I don’t exactly remember when I passed out, but it was shortly after my ill-fated confrontation with the three mares Carrion had raped. Somehow, I’d ended up across the Fort in its barracks, wrapped in (what I hoped was) a fresh blanket, lying on top of a simple mattress in an aluminum bedframe. I almost didn’t want to get up; the bed, simple as it was, was much more comfortable than the ground I was so accustomed to sleeping on. The small windows in the bunker let in a sharp sapphire light, so I figured it had to still be early in the morning. With that information in mind, I decided to catch a simple five more minutes, and shut my eyes.

When I opened my eyes again, the sunlight was definitely not morning blue, and had shifted to regular white daylight entering at a sharp angle. I could hear the sounds of lots of ponies talking outside, along with the hissing clap of teleportation that rattled the ground. Cursing, I rolled out of bed, though my legs were so tangled in the blankets that I ended up falling on my face. Groaning, I managed to remove the blanket with my magic and tossed it aside, and walked to the nearest doorway. Eventually, I stumbled my way outside, and after a moment to let my eyes adjust to the brightness, I looked around me.

All of the liberated ponies had been gathered into happy, excited, if a bit nervous, groups. The majority of the Sentinels that had taken the Fort were milling about the walls or around the brig, where I guessed the prisoners were still being kept, but a lot of their support staff and noncombatants were directing ponies from place to place. I guess when the first unicorns teleported to the Fort, they brought those ponies with them to help get things organized. The simple order of everything going on outside made it feel like the Fort was finally on its way to becoming a fully operational installation again.

“Oh, hey, look who’s finally awake.” I lazily turned my head to the left to see Gauge trotting over from one of the groups of ponies sitting in the courtyard, SCaR floating next to him like usual. “You get your beauty sleep, princess?”

“Shut up,” I said, lightly punching him in the shoulder as soon as he got close enough. I noticed that he wasn’t covered head to hoof in grease, and raised an eyebrow at that. “You washed off your second coat?”

“After living in your own shit for a week, you would too,” Gauge said, shaking his head. “There’s an actual working shower in the barracks. It even has hot water. It’s amazing.”

It took me a full second to process that. “Wait… did you say…?”

Gauge merely nodded, an amused grin overtaking his muzzle.

I spun around so fast I actually whipped him in the face with my tail. “Be back in an hour.”

He just chuckled and turned back to the courtyard while I galloped back in the direction I came. Nosing around a few doors led me to the showers, which were thankfully empty. Not that I would’ve minded another pony in here with me (we’re all naked, anyway!), but I doubt anypony would’ve wanted to be with me while I moaned under the steaming water like I was having an orgasm.

Though the shower head and handle of the shower were a little rusty, and I doubted they saw much use anyway while the Fort was controlled by the Crimson, the water was thankfully colorless and fresh. After shivering under the blast of cold water for the first few minutes, I sighed in sweet bliss once the temperature finally warmed up. The jets of warm water ripped through the grime sticking to my coat, and the water running off of my legs and dripping from my body was literally a sooty brown and black. The warmth piercing my muscles felt so good, and I fell onto my flank with a moan.

I did the best I could in cleaning myself without a brush or comb or even soap, but at least I had my magic. I must’ve spent half an hour just standing under the water, untangling the strands of my mane and tail one hair at a time. I would’ve killed somepony for a comb, but I figured out how to twist my telekinesis into something close enough. After several minutes of blindly fiddling with my hair to get it back in place (and holding a brief memorial service for the end of my tail), I finally felt like a real pony again, ready to go back out to the shit show that was life on Auris. That, and the skin under my hooves was getting pruney.

Thankfully, whoever moved me back to the barracks to sleep had also dumped my gear at the foot of the bed, which I completely forgot to grab when I stumbled out this morning. Strapping my bags across my flanks and slinging my sexy new battle rifle over my shoulders, I once again marched out of the barracks, wincing as I trotted under the cloudless sky. I decided to stick close to the shade of the buildings as I made my way across the Fort. The energetic blue sun would fry me and my black coat if I stayed in the open for too long. If only I had a blue coat like my mom to reflect all that blue light.

But I didn’t, so I did my best to stay cool. I didn’t know what happened to Gauge, or even Zip and Sig, for that matter, so I sort of wandered the base aimlessly. Every fifteen minutes or so, there’d be a crack of thunder as unicorns teleported in or out, taking another group of ponies back to the Bastion and returning empty hooved for the next group of twenty-five. Just seeing the ponies of Blackwash finally leaving this Tartarus made me giddy. Somehow, despite the odds, I’d succeeded in freeing them. I almost couldn’t believe it.

I spotted a procession of ponies marching out of one of the buildings under the keen eyes of several Sentinels. The war paint on their faces and limbs, now faded and smeared and covered in blood, gave them away immediately. All the defeated Crimson that the Sentinels had managed to take alive trudged out of the brig, most keeping their heads down like beaten dogs. Some tried to provoke or antagonize the Sentinels watching them, but to their credit, the Sentinels refused to answer their taunts and insults. One pony jumped out of line, but he didn’t make it very far before the Sentinel nearest to him darted forward and took his legs out from under him with a clean sweep of her leg. Another Sentinel pounced on the downed bandit from above and drove all four hooves into his back, crushing the wind from his lungs and leaving him a wheezing mess easily dragged away.

The orange pegasus took wing again, and I grinned as I watched Zip return to the air. Our conversation on the wall came back to me, and I felt my heart flutter and hooves tingle. I desperately wanted to have another personal moment with her when this was all over, and maybe steal another kiss. I could already feel the heat building in my cheeks and lips at the thought. I flicked my tail and cleared my throat. “Hey, Zip!”

Zip’s head turned at my voice, and with a blur of her wings, she was hovering in front of me in a second. “Hey, good to see you’re awake. You sleep well?”

“Like a rock,” I said, grinning up at her. I leaned in to nuzzle her, but to my surprise she stopped me with a hoof and shook her head.

“Not now. I’m on duty,” she said, gently pushing me away. “It’s not all fun and sex when you’re a soldier, you know. I have to do work sometimes.” I pouted, and she rolled her eyes and swatted my nose with her wing. “Later, okay?”

That lifted my spirits… and my hopes. “Oh?” I said, perking my tail up just so. “Later, huh?”

I saw a teasing glint enter Zip’s eyes a moment before she opened her mouth. “I don’t want your squealing to break the mages’ concentration.”

I felt my cheeks go very red. “I don’t squeal.”

“You look like the squealing type to me,” Zip shot back, smirking at me. After a second’s delay, she twisted the knife even further. “It’s a good thing my name’s so short.”

Oh, she was good. I couldn’t help myself as I blurted back at her, “I’ll make you cry my name first.” As soon as I said that, I shrank back and felt more heat build in my face. The amused look Zip gave me didn’t help in the slightest.

“Oh, I always love a challenge,” she practically purred back at me, briefly poking my nose with her hoof. But just as quickly as it happened, she fluttered back a foot or two. “Now seriously, Ember, I’m on duty. I don’t need Thunder sticking me on toilet duty for the next month. That would seriously cramp my style.”

I shrugged. “You already have a dirty mouth. Why not dirty hooves?” Zip just rolled her eyes and shook her head, turning her attention back to the prisoners as the Sentinels broke them into groups of twenty-five. “What are you going to do with all them?”

“Not my expertise,” Zip said, shrugging in midair. “Thunder will probably pull them aside one by one and ask them the usual questions. Recent troop deployments, Carrion’s plans, that sort of thing. Maybe we’ll actually get something useful out of them since there’s bound to be some pretty important bastards out here.” She made an exaggerated sigh. “And I’m probably going to have to do my share of standing around looking all big and scary.”

I smirked as I looked the tiny pegasus over. “Yeah. Good luck with that.”

“Shut up,” Zip growled, punching me in the shoulder. It actually kinda hurt. That was when I saw that her leg wasn’t in its brace anymore. Zip must’ve noticed that I noticed, because she smiled and waved it in front of my face. “I saw the medics last night. Good as new.”

“Well that’s good,” I said. “So long as that’s taken care of.”

A whistle sounded in the air, and Zip’s wings became a blur of orange. “Time to be a big and scary mare with six machine guns standing in front of a bunch of prisoners to keep them in line,” she said as she flew up and over the crowds of ponies. “Seeya!”

I waved a hoof as she disappeared before I could even say anything. I briefly saw her touch down in front of a loose group of Crimson bandits and scream at them, igniting the laser blades on her wing for dramatic effect, and forcing them to bunch up and sit down. A curtain of ponies made me lose sight of her, but I had to admit, she could act pretty big and pretty scary despite being a tiny little mare.

I found a little bit of shade next to the brig and sat down, leaning against the steel building and keeping my eyes peeled for Sig. I hadn’t spotted the griffon yet, which was odd, considering he was the only griffon in what felt like the entire valley. Maybe he’d already gone back to the Bastion? He had been in contact with Platinum Rampart last night, so maybe the Sentinels’ leader wanted to hear the reports from him personally? Fuck if I knew.

Sitting down here did give me a chance to survey the Crimson seated in small groups around the courtyard. I was surprised by what I saw; most of them looked terrified. They looked like what we did at Blackwash when their friends enslaved us and burned our town to the ground, like they were staring death in the face. As far as I knew, the Sentinels weren’t like that, though. They were the good guys, and they spared lives when they could, but weren’t afraid to cut a villain down when needed. The bandits should’ve realized that there wasn’t anything to be gained from slaughtering helpless ponies. At least it brought me some satisfaction to see the tables turned on them, though.

My eyes stopped wandering the groups of prisoners, freezing on a yellow earth pony sitting with his back to me. I blinked, blinked again, and stood up. The pony looked like he was only fifteen winters, though it was hard to tell under the war paint covering his face. Frowning, I trotted over to the group, stopping when I was almost close enough to touch him, and stared at him in silence.

It didn’t take long before my awkward hovering caught the earth pony’s attention. He turned around and looked at me, a little bit confused and a little bit angry. “What do you want?” he asked in a gruff voice, though it couldn’t mask the fear lying underneath. His eyes darted to the heart burned into my left flank, then back to my expressionless face. “You’re one of the whores? Sorry, but I can’t take you on a ride right now. I don’t think the tin can would approve,” he said, pointing to the Sentinel watching him with a slight scowl on his face.

I pointed a hoof at him. “Is your name Wheat?”

The stallion flinched like I’d slapped him in the face. “The fuck does it matter to you?!” he shouted back at me. He gnashed his teeth and rubbed at the paint on his face, smearing it a little bit. “Who the fuck are you?”

“A family friend,” I said, sitting down across from him. “Your mom wanted me to look for you.”

Wheat blinked and his mouth moved, though no words came out. “My… mom?” he asked, staring at the dirt beneath his hooves. Scowling, he gave me a closer look. “You’re not one of the slaves…”

“No. I’m not,” I said, meeting him with a level stare. “I’m one of the ponies of that town your friends destroyed a few days ago. Remember that?” I saw him shrink back in fear, and I leaned forward, pressing the attack. “You fuckers killed my mom, and I swore I was going to kill every last one of you. But I’m not going to. And you know why?” When he didn’t answer, I leaned back and shifted to a more comfortable position. “I met a mare when I got off of the mountains named Hazel. She told me that the Crimson foalnapped her son five winters ago and begged me not to kill him if I saw him. It made me realize that everyone, even the bastards who killed so many ponies I knew and loved, has family too.”

The stallion shuddered and bowed his head even lower. “My mom… my family…” He looked at me with glistening eyes. “They’re… alive?”

I’ll admit, his question caught me a bit off guard. “Uh… yeah. You didn’t know?” When he shook his head, I furrowed my brow. “Like… really?”

“They told me they died,” Wheat said. “The Sentinels killed them because my town surrendered to the Crimson. They kill all their enemies! Look at them!” he shouted, pointing at the one Sentinel watching over his group. “They’re monsters! You can’t shoot them to death! They kill everything that gets in their way!” A tear fell down the side of his muzzle, turning a ruddy brown as it traveled across the war paint on his face. “They told me that the Sentinels killed my family and that they were the only ones who could help me avenge them!”

He put his head in his hooves and shuddered. I could see the trembles wracking his body. “I never wanted any of this,” he moaned. “But what choice did I have? The Crimson made me theirs. I’m one of them.” He looked up at me, tears in his eyes. “But my family is alive… Chaff? Pop-Pop? They’re still…?”

“Alive and kicking. The both of them.” I tried to give him a comforting smile from where I sat, but it was kind of hard to do. I was talking with a pony that’d spent the last five years of his life hanging around ponies who enjoyed slaughtering and enslaving the innocent. That doesn’t just go away once you realize that you’ve been wrong all that time. “Chaff actually tried to follow me to the Sentinels. The kid’s got heart, that’s for sure.”

“The last time I saw Chaff he could hardly walk…” Wheat said, staring at his hooves once more. After a moment of silence, he finally looked at me. “Has it really been five years?”

I nodded. “Your mom hasn’t stopped thinking about you. She wouldn’t let me leave your house until I promised I’d look for you.” I decided to neglect mentioning how his grandfather didn’t mention him once, and that Hazel had pulled me aside to privately ask me to look for him. No need to drive that needle under his skin.

Wheat was quiet for a little while. I was starting to wonder if he was going to say anything when he suddenly spoke in a low murmur. “I can’t go back to them.” I frowned, but he didn’t notice. “I’ve done so many awful, awful things. I’m not the same son my mom might think I am. I don’t want to hurt her anymore.”

“And what, you think just never showing your face again will make her happier?” I asked. When he nodded, I had to fight the urge to slap him. “I met your mom a few days ago. She’s one of the sweetest, nicest ponies I’ve ever known. And she was crying when she told me about you.” I crossed my forelegs and looked at him pointedly, even though he averted his eyes. “If you think that hiding from her for the rest of your life is going to make her feel any better, then you really are an awful pony. You really are one of them.”

I stood up and adjusted my bags and rifle. “I’m Ember, by the way. If you change your mind, ask for me. We have to run Chaff back to your family, anyway. Might as well save us the second trip.”

Then I turned around and walked away before he could respond. I didn’t want to hear any more bitching and moaning from him, really. Once I was far enough from the prisoners, I stopped and surveyed the courtyard. Apart from the groups of Crimson, almost all of the ponies in the courtyard had been safely teleported away. I saw a striped hoof waving to me from one of the last pockets of Blackwash ponies, and I trotted over. Gauge’s familiar bemused smile greeted me as I approached. “Stars, Ember, I didn’t know your coat was white under all that shit.”

“Is that what your stripes are?” I shot back, bumping shoulders with the zebra as I fell in by his side. Letting out a sigh of relief, I glanced over the ponies in our group. Only twenty-one. Twenty-two if you counted SCaR, but I’m not sure how the spell really worked when it came to drones. At least I wasn’t being an extra mare again. Cracking my neck, I sat down in the dirt while we waited for the port out of here. “It’ll be good to be back at the Bastion.”

“I’ve had enough of this place for a lifetime,” Gauge said, sitting down by my side. He sighed, and I could see just how… how tired he looked. I had a feeling I’d have to sit down with him and have an honest talk about everything that’d happened in the five days we’d been separated. “And we’re the lucky ones.”

I knew immediately who he thought the unlucky ones were. I placed my hoof on his back and leaned in for a hug. “She’s a big girl, Gauge,” I said, trying to comfort him. “And her dad’s there to protect her. She’ll be fine.”

Though Gauge just quietly nodded, I could tell from the look in his eyes that he didn’t believe me. I just tried to hug him more. He was in love, and that meant he was going to worry regardless of what I said. Nothing I could do about that except be supportive.

Some words were said near the front of our group, and the ponies of Blackwash began to move around us. I helped Gauge to his hooves, and together we followed the pack into the circle of unicorns in the courtyard. After spending a full day out in the valley and nearly dying several times in the Fort, I was looking forward to the safety offered by the Bastion. Maybe once I got back, I could pretend I was living a somewhat normal life again.

I spotted Zip and Sig talking in front of some of the prisoners and waved to them. Though we were too far away to say anything, they at least smiled at me and waved back. It’d be great to just sit down with them and eat once we were all back at the Bastion. And if Zip’s promise of ‘later’ was true, I couldn’t wait for dessert.

The hair on my scalp began to tingle as the unicorns started the spell. There was so much magic floating in the air that it was practically saturated. Gauge looked at me with a nervous look in his eyes; I’m sure he could feel it too, but not being a unicorn, it was probably alien and frightening to him. I smiled back, and before I could say anything, a flash and a crack of thunder ripped us away from the Fort and the blue sun of the valley.