none of this would have been possible if they were not all unconscious. I scolded Shadow for his lack of thinking things through. "Nice. How are they going to get back to base? Or was your intention to starve them? You know that is too much weight for them to try to fly off when they wake up. Untie them please, we will be halfway there and we can make a hiding blind before they wake up."
"Sorry. I'll untie them."
Shadow walked away looking dazed. My guess is that nopony had berated him for his actions before, but that implied no parent or guardian to raise him. No. I needed to stop putting invisible pieces together, yet the more I dwelled on it, the more it made sense. After the guards were untied we flew off as fast as Sterling could, him being the slowest because his wingspan was smaller, and quickly made a blind of clouds large enough to conceal all of us so we could get disguised. Sterling opened up his saddlebags to reveal a paintbrush, four small cans of paint, and two of some object that looked like two circles connected by a small semicircle there was a button in the space between the circles that I couldn't figure the purpose for.. "What are these?" Shadow asked, prodding one of the two things. "Ah, those are colored contact lenses. They go over your eyes to make them look a different color." Sterling scooted one towards me. "These ones would make your normally green eyes look like they are blue, Major." He stooped down and pressed the button with his nose, making the circles open to look like half spheres in the shape of a pony's eye. "You just place your eye over the top of it, and it will cling. The tech in the holder will self position itself perfectly onto your irises." I eyed the container of the contacts. "I will, but this is no longer considered a work environment. Call me Halcyon for now. We will need to think of aliases for Shadow and I while we are in the city." I was still skeptical about the lenses, but I leaned down slowly to the holder and put my eye to it. I felt a need to blink heavily. The contact worked, but it felt... interesting. I looked to Sterling for thoughts. "Did it work?" I asked. "Ya. They worked perfect, but you only have one in, so you need to get your other eye. Then I can judge how they will look." Sterling said with mild approval. I dipped my head to the second holder and felt the same sensation as before. It was again successful. The other color was a hue of purple. I looked at the paint colors that Sterling had brought with him. He brought a can of faded grey, white, light blue, and red. I had figured that Sterling had planned on painting in solid colors, but his mind was much more artistic and imaginative. After Shadow put in his contacts, Sterling went to work. He was meticulous about every last detail and hair placement. By the time that he was done, I barely recognized myself. I was now a solid white coat with a light blue mane with red tints on the ends of some strands that formed spikes naturally along my neck. I thought of how much like me Cloudway looked now. I decided the resemblance was accidental, but uncanny. We had the same colors other than my eyes and the tips of the spikes. Shadow looked... well, old. His coat was the faded grey with a dull, red mane that had white strands. I guessed that Sterling had mixed the grey and red for his mane. This was turning out to be great. The disguises were perfect, now we just had to let the paint dry overnight. The blind was large enough that it would comfortably house all three of us. My thoughts slowly wandered to the guards who were probably conscious now, but Shadow ended my train of thought. "We are going to have to set up a watch. I will take first shift." Shadow turned to walk outside, but was stopped by Sterling. "You two are going to have to take out your contacts while you sleep unless you want them to meld to your eyes. Forgot that part almost." Sterling gave a weak smile. Shadow thought for a moment, then asked, "How does one make conscious actions while sleeping?" I pondered on that a moment. The contacts were new tech to me, so maybe you did have to be sleeping to take them out. I nodded in agreement. Sterling laughed. "Oh, no no no no no. I meant that you have to take them out before you go to bed."
"Ah." I mumbled. Shadow and I went over to our respective containers and took out our contacts. Shadow then returned to his initial task of being first watch. I turned to Sterling. "Sterling, you will be second on watch. If I were to wake up in the night, I wouldn't get back to sleep."
"Ok. I'll wake you when it is your turn for watch. Night, Halcyon." Sterling cantered over to the back and fluffed up a cloud to sleep on. I wasted no such time and dropped to the ground, rolled over, then fell asleep.

I had gotten roughly four hours of sleep, but that was more than enough for me. I normally got two and a half to three hours. There was something about sleeping in the clouds instead of on my bed that was soothing. I guess it reminded me of when I used to camp with Cloud, Mom, and Dad. Those were the good days. The days lost to everypony but me. I stood to stretched my legs and wings, then went outside to take my turn at watch. When I stepped outside, Shadow was still there. I looked inside the blind, and saw that Sterling was still fast asleep. I reached out and lightly tapped Shadow in the back with my hoof, declaring my turn. He silently nodded, then went inside for some rest. The late night air was cool and crisp. There was little wind to prohibit my viewing of the stars be obscuring them with my mane. The little lights danced and sparkled in my field of vision, putting on a little show. The charade was enticing and took my thoughts away from me, and turned the spotlight up into the night sky. It was one of the single most beautiful things in what was left of Equestria. I enjoyed the scene a moment longer, and went back to the task at hand. Watching nothing.

Author's Note

I apologize for dragging out the amount of time it is taking for me to write this chapter. My main source of writing was my Ipod, Ben. Sadly, In a terrible accident involving a cracked screen and a water bottle spilling in a soccer(football) bag, he drowned. I have been busy with school as well, but I will get back on top of it ASAP! Don't forget to drop a comment if you wish to give me suggestions, thanks!

~PonyThumbs