Friday
0630

The night in our small little stone room passed uneventfully. Dirty water quietly trickled through an inlet outside the only doorway.

At 0600, Dashie woke me. By 0630, we were all awake and getting ready to move out. The room was lit by a glow lantern in the center and our Pipbucks.

"This isn't too bad cold." Pumpkin waved a hoof to me as she nibbled on leftovers from her meal last night. "Captain, I think I found us a path to the hospital through the sewers."

"Ghoul-free?" I brushed the tangles out of my greasy mane as I approached her.

"I... don't have an answer for that." She frowned, looking away. "Cyclone doesn't know either." The amber glow of her Pipbuck was the only thing illuminating her features from where she sat, facing away from the glow lantern.

"Don't worry about it." I nodded grimly, and waved Cyclone and Dashie over. "Pumpkin thinks she found a way to the hospital, but we don't know if the tunnels haven't collapsed, or if they're infested with, uh, pseudoferals." Pumpkin smiled at my use of Cerulean's term. "What're your thoughts, folks?" Charm looked over, looking like she wanted to say something. "Ivory? Mineral, Cast? You're part of this too."

Cast looked from Cyclone to I. "What are the chances that the Crimson Raiders can follow us?"

I considered, remembering something Crimson had said. "Ah. They're tracking us through our Pipbucks."

Everyone fell silent at that, sharing looks ranging from worry to shock. A couple looked to their Pipbucks, giving them looks of betrayal. Cast in particular anxiously fiddled with his Pipbuck, as if he were looking for a toggle to turn off the tracking that we'd all forgotten about. To my knowledge, there was none.

Idly, I made a mental note to learn more about my Pipbuck's capabilities.

Dashie broke the silence after a moment. "So, no chance of going quiet, then?"

"Probably not." I shook my head. "We don't know the extent of their tracking capabilities, though."

"If we move quickly, they probably can't maneuver quickly enough to catch us." Pumpkin frowned, looking to me with a hopeful expression.

"I'm hearing an awful lot of 'maybes' here." I glanced back, the way we'd come, towards the marehole we'd entered the sewers from. "If we go back that way, they're likely waiting."

Dashie frowned. "This is assuming they know where we are. For all we know, our counterattack, the building collapse and us going to ground may have thrown them off the trail."

I nodded. "That's possible."

Cyclone glanced around. "Better to assume they know we're here, I think."

Everyone started talking at once, agreeing, disagreeing.

"Right!" I raised my voice to be heard over my ponies. "Here's the plan. We're going to follow the sewers towards another marehole closer to the objective. Exit the sewers there and press on to the objective. Change streets every other street or so." I glanced to Dashie. "Like he said - be unpredictable."

Mineral spoke up for the first time since she'd cried herself to sleep last night. "What do we do with...." She partially turned towards where Crescent's body lay. Ivory reached over to rest a hoof against her side.

...

Oh.

Right.

I considered for a long moment. "Strip her kit. We'll burn the body."

"What?" Cyclone looked shocked. "Burn her body?"

"Yes. When we get home, we'll hold a celebration in her name." I pointed to Cast, then Ivory. "Cast. Ivory. Deal with Crescent." Ivory nodded grimly. I looked to Mineral. "Mineral, could you take a look at my leg?" I looked to Dashie. "Dash, come over here. Mineral's going to check your flank after she checks my leg."

"Captain?" Mineral gave me a confused look.

I stretched over on a clean-ish section of the ground, and they followed me over. "I was... hurt during the previous mission. Cerulean told me to have you look at it this morning."

Mineral settled down on her haunches next to me, running her hooves along my foreleg. "How bad was it?"

I didn't want to bring this up. "I... lost my leg. Cerulean reattached it."

She gave me a flat look. "Are you serious?"

Oh, how I wish I wasn't. "Yes."

She shook her head. "This doesn't make any sense. If I didn't know better, I'd say this injury was at least a month old...." She dug through pockets in her barding. "I'd like to run some tests on it when we get back to the Stable."

"No tests necessary, I know what the answer is!" Mineral gave me a concerned look. "Unicorn master race, naturally." Dashie quietly groaned.

Mineral gave me a blank look. "Ha... ha ha." She rose to her hooves, directing Dashie to lay down. "By the way, I lost my medical supplies, Captain." She glanced to what kit she had left. "And most of my stuff."

"Yes, yes...." I glanced over towards Cast and Ivory, who were repacking Crescent's kit into an easy to carry form.

...

Crescent's kit has nopony to wear it.

Mineral has no kit.

Mineral is not going to like this.

"You get to carry Crescent's kit now."

"Captain?" Mineral looked up from Dashie's flank with a shocked look. "But... I... Crescent!"

"No! No arguing. You're carrying Crescent's kit." She glared at me, and I could tell she was going to argue. "Wait. Never mind." I looked around.

There is something disturbing about making someone wearing their dead best friend's kit.

"Ivory!" Ivory looked over. "Strip. Mineral will wear your kit. You're going to wear... Crescent's kit."

Ivory looked down in confusion and opened her mouth. "But..."

I cut her off before she could start whining. "I'm not in the mood. Just do it."

"Yes, ma'am." Ivory started stripping her equipment off.

"Mineral, Ivory, deal with that." I trotted over to Dashie.

Dashie rose to his hooves, stretching as he fixed his barding. "Boss, I'm down to five rounds for the beltgun."

It's not a... oh, never mind.

It doesn't matter.

I glanced to Mineral. Mineral was carrying...

Ah.

Mineral lost her kit, and Dashie's reload.

"Right." Out of all the ponies to lose their kit, it had to be the ammo carrier. "Perfect."

At 0650, we were all packed and ready to move. Only one thing left. Dashie nuzzled me. "Well, boss..."

"I know." I cleared my throat. "Ponies!"

My ponies looked to me.

Ivory and Cast were standing together. They'd been talking quietly, their expressions neutral.

Cyclone and Pumpkin had been talking shop about Pumpkin's beam rifle. Mineral was looking at the bite mark on Pumpkin's wing.

Dashie was standing next to me. He had a grim expression.

"It's time." I glanced to Crescent's body.

All of their moods fell at the reminder of our loss, expressions turning to grim sadness, pain or anger. Mineral rose to her hooves, slinging her saddlebags over her flanks and yanking the straps tight with an angry look.

Dashie had set some strips of wood under her body and covered it with a cloth soaked in gas. Where he'd found it, I didn't ask.

I was glad I didn't have to see her body.

"Well." I glanced around. "Good bye, Crescent. It's been an honor."

If I hadn't fucked up last week, she wouldn't be dead.

...

I don't know that for sure.

But I think that's what happened.

...

"I'm sorry." I looked up to everyone, blinking back tears. Not the time, Firefly. Time for angst later.

"Does anypony have anything they'd like to add?"

"Goodbye, Security Officer Crescent Spark." Cyclone stepped forward as he spoke. "Your time was far too short, and I'm saddened that I didn't get the chance to know you properly." He closed his eyes and bowed.

"Bye, Cres..." Ivory had a dead expression, her voice cracking as she said Crescent's name. I gave her a closer look. Fear seemed to winning out on her face.

A minute of silence passed as Min quietly sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Then, I broke the silence as I drew a flare and cracked it open with a sharp hiss.

Everyone looked up to me in shock, and then relaxed as they realized it was just me.

I turned to Min, offering her the end of the flare that wasn't hissing. "Would you like to do the honors, Mineral?"

She looked to me in blank confusion, before violently shaking her head as she realized what I meant, taking a step back.

I nodded tightly and carefully set it among the folds of cloth covering Crescent.

The cloth quickly lit.

For a long minute, the only sound was the soft crackling of flames and Min crying. Ivory leaned over to nuzzle her, and Cyclone put his hoof on her shoulder.

"We should move, boss." Dashie prodded me.

I nodded. "Right." I cleared my throat. "Let's move!"

Cyclone broke the tense silence we'd been trotting in for a half hour. "Underground's for moles and Stable ponies."

The tunnels were dark, lit only by our Pipbucks and the pale blue light orbs Ivory and I had cast. They were stuffy and hot, a far cry from the welcoming, well-lit steel corridors of our home.

Even the air felt like it wished us ill.

I shook my head, glancing to the rest of my team. "We're not so hot on these tunnels either, Cyclone." Not even Dashie had a snarky comment for once.

We exited the sewers via a marehole around 0740, emerging onto a wide, open street, buildings on both sides. A light post had fallen across the street and through a wall, making an access way into the second story of that building.

Pumpkin announced it was clear. "At least, as clear as this EFS can determine."

I wasn't the only pony concerned about their Pipbuck's usefulness.

Wonderful.

"Praise the sun, I can breathe." I took a deep breath, enjoying the clean air. It... felt alive. Natural. I almost preferred it to the sterile air of the Stable.

Preferring surface air to Stable air? That's probably concerning.

"Is that a sunrise?" Ivory perked up immediately, and I looked up. "It's so pretty!"

The sky was... pink.

"No." Cyclone was not so cheerful. "It's pink rain. A storm is coming."

"Pink rain?"

"Rain infused with the pink cloud that the zebras used to bomb Canterlot." Cyclone shook his head. "It melts things together."

"This day keeps just getting better. How long until it gets here?"

"A day. Two, perhaps." Cyclone frowned.

I nodded, and looked to Pumpkin. "Blitz, where are we?"

Pumpkin nodded in agreement with Cyclone. "A day or two, yeah." She looked to her Pipbuck. "We're on Broadway." She pointed up the street. "Hospital's that way."

I shook my head. "Get us off this Princess forsaken street. We'll take a roundabout path and hit the objective from the east."

"Aye." She set off, leading us through an alleyway up the street.

I had to admit, getting out of the dark sewers definitely lifted our spirits despite the impending rain storm. Cool, clean air was certainly an improvement. Pumpkin was happier, almost flitting about.

"Captain, two contacts, coming down the street, over." I glanced to Pumpkin, catching sight of a cyan and seafoam green striped tail disappearing into a third story window.

"Weapons tight. Get down." I ducked into the doorway of a building, and my team scattered into cover. "Let them pass."

The two of them trotted into our formation, unaware. They were a pair of unicorns, a small, blue stallion in a cloak, his long mane white and yellow, and a mare, beige with a black and pink streaked mane. They passed through, until the mare looked straight at me, and we locked eyes.

Shit.

She immediately went for a weapon of some kind, and Dashie came out of nowhere, bucking her. Her weapon, a switchblade, clattered against the sidewalk in front of me.

I advanced out of the shadows, rifle beside me. "What are you doing here?"

"We're just leaving the city. We... we don't want any trouble!" Her voice was shrill with fear.

Oh.

Oops.

I nodded to Dashie, and he stepped back, letting them up. "Ah." I nodded, digging through my saddlebags. "Take this as a token of our apology." I levitated out a 10mm pistol, two magazines and my last sealed healing potion. I offered her these and returned her switchblade, hilt first.

She looked to me in confusion, but nodded, taking the supplies and backing away. "Who... are you?" She tucked the healing potion in one of her saddlebags, looking to me.

Huh, okay. "We're the Scouts of Stable 30. We're here to lead the way for Stable 30 to rejoin Equestria."

She frowned. "So... what does that mean?"

"Well... we're going to be doing what needs to be done to make the wasteland safer for all."

"Like...?"

"Right now, we're reaching out to forge alliances among the major groups. Steel Rangers, Crimson Raiders, the Central Exchange, others."

"Oh, okay..." She nodded. "We're leaving now."

I waved to her. "Good luck with what you're doing!"

"Smooth, boss." Dashie tossed me one of his lopsided smirks.

"Shut it, Lieutenant." I shook my head. "Let's move."

Huh. That didn't go too badly, over all.

0832

An hour and a half of tramping through back alleys and darting across roads brought us to eyes on the objective.

We settled down to observe the target in a square, three-story building on Canterlot Street, made of brick, with barred, shattered windows. A sign on the front claimed it sold plumbing supplies, but I suspected it had been abandoned before the war. At some point, ponies had occupied it, and there was a distinct smell of feces coming from a corner of the first floor. Abandoned, now.

Redheart General was a series of gleaming buildings, primarily made of softly rounded glass windows and brick.

Or, at least, I presume it had been gleaming at one point. All of the windows had been shattered, and a couple of the secondary buildings had collapsed. A skybridge stretched between two buildings. Looking through the windows showed signs that the buildings had recently been occupied, at least one of them - glass swept out of the way, furniture stood up, other things.

"Hospital looks occupied."

"Gee, who'da thunk it, boss?" Dashie's smart-ass attitude was getting to me.

"Can it, Lieutenant." I threw Dashie a stern glare.

Apparently Dashie picked up on that, and his smug tone disappeared. "Sorry, ma'am."

Pumpkin spoke up, pointing with a hoof. "Looks like the north building is the primarily occupied structure, ma'am."

"Looks like we've found our first lead." I grinned to Sands. "Showtime, ponies."

Our hooves crunched on broken glass as we approached the northern building, the former wall of glass to our right. Eventually, though, we came across a path where the glass had been cleared away, leading to the front entrance.

"Interesting." I glanced down as the sound my hooves crunching on glass changed to clopping on pavement.

"Guess they're expecting visitors." Dashie spoke up, glancing around.

"It is a hospital, after all. What good is a hospital without a way for ponies to get there?"

LOCATION DISCOVERED: BALTIMARE - REDHEART GENERAL

The front entrance was a large, open area, almost a park with trees and overgrown grass in between brick pathways. The brick path leading to the main door had been cleared up, weeds pulled out and bricks replaced. Sandbag fortifications had been erected. A skybus had fallen to the ground off to the left, and it'd been pulled over to create a partial wall.

A couple of guards stood by the main door, and they raised their weapons as we approached. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

I approached slowly, weapons down. "We're here to negotiate for a trade route for medical supplies."

"For what purpose?"

"Well, the purpose of trade, of course. I'd like to speak to your leader, if that would be possible."

One of them, a griffon, looked to the other, a green earth pony in a battle saddle. Her mane and tail were cropped short, and a rifle lay slung against her right flank. "Go on in." They stepped aside, and I lead the way in.

The reception hall was much the same - white tile I imagined had been clean two hundred years ago, and broken glass walls. Benches and seats dotted the room. The lower levels of glass walls had been boarded up with planks. A broken wheelchair lay on its side in a corner. Brown spots dotted the white tile underhoof.

Cyclone sighed softly. "I remember when they first built this place...."

"Nostalgic much, Sarge?" Charm looked to him, a little teasing, a little genuine curiosity in her tone.

Cyclone nodded sadly. "It's been over fifty years since I've done a whole lot of traveling, not since the... incident in New Reino. It felt like I was... losing myself. I'm glad I came with you."

"Can I help you, ponies?" A stallion sat at the front desk, back legs crossed on the desk, a hoofball cap worn backwards pushed over his mane. "You don't look injured?" He smirked. "Sorry, we don't do psychological issues."

I chuckled at his joke. "No, we're not here for your help. We're here to help you, actually." He looked confused. "We'd like to negotiate a trading route for medical supplies."

He shrugged, looking over us as he pulled his hooves off the desk. "You're gonna have to talk to Rez for that."

I nodded. "Where would we find her?"

"She's over that way." He pointed a hoof. "Not sure what she's doing, though."

A short trot lead us to a tired-looking yellow unicorn, carrying a stack of boxes on her back. Her purple mane was pulled back in a loose, messy bun, several locks on the verge of falling out.

"Rez?" I studied her as I pulled my helmet off.

She threw a frosty glare back the way we'd come, before she frowned at me severely. "I am 'Doctor Insecure Resident'. You may call me 'Doctor Resident'." She looked at me for a long moment, tucking some of her mane back behind her ear. "If you're looking for medical treatment, go back that way and talk to Adjunct." She pointed a hoof back the way we'd come.

"No, we're the Scouts of Stable 30. Would you like the long version or the short version?"

"Unless the long version ends with a healing spell in a reusable megaspell matrix, make it fast." She continued on her way, and we followed her.

"Unfortunately, I don't have one of those to offer. Yet." She raised her eyebrow as I set about revising and optimizing my pitch.

Right.

I cleared my throat. "I would like to offer Redheart General our services. In exchange, we wish to create a serious alliance, supplying your hospital in exchange for possible assistance in the future. For now, I'd like to take a tour of your facilities to see what you have, and what we can offer you."

"A tour. Of my facilities." Doctor Resident set the boxes aside and turned, leaning against the wall. "Still not hearing a concrete offer of what you've got to offer us."

"Well, Stable 30 has the ability to produce healing potions, new stock, with a greatly improved recipe."

She shook her head. "We're here to provide medical care, not sell healing potions. Healing potions don't set broken bones properly." Sands nodded in agreement, and Doctor Resident smiled approvingly for a moment. "More on that, I'm sure you're only offering 'limitless supplies of healing potions' for the low, low price of complete and total ownership of the hospital. No thanks."

"Taking over the hospital would put unnecessary strain on the Stable." I shook my head. "Not good for either party." She nodded, acceding that point as I took a different track. "Tell me, where do your healing potions come from?"

"Mostly from passing traders." She pursed her lips at me, body language clearly asking, 'what's your point?'.

I suppressed a smirk as I levitated my last healing potion out, half full. "Do they come in sealed Sparkle-cola bottles like this?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Many of them do, yes..."

I cleared my throat and smiled. "Think of it as simply cutting out the middlemare, rather than finding a new source."

She nodded slowly. "Very well..."

"We could also supply you with ponies with medical training. After all, even the most skilled of experts can learn a new trick from a novice, and Stable 30's business is storing knowledge."

"I'm not interested in being one-upped by Stable ponies." She frowned and pushed off from the wall. "I doubt your 'experts' have anywhere near as much experience treating bullet wounds and radiation as my ponies."

"That is probably true, but how much experience do your ponies have with more advanced medical issues? Together, we could round out Redheart General's abilities and help Baltimare." She frowned, not swayed.

"Nope. Actually..." She looked down, and then slowly smirked. "You know what? Yeah. There is something you can do for us." I followed her gaze to my M3000, and looked back up to her. "There's a Stable under the hospital. We've never been able to get inside. Get us inside, and I'll personally give you your damn tour."

I perked up. "A Stable, did you say?"

She shrugged. "For all I know, it might just be a door in the wall that leads nowhere."

My ponies shared looks, curious or wary. Ivory grinned brightly. "We're not the only Stable ponies out here? That's amazing!" The rest of the team shared her sentiments, glee and happiness at another Stable.

...before Dashie popped their balloon of hope. "They probably won't be anything like us."

"I wouldn't bet on it." Doctor Resident shook her head. "We've tried talking to them. No reply. A couple guards looked at the air vents - they're pretty bad." She shrugged. "If there are ponies in there, I'd be very, very worried about them, for our sakes...."

I nodded solemnly. "Not every Stable could be a success story."

"Stable 30 is the only Stable I've heard of that wasn't a failure, a disaster or a death trap." She chuckled. "Or all of the above, for that matter." She nodded slowly, chewing on her cheek. "Alright. Get us inside the Stable, and I'll give you your tour." She turned and called out into a back room. "Scalpel! I'm going to show these ponies the Stable. Send some guards down."

"On it!" A stallion's voice called back.

"This way." She turned and walked off, leading us through the hospital, and across the skybridge over the road we'd used on our approach. The windows were shattered - like all glass in this building - but the name "Redheart General Hospital" was visible along one side. We went through the building, down to the basement, full of dusty crates, and into a back room.

Not just any room, though. An empty room, bare except for a door that resembled a rusty gear with nine cogs. A set of tracks were visible along the back wall, leading to the corner.

The number "60" sat in the middle in yellow text.

"Stable 60, huh?" I glanced to Dashie.

"Lemme guess - you planned this from the start." He smirked - the return of his obnoxiously smug smirk - but my mood had risen so much in the past half hour I didn't even mind his smirk again.

"What would make you think that, Lieutenant." I stepped over to the console, looking to it. A small red light lit the control panel. I pressed the intercom button, speaking into the microphone. "This is Captain Firefly of Stable 30 - is there anyone in there?"

...

Silence answered us.

"Well..." I pulled the interface cable free from its slot on my Pipbuck, plugged it into the console and triggered the door override.

The red light on the console went out for a short eternity.

It was quickly replaced with a green light. "Here goes nothing." I flipped the switch.

...

With a room-shaking groan, the massive gear screeched out of its niche and rolled aside. Stale, dusty air rushed out behind the door.

Dust fell from the ceiling, settling in my sticky coat through gaps between my helmet and barding. Behind the door lay darkness and distant echoes of the door's opening.

It almost reminded me of the first time I exited Stable 30, but in reverse.

"Well. I'll be damned. You did it." Doctor Resident nodded, a smile slowly crossing her face. "You upheld your half. You want the tour now, or after?"

I considered, turning to my ponies. "Sergeant Cyclone, Doctor Sands. You're up." I gestured to Sands. "Mineral Sands is our medic. She'll see what you have." I glanced around to my troops. "The rest of us will look through the Stable, get an idea of what's in there."

Doctor Resident nodded, brushing a couple of loose strands of her mane behind her ear. "Good luck!" She turned and trotted off, Sands and Cyclone in tow. "Cyclone, huh? You're that ghoul from the police station, right?"

"The one and only, ma'am."

Good, good.

I turned back to my team. "Questions?"

Collage looked around. "What are we doing in... there?" He pointed in through the door.

"Well, we're going in there to make sure it's safe. We volunteered, remember?" I turned, facing Collage.

"No, you volunteered for that." I narrowed my eyes at Collage at his response.

"Cut it out, Cas." Charm prodded Collage.

"You volunteered for exterior duty, trooper. I volunteered our services, which includes you." Collage nodded - grudgingly - and I continued. "We also need to get a copy of the computer storage."

Collage cocked his head in confusion. "For what?"

"The alicorns in Deathcon want something on there. I want to know what they're looking for, and why. First step of that is to find it."

"Um, okay. You're going to go to this group of super magical abominations, tell them, "I have what you want", and try to blackmail them for it?"

"No, I'm going to negotiate with them for a mutually beneficial alliance that leaves both parties pleased with the resulting agreement." Collage looked less than impressed.

That's okay - it doesn't matter. Collage and Ivory traded another look.

Today's finally going just right.

I turned, tossed my team a confident smirk, then trotted into Stable 60 after Pumpkin as Ivory cast a light orb.

Cas grabbed my tail, pulling me back.

!

Blue lightning suddenly engulfed Team One.

"Holy shit!"

Blitz, Firefly and Dash collapsed.

My EFS flashed alerts everywhere!

Just being near it made me want to run and hide. My light orb dispelled.

"Cas, get Firefly!" I drew my weapon, Firefly's rifle and shotgun, turning to cover Cas. "Min! Min, get down here!"

Min came galloping back, Cyclone behind her. "What happened?"

"I dunno! There was a flash of magic, and they collapsed!" My EFS showed something hostile to my right, and I spun, bringing all of my weapons to bear on it.

...

There was nothing there.

My levitation field collapsed, dropping all of the guns to the ground. I tried to pick them up, and... my levitation field failed again?

What the hell?

"Ivory?" Cyclone looked over to me curiously as he pulled Dash back out of the Stable. Doctor Resident hurried over to Firefly, her horn lighting up.

"I... thought I saw something." I trotted over to the weapons, and glanced to my EFS, seeing red pings everywhere. "I think my Pipbuck's damaged."

"They're waking up."

Blitz groaned, crawling to her hooves. Min hurried over to her. "Ow! Quit shining that in my eyes!"

"Just checking." Min looked down to Blitz in concern. "What time is it?"

"What?" Blitz sat up, brushing Min aside. "I'm fine. Are they okay?" She gestured towards Team One.

Min shook her head in irritation and trotted over to check on Dash. "Lieutenant?"

He groaned and rolled over as she shined a flashlight in his eyes. "Owww! Celestia, I'm awake!"

After giving myself a minute to recharge, I tried to pick the guns up again. My magic worked this time.

I set Firefly's weapons down by her as she sat up and I walked over to the door cautiously, recasting my light orb and waving it around.

Cas spoke up, worried as always. "Iv?"

"Stay back. Cover me, Cas." I looked around as he drew his weapon. "There's magic here...." I glanced along the wall, finding something that gave off an arcane spark.

What's this?

I followed a wire attached to it back around the door, and found a spark battery hooked to it.

I pulled the spark battery free and studied it. It was dull - depleted. I tucked it away. "Hey, Sarge, what's this?"

Cyclone trotted over, studying what it was hooked to. "Ooh, an AM pulse emitter." He shook his head. "It doesn't do any fatal damage, but stuns ponies and scrambles magitech hardware..." He glanced down to my leg. "... like Pipbucks."

"But why?" Firefly stepped over to us, tucking a healing potion back into her saddlebags. "What purpose does this serve?"

Blitz shrugged. "No clue, Captain."

"Must be something in here, right?" She grinned, glancing to Cyclone.

"Not necessarily. Wartime ponies were incredibly paranoid." I looked to Cyclone as well. "Yours truly was among them, for a time."

I glanced down at my Pipbuck to get the time.

99:99

"Uh." As I watched, the EFS politely informed me I was dead, and that I should seek medical attention immediately. "I don't feel dead?"

"What?" Firefly stared at me.

"My clock is all screwed up. And my EFS is telling me I'm dead." Firefly, Blitz, Dash and Cas all looked to their own Pipbucks. "I'm not dead... right?"

Is this what being dead is like? I looked around and dug my hoof into my other my leg.

It hurt, a lot.

If this is what being dead is like, being dead sucks.

Dad is gonna be soo pissed at Captain Firefly....

"You're not dead. Unless..." Cas trailed off, eyes widening. "What if we're all dead?"

"We're not dead!" Firefly looked to us sternly, and then grinned. "We are not dead, and this changes nothing."

"Captain?" I looked to Cas, and he shrugged.

"This changes nothing." She smirked, a confident and sly expression. "Plan remains the same - we go in there, we get the computer data dump, and we get out. But this time, we watch our hooves." She looked to Cyclone and Min. "Sergeant, Doctor. You two go check the hospital with the kind Doctor Resident." She gestured towards Doctor Resident. "Blitz, point. Dash, rear. Team Four will follow me."

"Yes, ma'am." Blitz turned and set off into the Stable, far more carefully than we had initially.

This felt... wrong.

Horrifying.

The Atrium looked identical - same architecture, same configuration. Two levels, with tables and benches neatly spread around the lower level. A round window at the far end of the room - where the Overmare's office should be.

But... it was derelict.

In the red glow of emergency lights, rust was visible crawling up the walls.

"This looks like home...." I spoke quietly.

"No. Not like home. Like what home could have been...." Dash answered in an equally hushed tone.

I shivered.

We stood there for a long moment, looking at this mirror of our home.

Even Captain Firefly seemed to be frozen in awe.

Finally, she spoke up, barking out orders. "Let's move!" She winced at her voice echoing, and lowered it as she continued. "We have places to be, ponies." She lead the way through the Atrium, up to the second floor.

Everything was where it should have been, untouched by everything except for rust and age. All of the stools in the Cafe were neatly pushed in under tables.

"Let's check Security." Captain Firefly turned and trotted around the second level, leading us to Security.

!

"There!" I spun, bringing my weapons to bear on a red ping on my EFS...

... only to find nothing was there.

"Charm?" Everypony was staring at me.

"Uh, sorry." I shook my head. "EFS acting up." I slung my weapons.

"Right..." Firefly turned and entered Security.

Once again, everything was as it should be. All of the desks neatly laid out, almost identical to how it was at home. Terminals sat covered in a thick layer of dust.

Firefly went over to the Armory and hoofed an access code into the keypad.

The door beeped and smoothly slid open.

"Huh. My codes work here." She walked inside, looking around. "Armory looks untouched."

Dash followed Firefly into the Armory, speaking with a hint of glee. "Untouched, did you say?"

I shook my head and walked over to 'my' desk, looking through the drawers.

It was empty.

What a shock, right?

I looked up. There should be the sound of ponies talking and laughing, echoing through the narrow steel corridors. "It's quiet here."

There was nothing but the sound of our hoofsteps and breathing.

...

And Lieutenant Dash looting the Armory.

Cas looked to me. "Too quiet." He nodded, poking his head into the briefing room.

"We have places to be." Firefly trotted out of the Armory. "Let's move." She turned and lead the way out of Security.

Dash followed her, tucking some items into his saddlebags. "Dust, rust and silence, boss."

"What?" We all looked to him.

"This feels like home, but it's not - it's what home could have been. Dust, rust and silence. That's all there is here."

"In the future, I'd prefer if you kept those comments to yourself, Lieutenant." Firefly broke the awkward silence after Dash's statement.

Well, that was depressing.

She turned and lead the way out of Security, up the hallway and through one of the living quarters blocks.

!

The door beside me hissed open.

I screamed, hopping away from it and drawing my weapons, bringing them on target as I dropped into SATS.

My Pipbuck squawked like a chicken.

...

The room was empty. It was just a small twin bedroom, one of the smaller classes of quarters. Something lay on one of the beds.

"You stepped too close to one of the doors." Dash looked to me, grinning. "Jumpy?"

"No." I shook my head.

"Suuure." Dash snickered as he walked inside. "Oooh, what have we here?"

You're an asshole, sir.

"Come on, Lieutenant." Firefly grumbled, glaring in Dash's direction.

Dash returned bearing something, which he tucked into his saddlebags. I glanced to Blitz again. She shrugged again.

I cleared my throat. "I dunno about you ponies, but I'd really like to get out of this place."

"Yes... Right." Firefly lead the way down the hallway, and we came to an intersection, two confining steel corridors meeting each other. "I forget, computer mainframe is...?" She glanced back.

Blitz looked to her Pipbuck, and Dash pointed down a hallway. "That way, boss."

"Blitz." Firefly nodded to Blitz.

She flitted down that direction, looking around, before calling back to us. "Hallway, clear!"

We continued hopping from rusty, confining hallway to rusty, confining hallway, making it to the room with the computer mainframe. "Charm, get a copy of the computer storage. Everyone else, take positions."

"On it." I walked over to a corner terminal, waving Cas over. "Cas, come over here. I'll download it to your Pipbuck."

Cas nodded, coming over to me, and I started the transfer. As the data transferred, I browsed through the files.

What would dad think... here I am, sitting in the computer room of a Stable that looks identical to home, except for copious amounts of rust and dust.

I continued browsing through the files, finding a map of the Stable.

...

"Huh. That's interesting..." I sat back, waving a hoof at Firefly. "Hey, Captain, I've found another entrance."

"What?" Firefly walked over.

"There's a secret exit from the Stable, under the desk in the Overmare's office." I glanced over to Captain Firefly, then back to the terminal.

"Hrm, that explains... Never mind." Firefly removed her helmet, setting it on one of her saddlebags. "I wonder if that's a feature of every Stable."

I shrugged. "I don't know, Captain."

She leaned over, looking at the map. "Where's it lead?"

"No clue. Off the map." I pointed it out with my hoof.

"Right. We'll check it out on the way out. ETA for the copy?"

"Fifteen minutes."

We headed out, first going to the medical bay to check on the supplies there, before heading to the Overmare's office. "Good thing this Stable has the same floor plan as home."

I nodded tightly, looking to Firefly. "Do you have a plan to get in the tunnel?"

"Not enough intel to know yet." We stacked up by the door to the Overmare's office, and Firefly hoofed in an access code. "Breaching, breaching."

The door hissed opened.

Captain Firefly pointed to Blitz, and she flapped inside, kicking up dust. "Clear."

Captain Firefly gestured me in. "Charm, check the terminal."

"Sure thing, Captain." I entered the Overmare's office. "Good heavens." I started coughing as I settled down at the seat and booted up the terminal. "Nice seat."

"Overmare's prerogative and all that crap." Firefly shrugged, following me in.

"Can I take it home with me, boss?" Firefly looked to Dash as he trotted in after her, frowning at his gleeful expression.

The expression of lust he gave the chair made me uncomfortable just by proximity.

"Sure thing." Dash grinned and went rummaging through his saddlebags. "That was a joke, no, you can't."

Dash pouted at Firefly as it booted up to the main menu. "Aww, boo, you suck."

"Cut the chatter, ponies." Firefly turned back to me with a bored look.

I turned back to the terminal - it booted up to the main menu without giving me a password prompt.

I shook my head. "Stable-tec computer security."

"Charm?" Firefly looked to me in confusion.

"Nothing important, Captain."

Welcome, Overmare [null].

You have three (3) unread messages.

Personal Messages
Personal Logs
Overmare's Personal Exit
Settings
Log Off

"Uh. Well. Hrm, okay then..."

"Talk to me, Charm." Captain Firefly leaned over my shoulder.

"Good news - secret entrance is here." I glanced over to Firefly, leaning away from her. "Strange news? - this Stable never had an Overmare assigned."

"How do you know that?"

"The welcome prompt has a null value."

"Maybe the Overmare's name was scrubbed. See if you can get a list of the Stable's occupants?"

"Null, not deleted, Captain."

"... Equestrian, trooper."

I narrowed my eyes, thinking. "In computers, null means "never entered", versus deleted, which indicates, well. Something was entered, and then deleted." I waved a hoof at the terminal. "I can tell you with ninety nine percent certainty - there was no Overmare assigned to this Stable. At least, not in the computers."

"Right." Firefly nodded. "Anything on this 'secret door'?"

"It's here." I hit 'Open Overmare's Personal Exit' and leaned back. I glanced around and saw Dash nosing through the drawers, hoofing some more stuff into his saddlebags.

Lieutenant Sticky Hooves, yes.

The desk in front of me slowly rose, kicking up another huge cloud of dust.

The rising desk revealed a set of stairs leading down to a dark tunnel.

I hopped back, coughing. "Good heavens, that is a lot of dust."

Firefly peeked down, tossing a flare down along it. "Blitz."

"Aye." Blitz disappeared down the hallway, taking the flare with her. A minute later, she called back down the hallway, "Hallway, clear!"

"We're coming." Firefly hopped down the hallway, trotting along at a fast clip. "C'mon. Let's see where this goes!"

"Aww, but, there's dust there." Firefly tossed me a look. "I'm coming, I'm coming...." I traded a look with Cas - he shrugged - and I started climbing down the stairs carefully, keeping an eye out for any more AMP grenades that Blitz may have missed.

After a moment, Dash broke the silence. "Hey, Blitz. You flew down here, right?" She nodded, and he pointed down at the floor. "Looks like we're not the only ponies to use this recently."

Hoof prints in the thick dust.

"Huh." Firefly and Dash shared a look.

'Huh' indeed... I glanced down to my subgun, checking the magazine and realized... it was dry.

I haven't checked it sinc... shit. Last night. I've spent all day with an empty weapon.

Well done, me.

I tucked the dry mag in my barding and pulled out a fresh mag, loading it and racking the action. Lieutenant Dash and Cas looked to me, and I shrugged.

Eventually the tunnel lead out to a dingy basement, and - what a shock - more dust.

"Blitz, where are we?" Firefly looked to Blitz.

"Hold." Blitz looked to her Pipbuck, before looking back up with a frown. "I... have no idea, Captain."

"Lost in Baltimare without a map." Cas sighed dramatically. "Where oh where did my life go so wrong...."

"We could always go back through the tunnel and let the hospital find out where it goes, Captain." Blitz looked to Firefly.

"Don't you like to live dangerously, boss?" Dash smirked at Firefly, nosing through a box.

"Cut the chatter, Collage." Firefly looked to Blitz as Cas grumbled. "Ever the realist, Blitz. No - we're better equipped for this. Just doesn't do to leave this job half-assed, right? We'll check it out."

It turns out, we were about a five minute brisk trot away from the hospital, in a building along the street we'd used on our initial approach.

The guards, however, were not amused.

"Hey! You just went in!"

"Are you changelings?"

Captain Firefly looked to them in confusion. "We're not changelings. There's a back entrance." She pointed back the way we'd come.

"If you say so...." The earth pony whispered to the griffon about how she still suspected we were changelings.

I shrugged as Firefly led the way back in. The receptionist looked up, "Didn't you just...?"

"We're not changelings. Doctor Resident?" He pointed off towards the back with a confused look. "Thank you."

A short walk brought us to Min and Cyclone, talking with Doctor Resident.

"Captain, I thought you were...?"

"All done." Firefly turned to Doctor Resident as she levitated her helmet off. "We cleared the Stable. It's empty - looks like it was stocked, but never occupied." Doctor Resident nodded. "There's a back entrance that leads out to a building down the street. It leads into the Overmare's office, overlooking the Atrium." Firefly glanced to Min. "Sands?"

Min began. "There's a lot of machines and equipment, but they're running low on medical supplies. Bandages, radaway, other consumables."

"These are all things the Stable could help you with. In the meantime, the medical bay down in the Stable is fully stocked." Firefly glanced to Doctor Resident and Min. "Min, could you compile a list of the stuff they need? Also, do you have a quartermaster, so we can trade?"

Doctor Resident considered, turning and taking a step away from us. "Hey, Scalpel, Immac!"

A mare's voice called back. "Yeah, whaaat?"

"C'mere. These Stable scouts opened the Stable."

"They've been living under the hospital this whole time?" 'Immac' approached trotted over to us. She was a unicorn, a few years older than me. Green coat, with a striped mane two shades of pinkish purple. "Oh, wow! What can I do?"

Doctor Resident gestured to us. "These ponies wants to trade. Go deal with them."

Firefly shook her head. "No, we haven't been living under the hospital the whole time. We're from Stable 30 - Stable 60 is under the hospital." Firefly glanced around at us. "Cyclone, Team Four, go with Dash. Keep in contact."

I saluted. "Yes, ma'am!"

The unicorn mare lead us through the hospital to a back room. "Hi. I'm Immaculate Scrubs, but everyone calls me Immac!" Her scrubs weren't so immaculate, but I decided against commenting. "So, Stable ponies, huh? What's it like down there?"

Celestia, she's cheerful.

Everyone shared a look, before I decided to answer. "It's ... Hrm. It's a lot more enclosed in there. The air tastes different... cleaner. Sterile." I glanced around. "Safe, though. Nopony trying to kill me."

Immac nodded with a smile. "That happens in Baltimare. Not often, but sometimes...." She trotted over to a table and turned to Dash. "What do you have to trade?"

Dash dug through his saddlebags, producing a variety of things beyond the items he'd looted from Stable 60... and everywhere else, I'm sure. Immac started hoofing through it, talking to herself as she did.

"Hey, so, Cyc." Dash looked to Cyclone. "You know the most about wartime Equestria out of anyone here."

"That's one way to think about it." He glanced to Dash with a blank expression.

Dash snickered. "So, what's the OIA? Goldenblood?"

Cyclone narrowed his eyes with a frown, and looked back to Dash. "Why?"

Dash dug through his saddlebags, producing a bunch of sheets of paper. "Encountered this in the building last night."

I leaned over, looking over them. Articles from wartime newspapers.

"Goldenblood and Fluttershy lovers?"
"Princess Celestia really ... Prince Celestia?"
"Ministry of Awesome - Or Ministry of Not-Doing-Anything?"

Cyclone hoofed through the headlines with an amused grin. "Missed that one. Heh heh, so true... The Baltimare Sun, faithful to the last day." He glanced back to Dash, grin fading to a somber look. "So, OIA, huh?" Dash nodded. "The Office of Interministry Affairs. Goldenblood lead it. Officially, it did exactly what it sounds like. Unofficially? Well... conspiracy theories abound. Many of them were probably true."

"Really? How'd you know this?" Dash smirked at him.

"I'm afraid that's classified, Lieutenant." Cyclone shook his head sadly.

"Two hundred years later?" Dash leaned in, smirking conspiratorially. "C'mon, Cyc."

Sergeant Cyclone stepped over to Dash, getting a little too close for comfort. Dash ignored it, smirking back at him. "Some of the things the OIA did should stay buried."

"So, what were you, Sarge?" I grinned at Cyclone. "Some OIA stooge? Agent of darkness, boogiemare under foals' beds?"

"No."

I leaned back as he suddenly loomed over me, his leathery muzzle and bloodshot eyes inspiring thoughts of drawing my weapons.

"But I knew some of them." He shook his head sadly, stepping out of my personal space. "Memories, memories, memories...."

An hour later we left the hospital. Captain Firefly had negotiated an alliance with the head, and we'd completed our primary objective. Lieutenant Dash spent some of the time waiting showing 'the nice nurse' how to fire a gun. Min had refilled her medical supplies for the trip home.

Finally, we met up in the front lobby. "Mission accomplished. Back to the Stable." Firefly glanced to her Pipbuck and remembered it was fried. "Right. Sands, time."

Min glanced to her Pipbuck, tapped the monitor with her hoof twice, then looked back up. "It's 1434, ma'am."

Firefly nodded. "We'll spend the night at the BCE. Blitz, take us out. Same as our approach to the hospital - let's be unpredictable." She paused, blinking rapidly. "Keep us the hell away from Broadway and Baltimare."

Blitz frowned. "I don't have my map, ma'am. Following Broadway back may be our best option."

"Right." Firefly nodded again. "Right."

Cyclone waved a hoof. "I know these streets, Captain. I could guide us back to the BCE."

"Good. Cyclone, point. Same orders. Dash, Blitz, rear."

I glanced down to my kit as we left the hospital and Lieutenant Dash uttered those magical words again. "We're being watched, boss."

"Fucking hell." She frowned.

"Somehow I don't think Lunar Note's radio commentary on us was a good thing...." Dash glanced around.

"Everyone wants an eyeful of the new Stable heroes, yes." Firefly dug her canteen out, stretching. "Right. Time to put on a show for our peeping toms. Let's move, double time!"

Cas groaned. "Again with the running."

"Cut the chatter, trooper." Firefly threw Cas a sharp glare as she put her canteen back.

We headed east along ES-40, through back alleys at a fast clip, occasionally breaking observation.

Around 1500, we moved through a building, entering what had apparently been a living room, a hole in the ceiling showing the second and third floors.

Something felt... off, and I stopped mid-step, looking around.

Cas bumped into my flank with a sound of confusion. "Iv? What's wrong?"

Someone was coming.
...

Oh shit, Mineral!

Min had started to climb over a pile of debris under the hole, and I lunged and bit her tail, pulling her away from the debris. It had taken mere moments between I understood something was wrong and my response.

Min looked back at me, confused, and as she opened her mouth, somepony teleported right in front of her, casting a shield barrier.

...

Right where she would have been, if I hadn't stopped her!

He dispelled the shield barrier as he grinned lecherously at Min. "Aww. Dang." He was a kid, early teens, maybe a few years younger than me. "I missed the cute one." His expression terrified me, and I drew my weapon, taking a step back. "I wonder what ya look like inside..."

Min screamed, lost her precarious positioning and fell backwards into me.

"Damn Stable ponies." He continued monologuing, drawing a pistol with his magic and racking the action. "Life just goes perfectly for ya, don't i-?"

While he was speaking, Captain Firefly drew her own weapons and spoke over him angrily. "Weapons free."

He barely had time to realize how much trouble he was in before he was covering the wall beside us...

And me.

I think I screamed.

Blitz hopped into the air as guns went off around us, deafeningly loud. "Contact, contact!"

I crawled over to a doorway, dragging Min with me as bullets slammed into the damp carpet where we'd been lying.

Blitz's beam rifle lanced out. "Who the fuck are these ponies, Captain?"

Cas ducked down beside me. "Iv? Are you okay?"

I think I nodded. "I'm okay." Dash's belt gun cracked out, five shots, and then fell silent, followed by a yelp.

"Doesn't matter who - if they're not one of us, kill 'em!" Firefly bellowed as her rifle cracked again. "Team Four! Fire your weapons!"

I sat back against the wall. Holy.... I just saved Min from... holy fuck!

Everything got blurry.

I think I threw up.

...

Some time later, the world came back into focus.

I found myself lying on my side with somepony standing over me. "Ivory? Can you hear me?"

Oh, it's Min.

I tried to say I could, but I think it came out kind of mumbled nonsense, and I settled for nodding. She held up a light, and shined it in my eyes.

Ow!

"Good reactions. Follow this." She waved the flashlight, and I looked to it. "Do you know what time is it?"

"Uh..." I jerked my hoof to look at my Pipbuck, before I realized it wasn't reliable anymore. "Last I checked, it's... 1503? Right?"

I didn't want to look at it again, anyways. I shivered.

"Ivory?" She leaned in, confused.

"I'm okay! I'm good, I'm good." I sat up quickly.

"Oookay..." Min glanced over to her kit, sorting through her medical supplies.

"Iv, you passed out." Cas stepped over to nuzzle me.

"Oh..." I nodded again, looking to Min. "I, uh I saved you. Didn't I?"

She blinked, narrowing her eyes at something above me. "Oh... Yes." She shivered and turned around.

Captain Firefly trotted over, clearing her throat. "Sands, is she okay?"

Min looked to Firefly gratefully. "She's... functional. I'd like to get her a proper examination, perhaps a MRI, but...." She glanced around.

"Not a luxury we can afford at the moment." Lieutenant Dash limped over to the group, a bandage wrapped around one of his forelegs.

"Right." Min turned back to me, offering me a canteen. "Drink, slowly." She turned and rummaged through my bag, producing an apple and a can of oats.

Blitz returned, speaking quietly to Firefly. I cocked an ear, listening. "Those were kids, Captain."

"I said we'd do whatever it takes to get home, didn't I?" She gestured towards Min and I.

I spoke up between bites. "He was trying to, um... teleport into Min, Captain."

"Into?" Blitz frowned at me blankly. "How does that even...?"

"Watch." I levitated two bricks, side by side... and then I teleported the second into the first.

The first brick exploded.

Min screamed again.

Firefly looked away, throwing up a telekinetic barrier to direct flying brick away from her and Blitz.

"See?" I looked to Blitz, and she nodded in mute horror, staring at Min.

"I don't think that was really necessary, trooper." Firefly frowned at me severely.

"Sorry, Captain."

"Let's move, ponies. I'd like to make it back to BCE before sundown." She glanced over her shoulder to Lieutenant Dash. "Dash - we still being watched?"

Lieutenant Dash frowned. "Unknown."

We continued east for another half hour, until we made it to several elevated streets going north-south. Cyclone directed us south along them to BCE.

We entered the BCE at 1700 - before the sun started to go down - and headed for the Hard Rock Cafe.

Several Crimson Raiders patrols discretely followed us, and as we got to the docks, they surrounded us, occupying all of the paths out. "Weapons tight." Firefly spoke quietly as she brought her riot shield out. "Cyclone, you got a plan of escape?"

What had once been a fairly bustling street suddenly emptied as everypony present decided they wanted to be anywhere that wasn't here.

"Let's not go for a swim." Firefly glanced to Cyclone in annoyance, and he shrugged. "Either we run, or we open fire. Neither will end well. Let's see what they want."

Local security appeared, surrounding the Crimson Raiders and us. A lavender pony emerged and called out. A kitchen knife lay sheathed by her shoulder, anger visible in her carmine eyes. "I don't care what your squabble is, but if this turns violent inside my city, I'm going to use any survivors for practice flaying." She fell silent for a moment. "It's been so long since I've had a chance to flay somepony."

A reddish pink and blue pegasus - the same colors as Captain Firefly! - emerged from the Crimson Raider ranks. Not entirely the same colors - purple eyes, instead of Firefly's blue. "We don't want any violence, Sheriff Splinter." She turned towards us. "Come with us, Stable."

"Come to gloat before you kill us, Sister?" Firefly called back.

The pegasus winced at the last word, before she responded. "Oh please." Contempt colored her voice. "If we wanted you dead, we'd have ambushed you outside the Hospital, and none of you would be here."

"Ha! You tried that last night." Captain Firefly looked around at us, smirking. "We're still here."

Well, mostly. I glanced to my kit....

"What?" The pegasus seemed confused by that. "Oh..." She narrowed her eyes, and waved a hoof to her troops, who lowered their weapons. "No. Our Father -" now it was Firefly's turn to wince, "- wishes to see you." The pegasus turned to the sheriff. "We're not here to do violence, ma'am."

The lavender pony shook her head with an expression of skeptical contempt. "Uh huh. Make sure it doesn't happen."

"It won't..." The pegasus directed a predatory smile at Captain Firefly. "Unless these Stable ponies start something."

Everyone looked to Firefly.

After a moment, Firefly nodded. "Very well. We'll come with you. But we keep our weapons."

The pegasus snorted. "As if you had a choice, Stable pony."

L0#@$I0N DISC#%#R3D; ??? - ???

A half hour of being escorted at not-quite-gunpoint took us to a settlement... one that had been attacked.

Just... not the one we'd seen yesterday.

This one had been different. The walls hadn't been breached. It looked like it had been a... slaughter. There was a huge fire in the town square.

The smell of burning flesh was overpowering. I think I would have thrown up, if I hadn't done so earlier.

The pegasus - whose identity I'd learned was Major Serenity - immediately disappeared into a tent set up near the main entrance.

We were arrayed in a tight delta formation, Captain Firefly at the center. Lieutenant Dash and Min stood to her right, a pace behind her. Sergeant Cyclone, myself and Cas stood to her left, in that order.

"Inhale through your mouth and exhale through your nose." Firefly spoke quietly, glancing to us. "Remain calm and we'll get through this in one piece."

We were surrounded on all sides by uniformed ponies, dark blue kit and battle saddles. On closer inspection, there were two different companies of troops, based on the insignias on their uniforms. There were no guns pointed directly at us, but they were present.

No chance of breaking out from here.

I hope Captain Firefly knows what she's doing.

A few minutes later, another pegasus emerged - an older stallion, reddish pink with a blue mane streaked with grey. Again, the same palette as Firefly. That would make him Firefly's father, Captain Crimson Nimbus. I glanced to the similarly colored pegasus mare trailing him... which would make Serenity Firefly's sister.

"Firefly. Daughter. Hello." Firefly scowled. "We really need to stop meeting like this, don't you think?" Firefly said nothing. "Ah." Nimbus leaned in, pulling Firefly's necklace out with a wing. "So that's where that went to." He glanced over towards Dash. "Dash's work, I'm sure. Sticky hooved bastard." Dash simply smirked to him in response.

"I approve." Nimbus tipped his head to Dash, before returning his attention to Firefly. "It is good to see the Wonderbolts borne by another Firefly."

Nimbus glanced over the rest of us. "Restrain them."

!

I was pushed to the ground by three ponies. The muzzle of a gun poked the back of my neck, and I felt my weapons being removed and unloaded.

"I've fought many unicorns, Daughter. You are the first I've sought a suppression ring for."

"I'm honored. Cut the gloating and just kill us, if you're going to do that."

"Why would I want to kill you?" Nimbus looked mildly amused. Firefly opened her mouth to answer his question.

Before she could start, he leaned forward, stuffing his hoof in her mouth. "Know this, Daughter - I give all ponies one second chance." All traces of prior amusement were instantly replaced with cold fury. "You used your chance last week when you murdered my guards. If you do something stupid today, I will see you dead, your head on a pike. Do you understand?"

...

We should have run....

I looked to Cas, and he smiled comfortingly to me.

Maybe I could teleport us out...?

Nimbus took a step back as Firefly spoke. Her tone shifted from sullen anger to quiet confidence. "That's... interesting, actually." She paused, and Nimbus narrowed his eyes at her. "You say you're not trying to kill me, yet some of your Raiders ambushed us last night. So... either you're lying - which serves little purpose at this point - or... not all of your Raiders are as loyal as you think they are."

"Or a third party is attempting to implicate us in an attack on you." Nimbus shook his head. "There are many possibilities."

Blitz spoke up. "A green earth pony mare with a pink mane, and a blue unicorn mare. A sniper team." She paused, as all eyes went to her. "Do you make it a habit of attacking defenseless villages, or is this week just a good time for it?"

Nimbus narrowed his eyes. "This settlement went back on their protection agreement by raiding other settlements. As spelled out in the contract they signed, we put an end to it."

"Really now?" Firefly snickered, somehow managing to sound confident and in control, despite being pinned to the ground. "We saw several groups of your ponies pillaging a village at Fleet Street. The Raiders who attacked us at East Baltimare and Broadway were there."

Nimbus frowned at that, just a moment, and glanced at something out of sight behind us.

"There was a goat, with cybernetics." Blitz called out to him.

"Ah..." Nimbus froze, speaking softly. "I'd escort you back to the Stable personally, but I have things to attend to." He turned to Serenity. "Major, take a platoon and escort these ponies back to their Stable."

"We don't need an escort, Crimson." Firefly spoke up quietly.

"Sir?" Serenity looked to him, confused.

"You heard me, Major." Nimbus turned to Firefly. "I'm afraid this decision is bigger than you, Captain." He trotted off with a purpose, calling orders to the ponies around us. "We're done here. Pack it up and prepare to RTB. Zephyr." He pointed to somepony. "Go retrieve the Stable kit."

"Yes, sir." Serenity waved to her troops, and they backed off us.

The muzzle poking me disappeared. A stallion offered me his hoof and pulled me up. I looked to Cas, and he smiled as he rubbed his flank.

One of them trotted over, bearing Min's kit and the ammo for Dash's machine gun. Min quickly discarded my armor for hers, rummaging through her saddlebags with the sound of broken glass.

I considered stripping out of my own kit, before realizing I didn't care that much, even though I was wearing....

I gestured to Cas, and he picked it up, slinging it over his flanks. Captain Nimbus approached Cyclone as Firefly helped Lieutenant Sticky Hooves load his beltgun. I drifted over to listen.

"Cyclone." Captain Nimbus spoke quietly.

"Yes?" Cyclone looked to Nimbus.

"Ministry of Awesome?"

Cyclone narrowed his eyes faintly at Nimbus. "Why?"

"Records. Variables. Planning."

Cyclone considered that for a moment, before nodding tersely. "Correct."

"Very well." Nimbus turned and walked off. As he walked past me, he looked me in the eyes - as if he saw through to my soul and read my deepest secrets in that briefest of looks - before moving on, inclining his head in polite acknowledgement. "Security Officer Spark."

"I'm Charm, actually, sir. Spark, uh... was..." I decided not to point out that it had been some of his soldiers who had... done it.

You are dead. Please seek medical attention immediately.

I shivered, resisting the urge to look at my Pipbuck. I wanted to check its vitals readout, but I was afraid of what it might tell me.

"Ah!" Nimbus paused in his step to bow to me respectfully. "My apologies, Charm." He rose, smiling to me sadly. "It doesn't get any easier, I'm afraid."

"Sir?" I stared at the pegasus, taking a step back.

"Losing a friend in battle. But it is preferable to the alternative."

"The alternative?"

"Not feeling anything." Nimbus bowed his head, eyes closed.

"Ah... excuse me, sir." I turned and trotted off.

I can't be talking to Captain Nimbus! Why would he talk to me?

An hour of quiet trotting took us out of the city's borders, and green trees replaced grey brick. The troops that had escorted us from the Baltimare Central Exchange surrounded us, moving quickly and quietly, leading us through the city.

These ponies were good. Training and plenty of experience moving through city streets.

I'd hate to have to fight them, even if they didn't outnumber us three to one.

After a few minutes of mucking along the muddy road back towards Haven, Firefly spoke to Serenity quietly. "What happened back there? In the town."

"They broke the protection agreement we made with them by raiding other settlements under our protection. As stated in the agreement they signed, we...." She paused, and glared at Firefly. "We killed them. I don't enjoy doing it, but it's necessary. Not that you'd understand, being a bleeding heart Stable 'hero'."

"No, I understand." Firefly nodded slowly. "They challenged your power. You had to respond."

Serenity looked surprised for a moment, before she smirked at Firefly. "In fact... we should be thanking you for it - your intervention on Sunday is what turned us on to them."

"Ah." Firefly frowned, and turned to me. "Charm - how did you know earlier, in the attack with the kids?"

"Oh. Um..." I cleared my throat. "He was... his teleporting wasn't subtle. It was a brute force 'attack', and I could feel him coming, instead of an elegant... stepping through space? Does that make sense?"

Firefly considered for a moment. "Ah, unicorn sense." I nodded. "Got it."

Serenity looked to Firefly in confusion. "What?"

"We were attacked earlier."

"By... kids?"

"Yes." Firefly nodded.

"Oh." Serenity narrowed her eyes, glancing at the ground.

"Oh?" Firefly spoke sharply. "What do you mean, 'oh'?"

"Well, they were from the town. We let them go."

"You let them go?" Firefly glared to Serenity.

"Well, it wasn't my idea!" Serenity sounded defensive. "Father told me to let them go. They'd tell other towns about our attack. What were the chances they'd stumble into you, anyways, right?" She spoke quickly and changed the topic. "Let's see what the radio has to say about that, eh?" She glanced around, smirking, and took to wing as she turned the radio on.

"Hellloooo ponies! And it's me, again - Lunar Note!" She fell silent, and muffled, arguing voices could be heard in the background. "So, apparently the Crimson Raiders have been busy recently. By 'recently', of course, I mean 'yesterday and today'. So... Let's see, where did I put it..." She trailed off, accompanied by the sounds of somepony digging through a pile of paper. "Ah, here it is!" She cleared her throat, speaking imperiously. "Two separate attacks on settlements. One at Highlandtownville, in which Crimson Raiders and some mercenaries attacked and raided the settlement. Not very effectively, apparently - they left some survivors. Took everything that wasn't bolted down, though. And Celestial Midtown, in which they slaughtered everyone and burnt the bodies."

Another pony, a stallion with an unfamiliar accent picked up. "So, these... Crimson Raiders. Good or bad, do you think, Lunar?"

"Honestly, Moony? Fuck if I know, but good ponies rarely slaughter entire settlements. Just sayin'..." The radio fell silent. "Also, there are reports of a gun fight at the intersection of Broadway and Baltimare streets. Rumors say some Raiders attacked the Stable Scouts. Definitely not a good showing for the Raiders, if you ask me."

"Well, Lunar, maybe they're in the middle of an internal conflict? Wars of the Roses situation, perhaps?"

"Fuck if I know, Moony. Just hope they keep their petty squabbles to themselves and don't kill too many uninvolved ponies." She chuckled. "Maybe they'll fall apart like all those raider clans always do, right?"

'Moony' spoke up after a moment. "And leave the Steel Rangers in control of the city?"

...

"Don't joke about those things, Moony." They both fell silent, before Lunar resumed speaking. "Aaanywho, that's all the news for now, ponies. So, as always! Keep on your hooves and watch your fire. And, of course... have some time. Too Much Time on my Hooves, in fact."

Serenity frowned. "We don't hire mercenaries..."

Captain Firefly glanced over to Serenity. "Seems Lunar and co know your own operations better than you do, Major..."

"Oh, shut up." Serenity glared at Firefly. "If you hadn't killed those kids, they would have done their job."

"If we hadn't...!" Firefly glared back, disgust visible.

“Once again - shut up, I don’t care.” Serenity cut Firefly off, changing the topic quickly as she dropped to her hooves, folding her wings. "So! Aren't Stable 30 teams supposed to work in pairs? You've got an odd number of ponies here."

"Your traitors killed one of my ponies." Firefly spoke quietly. “In the ambush at Broadway and Baltimare.”

Serenity glared at Firefly. "Good."

What the hell?

"That almost makes us even." She glared to Firefly. "Considering that you murdered two of my ponies last week."

"Really?" Firefly stopped and spun, facing Serenity. "Are we really going to compare casualties like it's some kind of pissing contest?"

"Yeah, maybe we are!" Serenity spun with her, spreading her wings. "Why the fuck did you do it?" The Raiders surrounding us stopped, some turning their eyes and weapons outwards and upward, some turning inwards.

"Captain, look at this! Low silica intrusions with north striking flow indicators! I didn't know that the dykes at the Stable got this fa-..." All eyes turned to Min as she broke the tense silence. "Um... never mind."

Too much time on my hooves, it's ticking away with my sanity
I've got too much time on my hooves, it's hard to believe such a calamity
I've got too much time on my hooves and it's ticking away from me

...

After a minute of awkward silence, Firefly spoke quietly, turning back to Serenity. "I had a panic attack. Seeing Crimson alive... You. I was not prepared for the fact that Crimson may not want to come home." She fell silent again. "Since then, I have come to terms with it." Serenity continued to glare at her as she turned the radio off. "In my defense, my team had been attacked, captured and held prisoner by possibly hostile soldiers."

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever. Our traitors have been dealt with. Should we be worried you'll turn on us?" Serenity closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "If it hadn't been for Father expressly forbidding any attacks on you, I would have hunted you down last week." She folded her wings and resumed walking, cutting Firefly's response off. "I don't want to hear your excuses. Let's move!" As she passed Firefly, she threw her an angry glare.

Lieutenant Dash grinned and leaned in. "Okay, now kiss and make up, you two."

Um, ew, Lieutenant...

Serenity glanced to Dash, her glare fading to an expression of what I could only assume was shocked confusion.

After a long moment, a sly grin slowly crossed her muzzle, and she grinned at Dash. "Oh, you're fun!" She smirked over her shoulder at Firefly and leaned over. "C'mere, Firefly!"

"Yeah, I don't see that happening." Firefly sidestepped away from her. "You're my sister."

"Barely!" Serenity stuck her tongue out at her.

What the...?

"No. Even if you weren't my sister, I'm not into mares." Firefly shook her head and stepped past her.

"Boo, you suck." Serenity, meanwhile, flashed Dash a grin, and matched his speed. "Let's move, ponies!" The two struck up a private conversation.

I shared a glance with Min.

"What did I miss?" She gave me a confused look.

"I'll tell you when I figure it out." I shrugged. "So, Min... dykes at the Stable? I didn't know you were into mares...."

She frowned. "It's a... geology thing. Oh, forget it."

Cas leaned in. "Convenient timing on the radio there, don't you think?"

"Magic, Cas. Magic."

Ponies cheered and stomped as we entered the Atrium.

After a moment, they realized that something was wrong, and the cheering silenced itself.

We had left as eight, but returned as seven.

The whispers started.

A moment of awkward silence and nervous whispering ensued as ponies tried to figure out what was wrong. Where was number eight? And who was it?

Finally, they realized who it was that hadn't returned.

"Captain?" Crescent's mother approached me, fear lingering behind her determination. I glanced away, and she stepped in front of me. "Where's my daughter?"

I've been dreading this.

"Well, Captain?"

I took a deep breath to calm myself, and looked her in the eyes. "I'm afraid I have to report that Security Officer Crescent Spark was killed in action."

The room quickly filled with silence - whisper free, complete silence. Crescent's mother looked to me in awestruck horror.

I didn't even know the mare's name.

Crescent's mother's face shifted through several emotions quickly.

Pumpkin grinned and leaned over to nudge her shoulder. "It's okay - we made the bastards that killed her pay for it."

Pumpkin's comment prompted Crescent's mother to finally settle on an emotion - anger. "You take my daughter out of the Stable, get her killed... and the best you have to say is, 'you killed the ponies that killed her'?" She stepped back, seething and glaring at Pumpkin. "You barbarians."

I shifted, speaking in defense of Pumpkin. "Your daughter willingly left the Stable, doing what she felt was right, knowing full well she may not return, and I'm proud to have served with her."

Tears welled up in her eyes, seeping with hurt rage. "An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind." She turned to stalk off. "I wish my daughter had never met you."

The crowd quickly dissipated, leaving my team and few others occupying the Atrium.

Range lead the way towards Security, speaking quietly. "So, Fi, how much of that was bullshit?"

"From a certain point of view-"

Range snickered. "Favorite words of mystical old mares who've been caught in a lie."

Damn it.

"- none of it. Spark did leave the Stable fully believing in the mission. We did kill the ponies who killed her."

"Red would be proud. Deception without outright falsehood."

I sighed. "Yes. We were ambushed because of something I did the during the last mission. The only reason I'm standing here is because Dash pushed me out of the way. Spark took the bullet for me. So, yes - Spark is dead because of me."

"Wait..." Cerulean joined us. "Crescent... Crescent died? Shit. I should have been there...."

I shook my head and leaned in to hug him. "There was nothing you could have done, Cerulean. She was dead before she knew we were under attack."

After a minute, he broke the hug, and I stepped back, smiling to him. "Can I expect your presence during the next mission out?"

Cerulean stared at me in pained shock. "Are you... trying to... guilt trip me over Crescent's death?"

"No. I'm merely wondering if you've changed your mind during the past two days."

Cerulean shook his head. "No, I haven't." He turned and trotted off angrily.

Oops.

Range smirked to me. "That was highly opportunistic, Fi."

I glanced in Cerulean's direction before answering quietly. "I want him as my team's doctor. I trust Doctor Cerulean to be selfishly opportunistic enough to do the right things out there to bring my team home if I get killed."

Range frowned. "You've been awfully calculating recently... Red would be proud, I'm sure."

"Getting ponies killed usually leads to a harsh look at your priorities." I groaned. "I don't even want to think about my dad right now."

Range simply grinned at me. "You know the Council is going to want a full debriefing in an hour, right?"

Of course they are.

Author's Notes:

<Author's notes>

And thus, the plot thickens.

Credits:
Dreamkissed Crimsonvixen for Min's geobabble, misc editing and commentary
The Amazing FoE Writing Group for being amazing, editing, commenting and other lovely stuff.
The wonderful Firestreak, for his FoE soundtrack.
Silk Touch, one of the unicorns attacked on the way to the hospital, belongs to Mr_B.