I looked out of the Vertibuck and was surprised to see that we had crossed over the water. I figured that was probably because we had to get to Ponytraz Island given the situation in the city but I didn't think we would be over water this soon.

I sighed and looked out at the water. It was strange to travel without Arc after everything we had been through together, but I understood why we couldn't. I just wished that things could have gone better.

"So, San Prancisco huh?" Cherry asked as she looked over at me. "What kind of Stable did you build this time?"

"Not one of our better ones I'll admit," I said with a sigh as I looked back at her. "All the Stables were meant to test certain qualities in the inhabitants. Unfortunately this one was, not one that was well thought out. I honestly don't even know what's going to happen if it has to be opened up to the rest of the world given that the population is a bit... well if they've been following the instructions its not exactly going well for them in the education department."

"Great, so we've got a Stable of dumb ponies," Cherry said with a sigh as she leaned back and looked up at the ceiling.

"Yeah, well, including it in Protocol Zeta was the best I could do, I didn't think it would cause this much of a problem," I said with a sigh. "The Enclave knows what they want and they know its within reach. They're going to do everything they can to get at that key."

"Great, that fills me with such confidence," Cherry said with a roll of her eyes. "So what are we going to do?"

"Hope," Riva said as she looked at us and I nodded in agreement.

"Hope that we can get there first," I said as I gave Riva a smile. "If the Enclave can be stopped from entering the Stable or even getting at the key we'll be just fine."

"I hope you're right Scootaloo," Cherry said as she rested her head on my shoulder and sighed. "I just wish this war was over already."

"Me too Cherry, me too," I said as I wrapped my wing around her gently.

Maybe if things were better we could've worked out some sort of peace treaty with the Enclave and ended the war before it got this bad. There wasn't much chance of that at this point, it seemed like they were bent on winning with only the total surrender of the alliance a possibility.

What would Equestria be like if the Enclave did win though? Was it even possible that Winter's vision of a brighter future could come true? I honestly had no idea, and we didn't have time to try and think on it now. We had to make sure that the Enclave failed at their plans, and this was our last real chance to do that.

I sighed and nuzzled Cherry gently. I just had to hope that everything was going to be okay.

"Welcome to Ponytraz Island," the Colonel in charge of the NCR forces said as she greeted me. She was a Pegasus mare with light blue fur and a red mane named Thunderclap. She gave me a smile as she started to show us around the island proper a little.

The old prison on the island had been turned into a Ministry of Morale facility during the war and was used mostly to hold prisoners of the state. I wondered how many ponies had died here when the bombs went off just because the MoM wouldn't let them go even in the face of the apocalypse.

I sighed a little and shook my head, I didn't want to dwell on it as we looked back towards where more ponies were unloading the equipment and supplies off of the Vertibuck. There wasn't much we could do at the moment but try and figure out what our first step was going to be.

"So, what do you need?" Thunderclap asked as she looked between the three of us. "I heard this is an important mission from General Sparkle but she didn't go into too much detail."

"We need to get into the city," I said and she frowned a little at that. "In particular we need to get to Zebratown. I can't explain why right now, but there is a reason for it and it might give us a better chance at stopping the Enclave."

"Well, the Enclave isn't exactly the only problem we have around here," Thunderclap said with a sigh as we were approached by ponies dressed in Applejack's Rangers power armor. "What's the latest from the city itself?"

"Well, Rebel Radio is still going strong," one of the Rangers said with a shake of his head.

"Rebel Radio?" Cherry asked as she looked between them curiously.

"Its a radio station run by a pony named Shock Jockey, they're not Raiders but they're part of a Settlement in the city who, aren't particularly fond of the NCR," Thunderclap said with a shake of her head. "Normally they're nothing more than a nuisance, but ever since the Enclave has been broadcasting around Equestria..."

"Let me guess, they've been speaking out in support of Winter Breeze and her bright future," I said with a sigh and Thunderclap nodded. "That figures really."

"Its sadly not that unusual," the knight said with a shake of his head. "Ironically the one group in the city who doesn't like the Enclave either is the Raiders, but only because of Winter's anti-Raider stance."

I sighed a little, that figured really, of course the Raiders wouldn't like the Enclave either. Of course they wouldn't like us either so there wasn't really a winner there and we would all have to deal with them, great!

I was about to say something else when I heard a voice calling out from back where we had come from. "Hey, let me go!"

The soldiers came up to Thunderclap pulling along a very familiar looking Pegasus filly behind them and she didn't look happy to be here. "Colonel, we found this filly in with the equipment."

"Serenity?" I asked as I looked down at the gold and red filly who pulled her foreleg out of the grip of one of the Rangers. "What are you doing here?"

"Do you know her?" Thunderclap asked as she looked down at the filly curiously.

"Yeah, she's my, well distant descendant, she's supposed to be back aboard Nomad City," I said as I glared down at the filly who flinched a little. "Serenity, what are you doing here?"

"I'm tired of sitting on the sidelines, I can fight too, I want to help stop the Enclave!" Serenity protested as she looked at me pleadingly. "Please, you know me Scootaloo, you know what I can do."

I sighed a little and facehooved at the filly. Sure she had seen combat against the Changelings but this wasn't the same thing at all. She was too young to even be seeing combat like this, but she had still traveled here.

I had to admit that I didn't blame her, I may have even done the same thing when I was her age, but I wasn't about to let her get involved here.

"Colonel, we need to send her back to Junction Town," I said with a tone of finality in my voice. "Her mother is probably very worried about her."

"Awww," Serenity protested.

"Well, there's a bit of a problem there," Thunderclap said as she shook her head. "We can only get Vertibucks in and out of Ponytraz every few days during a very limited window. You were the last Vertibuck to get through before the window closed. The Raiders here are a bit more, advanced than your usual ones. They've hijacked airships and use them to keep any air traffic from getting into the city most of the time."

"Well, that explains why the Enclave hasn't just overrun them yet," Cherry said with a sigh as she looked down at Serenity. "What are we going to do with her now?"

"Can she stay on the island until the next window opens up?" I asked as I looked over at Thunderclap who sighed and shook her head.

"I'm sorry but we don't have anypony who can take care of a filly, we're too busy getting ready for the next phase of the battle here," she said. "If she's going to stay here she's going to have to be under your care."

"Please Scootaloo, I'll stay out of the way and I can help fight," Serenity said and looked up at me with pleading eyes that made my heart melt a little.

"Serenity..." I said with a sigh. "We have to go into a warzone right now, the Enclave are after the last key and they are going to tear that city apart in order to get it. Are you absolutely certain that you can do this?"

"Yes!" Serenity said enthusiastically.

"I will, talk to Vanilla and see what she says," I said with a sigh as I looked down at the filly. Was the whole operation here going to be derailed just because of Serenity? "If she says its okay, you can travel with us but you have to stay out of any fighting and I want to see how you shoot first. If not, we'll think of something."

"Okay, I can accept that," Serenity said with a nod. I didn't like the idea of taking her into a warzone and I didn't think that Vanilla would either, but at this point we didn't have much of a choice.

"Well, looks like I'm going to need to borrow a radio," I said and looked at Thunderclap who nodded.

"I'll show you to that, the rest of you get situated, we've got a briefing at 1800 hours," the Ranger Colonel said and we dispersed to do our things.

I looked at the radio and frowned a little. How was I going to explain this to Vanilla without her freaking out? Honestly there didn't seem like there would be any good way to break the news to her that her daughter had hitched a ride to a warzone.

I tuned into the radio signal for Nomad City and after a few minutes the familiar voice of Vanilla was heard on the other end. "Scootaloo, is that you?"

"Yeah, its me," I said and took a deep breath.

"What's going on? Did you see Serenity before you left this morning? I can't seem to find her anywhere," Vanilla said with a worried tone in her voice. "What if something happened to her?"

"She's fine for the moment, she's here with me," I said and looked down at Serenity who looked away.

"What? What's she doing in San Prancisco?" Vanilla said in a raised voice as Serenity flinched a little. "Serenity, when you get back you're going to be in big trouble young filly."

"I know, but I wanted to help!" Serenity protested as I held the talk button down for her voice to be transmitted. "And I'm tired of just sitting around Nomad City in the off chance that something happens there. I can help Scootaloo, I fought off the Changelings during the invasion, I know w hat I'm doing mom!"

There was a long silence as Vanilla seemed to consider what Serenity was saying. I sighed a little, I didn't know what to think of this to be honest. If it was my daughter who had run off at this age to join the fight then I would obviously be furious. Vanilla was upset but I think she understood where Serenity was coming from at least in part.

"Please mom, you're always saying that everypony needs to do their part to help stop the Enclave," Serenity said in a pleading tone of voice. "I can do this, I've already made it through one major war in the Wasteland. Just give me a chance, I'll make it back home okay."

"Scootaloo, are you going to be able to take care of her?" Vanilla asked, I could feel the pain in her voice, but also the resignation. "If I agree to this, I'm putting her life in your hooves."

"Vanilla, I may not have given birth or raised Serenity, but I give you my word as a mother and as your friend that I will make sure that nothing happens to her," I said with a tone of finality in my voice as I put a wing around Serenity and pulled her in close. "I'm going to make sure that she makes it out alive no matter what, I promise."

Vanilla paused for a long moment before letting out a sigh. "Okay Scootaloo, I trust you to get her back home alive. And Serenity, if you ever pull a stunt like this again, the Enclave will be the least of your problems."

"Okay, I promise I won't," Serenity said with a nod. "I love you mom."

"I love you too Serenity, and when you get back you lose your scooter for a week," Vanilla added. "And probably something else that I'll decide on later."

"Aww!" Serenity protested and I just laughed as I hugged the filly. "Well, I'll talk to you later mom, I'll see you soon!"

"Okay, just stay safe Serenity," Vanilla said and there was a click as the radio turned off. I smiled a little and held Serenity close.

"You're going to be just fine Serenity, are you really sure you're going to be able to do this?" I asked as I looked down at the filly.

"I'll be fine," Serenity said with a smile as she hugged me back. "You're going to be there to help me, right?"
I smiled and ruffled her mane. "Of course, come on, lets get to that briefing."

Serenity nodded and we headed out of the radio room.

"Alright, well this is admittedly not something we expected to have to deal with in San Prancisco," Thunderclap said as she looked over a map of San Prancisco. "The Enclave has made landfall on the other side of the city and started to push in to get to the center of the city."

I looked at the map and sighed a little, the Stable was at the middle of the territory and it was surrounded by Raider territory. That was going to make things harder to get to it of course.

"We need to get over to Zebratown," I said as I circled that part of the city. "There's something there that may be able to help us out there according to some information I got."

"Well, the good news is that its in neutral territory," Thunderclap said as she nodded and looked around the map. "The Raiders are afraid of Zebratown because of the, well, Zebras."

That figured of course, somethings didn't change even after 210 years. Still, it gave us one advantage in that the Raiders may leave us alone if we headed there.

I sighed a little, Zebratown had been turned into an internment camp during the war. It was actually kind of a shame because it was a pretty nice place before that. I just wished that everything was going to be okay somehow, it was just going to be tricky.

"So, how are we actually supposed to get off the island anyway?" Serenity pointed out as she looked over the map. "I mean, the Raiders do have airships and stuff right?"

"Yeah, they're keeping the waters for the most part and that's what's keeping us from getting in there easily," Thunderclap said as she looked at the map. "But we do have a plan though, there's something that's going to get you over there without much of a problem."

"What's that?" I asked as I looked at the Colonel curiously and she smirked a little.

"The RMS Periwinkle,"Thunderclap said with a nod. "We recovered it from Mare Island's old shipyards."

I blinked a little, they had a ship? No, wait that wouldn't get us into the city so easily. That's when I realized it pretty quickly, they had a submarine.

"Okay, well, that would definitely work," I said as I blinked a little. "Do you have a Ghoul crew or something? I mean, its not that easy to get a submarine running..."

"Yeah, thankfully we've managed to get it running," Thunderclap said with a nod. "You can take it to Pier 66 which will get you pretty close to Zebratown. Are you sure that its the right place to go though? I mean, I've heard stories about what's done in Zebratown."

"We have to go," I said with a nod as I looked around. "Besides, we've known some Zebras that aren't that bad. I'm sure that everything will be okay."

"Okay, if you think so, but be careful," Thunderclap said with a sigh. "Alright, lets get everything set up for tomorrow, I'm sure that everything will be okay."

I yawned a little as I laid down on the bed next to Cherry. I was about to pull her in close when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," I said and we smiled as Serenity came into the room with a frown on her face. "Hey Serenity, is everything okay?"
"I'm just... kind of scared," she admitted and looked down at her hooves. "Is it okay if I stay with you two tonight?"

I smiled a little and got up and pulled her into a hug. "If its okay with Cherry, I'd glad to have you stay with us," I said with a smile as I held the filly close.

"Sure!" Cherry said as she joined the hug. "Are you okay Serenity?"

"Well, its, kind of hard to be away from my mom and everypony," Serenity said softly as she hugged me more. "I mean, even before when I was away from her I was still in the same city. Did I do the right thing by doing this?"

"Serenity, you did this because you wanted to help Equestria," I said as I stroked her mane gently. "While I'll admit that you probably shouldn't have come, your heart was in the right place. We're both going to make sure that you're kept safe, just like the other little one with us."

Serenity giggled a little and looked up at Cherry. "How's your baby doing?"

"Well, she's becoming a bit more active lately, but she's okay at least," Cherry said as she gave us both smiles. "Do you want to feel her?"

I smiled a little and we placed our hooves on her stomach. For a moment there was nothing and I smiled a little when I felt a small kick, Serenity's ears perked up and she smiled a little.

"I felt a kick!" She said excitedly. "Does she do that often?"

"Yeah, a few times a day," Cherry said as she smiled down at the filly. "So Serenity, you fought against Changelings right? How'd that go given, you know, your young age..."

"Well, it wasn't easy," Serenity admitted with a sigh. "I wasn't really sure if I wanted to do it to be honest given that I had to fight... I'm still honestly a bit scared because of it. It wasn't easy to fight the Changelings, but I did everything I could to help. I still do, just, sometimes I'm afraid about what I'm going to have to do."

I sighed and hugged her close. Serenity wasn't even a teenager yet and yet she had already done more things than a lot of ponies had done in their entire lifetime. I couldn't help but wonder what she might do when she was older, I smiled a little and held her close.

"Serenity, I know you're going to be just fine," I said with a smile as I stroked her mane gently. "You're a smart, brave, and strong filly that I know you're going to be just fine. You remind me a lot of myself at your age, and I'm glad that I got to meet you and help you get through everything."

Serenity smiled and laid against my chest and closed her eyes. Cherry laid down next to me and gave me a light kiss on the cheek as she looked down at Serenity who had drifted off to sleep. "You're really good with foals, you know that?"

"I try to be," I said with a sigh as I placed my hoof gently on Serenity's back. "I can't say I was the best mom in the world though. I did what I could and wound up locking my daughter underground before I was exiled. I wouldn't have blamed her if she spent the rest of her life hating me for it either."

"But she didn't," Cherry said and nuzzled me gently. "She forgave you and you know it. Then she had foals of her own and it lead to this little filly. I don't know what kind of mother you think you were, but I think fate made sure you were the mother your daughter needed you to be."

I smiled a little and stroked the filly's messy mane, then I frowned. "My bloodline didn't just create Serenity though, it also created Winter Breeze. I don't know what her reasons are, but she's done a lot of harm to Equestria in the name of her brighter future."

"Maybe, but think about it this way, couldn't it have been a lot worse?" Cherry pointed out and I looked over at her confused. "You said it yourself, Winter is also different from any other leader the Enclave has ever had. She's not in this for power or glory, she wants to help Equestria in her own way. She may play the part of the villain, but I think that's just as much a part of your legacy as Serenity is. Maybe this was what was meant to happen, maybe the fact of the matter is that Winter is supposed to be something more than just the President of the Enclave. Maybe she's going to be what makes them change and do better than they have in the past."

I smiled a little and leaned over and kissed my marefriend gently on the lips. We held that kiss for a long moment as I enjoyed the warm feeling. I felt a light stirring on my chest and opened one eye to see Serenity watching us and smirking a little.

"What's got you smiling?" I asked with a grin as I moved my wings around and used them to tickle the small filly relentlessly as she started giggling like crazy.

"I just thought you two were cute is all!" Serenity protested through her giggles "You didn't have to start tickling me!"

"Yes I did because you're cute," I said with a giggle as I let the filly go and she just smiled and closed her eyes again. I leaned down and kissed her lightly on the forehead. "Good night Serenity."

"Good night Scootaloo," Serenity said as she drifted off to sleep again. I gave Cherry a nod and gave her one last kiss before we drifted off to sleep.

The rest of the night passed without incident, though Serenity woke up crying late that night. I hated that she was being put through this at her age, it was hard enough to do it at my age, I couldn't imagine what she was going through.

Serenity drifted back off to sleep and buried her face in my chest fur. I wrapped my wings around her protectively and smiled down at her. She reminded me so much of Cloudy.

I drifted off to sleep again as things returned to normal.

The next morning we woke up at around dawn. Serenity was still tired so I gave her a ride on my back as we headed out of the barracks and into the main part of the base.

"We don't have time to outfit her with a weapon," Thunderclap commented as she looked at the half asleep filly who yawned a little as she looked at the Colonel. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Serenity said with a nod as she looked at the saddlebags that I was carrying. "I've got my own equipment, I just have to get it set up."

"If you say so kid," Thunderclap said, she didn't sound that convinced. "If you hadn't been on the last Vertibuck into the base we could've sent her with the civilians. Good luck out there kid, if you really think you can do it."

Serenity rolled her eyes and we kept walking to where we met up with Riva. Thunderclap eyed the Zebra for a moment before we went down to the dock below where the conning tower of a submarine was sticking out.

"Normally we don't allow Civilians on her, but General Sparkle said you're a special case," Thunderclap said as she looked between the four of us. "I hope you find whatever you're looking for in that city, the last thing I want to think about is if I sent the Wanderer and her friends to their deaths."

"We'll be fine," I said with a smile as we climbed into the submarine. I took a deep breath, really I had never been in one of these before and it felt, cramped. Actually it kind of reminded me of Stable 66 in that respect only a little smaller.

"So, you're the, special cargo we're supposed to be taking to San Prancisco," a raspy voice said and we looked forward to see a Unicorn Ghoul dressed in an old Equestria Navy Uniform. "Captain Cuttlefish at your service, you better be worth the risk we're taking by heading to Pier 33."

"What kind of risk?" I asked as an alarm went off signaling that we were about to leave. "I thought the pier wasn't in the territory of any of the gangs. What's so dangerous about it?"

"Well, there's the boats on the surface for one," Cuttlefish said as the submarine lurched forward. "Then there's the wildlife. Sometimes we get some very large and very nasty critters in the bay, not the kind of thing you'd want to tangle with."
Serenity gulped a little from her position on my back. "What kind of things?"

"Sea serpents, Ghoul Whales, I've even heard tales of a Kraken making its way into the bay," Cuttlefish said as he looked at us with one rotting eye. "You ever seen a Kraken little filly?"

"Uh, no, can't say that I have," Serenity said with a gulp.

"Some say they were something the Zebras cooked up during the war, they took massive squid from the depths of the oceans and made them meaner, larger, and deadlier than anything else," Cuttlefish said which made Serenity shiver.
"Others say they're punishment from the Goddesses, sent to punish Ponykind for all our sins above and beneath the seas."

Serenity let out a small scream and I facehooved. "Serenity, its okay, I've heard stories of Krakens from when I was a filly, he's just trying to scare you. They never come this close to the coast."

"Sorry for scaring the kid miss," Cuttlefish said as he tipped his hat at Serenity who just shivered. "Can't say I expected to see the Wanderer and one of the Crystal Crusaders aboard the ship."

"Wait, you know about us?" Serenity asked with a blink as she got off my back and looked at the Ghoul curiously.

"Of course I do, you don't live as long as I do without hearing all the stories," Cuttlefish said with a chuckle. "Lightbringer, Security, Renegade, Jewel of the Wasteland... there's a lot of you folk out there doing something more than just surviving. Its what inspired me and my crew to get the Periwinkle up and running again and help the NCR around the city here."

"Well, I'm glad we were able to inspire you," I said, a little surprised to find that out.

"Of course, at least you're doing something to help Equestria," he said and looked at me. "Though, I have to say I wasn't expecting to see you here. You saved my sister's life you know that?"

"I did?" I asked and Serenity looked between the two of us confused. "How did I do that?"

"She was a pony who was on a watch list from the Ministry of Morale but you arranged to get her into Stable 26," Cuttlefish said with a smile. "You probably saved her from a Morale interrogation room with that, so I feel I owe you."

"Oh wow, you're Angel Fish's brother aren't you?" I asked and the old ghoul nodded. I remembered her, she was a naval officer who had gotten injured in a battle with the Zebras and had two of her legs blown off. She had started to doubt the war and the way the Equestrian government was going, but she wasn't a Zebra sympathizer or particularly violent in her beliefs. "Yeah, I remember meeting her for the interview to make sure she was right for Stable 26. She was nice, I guess she just got on the watch list because of some of her ideas."

"Well, like I said you saved her life, now come on, it won't take long to get to Pier 33," Cuttlefish said as we headed towards the command center of the sub.

I just hoped that he was right and everything was going to be okay.

As the trip passed I studied the map of San Prancisco. Stable 97 was under an Elementary school in the middle of the city up a small mountain. Getting there was going to be a challenge given that there was a lot of Raiders in the city, (and that was without having to worry about the Enclave troops.

This wasn't going to be an easy trek to say the least, we were about to have to walk through some of the most dangerous territory in Equestria just to try and stop the Enclave, again.

Finally the submarine surfaced and we headed out after saying our good-byes to Captain Cuttlefish. He gave me a short wave radio and said that if I needed a pick up to call him on it and they'd be there in no time.

"So, does that thing work?" I asked as I looked down at Serenity who was fitting a pair of pistols into a small filly sized Battle Saddle.

"Yeah, it works fine, the Crusaders outfitted it for me when Scootaloo and Apple Bloom needed to build their own," Serenity said as she slipped herself into the battle saddle. "It has all the same parts as a normal battle saddle and these pistols have special enchantment gems on them that remove the recoil."

"That's really clever," Cherry commented as she ruffled the filly's mane and we looked over at Riva who nodded and smiled down at Serenity.

"Looks good," she said, she had been practicing her Equestrian whenever she got the chance and had managed to learn a few more words.

"Thank you," Serenity said with a smile as she did a quick test of the firing bit. "Okay, lets go. Why are we going to Zebratown anyway?"

"Its, complicated, somepony told me that it might help us in San Prancisco," I said as I sighed a little, I couldn't tell Serenity the whole story because Celestia had said only to tell Cherry and Riva. "Yeah, I know it sounds odd doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it really does," Serenity commented with a shrug. "But I trust you Scootaloo, you're family and family doesn't betray one another, right?"

I flinched a little at that. Arc had been like family to me and s he had betrayed us all. The only consolation was that she felt guilty about it. I just hoped that everything was going to be okay with her.

"That's right Serenity," I said with a smile as we started walking towards Zebratown. "I'm not going to do anything that would betray that trust."

"So, you've been to Zebratown before?" Cherry asked as she looked at me curiously. "What was it like back then?"

"Before the war, yes," I said with a sigh as I looked back at Serenity for a moment. "It was, lively, the Zebras there were friendly and made you feel at home. Me and mom visited there a few times before the war started, I think she enjoyed it there at least. Then everything changed with the war, the Zebras in the town didn't change themselves though. The fact is that many of them wanted to live a life outside the Empire but..."

"But they were blamed for the crimes of their species," Cherry said with a nod. "That's horrible, how could ponies treat other beings like that?"

"I don't know to be honest," I said with a sigh. "That wasn't the Equestria I grew up in, it wasn't the world I knew and that disturbed me more than anything. Zebratown went from a happy place to an internment camp because of the war and a lot of good Zebras were locked in there too."

I looked back at Riva, she didn't understand everything I was saying but she got the gist of it based on the frown on her face. This was a painful memory for all of us, the internment camps had been one of the worst mistakes Equestria had made and there was nothing we could do to change that now.

"Riva, I'm sorry," I said softly.

Riva gave me a smile and wrapped her foreleg around me gently. "Not your fault Scootaloo," she said and I smiled a little at that.

"Maybe someday Ponies and Zebras can live together more," Cherry said with a sigh.

"Well, the day is getting there slowly," I said with a nod. "Riva, Xenith, Xiraia, things are changing in a big way. There is always a chance that we will be able to correct the mistakes of the past, I just hope that its not too late."

We walked on in silence for a long period of time, the streets of San Prancisco that I remembered as having been so lively before felt empty. The only sound other than our hooves was the sound of gunshots that echoed through the city streets from far away.

Out of curiosity I turned Rebel Radio on and listened to it on my PipBuck.

"...And that's an excerpt from our interview with President Winter Breeze following the battle of Manehattan. We will be broadcasting the full interview tomorrow afternoon, so look forward to that my little ponies," a stallion's voice said over the radio and I shook my head a little. "In local news the Raider Gang known as the Scimitars has once more clashed with Enclave troops on the south side of town. However the Enclave was ready for them this time as they pushed them back after a prolonged fight. The slaves being held by the gang have been released from their captivity and were last reported heading out of the city, good luck to them all and I'm glad you made it out of there alive thanks to our friends in the Enclave. Now, lets get on with the music."

I groaned and shut it off, that had been a mistake. Though I hated to admit it but he was right about one thing, the Enclave had done a lot to help the ponies in San Prancisco. That sickened me to think that they were actually doing some good here while the NCR was stuck on an island in the middle of the bay.

I sighed a little and looked back at my friends and was about to say something as we neared the entrance to Zebratown when I stopped. Suddenly a burst of fire rose out of the ground in front of us and swirled around as if it had a mind of its own and formed into a flaming form of a dragon that snaked around and let out a rather realistic sounding roar as it swooped down at us and we barely dodged it.

"What in Celestia's name is that thing?" Cherry said as we backed away, I put myself between the dragon creature and Serenity protectively.

"I, don't know," I said as I looked up at the flaming dragon and gulped a little.

Welcome back to Zebratown Scootaloo, enjoy your stay!

There was only one of us who didn't seem worried, Riva. I looked over at the Zebra shocked for a moment as she started to walk right at the creature. I couldn't make out what she was saying but she seemed to be chanting something in the Zebra language that I didn't understand.

"Riva, what are you doing?" I called out to her as I tried to stop my friend from walking into that strange creature.
Riva didn't answer, she just finished her chanting and shoved her hoof right into the dragon creature and it vanished as if it was smoke. I blinked a little and looked at her.

"Projection Talisman," she said simply as she started walking forward again and we followed. "Not real."

"I didn't know Zebra magic was that strong," Cherry whispered to me as I just blinked a little more.

"I had an idea, but I didn't think that it would feel that real," I said in shock as we walked forward more.

As we neared Zebratown we passed skeletons, not skeletons that had died in the last day but skeletons that looked like they had been placed there on purpose. It was a warning of some sort, were we walking into a Raider den? Had Celestia and LittlePip sent me into a trap out of some twisted revenge for what I had done in the war?

I gulped a little and pulled Serenity in close, I didn't want anything to happen to her in this nightmarish city and I was going to make sure she stayed safe.

"Hold it right there," a mare's voice said in a Zebra accent and we stopped and looked up at the gate to Zebratown where several Zebras with different stripe patterns held their guns on us. "What business do you have in Zebratown?"

"We're here to talk," I called out, I had to make sure that we didn't do anything to disrupt the Zebras as they stared us down from their perch. "We just arrived in the city, we're trying to get deeper into the interior and we were told that we might be able to find some help here."

"We don't let just any ponies waltz into our settlement," a stallion with what looked like wavy stripes said with a sneer as he pointed his rifle at me. "Why do you want access to Zebratown Pony?"

"There's a war coming to San Prancisco, the Enclave wants access to a Stable here in the city that holds a secret that we need to stop them from getting," I said and the Zebras exchanged a look for a moment. "Please, we're just trying to help, but if you don't want us, we'll leave you alone."

There was a moment of conversation between the Zebras and they turned back and their eyes fell on Riva and they looked at her curiously. "Who are you and do you vouch for these ponies?"

"I am Riva, Viatorem from the Free Roam Alliance," Riva said as best she could before she took a deep breath and spoke again. "These ponies are friends, they mean you no harm."

One of the stallions looked back behind them and then at us before he nodded. "Alright, you may enter but leave your weapons and ammo with us. You will be given them back once you leave Zebratown, do you understand?"

I nodded and the gates opened up as we walked through them. We gave our weapons over to the Zebras at the gate who put them away carefully before we were allowed into the town itself.

"Wow, I've never seen this many Zebras in one place," Serenity commented as she looked around, she wasn't kidding there were a lot of Zebras but this was Zebratown so that made sense. "How did they all get here?"

"Some of them are probably descendants of prisoners at the Internment Camp here, others might be from the nearby Stable 52 which also had Zebras in it," I said with a shrug. "Probably most of them are just refugees or travelers though, I don't really know."

"A little part of the Zebra Lands in Equestria," Cherry said as she looked at the artwork and buildings as we walked into the town itself. "So what are we going to do now?"

"Honestly? I don't know what we're looking for here," I admitted as I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. "They just said that..."

As I was talking I saw Riva walking off towards a Zebra stallion with a long mane and a neatly trimmed beard. He was dressed in a beaten up old blue coat with saddle bags over them with a rifle similar to Riva's on it.

"Hey, what's that about?" Serenity asked curiously as we watched the two Zebras talk. "Do you think she knows him?"

"Only if he's another Viatorem," I said, it was certainly possible that the Free Roam Alliance had sent out more of them and one of them had reached Zebratown. "I didn't think we'd meet another one, maybe she's just..."

I was cut off and surprised when I saw something I didn't expect. Riva wrapped her forelegs around the bearded stallion and kissed him on the lips long and passionately. I smiled a little and looked between Cherry and Serenity.

"Well, that answers that, I think we know how she knows him," I said with a laugh as Riva and the Zebra stallion walked over to us with a smile on their faces.

"Hello, you must be Scootaloo," the stallion said with a smile as he offered me a hoof, I was surprised that he spoke perfect Equestrian but that might not be that unusual for Zebras.

"That's me Mr..." I started to say as I looked him over. He was actually kind of handsome in that rugged sort of way, but I wasn't really into that kind of thing anyway.

"Zafir," he said with a smile as we shook hooves. "Have you been traveling with Riva for very long?"

"Not very long honestly, just since Manehattan so a week or two," I said with a nod. "Are you a Viatorem like she is?"

"Yes, that would be me," he said and Riva nodded with a smile. "And, I'm also her mate, but our job keeps us apart most of the time."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said with a frown. It occurred to me at that point that we really didn't know anything about Riva's life back in the Zebra Lands. She may have children, siblings, who knew really? It was a shame that we couldn't really know a whole lot about her given the language barrier but that was changing.

"Well, its nice meeting you Zafir," Cherry said with a smile as she shook hooves with the stallion. "Come on Scootaloo, Serenity, lets leave these two alone to catch up."

"Aww, I want to stay," Serenity said and I facehooved a little.

"Serenity, we're giving them space," I said with and we started walking away from the couple. "Come on, let them have their fun since they haven't seen each other in awhile."

"Aww, okay," Serenity said and her stomach growled. "Hey, can we go get something to eat?"

I chuckled a little and we started looking around again.

Luckily finding somewhere to eat was easy. Zebratown actually had a small restaurant in it that sold what was advertised as authentic Zebra cuisine. We walked inside and took our seats at one of the tables.

When the waiter left with our order I took a look around the room for a long moment. There were other Zebras in here but I really had no idea why Celestia and LittlePip had sent me here. There was a lot of Zebras that could help us sure, but why send us here specifically?

I sighed a little and was about to talk to Serenity again when the door opened and four ponies walked in. Two of them were dressed like Stable Dwellers, a third was dressed in what looked like NCR Ranger gear, and the fourth was a large green Alicorn that didn't look that friendly.

"Well, that's something you don't see every day," Cherry commented quietly as she looked at the Alicorn for a long moment. "What do you think her story is?"

"Who knows, maybe some sort of remnant from the Unity or something," I said with a shrug and was about to look away from them when I saw something on the two Stable mare's jumpsuits.

There was a number, that wasn't unusual of course, all Stable jumpsuits had numbers on them. But these two had the number 97 on their collars. I blinked a little and looked between Cherry and Serenity.

"Those two are from Stable 97," I whispered.

"What are they doing here? I thought Stable 97 was supposed to still be closed," Serenity whispered back.

"I don't know, they must've left for some reason," I said and shook my head. Maybe this was what Celestia was talking about, these four ponies seemed like they might have the best clues we could find on what was going on with Stable 97. "I'll be right back."

I got to my hooves and walked over towards the group of four ponies who just looked at me confused. "Uh, can we help you?" One of them a light purple mare with a purple mane with a green streak through it asked as they looked at me.

"I was wondering if you four might want to join me and my friends at our table," I said and gestured back towards where Cherry and Serenity were sitting and they waved. "We can put two of the tables together or something and it should be fine."

"Well, I don't know," the Pegasus dressed in the ranger outfit said before she got a better look at me. "Well, its up to you two really."

"Well, why not," the second Unicorn mare commented with a shrug as she looked over at the Alicorn.

"Brick don't mind," the Alicorn said as we headed over and took an empty table and pushed it up against the one where Cherry and Serenity were sitting.

"So, what brings the four of you to Zebratown?" I asked as I looked over the strange group of ponies. We had two Unicorns, a Pegasus, and an Alicorn. Two of them seemed to be from Stables, the third was with the NCR maybe, and I didn't even know what the Alicorn's story might be.

"We were passing through on our way out of the city," one of the Unicorns said as the waiter came back and took their orders. I frowned a little because the two Stable Dwellers needed help with the menus, I was really starting to regret not working harder to change Stable 97's experiment right now. "We've been looking for somepony who can help repair our home."

"Okay, that helps a little," I said as I looked between the four strange mares. "What's going on in Stable 97, is everything okay? There aren't any problems are there?"

"No, no problems," the purple Unicorn said with a shake of her head. "Stable 97 is great, we're just having problems... yes, problems with the... thing that gives it power."

"The Reactor?" I asked and she nodded. "Well that figures... I guess it wasn't going to last forever. Have you had any luck finding anypony that can help?"

"The Zebras aren't much help, they don't know how to fix it," the first one said. "We're about to leave again, need to find more help."

"Great, they're trying to find help in the middle of a warzone and the Enclave will take full advantage of that," Cherry whispered to me and I sighed because I knew she was right. "What are your names?"

"Brick," The Alicorn said.

"Mariposa Lilly," The Pegasus said.

"Heart Ache."

"Centerpin."

I sighed and looked between the two Unicorn mares. This wasn't going to be easy to figure out if I was being honest, we could easily get into the Stable with their help but was it right? We were just going to be exploiting what had happened to them in order to get what we wanted.

No, I had caused this and I was going to have to try and fix the problem with Stable 97 eventually. There were good ponies in there that were being put in harm's way because of my own stupid experiment, I just had to hope that everything was going to be okay.

"Well, we could help," I offered and Centerpin's ears perked up. "I mean we know a few ponies who could help out, and we'd just need to get into the Stable."

"Really?" Heart Ache asked as she looked at me curiously. "You'd really do that?"

"Hey, I, kind of accidentally caused your Stable to be like it is," I said as I pulled the brim of my hat down a little to cover my face again. "This is all my fault really, I should've done a better job of keeping the Stables in check. I made a mistake a long time ago, and I'm here to try and make up for it. If you can get us into the Stable, that would help everypony not only in this city but in Equestria in ways you couldn't possibly imagine."

The four mares exchanged a long look. Had I asked for too much? Was this a mistake? Maybe I should just try and get into the Stable on my own, this was a mistake, maybe I shouldn't have come here.

"Are you serious?" Centerpin asked as she looked at me with a surprised look. "Why do you need us for that kind of thing?"

"There's something in Stable 97, something that the Enclave would do anything to get their hooves on," I said with a sigh as I looked down at my hooves. "Its complicated really, I'm not sure if I can explain this to you."

"But we can tell you this, its very important," Cherry said with a smile as she looked between the four ponies. "We have to get into the Stable, that's the most important thing right now."

I waited a moment, I knew at least two of them weren't very smart because of the experiment but that may work to our advantage. Maybe we'd be able to convince them to be able to help us out at least.

"Alright, we'll help you," Heart Ache said after they took a moment to talk about it. "We don't really understand everything that's going on in this city. If 97 is that important to you then we'll help you out."

"Thank you," I said with a smile and a slight nod. "Maybe we can get enough ponies to help with any of the problems in your Stable as well. I can't stress how important this is, we have to make sure that the Enclave is stopped here."

I had no doubt that they had at least heard about the Enclave at this point, that was hard to avoid in this kind of city. I sighed a little and looked at Cherry, maybe this was a mistake because of everything that we were going to have to do in order to reach our goal.

The Enclave was going to try and do everything they could do to get at what was in that Stable. Maybe Gambit had a point, I had played by the rules this far and I was going to have to do everything I could to make sure that I made my own choices here and now.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Mariposa asked as she looked at me. "You're asking for a lot you know, we're just four ponies who are trying to make our way in the world."

"Let me let you in on a little secret," I said with a shake of my head. "Everypony who has ever changed the world started as just a pony trying to make their way in it. There are good ponies out there who are trying to help Equestria do better, be better. This is your chance to try and do the same. Because of the Stable, two of you were dealt a bad hand, but now's your chance to take it back."

They nodded as the food came back and the waiter placed a piece of paper in front of me and gave me a strange look.

"What's this?" I asked him as I looked at it curiously.

"A grey stallion left this behind for you, he didn't say what it was about," the waiter said and walked off as I opened up the paper and read it.

"Adrift upon the sea of time, the lonely god wanders from shore to distant shore, upholding the laws of the stars above."

And at the bottom there was a drawing of an hourglass and a building. I looked at it strangely for a moment before I looked between my friends and nodded.

"I have to go deal with something, I'll be back soon," I said as I got to my hooves and headed out of the restaurant.

I looked around as I went past Zebras who paid me no attention. There was something about what was going on that worried me, like it was nagging at the back of my head. Something was going on here and I didn't quite understand what it was.

The hourglass was familiar to say the least, it was something that I had seen more than a few times growing up. I looked around before I finally saw the building in the drawing. Seated next to it was a tall blue box with the words "Police Call Box" on the upper part of it.

"What in Celestia's name..." I started to say as I ran my hoof along it gently. Then I remembered what I had read about in Ruby's book, a blue box that was bigger on the inside. "The TARDIS..."

"Not bad, still as sharp as ever I see Scootaloo," a male voice said from behind me and I turned to see a grey earth pony stallion standing there with a messy grey mane. He was wearing a black coat over a white buttoned up shirt and he gave me a smirk. "Its been a long time, you've barely aged at all."

"I'm afraid I don't know you," I said as I looked at the stallion confused. That's when I saw his cutie mark, it was of an hourglass like the one sketched for me. "Who are you?"

"That's the question isn't it, but when you go through a couple of new faces since your friends last saw you, things can get confusing," the stallion said with a nod as he offered me a hoof. "Allow me to re-introduce myself, I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor Whooves, is that really you?" I asked as I looked at him for a long moment. "Why do you look so..."

"That's, a really long story, but now's not the time for that," he said with a shake of his head as he looked me over. "You're looking well for somepony who's supposed to be dead."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," I said with a sigh as I looked over at him. "So, this is a time machine huh? I read about the times you met with Ruby Starlight and her friends. Its very, blue."

The Doctor chuckled a little. "Well, its been stuck like this for awhile but that's another story. So what brings you here to San Prancisco?"

"I'm here to try and stop the Enclave from getting access to a Megaspell," I said with a sigh and the Doctor just looked at me for a moment. "What?"

"Well, that's certainly going to complicate matters," he said with a shake of his head. "Scootaloo, I know that things are hard to understand right now but I can only give you so much help in this situation. I know its hard to understand, but I have a lot of things that are drawing my attention right now."

I sighed a little, I had hoped that he might be able to help us get through this but apparently that had been foolish. Still, I wasn't sure why Celestia had sent us here other than crossing paths with the ponies from Stable 97.

"But, I may have something that can help you at least," he said and I looked at him surprised as he opened the door to the TARDIS. "Come on inside Scootaloo, I'm sure I can find something in here of use."

"Okay," I said as I walked into the strange blue box. I wasn't that surprised at the interior and looked around curiously as I saw the control console of the ship. "So, what do you have for me?"

The Doctor sighed a little as he looked down at the ground for a long moment as if there was something bothering him. "It hurts doesn't it?"

"What does?" I asked as I looked at the old stallion with a surprised look on my face. "What are you talking about?"

"Being a survivor, and worse knowing that you did something that hurt so many of your species," the Doctor said as he shook his head and sighed. "I fought in a war a long time ago. A bigger war than anything Equestria could even dream of between my people and an enemy that wanted nothing more than to wipe out all life that wasn't themselves. My people, they only got worse and worse as time passed, doing things that they wouldn't have ever dreamed of before the war. When I came to Equestria my memory of that was lost, but when it came back, I couldn't leave. This world had become my home, and I saw it burn too."

"Oh, I'm sorry..." I said softly as I looked into the stallion's eyes. I could see something in his eyes, something that I knew all too well because I had seen it so many times in my own, pain and regret.

"I ended the war, but not before countless were lost, entire planets destroyed, and I still hear the screams... every day of my life I hear them," he said and sighed. "Scootaloo I understand what you're going through because I've been there myself."

I looked up at the Doctor and sighed as my ears drooped a little. I had no idea that he had been through anything like that when I had known him growing up. He had always seemed nice, a little eccentric, but he was one of the nicer ponies in Ponyville. Still, maybe things had changed for us all.

"War, war never changes..." I muttered and the Doctor looked at me curiously. "Just something I remember from the war... but I'm still trying to figure out why I'm still alive. Why did whatever force above is in charge of this kind of thing pick me of all ponies?"

"I don't know, time has a funny way of doing things," the Doctor said. "Maybe something changed in your timeline, maybe time just took pity on you and gave you a second chance. Maybe you're being punished for your crimes by having to live with them... that's probably the worst punishment of all."

I sighed a little and felt tears starting to trickle down my face. I hated to admit it but he was right. Even if I was trying to atone for it, the guilt had slowly been eating at my insides. It wasn't going to be easy to try and figure out what I was going to do, I just hoped I could.

"What can I do to live with this?" I asked with a sigh. "I've done what I could, I've worked to stop the Enclave, found friends... I don't know what's left."

"Virtue, that's what the most important thing is right now, you have to find your virtue and found what your place is in this world," he said with a sigh. "Or you may still have another purpose, something that only you can do. You need to find that purpose, make sure that you fulfill it no matter what. That's the best advice I can offer you."

"Well, that's something at least," I said with a sigh as I looked around at the interior of the TARDIS. "This place is amazing."

"Yeah, its really something," the Doctor said as we looked around. "Scootaloo, I'm sorry that you have to go through this whole thing. You were just trying to help and as a result you did terrible things, but I know you're going to do great things for Equestria."

"What makes you say that?"

The Doctor just chuckled at that before saying, "Spoilers. Now come on, I do have one more thing I can give you that might be of use."

I looked at him curiously as he started pushing things out of the way off to the side. "Lets see here," he said as he picked a strange looking mechanical head with two strange handles on it and tossed it aside. "No, no that's definitely not it."

"What is this thing?" I asked as I reached towards the strange looking head with my hoof.

"Cyberman, something that you don't want ever to mess with," the Doctor said as he picked up a strange looking device that looked a little like a plunger made of metal before he tossed it away too and came out with an old piece of paper. "Here you go, this is something that will be very handy for you and your friends here in the city."

"What is it?" I asked as I looked at it, it looked like some sort of old map but it wasn't of the city itself.

"The underground, you can find your way around the city with it and avoid, some of the threats that are in it," he said and looked at me again. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I don't know, I'll have to check this against a map of the city," I said with a sigh. "I hope I'll be okay, I'm worried to be honest... especially with Serenity around. I don't like putting her in danger."

"She'll be fine, she's a strong filly just like her ancestor," he said and closed his eyes for a moment. "Just be careful, the war with the Enclave is far from over even if you succeed here. But, there is always a chance that things will be better, I can promise you that."

"Thank you Doctor," I said and paused a moment before I hugged him. The stallion was a little surprised but he gently hugged me back. "I hope to see you again."

"Me too Scootaloo, me too," he said as we released the hug and I headed for the door. "Tell Ditzy I said hello next time you see her will you?"

I smiled a little and nodded. "I will,," I said and headed back out of the TARDIS.

I turned around when there was the sound of whirring and watched the strange blue box vanish behind me.

"What was that all about?" Serenity asked as she looked at me curiously. The group had left the restaurant and was looking at me. "What was that about?"

"I'll tell you later, its a long story," I said with a chuckle as I looked back at the spot where it had been. "Safe travels you clever colt."

LEVEL UP!
Perk Received: Temporal Engineer.
Details: After your encounter with the Doctor you've gained an innate understanding of the world and time. You gain an extra point in intelligence and 10 points added to repair.