I tried not to flinch as the blue sun shone directly into my eyes.

Around me were the graves of one hundred and seventeen ponies and griffons, dug into the soft ground. Another nineteen had died during the night despite what limited treatment the Sentinels could give them, so more graves had to be dug than the ninety-eight we’d originally planned for. Each body laid to the left of its designated grave, covered in a tarp. Two bodies in particular stood out from the rest, lying in makeshift caskets with a rifle resting on top of each. One of those caskets held an orange pegasus inside, her pretty eyes forever shut, her muzzle wiped clean of blood and resting peacefully for eternity.

I stood in a line with six other Sentinels, our rifles resting on their butts at our hooves and their barrels at our right shoulders. Across from the graves dug in the ground stood a congregation of the survivors from the assault, watching the ceremony with solemn eyes. Despite the quiet reverence and mourning hanging over us, the sun had decided to poke its brilliant blue light through the clouds, adding what I felt was an unwelcome cheer to the funeral.

Standing square in the middle of the RTZ, just ahead of the graves, was Fusillade. She’d worn some cloth bandages over the left side of her face to cover her destroyed eye, and somehow she’d gotten her officer’s uniform to wear from the Bastion. I guess she had a unicorn teleport back specifically for that last night or this morning. After a moment to collect her thoughts, she looked over the crowd and cleared her throat.

“The battle is over,” she said, her voice mournful, solemn. “That much we can see around us. The towers that shelled us on this very ground a day ago are silent. The machine guns that tried to hold back our cause have been taken down. There is no fighting here. Not anymore. For we did our part—all of us. Everyone standing before me today did what they had to do to ensure that the light of the future could shine through the darkness of the past. And that goes doubly so for these brave souls we are about to commit to their final rest.”

Tears pricked at my eyes, and I blinked quickly to hold them back. Fusillade, meanwhile, merely bowed her head in reverence for the bodies lying behind her. “Every one of them believed in a dream for the future. They dreamed of a world without the violence and destruction sown by our predecessors. They dreamed of a world free from pain and misery, cruelty and abuse. Yesterday, they fell to defend that dream, so that one day, we may wake and find that the dream has become a reality. And now it is up to us to honor their legacy and continue their work.

“Before peace can be won, it has to be earned,” Fusillade continued, raising her head high. “Some of us will yet give our lives for the dream of peace, and when we do, we will pass the torch to the next generation. As long as the spark of good remains in our hearts, evil will not wipe hope from this world. There is a future for Auris yet, and it is a bright one. And today, with our victory over the Crimson, we have taken a vital step to earning it.”

She looked around her and gestured with a hoof. “The land we give to these heroes will be forever hallowed with their sacrifice. When one day Auris knows nothing but peace and prosperity, the people of that future will look back to this small patch of dirt overlooking the valley and know that this is where it began. And they will know that we stood, we fought, and we died for them. Because Auris is bigger than all of us. And the future is worth dying for.”

She stood still, her eyes slowly wandering over the crowd. Then, turning around to face the graves, she saluted. “Pour la chance, l’honneur, et la gloire! We take the watch!”

Sigur, who’d been standing off to the side of me and the other six rifleponies, suddenly snapped to attention. “Present arms!”

As one, we picked up our rifles in our magic and aimed them skyward. At each command, we fired in unison until three volleys had been fired. The volleys echoed throughout the valley, cracking against the mountains, dancing over the river, fading into the blue sky. A final salute to the fallen.

The crowd began to disperse, and several ponies began to move the bodies into the graves, gently laying each one down six feet. I broke ranks with my fellow Sentinels to go sit by Zip’s side one last time, and I simply sat there, stroking the Equestrian flag draped over her coffin. The blue sun warmed my coat, naked and without armor, as I sat by her side. Pterofyns and other birds sang their songs, and the rushing of water through the dam’s spillways added a pleasant background buzz to the day. You know, I take back what I said earlier. Even though I felt like my heart was about to split open again, it was a beautiful day. A peaceful day. And if I imagined that Zip gave her life to guarantee days like this for years to come…

Heh. I’m getting sappy. But I think it was worth it.

Four figures approached me, each laden with bags for a long journey ahead. Gauge and Nova stood in front of me, and Brass and Sig dropped some more supplies on the ground. I didn’t say anything to them as they approached, only continued to stroke the flag on Zip’s coffin.

“She’ll rest easy here,” Brass said, nodding to the coffin. “We’ll take good care of them all. We’ll never forget what they did for us. As far as I’m concerned, this is holy ground from now on.”

I smiled a bit and nodded. “Thanks, Brass. That… that means a lot to me.”

Brass bowed his head. “I’m happy, then. You’ve given so much for us, Ember. I wish I could get you to stay, but… well, I guess you don’t owe us anything after all that.”

I waved my hoof. “Don’t worry about that. I owed it to you guys to get you free. We’re even now.”

Brass smirked a bit and opened the bag he dropped. After nosing around in it for a second, he pulled out a tin and popped open the lid. Inside were two, maybe three dozen biscuits and other pastries. “It’s not much, and I can’t promise you that the Crimson had any quality ingredients lying around, but some of the mares stayed up real late last night to make you these when they heard you were leaving. It’ll be like carrying a little bit of home with you until you can make it to the next settlement over.”

I took the tin and looked them over in my magic. They were crumbly, yes, but a nibble on one proved they still tasted like home. “Honey Cakes made these, didn’t she?” I asked, smiling. She always made the best desserts.

“She was the one who came up with the idea,” Brass said. “She would’ve been up here to see you off, but she could hardly stand after she was done.”

I closed the tin and slid it into one of my bags. “Thanks. Tell everypony that I’m so thankful for the gift. And… a-and that I love them so much.”

Brass nodded and took a step back while I batted away tears forming on my lashes. “We’re all rooting for you, Ember,” he said. “And when this is all over, we’ll have a spot of honor for you here at the dam. The gates will always be open to you. No matter where you go, Blackwash will always be your home.”

In his place, Sig stepped forward and dropped a bag of ammo. “Six hundred .308 rounds for that rifle of yours,” he said, “plus a few sidearms and ammo, and some miscellaneous bullets for bartering.” He dropped another bag and looked at Gauge and Nova. “First aid supplies, binoculars, medicine, and camp supplies. You name it, it’s probably in here.” Then, smirking, he glanced at me before extending a talon in my direction. “Make sure you watch out for this one. She’ll probably need bandages by the end of the first day.”

“You have so little faith in me,” I teased, rolling my eyes.

“Yeah,” Nova said, chuckling. “It’ll take her two days to hurt herself.”

“Shut up, Nov,” I said, laughing and shaking my head. When the mirth died away, I leaned toward Sigur and hugged him. “Thanks for all this. Thanks for everything.” Smirking, I added, “If it weren’t for you and Zip all those nights ago, that Crimson patrol would’ve dragged me back to the fort and we’d never be where we are now.”

“I try to make it a point to save as many as I can,” Sig said, winking. “You never know when they’ll come in handy later.” Then, shaking his head, he added, “Whatever happens out there, Ember, just stay true to your heart. It’ll lead you the right way when things start to get difficult. But I have no doubt whatsoever that you’ll succeed. You’re too stubborn of a bitch to quit.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, punching him in the shoulder. “You too, you big birdbrain.” He smiled and stepped back, and I turned to Nova and Gauge. “You guys sure you want to do this? You don’t have to do anything. If you want to stay, I won’t think any less of you.”

Gauge smiled softly and stepped closer to me, SCaR puttering along after him. “No, you wouldn’t,” he said, placing a hoof on my shoulder. “But we would. You’re our best friend, Ember. We’d do anything for you. Even if that means leaving everything we’ve ever known behind to follow you and make sure you succeed.”

Nova nodded and grinned. “We’re with you a hundred percent of the way!”

I sniffled and wiped at some more tears. “Thanks, guys,” I said, leaning forward and quickly embracing Gauge. Nova threw herself onto the pile a few seconds later, and we all nuzzled each other for a good long while. “I don’t know what I’d ever do without you.”

“Probably something dumb,” Gauge said, grinning. SCaR chattered with synthetic laughter, and even I couldn’t help but smile a bit.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. But hey, stupidity got me this far…”

After a few more quick laughs, our attention turned to the coffin next to us. I looked back at Sig and he gestured toward it. “Ready?”

“Just a second,” I said, kneeling down by it one more time. Biting my lip, I hesitated on what to do for a second before I just leaned in and pressed my cheek against it. “Thank you, Zip,” I said, my voice barely more than a solemn whisper. “For everything. You taught me so many things… you showed me how to live life… how to love to the fullest.” Sniffling, I closed my eyes and let a few tears soak the flag. “I will never, ever, forget you. And when I dream, I’ll come find you. And we can be together, if only for the night.” Sniffling and dabbing at my eyes, I lifted my head and placed my hoof against the coffin one last time. “I love you. Forever and always.”

Then I stepped back and nodded to Sig. The griffon wordlessly made his way to one end of the coffin, and I moved to the other. Then, between my magic and his talons, we picked her up and lowered her into her grave, removing the flag and the rifle afterwards. It didn’t take long to bury her, leaving nothing behind except for a brown rectangle of upturned dirt and a slightly raised mound in the ground.

Closing my eyes, I took a few last shuddering breaths, and let my tears fall on the dirt. Here she’d rest for the rest of time. The only thing to remind future generations of her sacrifice would be a cross with a white sun in the center. For now, however, we only had a plank with the name ‘Acting-Commander Zip’ carved into it. Simple, but it would do for now.

Sighing, I turned and looked west, walking past the four of them to get a clear view of the valley. A crystal blue river ran between gently sloping mountains of pink and orange, curving a bit to the south after many miles. White clouds floated overhead, and the distant figures of shrikes and other birds wheeled high above the grasses below. It was picturesque and beautiful. I couldn’t think of a better spot to bury her.

“I’m a bit jealous of her view,” I joked when I heard them walk up behind me. “The sunsets must be amazing.”

Turning around, I picked up my bags and set them across my back. Nova and Gauge had already done the same with theirs. Then, softly smiling, I stepped forward, and we all embraced. I made sure to give Brass and Sig an extra squeeze. “I’ll miss you two.”

“And we’ll miss you,” Brass said, and Sig nodded his agreement. “Take care out there.”

“We will,” I said. “Besides, I’ve got the two smart ponies to make sure I don’t do something stupid. We’ll be fine.”

Sig bowed his head and ran his beak through my mane quickly. When he stepped back, he squeezed my shoulder once before letting go. “I’ll be waiting for you to come back. And if you happen to find any old comms networks, drop the Bastion a line. I’ll make sure we’ll have an open channel to talk. I’ll be waiting.”

I nodded and slapped him on the shoulder. “Take care, big guy. Keep Dacie in line.” I turned to Brass and bumped hooves with him as well. “Show the Sentinels that the Blackwash militia is the best in the valley.”

“I’ll make sure they know it,” he said. “Take care!”

We nodded to him and began our walk back through the dam. Everywhere we looked, ponies, griffons, and Sentinels alike stopped what they were doing to wave at us and offer us words of encouragement. It made my heart soar just to receive this much support, and Nova looked like she was beaming with excitement. As for Gauge and SCaR, well, one of them seemed much more excited in the attention than the other.

But soon enough, we made it to the last gate at the south end of the dam. We paused at the threshold, looking out at the land on the other side, and the old trail worn into the ground that turned sharply to the east against the flow of the river. It went on for probably three miles before it wound to the right, out of sight. If the map we’d been given was any good, there’d be a passage through the mountains in about twenty miles. Beyond that? Well… I wanted to be surprised.

Smiling at Gauge and Nova, I adjusted my bags and made sure they fit comfortably. “Well, you two ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Gauge said. SCaR chirped its agreement.

“Yup yup yup,” Nova said, grinning at me. “I’ve had enough of the dam. There’s a whole world out there, and I want to see it.”

“Then we’ll do our best to see it,” I said, striking a path down the trail. Gauge and Nova followed me, though we measured our pace by Nova’s to make sure she didn’t exhaust herself. The dam dwindled and dwindled behind us, and the road ahead bloomed into a new horizon, a path into the unknown. Who knew what awaited us beyond these mountains? I certainly didn't... but we were going to find out.

Two hours later, I looked back over my shoulder.

The dam was gone.

Author's Notes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTlLJIO01sA