Base Camp:

“Are you sure that’s exactly what you saw?” Henri asked over breakfast that morning. In the background, a dead mirelurk’s meat (Found and hunted earlier that morning) cooked over a spit.

“Yeah, well, kinda hard to miss a giant anti-air cannon and a whole squadron of Enclave troops, one of whom was shot dead by her own commander,” Target deadpanned. “So yeah, I don’t think I was seeing things,”

Riptalon, as he took a bite out of some radroach meat he’d picked up in Neigh Orleans, looked at them both.

“This isn’t the first time the Enclave’s built Anti-Air cannons for whatever reason or another. I was in Las Pegasus once, this was… Oh, five to seven years ago I think and I found remnants of the Enclave there,” he explained. “Built this giant anti-air cannon out of whatever scrap metal they could find to just blast anyone out of the sky that got a little too close to their base.”

“What happened to it?” Target asked. “Don’t suppose you’re going to come out and say you blew it up, right?”

“Hardly, alerted the NCR under a false name as I didn’t want to be involved in any of that crap, - Valued my life and limbs thank you very much and would rather have them not be disintegrated by a Novasurge rifle- and they sent a bunch of Applejack’s Rangers to go and blow the damn thing up,” Riptalon explained, biting into the radroach meat once again. “Saw the explosion though. Quite the fireworks show, I must say…”

“Who led the squad?” Target asked, her ears perking up in interest.

“Some Knight, don’t quite remember the name. Apple… Apple something or other,” Riptalon said with a shrug. “Sorry, memory’s not what it used to be. May have taken too many blows to the head,

“Now there’s a shock…” Henri drawled. Riptalon, of course, ignored her.

“Might be talking about Apple Pie,” Target replied. “Met her a few times on missions. One of the few members of the Rangers I actually like. What you might call a real go-getter. Does the job she’s asked to do, but not afraid to ask questions,” Target continued before muttering: “Unlike the rest of those assholes in the troop, who only do the job they’re asked to do, and don’t question orders…” to herself.

“You know,” Henri whispered as she leaned over to Target. “You could actually go back to the Rangers at some point. You’d be a star example of what they need, teach them a few things that they’re lacking.”

Target gave her a death glare. Riptalon actually flinched at the sight of it, as did Iron and Midnight who shared a nervous look.

“Hardly, it’d be a cold day in Hell before I step foot near a Ranger and work with them again, much less command a squadron into battle,” she hissed back as she tended to End of the Line. “After Bittersweet Springs, I’m never going kiss up to their elder’s power armored hooves again.”

With that, she placed another magazine into her sniper rifle and set it aside, going back to tending the mirelurk meat and the fire below it.

“Just a thought…” Henri trailed off to herself before she pulled out a map of the entire island.
“Okay, where’d you find that?” Midnight had to ask.

“Found it at the coast guard station earlier,” Henri explained. “Might be a bit out of date, and it definitely won’t show any Enclave settlements on the island or their troop formations, but for now, it’s the best we’ve got,”

“Speaking of our favorite ‘Grand Edginess Enclave’,” Iron said in a mocking tone before it became serious. “Any idea what they’re planning? Sure, build an anti-air cannon on a remote island and you control the air for that entire section of Equestria, but there’s probably more to it than that. I mean, of all the islands, why choose this one? No major civilizations as far as we know of, so no ponies for them to… cleanse if you will,” he asked.

“That’s a good question,” Target replied. “I’ll be sure to ask the commander right before I blow his head clean off.”

“Hey, shut it, both of you!” Midnight snapped. “I hear somebody!”

Everyone grabbed their guns, readying themselves for a fight as a voice drew nearer. Then, as an old and battered sprite-bot flew out of the treeline, the voice could be heard very clearly.

“The outside world, the one we now find ourselves in, below the clouds is nothing but a corrupt rotting husk,” an aged voice said, sounding not too dissimilar to that of a preacher’s own. Target groaned, she knew that voice. It was the commander of the Enclave forces here. “But we do not find ourselves here by choice, oh no… It was thanks to the mutated slime of the Wastes that our cloud cover was destroyed. Our paradise… Our home, our sanctuary from those who propagate this festing mockery of the true Equestria. Celestia’s vision was not this hulk, we aim to bring it back. Reason is absent here, we aim to bring it back,”

“Gawd above…” Henri muttered as she shook her head. “Not even Winter Breeze is this insane…”

“Instead of order, there is only chaos, Discord! Chaos does not punish evil, nor does it reward righteousness,” the voice continued to preach as part of his little sermon. “It cuts innocent lives short! We’re supposed to accept this as fate, simply that. Nothing more, nothing less! We as a people, are supposed to accept chaos as our way of life!” the voice roared. “I beg to differ, we as a people can fix this problem, just like any other problem. All we need is your help, strong and able pegasi bodies who are willing to fight to take back what is rightfully theirs! You stand in the center of a great instrument of change, my instrument. My will… No, that’s not right… Celestia’s will! But my, along with her will alone is not enough for such a monumental task. That’s where you come in. It is only through your will, your toil, your labors alone that we can accomplish this,

“You’re all damn good soldiers, damn good… So prove it! Take back your land from those who infest this wasted Hell like a plague, and cleanse it! Like a doctor closing up a wound, we will do the same to Equestria… Fix the wounds in its broken body, and sew and stitch them up. We shall remake the land, and it shall be unrecognizable to those who live in it now. Of course, those who live in now will be no longer there to see it, but in war… there will always be things such as acceptable losses. I strive to achieve perfection, and you can help! Just sign up now, ignore Winter’s preaching about her ways of building a better Equestria, and follow mine...”

Then whatever Stormy Skies (as they would learn later he was called) had to say next on his little evangelism sermon, it was cut off when Riptalon shot the sprite-bot into tiny metal pieces with a blast from Lawgiver.

“I really hate sermons…” he muttered, shaking his head.

“Bet you were a real thrill to have in a church, weren't you?” Iron snarked in a deadpan tone of voice.

“Whoever says I went to one?” Riptalon asked cheekily.

“Wouldn’t shock me in the least if you never went to one…” Target muttered. “But all the same, thanks for that. Getting real tired of listening to him.”

“I’m… I’m sorry, did I just get thanked by one of you?” Riptalon asked, sounding incredibly smug.

“Yeah? Well, don’t hold your breath, probably won’t be happening again,” the mare replied.

“You are so ungrateful, you know that?” Riptalon huffed, crossing his front legs like a child.

“Anyways, back to the matter at hand,” Henri said, going back to the unfolded map. “We need to know more about this island, get a better picture of what’s actually here. We need more territory, and I know a good place to start,” she said before continuing. “While we were on the train towards the island, I spotted a small fishing village, and a communications tower in a cove. By my guess, it’s just a good day’s walk from here. If we hurry, we can reach that village just after nightfall,”

“Sounds like a plan,” Target agreed, nodding along. “And if we can get that comm tower up and running, we might be able to call in for some reinforcements if needed. And Celestia knows we’re going to need them given all these Enclave forces on the ground, heavily armed as they are,”

“Agreed,” Henri said, before pointing to a specific spot on the map, a small little place on its northwest side. “There, that’s the place. Heartstrings Cove. Good place to start on taking back this island, and could serve as a better base camp then well… this,” Henri said, gesturing to the makeshift camp all around them. “Eat up, because we move out soon.”

A city of clouds, again. That’s where the observer as Iron had learned to call him -As he was always the one Iron was seeing these memories/visions/whatever the Hell they were through- was once more. He was next to a Vertibuck, helping some pegasi clad in insectoid like power armor load supplies into it. A giant monstrosity of a Raptor class Cloudship hovered ominously in the background.

“Shame you’ve decided not to come along, Nimbus,” Autumn Leaf asked, as a pony with a white mane and beard stood by him. “As Stormy here likes to say, you’re a damn good soldier or some such shit,”

“Please, if you’re going to take on the Equestrian Wastes… Well, I think with everything you’ve loaded up, along with all the bodies -And trust me, there will be bodies- you’re throwing at this, you’re plenty prepared. You don’t need me, honestly. Swear to Celestia. Cross my heart and hope to fly,” Nimbus remarked.

“Yeah,” Autumn Leaf replied. “There will be bodies, yes. But they won’t be pegasi bodies… at least, none of our pegasi. Any of them who chose to hide out in Stables, well… that’s another story entirely…” he chuckled.

“So let it be written, so let it be done…” Stormy added. “This is the Wastes’ last day of impurity. The land shall be cleansed, and only the pure, untainted shall live in the Hell below, and transform it into paradise,”

Nimbus turned to Autumn as Stormy walked off towards a waiting Vertibuck. “Surely you’re not listening to this religious nut, right? Why he’s a soldier, I’ve got no clue. Bit too… preachy for my tastes, really,” the stone gray pegasus remarked, with more than a hint of disdain and disgust.
“Yes, I admit, he’s possibly not all there, and worships Celestia a bit too much, but he’s harmless in the end, really…” Autumn tried to reassure.

“Yeah, well, that’s what they said about the zebras, and look what happened there, eh?” Nimbus retorted.

“That’s entirely different, and you know it. The zebras are scum, they sought to destroy everything Equestria stood for, while Stormy Skies is a loyal soldier to our grand Enclave,” Autumn Leaf replied. Nimbus raised an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah? Keep telling yourself that, and you might just believe it…” Nimbus muttered before whispering to himself: “In all honesty, I think the world’s going to end bloody.”

Later that morning, the company found themselves heading out back into the misty forests in the northwesterly direction of Heartstrings Cove. Not much faced them, aside from the odd mirelurk which was quickly blown to pieces by either Midnight or Riptalon.

As for the Enclave, they kept surprisingly quiet. Too quiet really. It would be all too easy for a squad of their troops to leap out of the mist, Novasurge rifles or Star Blasters a-blazing in one deadly ambush, but none came.

“Would it be too much to ask that we scared them all away with our little show of force earlier?” Midnight asked.

“Doubtful,” Iron commented. “You want my opinion, they’re all probably guarding that cannon of theirs. They know we’re a threat, but I don’t think they’re scared of us. More likely, they’re scared of that cannon of theirs being blown up and are massing their forces there.”

“So they are scared of us,” Midnight piped up. Iron scoffed in return.

“No, not right now at least. We’re a threat, sure… But not one they particularly care for. I mean, compared to their small army… We’re just a gnat on a windscreen. Fly in the ointment, if you will. I’m just being realistic here, that’s all,” Iron stated.

“Great, ya just had to go and ruin my little fantasy, didn’t you…?” Midnight muttered to himself and clutched his shotgun tighter.

“Yeah, would really love that Eyes Forward Sparkle system about now…” Iron muttered quietly to himself as he scanned the treelines around him with his rifle. His weapon’s scope was green in color, matching his Pipbuck’s screen perfectly.

“I’ll see what I can do about getting it re-implemented if we get out of here alive. Promise,” Henri said. “Hell, cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a damn cupcake in my eye if I have to.”

Along the way, the group passed another one of those signs endorsing Pon!, and this one had a picture of that same pink toned mare, grinning happily like before. She was holding up a can of the stuff alongside a pale blue mare -Also with that far too cheesy grin- wearing a purple wizard’s cape and pointed hat that was decked in stars. It read and asked: “Starlight Glimmer and Trixie Lulamoon drink Pon!, so why shouldn’t you?”

“Celestia above, I swear if I see another one of those signs, I’m blowing it up with a grenade…” Target muttered as she shook her head in disgust. “Wonder how much they got paid to pose for that thing?”

“More than us, I suspect,” Iron drawled, and Target actually laughed at that statement. Suddenly, the Pipbuck’s inbuilt radio crackled, picking up a signal.

“Must be getting close to Heartstrings Cove, and the comm tower if we’re getting a signal of some sort. It’s still broadcasting!” Midnight said in triumph as a song, almost completely illegible and covered in static began to play.

Target then noted Henri looking at Trixie with a sad smile.

“What’s wrong, commander?” the sharpshooter mare asked.

“It’s… It’s just… jarring,” Henri admitted. “Seeing Trixie all so happy like that, so… normal, before she got involved in this war and became that madmare we know as the Goddess…” the griffon trailed off sadly.

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Target agreed, a tear slipping from her eye. “Seeing bits and pieces of the Old World, it breaks your heart, doesn’t it? Imagining what could have been had everything been talked out and knowledge and resources shared, no misunderstandings…”

“But that’s impossible now isn’t it? The only ones who could have prevented… Well, all of this are dead,” Henri said sadly, shaking her head. In the end, I suppose we’re all subject to one thing. Becoming dust in the wind,”

“Yeah, death takes us all in the end. It’s only a matter of time,” Target replied. “Sometimes sooner than we expect. Either you, or someone you care deeply about.”

“You know something?” Henri asked. “You remember Puppysmiles, the Ghost of Route 52?”

“I’ve… I've heard the stories. You were there, weren't you? At the endpoint, where she was buried. After some sort of dark goddess took over that poor filly’s body at Emerald Shores? Possessed her like a demon would,” Target replied.

“More than just stories. I had to help lay that poor filly to rest, help her pass on,” Henri replied, and everyone in her company found their eyes widening simultaneously. “Her being a ghost, more truth to that than the stories tell. She really was dead all along, from the moment I met her. And yet… She, she sorta had this perkiness to her, almost nothing ever really seemed to get her down,” the griffon continued, tears coming to her eyes at the memories. “Innocence of a filly, mixed with that Megaspell that created the Canterlot Pink Cloud, and you got Puppysmiles alright. Sure, she was a pain in the ass, but she had a way of getting to you, you know?”

“Yeah… Little fillies, or any child really, they grow on you,” Target admitted sorrowfully, shaking her head. “Take it from me, I’ve grown close to children, only to see them taken away from you far too soon by this nightmare we live in.”

“And… And that’s just it, I wish… Sometimes I do wish it had been me instead of her, the one who got possessed and had to be taken down,” Henri sighed. “I’ve been living in the past for the last ten years, and I probably always will be in some manner, but I’ll be damned if I won’t honor her memory in some way,” the griffon hen stated firmly before looking at her company. “Know that Nightmare Cult, the one that’s been kidnapping away fillies and foals in the dark for some reason? Well, if they ever meet me, they’re going to be wishing they prayed to a different goddess, as they’ll be meeting her very shortly if I have anything to say about it.”

Riptalon, for once not being rude or snarky in any way, laid a talon on her shoulder in reassurance.

“And you won’t be facing them alone, that I can tell you. I may be many things, but if there’s one thing I do hate, it’s disrespect to the dead or child-kidnappers. This cult… They ever meet me, they’re going to be getting a few shotgun blasts to the face. Alicorn or not.”

“T-Thank you…” Henri whispered, hardly able to believe the words coming out of her mouth. Then, the company of five strode onto the main street. All around them, dilapidated and ruined buildings were around them. Some were still mostly intact, others had holes blasted right through them. Others, they’d been stripped utterly down to their foundations by bombardment.
Midnight, as he scanned the area with his shotgun barked out: “Keep an eye out for ghouls, they love these places. Raiders as well, just in case some survived the Enclave’s takeover.”

Laser fire then forced the black pony to duck behind what was once the brick wall of a house.
“Not ghouls or Raiders we gotta worry about, looks like our old friends aren’t through with us yet!” Henri shouted as she took cover behind a pine tree and unholstered Black Rose and White Rose. “Target, Iron, get up somewhere high and provide us some covering fire! Riptalon, Midnight, you’re with me!”

All of her company nodded as the music over the radio began to become more listenable as the ponies got nearer to the comms tower. Target and Iron clambered up some stairs and took positions with their rifles as Henri, Midnight and Riptalon charged into the fray, guns blazing up a storm. This song, now fully audible, played all the while.

“YYYYYYEEEEEHHHH!

“There's nothing in the streets
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now parting on the right

“And the beards have all grown longer overnight
I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play…”

Target, as she laid prone to a rooftop with End of the Line ready to fire, watched Henri take out two Enclave soldiers with her pistols. Riptalon popped out from behind a piece of rubble and blasted another point blank in the chest before getting behind another one and severing his throat.

The area between the head and neck seemed to go unarmored on these troops, and the helmets seemed to be comprised of lighter armor than the norm suggesting they might have been only scouts. Another clue that suggested that this might have been the case was that only half carried the usual Novasurges, the other half carrying old hunting rifles. Either that, or this Enclave branch was running out of metal for their armor and conserving their more powerful weapons. Whatever the case, this provided considerably more tactics in taking them out.

Target lined up a shot, and watched two soldiers light up green in S.A.T.S, both of which were atop a opposing rooftop taking potshots with their rifles. One dark orange beam flew over Midnight’s head, and he barely ducked in time as he fired off a shot.

Target smirked and muttered: “Bitch, please. Actually give me a challenge, why don’t you?” and fired one shot through both of the soldiers’ heads, blood and brain matter splattering the rooftop as their bodies hit it with audible thudding sounds.

Iron stared at the shot, slack-jawed before he regained the power of speech and managed to mutter out a “Holy Shit…”

Not to be outdone, he fired off several shots as well. His hoof began squeezing the trigger three times and he shot down three soldiers, one by one, in quick succession as they got a little too close to comfort to Midnight for Iron’s liking. If you looked closely, glinting in the sunlight on the weapon’s wooden casing, you could actually see the words Iron had inscribed on the rifle.

Vox Populi, or the voice of the people in plain Equestrian.

“Show-off…” Target muttered to herself and sighed as she shook her head.

Midnight smirked, and tossed the pegasus a wink before blasting another soldier with his custom semi-auto shotgun. Her hunting rifle clattered to the already bloody ground, chest armor and the body ripped open by the sheer force of the blast.

Then, he found himself flung into some rubble by a giant of a pegasus, in full powered armor, stinger tail swinging dangerously. Apparently, when Midnight wasn’t looking, he’d failed to see the pegasus rocket in. Unlike his troops, this pegasus’s armor seemed to have no visible weak spots.

Said pegasus was now in the amber sights of Riptalon’s S.A.T.S. Several powerful blasts from Lawgiver ripped through the chest armor making the soldier stagger. However, just as Riptalon reloaded, a shot from a random hunting rifle knocked the powerful shotgun from his talons. It flew off into the distance, and a clattering sound as it hit the ground come from somewhere nearby.

“Cute, real cute…” Riptalon muttered as he saw two more Enclave soldiers jump down from a ruined building. One was quickly cut down by Iron, but the other fired off his Novasurge at Riptalon who ducked to the left to avoid being shot. He got in close and socked the soldier in the throat with a curled up paw before slashing open the neck armor with his knife. A stinger tail swung out and sent Riptalon flying back, kicking up dust as he landed on the pavement.

Groaning out in pain as he clutched his chest, Midnight then pulled out a throwing star. With a deadly accuracy, he threw it right at the pegasus’s exposed throat finishing the job.

Gurgling, and dripping blood, he went down and the rifle clattered to the pavement. As Riptalon ran for it laying only a few feet away, he was then knocked off his paws by the sheer giant of a pegasus who could only be the commander of this little regiment. Even with his chest plating ripped to pieces, he was still a considerable threat. This was only amplified by when the commander sprouted wrist blades from his forelegs.

Growling, Riptalon drew his knife and spun it in his paw.

“So, it’s a battle of the blades you want eh? Well, then that’s what you’re going to get…” the griffon growled out as he and the trooper circled each other. Weapons fire from other firefights surrounded them, but neither paid them any attention, only focused on the other.

“Seriously, you overcompensating much?” Riptalon mocked. “Never seen a pegasus with pop-out wrist blades before…”

His opponent stayed silent.

With a derisive snort, the griffon charged the armored pegasus. Riptalon, after years of fending for himself, thought he could handle anything. Anyone. However, as the pair clashed, it was clear he was outmatched as he spent more time dodging the blows and strikes of his opponent rather than slashing out with his own knife, knowing that allowing a single strike backed by the strength of the armor to connect would prove fatal. The few strokes Riptalon could get in, his blade merely sparked as it skittered across the armor of his enemy. As much as he’d like to get help, that couldn’t happen. Sadly, because his other teammates were so busy with their own fights, Riptalon would have to go this one alone. Finally, his luck ran out as the pegasus got a hoof under him and with a mighty heave lifted the griffon up before slamming him on the ground on his back, pinning him down with a hoof.

Knocked to the ground, and with a blade held to his throat, Riptalon decided to face death the only way he knew how. With defiance. He spat in the commander’s face and just as the blade swung, a single shot rang out and the pegasus fell to the ground dead with a thud.

Smoke trailing from the muzzle of his rifle, stood Iron. He tossed an empty clip aside and strode towards the bleeding Riptalon.

“Believe that’s two you owe me.” he remarked simply as he helped the griffon up.

“Shut up you bastard…” Riptalon grumbled as he used a stimpak on one of his arms. “Just get to that comms tower and see what you can do about getting this place reconnected to the mainland eh?”

A few minutes later, with some minor bouts of frustration involved, there came a shout.

“We’re up and running, we are back in business baby!” Target shouted and clapped her hooves in triumph before firing off a single shot from End of the Line into the air in her jubilee. Next, she tuned her Pipbuck to the local radio stations. And then, a simply impossible voice broke through the static.

“This… This is Twilight Sparkle, Ministry Mare and Princess of Equestria! Can… Can anybody hear me?”

Author's Notes:

Edited by Kyleradams, Randomnoob57, and Eagle-Paladin of Shadows, cause they're awesome.

Anyways, first real clash with the Enclave, and Twilight's revealed to be alive. Just to clear things up, the Ezio wannabe was not Stormy Skies, different commander. And as for Twilight, given the circumstances of how she seemed to regain her individuality from the goddess, it's entirely possible, at least I think, she may have escaped and is still alive.