As the monorail train approached the Emporia station we could hear the sound of gunfire as the Canitcum Lunae’s guns were bombarding the Enclave troops in the upcoming station. I sighed and looked back at Arc and Riva as the cars neared the station.

"The minute we arrive we'll have to move fast," the knight from before said and I nodded a little. "The ship can't do this indefinitely, not with that dreadnought above us."

"Right," I said with a nod. "That ship isn't exactly making our situation any better. I didn't think the Enclave had anything that big in their arsenal."

"Cloud Chaser was in charge of R&D, its more than likely that he was developing it in a secret shipyard or something," Sunrise said with a shake of her head. "Of course he'd use it for his own purposes instead of giving it to the President. He's certainly crafty enough to pull this kind of thing off, I just wish that we had it on our side instead of having to deal with it instead."

"Yeah," I said with a shake of my head. "Alright, when we get out there lets take the Enclave out as quick as we can. We need to get into Emporia as soon as we can. Depending on what time of timescale we're looking at, I'd like to be able to go and find the Lieutenant's family."

"Really?" Sunrise asked and I nodded. "So, what's the plan?"

"Most of the radio interference is in Emporia, but we should be able to track a distress signal if we're nearby," I said and then raised my hoof as the train came to a stop. "Alright, lets go!"

The doors to the train opened up as we pushed through and dove under cover as a flurry of energy bolts hit the train car behind us as it started to move backward towards the park again. The Enclave forces weren't looking to good as fire poured down towards them from the ship above us.

I took a deep breath as I looked back towards where the Enclave was holed up. There were more than a few dead ponies as they kept trying to fire back, on occasion shooting towards us. I made sure that my weapons were fully loaded as I pointed my rifle towards the soldiers.

"Are you sure this is the best plan?" Arc asked as we fired back towards the Enclave. "I mean, what happens when they're dead and Cricket's ship has to turn its attention away from Emporia?"

She did have a point, we were about to head into a warzone to deal with everything that was going on in there. There would be more ponies coming to help fight, but we still had to deal with everything that was going on and whatever our primary objective was going to be.

I lined up a shot on one of the soldiers and paused for a moment as it hit me that I was going to have to take a life, again. I remembered what had happened back in the park, I had gone crazy and was just attacking ponies with that Gatling laser. Even when my friends had snapped me out of my rage, I had still gone too far, done things that I had never imagined myself capable of doing.

I really hoped this was the last battle of the war, I couldn't do this anymore.

But at the same time I couldn't just stand by and let the Enclave win so I started firing at the soldiers again. I took a deep breath and fired a shot at the soldier again as they fell forward. The last of the Enclave soldiers fell as the last of the rounds ripped through them.

I lowered my rifle and took a deep breath as I looked back at the other and smiled as the gunfire from above wrapped up. "Thanks Cricket," I said softly as we pushed forward to secure the rest of the station.

I was surprised to find a radio room that still worked and used it to connect to the Nightingale. We were going into Emporia and still needed to know exactly what our orders were, though there was a bit of static coming through as well.

"This is General Dash calling the Nightingale," I said as I opened the transmission up. "Can you read me?"

"You're... break... a... little..." the sound of Winter's voice was heard on the other side. "Need... to... deal with... interference... from... Manor."

"What kind of manor?" I asked as I blinked a little and tried to make out what she was saying. "Madam President, could you repeat that?"

"General... Chaser... set... interference... from... Presidential..." Winter tried to get through. "Have... plan... need... the... radio... working."

"Alright, I think I got the message," I said with a sigh as I tried to get an idea of what she was saying. Clearly she needed us to take out the interference from somewhere in Emporia, possibly from the Presidential Manor based on what she was saying. "Over and out."

"Any luck?" Arc asked as she came in, I noticed she was trembling a little.

"I think I know where we have to go next," I said with a nod. "It seems like the Hardliners are using some equipment in the Presidential Manor to block all radio signals coming into Emporia. Winter seems to have some sort of plan, so maybe it'll be what ends the battle here, I hope."

"Yeah..." Arc said and shook her head a little. "Scootaloo, I don't think I'm going to be much use to you right now. I've, been out of Calm-X for a little while now and I'm not in the best shape. Maybe I should head back out of Emporia."

"Arc, you're going to be just fine," I said reassuringly as I gave her a smile and put my hoof on her shoulder. "Arc, you've been with me since I first started traveling around Equestria. You've been there for me more than anypony else in the Wasteland, even when I had to leave you behind. I'm, just glad that you're here with me now and we'll work through this together."

"Thanks Scootaloo."

"You're welcome, now come on, let's get going, we have a war to win," I said with a smile.

Arc nodded and we headed back out of the room together and back out onto the thoroughfare. I took a deep breath and looked up towards where the Canticum Lunae was. They were still providing support in Emporia itself, that was good at least, but it wasn't going to last.

I was about to say something when there was a noise as several pods fell from the sky and impacted the ground around us.

"Great, what now?" I asked with a groan as we readied our weapons to see what was going to happen next.

The pods doors were kicked out and several ponies dressed in armor stepped out. They eyed us up and down for a moment before they nodded and gave me a quick salute. “The Captain said she cannot keep focusing her attention here, so she sent us to help the effort to take Emporia while went back to dealing with the Eclipse.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, at least we weren’t going to get into another fight as we stood down. “Thank you, we could use all the help we can get.”

I nodded and looked back towards where the train had arrived and was being unloaded of more soldiers and equipment with Alicorns teleporting more in. I nodded and looked back to my friends with a smile.

“Of course,” the one who had spoken said as they went to go and talk to the others.

“What’s going on with them?” Sunrise asked as she walked up next to me and looked at the group strangely. “Never thought I’d see them here.”

“Do you know them?” I asked as I looked over at her.

“More like I know of them, they’re something of a legend in the Enclave military,” Sunrise said with a shake of her head. “They’re supposed to be some sort of assassination squad or something, nopony can really agree on what they are. I guess these ponies work with Cricket.”

I frowned and shook my head, this was something that at the very least made me feel a bit uneasy given everything that was going on. But still, if they were on our side then it should at least help us.

A map of Emporia was laid out, this part of the city had a central area that we were close to and the roads circled around with several shops and homes around the area. Finally there was a park and an entrance area that lead to the Presidential Manor, which was the primary goal of my team.

“The distress signal came from over here,” I said and pointed at the east end of the neighborhood. “It’s probably our best place to start if we want to find anything. But if the battle above isn’t going our way, we might have to push to the mansion.”

“I understand,” Sunrise said softly as she looked at the map.

“Do we know anything about the Presidential Manor?” Arc asked as she looked between the three Thunderbolts.

“It’s about three stories tall and pretty decently sized,” the Bat Pony said. “The problem is that there are a lot of rooms and halls inside. I assume they’re using the broadcast center on the third floor.”

“Right,” I said and nodded. “Okay, we have a plan, now we just have to…”

“Scootaloo!” A familiar voice interrupted as my ears perked up in curiosity, I turned to see Cherry making her way over to us dressed in armor with a strange necklace. I ran over to her and hugged her.

“Cherry, what are you doing here?” I asked as I looked at the pink Earth pony in surprise. “You should be back on Nomad City. Is everything okay? What’s going on?”

“Well, Nomad City was being called into the fight with that big ship up there,” Cherry said as she hugged me. “The city is well protected, and, well after what I heard about while you were in the park I was worried about you.”

“But, you’re…” I said and then smiled a little and nuzzled Cherry. “I missed you so much Cherry, I’m glad you’re here, but I’m still worried about you.”

“Have you ever tried to say no to a hormonal pregnant mare before?” Another mare said as she approached. She was dressed like a doctor and had a light pink coat with a short red mane. “I’m Doctor Cure All, your fiance insisted on coming. We were sent along to make sure that she and the foal aren’t hurt.”

“We?” I asked and looked around.

“Yep, We” A mare said as she dropped down next to them, horn starting to glow as she surrounded the three with a shield. “Retasked from the front lines, no pony better at shields in the Alliance or NCR then me.”

I blinked a little in surprise as I looked at the mare that just landed. “You, uh… you look a lot like, well… Starlight Glimmer.”

“There’s a name I haven’t heard in forever, Look like her ‘cause I’m a descendant of her.” She said with a smile “Seren Lulamoon, NCR Ranger and 76’er Trooper, take your pick”

“Yeah, they have to foalsit me, the Alliance insisted,” Cherry said with a shrug as she brushed her mane back. “But if it means I get to spend time with my favorite mare in Equestria and help her out, then I can live with it.”

I smiled a little and held Cherry close and sighed happily before I looked back at the two. “Just promise me you’ll keep them both safe, okay?”

“I promise,” Cure All said with a nod.

“Cure!” Sunrise said as she jumped up and ran over and hugged the Unicorn tightly. “It’s so good to see you!”

“It’s good to see you again Sunny,” Cure All said with a smile as she hugged the Pegasus back and gave her a light kiss. “I was worried about you with all the reports coming in from the city, are you okay? Has anything happened to you?”

“I’m fine, calm down,” Sunrise said with a shake of her head. “So, why are you here? I mean, I know you’re here to protect Cherry, but...”

“When they needed a Doctor I volunteered,” Cure All said with a smile. “I’m glad I got to see you again, and I wanted to help with your family.”

“We’re glad to have you back Cherry,” Arc said as she and Riva hugged us both. “Well, it
s good to have the group back together.”

“Yeah,” I said with a nod as I quickly filled the three of them in on what we were doing here in Emporia. “And that’s everything so far, I just hope that whatever Winter has planned is a good one.”

With everything set up and we got our equipment together, it was time to head into Emporia itself. I looked at Cherry and smiled a little as I leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“I really am glad to have you here with us,” I said softly. “I love you so much Cherry, I’m just glad you’re going to be safe.”

Cherry nodded and nuzzled me. “I love you too,” she said as we headed for the entrance to Emporia itself.

If Flankton was the part of Coltlumbia where the lower class lived, then Emporia was its exact opposite. The buildings here were nicer with better architecture that looked like it was made for the upper class.

Even 200 years ago I hadn’t even stepped hoof in here given I was living a little ways away in the Town Center. This was, actually kind of distressing given that it meant these ponies were living better than ponies in the lower parts of the city.

I shook my head and sighed as there were Enclave soldiers here too of course. Cherry put a hoof on my shoulder and gave me a smile. “Don’t worry Scootaloo, it’ll be okay.”

“Thanks Cherry,” I said and looked up the way. “We need to get to the Market section of Downtown Emporia for now. Another team will be going through Harmony Lane and we’ll meet up at Victory Square here.”

I looked back at Cherry and gave her a soft smile. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay? If we’re going into a fight, what if the shield fails?”

“Don’t worry Scootaloo, we thought of that,” Cherry said with a smile as she placed her hoof on the necklace. “This is a Personal Shield Talisman, it’s a backup just in case something happens. Better safe than sorry, especially given my, extra passenger.”

I breathed a sigh of relief at that, it at least sounded like they had planned ahead. I took a deep breath and nuzzled Cherry gently before we looked back towards where the Enclave was set up. “We should get going, come on.”

The others nodded as we pushed towards the entrance to the market area. The Enclave had several emplacements here as I gestured towards the cover that we did have so that we could fight them.

I looked over at Cherry as Seren’s horn glowed and a shield bubble formed around her. I gave her a nod before I entered SATS and targeted the pony that looked like they were in charge with my energy rifle, hopefully that would give us enough of an advantage to take them out. I pulled the trigger and the shot went wild, barely missing them and taking out one of the other soldiers.

“Crap…” I said with a groan as the Enclave soldiers started to form up and fire back at us.

The Battle for Emporia was on in full force.

A group of Enclave soldiers moved down the stairs towards us. I adjusted my rifle and aimed towards the group of soldiers and Arc with the Rangers while the Thunderbolts focused their attention on the soldiers up above.

“Hey Arc, can you do shield spells?” Seren said, chuckling to herself. “It doesn’t have to be a strong one, Just enough to free me up.”

Arc blinked a moment and nodded as I fired at the soldiers. “Yeah, what do you have in mind?”

“Shields can be used offensively as much as defensively, I know a few tricks that were passed down the line but I can’t do any of them as long as I am here protecting her.” Seren said, looking at the other ponies around her “I’ll need everypony on me, we’re going to close the distance, I’ll stun them with a shield blast, you guys make sure they don’t get back up.”

I blinked a bit in surprise, I hadn’t ever thought of using shield spells offensively, but then again I wasn’t a Unicorn. I looked back at Arc who nodded in understanding.

“Alright, on your mark?” She asked Seren.

“Any questions or comments?” Seren said as she looked at the ponies around her once more. “I want to make sure that we get this right, we’ll only get one chance and if it doesn’t work we’re all probably dead.”

I looked back towards the soldiers and then back at Seren. “Are you sure you can hold your concentration long enough to do this?”

“Was Starswirl the bearded one of the best wizards in all equestria?” Seren said with a chuckle. “Yes, he was, and Yes I can.”

“It wouldn’t be the craziest thing we’ve done,” Riva commented.

“Alright,” I said and reloaded my weapons again just to be safe. “Let’s do this then.”

“Alright, Arc come here and get your shield around Cherry.” Seren said. “Everypony else, gather together, the smaller I can get the shield the easier It will be to hold it.”

Arc nodded and moved in close to Cherry as her horn glowed and formed a shield around the pink mare. The rest of us moved as close together as we could, I took a deep breath and looked back at Arc and Cherry and gave them a smile.

“Keep her safe for me,” I said with a nod as I looked back at Seren. “This better work.”

Seren’s shield dropped for a moment as she changed her position, standing as close to the rest of them as she could before her horn would glow once more, the sound of popping and crackling as her magic surged and formed a bubble around us, I swore for just a moment, I thought I saw her mane flowing like a princess’s.

“Trust me, No pony better than me to do this.” Seren said with a reassuring smile “So you ponies, you wanna live forever?”

I took a deep breath and nodded. “Lets go.”

Seren nodded and started to walk forward, out of cover and into the line of fire. Energy bolts impacting the shield all around them, the sound of gunfire filling the void but the shield still held, not a single round getting past. Seren didn’t even seem bothered or to be breaking a sweat, keeping a steady advance and closing the distance.

The Enclave soldiers looked confused as they pressed back a little, still firing back at us. I tried not to feel afraid, if this shield failed then we were all going to die, or be captured. I looked at Seren as she held the shield carefully in place.

I just hoped she wouldn’t fail.

Seren stopped the advance just shy of the enclave’s position, We looked between each other and back to her wondering why we stopped, before she called out to the Enclave. “Look, When I drop this shield, you all are dead, just give up now - I don’t want to have you all killed.”

The Enclave soldiers actually seemed to waver for a moment. Surprisingly enough, some of them actually even took to the skies and flew out of the way of our advance.

The Enclave commander scowled and looked down at us before calling back. “You drop that shield and we’ll pour enough ammunition into where you’re standing to take you all out before you get a shot off. It seems to me like you’re the one who needs to surrender.”

“Alright, well, you got us, called our bluff, come out and arrest us why don’t you?” Seren said with a chuckle to herself, this commander sounded cocky and she was trying to take advantage of it.

The Commander looked surprised for a moment and then gestured towards his soldiers as they moved towards us with their guns still pointed in our direction. He came across as cocky, but not stupid, I just hoped Seren knew what she was doing.

“So, you really think you have us?” Seren said, sitting and cocking her head to the side “Or do you pegasi don’t really understand how shield magic works?”

“Lower your shield and give us your weapons and you won’t be harmed,” the Commander said.

“How about, You lower your weapons, or I’ll lower my shield and you will be harmed.” Seren said, staring at him “Look, you clearly don’t know, and I prefer to not kill ignorant ponies, but if you really want to give me no choice.”

A few more of the guards gulped and backed off next as they headed towards Emporia. There were only a few ponies left, but they still had enough firepower to take us out if this went badly for us.

“Your shield is of no consequence to us,” the Commander said with a scowl. “Even if you make it through us, the Enclave isn’t going to fall not here, and not ever.”

“Which one? The good one or the stupid stuck in their old ways one?” Seren said with a chuckle. “Look, may as well go get some tea and cakes, cause you can’t force me to drop the shield and You aren’t willing to stand down.”

“The one true Enclave, the one that follows the traditions we’ve had for over 200 years instead of the weak…” The commander was saying before a shot rang out and hit him and had him fall over.

“Sorry, he was starting to get on my nerves,” one of the officers said and gave us a salute and the other soldiers looked shocked before they lowered their weapons. “Corporal Ace, I’m with the resistance here in Coltlumbia, ponies still loyal to the President.”

“Ha, I thought I recognized some of these soldiers, what about the rest?” Seren said with a chuckle, looking back to the rest of us “Don’t question it, when you’re a sniper you get around a lot.”

“They’re not going to be a problem,” Ace said as he looked back at the soldiers with a shake of his head. “They’re more afraid of the Enclave than anything else, but I doubt you’ll have an easier job inside Emporia itself.”

“What do you think we should do?” I asked as I looked at Seren. “You know more about this kind of thing than me.”

“No offense, Corporal, But I’m not really feeling confident enough to drop this shield, so uh… you’ll have to forgive me for what I am about to do.” Seren said with a smile “You still owe me a coffee, by the way.”

“I understand,” Ace said with a respectful nod. “If means freeing this city, I’ll forgive you.”

Seren smiled “It’s less that I don’t trust you, is there are alot of soldiers here who were just trying to kill us, and well - I don’t trust them.”

She smiled and stood, horn glowing brighter before her shield would rapidly expand, impacting the soldiers around them and knocking them all back and knocking them out for a few moments
“We better move before they get back up - I get the feeling that some of them will still try and kill us.” Seren said with a deep breath before she called back to Arc “Alright you two, get up here right ricky-tick.”

Arc and Cherry made their way up the stairs as we kept a close eye on the soldiers. They were followed by ponies to secure the soldiers.

“Still want to come with us?” I asked with a chuckle as Cherry moved up next to me.

“I wouldn’t still be here if I didn’t,” she said and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

The team that had been pushing up the other side waved us on. The Enclave had been pushed out of this area of Emporia, so at least things were looking up.

“Alright, let’s get going,” I said as I checked my PipBuck for any sign of radio signals that might be the distress call with no luck.

I took a deep breath and we moved forward into Emporia itself.

The Market District of Emporia had shops lining the street. Most of them were locked up along with the houses and apartments that the high class ponies of Coltlumbia lived in. But more obvious there was ponies in Enclave Power armor making their way around the street and setting up defensive positions.

“Oh look, the welcome party is here,” I said with a shake of my head as the Enclave soldiers closest to us prepared to attack as we moved into cover, again before I looked over at Seren as she formed a shield around Cherry again. “I don’t think they’re going to fall for the same trick in here.”

I narrowed my eyes and looked back towards where the soldiers were. They looked like they had seen battle, probably ponies loyal to Cloud Chaser that had fought in the war or in earlier battles in the Wasteland.

This wasn’t going to be easy to get through, and we needed a plan and fast. “Any ideas?”

“Uh… Not off the top of my head, I don’t see any faces I recognize and like you said, I don’t think they are going to fall for the same trick twice, I mean - I still can use my shield, but yeah, talking them down isn’t really an option…” Seren said, giving a sigh.

Right now I was really wishing that I had brought along that Gatling laser from Wonderbolts Fields. I had some doubts that even using stealth tech was going to do the trick, so I had to think. We could probably take them if we were lucky, but that wasn’t going to be easy to say the least.

“Excuse me. Ma’am.” One of the soldiers Cricket sent for us said as he pushed past, a long tube against his side. He took aim in the general direction of the fortifications and fired, a cylinderal object came out with a ‘pom’ and when it landed, it burst out with bright green smoke.

“Get your heads down and prepare for the show.” Another soldier said as he took cover in a nearby alley.

“Exactly, Did you think she only gave you us? She deployed a mortar team, they’ve been keeping up with us at a distance” Yet another one said with a smirk, this one quite obviously a mare. “So hold onto those flanks, ‘cause there’s ‘bout to be fireworks.”

We quickly ducked down as the mortar fire rained down on the Enclave forces down the street. I flinched a little when I heard the sound of it hitting buildings on occasion, I just hoped that there wasn’t anypony in them.

I looked over at Cherry and smiled. I was glad she was here, even if I was still worried about her, I was just happy to have her here. Still, I didn’t like that she was putting herself and the foal at risk with this.

The sounds of explosions finally came to an end and we waited to see if we could hear anything coming from where the soldiers had been before. I peeked out of cover to see what was going on, there was still a few ponies alive but they were either retreating back towards victory square or too wounded to be moved and surrendering.

“I swear, when this is over, I owe Cricket a drink or something,” I said with a chuckle. “Do Canterlot Ghouls even drink? Never mind, I’ll think of something.”

“So, should we give the Alicorns a break, or do we let them take the prisoners and wounded?” The female assassin said with a grin “I don’t know how Cricket would feel about tipping her one ace in the hole just yet.”

“Signal for the Alicorns,” I said and took a deep breath. “The street should take us up to where the signal was coming from before. Hopefully that’ll be close enough to pick up a signal.”

“So, How do you signal for the Alicorns?” Seren said “Cause if you use radio, and we’re in a jammed area…”

“Radio signals sure, but we have other methods,” Sunrise said as she reached into her armor and took out a small device. “Something that we cooked up to use when Haven used radio jamming in Seaddle, sort of a magical signaling device. General Tornado is keyed into the signal and will send an Alicorn here in less than a minute. Any further questions?”

“Uh huh… Wouldn’t a flare kind of work too and be a little less… prone to failures?” Seren asked with a chuckle and a shake of her head.

“Would also paint a big target on our heads for the large ships above us that says “shoot here,” I would like to be alive to see my son thank you very much,” Sunrise said. “Besides, they’ve worked fine so far.”

“Yes. because the ships up there can’t see the massive smoke cloud from the smoke grenade that called in a not-so-friendly mortar strike, and yet they aren’t doing anything about it, they’re so busy fighting each other that you could sneak up and board one without them even noticing.” Seren said with a roll of her eyes.

“Okay, touche,” Sunrise said with a shake of her head. “Look, are we going to argue about how we’re going to signal them or are we going to actually signal them?”

“Are you two going to stop bickering like a married couple or should we just get you a room” The soldier carrying the launcher said with a chuckle.

“Hey, at least I’m observant enough to notice obvious details.” Seren said with a huff.

“Are they going to be like this the whole time?” Cherry asked as Sunrise activated the device. After a few seconds as promised the Alicorns appeared and teleported the wounded and prisoners away.

“Let’s hope not,” I said as we pushed forward down the street towards our next destination. I still occasionally checked my PipBuck and as we rounded one of the corners there was a sudden new signal on my PipBuck. “Hold it, I’ve got something.”

“What is it?” Sunrise asked as her ears perked up and she rushed over to me.

“There’s a signal coming from…” I said and started to look around, using the PipBuck to try and narrow down the location. I finally spotted a two story building on the far side of the plaza we were now in. “Over there, that building there.”

“Do you think that’s where the signal was coming from?” Sunrise asked.

“I’d put my last cap on it,” I said and Sunrise started to move forward but I stopped her in mid-step. “But Sunrise, we don’t actually know what’s in there, we’re in a warzone deep in enemy territory. Do you really think the Enclave Hardliners wouldn’t have noticed it? This could be a trap.”

“Yeah, so what are we going to do? What if it’s not a trap?”

“One of us could always sneak in,” Garnet suggested. “We still have the StealthBucks and cloak, we could get in there and see what’s going on.”

“Well, I guess that could work… I can go, stealth is kind of my forte?” Seren said with a nervous chuckle.

“Two of us should go,” I said. “That way if one of us gets found out the other can still get word back to the others.” I looked back at Cherry for a moment and nodded. “I’ll go too, if there isn’t any argument.”

“Are you sure?” Cherry asked as she looked at me worriedly. “What if they have mines or some other kind of trap?”

“I’ll be fine,” I said and kissed Cherry gently on the lips as Riva took her cloak out. “Trust me, I wouldn’t volunteer if I didn’t think I’d be able to do this. Not when I’ve got a beautiful mare to come back to.”

“Okay,” Cherry said softly as she nuzzled me. “Just make sure that you stay safe, I don’t want to lose you.”

“I will,” I said as Riva gave me her cloak, I looked over at Seren. “Are you going to need a StealthBuck?”

“A Stealthbuck? Nah - those things aren’t good for your brain. I’ve seen ponies go crazy using them” Seren said with a chuckle “I like being in control of my faculties thanks.”

“Alright, then we’ll be back as soon as we can,” I said and slipped the stealth cloak on and pulled the hood on over my head.

I headed for the building the signal seemed to be coming from. I really hoped this wasn’t going to end badly.

The two story building was an odd one, though I guess I wasn’t really sure what to expect. When I managed to slip into the building through the front door. Luckily, there wasn’t a click or a beeping sound that suggested I was about to be blown sky high.

My ear twitched a little when I heard a stallion’s voice coming from the nearby room. I pressed up against the wall and listened to what he was saying.

“The General said that they would be coming through here to investigate that Thunderbolt’s family,” the stallion said. “I wish they’d hurry up, there’s something about this house that gives me the creeps.”

“It’s that lab the old President had set up upstairs,” a mare’s voice said. “I don’t even know why they were here, but that’s not important. We have our orders, we’re to take them out as soon as they enter before they reach the police station where we’re keeping the ponies that were holed up here.”

I was about to head for the door when I heard hoofsteps outside and the soldiers inside were moving. I quickly headed upstairs, maybe I could find some other way out, or at least wait until I could get out.

Upstairs I was surprised to find a neatly kept laboratory with several empty bottles. I looked at one curiously and was surprised to see an unfamiliar symbol on it with the word “Zap!” and an image of a lightning bolt. It was in a case that read “Doctor Alchemy’s Magikal Solutions” with a smiling stallion’s face carved into it.

This wasn’t the time for curiosity, I had to get out of there and I had heard the door close downstairs. I just had to hope that Seren would make her own way out, so I had to improvise a little bit.

Thankfully there was a window that was just barely big enough for me to exit it (being smaller than average did have its advantages). After a moment of prying it open, I managed to slip out and found myself on the second floor roof of the house.

Right now my wings would come in handy, except this cloak wasn’t made for flying or gliding since it was supposed to be used by Zebras. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all, but I quickly found one way down a ladder, I just had to be very careful.

I hopped off the ladder and landed softly on the permacloud beneath my hooves. I headed back to where my friends were and removed my hood.

“How’d it go?” Sunrise asked expectantly.

“They’re waiting for us in there, but I think I know where to go to find your family,” I said and she let out a sigh of relief. “The thing is they’re being held at a police station, do you know anything about that?”

“Sure, there’s one right between here and the manor,” Sunrise said. “Right across from the memorial gardens.”

“Right, we just have to wait for Seren to get back,” Arc said. “I just hope you’re right Scootaloo.”

“Me too,” I said with a sigh. “Me too.”

A few moments passed before Seren could be seen poking out of the building, fully emerging and making her back back to the rest of us giving her head a shake as she approached. Giving a sigh as she reached us before looking to me. “What’d you see or find? I found literally nothing other then that they planned on ambushing us and a few documents that suggested a few high value ponies could be being kept in a police station around here.” Looking between us before she chuckled some and shook her head “Guess you guys already knew that though from the looks on your faces.”

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s all I found too, at least not anything else relevant, looks like there was some sort of experimentation going on there on the second floor with potions, but I doubt that’s relevant to anything.”

“Right, that would be something a friend of the family was working on, I didn’t get all the details,” Sunrise said. “Something about an underwater city. But still, we have an idea of where to go next.

I looked up at the fighting above us. Nomad City had entered the fray along with the Orion, Nightingale, and Typhon. Like Seren said before the attention was focused on the Eclipse, so that might give us an edge.

“Alright, we’ll check out the police station next,” I said with a nod as I compared it to the map on my PipBuck. “It shouldn’t be too far, we just have to worry about what’s going to be waiting for us when we actually get to the station.”

“So, then what’s the plan?” Garnet asked.

“We need to see what we’re up against here first,” I said with a sigh as we turned our attention down the street towards where the Enclave Police Station was. “Come on, let’s get going.”

And with that we walked down the street towards the station.

The Emporia Police Station was on the northern end of the neighborhood. We were at the moment hiding in the memorial gardens across the street from where the Enclave soldiers were holed up.

Of course what nopony bothered to mention was that the Memorial Gardens was actually a graveyard. Well, of sorts given that it was more like it had been built to house ashes or other remains.

The problem here was going to be getting into the station. We weren’t sure how many ponies there were inside, I hated not knowing what was going on in there. At least they didn’t know how close we were yet.

Though it wasn’t like we were going to be able to just go in through the front door easily.

“Alright, we need to…” I started to say when there was the sound of explosions and gunfire coming from the direction of the entrance to the Presidential Manor. I grinned and looked back at the others. “Sounds like the rest of the Alliance is here, that’s good.”

I glanced out towards where the station was and smirked a little when I saw soldiers moving out of the station towards the manor. That was a good sign, they wouldn’t have left the ponies inside unguarded, but if they were needed to protect the manor then they’d have hopefully sent all but a skeleton crew.

“Alright, Seren, you and Cure…” I started to say when I was interrupted.

“I should go,” Cure All said. “They might need medical help and I’m the best medic we have here.”

I knew she really wanted to be there for Sunrise, but it at least made sense either way. “Okay, but what if medical help is needed out here?”

“I’ll stay,” Riva said. “Between the training that the Mendi gave me to become a Viatorem and how I’ve had to patch the lot of you up, I can treat most battlefield wounds. I’ll stay here and help if its needed.”

“Alright, Riva, Seren and…” I said and pointed at one of the Rangers and the Bat Pony mare. “You two stay here with Cherry, the rest of us will go into the station itself. Any questions?”

There weren’t any so as the rest of the group got their gear together I felt a hoof wrap around my foreleg and pull me in close. I smiled as Cherry kissed me on the lips and I wrapped my wings around her gently.

“For good luck?” I asked with a smile.

“That and I want you to be sure you’ll make it back,” she said with a smirk as she nuzzled me gently. “You better be back or I’ll make the Enclave rue the day they ever crossed Cherry Josephine Blossom.”

“Your middle name is Josephine?”

“Yeah, I know its weird,” Cherry said with a chuckle. “What, don’t you have a middle name Scootaloo Dash?”

“Technically I don’t have a last name, I just call myself that to remember Rainbow,” I admitted with a chuckle as I gave her another kiss. “I’ll be back, I promise.”

Cherry nodded as I released her from my wings. “I’m holding you to that, I’m not letting you get out of your duties as a step-mom.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” I said with a smile as I gave her a salute. “I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

Cherry nodded as we got our equipment back together and headed towards the entrance of the gardens. There was a single pony standing guard outside, that was a good sign, and Sunrise took them out quickly with her own energy rifle.

I looked at the assassins and gave them a nod, they knew their job as we moved forward towards the station. It was time to finish this part of our mission in Emporia once and for all.

As we quietly entered the station I checked my EFS for any signs of hostiles on the compass. There were a few in the immediate area, but there was several other areas they might be in off to the side and we had to make sure that they didn’t go for their captives.

I looked over at the mare assassin from before and pointed at the soldiers nearest to the door we were at. I checked my rifle before I took out one of the flashbangs that I had gotten before and pulled the pin before rolling it into the room as we pulled back.

As the flashbang went off, the assassins moved in a split-second and took out the soldiers I had pointed them towards before. I raised my rifle and fired at the other soldiers as they recovered from the grenade attack.

The last one managed to recover in time to get a shot off, but it went wild when Arc hit them with a burst from her rifle. I noticed four more markers on my EFS moving in from the other hallways and pointed towards them, I knew they were probably going to come in guns blazing, so we had to move fast.

One of the assassins took the two ponies on the right side out quickly. While they did that me and Arc did the same on the left side. I noticed a sign pointing towards the holding cells and gestured for Sunrise and Cure to come with us as we headed down there quickly.

There was one last soldier in the holding cells, they were shocked when they saw us arrive and was about to raise their gun.

“Hold it right there,” I said as I aimed for their head. “Drop your weapon and surrender and you’ll get to live another day.”

The soldier gulped and threw his rifle to the ground before he backed off. Arc went to check him for weapons as Sunrise rushed over to the bars that were holding the ponies inside as she removed her helmet.

“Mommy!” A colt’s voice said and I smiled as a dark golden colt with a short white and red mane hugged Sunrise tightly as best he could through the bars. “I knew you’d come for us…”

“Shhh, it’s okay, I’m here,” Sunrise said as she stroked her son’s mane gently. “I promise that I’m going to make sure that you won’t be hurt by them again.”

I smiled down at the mare and her son. She had fought her way through the city to find her family, that was something that I could understand and respect. I gave her a smile and looked around to find the keys while the other ponies in the cell got up and trotted forward.

“Did the President send you?” A stallion that looked like he might be Sunrise’s father asked as he looked at us as I found the keys.

“Yeah, I’m General Scootaloo Dash,” I said with a smile. “Your Trade Winds right? Your distress call managed to get out before the radio signals were blocked.”

“Oh thank the fates, but those blasted Enclave came after us not long after,” Trade Winds said with a shake of his head. “How did you know we were here?”

“There’s an old saying from during the war,” I said with a chuckle, it was the only sentence that came to mind to sum up exactly what had happened. “Loose lips sink ships, only this time it was in our advantage. Don’t worry, we have a way to get all of you out of here, are any of you injured?”

“Just our prides, Coil tried to fight back using a potion she was studying, but it didn’t work,” Trade Winds said with a shrug.

“Yeah, whatever Alchemy uses to get Magik to work, we can’t replicate it up here,” a mare with a frazzled looking mane said as I got the door unlocked and Dusk moved out from behind the bars and galloped into his mother’s waiting hooves.

We just stood back for a moment and watched the reunion between mother and son as tears of joy streaked down Sunrise’s face.

“I think we should give them a moment alone,” I said and nodded to Cure as she trotted over to where her marefriend was as I headed out with Arc and the rest of the prisoners as we escorted the captured Enclave soldier out.

“Are they okay?” Garnet asked as he looked at us as we re-entered the central area.

“Yeah, everypony is fine, Sunrise and Cure All are back there with her son now,” I said with a nod as I looked back towards the way towards where they were. “I’m just glad we found them alive, you know?”

Garnet paused for a long moment, he sighed and shook his head. “Yeah, I am glad the kid’s okay, I know I’d feel the same way if somepony had grabbed my foals.”

“Yeah,” I said with a sigh as I looked at Garnet. “I know that it hasn’t been easy to work with the Thunderbolts after fighting the Enclave for so long. I’m glad that you’ve been able to work together.”

“Yeah, well, I guess this whole thing has made me understand them better,” Garnet said with a nod. “Still, I admit it’s not easy because of what happened in Whinnyapolis. I mean, that was Cloud Chaser and his forces, but that doesn’t make working with them easy. Lieutenant Sunrise and the other Thunderbolts are good ponies though, and I can understand where she’s coming from.”

“Winter is right about something, we do need to work together to build a brighter future,” I said with a nod. “Gambit talks a lot about the Equestrian spirit, at first I had a hard time understanding what she meant but now I do. Its us, all of us, pony, zebra, griffon, every species that calls Equestria home. That even goes for all the factions, and this battle is a testament to that fact. The major factions, every species, well except for the dragons, that call this land home are here to fight and bring this war to an end. The future of Equestria is in our hooves, so let’s try and make it a good one.”

“You know you sound a lot like the Enclave President right?” Garnet asked which just made me laugh. “What’s so funny?”

“I’ll tell you later,” I said with a shake of my head, actually I wasn’t sure if it really was my place but that was a matter for later.

Sunrise, Dusk, and Cure All came back out with Dusk looking happy. I smiled at the colt and gave Sunrise a nod.

“Dusk, I’m going to have to go for a while to help finish things up here,” Sunrise said as she gave him one more hug. “You’re going on a little trip, okay? You’ll be safe and mommy will be there as soon as she can.”

“Promise?”

“I promise,” Sunrise said and gave him a kiss on the forehead. “Be strong for me my brave colt, I’ll be back with you soon.”

He nodded as she signaled for an Alicorn pick-up and an Alicorn appeared to pick up the rescued ponies. Sunrise waved to Dusk as they teleported away and she slipped her helmet back on.

“Are you going to be okay?” I asked as I looked at the mare.

“My family got out of the city alive,” she said with a smile as she secured it. “I’m going to be just fine.”

I nodded and we headed back out of the station to meet up with the others.

“Scootaloo, you’re okay!” Cherry said as she hugged me tightly as we entered the Memorial Garden again.

“Hey, the Enclave has thrown a lot worse at me than just a few ponies,” I said with a chuckle as I nuzzled Cherry gently before I looked back at Seren and Riva. “Did you have any problems out here?”

“If you call being harassed by a honey bee a problem, sure. Otherwise, no - it was pretty boring and uneventful.” Seren said with a chuckle.

“Alright, well that’s good,” I said with a nod as I checked my EFS, there wasn’t any hostiles in the immediate area. “Alright, our only objective left at the moment is to deal with the radio interference coming from the Presidential Manor. The square leading to it isn’t too far away, so we should get going.”

I didn’t hear any more gunfire coming from down the street from Victory Square, hopefully that meant that our allies had already pushed through the forces there and were pushing into the Manor itself.

“Alright, let’s get going,” I said as we started to move west towards the manor entrance in Victory Square.

“Tell me General Dash, do you believe in phantoms?” One of the assassins that were accompanying us asked.

“Like what, that ghost mare that they say wanders around Emporia sometimes?” I asked and looked at the pony strangely. “That’s an odd question to ask right now.”

“What? No, ghosts aren’t real,” the assassin said with a shake of their head. “Everypony knows that.”

“Well, I mean you never know, what about King Sombra?”

“Pretty sure that was different.”

“Stallion was dead, came back as a disembodied form, sounds kind of ghost-like to me.”

“You know what, never mind, you ruined it, I was going for something there, and you just ruined it.”

I was about to ask what they were talking about when I heard a gasp from behind me. I turned and looked up in surprise to see a Raptor descending from the sky as its hull shifted from nearly invisible to being clearly seen.

“Okay, that was, unexpected,” I said as I looked up at the Raptor. “So, either they upgraded that VertiBuck we used back in Manehattan, or Cricket’s got some new tricks.”

“That would be Cricket’s,” the assassin said as we looked at the Raptor.

“So, what’s it doing here? We could probably use this to clear out part of the forces in the manor,” Arc said as she looked over at me. “Why not just send it to the manor instead of sending it to loom ominously over us?”

“I, don’t know,” I admitted, she had a point, that was a strange choice but Cricket probably had something in mind.

“So, you’re telling me you rather just walk all the way to a place, potentially getting attacked on the way, then having a transport with active camouflage?” An assassin said with a chuckle and a shake of their head. “Cricket was right, you guys are weird.”

“Sorry, we just usually have to walk everywhere,” I said with a shrug and chuckled. “Alright, well, if they want to give us a ride to the Manor that works too. Actually… do we know where the radio transmitter is in the manor?”

“Third floor, towards the center of the house,” Sunrise said. “Winter had several of her broadcast systems set up around Equestria for whenever she needed to travel.”

“Think this thing could take us close to the broadcast center?” I asked as I looked over at the assassin who had spoken before.

“Of course it can, Why do you think Cricket sent it here? The city is big - and having to walk everywhere we’d be here for years.” the assassin said with a chuckle.

I looked back at the others and then nodded as I looked back at the ship. “Alright, we all know our mission here. We need to get in there and stop the interference for, whatever Winter and Midnight have in mind. Let’s get going.”

As we climbed aboard the Raptor, I looked back out at Emporia’s Memorial Gardens and gave Cherry a smile as she was about to board. “I really am glad you came along Cherry.”

“Thanks, I’m glad I came too,” Cherry said and gave me a quick kiss before she headed aboard the Raptor.

I smiled a little and was about to board myself when I swear from out of the corner of my eye I saw a green spectral form of a pony mare. I blinked and snapped to look at the figure but there was nothing there.

“You’re getting old Scoots, your mind is starting to play tricks on you…” I said with a shake of my head before I boarded the Raptor.

The trip to the manor aboard the Raptor was short and quiet, obviously the camouflage system was working given that we weren’t being shot at right now. There wasn’t a lot of time to talk so we got our equipment checked and got what spare ammunition we could get.

I put the last of my ammunition away in my bags ready to be used in my battle saddle. I was a bit surprised to see there was a package with my name written on it. I opened it up and was surprised to see the same gatling laser I had used in Wonderbolts Fields with a note attached.

“A reminder for you.”

“She might be crazy, she definitely has done a lot of bad things in her lifetime, but if there is one thing she’ll always be known for - she always takes care of her own.” An assassin said with a smile “She’s been there for us too, it’s why we work with her now - She’s not just a crazy pony, she’s a great friend in the end.”

“Yeah, I’m starting to get that impression,” I said and smiled a little as I looked at the assassin before I made an impromptu strap to secure the Gatling Laser.

“Tell me Scoots, how many times during your trip did you feel like you were being watched?” An assassin said with a chuckle. “I bet a lot less then you actually were being.”

“A few times, but I never really paid it much attention, we’ve gone into a lot of warzones,” I said with a shrug. “Are you saying Cricket’s been spying on us?”

“More like, guardian angel.” They said with a chuckle. “Once she knew you were out and about again, she kept an eye on you and made sure no major trouble came your way. I mean, what’s the worse enemy you’ve ever faced? A hoof full of ferals? Ever wonder why?”

“We did once get captured by Alicorns, and the Enclave…” I pointed out. “But outside of that, yeah, mostly Feral Ghouls.”

“Some fights, you have to fight alone, trust me - Cricket wanted to raze the area when those alicorns grabbed you.” Another Assassin said with a smile “But, can you say without the encounters with the enclave and the alicorns, would you really be here, doing what you’re doing - and be who you are?”

I thought about that for a long moment, while I hadn’t been much of a fighter when I woke up, all the encounters had made me better. More than that, it had given me friends and allies around Equestria that had come to our aid during the end of the war so far.

Despite everything that had happened, I had changed, I had gotten better. I was in a position to help Equestria recover from everything that had happened because of all the encounters I had. I wouldn’t have my friends, I wouldn’t have my fiance if it wasn’t for everything that had happened. I nodded in understanding and smiled a little.

“Yeah, you’re absolutely right,” I said as I looked back at my friends with a smile. “Everything during this war is because I was able to become better and fight. Lets just hope that it’ll be enough to get us through this final battle.”

Before we could say anything else, the voice of the Raptor’s pilot came over the loudspeakers. “Alright, this is as close as we can get you to the manor safely. We’ll be opening the back shortly, get ready.”

As we got into position the back door of the Raptor opened up and we could see a third floor balcony on the Presidential Manor below. I gulped a little as I looked down at it. “Alright, so, anypony know how to teleport?” I asked as I looked at the Unicorns.

“Teleport? Why would you want to teleport? You got wings - glide down there.” One of the assassins said with a chuckle. “Come on, we’re not even pegasi and we’re going to fly over there.”

“I, can’t fly…” I muttered under my breath.

“Glide, come on it’s not that hard. If we can do it you can do it.”

“Wait, wait… You four aren’t pegasus? Then how have you been flying?” Seren pointed out.

“Oh, Cricket gave us some talismans, said they’d give us flight, and got us some really nice prosthetics” an assassin said turning to Seren. “None of us were born with wings, or even above the cloud cover - The Enclave just took a liking to us for our skills.”

“Look, that’s a lovely story, but I can’t even fly, I can glide maybe but if something goes wrong or if a stray shot heads my way…” I said with a gulp as I looked down again.

“Fine, you can teleport down with the rest of them - letting a bunch of earth ponies with wings be the ones to actually use their wings.” one of them said with a roll of their eyes.

“We’re really going to need an explanation on that later by the way,” Arc commented. “But given the situation, I don’t think right now would be the best time to talk about it.”

“Not to mention you have one too.” Two of them said together, one walking to my side and reaching into my saddle bag and pulling out Serenity’s necklace while the other pulls down their collar to reveal the same style of amulet.

I snatched it back out of the pony’s grip and shook my head as I looked at it. “This isn’t mine, I’d rather only use it only when I don’t have another option. And stay out of my bags.”

The one who had taken out the amulet recoiled and stared, while the other came up to his side and laid a hoof over his back. “It’s alright Aplite, not everypony is like us.”

Garnet looked at them curiously for a moment as I put the necklace back into my bags.

“Alright, all the Pegasi, and, I guess Earth Ponies with wings, you can fly over there, the rest of us will teleport,” I said and looked at Cherry. “Cherry, I need you to stay behind on the Raptor.”

“Wait, why?” Cherry asked.

“Because this ship can stealth itself, when you’re on it - you basically don’t exist to the outside world.” Aplite said with a chuckle “She wants you as safe as safe can be, and really - I don’t think teleporting pregnant mares is a good idea.”

“Yeah, I don’t want anything to happen to you or our foal,” I said and kissed Cherry softly on the lips. “You’ll be safer here than anywhere else, and I’ll be back for you I promise.”

“Okay,” Cherry said and gave me one long kiss as I wrapped my wings around her gently. I hated having to leave her behind again, but it was the safest option right now. After a long moment she broke the kiss.

“Yeah, it should just be a quick in and out too, we’d be back in two flaps of a wing.” another assassin said with a chuckle.

I nodded and released Cherry as I moved over to the group that was going to have to be teleported. I waved to her as we were teleported away and down to the balcony below with the Pegasi not too far behind.

I looked at the entrance to the manor and checked my weapons again as I looked back up at the Raptor where Cherry looked down at us as it closed up.

I smiled and nodded as we pushed the door open and headed inside.

As I later learned, the Presidential Manor had originally belonged to the Enclave’s Governor in charge of Coltlumbia and the surrounding region. Control of the manor had changed over the years starting in the Enclave Civil War with the rebels under Daisy Bloom, then Zealots under Stormy Skies, and finally Winter Breeze when she made the city her capitol.

Apparently General Cloud Chaser preferred his flagship over a manor so other than the guards keeping everything under control, the Manor was empty of major Hardliner leaders. Most of them were downstairs fighting our allies who were now pushing into the manor, but there were still a number of guards that we were going to have to deal with.

Of course we had to get through a locked door first to make it into the hallway itself, but thanks to Riva that was easy to deal with as the door was pushed open once we were sure that there weren’t any Enclave soldiers immediately outside.

I checked my map on my PipBuck for a moment and pointed down the hallway towards the right and looked back at Seren and whispered. “Seren, I want you to stay at the center in case we need a shield on either side, is that going to work?”

“If need be, I could bubble all of you in one shield - so really, no big deal, just keep in mind, the bigger the bubble the shorter the amount of time I can hold it.” Seren said.

“Alright, hopefully we won’t need it, we need to take out the ponies up here as quickly as possible, I just wanted a plan B,” I said with a nod as we pushed forward towards the broadcast center down the hall.

As we entered a junction we barely got out of the way as an energy bolt flew over our heads and we ducked down the side hallways. Great, of course it wasn’t going to be that easy. I could see the broadcast center, but of course the soldiers were guarding it.

“Well, that figures…” Arc said. “Anypony have any bright and or crazy ideas on how we’re going to do this?”

“Grenade?” One of the assassins said with a head tilt.

“Grenade.” The other replied, before reaching into their own saddlebag and pulling out a grenade, pulling the pin and tossing it towards the direction of fire.

“Arc,” I said with a nod as the Unicorn nodded and used her telekinesis to make sure the grenade landed in the best spot to take the soldiers out.

After a second there was an explosion from down the hall. A few more soldiers heard the explosion and rushed into view to investigate but we took them out with some well placed shots.

“Alright, let’s go, everypony keep an eye on your EFS if you have one,” I said as we pushed down the hallway towards the broadcast center. Thankfully we didn’t have any further problems as we entered the broadcast center as I looked the equipment over, which is when something occurred to me. “So, uh… does anypony have any idea how to actually shut off the interference?”

“Explosives!” One of the assassins said excitedly before getting knocked upside the head by another.

“No, no explosives, we can’t afford to rebuild another house after you blow it up Andesite.” Aplite said with a sigh and a shake of his head

“Aw come on, it was just that once.” Andesite said “Plus you and Kimberlite helped too”

“Hey no, no dragging me in on this” Kimberlite said with a huff. “I got you the detonators, you never told me what you were using them for”

“Or, we could just turn off the broadcast equipment here,” Riva pointed at the equipment that was turned on. “He is using the signal from here to create the interference isn’t he? Shouldn’t turning it off stop it? Or, just go look at that terminal?”

I blinked a little, okay Riva had a point there. I checked the terminal first, it was password protected of course. I thought about it for a moment, this probably had Winter’s login, after a couple of tries I smirked a little when I got it right on “Calypso.”

The Screen read:

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS RECORDINGS.
SCRIPTS.
NOTES.
SYSTEM RESET.

I selected system reset and the screen changed:

“WARNING, RESETTING THE SYSTEM WILL CUT OFF ANY CURRENT BROADCASTS. DO YOU WANT TO PROCEED?
Y/N.”

“Well, that’s easy,” I said and hit y as the lights went off. I raised my PipBuck and smiled a little when I saw the radio stations reappear on it.

“It worked,” I said and looked at the four assassins who were still arguing. I rolled my eyes and checked DJ Pon3’s radio for a moment as a familiar song was playing.

“If I could start again,
A million miles away.
I would keep myself,
I would find, a way.”

A minute later the sound of Xiraia’s voice came over the radio. The Zebra’s voice was a welcome change from the silence that had pervaded the city while we had been there and she began to speak.

“Hey there everypony out there in Equestria, this is DJ Pon3 coming at you with a special broadcast. Coming to you from the front lines, broadcast to every part of this land, I give you, President Winter Breeze. You might want to hear what she has to say my little ponies.”

Winter’s voice came over the radio, her calm demeanor and charismatic voice was not unfamiliar to the ponies of Equestria. This time like before she was here to make a plea to end the war, maybe if we were lucky they’d listen.

“I’ve come to you many times as the President of the Enclave, but this time I’m here to reach out to those who are fighting. I’ve been called a traitor, I’ve been called a monster, but only because I want to make this a better world. I call upon you, the ponies of the Enclave who believe that they are still on the right side, to stop and think. Ask yourself, is this what you really want to do? General Cloud Chaser and his forces have not freed you, they’ve put you in chains that you’re forced to wade through every day. Don’t fight for tyranny, fight for liberty, fight for a better world that we can only achieve by working together, not by fighting one another. Those who live in Equestria have the power to create happiness, to make this life free and beautiful. In the name of democracy, in the name of a better future, let us use that power. Let us all unite once and for all, bring this war to an end and send a message to Cloud Chaser. The ponies of the Enclave will not break under his iron hoof!”

We headed back outside onto the balcony and looked up at the skies towards where the Eclipse and the other Enclave ships were. I smiled a little as I saw the Eclipse start to list, and as we looked out there was fires as the gunfire in the city started to die down.

I looked up again and smiled as I saw the Nimbus, I could only imagine what was going through Cloud Chaser’s mind right now as I looked back at the others.

The echos of gunfire stopping in the city below, the thunder of the titans above fading to silence, for just one moment, silence falling like snow on an early winters morning, no one spoke, no one cheered - but it was over, the war had finally ended.

“They have not heard the people’s voice for a long time, and it is much louder than they care to remember,” Sunrise finally said.

“So, what now?” Arc asked as the gunfire from downstairs died down and the Raptor lowered itself so we could get aboard again.

“Now…” I said and paused a moment. “We report in, and see if there’s anything else to do.”

“Good job, all of you,” Midnight said on the other end of the radio that I was using aboard the Raptor. “We’re getting reports in from across Coltlumbia and the Hardliner fleet, they’re surrendering.”

“Any word from Cloud Chaser?” I asked.

“Afraid not, he’s remained quiet, but the Nimbus doesn’t seem interested in fighting anymore,” Winter said next. “The Eclipse up there has completely stood down, I think we hit something vital with our last barrage so they’re dead in the sky.”

“Alright, good,” I said and let out a sigh of relief. “Are there any other orders you have for us?”

“Well, you see, Cloud Chaser is still in the Nimbus of course,” Winter said. “We’re going to need to take him in before he can cause another problem. The ship your on is in the best position to board them right now, we need you to get aboard and deal with him.”

“Do you want us to take him in or kill him?” I asked.

There was a long pause as they thought it over before Midnight spoke up. “There’s not exactly an ideal situation here. If he dies then he’ll become a martyr, it might risk this whole thing starting up again.”

“But if we arrest him and put him on trial he’ll get a place to keep preaching his messages,” Winter added. “We’re going to leave it up to your judgment. I trust your judgment in this matter General Dash.”

“Thank you, it’ll be done,” I said with a nod as I lowered the microphone and sat back for a moment.

What was I going to do now? Both options had a problem, I closed my eyes and thought back to everything that had happened. One thing came to my mind as I opened my eyes again, the same thing that Rainbow Dash had told me over her holotapes.

“A soldier, a true soldier, leaves only hope,” I said and slipped out of my saddlebags. I removed my coat and hat followed by the vest and tie I wore under it.

I looked back at my cutie mark and smiled a little. I opened my bags and took out the Wonderbolts uniform that Winter had given to me before the battle had begun and slipped it on, stretching my wings and legs a little until I was sure it was fit. With that I folded my clothes back up and put them in my bags before I slipped back into the bags and headed to where the others were.

I stopped and looked at my reflection, the uniform was perfect. I had always dreamed of wearing a uniform like this when I was a filly and flying with Rainbow Dash, now I was going to wear it in her memory.

General or not, I was a Wonderbolt.

I headed back into the section of the ship where my friends were and I explained what was going on. “Alright, we have our orders, we’ve got one last thing to do before this fight is over. I’m not going to order you all to come with me, but I will be taking volunteers.”

“Well, the Nimbus is a big ship, and even if a majority of the crew have surrendered. Chances are that there will be pockets of resistance on that ship, could use us to clear and secure it.” Aplite said with a shrug “Us four, we can take out a small army - taking and securing a ship should be foal’s play.”

“The Thunderbolts and the Rangers can also help secure it,” Garnet offered and Sunrise nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, we’ll make this work,” Sunrise said as she gave Garnet a smile.

“Alright, good,” I said with a smile. “You and anypony else we can get to help. The rest of us will take Cloud Chaser out on the bridge.”

“He won’t be on the bridge,” a familiar voice said and I turned to see Shooting Star coming in. “He commands the ship from his private command room in the ship itself. Its where he’s going to be if you want to deal with him, but I want to be there when you do.”

“Alright, who else will be coming to the Command Center with us?” I asked, Arc, Riva, and Cherry raised their hooves to volunteer. “Okay, that makes five, Seren, can I count on you to help?”

Seren nodded and I headed to pass the orders on to the pilot. I just hoped that everything was going to work.

We were directed towards the Nimbus’ forward hangar bay since it was closest to the command center. Most of the crew ignored us as we went past, some of them actually saluted strangely enough as we made our way through the Nimbus following Star’s directions.

We did run into some resistance of course, but they didn’t last long. The last of them were right outside the command center and for a moment Star paused as we neared it.

“Is everything okay?” I asked the cyberpony Pegasus.

“It’s… complicated,” she said with a sigh and a shake of her head. “The last time I saw my father he tortured me. I’m, not really sure if I’m ready to face him again.”

“I understand Star,” I said as I placed my hoof on her shoulder. “But you’re going to be fine, you came here because you wanted him stopped, right?”

“Yeah,” Star said with a nod. “He’s a threat to Equestria, but he’s still my father. I wanted to be here for the moment, and I could help you get through the ship. Still, that doesn’t make me worry any less.”

“Star, in all the time I’ve known you, you’ve done everything you can to be out from under his shadow,” I said with a smile. “You have a family back in Nomad City that loves you, you’ve helped fight this war, and you’re here when you feel like you needed to be. If you think you can’t do this, then it’s fine, we won’t hold it against you.”

Star paused for a long moment and looked at me and then at the others. “You really think that?”

“Yeah, you can do this,” Cherry said and Arc nodded. “You’re going to do just fine.”

Star nodded and pulled the door open as we headed into the command center. There was a split second when there was the sound of turrets starting up, but the energy bolts hit a shield that Seren put up quickly.

“Thanks again Seren,” I said with a smile as I gave her a nod.

I looked around the command center and was surprised to find that it was lined with pieces of artwork. There were paintings and sculptures, some of which I recognized as being from before the war lining the walls along with other pieces of art. Some of them looked like they had been made by Zebras or other species more than likely.

Seated at the far end of the command center in a chair surrounded by a large terminal was Cloud Chaser. The stallion looked tired as he leaned on his forehoof, studying the screens before him as the turrets fired towards us.

“Ceasefire,” the stallion’s voice said on the far end of the command center. He hit a button as the turrets went back into their hiding places. “I was wondering when the Alliance would send somepony to assassinate me, I suppose it couldn’t have been anypony else.”

“We don’t have to assassinate you,” Riva said with a scowl, even so we were all ready to shoot him if we had to.

“The President sent a Dashite turned Wonderbolt General, my daughter, a former spy, a storyteller, a pregnant mare, and…” he said and looked at Seren coldly as he walked forward. “Of course, one of the NCR’s elite soldiers. You’re a firing squad, even I can see that despite your mismatched…”

“Shut up, Seriously - You say a lot but you get no messages out, You are nothing more then white noise.” Seren said with a scowl. “Shut up, or I’ll shut you up.”

Cloud Chaser actually stopped in mid-sentence at that and looked at Seren. There was actually a brief flash of fear in his eyes as he looked between us.

“General, you don’t have to die here, surrender and we’ll take you in,” I said as I stared the blue pony down for a moment.

“Not yet, No.” Seren said, looking back to me for a moment. “You, of all ponies know there is more to be said then just his surrender.”

“You want me to order my forces to stand down?” Cloud Chaser said and looked at her. “So that we can all be thrown into an Alliance Kangaroo Court and sent to Arbu?”

“No, I want you to apologize, to go and get on your radio and apologize to what you did to Winter, to apologize for all the lives you cost.” Seren said as her attention shifted back to him. “You have no right, you have cost more than you can ever repay, the least you could do is apologize to the lives you destroyed.”

“Father, its over,” Star said and looked at her father in the eye as her green eyes met his red ones. “Mom and Night Wish wouldn’t want you to keep going on like this. Please, end this, you’ve caused too much death already. Do what she asked and we can stop this from becoming even worse.”

“And what about you, Dashite General Scootaloo?” Cloud Chaser said as he looked over at me. “You’re the one in command here, what do you say?”

“Seren is right, so is Shooting Star,” I said with a sigh as I moved next to Cherry. “This war has cost a lot of lives, all because 211 years ago we were attacked and retaliated in kind. I’ve heard you referred to as the greatest military mind in the Enclave, but that doesn’t give you the right to keep fighting.”

I looked at Cherry and smiled as I draped my wing over her and she smiled before she spoke. “Or to hurt families like yours was.”

Cloud Chaser said nothing at first. Then he turned and walked back to his chair and picked up the microphone to his radio, patching it through the systems as he could. “This is General Cloud Chaser of the Grand Pegasus Enclave. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in the past few days, over the years I’ve ordered the deaths of so many ponies. I want to apologize, to Equestria, to the President, to the ponies whose lives have been torn apart by my actions, I am sorry. I am ordering all my forces still fighting to stand down, the war is over. Go back to your homes, to your families, there is no more battles to fight.”

He put the microphone down and walked back to us, removing the Wonderbolts pin and General stripes from his uniform and holding them out to me. “I relinquish my position of commander in chief of the Enclave forces in Coltlumbia to General Scootaloo Dash. I request legal representation and a fair trial by the laws of war set down by the NCR during the Imperial War.”

I took the items and put them away and gave him a nod. We searched him and escorted him out of the command center and down the hallway.

I was surprised to find that as we neared the hangar there were soldiers standing on either sides of the hall. They saluted as we went past and Cloud Chaser walked down towards the hangar with his head held high.

The battle for Coltlumbia, and the Enclave war, was finally over.