Okay, I know you're expecting another chapter written by me, but I've been asked to catalog a lot more of the Enclave War, especially given what was coming up in the Battle of Coltlumbia. Since my friends and I only have a somewhat limited experience of what happened, I'm going to turn over the journal to a pair of ponies that I've come to know and respect.

During the Battle of Coltlumbia these two ponies were part of our escort in the city. I came to know them better than the others in our escort and I felt that, given how their mindsets were at the beginning, it would be best to let them tell the story of what was going on.

There was a lot of underlying tension during the last days of the war as everything was going on that we didn't really get to see. I don't really blame the ponies involved for what happened, everything had changed after the Battle of Thunderhead for both good and bad.

There are always two sides to every story, and I'd like to thank both Garnet and Sunrise for being willing to tell their stories as part of this book. Its kind of hard to believe that these two managed to avoid killing each other after I read these stories, but I'll let you read them for yourself.

Anyway, I'll see you at the end of the chapter for the final bit before the Battle of Coltlumbia. I'll see you then.

"Good Morning Equestria, we've got new reports coming in from around the Wasteland on what's been happening," the friendly voice of the Zebra DJ Xiraia said over the radio in my bedroom in Junction Town. "It seems that the Alliance command is preparing for a new offensive against the Enclave Hardliners, though they will not divulge the location that is to be targeted. It seems that we finally have a chance of bringing this war to a close with everything that is going on. Presidents Grimfeathers and Breeze have also recently come forward stating an interest in continued relations between the Enclave and the NCR following the end of this war. This recent change of policy has..."

I groaned a little and shut off the radio as I pulled the pillow over my head. I didn't want to think about the war this morning, especially given everything that was going on with the Enclave. I tried not to think too much about it as I heard the familiar sound of rustling next to me.

"Garnet, are you okay?" The soft voice of a mare said from next to me and I removed the pillow to look up at the smiling face of a light purple Earth Pony mare who was laying down next to me. "You normally don't mind DJ Pon3's morning broadcasts."

"Yeah, well ever since this whole thing with the Enclave started she seems more interested in talking about President Winter Breeze and how everything is going to be better," I said with a groan as I rubbed my forehead. "I normally don't care about this kind of thing Amethyst, but..."

"You're still angry about everything that's going on huh?" Amethyst asked as she nuzzled me gently.

"She's just being let off with nothing more than a slap on the hoof after everything that's happened," I said with a sigh as I nuzzled her back. "I've been fighting the Enclave since they attacked Whinnyappolis and now we're making nice with them? Something about this feels, I don't know, wrong."

I might as well introduce myself, my name is Garnet Stone. I was born in a small settlement outside of Whinnyappolis and spent most of my life there. I met Amethyst Crystal when I joined the local militia and she was serving as a medic and we became close to each other, eventually falling in love and getting married.

And then the Enclave came to the city under Cloud Chaser and his flagship the Nimbus. They weren't the nice and friendly Enclave that promised a better world for everypony like you get from Winter Breeze, they were merciless and went after anypony that didn't want to submit to them.

When they attacked my settlement, we barely made it out alive. Amethyst was pregnant with our youngest foal and we're still afraid of what might happen. I guess that's why I wound up joining up with the NCR and Amethyst with the Followers of the Apocalypse, we just want to stop the Enclave from being a threat.

I had since joined the NCR Rangers it had been difficult to get through the training at Ranger School but I had survived. I was now in the best position I could be to fight the Enclave, and everything was changing, I hated this kind of change when we didn't know how much had really changed.

"I know how you feel," Amethyst said with a sigh as she rest her head on my chest gently. "I don't like what happened back home either. Maybe Winter should've kept Cloud Chaser from doing that, but we can't change the past, we just have to try and make things better."

She smiled and gave me a kiss on the nose before she leaned back and gave me a smile. "Besides Garnet, you have a loving wife and two wonderful foals that love you and will do anything for you. You're the best Husband I could ask for, you're strong, brave, and you'll do anything to help others."

She smiled and ran her hooves gently along the two crossed swords surrounded by flames that graced my flanks as my cutie mark. I looked up at the beautiful purple mare and kissed her passionately.

She broke it after a moment and slid off me as she swished her tail side to side. I grinned a little as I got to my hooves and moved in closer.

"Come on, we still have a little bit of time before the foals wake up, how about we make the most of it? I'm sure I can do something to take your mind off of the war for a little while at least," Amethyst said and looked at me with sultry eyes. "Come on big boy, you know you want to."

I didn't need more of an invitation after that.

Our son and daughter Emerald and Pearl woke up about an hour later so we set up breakfast in the makeshift kitchen and dining room in the small house we shared in Junction Town. I gave Amethyst a smile as she placed the plate with the small assortment of fruits and vegetables in front of me.

"Thank you honey, it looks delicious," I said and kissed her gently.

"Eww, grown ups are so gross," Emerald, a five year old colt with a light green coat and a dark green mane said as he stuck his tongue out at us which just made me laugh a little. "You'll never see me acting like that."

"Oh, you'll never be showing affection to some lucky pony when you grow up?" Amethyst said with a smirk as Emerald shook his head obstinately. "Not even if you love them more than anything in the world like I love your father?"

"Nope, its gross!"

I just laughed and then took Amethyst in my forelegs and pulled her close and kissed her passionately which just made Emerald make gagging sounds and Pearl giggled.

"Mmm, too bad, well I'm sure you'd be hard pressed to find a pony as great a kisser as your mother," I said with a laugh as I nuzzled Amethyst gently. "Never say never Emerald, you never know when you might find somepony special."

Emerald just rolled his eyes and went back to eating and I just laughed as Amethyst sat down in her seat next to me. I smiled over at her as she tried to feed Pearl, the filly was still getting used to eating solid foods after having recently been weaned and Amethyst was still having a hard time getting her to eat it sometimes.

I enjoyed the moment for as long as it was going to last. I knew I was going to have to get back to work with the Rangers soon enough, but I didn't want this moment with my family to end anytime soon.

Unfortunately it didn't last much longer as there was a knock on the front door. "Honey, would you mind getting that? I need to work with Pearl here," Amethyst said and I nodded and got to my hooves and headed to the front door.

I opened it to find General Midnight Sparkle standing there dressed in her usual uniform. She looked solemn for a moment as she held her hat at her chest and sighed.

"Lieutenant Garnet Stone?" She asked as she took a deep breath.

"That's right," I said and looked at the General strangely, we had seen each other before but we hadn't ever really talked. "What's this about?"

"Lieutenant, we've been going through the remains of the targeted area in Thunderhead trying to sort out all the dead from the use of Celestia One," the General said with a soft sigh and I froze, I had a bad feeling about what this was going to be about. "Do you know a pony named Moonstone?"

"Yeah, she's my sister," I said softly as I was afraid of what was going to be said next. "She's in Applejack's Rangers and was in..."

"Was in Thunderhead during the initial assault," the General said with a soft sigh as she took out a pair of holo tags and a folded up flag with the Applejack's Rangers symbol and offered them to me. "We, found what was left of her in the ruins of a building where she was working to get some civilians that were found evacuated out of the warzone. The, civilians survived but, she didn't make it..."

My heart fell, Moonstone was a good pony who had joined Applejack's Rangers to try and help Equestria as best she could and hadn't deserved this kind of fate. It was even worse because of what we knew about Celestia One, it had been fired by our own side without permission.

I looked at the tags and tried not to cry as I took the items from her and held them close. "This can't be right... you didn't get her mixed up with another pony did you? Please, tell me this isn't what happened..."

"I'm sorry Lieutenant but there's no doubt that it was Knight Moonstone who died there," Midnight said and shook her head. "She gave her life to try and help other ponies, but that's not much of a consolation. I'm sorry about what happened to your sister and I wish that I could do something to bring her back."

I sighed and looked down at the flag and the tags before I looked back at the General. She looked at me sadly and shook her head a little.

"There's going to be a memorial service for all those lost in the Battle of Thunderhead on both sides," she said. "I, don't know if you want to say anything but if you want to be there, it'll be tomorrow."

"I'll, see what I can do," I said with a sigh as I looked at her.

"All the faction leaders are going to be there, the Enclave took the brunt of it so..." she started to say before something snapped in my mind.

The Enclave, this was all their fault, if they hadn't gone to war like this, then Moonstone would still be alive. This whole thing was the Enclave's fault, I didn't care who fired Celestia One at this point, if the Enclave had just stayed out of things in the Wasteland...

"I'll, consider it," I said through gritted teeth which made the General look at me strangely for a moment. "I want to be there for Moonstone, but..."

"You're not sure about what to do about everything else?" She asked and I nodded a little. "I understand, I'm still a little hesitant about this whole thing myself. The Enclave has never proven very trustworthy, even with Winter trying to do everything she is. I'm afraid that tensions will boil over finally, I just hope that it doesn't make the situation worse."

"What's going to happen to Winter Breeze?" I asked and looked at Midnight.

"That's, still being decided, but that's something for the courts to decide, don't worry about it," the General said and then stepped back and gave me a salute. "Take care of yourself and your family Lieutenant. We could use brave ponies like you and your sister in this war."

"Thank you General," I said and saluted back as she turned and walked off. I sighed and headed back to sit with my family as Emerald and Pearl looked at me, they could tell that something was wrong even if I didn't say it.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" Emerald asked as I placed the items on a shelf in the dining room. "What was that about?"

"Its, complicated," I said with a sigh as I looked at the two of them. "Well, you should get ready for school, I need to talk to your mommy about something, okay?"

"Okay," Emerald said and got up out of his chair and ran off to get everything together while Amethyst cleaned up Pearl and looked at me worriedly.

"Garnet, what's wrong?" She asked as I looked down at my hooves. "Who was that at the door?"

"That was General Sparkle, she, wanted to tell me that..." I said and started to cry for a moment before I finally broke down and hugged my wife tightly. She was a bit surprised but hugged me back after a moment and looked at me worriedly.

"Garnet, what happened?"

"Moonstone... she died in Thunderhead," I said softly as she held me close. "I don't know what I'm going to do Amethyst... she was all I had left after my parents died..."

"I'm sorry Garnet, but you'll always have us, I promise," Amethyst said and hugged me tightly for a moment. "What are you going to do now?"

"There's going to be a ceremony honoring the dead tomorrow before they start moving in on Coltlumbia," I said with a sigh. "I, don't really know what I want to do. I feel like I should be there, but, I don't know if I want to be there given everything that's going on."

Amethyst shook her head and sighed a little. "Garnet, you should do whatever you feel is right. I'll be there right by your side no matter what."

I smiled a little and nodded before I nuzzled her gently. "Thank you Amethyst, I love you so much."

Me and Amethyst shared a long kiss as Pearl gurgled happily and I smiled down at my daughter. "Come on, we need to get to work..."

Even with everything that had happened we weren't going to be able to stay behind. There was still a war to be fought with the Enclave and I wasn't going to shirk my duty just because I didn't like what was happening with the Alliance leadership.

"I don't like this, we've been fighting them ever since this blasted war started and now they want us to play nice with them?" Black Mesa commented as we finished our drills for the day. There were Enclave soldiers off to the side that were working with their energy rifles on the gun range and a few of us shot them looks. "They're the damn Enclave, they've been our enemies for a decade and now we're supposed to fight along side them?"

"Yeah, I don't like it either Mesa, but orders are orders," Daybreak commented as she looked back at the Unicorn who shook his head. "And you're not a pony who used to live under them. How do you think me and the other former resistance fighters feel?"

Daybreak had been an Enclave soldier prior to the Enclave Civil war who had joined up with the rebels after the Coltlumbia Uprising. She was one of the few members of our squad that actually remembered what it was like living under Enclave rule, and I didn't blame her one bit for hating the idea of working with them.

"Look, I know we all don't like it but we have to follow orders," our CO Colonel Richter said with a sigh as we finished getting our weapons set up for the target practice. "President Grimfeathers seems to be confident that they can be trusted, whether or not this is true we'll have to see. For now we have to follow orders and hope they keep their word."

"Yeah right, the Enclave keep their word? That went real well during Operation Cauterize," Mesa said with a shake of his head and levitated his rifle up and put in a clip of non-lethals before he took aim at the targets, sending several clean shots into the center of mass for a pony before he looked back at me. "What about you Garnet, what are your thoughts on this?"

"I don't know," I admitted with a sigh. "The Enclave has been nothing but trouble in the past, but what choice do we have at this point? I hate them as much as anypony, and I certainly don't trust them, but if the General..."

"Buck the General, she's had her hayday against the Crimson Empire and now she's just doing whatever the Council tells her to do," Mesa said with a scowl. "Its a load of horseapples that's what it is, she's playing nice because that Wanderer mare says Winter Breeze can be trusted. I'd sooner trust Red Eye than her, and we all know how well that went."

"Corporal, watch your tongue, this isn't the time or the place to talk about..." Richter started to say before Mesa cut him off again.

"You're just as bad as she is you know? This whole thing could've been avoided if they had just shot Celestia One a bit closer to it, everypony who died in that attack deserved..." Mesa started to say and that's when something in my brain snapped.

I didn't realize what I was doing at first as my hoof swung around and connected with Mesa's muzzle sending him sprawled out on the ground. He wiped the blood from his nose and looked up at me with a murderous look in his eyes as he dropped his weapon and dove for me, his hooves swinging at me as he did.

"Oh now you've done it, you're one of them aren't you? You're a sympathizer!" Mesa shouted which drew the attention of the other ponies in the firing range to us as I threw my forehooves up to defend myself from the attack.

I was bigger than Mesa, one advantage to being an Earth Pony I suppose, and I managed to push him off and got another good punch in on him as the others in the unit tried to pull us apart, it didn't do any good as we swung our hooves at one another trying to hit the other pony as hard as we could.

"What's going on here?" A commanding voice said as General Sparkle came in and looked between the two of us as we stopped in mid swing and looked at the General. "Well, I'm waiting?"

"General Sparkle ma'am," Daybreak said and saluted before she looked back at the two of us. "Lieutenant Stone and Corporal Mesa were fighting ma'am."

"Yes, I can see that, thank you," the General said with a roll of her eyes as she looked back at us. "What in Celestia's name brought two of my finest Rangers to blows?"

"Ma'am, he was talking about the attack on Thunderhead by Celestia One," I said and brushed my hoof across my muzzle to realize that I had gotten some blood on it. "He called me a sympathizer."

"Is this true?" Midnight asked as she looked at Mesa and he grumbled an answer. "Speak up soldier, or do you want to spend the rest of this war locked up?"

"Yes ma'am it is," he said with a growl as he spat out in her direction. "I don't know why we're bothering to be nice to the Enclave, they're nothing more than monsters."

"I see," the General said and narrowed her eyes a little before she looked at me and then back at Mesa. "Corporal, it is hard to understand, but we have to give them a chance. I'm not asking you to be friends with them, but you are to treat them with the same respect that you would any fellow member of the Alliance. If there is any further problems with this, then there will be consequences, do I make myself clear."

"But General, he..." Mesa started to say.

"Corporal, I would suggest not bringing up the matter of Celestia One again," the General said and looked at the Unicorn sharply. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am," Mesa said with a salute.

"Very good, " she said and turned and went back out of the shooting range.

"Ugh, what did we drink last night?" I said with a groan as I rubbed my head as I tried to shake the headache away. "You'd think after this long we'd have figured out a magical cure for a hangover."

"I told you not to let those mercenaries try and talk you into a drinking contest, but did you listen to me? No," the mare next to me in bed said with a roll of her eyes. "Now you're stuck with a hangover and you have to report to duty in an hour."

"Yeah, don't remind me Cure All," I said with a groan as I looked over at the light pink Unicorn mare with her soft blue eyes and short red mane who just gave me a smile and giggled a little. "You're enjoying this aren't you?"

"Immensely," the mare said and gave me a kiss on the nose. "I heard you got a new General, should I be worried?"

"Only if you worry about it being Scootaloo," I said with a shrug. "Honestly she's not what worries me these days. She seems interested in the President's ideals in her own way, that at least means she's on our side. I'm more worried about the NCR and other members of the Alliance."

"Really? I thought they were pretty nice all things considered," Cure All said with a shrug. "I mean, they have been helping out as best they can since we joined the Enclave. What more could we ask for?"

I smiled a little and leaned over and kissed the mare lightly on the lips. She and I had met when the ponies from Stable 66 had been brought to Thunderhead over a year ago and it was strange but we had started to become closer ever since. I had originally been kind of her handler until the Enclave decided that she wasn't going to be a problem, which was pretty much policy for anypony from Stable 66 given that we had kind of had to force our way into the Stable, but this charming pink mare had worked her way into my heart.

Now the President had given me my own private tent in the Enclave camp and we were staying together at least until I had to ship out to Coltlumbia.

I smiled a little and wrapped my wings around her gently and gave her a smile. "Cure All, I don't know what I'd do if I never met you."

"Probably go crazy," she said with a giggle and nuzzled me gently. "You're not like anything I expected after I first met members of the Enclave when they went after Stable 66, do you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, well, that was a crazy time for all of us," I said and brushed my mane back a little. "I'm just a pony trying to do my best here in Equestria and help wherever I can. That's what Winter always told us was what we should do, even back then."

"Back when?" Cure All asked me as she tilted her head curiously.

"Back when she was my teacher," I said with a chuckle. "That was, 20 years back when she wasn't even in politics yet. I was one of her students and she always taught us that we should be the best ponies we can be. She was always different,than all the other teachers I had... I guess that's why we followed her w hen she became President."

"And now you're second in command of Enclave Special Ops," Cure All said with a chuckle as she kissed my nose. "The Thunderbolts, a really overdramtic name if you ask me."

"Yeah, well we couldn't be called the Wonderbolts anymore and Shadowbolts didn't fit," I said with a shrug and then swatted her flank a little as she let out an eep. "What about you? You're not exactly the kind of mare I thought I'd fall in love with either."

"Well, I guess the world works in funny ways," Cure All said with a giggle as she nuzzled me. "I love you Sunrise."

"I love you too Cure," I said and held her close and smiled.

The Enclave had never really cared about same sex couples before the Day of Sunshine and Rainbows, and that didn't stop after the Remnant became a thing. While there wasn't much of a reason to keep the population under control anymore like there had been before, they saw no reason to change policy.

I sighed a little and looked up at the ceiling of my tent as I thought about everything that was going on. Honestly, I didn't like the idea of fighting alongside the Alliance, at least not right now. They seemed like okay ponies sure, but we had been fighting them ever since the President's first speech.

Before that even, our forces had been tangling with one or more major player in the Alliance ever since Marigold made her attempt in the Crystal Empire that had failed miserably. They were the enemy, they may be our allies now because the Hardliners were now our enemy, but was that going to last?

I sighed a little and closed my eyes, the hardest thing to accept to me, even if it was somewhat understandable, was the choice to make Scootaloo the General. We knew about it sure, while we hadn't met her officially since she was still recovering from what happened in Stable 102, we knew what to expect and what was coming.

The question now was, what were we going to do? There was a Dashite in charge, a Dashite that was affiliated with the NCR. Then again, Winter Breeze was now a Dashite, something she wore with pride given everything that was going on.

Were we all Dashites just not branded yet? We were going against 200 years of tradition, but the Enclave had changed, and we were changing with it.

I never felt more sure that I was on the right side than I did now, but I still wasn't sure about the fact that we were with our enemies.

And then there was something else, something I didn't know how to put into words especially around ponies that I was close to.

"What's going through your mind, Sunrise?" Cure All asked as she looked at me worriedly.

"I'm just thinking about everything that's going on really," I said with a sigh as I pulled her on top of me and rested my hooves on her flanks. "Do you remember what I told you when we first got together?"

"That you think I have a cute flank?"

"The other thing I told you when we first met," I said with a groan. "Though, that one is true too."

"That you're going to do everything you can to protect both Equestria and me?" Cure All said with a light chuckle as she leaned up and kissed me gently. "Because that's your duty to both Equestria and to the mare you love."

"That's right," I said with a soft smile as I nuzzled her and kissed her nose. "Ever since I joined the military, I knew that I didn't want to do anything else other than protect the ponies I care about. It, doesn't help that..."

I paused and looked away from her for a moment as I tried to figure out how say this. This was something that I didn't know how to tell her or anypony else, it wasn't going to make things easy, especially given everything that was going on.

"Sunrise, you can tell me about it, you know that right?" Cure said and put her hoof under my chin and gave me a smile. "You can tell me anything."

I sighed a little and closed my eyes before I finally said something. "My family is in Coltlumbia," I said with a sigh and then spoke up again. "I don't know if they're okay or anything given everything that's going on. I'm afraid of them, especially..."

I let that thought trail off for a moment and Cure looked at me curiously. "What's wrong Sunrise?"

"I never told you this before," I said with a sigh as I brushed my mane back a little. "Before I got into the military I was in a relationship with a stallion named Wind Crest. This was about 11 years ago, and we... were close to each other, and we had a foal together."

Cure looked at me surprised for a moment as she tried to figure out what to think of what I was telling her. "What happened to him?"

"He was in Neighvarro when the battle happened," I said with a sigh. "He was killed in the battle like so many other ponies. I guess its part of the reason I'm not sure if I want to trust the NCR or not yet given that they came out from that and I lost him. I entered the military not long after our son was born, I didn't want to lose anypony else."

"Which is when you got the attention of the President and you became part of the Thunderbolts, right?" Cure asked and I nodded a little. "Why didn't you ever tell me this before?"

"I wasn't sure what you'd think if you knew the whole truth," I said softly as I looked into her eyes. "I didn't want to lose you, you're the best thing that's happened to me in years Cure. I love you so very much and that's the truth."

Cure smiled a little and leaned forward and kissed me softly, wrapping her legs around me gently. "Don't worry about it Sunrise. While I wish that you had been honest with me from the beginning, I'm glad you told me now. So, where is your son now?"

"He's, with my family," I said and my ears lowered a little. "In Coltlumbia, where we're about to go to fight the Enclave Hardliners. I honestly don't know what to do about that."

"You're going to have to go there right?" She asked and I nodded. "Then get in there and save your family, that's all I can really say. You're one of the bravest and strongest ponies that I know and I wouldn't imagine you doing anything else other than protecting those you love."

I smiled a little and nuzzled her. "I love you Cure All, I can't wait for you to meet them. I know they're going to love you a lot."

"Thank you, now, lets get ready, shall we?" Cure said with a smile as we got to our hooves and she used her magic to help tie my long mane into a braid. "There, I think you look cute with that."

I smiled a little and slipped into my Thunderbolt armor. My helmet fit carefully over it and I gave her a nod. "I love you Cure All."

"I love you too Commander Bright Sunrise," Cure said and kissed me softly before we headed out to get to our respective posts in the camp.

I smiled and snuck one last look back at the retreating form of my marefriend and she gave me a smile back. Yep, she still had a cute flank.

It was a little while later after we had all been formally introduced to General Scootaloo Dash. It was strange to see a pony that had walked right out of the Enclave's history books as the first Dashite and generally considered a criminal, but here she was still alive and now a member of the Enclave military.

I guess history has a funny way of turning things around like that. Still, while she seemed nervous she at least was trying to help us as best they could thanks to the President.

"I don't understand why we have to take orders from that Dashite," another soldier commented as we were working on getting our ammo and supplies ready for the battle the next day.

"She's still a Pegasus just like the rest of us," I said as I looked over at him with a shake of my head. "The President says that she can be trusted, and we all trust her so what choice do we have? Unless you'd rather have General Tornado."

"No thank you," I've got a buddy in the Secret Service detail, he says she works them harder than anypony else in the Enclave," one of the others said with a chuckle as she passed me a set of medical supplies.

"Well, its bad enough that its a Dashite, but she's also in the pocket of the NCR," the first soldier, Diamond Dust said with a shake of his head. "She'll sell us all out to them in a heartbeat. I don't know why the President even thinks we should work with these ground walkers."

"Hey, I'm dating one of those ground walkers," I said and shot him a look as I finished putting the medical supplies away.

"No offense Commander, I meant other Ground Walkers other than your marefriend of course," Diamond Dust backpedaled and I shook my head. "At least the ponies from Stable 66 have agreed to work with us and their loyalty is guaranteed. The NCR, we've been fighting them for years."

"What, do you disagree with the President's decision?" The mare, a Bat Pony mare named Night Shroud said as she looked at Diamond Dust and shook her head. "She hasn't steered us wrong yet."

"I know, but I think she's more blinded by what happened in Thunderhead," Diamond Dust said. "Whatever her plan is here, it better be a good one. The NCR and their allies have been our enemies for years."

"I don't completely disagree with you Diamond," I said with a sigh as I brushed my mane back. "I have as much reason as anypony to not like the NCR. General Dash is somepony that is hard to trust sure, but she seems okay to me. Besides, the President wouldn't put a pony in charge that she didn't think could be trusted, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," Diamond Dust said and shook his head. "Its just..."

"Just what Private?" A voice said from behind us and we all jumped as Captain Starling came up to us and shot us all a look. "Is there a problem here?"

"No ma'am, no problem at all," Diamond Dust said with a gulp as he backed off a little.

"Good, Ah wouldn't want anypony in tha Thunderbolts ta be causin' trouble," Starling said as she looked between us. "Look, Ah know everythin' ain't what we're used ta anymore. Tha fact of tha matter is that we need ta set an example fer tha rest of tha military, both sides of tha military. We're here ta make sure that tha Enclave survives this war in one form or another Ah know that it doesn't seem ta be easy right now, but that is our duty."

"Permission to speak frankly ma'am," I said and she looked at me.

"Granted Commander," she said a bit surprised that I'd ask that of her.

"I'm not sure about this whole thing still," I admitted with a sigh. "The fact of the matter is that we were made to replace the old Wonderbolts once everything was set up after the Civil War. We know the lay of the clouds in Coltlumbia better than anypony on the surface. Not to mention we've spent the last few months fighting the NCR, why can't we do this on our own?"

"Because we need allies," a voice said from behind us and we all turned in surprise to see President Winter Breeze standing there with her escorts. She looked at each of us in turn and sighed a little as we snapped to attention. "At ease, all of you, I'm here to talk. I know I'm asking a lot of you, of all of you. But you were each picked because you're the best of the best in the Enclave. But, the fact of the matter is that if we don't have allies, if we don't make friends with the surface dwellers then they won't trust us. We all have to make sacrifices, we all have to work our hardest to make sure that the Enclave survives, and when faced with war with our own... I can't think of anypony else I'd rather have helping us. I'm not going to lie and say everything will be easy, we're all going to have to work together and look deep within ourselves to make sure that we make the right choices. Hopefully, the Thunderbolt Squad will be a symbol of that unity. If any of you don't think they can work with the others in the alliance, then I ask that you leave now. You will not be held for desertion, and your positions will be open to you once you return and the war is over, one way or another. I just ask that you do what you feel is right, and in these trying times we have to make sure that we can trust the pony standing next to us."

There was a long moment of silence as we looked between each other as if waiting for somepony to leave first. I looked at the President and sighed a little, honestly I wasn't about to abandon my duty even if I wasn't sure about what might happen or whether or not we could trust the other members of the Alliance.

"Madam President, may I ask a question?" Night Shroud asked and she looked at the Bat Pony mare curiously.

"Private Night Shroud right?" Winter asked and the Bat Pony's eyes went wide and she nodded. "Yes, you may ask me whatever you would like to ask."

"Well, umm," Night Shroud said and paused a moment. She had been a fairly recent addition to the Thunderbolts and the Enclave in general actually, having joined as part of a group of Bat Ponies that came from somewhere in the Dragon Lands and wanted to join up with us early on in the war. "What do you think ma'am? I mean, you're ultimately our commander in chief, do you think the other members of the Alliance will be willing to fight along side us?"

Winter paused for a long moment as she looked between us and took a deep breath. I knew that Winter was a powerful orator, but she had always been speaking to the ponies of Equestria. This was the first time I had heard her speaking to ponies on a more personal level, and I had no idea what to expect.

"I don't know if I can truly speak for everypony in the Alliance," Winter said softly. "A lot of them don't trust us, don't trust me because of what we've done, what I've done. I try not to think about it, I try not to let them get to me because I'm working towards the greater good. I think that the right ponies in charge are willing to fight along side us and if those under them are willing to follow them, then yes I do believe they will be willing. We're not here to fight the enemies of the past, we're here to build a better future for all of Equestria. Hopefully the Alliance will be able to see that, and perhaps history may yet vindicate us. Give them a chance, and maybe they'll surprise us. As long as we're willing to make the first move, to do everything we can to show that we aren't the enemy, then that will give us a chance to help Equestria and help keep the Alliance from turning in on itself."

She paused a moment as she looked around again and sighed. "We have to make sure that our future is secured as a nation, as a world. I hope that you're all willing to keep following me, I trust every one of you with my life and with the life of everypony in the Enclave. These are the times that test pony's souls, and you have to ask yourself if you're willing to go through that."

We all stood there in silence for a moment. I smiled a little and nodded. "Well, I'm not so sure I like the idea of working with the NCR Yet, but I'm willing to give it a shot if they are."

"Me too," Night Shroud said and the others agreed quickly before we all looked over at Diamond Dust.

"If they don't give me any crap, I'll give it a try to work with them," he said with a shake of his head before he turned back to get to work again as Winter and her escorts left the rom.

"Can Ah talk ta yah about somethin' in mah office, Commander?" Starling asked before I could get back to work. "Ah'll send somepony ta take over fer yah, it shouldn't take long."

"Umm, sure," I said and blinked in surprise as I followed the Captain out of the room and down the hall towards her office aboard the Nightingale. "Is everything okay?"

"Look Commander, Ah heard about yer family," Captain Starling said as she sat down in a chair and motioned for me to take a seat across from me. "Where are they livin' in Coltlumbia these days?"

"Well, last I heard they were near Hurricane Bay, I don't know what might've changed given everything that's happened," I said with a sigh as I looked at her. "I'm worried about what might have happened to them ma'am."

The Captain nodded in understanding as she sighed a little and looked out the window. "We've all got ponies on tha other side of tha war now. Tha President and General Dash wants ta minimize civilian casualties as best we can given tha situation, especially since we have no idea how many of them really are on tha Hardliners' side. How old is yer colt?"

"He'll be 11 next month," I said with a sigh. "What am I going to do?"

The Captain sighed for a moment and looked down at her hooves before she looked back at me. She looked like she was trying to figure out what to say, not that I blamed her, everything was going to be hard given everything that was happening.

"Ah ain't gonna promise yah anythin' Sunrise," she said after a moment before she looked back at me. "But we're gettin' together all tha operation teams ta go into tha city. If yah want ta find yer family, tha best bet might be ta get on one of those teams."

"You'd do that for me?" I asked in surprise. "What's the catch?"

"Yah might have ta work with other members of tha alliance," the Captain said and looked at me. "I know everythin' ain't gonna be easy with that, yah made it pretty clear that yah ain't sure about that. Ah'm not gonna force yah ta do it, but tha team that'll give yah the best chance ta get into that area is definitely gonna be a joint team. Yah just have ta promise me that yah won't cause any problems, okay?"

"And, what about my family?"

"That's tha easy part, we'll be directin' Alicorns into tha city ta teleport ponies in and out of tha city," the Captain continued with a nod. "Get yer family out of tha line of fire, okay? Yah still have yer duty ta Equestria ta fulfill though, don't forget that."

"I won't," I said with a nod.

"Alright Commander, yer dismissed," she said and gave me a salute which I returned before I headed back out of the office.

I took a deep breath and sighed a little. Everything was going to get more complicated from here on. I had no idea what the Alliance had in mind with everything that was happening, but I was going to make sure that my family got out of the city as best I could.

I was sitting next to Winter on a rather improvised stage in the Memorial Park in Junction Town. The ceremony had been planned over the last few days and was the last thing we'd do before we left for Coltlumbia. It was supposed to be a memorial service for those lost in the attack on Thunderhead on both sides, so a lot of ponies were here from both sides.

"One of the worst tragedies of war is the deaths of innocents," Regina said as she spoke into a microphone attached to a podium. "Over 200 years ago, the Megaspells were developed as an attempt to try and end another war, but it only resulted in death and destruction on a massive scale. Now, a few days ago a remnant of that war was used in this conflict, not because we wanted it but because of fear. Fear of a threat that was perceived by the ponies who had suffered before. While we cannot condone the actions of the Enclave over the course of this war, we cannot forgive the deaths of so many innocents. We just have to remember that in the end, Equestria needs to stand together like we had in the past. This is the future that we've been working for."

She looked over at Winter Breeze and me and smiled a little. She gave me a nod and I nodded back before she turned back to look out at the crowd and began to speak again.

"We can't allow this kind of tragedy to happen again," Regina continued with a soft sigh. "Those who were behind the attack will be dealt with and charged with war crimes. We have to..."

"Why should they be charged for killing Enclave lives?" A voice from the NCR side of the crowd shouted out. "The Enclave killed my brother in Horseton! Why are we having this ceremony for their dead?"

There was a moment of quiet as Regina froze and looked down at the notes of her speech before she looked at the crowd for a moment. A murmur of anger went up through the crowd as a few ponies sounded like they were agreeing with the pony who had spoken out.

"Yeah, why should they get honored?"

"Give the Twilight Society a Medal! The Enclave should all burn!"

Things were getting tense as the Enclave ponies looked at the others apprehensively. Nopony here was armed, but I was afraid that a full blown riot was about to break out between all of these ponies.

"What are you talking about?" One of the Pegasi shouted back.

"There were foals in Thunderhead!" A second shouted.

This was a side to the war I hadn't seen, maybe it was because I was always away or because I just didn't want to see it. The war had changed things, the war hadn't left Equestria untouched given everything that had happened.

War will change you, no matter how much you want to ignore it, war will always change you on some level.

"President Grimfeathers, if I may," Winter asked as she got to her hooves and walked up to the podium. She was dressed in her usual suit and tie with the Enclave symbol on her collar, I guess he wanted to look good for the crowds.

"Of course," Regina said and moved out of the way as Winter took the podium and she looked out at the gathered ponies.

"You all know who I am, you've either served under me or you've heard my speeches over the radio," she said in a soft voice. "I'm not here to give excuses for what I did, for what I'm responsible for. I'm here because there are no excuses for what I did, even if I tried to help as best I could I brought nothing but misery to so many ponies. I know a lot of your families were hurt by my actions, but we shouldn't visit those crimes upon the innocent. Good ponies were lost in the attack on both sides and I'm sorry, I'm sorry that it was because of my mistakes that it happened. But we have a common enemy, and Cloud Chaser will just stand a better chance at winning if we fight amongst ourselves. I promise you that once it is over, those who are guilty will be punished for their crimes, on both sides of the war. I will take any punishment that the others deem necessary if it will help Equestria."

There was a long moment of silence as the crowd tried to figure out what to say or do next. It was weird seeing all those ponies quiet as they still looked ready to fight each other. After a long moment they started to return to their seats, but none of them seemed willing to look at one another.

Winter walked back to her seat and sat down. She looked over at me and Cherry and gave us a nod. I nodded back as Regina moved back to the podium to finish her speech.

I hugged Cherry tightly as I gave her a soft kiss on the lips. "Stay safe okay? Keep the little one healthy."

"I should say the same to you, you're the one going off to war," Cherry said with a soft smile as she nuzzled me gently. "I hate that I can't go with you Scootaloo."

"I know, I'd give anything to have you come with us," I said with a sigh as I wrapped my wings around her gently. "But I still don't want you and the filly to be put at risk. I'll be back to marry you still, I promise."

"You better be," Cherry said and kissed me again with a frown. "You don't want to leave me here with all these crazy ponies that live around here do you?"

"Oh sure, then I'll come back and have to live with them too," I said with a chuckle as I looked back towards my friends who were waiting for us at the Vertibuck. "I promise that I'll do everything to make sure that I come back alive."

Cherry smiled and hugged me tight for a long moment as she sighed happily. "I'm glad I met you Scootaloo. I just, wish you didn't have to go right now."

"I'll be back, I promise," I said with a nod as I looked over at Serenity who was standing with Vanilla and gave her a smile. "I'll be back I promise. We still have a lot of work to do before Equestria is a better place, I think what happened today at the service was proof of that."

"I just hope that they'll come around eventually," Cherry said with a sigh. "The Enclave and the NCR are about at each other's throats at this point. If something doesn't change soon, then we might have another war on our hooves at this point."

"Lets hope not," I said with a sigh as I gave her one more kiss and gave her a smile. "Come on, smile for me one more time, I don't want to leave you on such a dour note."

Cherry smiled a little as she looked up at me and nodded a little. "Get them good, okay? Take down General Cloud Chaser for me."

"I will," I said with a chuckle and nuzzled her gently. "I'll see you later Cherry, I love you so very much."

"I love you too Scootaloo," Cherry said with a smile as I headed for the Vertibuck and climbed aboard. I looked back towards where Cherry was standing and for a moment I swore I saw a transparent image of a white pony with a pink and purple mane behind her.

I blinked and rubbed my eyes a moment and looked back towards her but whatever I had seen before was gone now. Maybe it was a figment of my imagination, or maybe that last dream was getting to me. I had no idea what to think of that to be honest.

"Scootaloo, are you okay?" Arc asked and I turned around to see my friends looking at me worriedly for a moment.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said with a soft smile as the Vertibuck took off and flew towards the Nightingale. It and the Typhon were going to be where we were going to direct the battle from along with the Pegasus Irregular fleet which was nearby.

I looked out at the strange collection of ships that I had seen back in New Pegasus. I honestly had no idea what to think about all of this, but the time had come to take the fight to the Enclave one last time.

I was a bit surprised to see Winter was aboard the Nightingale and was in the command center when we reached it. She turned and looked back at me with a nod.

"General Dash," she said. "Our ETA at the designated position outside of Coltlumbia is 0400. There is the matter of your team however."

"My team?" I asked and looked back at my friends. "I've got my team right here, they're everything I'm going to need going in there."

"We're not so sure," Midnight said as she looked at me. "You and your friends are good that's true, but we think that it would better if you went into the city with a proper military escort. Not to mention the fact that any information you have on the city is over 200 years out of date."

Okay, she had a point there. We were heading into Flankton, that was an area I didn't really know anything about from my time before my exile.

"So, who's our escort going to be then?" Arc asked as we looked around. There were two small groups of ponies, one dressed in Enclave Power Armor and the other dressed like NCR Rangers and neither of them looked particularly happy to be there right now. There was about 6 of them in total, while it was a small group they looked like they were ready for a fight.

"Blackjack and Sparky will be helping with the assaults on other parts of the city," Winter said with a sigh. "We have to keep our forces ready to make sure that we're in the best position we can be to attack the city and we can't commit our best forces to one front in the attack."

"Do you really expect us to work together?" One of the NCR Rangers asked as they looked across the room at their Enclave counterparts. "Fighting the Enclave Hardliners is one thing, but you actually expect us to work together like this?"

"For once I have to agree with the Ranger," one of the Thunderbolts said as he looked at Winter and Midnight. "Madam President, you can't be serious about this. We are perfectly capable of fighting the Hardliners and protecting the General without..."

"Private Dust, I know that this isn't something that you're used to," Winter said interrupting the soldier. "With the growing tension between the Enclave and the rest of the Alliance, the Thunderbolts and the Rangers need to set an example for the rest."

"The six of you are the best of the best from your respective groups," Midnight said. "Lieutenant Stone?"

"Yes ma'am?" one of the Rangers, a brown stallion with a reddish brown mane and tail with a short tuft under his chin asked as he stood at attention.

"You and Commander Sunrise are to coordinate with one another on this," she said and nodded to a Pegasus mare with her helmet off with a yellow coat and a red and orange mane tied into a braid. "You both answer to General Dash while in the field."

"The Commander has knowledge of the layout of the city," Winter added and nodded to the Thunderbolt Commander. "She will be in charge of navigation through the city. We don't know what to expect in there, so follow her directions without question, do you understand?"

"General, you can't be serious," the NCR Ranger from before said as he looked at Midnight. "We're not taking orders from..."

"This is a joint NCR-Enclave operation, and President Breeze is the Commander in Chief of the Enclave forces," Midnight interrupted. "In this situation, you report to both her and myself. We are going into a warzone, and if anypony refuses an order, it will be considered insubordination."

"Understood ma'am," the soldier who had spoken before said and cringed a little.

"Very good, is there going to be any further problems?" Midnight asked as she looked between the two groups who shook their heads. "Good. If you have any questions please direct them at General Dash."

"I have a question," Commander Sunrise said as she raised her hoof. "How exactly are we supposed to get close enough to the city to get into the tunnel? I mean, we can't all fly and a Vertibuck would just get shot down."

Winter paused a moment as she thought about how to put this. I wasn't sure what she was going to say, I assumed that something had been worked out with the Alicorns, but I hadn't been informed of exactly what it was.

"We, will be directing that through General Tornado and the other Alicorns," Winter said with a soft sigh. "They will teleport you to the entry point once we're in position, but from that point forward you'll have to hoof in into the city. The attack is set to begin at dawn, and we need everypony in position by then."

"Understood," I said, though there was still something about this that made me a little uneasy, I couldn't put my hoof on it though. I just hoped that whatever was going on, Winter and Midnight knew what they were doing.

Maximum Level Reached.