I woke up early the next morning when I heard the shrill buzzing of an alarm clock right next to my head. My eyes flew open and I jumped at the sudden noise. My heart began to pound as I struggled to remember where I was, but a feathery warmth fit in the protective embrace of my forelegs brought the memories of last night storming back to the front of my brain. I looked down at Zip, somehow still asleep in my hooves despite my jumping and flailing, and nuzzled her mane. The orange pegasus squeaked and pressed her nose against my chest, and I felt her soft wings unconsciously pull me closer to her.

Well, I wasn’t going to complain about that.

I blindly fumbled with the alarm clock in my magic before I finally found the off button and tossed it back onto Zip’s nightstand. Shutting my eyes, I laid my head back down on the pillow and tried to claw my way back to the blissful warmth of sleep. Of course, that was almost impossible to do; I kept thinking back to everything that’d happened last night. So many warm and fuzzy memories. It felt nice to do that with another pony for once. There’s nothing like the real thing.

When I realized I wasn’t going to fall back asleep, I decided I might as well grab a shower and go get some food. I was really looking forward to the shower; the hairs of my muzzle were still ripe with the smell of Zip’s cunt, and that ages like a fish left out in the sun. With a little bit of squirming, I managed to work my way out of Zip’s feathery embrace without waking her, and I stuffed a pillow into her outstretched forelegs for her to cling onto. I took the satisfied hum she made as a good sign and slipped out the door.

Shutting it behind me, I found myself in the hallway of the barracks, raising a foreleg to shield myself from the evil bright lights. That’s when I remembered that the Bastion is a fucking evil labyrinth that didn’t make sense whatsoever. Biting my lip, I ultimately just chose a random direction and went with it, hoping that it’d take me to the showers. If not, maybe somepony would stumble across my rotting corpse one day to give me a proper burial.

For once, thankfully, it seemed like the world felt like being nice to me, because I found the showers after only about five or ten minutes of aimless wandering. Throwing open the door, I finally limped inside, spun the nearest faucet with my magic, and collapsed under the cold water. At least I was used to cold showers in Blackwash (whenever we had the water to spare for a shower, that is), because the water that came out of that shower head was frigid. Hissing, I spun the faucet all the way around, and after a few minutes, was rewarded with hot water.

Yes, I know this is the second shower I’ve mentioned in like two or three logs. I have a thing for showers, okay? You would too if you spent your whole life going months at a time without them and then suddenly had access to steaming warm water whenever you wanted.

I was just rinsing off when the shower door opened, and in stumbled Zip, not even trying to suppress the wide yawn that wrenched her jaws open. The hair on the entire left side of her face and her mane pointed at a different angle from the right, a parting gift from how she slept, and her wings almost dragged across the tiles as she made her way to me. I watched her as she did so, up to and including the part where she stopped right next to me, blinked once, then rested her forehead against my shoulder and groaned.

“Not a morning pony?” I asked her, shuffling back a little bit so she could join me under the water.

“No,” she mumbled. “I hate mornings.” Yawning again, she slowly blinked and all but shoved me out of the way to get under the steamy water. Sighing, she plopped down on her haunches and moaned, letting the water drill its way into her muscles.

I waited until she was awake enough to stand before forcing my way back under the shower with her. Grabbing the soap and brush I’d used earlier, I set to work on Zip with my magic, giving her a good scrub down and helping her get the places she couldn’t reach. She happily sighed as I scrubbed the space between her wings, and I jumped back when she started vigorously flapping them, scattering soapy water everywhere. While I recoiled, she began to shake out her mane and flick her tail back and forth, all the while flailing her wings and rubbing her face against their crests.

She finally stopped after a few minutes of that, and ruffling her sodden feathers, simply turned to look at me. “Sorry. Pegasus thing.”

Chuckling, I made my way back up to her and began to wash down her shapely flanks. “My best friend is a pegasus. I’ve seen it before… birdbrain,” I said, poking Zip’s skull with my hoof. Zip just swatted my hoof away and rolled her eyes while I stuck my tongue out at her. As I worked, I took a second to admire her cutie mark: a zigzagging line darting around three stars. I realized that I hadn’t gotten the chance to see it until now; she was always in her armor and jumpsuit, save for last night, and I was a little too busy with the rest of her body to notice it then. “Your mark is pretty.”

“Thanks,” Zip said, smiling at it with me. “I got it trying to move some chickens back to their coop, funny enough. A big storm was rolling in and we had to get them out of the field before they got blown away. Using my wings, I had all of them safely inside in seconds, right before the storm hit. I didn’t even notice the mark until my brother pointed it out to me.”

“That’s neat,” I said, tracing the line with a hoof before moving to her sides and stomach. “I got mine by throwing shit in a fire.”

Zip scoffed. “Actually?”

“Well, I mean, there was a bit more work involved. Mom was sick at the time, and I only started playing around in the forge when I was like eleven winters. Late bloomer, I know.” I felt a little bit of embarrassment at that; most ponies got their marks around six or seven winters. Those few years without it weren’t very fun. “Anyway, Nova and Gauge were just starting to become interested in each other. Hormones beginning to take over, you know? Well, Gauge was nervous about asking Nova out, so I made him a little anklet to give her when he asked. It was a piece of garbage, because I wasn’t very good at using the tools in the forge then, but it didn’t fall apart when he took it, so that was good.”

“Did it work?” Zip asked.

“Yeah, it worked,” I said. “She didn’t take the thing off for like a year. She was really upset when it broke, so I ended up making her a new one.” Sighing, I took a step back to admire the only mark I had left. “So yeah. There’s that.”

“It’s a pretty story,” Zip said, smiling at me. “Sure beats chasing chickens around,” she added with a laugh. I chuckled as well and went back to work with the soap and brush. Using her wings, she began to clean her mane, while I worked on her tail and legs. I couldn’t help but sneak a peek at her pussy while I did so, and her tail flicked as I washed around it.

“Careful, there,” she said, looking over her shoulder at me and smirking. “The other Sentinels don’t like it when ponies have sex in the shower.”

“I’m full, thank you,” I said, winking back at her and moving down to her hooves. After giving each one a solid polish (and discovering that she’s ticklish down there), I stood up and set the soap and brush back where they came from. “Congratulations, you passed your examination,” I said, pretending to put a blue ribbon on her chest.

“Oh, thank you so much,” Zip said, taking a step closer to me, the wet hair on our chests brushing together. “How can I ever repay you?”

“I can think of a few ways,” I said, pressing myself more firmly against her and resting a hoof on her shoulder. With hardly any warning, Zip put both her hooves on my shoulder and pressed her lips against mine, pushing me back under the hot water of the showerhead. I moaned and kissed her back, feeling the heat of the water on my back and the clingy wetness of our bodies as we pressed them together. Another push from Zip had my back against the wall, and I began to slide down it, down, down, down, until Zip was looming over me, practically laying on my chest. Only then did she break off the kiss.

She opened her mouth to say something, her eyes full of tenderness mixed with mischief, when the clicking of talons on tile stopped her. Both of us whipped our heads toward the door, where Sig simply stood there, shaking his head. “Whenever you two are done, Platinum wants to see you. Both of you.”

Zip and I could only wordlessly nod. I wasn’t sure if that was just the hot water on my face or my blood rushing to my cheeks.

Clicking his talons against the wall once more, Sig turned around and marched back to the door. “At least you don’t have to worry about cleaning up after yourselves,” he shouted before disappearing completely. Zip and I merely remained locked in place after the door shut, staring at it for a few seconds longer.

Clearing her throat, Zip looked down at me and sheepishly smirked. “I told you…”

“Oh shut up,” I said, grabbing her head and pulling it back down to kiss her again. She didn’t put up much resistance to that.

Even almost two days from their victory at the Fort, I was surprised to see that the Sentinels were still busy as ever trying to sort out the logistics of the situation and preparing for the push to take down the Crimson. After a quick bite to eat (and I’m sure you can guess what they served us), Zip and I made our way to the war room, dodging a few support staff along the way. We entered to find Platinum Rampart seated in front of the holographic table of the valley, with Commander Thunder on his left and a unicorn mare I didn’t recognize on his right. As soon as we entered, the aging stallion cleared his throat and gestured to the chairs opposite the three of them. “Good. We can begin.”

Zip saluted and sat down, and I cautiously mirrored the motion and sat down beside her. “You wanted to see us, sir?” Zip prompted, her eyes bouncing between the three ponies sitting across from her.

Rampart nodded and steepled his hooves. “Yes. I’m sure you’re aware of the Three Pillars of our organization, sergeant.”

Zip visibly stiffened, and the tips of her wings fidgeted against her cutie mark. “Yes, sir. The Sentinels were founded in unity by the three pony races surviving on Auris. To ensure cooperation and fairness, each pillar has been occupied by the most capable soldier of each race. It’s how we’ve managed to stay strong despite the advances of the Crimson.”

“Good,” Platinum said, and I saw a very faint smile appear on his muzzle. “Commander Thunder Dash was wounded in the battle for the Fort. Though we were able to save his leg, it will need some time to heal before he can use it again. There are some things that magic simply cannot mend.”

I blinked and looked at Thunder’s bandaged leg, held in a sling close against his chest. The pegasus’ face was neutral, an empty stoic mask that hid his thoughts. Still, I had a feeling that he wasn’t too happy to be stuck on the sidelines for the immediate future.

Wait a minute…

Platinum stood up, and both Thunder and the unicorn mare watched him from their seats. “Until Commander Thunder Dash’s recovery from injuries sustained in battle, we have decided to promote you, sergeant Zip, to Acting Pegasus Commander in his stead. Your combat record is phenomenal, and you’re the best pegasus NCO in our ranks. With your years of experience, we trust in your ability to take appropriate action in a combat scenario and your judgment under stress. That, above all the others we considered, is the reason we selected you for this position.”

I felt like I could hear Zip shaking next to me. To her credit, she managed to swallow her shock and give the three ponies across from her a crisp salute. “Thank you, sir. I will fulfill the duties of Acting Commander as faithfully as I can and to the best of my ability. When the time comes for Commander Thunder to return to his position, I will readily yield command back to him.”

“As would be expected of you. Commander Thunder will give you a full briefing of your duties after we are done here.” Waving a hoof, he set Zip at ease and sat back down in his chair. “Now that that matter is out of the way, we do have business to discuss. We didn’t only summon you here to give you a promotion.”

“Commander Fusillade and I have been busying ourselves with preparing the assault on the Crimson,” Thunder said, motioning to the mare on the other side of Rampart. “Using the latest reports from the scouts we’ve sent to Celestia Dam, we’ve begun to draw up a battle plan. Best case scenario, we can take the dam with one hundred and fifty soldiers, but only if we strike within the next two weeks.”

“Why the timetable?” Zip asked. “We’re low on trained soldiers as it is. Wouldn’t we want to sit back and train any new recruits we can pick up from the valley? Teach them how to use the armor? A trained soldier is five times more valuable than a jumpy farmer with twin triples at the trigger.”

“Because we must act quickly to act upon our advantage, lest it waste away to nothing,” the mare, Fusillade, said in a shockingly thick accent I couldn’t begin to describe. “I have been fighting Carrion for years, even before he consolidated the Crimson. I know how he thinks. As of now, the froussard is still reeling from the destruction of one of his little birds. He is content to sit on his flank and observe our position. In his eyes, we appear more numerous than he thought; otherwise we would not have dared to attack the Fort. Two weeks to count troops and watch our patrols will reveal our farce. He will strike back at the Fort with twice the force and wrest it from us. The Sisters save us if it falls. We won’t have enough soldiers to hold even the Bastion if we lose our garrison at Hard Point Beta.”

“The other option would be to abandon the hard point entirely,” Thunder rumbled. “But that puts us back where we started: cut off from the rest of the valley while attrition takes its toll. As I’m sure you’ll agree, that’s hardly an option at all.”

Zip nodded. “So this is it, then. We either fold or go all in on two pair and hope that’s good enough to win the pot.”

“The poker analogy is unnecessary but illustrates the point well enough,” Rampart said. “By taking the Fort, we committed ourselves to this attempt. In reality, we have only one choice. We must fully commit ourselves to the coming battle, striking hard and quickly, or we are finished. It may not be for another few years, but if we don’t kill Carrion now, the Bastion will fall within a decade. We will be lucky to make it that long.”

The other ponies around the table quietly nodded, each falling into their own grim thoughts about the huge challenge that still laid ahead. I wasn’t a soldier or a tactician, but I had my own worries as well. If we failed, we wouldn’t save Nova. We wouldn’t save anypony. The Crimson would just round us all up again and sell us off like livestock. They’d kill all the Sentinels they could get their hooves on, butcher them like animals. And supposing they didn’t kill me too, they’d take me back to Carrion, and he’d burn his cutie mark over mine and make me his toy. I’d spend the rest of my life bent over his bed with his dick inside of me, plowing me until my cunt bled.

I’d sooner put a bullet in my own brain than let things come to that.

“So where do we begin?” Zip asked after a period of silence. “If we’re racing against time, then we can’t sit around on our flanks forever.”

Rampart nodded. “Right. We need numbers. I don’t care how we get them, but we have fewer than fifty experienced soldiers combat ready at the moment. We need to triple that number if we want to have any chance at taking apart the Crimson.”

“We’ve reached out to the mercenary companies in the valley, the few that are left at least,” Fusillade said. “Most are cautious about taking any jobs that strike at the Crimson, so we’re making an almost irresistible offer. One thousand cartridges to each soldier willing to fight, with two hundred and fifty as a down payment and the rest to be collected afterwards.”

Zip whistled. “A grand in cartridges? Each? That’s a lot.”

“And we are stocked with millions of rounds of all shapes and sizes,” Platinum said. “We can afford it, and those that don’t survive the assault or flee like cowards won’t get the remaining seven-fifty. But we need to ensure that we get some mercenary support if we’re going to take the Dam. We’re paying for experience, and you said it yourself: a trained soldier is five times more valuable than a jumpy farmer with no experience whatsoever.”

“Uh, sorry to interrupt,” I said, raising my hoof and earning a baleful glare from Fusillade that nearly had me running out the door like a scared foal. “But aren’t the Crimson in the hundreds? How can a hundred and fifty ponies, only a third of which are trained Sentinels, plus some mercenaries, take on that many bandits? I’m sure they have guns that can punch through your armor there, too, if what I saw at the Fort was any indicator of that.”

“Because we don’t have to kill every bandit at the dam to take apart the Crimson,” Rampart said. “We only have to kill one.”

Fusillade muttered something in some language I didn’t know and spat on the floor.

“Carrion is the only thing that holds those bastards together,” Thunder said. “If he dies, they scatter. It’s as simple as that.”

“A hundred ponies can lead the breakthrough to find Carrion and kill him. The recruits are just there to provide fire support to our Sentinels as they punch through the Crimson’s defenses,” Rampart said, pulling up a holographic map of the dam on the table. “The other fifty will establish a perimeter and make sure he doesn’t escape. It will be dangerous, but we can’t win in a heavyweight fight. Our only hope will be to strike hard and fast before we can get overwhelmed.”

And then his eyes fixed on me. “But we can’t start without recruits.”

I blinked. “Me?”

“Commander Thunder gave me his recommendation,” Rampart said. “I don’t see any reason to disagree with him. I’m offering to make you a Sentinel not as a reward, but because we need you. And more important than that, we need your people.” Resting his hooves on the edge of the table, he leaned over it toward me. “We rescued one hundred and seven ponies at the Fort. Only a quarter of those have volunteered. We need more.”

“But… but what am I supposed to do?” I stammered. “I don’t have any sway with them. I’m just a forgemare. I melted metal and made shit for them. That’s all I did!”

Rampart shook his head. “Wrong. You’re more than that. You’re the one who escaped, the one who got away. As far as they’re concerned, you’re the one who led us to them. You’re responsible for freeing them.” His eyes narrowed at me. “If nothing else, Ember, you’re a symbol. If you join the Sentinels, you can bring twice the number we got with you. We need them, and the ponies still held at the dam? They need you.”

He nodded once to me while I stood there, too stupid to even move. “Like it or not, the start of this thing rests on your shoulders. We might be able to scrape together enough to win without your help, but you’ll have to decide if that gamble’s worth it.

“So… what will it be?”

An hour later found me in the Sentinels’ armory staring at a black mare in silvery armor. She looked uncomfortable and more than a little bit nervous. The armor clinging to her back and shoulders shined with fresh polish and fit tightly around her frame. The six gun channels near her shoulders even had the black tarnish of gunpowder scrubbed off of them, letting them glisten in the harsh light of the armory.

I frowned at my reflection while Sig helped attach the bracers to my legs. Even though the armor was remarkably lightweight, I was still carrying a lot of uncomfortable metal around my body. I’d left the helmet on a nearby bench, not wanting to bother with it for now. Besides, my mane was so big that it didn’t even fit right. I understood now why Zip kept hers so short.

Gauge watched me from a distance, his expression unreadable. Chaff poked around some of the armor on the nearby stands, most sets covered in a thin layer of dust. They were all salvaged sets pulled off of the bodies of Sentinels who fell in combat, even the armor I was wearing. Sig didn’t say anything about it, but I noticed three blemishes across the chest piece I was wearing, bullet holes that’d been repaired. Somepony died in the armor I was wearing right now. It certainly wasn’t all that comforting.

“I don’t like it,” Gauge muttered for probably like the third or fourth time.

“What else am I supposed to do?” I muttered back at him, starting to get exasperated. “They need more ponies if they want to take out Carrion. We need them if we want to rescue Nova. We don’t have the luxury to just sit on our flanks and hope everything fixes itself.”

“So making yourself their puppet is fine with you?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

“I’m nopony’s fucking puppet!” I shouted back at him, stomping my hoof and sending the bracer Sig was trying to attach to it to the floor. “I’m a mare of Blackwash first, okay? I’m only doing this because I have to. There’s no other way to take down the Crimson!”

“Since when did their problem become ours? Why do we have to die for their stupid war?”

“Since they fucking burned our town to the ground and killed everypony!” I shouted back at him, baring my teeth. “Stars, Gauge, the fuck is wrong with you?! You were so gung-ho about volunteering to fight the Crimson the other day, and now you’re trying to tell me it’s not our fight? I’m trying to save Nova, damn it! Why are you fighting me over this?!”

“Because we’re nothing to them, okay?” he growled back at me, finally walking over from the sidelines. “I heard them talk while you were chasing tail. They want to attack this dam or whatever, where the Crimson are hiding, and they need us for fodder. They don’t care if we know how to shoot a gun or not, they only want us there to give Carrion’s fuckers something else to shoot at other than them. Even if they win, there might not be a Blackwash left when all’s said and done.”

“So what do you want us to do? Fucking nothing? They could be raping her right now for all we know!” As soon as I said the words, I immediately regretted them. Gauge flinched like he’d been struck, and I felt my stomach drop like a rock. I tried to say something to undo the damage I’d done, but there’s no way you can simply make up for something like that.

Sig made some grinding noise with his beak that I assumed was a griffon’s way of biting his lip. Setting the bracer in his hand down, he covered the short distance between him and Gauge in two strides and laid a hand on the zebra’s shoulder. “She will be fine, Gauge. She’s a… what did you call them, ‘techie’? They need her to work on their computers and decode the signal. They won’t hurt her, not so long as this code mystery goes on.”

Stepping away, Sig went back to me and finished putting the bracers on my legs. “As for my opinion… well, it is what it is. We need soldiers if we’re going to win this thing. But it’s no victory if everyone is too dead to appreciate it.” He looked up at me and slowly nodded his head. “Yes, we’re asking ponies who have no business doing what we’re doing to help us. But if we really didn’t care about your lives, we would’ve forced you to fight with us—like the Crimson.”

Gauge sighed and sat down on a bench, putting his head in his hooves. “I just don’t want to see any more ponies I know die.”

“They killed Mom in front of me, Gauge,” I said, sympathizing from where I stood. “Believe me, I don’t want to see anypony else die as well.”

To our surprise, Chaff piped up from the corner of the room. “But if the Crimson aren’t stopped, aren’t more ponies gonna die?”

I gravely nodded at him. “It’ll just start over again. They’ll kill us all if we don’t do something.”

The door behind me hissed open, and Zip trotted in, oblivious to our conversation. “My, don’t you look like a real soldier,” she purred, moving to Sig’s side and looking me over. “It’s a good look, Ember.”

“Right now, it’s all look,” Sig said, pointing to the empty chambers at the flanks of the armor. “Figured it’d be best to leave the guns empty until she learns how to control them. Don’t want an accidental discharge or sixty.”

Zip smirked and brushed off some invisible speck of dust or something on my chest piece. “I could see you as one of us. You’ve certainly got the right attitude for it. Maybe we can get you to model for some propaganda reels.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure I can whip the valley into a frenzy by saying ‘fuck up the Crimson and stuff.’” Shaking my head, I picked up the helmet in my magic and looked at my reflection in the shiny medal. “I’m only doing this because Rampart asked me to. I’ll be the shittiest Sentinel who ever lived if it means getting Nova back.”

“That’s the spirit,” Sig chuckled, stepping back and admiring his work. “Well, you’re all set to go. You think about what you’re going to say?”

My blood ran cold and I felt my knees tremble. “You want me to go out there and give a speech?”

Gauge snickered and crossed his forelegs. “Ember? Giving a speech? This I have to see. You guys better let her curse. That’s half her vocabulary.”

“Shut the fuck up, Gauge,” I hissed at him.

He just smirked and winked at Chaff. “See?”

“Everypony’s gathering for lunch. It’ll be the best time to get the point across,” Zip said. “Everypony can see you, and you can speak to them all at once.”

I felt like I was going to be sick.

Gauge shook his head and stood up. “Not helping,” he said, trotting toward me and gently pushing Zip and Sig back. Standing in front of me, he looked me up and down and nodded approvingly. “I know public speaking isn’t really your thing, Em,” he said, putting a hoof on my armored shoulder. “But, as much as I hate to admit it, you’re right. We’re not going to get anywhere without everypony’s help. They’ll understand it, trust me.” Sighing, he looked away for a brief moment before turning back to me. “Play up your role in rescuing us. I don’t care if you were just some forgemare before all of this; you’re a hero now, undeserved or not. That place was like nightmares come true, and when it was finally over, you were there. Ponies will listen to what you have to say, and if you tell them that the Sentinels need their help to free our neighbors, then they’ll listen.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to try to steady myself. “Okay,” I whispered, shaking off my trembles as best as I could. “But if I fuck this up—”

“You won’t,” Gauge said, taking a step back. “You’ve made it this far. Past a shrike, past the fighting at the Fort, past a damn ringbird. A quick talk to ponies that already respect you is a piece of cake.”

“Easy for you to say,” I grumbled, turning around and staring at the door Zip had just come through. “You’re not the one who’s gonna be talking out of his ass.”

“You want a good luck kiss?” Zip teased, draping a wing over my back.

“It certainly wouldn’t be unappreciated,” I said. A moment later, orange lips pressed against my cheek, but I was still a bit too out of it to respond. Taking a deep breath, I shook my head, rattled the alien armor covering my body, and marched toward the door. “Fuck it. If I stand here any longer I’m gonna soil my shiny new scavenged-off-a-dead-pony armor.”

I set off down the halls like I was being marched to my execution. Gauge was right; I hated public speaking. Like, I had no problem with speaking my mind in front of ponies. That wasn’t the issue. The issue was that I was so concerned with not making an ass of myself that I tended to trip all over my words. Speaking in front of a bunch of ponies wasn’t something that I ever really did in Blackwash (because what the fuck would I be speaking about anyway), so I was definitely a bit… well, scared to speak in front of a hundred plus. Of course it didn’t help that I was just told I had to do this now.

I could’ve really used a cigarette. Too bad I’d left the box in the armory with my other gear.

When we entered the mess, my legs froze in the doorway, like my body was trying to stop me from looking like an idiot in front of all these ponies. Almost all of the survivors from Blackwash were here, along with a lot of Sentinels and their support staff. Probably close to two hundred ponies. Two hundred ponies about to see how big of a fucking dumbass I was.

Gauge nudged my shoulder, and I turned to see him offering me a calm smile. “I’m going to go sit at one of the tables,” he said, pointing to somewhere in the middle of the mess. “If you get stuck, just look for me. Pretend you’re talking to me. Ignore everypony else.”

I gave him a shaky nod, and he trotted off into the crowd after one last pat on my shoulder. I stood there for a minute, watching him go, hoping that some miracle would save me from having to do this. But that wasn’t going to happen. Sig walked out ahead of me, over to a line of empty tables at one of the short ends of the mess, and simply waited expectantly for me to follow.

“If you do this, I’ll give you a hornjob,” Zip whispered in my ear, shooting me an evil smile. That managed to shake me out of my stupor, at least a little bit. She brushed by me, running her tail along my muzzle as she did so. I didn’t realize I was following her until I was already standing between her and Sig.

Stars fucking fuck. Why does that keep working?

I had less time than I would’ve liked to try to gather what meagre thoughts my tiny brain could put together, because Sig stomped his talons and literally fucking shrike screeched to get everypony’s attention. I saw more than a few heads duck in cover; we all knew what that sound meant at Blackwash. Once the Blackwash ponies who’d never met a griffon before got over their shock, all eyes turned toward the three of us at the front of the mess.

And then Zip and Sig stepped back, leaving me front and center.

Fuck.

“Uhm… H-Hey,” I said, though it was more like a whimper. I swallowed hard and fought the urge to rip my own head off. This was already going so great. “I-I just… how’s everypony doing?”

Silence. Fuck me.

I immediately sought out Gauge in the crowd. Thankfully he wasn’t too hard to find; Blackwash only had a small zebra population to begin with. I saw Chaff sitting next to him, and both were giving me encouraging smiles. I did what Gauge said and tried to ignore everypony else in the mess and just talk to them. “I h-hope you all are feeling better now that you’ve had some time to rest and relax. I mean, even the shit they serve here is better than nothing, right? But if you could survive those Crimson fuckers, then a little processed ass can’t kill you.”

That managed to get a chuckle out of them. Thank the stars. Maybe there was hope for me yet.

Gauge gave me a little nod, so I cleared my throat and decided to press whatever advantage I had. “But what’s important is that we’re free now. We’re the lucky ones, you know? The Crimson, they tried to sell us like livestock, but instead we kicked them in the dick and got out alive. But not all of us.”

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. “They still have a bunch of our friends at their base. We may be free, but they aren’t, so we’re not done yet, are we?” I saw a bunch of thoughtful looks and shaking heads, which was good. They were listening, and most importantly, not laughing or whatever. “The Crimson still have some of our friends and family. I don’t know about you, but I don’t plan to rest until they’re free. I don’t give a fuck if I die trying. It’d be better than living and knowing that I gave up on them.”

I looked at Sig and Zip on either side of me and got their approving nods. “None of this would’ve been possible without the Sentinels. They’re the ones that took the Fort and freed you. I just gave them the push they needed to do so. They risked everything for us. They hardly have enough soldiers to hold both this base and the one the Crimson had, and they did it anyway, because they care about ponies. They care about us.

“Now they want to go take the dam,” I said, feeling a little energy making its way into my voice. “That’s going to be really tough. The Crimson are going to have a few hundred ponies there, way more than they had guarding the Fort. And we won’t be able to catch them by surprise again.” Looking over them, I touched my chest piece and the little insignia on it. “Yeah, I said ‘we’. That’s because they need help. They need more soldiers. They need volunteers. And if they’re gonna take out the Crimson once and for all, and save the rest of Blackwash, then I’ll give them everything I can. I’ll become a Sentinel if it means saving the ponies I care about.”

I took a second to let those words sink in before I narrowed my eyes at the ponies closest to me. “If you care about them, then you should too.”

Without another word, I abruptly turned in place and marched off, making a beeline for the nearest door. Only once I disappeared out of sight and ponies began to murmur to each other about what I said did I let my legs collapse from under me. Sliding down a nearby wall, I placed my head in my hooves and took a deep breath.

Hoofsteps and the clicking of talons approached me, and I looked up to see Zip and Sig looking down at me with smiles on their faces. “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Zip asked, kneeling down in front of me. “You’re alive and in one piece, right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” I said, but I couldn’t really hide the shaking in my legs. “At least it’s fucking done with.”

“Now all we have to do is wait and see,” Sig said, looking through the open doorway back into the mess. “Looks like you got them talking, though. That’s a good sign.”

“It better fucking be,” I mumbled, massaging my temples with my hooves. At least I did it. Rampart better be happy. Sighing, I managed to crack a smile and look up at Zip. “I need a cigarette and a hornjob. Not necessarily in that order.”

Zip smirked at me. “That can be arranged.”

“Good,” I brushed a hoof through my mane and shook it out. “Because I’m not looking forward to the next two weeks.”