The victorious cheers came to an abrupt halt at the sight of a curious struggle happening near the middle of the base's gray, muddy courtyard. Two stallions, one a pegasus with a wing of nearlyindestructible metal, and the other, a changeling with eyes as blue-green as the purest ocean waters, were desperately trying to pin one another to the ground.

The only goal in Clockwork's mind was to kill or capture the insect-demon before him. He remained quiet, the most visually aggressive thing he allowed himself to do was clench his teeth. Any other sort of action like yelling or grunting would waste valuable energy, nevertheless, his eyes had glazed over with hatred. Whatever the hell this thing was that Switcher had become, he was much better trained in hoof-to-hoof combat. Neither equine drew their respective firearm, for the ring of confused, tired soldiers that had formed around them severely heightened the risk of unintended casualties.

And so the duo wrestled, one managing to get the upper hoof over the other, but never managing to hold it for more than a few seconds at a time. Clockwork's natural strength had long since vanished, replaced entirely by adrenaline. At a sideways glance, the engineer could have easily been mistaken for a demon or some equivalent, as a majority of the left side of his body glowed blood red from the light of his fire ruby.

The changeling appeared hesitate at the unnerving sight. His adversary's appearance horrifically calm, his breath ragged, and the way his wing appeared more like a heavily warped blade than an appendage designed for flight. If the changeling had ceased its defensive tactics in fear, Clockwork could not tell. The trauma he had endured in recent hours practically eliminated all but his most basic senses.

In seconds, the younger stallion had pinned the older insect beneath his hoof. Without hesitation, he drew his LeMane and pressed it to the violently struggling monster's cranium. No words were spoken, no taunts or one-liners. The only sound that echoed through the dead silence was the Click! of the revolver's hammer being pulled back.

"Clockwork, stop. Your senses are clouded. Switcher is not your enemy."

Clockwork froze solid at the angelic, commanding voice. His malice left him in an instant, replaced by some cacophony of emotion no mortal creature could describe. He set his weapon to safe, threw it aside, and made his way to an empty portion of courtyard some ways away. He sat down, back straight and to the one he had attacked. His head remained hung, his eyes losing the ability to focus as they stared into the dirt.

"Switcher, you alright?" Long Shot's voice reached Clockwork's ears.

After a short bout of coughing and some rustling, Switcher responded, his voice different from before, like two more voices were backing up the primary. "All systems functional, sir. The feedback from the improvised teleportation bomb neutralized my ability to change appearance."

"For how long?"

"It is most likely temporary, but frankly sir, that is of my least concern."

Clockwork felt as though every pair of eyes in the facility were trained on his slightly trembling figure. He did not react, did not shudder or whine, he continued to remain seated.

"Clockwork, are you alright?"

The pegasus didn't respond, not even bothering to turn around and look the mare in the eyes.

"Clockwork, please answer me."

The pegasus remained silent until the mare came around his front and placed a gloved hoof underneath his chin. Her eyes met his. Clockwork blinked. "Good to see you alive, Lieutenant."

Charger's response caused some kind of warmth to surge through Clockwork's veins. She had hugged him, she had hugged him first. "Likewise, Clockwork. Likewise."

Both ponies finally let a few tears fall, smiling the whole time. Given the current situation, they broke away after only a few seconds, but neither friend minded.

The pegasus suddenly stood and hurried to stand near Long Shot and Switcher. "Switcher? Is that really you?"

The changeling nodded, removing the silvery helm that had replaced his hat. "Switcher-7 at your service. Seventh most experienced infiltration and unorthodox warfare expert in the pure changeling hive."

"The what?"

The changeling dismissed the question with a wave of his hoof. "I will explain later."

"I'm sorry about-"

"Worry not, for I believe your previous actions to be fully understandable. It is actually more of my fault than yours, as I rarely show my true appearance to anyone."

Clockwork looked at Long Shot and then Switcher, feeling both silly and stupid. "So, we're good?"

"As long as you do not try to kill me again, yes." the soldier emitted a wet buzzing sound that Clockwork eventually determined was likely his species' version of laughing. He turned to Long Shot, who was busy issuing commands to a few newly freed prisoners not too far off.

"Sir, I'm sorry that I warped your personal zeppelin into oblivion."

The nocturni burst out laughing at the ridiculous statement. "You and your apologies, kid. Don't worry about it. From what I've been told, everypony evacuated safely before you set her off, and you managed to take three griffon dreadnoughts with her! That's a good trade in my book, and she was practically held together with red tape and string anyway; she was due for replacing. It was a good end to her run."

"Is there any way I can be of assistance?"

"That improvised bomb's magical feedback overloaded every electronic system in this base. See if you can make us a new radio to call for help, and maybe a few generators if you've got the right parts. Take Charger and your buddies from Research and Development with ya."

"I'll report back when I've made progress."

It would've been a lie to say that Clockwork hadn't seen worse, but it was the absolute truth that the situation was still remarkably bad.

Thanks to the chaos that had ceased only minutes before, the entirety of the base had been almost completely reduced to gray rubble, the same dull color as the wet earth below. Skeletons of buildings remained standing like tombstones, and whatever machines that had survived the bombardment lacked nearly any semblance of their previous form.

Oddly enough, it didn't take long for Clockwork and his allies to find a relatively intact radio. As expected, however, the machine's inner workings were shot. The pegasus sighed, his already long day was only going to painfully lengthen from here.

"See if you can find some intact gems, maybe some untainted coal. No energy, no working radio. I'm also going to need some fresh wires and definitely a new antenna. Don't look for anything pristine though, we don't need finesse. For now, I'll try to make the best of what I've got and see what I can do with what I have.

"Wetwork and I will find the energy stuff! C'mon!" Haywire darted out of the room, her familiar cheer having returned the moment the fighting had ended. After a gentle kiss on the forehead from Wetwork, the unicorn trotted after her friend. Charger, however, did not leave.

"I see that you've made friends."

"A few, yes."

"And that you have grown affectionate towards the unicorn."

"Wetwork’s my marefriend, yeah."

"You've changed," the yellow mare remarked "both mentally and physically."

Clockwork looked up from ripping out the scorched contents of a broken generator nearby, one eyebrow raised in curiosity. "Is that a good thing?"

"Truthfully, I am unsure."

Clockwork sighed, after all this time away from her, the pegasus finally had begun to notice why she came off as a robot to some. Still. . . there was something behind that lithe, seemingly emotionless form of hers. Was she crying?

"Charger? Are you okay?"

The mare turned around, revealing water visibly pooling at the corners of her eyes. Her breathing was ragged as she shook her head "no."

At first, Clockwork was unsure of how to proceed. The previously strong-willed Naval Lieutenant with an eloquent, concise vocabulary and electric gloves that could paralyze a manticore was breaking down in front of him for no apparent reason. What the heck?

"Is there something wrong? Anything I can do to help?"

"Unless you can bring back the dead, then no."

Clockwork immediately dropped what he was doing and made his way to stand at the mare's side. He felt a stone settle in his heart as he recognized the look in her eyes. It was the same one the pegasus had when he watched Moppet sacrifice himself. "I heard once that talking it out helps. I'm all ears if you want."

Charger regained her composure just enough to sit down and lay her head on her friend's shoulder. After the stallion had wrapped his real wing around her, she began her story. "I was in maintenance when the first rounds fell, just tweaking my gloves with one of those little repair kits you sent me. After the first lull, I ran back to my quarters to take account of those under my command."

". . .They were dead when you found them."

"The room had taken a direct hit from cannon round, turned to rubble in seconds along with everything and everypony inside. All I could do was hope that their deaths were quick."

Clockwork felt a pang of sorrow as he remembered Smokestack's similar tale. "Yet you survived to fight another day. Isn't that a good thing?"

"I am unsure but am leaning highly towards the negative." Charger's breathing evened as she finally began to calm down. "I have to live with those terrible memories burnt into my mind. I watched those under my command struggle and die against an enemy who had the clear advantage. It was like Cloudsdale, but the enemy won this time. I don't know whether or not my position as a leader is valid any longer."

Clockwork was unsure how to proceed. The love of his life was resting on his shoulder and professing her doubts about her command, but how the hell was he supposed to respond? He couldn't just kiss her, and his wordplay was shit. After a bit of thought, the stallion settled on gently stroking her mane. "You can take or leave what I say, Charger, but know this. If I got through the near destruction of Ponyville, Cloudsdale, and here without losing too much of my sanity, then you can definitely do the same. You still have one friend in this world, and I shall come to your aid whenever you wish."

Charger sat up and turned to look her best friend in the eye. Clockwork was essentially paralyzed, for in that moment, the earth pony's smile was more genuine now than he had ever seen before. "It is an honor to call you my friend, Clockwork. Thank you for listening, it feels good to get things like that off of my chest. I really am glad I know you."

After a warm hug, the mare left the room to gather her respective materials, unaware that a certain pair of teal eyes watched her go.

And so the tasks continued. Whenever Clockwork reached an impasse that couldn't be defeated through the repurposing of currently available parts, he sent out his three friends to acquire the necessary items. The circular process went on for some time, and it appeared as though progress was minimal at best, nonexistent at all other times. Eventually, though, a gentle, caring voice crackled through the makeshift transceiver.

"Say again, this is Captain Fluttershy of the Alliance Medical Frigate Kindness. Is there, umm. . . is there anypony out there? Anypony at all?"

“How’re you holding up, kid?”

Clockwork repositioned his gaze from the large window in front of him to Long Shot, who now stood by his side. “I don’t mean to sound like a snark, but you already know the answer, Commander.”

“Alright, Clockwork.” the Nocturni took a seat. “Listen to me and listen good, and sit down for Luna’s sake. After all you’ve been through, you deserve a rest more than anything.”

After the pegasus had taken his seat next to the commander, the unicorn of the night continued. “You made the right call, and you can’t convince me otherwise. I’ll admit that I’m pissed that the griffons took out a few of my buddies, but had you stayed silent? We’d all be dead. You said it yourself that the prison was bait and was going to be destroyed anyway.”

“We lost eight good soldiers.”

“But saved over three hundred allied personnel as a result! Those numbers don’t even include the crew of the Even Odds! ”

Clockwork nodded, though no laughter left his system. He still found no joy in the deaths of others, even if they were the enemy.

“Had you remained silent, a lot more good people would’ve died today. It’s thanks to you that we won today, Clockwork.” the stallion rose and saluted the pegasus before turning and walking off. Clockwork was left alone in one of the Kindness’ many observation rooms, unsure of whether or not his accomplishments were truly worthy of such praise.

"SOLDIERS! ATTENTION!"

Given his close proximity to the commander, Clockwork almost fell over as Long Shot magically projected his voice over the throne room. The pegasus quickly righted himself and saluted as best he could, for the mare that took her seat as she sorted through a large set of documents was one whom none wished to disappoint.

The freed POWs and remaining members of Meteor Squad along with the crew of the late Even Odds had been spoken with and dismissed for the remainder of the week. However, she had requested that four certain equines speak with her in private.

Before Clockwork, Charger, Long Shot, and Switcher-7, was the elder of the royal sisters, the ruler of the day, Princess Celestia herself.

"At ease, my subjects." the alicorn's motherly voice eased everypony's spirits, though it was laced with both authority and over a thousand years of experience. She set the papers down on a nearby pedestal and turned her full attention to the ponies before her. "It is good that you answered my request so quickly."

"It is unwise to keep the ruler of any nation waiting when one's presence is requested, especially if that ruler is you." the local changeling said, something between caution and admeration tinging his voice.

"You are too kind, Switcher-7. How is Chrysalis?" Celestia asked, a faint smile gracing her muzzle.

Clockwork thought he saw the changeling tremble lightly. "I cannot say more than that she is doing well."

"Of course. I assume that you four are the ones responsible for the success of the recent mission?"

"You are partially correct, ma'am," Long Shot answered. "We didn't do it alone. We had help on the inside of the base, and definitely from above."

Celestia nodded before looking towards Clockwork. "I believe you are the one whom Long Shot refers to when he mentions 'above'?"

The stallion stood there awestruck for a moment. He should've bowed, should've shown some sign of his unworthiness to be in her presence, but all he did was nod.

"I see. So you are the stallion that sabotaged a special forces zeppelin, destroyed an experimental propulsion system and the ship it was on, and disobeyed a direct order from your superiors in breaking radio silence, which alerted the enemy to your exact location, risking the lives of everypony involved in the process?”

Clockwork felt ice run through his veins. Despite his overwhelming fear and shaking legs, he looked the ruler of his nation straight in the eyes. "Yes ma'am, and I take full responsibility for my actions."

"Your sense of responsibility is admirable, young one, but do not be afraid. Through your ingenuity, you saved hundreds of lives while dealing a serious blow to the enemy."

"B-but your majesty, I- I destroyed experimental-" the pegasus fell silent when the alicorn raised her hoof.

"What is destroyed can be rebuilt. Furthermore, it is thanks to your quick thinking that several hundred Alliance personnel returned home today. If my memory serves me correctly, you also participated in the attacks on Ponyville as well as Cloudsdale. You are also productive in the scientific fields you have chosen as your specialties."

"Umm. . . thank you, your highness. Really though, I'm just an engineer that's been in the wrong places at the wrong times."

Celestia gave the pegasus a warm smile, one that made Clockwork a little worried; if it were anypony else, he would only expect this sort of almost motherly attention to be given to him because of his wing.

"I shall add 'humble' to the list. However, do you truly experience a sensation of importance given your current line of work?"

Clockwork was caught off guard by that, and contemplated backing away before deciding against it. He glanced to his left, finding a similar look of confusion on his allies' faces, even Charger seemed curious. He looked back at his ruler and took a deep breath. "While my special talent is engineering, mainly steam technology, and Research and Development is the best place to exhibit those talents, I do not feel as though my efforts there are the place where I can help most."

"Do you want to assist in combat?"

There was a long pause. Lesser pauses would have bowed to the regality of this pause.

"I do not take pleasure in the deaths of others, even the enemy. If the situation calls for it, I will gladly take up arms to defend my friends and family," Clockwork said, finally.

"Commander," Princess Celestia looked at Long Shot, frowning. "how many warriors remain in Meteor Squad's service?"

Long Shot glanced at his insectoid companion. "Given recent events, just the two of us, ma'am. Why?"

Celestia sat up, looking a bit unnerved. If it was the talk of fighting or the Nocturni’s presence, Clockwork couldn’t say.

"It is clear that Clockwork wishes to fight for and defend his nation, and nopony can deny him that. I believe him qualified to be able to join your squad, but I shall leave the final decision up to him."

Again, there was a long pause. Clockwork almost forgot to breath a few times.

Long Shot sighed, looking to the pegasus for a moment before whispering to the changeling on his left. After a short but tense silence, the commander announced his decision. "He's rough around the edges, and isn't the best at sticking to orders, but he's capable. I think, with time, he could become a valued member of the squad."

Celestia nodded. "If there are no objections, Clockwork, would you please step-"

"Princess Celestia," Charger interjected. "I sincerely apologize for interrupting, but I do not believe Clockwork to be of the caliber Meteor Squad requires to succeed."

The princess raised an eyebrow at the seemingly hostile remark. "Would you care to explain, Lieutenant?"

"While Clockwork certainly has the spirit and endurance to serve alongside Equestria's best, he hardly has enough combat experience."

Clockwork sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I hate to admit it, but she's right."

"Hmm. . . Charger, if my memory serves me right, you have acquired numerous accolades during your time in the Navy. Colonel Charnel has given me quite the interesting report regarding your service in the northernmost battle we have suffered so far. With the unfortunate destruction of your most recent command structure, you are currently in between roles, correct?"

Charger nodded briefly. "You are correct on all counts, your highness."

"You have displayed exemplary proficiency in hoof-to-hoof combat, as well as graduated advanced training near the top of your class. "

"And the squad needs somepony to counteract my naivety," Clockwork added.

Switcher blinked.

"Lieutenant, would you be willing to join Meteor Squad as well?" Long Shot asked.

For the first time Clockwork had seen her do so, Charger blushed, followed by rampant stuttering. "Y-your majesty, I. . . I- I am not worthy of such a position!"

The alicorn shook her head. "I can think of more than three hundred mares and stallions that would say otherwise," she said, telekinetically passing the large stack of papers to Charger and placed them at her hooves. Only later would Clockwork learn that every page was a separate testimony of one of the freed POWs, whom all of which had recommended Charger for a promotion, a medal, though most often both.

“Very well then.” Charger looked to the princess and nodded. “I shall accept this commission with dignity and honor, your majesty.”

“So will I.” Clockwork added.

Celestia rose and made her way to stand at the base of the staircase. “It is settled, then. Commander, would you do the honors?”

“Always.” the nocturni removed two small patches from a pouch on his belt before handing one to each new squad member. Clockwork marvelled at the fine stitching, the threads sewn together to depict a comet streaking through the night sky. The words “Strike Hard, Strike Fast, Shine Bright.” glistened in silver at the top.

“Clockwork, Charger, as per induction into a High Risk Operations Team, you are both hereby stripped of your ranks.” the princess looked out a nearby stained glass window for a moment, taking note of the setting sun. “I have no doubt that you both have experienced the horrors of warfare. Will you take up arms against those that threaten myself, my sister, the elements of Harmony, and all those that inhabit the kingdom of Equestria?”

Clockwork and Charger looked each other in the eye for a split second and nodded before turning back to the alicorn of the sun. “Until our dying breath and beyond,” they replied in unison.

“Then by the power invested in me as co-ruler of Equestria, I hereby assign you both to High Risk Operations force seventeen, designation Meteor Squad, effective immediately. Each of you shall operate as specialists of your respective fields. Congratulations,” Celestia declared, looking at Long Shot for a moment, who only bowed respectably.

“Given recent events, I am authorizing the construction of a new vessel to both house and assist Meteor Squad in any and all operations you shall participate in. Furthermore, I am granting you a mandatory rest period until the construction of your new zeppelin is complete.”

The princess paused, and a grim, sad look overtook her face. The room seemed to darken.

“My little ponies,” she began, sounding remarkably forceful. “I wish to make it apparent to all present that what you are doing should not be seen as good.”

Clockwork paused, a shiver started around the base of mechanical wing and made it up his spine. He saw Charger’s expression turn into one of pure, base fear, and even Long Shot looked uneasy. Curiously, Switcher looked slightly calmed by the Princesses change in tone. Perhaps it reminded him of home?

“It is important what you do, yes. Is it true that there are threats to Equestria that can only be solved by the might of arms? Yes, that is true. Has peace failed Equestria?”

She adopted a look of longing, and Clockwork couldn't help but notice that she looked regretful.

“No. Time and time again, Equestria has avoided attacks from foes, both eter-”

Celestia paused, and a look of mild mortification passed over her face. Clockwork could feel the blood pumping in his chest.

“Foes both internal and external have been repelled from Equestria through simple good will, but there have been times when that has not been enough. Equestrians have fought battles with the southernmost zebra tribes, who believe me to be the cause of the harshness of their land. The horses of Saddle Arabia launched a campaign of hostility when they learned that I became the sole ruler of Equestria, and that, when the sun stood still over there lands for a day, believed I was attempting to obliterate them. The buffalo have suffered both attacks from ponies and ponies have suffered attacks from them in turn. The donkeys of the northern steppe, who suffered under unicorns all those years ago, sometimes still attempt to take revenge for their people’s losses, and the unicorns sometimes retaliate in kind.”

She paused, looking at Switcher. “But every time those battles ended, Equestria survived, and obtained an ally. Equestria, Zebrica, Saddle Arabia, the Mild West, the Dossacks of the Donk River, all are now allies and friends.”

Looking at Long Shot, she tilted her head downwards in recognition. “And even if one cannot truly say for all of his people, that does not mean that they will not be accepted in due time.”

Long Shot lowered his head, seemingly in shame.

Clockwork's mind drew a blank. What did that mean?

“Do not hate the Supremacy. Do not fear them, either. Do not take pride in this war, in your accomplishments and your actions.

"Take pride in knowing that you are defending Equestria, that you are protecting peace. In time, the griffons and their Empire will be calmed and, while the leaders will be held accountable and their allies will be tried and sentenced. The griffons have ways that are not entirely different from that of ponies, and in nature they are not inherently different than ponies. The only difference that I see in this conflict and the ones before is the scale and the lines in battle.”

Celestia narrowed her eyes, just enough for Clockwork to realize that they appeared watery.

“I will not have bigots in my service,” she finished, sighing as she leaned back into her throne. “You may leave now, Meteor Squad. Dismissed.”

Three ponies and the one changeling left the room in haste.