With the sound of movement, groaning and grunts, I slowly came back to consciousness. Opening my eyes, I realised I wasn’t in my cell any more… the walls that had once surrounded me were now gone and instead replaced with rows of beds. Doing my best to hold in my reaction, I quickly calmed down as I remembered the deal. I was in the barracks. Of course I was. It was silly to still be feeling like this, I’d already woken up here before! And yet it still felt too surreal to believe, almost.

With a sweet softness to his voice, Honker grabbed my attention with a greeting. “Good morning, Cherry. You look dazed. Still not used to being here, huh?”

I couldn’t lie to the older donkey, he was too much of a sweetheart to try and hide the truth from. Picking myself up and sitting off the side of my bed to help myself acclimatise, I nodded my head at him. “Yeah. It just feels so odd for me.” Giving him a little smile, I brushed my mane out of my face and continued. “I’ll be fine though. It shouldn’t take too long for a tough mare like me to feel like she’s found her place again.”

Returning the smile, Honker’s attitude helped me feel a little less on edge. “That’s good to hear.”
For a moment I thought that would be the end of the conversation as the pair of us said nothing more, but then to my surprise, Honker asked another question. “So… who called you last night?”

Turning to look him dead in the eyes, I felt the cold grip of worry take a hold over me. He heard my conversation over the PipBuck? Putting a false smile of confidence back onto my face, I answered with as much normality as I could muster. “Y-you heard that? I’m sorry. I really didn’t know she would contact me, especially so late. It was my sister, Limoncello.”

With a nod, Honker made a grunt of confirmation. “Uh huh. What did she want?”

Crap. Please, Celestia, guide my words. Drawing a quick breath, I raced my words out as fast as I could. “Well that’s personal to her, I really shouldn-”

Cocking an eyebrow at me knowing he had me on the ropes, Honker now spoke with a sense of determination and cunning. “Cherry, lights out means no communications. Just tell me what it was and be honest about it and I won’t report you. I’m not a dick, but lets be kid ourselves, you’re new and helping you fall into line is our collective job.”

Being well aware that I was in a losing situation, I nodded limply. “Okay, okay. Well like I said, it was my sister, Limoncello. Her buckfriend kicked her out after an argument last night, in the middle of the night. I didn’t care to ask why, that isn’t important, what is important is that she gets to shelter and safety as quickly as possible. I was as brief as I could be with her and told her how to get to my place and get in. That was all. She has nobody else to turn to, I had to help.”

As if mulling over the words, Honker looked to a side as he rubbed his chin and pulled on the small beard he wore. After a moment of this, he finally nodded. “Okay, that makes sense with what I heard you saying. Fine. And I suppose you did scold her for contacting you to begin with… so ya know what kid, you’re fine. You did the right thing. Lights out may be lights out, but protecting your kin is just as important.”

“So you won’t report me?” I asked shyly, feeling like I often had as a filly when being told off at school.

Looking to the side and letting out a long sigh, Honker held onto his answer for a moment longer, making me even more worried until he finally responded. “Nope. I told you I wouldn’t report you if you were honest. I believe you. Just don’t let it happen again, because if you keep it up it’ll end up getting us all into trouble, and trouble is the last thing we need right now.”

Nodding my head in understanding, he was right. I couldn’t allow for such a slip up again. Blueheart was being exceptionally generous by having moved me to the barracks from the cells. He could have said no, and letting him down now would mean going back there and losing all privileges for certain. I couldn’t risk that. Something told me that my rescue would be soon, and now wasn’t the time to put all of that in jeopardy.

Cutting my thoughts in half and pulling me back into the world around me, Honker nudged my shoulder. “Come on then, young’un, time to go get some breakfast. Start the day right and all that.”

Getting off of the bed and trotting behind him, breakfast did indeed sound good, and the idea of doing watch duty on an empty stomach… not so good.

Walking through the hallways, I now took far more notice of every door and window without trying to make it obvious. Mapping out the interior in my mind, I would be ready for some daring escape made possible by my dashing stallion when he comes to rescue me.

Stepping through the last doorway into the lunch hall, I moved to wait in line for my portion of food just like everyone else, though something odd was the fact that the queue wasn’t moving. Looking around, I could see a lot of impatient and tired looking faces, getting visibly more annoyed the closer to the start of the line that they got.

After a couple more stragglers joined up behind us, Blueheart made himself visible to everyone by joining a zebra who had climbed onto a table. With not a stamp but the firm press of his hoof onto the table, a noise just loud enough was made and caught almost all eyes. With a cough to signal silence, Blueheart’s partner now finally spoke.

“Zebras, donkeys, ponies, one and all. It may or may not have come to your attention, though we would assume for most it has, that there is no food being served currently.”
One voice popped up with a ‘yeah!’, though this interruption was quickly silenced with a glare from the zebra. “This is because we have an important announcement and question to ask, and until this has been done and answered, there shall be no food served.”

Looking at the pair, I felt a strange pain in my stomach, though I knew it wasn’t hunger. As my chest began to feel tighter, I quickly came to recognise it as anxiety.

“This base, our home, our castle, came under assault last night – and despite this, so few were even aware what was happening. It is our suspicion that amongst us we have a traitor, as that is the only way that such an attack could have been pulled off. Our walls remain intact. Our gates were all firmly sealed and stand strong. Our towers reach to the skies and continue to look for outward threats – but yet we have experienced casualties after lights out, last night.”

My jaw slowly dropped as those words slipped through my ears. Casualties?! What were you doing, Crimson?!

“Two of our comrades died whilst on routine patrol around the premises. Another remains incapacitated in the infirmary, though his case looks promising that he will soon be healthy enough to resume his duties. The two casualties are identified as ‘Grunter’ and ‘Cobalt Blast’. Neither Grunter nor Cobalt were publicly known to be at odds with anyone. Several other individuals have been pulled aside and are being questioned about their whereabouts and doings as of last night. If anyone in this room has any knowledge of missing personnel from their respective rooms, now is the time to say so. On top of this, if anyone has seen anybody working on or otherwise possessing a magical energy weapon outside of when registered to them for peace keeping and other excursions, do make sure to announce this now, for we believe a magical energy weapon was used in the attack. As you all know, all weapons are to be returned to the armoury when not in use and we believe all were accounted for at the time of attack.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. A magical energy weapon? No… that wasn’t Crimson. Crimson hasn’t ever owned one of those and he wasn’t carrying one that I saw. If no Crimson, then who?

At first, the room stayed silent, with only mutterings from a couple of others muttering under their breath. Feeling uneasy, as if someone staring bullets into the side of my head, I turned to see Xumeh focused intently on me. As soon as our gazes met, he stood. “Her! It was her!”

Raising an eyebrow, the zebra in charge spoke. “Pardon? Who do you mean by ‘her’?”

“That red and pink pony! She’s the one involved! She-”

Stamping his hoof in distaste of the accusation, Honker protected me. “Was in her bunk at the barracks all night last night, with the only exception being when she went to the toilet. Her bed is opposite of mine and I had enough trouble sleeping last night that I would have heard if she was trying to get out of the room.”

At this point, Blueheart spoke up, intentionally booming his voice as much as he could manage – a complete shock for me coming from somepony who was normally so softly spoken.
“Xumy, you are known to have insubordinate tendencies, issues with ponies as a whole, and to top the list, tensions with Cherry in particular. If you have proof or corroboration of your stories, lets hear them, otherwise, you will keep your mouth shut and not attempt to cause disunity in the community.”

“I-” Xumeh began, before losing his spirit to argue. Perhaps it was the way that Blueheart had looked at him as he begun to speak, perhaps it was being called to provide evidence, it didn’t really matter either way though.

With Xumeh no longer making his baseless claims, there was no longer any pretenders of knowledge on the matter. The room sat in silence, much to the annoyance of the zebra in charge. Still, despite his visible agitation, his frown turned to a stern albeit neutral look of acceptance.

“So nobody knows anything?” Silence. Nobody answered. Nobody muttered. Not a thing. “Okay, but you are all of course still required to report anything you find out. You may now eat.”

Whilst the hungry part of me wanted to cheer for the thought of food, it seemed the mood was the same with everyone else around; sorrow over the news that yet more death had been brought to the wasteland. Even though I was a prisoner here, even I felt saddened by the news. These guards weren’t harassing the poor, not interfering with others – they were just doing a job and patrolling the base.

Thinking back to the fact that a magical energy weapon was used, this raised even more worries. I hadn’t seen any coalition soldiers wielding them, but not only did I now have reason to worry in future fights which would almost certainly happen, but another group too? Who else had access to weapons as rare as those? Not even Titan had any. Were they with Crimson, or chasing him? Would they pose a threat to us? Magical energy weapons were always horrifyingly effective, and the thought of going up against them sent a chill down my spine.

“Come on, move along!” A voice called from behind me before giving a tap on my rump. Looking back in anger, I wished I could’ve spat venom at the pony for touching me like he had. Instead of being apologetic, the pony continued to insist, disarming me with his words through my shock. “Look, I know the news is sad, but you’re holding up a whole queue here.”

Trotting forwards indignantly, I still didn’t appreciate him choosing to touch me where and how he had.

It wasn’t a long wait before the queue had ended for me and I had my food serving. Carrot and tomato soup with a touch of brahmin cream and a bottle of sparkle cola – I couldn’t deny that even if the cola wasn’t healthy, it was a fine breakfast to be given as a normal ration in order for working with the Coalition. I couldn’t complain about that! No wonder so many others supported the Coalition as much as they did; being on the ‘right’ side certainly had its benefits.

Making my way over to my usual table, it wasn’t long until Blueheart came along as he always did, sitting opposite of me and tilting his head at me like normal.

“Good-”

“Not really.” Blueheart interrupted. “Just morning. It’s never good to lose members.”

Grimacing and looking away shyly, he wasn’t wrong. I knew the feeling myself all too well; losing members of the team, whether you worked with them directly or not, it didn’t matter. It always soured the day to hear the news of another loss.

Pulling my attention back with his words, Blueheart spoke to me. “Come on. No need to pout, Cherry. I know you had no part in this… right?”

Snapping my head back to him, I looked him dead in the eyes as I spoke, adamant of every word I said. “Of course I didn’t. Even before I… worked for you, I’ve said for a long time that every loss of life is another loss for the wasteland to recover, another lost chance for a better world. Raiders are scum and I’ll do my job knowing I’m stopping them from causing even more death and pain, but the guards? No, I wouldn’t do that unless my life depended on it.”

“And you’re saying you weren’t out of your barrack room, that your life didn’t depend on it?”

“I used the adjacent toilets at one point in the night, that was it. Besides, if I could find my way out of my barracks, would I have returned? If I had intention to run away, wouldn’t I have done so on any of the days where you’ve not kept a tight leash on me?”

These words caused Blueheart to stop and visibly think about what I’d just said, running his hoof from his chin to his neck repeatedly. Finally after a few seconds passed, he nodded acceptingly, having analysed my point in his mind. “You make a good point. The truth is, your pass wouldn’t have given you permission to go through the gates other than when with me, but I would have been informed had you even tried.”

A part of me wanted to gasp and be shocked, but the truth of the matter was that I wasn’t shocked at all. I couldn’t even feign surprise. Blueheart looked at me expecting something different, and ironically it was his face which changed from calm to surprised and then back to calm as he realised that I wasn’t going to react.

“So, you’re not going to call me a liar for telling you that you have a pass?”

“Nope.” I began before taking another sip of my cola before continuing in order to buy myself time to think about my words further. “I wouldn’t have done any differently if it was the other way around. It’s only sensible.”

Nodding his head, Blueheart smiled at me before swallowing all of his own soup in one big effort. “Indeed. Well, don’t be too long. You’ve got a new role to do today, and we’ve got a long day ahead.”

“A new role?” I asked, now even worried than I had been when being questioned. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m not asking anything… unsavoury of you.” With that, I let out a thankful sigh. Blueheart looked as if he wasn’t sure whether to be happy or offended by that, but continued on as if nothing had happened.
“When I say new role, you’ll be doing much of the same as you have been, but you’ll no longer be on the rooftop you have been up to now. No, now your job will be gate guard for the gate which was attacked two days ago. You’ll be put under the authority of another and taking their orders. They are of course, still under my orders, but I have other duties to attend to and I can’t hold your hoof.”

“You haven’t been around to hold my hoof as it is.” I countered quizzically. “And isn’t that gate still damaged? Is it really safe for me to be there?”

“You’ve got me, I haven’t been around much, but my point stands. Due to the damage done to that gate, your skills will be best put to use there and it is my decision to move you there. Of course, if you’d rather not work the gate, I can always escort you back to the cells. Otherwise, you will do as the Gate Captain asks of you.”

I wanted to groan, but something told me to hold it in. Catching the look in my eye, Blueheart stared at me with eyes as cold as steel before reaffirming his words slowly in a very harsh yet quiet tone. “Do you understand me, Cherry Sundae? Or would you rather the alternative?”

Speaking my words as if reciting from a pre-written speech, I felt like I was back in basic training at Tank. “Yes, I understand. I will do my job as asked, regardless of where the job takes me.”

Finishing up the last of my soup and cola, I stretched my legs as I got up from the seat and trotted right after Blueheart as he made his way slowly across the room.
Without turning his head to even make sure it was me, he spoke with confidence. “Good choice, Cherry. Good choice.”

Getting out of the cart at the other side of our destination, I made sure to stay close to Blueheart. I knew exactly where we were going, but the last thing I needed was for him to become suspicious of me or believe I would be anything other than obedient. I couldn’t risk losing my privileges, I couldn’t go back to the cell. Getting fresh air was too important to me, but even more-so would be making sure Crimson could find me when the time comes. I had to follow orders, no matter what.

“Come on, Cherry. I’ll make sure you’re all set first.”

“Yes sir.” I responded politely, causing Blueheart to stop in his tracks and look at me with a mix of puzzlement and appreciation.

“Cherry?”

“Yes?” I asked, now confused as he looked at me with a smile, though his asking for my attention felt like the truth was still hidden from me.

“Please don’t feel that you have no choice but to be formal with me. I am indeed in charge, and I can’t deny that you addressing me in that way is respectful and appreciated, but I also respect your ability to feel comfortable. My word is law in this situation, but I’m no tyrant… as much as some might believe otherwise.”

Looking directly into his eyes, I didn’t really know how to feel about that. On one hoof, he had proven to some qualities of being a decent stallion. On the other? Walking in on him when I had and seeing the way he abused and went against the rules set out to him by those he used for his own pleasure… well… I didn’t know how I could want to be too comfortable with a stallion like that.

Following my gut, I addressed him as I saw fit; with a balanced mixture of indifference and a touch of sweetness as to not upset him. “Yes sir.”

For a moment his smile faltered, no doubt recognising that there was still something in my voice that held back, but as soon as he had noticed it was as soon as he seemingly shrugged it off and trotted off in the direction of the mall and towards the gate.
Wasting no time, I followed obediently, not wishing to upset him or ruin my reputation of compliance.

Going past all of the happy ponies who were obviously well fed and on their way to comfortable jobs was still odd in a surreal way to me. This could have been Four Ridges, albeit the landscape and buildings being different. The aura of safety beaming from their relaxed faces as they went about their business while just on the other side of a wall not that far away, life was a struggle.

It wasn’t long before we arrived at the gate. I hadn’t paid it any attention previously, but now looking at the engineering feat I was completely surprised by the scale. Instead of simply covering ‘just enough’ space to stop somepony from passing through, the framework stood tall, connecting from the top of one building to another in order to provide maximum support. The checkpoint itself was little more than two blocks utilising a mix of metal and wood framework with panes of glass wrapped around them. Judging by the cracks in the glass, there was no pretence of it being bulletproof. No, these were just for show rather than to actually protect the guards. Still, at least they could protect their guest from the rain, I supposed.

Drawn by the sounds of the repair ponies still busying themselves with their work, I looked up to see the effort to restore the gates integrity by hammering and welding whatever materials they could find to fill the gap that had been brought down in the latest attack. As it turned out, it seemed that the missile hadn’t hit the checkpoint itself, but rather the wall above it.

Approaching the crew running the gig, no words were shared between Blueheart and the Gate Captain, whose only indication was that he wore a blue cap rather than the red that Coalition soldiers tended to wear.

“So, you’re the new one he’s bringing me? Fine by me.”

I didn’t know how to feel about his demeanour. He wasn’t hostile, but he could have been a lot more welcoming. Still, a job was a job and he wasn’t being outright horrible. Doing my best to try and earn some trust, I bowed my head slightly and spoke “So, what would you like me to do, what’s my job?”

He smiled at that. A good sign. “Your first job is up to you, you can either sit up with the labourers, make sure they’re doing their jobs whilst also keeping an eye out on the horizon to ensure they at least have warning and time to get out of the way if another attack is coming, and obviously tell us too – or you can sit down here and ensure that everyone who comes in has the proper pass or pays their due. Don’t take too long in choosing though, you’ll do both jobs over the course of the day, so don’t stress out trying to pick.”

Thinking over my options, seeing the start of the day and dealing with the most impatient ponies who wanted to pass through didn’t sit well in my mind. How would I handle a stressful situation? Combat was something I could deal with as a matter of life and death, but trying to talk down an angry pony who wanted to pass was most certainly not my forte. Fumbling over my words, I finally spoke. “Well, truth be told, I’m more comfortable when I’m out of sight.”

“Up top then. Go make sure they’re actually doing their job and not just looking busy – and don’t forget that your primary role up there is to actually look out and keep us alerted to any danger. Fuck it up and we could all die, so don’t fuck it up, rookie.”

Rookie? It had been a long, long time since I had been a rookie.
Ignoring the smirk on his face, I looked back up to the platform that he now pointed to… fuck.
Taking a gulp, I suddenly didn’t feel so confident in my choice. The stairs up were little more than a ramshackle of planks and scaffolding, and the platform itself wasn’t any different. The idea of being up so high on something so reminiscent of what caused me to break my leg in the first place was horrifying.

Breaking me from my trance with a slight shove, the Gate Captain spoke with near hostility in his voice now. “Don’t waste time, get up there on the double. You’ve got your job.”

Turning my head around to see if Blueheart was still around to perhaps beg for help, he wasn’t there. He was long gone. Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes as I let it back out, I had to be brave. What were the chances I’d find another unstable platform in the wasteland that would actively try to kill me, or leave me severely wounded?
More than I wanted to admit to myself, that was for certain.

Taking the first step up the flight of stairs, I made sure to be extremely slow and cautious every time my hoof touched down, checking that the floor wouldn’t fall out from under me. With every step, I could feel the wobble, and my heart sunk to the floor that fell further and further away.

“I don’t like this I don’t like this I don’t like this I don’t like this.” I quietly muttered to myself, desperately trying my best not to close my eyes as I went up.

From behind me, the voice of the gate captain was now riddled with annoyance as he heckled me. This wasn’t good for my reputation with him. “Stop being a fucking filly about it. The workers got up there no problem, you’re safe enough!”

Breathing in deeply and swallowing my fear, I rushed the rest of the way as fast as I could muster. Board after board, stairway after stairway, the creaking sound grew louder with every one that I passed over. Making it to where the workers sat with their tools. Seeing the platform on top of the wall where the labourers were doing their work, I quickly found throwing myself onto what looked like slightly more solid ground just a little more than tempting. Finally feeling at least a touch more secure, I let out the breath and shut my eyes tightly as I praised Celestia and Luna both for not collapsing the scaffolding on my way up.

I expected a chuckle, or perhaps a comment along the lines of ‘scared of heights?’ - but no, there was nothing other than a grunt of indifference. The workers looked at me for a moment in silence before deciding that I wasn’t worth paying attention to for whatever reason and went back to their job of trying to repair the damage.

A part of me was upset by this, wondering if I really wasn’t important to them. Perhaps they were just that professional that it didn’t matter to them? Or perhaps they were that scared of being seen as slacking that they wouldn’t risk being friendly?
Feeling the burn in my horn, I opened up my eyes and looked back at my hooves before realising that through the sheer terror, I had been making myself invisible and hadn’t even noticed.

Releasing the spell, I saw the colour of my hooves come back to the world and now was when one of the workers jumped out of their fur. “WHAT THE FUCK?”

“What’s got you on- Oh fuck. When did she- I mean, I’m sorry miss, when did you get here?”

“Just now. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” I blurted as quickly as I could. “I didn’t even realise I was using my spell, I just… I just couldn’t stand those damn stairs you’ve got and…”

With a wave of the hoof from the braver one, it seemed like all would be fine. “It doesn’t matter. I take it you’re our lookout, right?”

Nodding my head, the knowledge of having a mission came back to mind and helped calm me down. At least I could relax by focusing on my job. “That’s correct. I’m here to help you two by telling you if we need to evacuate.”

“Good. I can’t deny that I was feeling a little bit sketchy up here before now. I don’t expect we will be attacked, but I don’t want to be the stallion that gets blown in two by another missile attack. We’ll focus on getting the structural integrity back to where it should be, you just make sure we don’t get turned to fertiliser, got it?”

Turned into fertiliser? That was a new one. The thought of it made my skin crawl.
“Got it.”

Finding a comfortable spot to lie down and set up wasn’t hard despite where we were, and I was thankful for that much at least. So long as I could keep watch, we’d be safe. That’s all I had to keep telling myself; ignore the height, forget the steps, just keep watch on the horizon and look for trouble coming our way. Simple.

“So, you mentioned a spell. What was that?” The other pony asked curiously. “I didn’t see you arrive.”

“That’s my spell. I can… hide well.” I loosely muttered, half not wanting to lose track of the pony I was already watching from afar and half not wanting to say too much.

“Yeah, but I mean I didn’t see you whatsoever. Its like you weren’t even there.”

Doing my best to avoid the conversation, I swished my tail dismissively as I spoke, hoping he’d catch the hint. “I don’t like to talk about it. Spoils the magic otherwise.”

“Okay, fine. But if you’re secretly some worshipper of those alicorns and have learned to use their black magic…”

“I’m sure she’s not, Bolter.” The other of my two companions piped up.

“Well, if she is, she’ll not want to read my mind! I’m going to think of mares non stop now just to keep her out of it!”

Bursting into laughter, the other pony seemed so amused he could hardly even continue his work. “Now you’re mistaking the situation. Nobody needs mind reading powers to see that mares are all you think about day and night.”

The proud pose that ‘Bolter’ gave was enough to seal the deal. Figuring that these two were no doubt every bit true as stallions were in their foalish humour, I knew what had to be done. As soon as his friend stopped laughing, I pretended to whisper loud enough for them to both hear me clearly. “Yeah, he really does have a nice ass, you’re right.”

Bolter’s friend burst into yet more laughter and grabbed me round the shoulders as he doubled over, unable to control himself as his friend stuttered on his words trying to defend his honour. “By the Princesses, you got him good. I like you, miss. I’m glad they sent someone with a sense of humour!”

Well, I may not have won over the gate captain straight away, but at least I won the respect of the workers up here.

Some amount of time passed with the typical buck talk being pushed back and forth. I’d learned that Double Wrench was the master craftsman of the two and Bolter was his apprentice, though their ages weren’t that different.

A lot of ponies, zebras and donkeys had been passing around the horizon and coming towards the gate, and even though almost none of them were without weapons, there was no cause for alarm for the time being. Not a single soul had shown any aggressive intent and no missile launchers or other uncharacteristically heavy weapons were being carried.

Looking out on the horizon at the same sight was beginning to wear on me, even if the distant shores did tease promises of potential beauty. I wanted to go there and see it for myself, to see if my daydreams about how it might look would hold true.

Turning my gaze back to where it should have been, it didn’t take long to feel the same drumming boredom rolling through my mind. Staring at the groups so far away, there was one group who seemed to be coming from a different direction from the others. Watching the way they moved, I could feel the fur on the back of my neck begin to raise in anticipation. I couldn’t even tell why this group was bothering me so much, but something about it was troubling.

Was it the direction they’d come from? It was the direction of Slumside, but that meant they’d be able to come through the city itself. Something wasn’t right about this, but I couldn’t put my hoof on why.

Lifting myself off from the boards to loosen my joints, I turned my attention to the workers. “Double Wrench, Bolter, please tell me one of you has some kind of telescope. A viewfinder, measuring tool, unattached rifle scope.”

After a moment of pause, Bolter spun his head around as if only now realising I was speaking to him despite having said his name. “You want what?” Bolter asked with worry. “You think we carry rifles with us?”

“No, no, no!” I blurted, rushing my words from the anxiety of the situation unfolding. “I need a scope. A telescope of any sort. I just need to see better.”

“Don’t you have your own? We don’t have one. We don’t need it.”

Crap! Looking back onto the horizon, the group was definitely getting closer, but due to what looked like cloaks, I couldn’t make out what they really looked like, or if they were carrying any heavy weaponry even. If I just had those damned binoculars from Blueheart still. Why did he not give them to me this time?

Realising there was no more time to fret about the situation, I stomped my hoof to gain the attention of the two workers. “We need to get down from here.”

Double Wrench looked at me for a moment with apathy in his eyes, slowly rolling his words from his tongue as if he really didn’t care for an answer but would ask anyway. “And why would we do that?”

“Th-”

With the beginning of my sentence, Bolter interrupted me with a dismissive tone. “We’re almost done here. Do you really need us to be out of here? What for?”

“Because I don’t feel safe!” I blurted, trying to make my point to the oddly calm pair.

“So?” Bolter rudely interjected. “That’s the wasteland for you.”

Flustered by their attitude, I could hardly speak up at all. Mustering all of the charm I had, I tried to convince them of my concern. “No, I mean-”

Giving a small chuckle as he got back to work, Double Wrench completely ignored my warning. “He’s not wrong.”

Stomping my hoof again in irritation of being ignored and interrupted, the idea of hitting one of them quickly grew in my mind. Raising my voice to almost screaming levels, I gave them no choice but to listen. “It’s my job to keep you two idiots safe! I’m telling you, I really, really don’t like the look of an incoming group. If you wanna be up here and they attack, that’s your call, but I’m getting down from here!”

That was what it took to make them do so. After all of my attempts, they finally listened to what I had to say, and though I wasn’t pleased that they’d ignored me for so long, that didn’t really matter. Making my way down the rickety stairways.

Squealing in fright as the steps creaked, I couldn’t stop myself. “W-why did you have to use such loud, creaky, unstable scaffolding?!”

“It’s all we had!” Bolter replied, snapping his words whilst making his way down right behind me. “And do move faster. I don’t want to be up here if we get attacked.”

“Nor do I!” I barked back. “But I… I…” I wanted to tell them I was moving as fast as I could, but looking down to the ground and seeing just how far we still had to go, my throat clenched shut and dried up with pure fear at the thought of falling off. Now was no time to become incompetent, and yet here I was, unable to make use of my own hooves.

As quick as lightning, my rump hit the floor before my forehooves covered my eyes. Tears instinctively began to fall as my mind played visions of me falling to my death over and over. All attempts at opening my eyes were useless, the fear of seeing my impending doom was just too much to handle.

“Come on! Get – oh.” A voice called from behind me, initially angry before changing to a much more compassionate tone. The warmth of somepony’s hooves wrapped around me and pulled me into the fluff of their chest as soft and soothing cooing gently worked its way into my ears. “It’s okay, you’re okay. I got you. Come on now, you can do this.”

My breathing didn’t slow down, the hiccups and tears didn’t stop, but for a moment, I opened up my eyes to see Double Wrench looking down at me like a father would at his filly who was scared by a spider in the corner of the room. As soon as he noticed my open eyes, he smiled in response. “You’ll be safe, I promise. Not much further to go. The stairs may not be as solid as normal ones, but I promise you’ll be safe, okay?”

Looking at the stallion with teary eyes, I couldn’t pay attention to anything other than the way my heart beat so hard that I was certain even he could feel it beating against his chest. The way he pulled me closer in response made me close my eyes instinctively as I took a deep breath and tried to fight my fears. I wanted to be braver, I wasn’t some little filly, yet here I was sobbing into the chest of a stallion I’d only just met.

With an air of understanding and gentle cooing, Double Wrench smiled at me as he spoke, his attempt to calm me down working with every gesture. “It’s okay, miss. I promise you’re safe. Do you want me to go down first so I can catch you if you do fall?”

Sniffling once or twice more, I finally managed to get a long, slow, uninterrupted breath through to my lungs as I wiped away the tears. Looking at Double Wrench, I could tell he was being genuine and would do his best, unlike Bolter. It was quite apparently that he was already much further along to the bottom than us, judging by the sound of his hooves clanging on the wooden boards and metal steps.

Nodding my head, I allowed Double Wrench to pass by me and waited nervously as he made his way down, desperately hoping that my trust wouldn’t be betrayed. The waiting was almost as bad as hearing the creaky steps moan and whine as the stallion passed over them. As soon as he reached the bottom, he turned around and smiled at me, waving me on closer towards him.

Closing my eyes and taking one more deep breath, I prepared myself for the first step, tenderly pressing my weight onto the stairs, and made the leap of faith with the next step. One by one, I slowly made my way along, my fear increasing with every passing second – and yet I also felt safer as I came to the point where I knew Double Wrench really could catch me. Making the last few steps remaining on that first set of stairs, I couldn’t help but feel proud of myself for making it past them. Rushing past the last two strides, I felt myself practically jump into his hooves as he smiled at me once more.

“Well done! See, they aren’t as scary as they seem, are they?”

“They are.” I disagreed whilst pouting and looking back, away from Double Wrench. “After my experiences with rickety walkways and falls, they’re every bit as scary as they can be. I’ve narrowly avoided dying twice, I can’t risk getting lucky a third time.”

Why was I telling this stallion my life story? I couldn’t explain it even to myself, but something felt right in opening up about this. It didn’t matter, he didn’t care, not really. All that mattered was getting down from here, back to safety. Safety… the reason we were even climbing down at all. With that thought in my mind, I realised I had to be brave and get down before things could start blowing up… literally.

Looking to Double Wrench, I had no option now but to trust that he was right. Wiping away my own tears and nodding my head, I gave him confirmation that I was ready to carry on.

With a smile sliding back onto his face, he shot me a look of appreciation. “Lets go then. Not much further down to go, I promise.” With that he waved his hoof in a way to encourage me to follow before making his way further down the deathtrap.

Taking another gulp and swallowing my fear, I followed him, trying not to think about what could go wrong any more. I had once told Crimson that it wasn’t the problems that made or break us, it was how we dealt with them that mattered… and now I had to be brave and deal with my problem, my fear, my terror… I just had to be brave… for Crimson, for Limoncello, for myself.

Keeping the thoughts of the ones I loved so dearly in mind, I followed Double Wrench with a new conviction. I would make it to safe ground and report my worries to the Gate Captain below, and we’d take whatever action was necessary.

Letting go of what fear I had left lingering in my mind, clouding my judgement, I found a new sense of clarity and confidence as I followed Double Wrench down the last set of stairs. With every step, I felt more secure, knowing I was getting closer to the bottom, closer to solid ground.

With the energy of a newborn foal, I jumped from the last step with absolute glee before spinning in circles, overwhelmed with glee from overcoming my fear. Grabbing Double Wrench and pulling him in for a tight hug, I was too happy to just be safe. “I’m down! I’m down on safest ground! Oh Princesses thank you!”

“No worries, miss. Happy to have helped.”

With a stamp that could have sundered the skies themselves, my blood ran cold as the Gate Captain made his presence behind me painfully obvious. His breath catching the back of my neck and making me shiver. “So, you’ve got something to report? Stop acting like a filly and spit it out.”

Turning on the spot instantly, I looked at him and began to stutter in shock. I wanted to speak, but my mind went numb. “I… I...”

“Pull yourself together and spit out your words, observer. What did you see to bring you down here early? If it’s anything short of-”

“A group that looks ready to attack.” I interrupted, immediately regretting my choice. The look in the eyes of the Captain was cold, and for a moment I could hear the words in his mind erupting at me for daring to speak whilst he was – but to my surprise, he didn’t shout at all, or, not at me at least.

“Lock down the station! Prepare yourselves! The observer believes an attack is coming, lets be ready for it!”

As if rehearsed a million times over, two guards ushered the ‘civs’ out of the way from the exit, rolled out some concrete barricades and braced them into place with struts in what felt like less time than it took for me to make my way down even one set of stairs. Princesses that was embarrassing to think about.

Grabbing my attention with a clap of his hooves, the Captain’s voice now softened whilst still managing to remain stern. “Where, and what did you see?”

“To the south-west, in the general direction of Slumside. They were a reasonable distance away when I first saw them, but… they didn’t seem to be moving slowly. I didn’t have binoculars so I couldn’t tell you much more than this, but there was what seemed like six to eight of them, all wearing cloaks. Something about them feels wrong, and I know that sounds silly, but I’ve learned to trust my gut when it comes to these things. Doing so has saved my life many times.”

“So we’re just to trust your gut? Cloaked figures aren’t unheard of around these parts.”

I stumbled on my words again, not certain what to say. I wanted to argue my point about my instincts again, but realising that I had no chance of convincing the Captain, I simply bowed my head. “I know. I just felt that-”

I didn’t get to say anything more. The sound of a bullet ricocheting on the concrete behind us was all of the evidence we needed that I was right, as much as I hated that. Dropping to the ground and rolling to the nearest cover, I quickly adjusted to the sound of automatic gunfire coming from my current companions as screams from the crowd behind us grew almost loud as the guns themselves.

Three ponies who had just been standing on the other side of the checkpoint ran past the guards, ignoring their orders to evade in another direction, and attempted to make their way past our second layer of security. Realising that they hadn’t gone through the proper checks and could just as easily pull weapons on us from behind, I jumped and collided with the mare out of the group, pinning her onto the floor as I recovered from the tumble.

In spite of how one the stallions now made it obvious how he was injured with the other helping to carry his weight, they fled with a speed and ferocity that was completely unexpected. The capture of their friend did nothing to deter them from getting away. Unfortunately for them however, it was mere seconds before the Gate Captain sprinted past me, and had caught up to the other two within seconds.Managing to get in front of the pair and aim his rifle, they now paused. With a growl that put even me further on edge, the two runners began backing up over to me and sat down on the safe side of the concrete dividers.

Before any more orders could be given, a wail of agony came from the checkpoint. One of the defenders was hit. I didn’t know what to do. There weren’t many guards on duty with us, only three aside from the Captain and that now sounded like we were down to two. Two versus what was perhaps eight. It really wouldn’t take them much to overrun the checkpoint like this.

The alarm began to ring, alerting other guards in the area, but something needed to be done right now. As if he had been reading my mind, the Gate Captain let out a growl of dismissal to the situation. “It doesn’t end like this, observer. I’ve done too many years to give up to a fucking gate and be overrun like this, that’ll cost my job, but I also can’t let these three break past us without being checked; I’m not getting shot in the back of the head, not here.”

Realising the accusation against them, one of the stallions… no, bucks, gasped and responded with horror. “We’re not the attackers! We were just running for safety!”

“Yeah, real fuckin’ likely. And I bet you aren’t armed either.” The look in the eyes of the buck now lost their gleam as he looked down, silently acknowledging the fact that he was in fact carrying a weapon like any sane pony travelling in the wasteland was, and realised how guilty he looked.

Before the guilty looking buck could answer, another scream rang out. Another one of ours hit, followed by the sound of another bullet hitting the wounded pony and turning the curdling scream into little more than a bloody gasp for air.

With that, a voice screamed out, the last remaining defender. “FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! THEY’RE COMING CLOSER!”

Without taking his eyes off of our captives, the Gate Captain began to speak to me. “Observer?”

“Yes?” I asked, uncertain of what his next words would be.

“You better be a fuckin’ damn good shot. Get your ass to that gate and put a few in those fuckers. Hold them back until reinforcements arrive. They won’t be more than a minute.” I didn’t even try to answer, though even with a moment of hesitating to process what I had just been told elicited anger from the Captain. “GET TO IT!”

Rushing those couple of feet to the next bit of cover, I dived for safety as I scanned my two downed companions. The wounded albeit alive pony with a hole in his shoulder and chest was carrying a small variant of an SMG, but at this range it felt too inaccurate a choice to be wise. I’d just chew through its ammo without hitting my target. Passing my gaze to the grip of the dead partner across the checkpoint, I saw a bolt action rifle; no scope, but it was almost certainly much more familiar to me than the machine pistol.

Grasping the weapon with my magic, I pulled it on over to me. No magazine, this rifle was clip fed. Of course it was. That would mean I’d have to actually scavenge through his bags to find more, and with the way the attackers were pelting our cover with bullets, I didn’t feel that I could make a clean break for where he laid, nor did I much feel like being accused of being disrespectful to the dead. Taking a weapon was one thing, rumbling through their belongings directly in front of somepony who might have been their friend was another. If I needed more, I would, but I could at least make these shots count.

“Come on Cherry, remember your training.” I muttered to myself. Remember not to blow your cover. Don’t kill with every shot, or even hit with every single one.
Breathing in, I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of the gunshots, trying to figure out if there was any meaningful pattern to them.

Nothing. No patterns, only shots hoping to penetrate or take a lucky hit. This was useless. Turning my attention over to the remaining guard, I could see that he was almost shitting himself as his compatriots had fallen, but I needed him to provide me cover. “You.” I ordered. “Blindfire with your magic. I don’t care if you hit a damn thing, I just need enough cover.”

“W-what? Cover? What do you plan? There’s too many, I can’t suppress more than one of them, all I have is this rifle.”

Shouting at him over the sound of gunfire, there was no time to waste. Between the gunshots I could hear the sound of them approaching, fast. “Just give me one damn second. One.”

“Fine. Get ready, here’s your chance.”

That was all I needed. Wrapping myself in my signature magic, I felt a confidence even as my horn burned. Bursting out of cover, I pushed through the checkpoint and dived behind a wagon that had been abandoned outside, no doubt left at the first sign of trouble. Peaking my head out of cover, I could see them, two were snaking their way over, another five firing from what would have been cover against the checkpoint, but from my position they were somewhat exposed.

Pulling back into cover and letting my spell drop, I took a long, drawn out breath and cleared my mind as best I could. Opening my eyes, my mind entered a state of Zen as I rounded the corner once more, immediately slipping into S.A.T.S. and taking aim. Seven targets, five bullets. I couldn’t take all of them down, but I could make them count.

The target snaking on my left flank was carrying a shotgun. Two of the attackers behind the cover in the middle were wielding assault rifles, one was using a bolt action like myself, one was using a pistol and I couldn’t make out what the last had. On the right flank was a dark pony – no, a zebra, who seemed unarmed until I looked closer and saw a powerhoof. Devastating up close and personal, it would have been a mistake to let her close the distance.

Without hesitation, I lined my shot and put a bullet into the zebras shoulder with the crack of my rifle. There was no time to pause however, I had to trust that my aim had been true. Spinning on the spot to the opposite flanker, I made sure to aim for the chest. The sense of clarity that came with my augmented state was beginning to slip already, but that was fine. In the last moment of my aiming Zen, I ensured that the round hit its target steady and true, slowing down the approach of the next deadliest enemy.

As S.A.T.S. ended, the two flankers dropped almost simultaneously while my perception of reality returned to normal. With their sudden cries of pain, one of the attackers, the one who was wielding a pistol, stuck his head out of cover to see what the chaos was about. I couldn’t waste time, nor could I be picky about my shots. Snapping to my target, I watched his head explode.
The next to react was one of the assault rifle ponies suddenly jumping back out of shock, exposing himself to me. He was entirely out of cover, though there was no need to aim for the head. He wore no visible armour, and his chest presented the perfect target. Slamming a round downrange, I watched his body fall to the floor as he reached to cover his fresh wound, completely surprised by the fact he’d just been hit. Last bullet.
The attackers now noticing that so many had fallen, I saw the two rifles held side by side, levitated over the cover and blindly firing at the checkpoint. Drawing another breath and steadying myself against my cover, I fired my last round into the rifles themselves, hoping to disable even one of them.
It didn’t work. Instead, I hit the rock that provided them cover, though the ricochet seemed to at least knock the rifle off by a little bit. Now I was out of ammo, but three of the targets were incapacitated and one outright killed.
I hadn’t earned the nickname ‘Sureshot Sundae’ for nothing, I told myself.

I was now out of ammo, but with the siren blaring out its call, the gunfight would soon be over. “Run, run you fucking morons.” I muttered to myself, feeling pinned down and unbelievably naked where I crouched. My cover did little more than conceal me, and even with how many had been hit, they likely knew it was only one more guard left to defend the gate. Would they try to make one desperate push? No. The air filled with the sounds of more guards coming; their shouts for others to get out of the way acting as a timer for the raiders. The ones who weren’t hit scrambled to get out of the danger zone, to get away from a now certain death.

Within seconds, a flood of armoured ponies carrying heavy looking rectangles ran through the checkpoint before dropping their payload in a semi-circle, protecting the gate. Looking at them for a moment longer, I quickly came to the realisation that these weren’t just any type of blocks, but actual riot shields from before the war! Not even we had those back at Tank! Sure, the Stable security forces carried those little round ones, but these were the proper, heavy duty, truly bulletproof variant! Between one of those and the heavy armour that the troops carrying them wore, even my rifle would have trouble penetrating enough to incapacitate.

The battle had practically been over beforehoof, but now? There was no way that these armoured ponies would be able to catch up with the assailants who hadn’t been left wounded, but likewise, anything short of a missile or extremely well placed grenade would do a dent. With no signs of such heavy weaponry making a repeat appearance this time, I let out a sigh of relief. It was over, for real.

Realising that I had to be careful about how I approached, I dropped the empty rifle to the ground and called out from my cover. I was mostly visible to them all along, yes, but I really didn’t want to get on the wrong side of these ponies right now. “Friendly about to approach! I repeat, friendly about to approach, armed but empty!”

Poking my head back out of cover to double check and make sure I would be safe, I saw no enemies left around, and nor did my E.F.S. give me any red blips. Slowly pressing myself from the floor, I made sure to approach the blockade cautiously. I had a duty to return the rifle to its owner, even if he couldn’t make use of it any longer, but I had to be sure to not make any sudden, jerky movements, not wanting to get a one way ticket to the other side for my trouble.

Hearing some muttering from the statuesque blockade, I watched in awe of how well trained and practised these guards were compared to their companions as they opened up their temporary wall, allowing me to walk through, before closing it behind me. Ponies, donkeys, and zebras (no doubt, anyway) dressed in their gear, ready for action. Then to my surprise was Blueheart, dressed as he always was in his formal attire, at the head of the force, a confident smile on his face as he looked at me.

With a cocky laugh, he addressed me in a tone that was full of confidence that everything was to plan. “So, what were you doing on the other side of the checkpoint?”

Not wanting to disappoint him, or worse, seem like I was trying to escape, I made my point as punctual and clear as possible. “Getting a better shot, sir. I came down from the lookout post to inform the Gate Captain that I had a bad feeling about this particular group. In the ensuing chaos, the Gate Captain ordered me to take up the defence of the checkpoint.”

The humming sound made by Blueheart as he nodded didn’t fill me with confidence that he had believed me. Before he could say as much himself, I continued to explain. “The checkpoint was too much of a bottleneck. I took the rifle from one of the guards who had been killed and asked the one remaining guard to provide covering fire so I could get this firing position. From this spot, I’ve been able to incapacitate two flanking attackers, who, by the way, are still alive. I also managed to incapacitate one behind their cover and kill another outright. You’ll need to be careful of the zebra on the right, they were carrying a power hoof and might continue to pose a threat.”

With that, Blueheart motioned to one of his guards and the wall opened again, allowing the guard to go and check on the details I had just given. After about twenty seconds, the wall opened one last time. With a nod from the guard, Blueheart ordered the makeshift wall to be dismantled.

“So it seems.” His muttering was hardly audible, but as he trotted out and looked at the groaning assailants, something in his demeanour changed as he slowed down before stopping entirely, turning around and looking straight at me. Something about his gaze felt like it was burning into my soul as he stood there speechlessly. Finally, after a moment that could have been forever, he smiled at me. “Brilliant use of your initiative. Take pride in what you’ve done here, Cherry. You’ve saved the checkpoint from being overrun. Good job.”

“I...” I uttered, uncertain of how to feel. Something didn’t feel right about it all, but I couldn’t put my hoof on what. Realising I had to play my role, I nodded humbly. “Thank you.”

“Now I must go. I’ve still got other responsibilities to see to today, but your loyalty won’t be forgotten, Cherry.” I thought that would be it, but as he began to turn around, Blueheart hesitated, turning his focus back to me. “Oh, again, impeccable skills and great work.”

Just as quickly as the team had made their way to the scene, they were back out of sight. It was as if I had just witnessed the building of a castle made of dust being blown away in the wind, leaving no trace of its existence in its wake. The way they had conducted themselves and gear they wore told me that these guards were the elite of the whole organisation. Power armour would have been more protection for the guards, but the hampered response speed and readiness, let alone maintenance and individual mobility. It was no wonder that Blueheart had told me where the headquarters was… with guards like those, there was no way the rebelling forces would be able to fight their way through the standard rank and file and then succeed in an assault.
Blueheart was confident of this fact, and bringing them out in response was as much to show me this fact as it was to calm the nerves of those inside the walls.

Turning my attention back to the checkpoint, the Gate Captain and his subordinate were still grilling the trio who had tried to slip past in the ensuing chaos. Approaching the commotion, things definitely didn’t seem to be going well for the travellers. As I passed by the body of the fallen guard that I had taken the rifle from, I tenderly propped it up against the nearby wall with my magic, solemnly knowing he would never again need to use it regardless.

Approaching the ruckus, I now had to figure out what was going on.
“I don’t care what your excuse is. If you haven’t got the pass, you pay the caps. If you can’t or won’t pay the caps, you don’t get to pass.”

“But!” A pleading voice came from the young mare. “We-!”

“If you can’t pay, you don’t play.” Grunted the Captain. “I’ve told you already, I won’t repeat it again. Nobody gets through without paying their dues in some way or another. You in here, you pay the price.”

“But we only have enough for two of us as our friend needs to see a doctor! Please, I’m begging you! We can’t afford to pay for all three of us and afford what supplies we need, but I can’t carry our friend and I’m too scared to be alone! What if those raiders come back with more? I’d be a sitting target out there by myself!”

I expected the Captain to dismiss her yet again, to grunt at her, or order her to fuck off. What I didn’t expect was the slimy, twisted smile. The kind of smile that every mare recognised. The kind of smile that came from a stallion who knew what he wanted, and figured that he held all of the cards. My heart sank as she also realised, her face drooping in fear of his next words.

His brow lowered as he smirked even wider, a truly sinister look etched around his eyes. “You know, coming to think of it, that whole scene back there has got the blood pumping… I could waive your charge if you pay me some other way.”

At this point the uninjured stallion caught on and began shouting. “Keep your fucking hooves off of my m-”

His words however, were cut short by a kick in the gut from the other guard. The way the stallion recovered so quickly told me that the kick wasn’t with too much force, but it was ‘enough’ to keep him in line. The way the other guard looked at him, I couldn’t help but notice it seemed very practised… very… normal. This was something that guard saw as normal enough to not even think twice about it.

Feeling my stomach turn, I had to step in. Physically pushing myself between the Gate Captain and the mare, I gave him the best condemning stare I could muster. Growling with determination, I made my demand clear. “I won’t allow you to rape her.” A second or so passed, none of us saying a word. Was this working? Was the Captain going to back down? With a glint in his eye as he looked from me to the mare and then over to his usual subordinate, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but the silence was deafening.

Finally, he laughed at me, sucking the enthusiasm from my soul as my body relaxed in defeat. “Nice joke. There’s no rape here. I’m offering her a chance at paying the price without spending her caps. She can choose to say no and she’ll still have the options to either pay out her caps, struggle with helping her injured friend; alone, or she can wait it out on the other side of the wall. The choice is hers. I won’t use force, this is nothing more than an opportunity for a transaction.”

With grimace in her eyes, the mare looked down at the ground, sullenly weighing up her options. I didn’t need Helios’ mind reading powers to know exactly what she was thinking and how she felt. “Why is it always us mares who have to deal with this? Eugh. I.” She paused, clearly battling with herself.

“If you aren’t willing, I could always have my way with your stallion friend here.” The Captain’s voice turning sickly. “Bucks aren’t normally my type; but with how feisty he’s been? I would enjoy breaking him in.”

The look on the stallions face was one of pure disgust and horror, his hooves scraping at the ground aggressively as he stared the Captain down. Realising that this situation could only go from bad to worse, I knew I had to intervene in a more meaningful way. I couldn’t afford to pay for their extra entrance cost, but I had to do something. Looking back to the mare, I gently tapped her shoulder with a hoof before loudly making my statement. “Come on, I’ll go wait outside with you and keep you safe. Nobody is going to be using either of you two in such disgusting ways.”

The way everypony looked at me was with shock. The Gate Captain’s expression quickly grew to aggravation as he realised his easy ‘fun’ was no longer on the table. The faces of the two stallions was of confusion and relief, though it didn’t last any longer than a flash as they threw their caps to the ground at the Captain’s hooves before trotting on ahead over to the mall, once given their badges, of course. The mare’s face though… that was a look of unfiltered emotion. The telltale signs of fear were washed away by tears of delight and appreciation. Nodding my head in the direction of the great outside, we began walking together, out of the clutches of the other guards.

Once we were around the corner and sitting over where I had taken refuge during the fight, her hooves wrapped around me quicker than bolts of lightning. Blushing at how sudden the embrace was, I stuttered for a moment, still torn between my own anger of the situation that had just happened and confusion of the affection. A moment later, my own hooves found their place in holding the mare. I didn’t know what to say, or even what to do, but judging by the strangers smile and staggered breathing, I’d done all that I’d needed to.

“So, after he knocked that goon out, that’s when he ended up jumping out of the window. It was the fact that he, for some reason, thought that the market-stand's canopy would be strong enough to hold his weight that he did that.” With that, Rubidium Chaser rolled her eyes. “Of course, bucks will be bucks and not think these things through.” We both giggled at that in unison, though I had to admit the mental image of jumping out of a third floor window had me feeling scared. “I’m just glad that he got out of that situation. The damned fool figured he’d live up to that bloody madcap pegasus’ reputation, but I told him that I absolutely forbid it… even if that pegasus is really dreamy.”

My hooves froze on the spot, my mouth feeling suddenly very dry and stiff as my gaze turned steely, bearing down upon my new friend. “Ex… excuse me? Dreamy? Pegasus?”

Her face was now as confused looking as I felt, her ear flopping loosely to one side as her eyes looked as if she’d hit a panic button in her mind. “Well, uh… yeah? I mean, you don’t have to like what he does, and I get that he’s your enemy, but have you seen him? I don’t care what some ponies say about pegasai, the things he does are amazing! You can’t arrest or punish me for liking a pony… can you?” The things he does are amazing? Oh, if only she knew.

“Yeah, they are.” I muttered in a low, hushed tone, letting out a small huff as I spoke. “But you can quit your daydreaming about him. He’s not my enemy, he’s mine.”

With that, Rubi’s face returned to normal as she saw my wink, and even began to laugh. “Sister, I have a confession too; I’m the Queen of the Wasteland. You can lust after him too, but with what company he keeps, none of us will stand a chance. Besides, not your enemy? Why are you working for the Coalition then, hmm? A stallion of his valour would never side with you.”

Without thinking, I gave her the eight words that would denounce any affiliation with the Coalition. “Perfer et obdura; dolor hic tibi proderit olim.”

Silence. Neither of us uttered another word after that. I wondered if I had made a mistake, if I had just told someone who had no knowledge of the phrase. Had I just fucked up? If I’d fucked up, I’d fucked up big time. Then I noticed her eyes soften and the corners of her mouth lift into a smile. “You are a long way from home, aren’t you?”

Sorrow filled my heart with that question, because it was too true to deny. I longed to be back at home in Four Ridges, enjoying my own bed, seeing my friends and squad. I missed being beside Crimson, Sandstorm, Prince Snugglebums, even Maisy and the others in Slumside. I missed them all.

Breaking my train of thought, Rubi’s friends returned through the gate and quickly rushed to her, embracing her and asking if she was okay. I half expected her to just say goodbye and be gone, perhaps to not even say goodbye at all, but she proved me wrong. Wrapping her hooves around me tight, Rubidium Chaser smiled at me. “Thank you for looking after me, I am incredibly grateful.”
With that, she was gone. Walking off in the direction of Slumside, leaving me to wonder when I would next see her again.

Idly staring out into the wasteland wasn’t my version of ‘fun’, though with that thought flushing through my mind, I remembered that guard duty wasn’t meant to be fun and this was what I had been trained to do all those years ago. Letting out a tired, weary sigh, I scanned the horizon again, hoping to find something new to look at. Fifty-eight trees. Fifty-eight. A coincidence if I’d ever known one. Stable fifty-eight itself wasn’t my home, but without it I had no home. That was why I was here… or, had been why I was here.

Before I could continue grumbling in my mind, the sound of hooves caught my attention. Flipping my ears to hear behind myself, I realised I recognised that sound. “Welcome back, Colonel.” I muttered warmly, genuinely glad to hear his return. His return without an escort of guards must have meant that my shift was about to be over.

His walking paused, and inhaled sharp and shallow breath that was barely audible but didn’t go unnoticed by my keen senses. Taking a moment longer, he stepped closer and began inquiring. “Now, how in Hades do you know its me without even looking?”

“Your shirt ruffles as you move, your pace is your own, and to top it off? You’re upwind from me. You’re wearing some kind of fragrance. That’s not something I’ve smelt on you before, but at the same time, you are a pony of sophistication and I wouldn’t put it past you to employ such a tactic.”

For a moment he merely hummed to himself. As I turned to meet him, he stepped closer, so close in fact that we almost crashed into one another. Instead of being a moment of chaos and falling over however, something about his scent put me off guard as his neck brushed close to my face. Taking in a deep sniff and closing my eyes, I couldn’t deny that it was indeed a very pleasant aroma and had a positive effect on my perception of him, if only momentarily.

Overcoming the bewitching fragrance, I stepped back to recompose myself and bucked any confusion out of my mind. If he was here to take me back to the barracks, that would be what we would do; nothing more. “Come on then, lets go. I could quite happily get supper and go for a jog on the exercise track or something.”

Though as I said those words, his eyebrow raised, either out of surprise that I’d be so blunt, or… so I thought. “Cherry, you technically have a little while left on your guard duty shift, but my courier will arrive earlier than I was expecting, so I wanted to see your face beforehand.”

Now I was worried. Courier? For what? Why would he want to see my face? What was going to happen? What could be being delivered that would warrant seeing me first? Though as quickly as my worries came, they were also washed away with a soft touch to my shoulder, his lips pursed as he gently shushed me. Not even a moment later, a brown pony ran up to us both and nodded, tipping his cap as he did. There was no word spoken between the two, it was seemingly unnecessary to do so. Instead, the brown pony gave Blueheart a small box and made his way off back into the city.

Passing the box to me unceremoniously, I looked at Blueheart suspiciously. With a touch of mockery mixed with worry, I made my feelings clear. “I swear to Celestia and Luna combined, if this is you trying to propose to me, just take the box back and we’ll both pretend nothing happened. Here’s your chance to save us both the embarrassment.”
I paused, half expecting him to actually deflate and even take the box back as I had insisted, though his only response was to cock his eye at me. Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself mentally for whatever this might be. The fact that he hadn’t responded negatively was at least something of a good sign… maybe?

Opening the box in anticipation, my eyes grew wide as I saw what sat inside. My bottom lip quivered as I blinked, completely thrown off by what I saw. A magnificent piece of jewellery sat in a plush lined bottom. What was presumably a ruby that had been shaped like a cherry sat upon a silver clip, its shine so bright it almost looked as if it was even glowing with supernatural beauty and luminescence. To top it off, as I had opened the box, a rush of scent marked my nostrils; that of freshly ripened cherries.

I couldn’t control myself. Tears filled up my eyes as I gazed upon the beautiful piece, completely overwhelmed by what I saw. There was no way this was meant for anypony else, the coincidence of it being a cherry was no coincidence at all. This was for me!
After a few more seconds of being completely stunned by the magnificence of what was in front of me, I finally turned my eyes back to Blueheart. His gaze was soft but cemented upon me, a smile having long since crept on his face, his joy at my reaction more than apparent.

“That is for you, Cherry. It comes from myself, and from Coltchester, for all you’ve done for her. Of course, the Coalition as a whole didn’t pay for it, I did, but the Coalition pays me and especially after risking your own safety to make such a potent display of heroism and bravery, I had no choice but to give in to the overwhelming desire to see you rewarded in a meaningful way.”

I… I still couldn’t react properly. My tears now came out in full sobs, my mind in disbelief of what I was hearing. No! I couldn’t! Shaking my head, I had to force myself to speak even as I struggled to breathe. “No. Y-y-you… I can’t…”

There was a sadness in his eyes as I said those words. I could see he wanted to hug me, but felt uneasy. Not caring about previous complaints, I throw my hooves around him as I continued to cry. “I can’t! Y-y-you’ve spent t-too much!” I stopped to sniff and sob. Looking back up at him as I broke the embrace, I couldn’t believe it. I had no idea he would do this, so why should I feel guilty? It was his choice! But there he was, wasting… CELESTIA only knows how many caps on me!

Placing a hoof on my chin and raising my face back up, Blueheart then deftly reached for the brooch before brushing my mane to one side and expertly clipping it in. “Cherry, I insist. I know I spent a lot, but that’s because Coltchester means a lot to me, and you’ve done her proud. She’s where I grew up, where I’ve spent my best years, and where I hope to retire in peace at. I know she has her flaws, but don’t we all? Besides, I did pay a lot of caps for this, you’re right. The price for a unicorn to enchant it with that cherry essence wasn’t cheap, but it beats simply splashing some perfume on it by far.”

With his hoof, he wiped away my tears. Looking at the stallion in front of me, I couldn’t break his heart and destroy such a hopeful smile by rejecting his gift once more. Leaning forward, I kissed his cheek in pure appreciation for the gift I had just received. This by no means meant that I would even think of kissing him on the lips, but he deserved that much for certain.

With his cheeks blushing and rising so high on his face that I’d never seen him smile like it before, Blueheart turned his gaze to the side just a little before turning to face the Gate Captain.
“Shifts over for Cherry. I’m taking her back to barracks with me. Your swap will be arriving momentarily.” The stallion nodded in response, wordlessly accepting the command.

With the offering of his hoof, I graciously picked myself off of my rump and floated the box beside myself before happily trotting off with Blueheart back to base. Taking another deep breath, I inhaled the combined scent of cherries and the Colonel’s cologne before letting out a happy sigh.

Author's Notes:

So, it has been yet another long time. I'm exceptionally sorry. The death of a close friend. Bronycon. America in general. Post-America depression. Insecurities, writers block, other obligations and distractions galore have all got in the way. Now I've got this chapter dealt with, I'm feeling more confidence in myself and where i'm going from now on. With luck, this really wiill be the turning point for me.
So thank you for sticking around for the ride, I greatly appreciate it. Lets see this bitch begin to crank it up, hey?