"Well hey there my little ponies, this is DJ Pon3 broadcasting for NCR Radio," Xiraia's voice said over the radio as I fit an earbud into my ear. "A bit of bad news I'm afraid, it seems that the Enclave has been successful in whatever their plan in San Prancisco was. With another Stable falling under Enclave control, they are starting to push harder into the city in order to take it back from the Raiders. I can't say for sure what's going on in there my little ponies, but if you're listening to me you should approach that area with caution. The Enclave seems to be searching the city for something, and even the Raiders and their airships aren't stopping them. I've heard a rumor that my good friend the Wanderer was spotted in Zebratown, I hope she got out of the city alive.

In other news, the settlement of Chapel outside of Hoofington has reported attacks on several caravans in the area. A local merchant was quoted saying..."

I sighed and turned off my radio as we entered Junction Town. I still had the energy crystal with me, so everything seemed to be going well at least. If this put Protocol Zeta out of commission, then the Enclave was going to have to come up with a new plan, maybe even negotiate for peace.

Serenity had headed up to Nomad City and we said that we'd join her after we checked in with Midnight. It had been a trying time for her while we were in San Prancisco and she just wanted to see her friends and Vanilla. I didn't really blame her, even if she was probably going to get into a lot of trouble.

I sighed a little as we headed into the Memorial Park. It wasn't the same traveling without Arc, after everything that had happened maybe we should just try and find her and figure something out. As we approached the NCR military command center however, we were surprised to see that there were ponies being herded into the nearby prison cells.

"What's going on?" I asked Midnight as we approached the dark blue Unicorn who was going over a list.

"Not here," she said and gestured for us to head into her office. We followed her and she locked the door behind us, I was about to say something when I turned to see Arc Light standing there with a big smile on her face.

"Arc!" I said and ran over and hugged the Unicorn tightly. "What happened? When did they let you out?"

"Just the day before yesterday," Arc said as she gave me a smile and hugged back. "I've been doing everything I can to help the NCR out. The ponies outside were part of the Enclave's spy network."

"She's done a lot of good work for us, the network is starting to fall apart," Midnight said with a nod as she looked over at Arc and smiled. "Between this and what you did in San Prancisco, we've started to push the Enclave back out of the territory they've taken from us."

"Did you really keep them from getting one of the keys?" Arc asked and I nodded. "Wow, Winter Breeze must be furious about that."

"Oh I'm sure she is, I'm just glad we made it out alive," I said with a light chuckle as I patted my bag. "The Enclave isn't going to get access to Protocol Zeta anytime soon, that's good at least."

"Are you sure there's no way around the locks?" Midnight asked and I shook my head.

"The locks were put there to make sure that nopony could get into the Stable without them, not even LittlePip could pick that lock," I said with a chuckle as I gave Arc a nod. "So, what's going to happen to her now?"

"Well, she was in here under the cover story that she was a pony of interest in an investigation not related to the war," Midnight said with a nod. "We're willing to let her walk given everything that's happened as long as she checks in and continues with the rest of her part of the operation."

"The rest of your part?" I asked as I looked over at Arc who just grinned.

"Lets just say that the Enclave's spy network is going to be working to our advantage," Arc said with a nod as she looked over at Cherry. "I'm sorry I lied to all of you, I just wanted to help the ponies from my Stable and make sure that they didn't get hurt."

We stood there for a long moment before I moved over and hugged Arc again. Cherry and Riva joined in. I smiled a little, after everything that had happened we were together again.

"Do you think it'll be enough?" Cherry asked as we released the hug after a moment. "The Enclave is smart, they might not fall for whatever you have planned."

"I know, but we're going to have to hope that everything will be okay," Arc said with a nod. "If there's nothing else, I'd like to spend some time with my friends."

"Of course, but we'll be watching you, remember that," Midnight said and Arc nodded before we headed back out of the HQ and back out into Junction Town.

"Scootaloo, I wanted to thank you," Vanilla said, it was later that evening and we were all in our hotel room in Nomad City.

"For what?" I asked as I looked over at Vanilla, Serenity was fast asleep next to her, it was late and she was tired after everything that had happened.

"For bringing her home safely," Vanilla said with a nod. "I know she went through a lot while you were gone, she told me everything. But I also know that you did everything you could to keep her safe. Even if you probably were a little reckless at times."

"Well, the whole thing in the tunnels was her idea," I said with a roll of my eyes. "We didn't have to go in there, but it got us through faster and maybe a way to get a high ranking member of the Enclave to turn against them, I hope. There's something about Morning Glory, I'm not sure if she's completely our enemy or not."

"Yeah, well I hope you're right," Vanilla said with a sigh. "Everything I've done is to try and keep Serenity safe, I just hope that she won't be worse off than she was before now."

"She's a strong filly, she's going to be just fine, I hope," I said with a sigh as Vanilla nuzzled Serenity gently. "I'm sorry, I really shouldn't have brought her with us, we should've figured something else out."

"And if you had, she probably would've figured something else out," Vanilla said with a sigh. "I know you did your best, and she's in big trouble for what she did, but she made it home okay, that's what matters to me right now."

"Yeah, I know," I said with a yawn as I looked around. "So, did anything interesting happen here while I was gone?"

"Not really, the Enclave's mostly been focused on the outside of the NCR, they haven't gone after Junction Town yet," Vanilla said. "And you said you've stopped them from getting access to the last key right? I just hope that'll give us a chance for cooler heads to prevail."

"Me too Vanilla, me too," I said as I opened the safe that had been set up in the room and carefully placed the energy crystal in it. "This war has gone on too long already and Equestria's not going to be the same ever again. Too many ponies have been lost, too much damage has been dealt. No pony is safe anymore especially after what happened in Tenpony Tower. Even if we stopped the Enclave there, they're winning the PR war."

"I know, but we're not down yet," Cherry said as she trotted over to me and nuzzled me gently. "We're going to be fine, the Enclave won't last much longer if they can't get access to that Megaspell. They can't, right?"

"They'd have to get into the safe here," I said and patted it. "And first they'd have to actually get into the room, and that's easier said than done. I think we'll be fine, at least I hope we will."

Arc nodded and we all headed to bed.

The next few days passed without incident. The Enclave had mostly gone quiet other than moving in on some small settlements and Raiders that weren't affiliated with the Alliance. Applejack's Rangers had spread far and wide to make sure that everything was secure and so far everything was going pretty well.

Then one night a few days after we returned from San Prancisco I was awakened to the sound of metal grinding against metal. I turned the light on my PipBuck on and looked over at the safe and my eyes went wide.

Standing there was Arc Light, she had just started to get the safe open when I had caught her and she froze. I had no idea what was going on, but I was about to get answers, whether I liked them or not.

"Arc, what are you doing?" I demanded of the Unicorn as she tried to shush me. "What's going on here?"

"Scootaloo, I..." Arc started to say and sighed a little. "I'm sorry Scootaloo, I didn't want to have to do this, I really didn't, but I didn't have a choice..."

"What are you talking about, what are you doing?" I asked as I looked at the safe again and it clicked in my mind. "You're stealing the power source aren't you? I thought you were on our side Arc."

"I am on your side, but I don't have a choice!" Arc protested as tears started to well up in her eyes. "The Enclave isn't just threatening the ponies from Stable 66 anymore, they're threatening you and everypony else here that I care about. If I don't do this, their agents are going to make Nomad City fall from the sky and take everypony aboard out with it."

"WHAT?" I said as I shot up. "Why would they do that?"

"Because you changed everything Scootaloo," Arc said with a shake of her head. "You forced the Enclave's hoof by taking the energy crystal and Winter Breeze is desperate. She doesn't want to have to do this, but she feels like she needs the key and that Megaspell. She wants it and she'll do anything to get her hooves on it, even commit mass murder."

Now I understood, I didn't like what I was hearing but I understood. We had done things that had forced the Enclave to do something that they didn't want to do. I had forced them to do the worst thing possible, and I was going to suffer for it.

"There's no other way is there?" I asked and Arc shook her head.

"I'm sorry Scootaloo, I really am," she said with a sad sigh. "I don't want to do this, but I can't let everypony in Nomad City die either. Please... let me go, I don't want all those deaths on my conscience."

"Take it," I said with a sigh and she blinked as if she hadn't expected me to actually say that. "Take it and go, I won't tell anypony what happened here. As far as anypony is concerned, it was an unknown Enclave agent who stole it."

"You'd really lie to the NCR for me?" Arc asked trembling. "For a spy?"

"For my best friend," I said as I gently got to my hooves and walked over to her. I thanked Luna that Cherry was a heavy sleeper and somehow we hadn't woken her up as I hugged Arc. "You're not a bad pony Arc, you're just in a no-win scenario. The best we can do in that kind of situation is change the rules, and I'm changing the rules here and now."

"Thank you... I'll be back I promise," Arc said and grabbed the crystal in her magic before she ran out of the hotel room and down the corridor outside.

"Are you sure you did the right thing?" Cherry asked softly from behind me and I sighed a little as I looked back at her. "I mean, this means the Enclave will get access to that Megaspell."

"I know, but we don't have a choice," I said with a sigh. "We just have to hope that we're going to be able to beat them, wherever they are now."

I sighed and laid down on the bed and wrapped my wings and forelegs around Cherry gently. I didn't know if I had done the right thing but right now I didn't have a choice, we just had to wait for the announcement from Winter Breeze.

00000

I looked at Arc who lowered her head as we walked out of the hotel the next day. She had obviously finished her mission and she wasn't proud of what she had done. I didn't like that she had to do this any more than she did, but at this point we didn't have a choice.

"Its okay Arc, I forgive you," I said and placed a hoof gently on the Unicorn's withers. "Was there any problems with the drop?"

"No, everything went off perfectly," Arc said with a sigh as she shook her head a little. "I don't like this Scootaloo, what am I going to do if its found out?"

"We'll manage somehow," I said with a sigh as I looked up at the sky past the clear dome of the city. "Its not much of an assurance that you're doing the right thing is it?"

"No, no its not," Arc said with a sigh as she looked at me. "Thunderhead."

"What about it?" I asked as I looked over at her curiously.

"My handler mentioned it, the Enclave has something big planned there," she said with a shake of her head. "Its also where the ponies from Stable 66 are probably being held. Do you think that there might be some way to get them rescued? I don't want this hanging over my head for the rest of my life..."

"I promise you, we'll make sure that we get them rescued one way or another," I said and gave Arc a hug. "You're a good pony Arc, I promise that we'll make sure that everything..."

I was cut off when the familiar sound of music began playing from our PipBucks. That would be Winter Breeze's announcement, that figured. The pony that had picked it up must've flown all night to get it to where it needed to be.
And now my hooves were tied, I knew there was only one thing I could do, and I didn't like it.

"Greetings Equestria, this is your President speaking," the smooth voice of Winter Breeze said over our radios. "The war with the so-called Alliance is almost over my little ponies. Those who still oppose the Enclave, still challenge the future that we offer to Equestria, believe that they have won a victory in San Prancisco, but I am here to tell you that it is not so. One of the brave ponies in my service..."

"Yeah right," Arc Light said with a growl.

"Its okay Arc, don't worry about it," I said reassuringly. "She's just putting a spin on it, its a Propaganda thing and nothing more."

"...Managed to procure the last item needed to secure this future for you, your children, and your children's children," Winter continued. "I come to you not as a conqueror but as a mare with her hoof outstretched and offering a better way to live your lives. Food, water, medicine, education, all of these things and more will be provided to everypony under the Enclave. I call upon President Grimfeathers, Elder Ironsides, and the Nomad City Council to bring this war to a halt before more lives are lost. We can secure a future for all of us, all you have to do is agree to our terms."

She was good, I had to admit that, Winter Breeze was very good. She was right about one thing though, there was way too many lives being lost in this war, and if it continued much longer even more would be lost. That wasn't even counting what would happen if she managed to get her hooves on a Megaspell.

I knew the Alliance wasn't exactly about to lay down their arms and surrender. We still had time before the Enclave could even get at the Megaspell so maybe we had a chance of stopping them at least.

"If you do not agree to my terms, the war will only get worse," Winter continued as her tone turned grave. "I do not want to have to unleash the full force of what is at my disposal upon the ponies of Equestria, but if I have to I will. What happens is up to you, not just the leaders, but those who live in the Wasteland. I implore you, we can end this conflict now and change the world for the better. Equestria's future is in your hooves not in the hooves or claws of your leaders. This is President Winter Breeze, signing off."

"She really knows how to spin a good story," Cherry said with a shake of her head. "What are we going to do now?"

"The only thing we can do," I said with a sigh. "We have to talk to the NCR War Council, the time has come to make a decision. We either roll over and let the Enclave win, or we stand and fight."

My friends nodded and we headed towards the nearest hangar. I just had to hope that we could convince the alliance to make the right decision.

"Do you have the files I told you about?" I whispered to Jade and Star as we entered the war room.

"Yeah, we've got them, they're on this holotape," Jade said as she levitated the holotape over to me. "But I don't know what good this is going to do you, what is on them?"

"The most dangerous thing in Equestria," I said with a sigh as we took our seats around the large table in the middle of the room.

"I'm glad you could all make it," Midnight said as she looked around the room at all the ponies who were gathered. I noticed Nova was there by her side once more and gave her a nod, the Ranger didn't look any worse for wear but I couldn't see what her shoulder looked like under her armor. "We all know Winter Breeze's ultimatum, she wants the Alliance to surrender to the Enclave, and she claims that she has a Megaspell that she will use to enforce this."

"Do we know if she's telling the truth?" Rain Runner asked as she looked between all of us. "I mean, we don't actually know that she really has this right, she could very well be bluffing."

"She's not bluffing," I said with a sigh as I shook my head. "Last night the power crystal for the Terminal in Stable 97 was stolen from the safe in my room by an unknown thief. The Enclave now has access to all 6 keys from Protocol Zeta, and to the Megaspell that is locked away."

"Do we know what this Megaspell will do if its unleashed?" Nova asked as she looked at me. "What kind of weapon are we looking at?"

"Protocol Zeta locked away what is possibly the most powerful Megaspell ever developed in Equestria," I said with a sigh as I looked between them and held up the holotapes. "I asked Jade and Star to get this information for me, its everything on the Megaspell we call Rockhoof's Thunder."

"Wow, really subtle name," Rain Runner said with a roll of her eyes.

"Well I didn't name it, I just got the information on it," I said with a shrug as I headed over to a projector that had been salvaged from one of the Stables and put the holotape into it. "This video is from the first and only time Rockhoof's Thunder was ever fired as a test run."

The images shown started out as a shot of a desert area with makeshift buildings set up, then they progressed through shots of the earth cracking open as if being torn apart by some powerful force. The town seemed to be shaken as the buildings fell over. Then finally rocks started to burst out of the ground followed by a massive rockface coming out of it.

Then came the aerial view of the same area. A small mock town had been set up here as a shockwave went through the clouds that had been set up leaving nothing in its wake. The final shot seemed to be of the remnants of the mock town falling from the sky before it shut off.

"Rockhoof's Thunder was built for one purpose, to use the very Earth beneath our hooves as a weapon," I said simply. "It creates earthquakes, reshapes the landscape, all as weapons to destroy an enemy from a distance. It also was made to work with Celestia One, it used special airbursts to clear out cloud cover, which as you can see can cause a lot of damage on its own."

"Okay, why wasn't it ever used?" Midnight asked as she looked at me strangely. "If this weapon was built it could've ended the war once and for all."

"Yes, it could have, but first off all Megaspells were only meant to be used in retaliation," I said with a sigh as I took out the holotape again. "It was decided that it was too powerful and too dangerous to be used in combat, and then there was, the other problem with it."

"We looked over the files before we brought them to Scootaloo," Jade said and took out several pieces of paper and passed them around the table. "These are the printings of everything that the Ministry of Arcane Science had on Rockhoof's Thunder, and I think it'll be very illuminating."

There was a silence as the ponies seated around the table read over the pages that had been printed off. I didn't have to read them, I knew every word that was on them and it terrified me even to this day.

"You're saying that this weapon if it failed, would take out half of Equestria?" Midnight said in a somber tone as she looked over at me and I nodded. "I'm starting to understand why you felt it was necessary to lock it away, but why didn't you tell us about this before?"

"Exactly how long have you known that the Enclave wanted this?" Nova asked as she looked at me from behind her helmet. "If we had know about this before, then we could have stopped it."

"I've known about it since Stable 48," I said with a sigh as I brushed my mane back a little. "The six keys were placed in Stables to keep them from being easy to access. Now the Enclave has all six of them and we're in trouble."

"So, then what are we going to do now?" Cherry asked as she looked around.

The question hung over the room for a minute. None of us really knew what we were supposed to do about this, there was only two choices and neither of them were good.

"Is there any way to keep the Enclave from getting it?" Midnight finally asked.

"Yeah, we have to take the fight to them," I said with a sigh as I looked down at the map of Equestria. "We have to stop them before they can get through the tunnels that lead to where its locked away."

"Where is it locked away?" Midnight asked.

"Stable 102, its buried away in a mountain between Manehattan and Hoofington," I said with a sigh. "Rockhoof's Thunder was converted into an experimental energy source for the Stable and we built it around the Megaspell. Until I was told by Celestia exactly what the weapon was capable of, and I had it locked away."

"So, then we have only one place we can go," Midnight said as she looked at the map. "The Enclave is probably in a cloud city within striking distance of the mountain, and there's only one, Thunderhead."

"What about the factions in Hoofington?" Jade asked. "The Enclave has managed to get the major ones there to remain neutral or even side with them. If we go into Hoofington, we're going to need their help in taking on the Enclave, aren't we?"

"Yeah, but we don't have anypony who can persuade them to join our side effectively," Midnight said.

"Well, there is one pony," Nova said softly but her metallic voice could be heard plainly. "There is one pony who has enough good standing with every major faction that she might be able to get them on our side."

"Oh no, not her," Midnight said as she facehooved. "Please, anypony but her."

"Who is it?" I asked as I looked between them. "If this mare can get us the help we need, shouldn't we talk to her?"

"Its Blackjack," Nova said simply. "She's in the settlement of Chapel outside of Hoofington, and if we're going to win this battle, we'll need her help."

Midnight let out a groan. I didn't know a whole lot about Blackjack, but something about the way she reacted worried me. What were we getting ourselves into?

"Fine, Scootaloo you know the most about this Megaspell so you and your group are to head for Chapel and Hoofington," Midnight finally said. "We'll send all the support we can to fight the Enclave in Thunderhead. We need all the help we can get, even if it means getting it from her."

"Yes ma'am," I said with a nod.

"May Celestia have mercy on us all," Midnight said with a sigh as the council broke up and we headed out to get ready to go.

"Are you going to be okay?" Serenity asked as I finished putting supplies into my saddlebags. "I mean, I've heard stories about Hoofington, it doesn't sound like a fun place to visit."

"Well, if we want to stop the Enclave we don't have much of a choice," I said as I hugged Serenity gently. "Would you rather we just let the Enclave take over?"

"Okay, good point," Serenity said with a shrug. "I just wish I could go with you, you know what I mean?"

I sighed a little and ruffled the filly's mane before I got an idea. I whistled and Schooner came running up to us, we had to leave him behind on Ponytraz back during the battle of San Prancisco and he had come along on the Vertibuck.

"Schooner, I've got a very important job for you," I said as I petted the dog's head. "I'm going to have to go away for awhile and Serenity here needs someone to watch over her. Can you keep an eye on her and Cherry for me?"

Schooner barked and wagged his tail as he licked my face. I smiled a little and pet him more before he went over to Cherry and sat down next to her.

"Good boy," I said with a smile as Cherry petted the dog a little. "Are you two going to be okay? Its up to you to keep an eye on each other you know."

"We'll be fine, I'm more worried about you," Cherry said as she hugged me tight. "Don't do anything crazy while I'm not there, okay?"

"I'm just running into a warzone where I will probably have to meet up with Blackjack who for some reason worries the badass Ranger General..." I said and looked at her for a moment. "Okay, I'm starting to see why you're worried."

Cherry just laughed and kissed me softly on the lips. "Don't worry Scootaloo, I have faith that you're going to be just fine. I love you Scootaloo Dash."

"I love you too Cherry Blossom," I said and nuzzled her gently. "Hey, listen Cherry..."

"Yes?" Cherry asked as she looked at me curiously.

"There's, something I wanted to ask you... if we wind up never seeing each other again..." I said and knelt down a little. "Cherry Blossom, will you marry me?"

Cherry and Serenity just looked at me in awe as they blinked a little in surprise. She hadn't expected me to ask that and admittedly I didn't have a bracelet or ring or whatever. I wasn't sure if she was going to say yes for a moment before she leaned in and kissed me passionately on the lips.

"Yes, I'll marry you," she said with a smile as she broke the kiss after a moment.

LEVEL UP!
Perk Received: Friendship is Magic.
Details: You've grown closer to your friends and helped realize the real magic of friendship. You do an additional 35% damage in battle when fighting alongside friendly companions.