Nimbus was… nervous if you wanted to put it one way. On the other hand, his body -as much as he hated to admit it- quivered with anticipation. Finally, he told himself, another chance to go up against Stormy Skies and his little gang of nutjobs. Trouble was, his little gang now included whatever the hell was left of the Society.

That was not an appetizing prospect, going into battle against the Society even as spread thin as they were. Alicorns were still Alicorns, and even without the Goddess backing them up it was almost impossible for a normal pony to actually take them on without resorting to… drastic measures. Target blowing up a train just to kill one sprung to mind.

And that wasn’t taking into account any of Winter Breeze’s forces down there, who probably weren’t on the friendliest of terms with any NCR members.

Even as far away as they were, just cruising over the suburbs on the outskirts of Manehatten, Nimbus could see the glow of magic spells being fired, and the lights of the city. Or was that flame rising from the partially destroyed buildings? He couldn’t tell.

“What’s the situation down there?” Henri asked into her radio, the whir of the vertibuck’s rotors making her voice nearly inaudible. Nearly.

A voice crackled back.

“Firebright, that you?” a southern-accented voice asked. For a brief second, Nimbus spared a glance towards Target, who seemed to freeze up at that voice. Nimbus filed that away for later, it might be something to worry about. Last thing he wanted was somepony unexpected throwing a spanner into the works, as his luck was oft to do. “Nice ta hear from ya! So, they’re bringing out everyone for this? Okay, here’s the sit-rep. Your landing location? Grid 3-2-Kilo? Hot as Tartarus down here, Ah’m seeming Winter Breeze’s and Stormy Skies’ Enclaves exchanging fire in the streets. Scootaloo’s making her way up through this madness… somehow, but Ah’d advise you not to land. Ah repeat, Ah’d advise ya not to land.”

“Roger recon. I’ll take those comments under advisement,” Henri said, loading her pistols and turning off the radio and looking towards a certain ghoul. It was clear what her position was on the matters. “Gabrielle, you’re with me. We’ll be providing air support. Nimbus, Jabari, and Riptalon, get to ground. Do whatever you have to. Clear a path for Scootaloo towards Winter, and help out any of our boys who need it. Target, be our eyes up top. Snipe whoever gets close to our boys on the ground. Just do what you do best.”

She tossed End of the Line towards Target, while Riptalon loaded up Lawgiver and Nimbus did the same with Songbird. “Twilight?” Henri asked to the alicorn, flying alongside the Vertibuck. “You’re the heavy, hang back and help me and Gabby deal with any aerial… inconveniences. Now remember everyone, this is not an officially sanctioned mission -Thank you Nimbus!- so if we get into trouble, there isn’t going to be any help coming our way. To put it simply, we’re on our own.”

“That’s bad.” Gabby remarked, shooting a glare towards Nimbus. Along with just about everybody else for that matter. Sure, they all shared the sentiments of Winter Breeze getting ahold of the Celestia One Megaspell being a very bad thing, but they all wished they had backup coming if things went south. Nimbus, by dragging them off on this personal little vendetta/quest of his had denied them any chance of that.

“Apologies for that, but considering Regina -even if she had good reason not to venture here- wasn’t going to lend aid to our boys on the ground someone had to step up,” said pegasus remarked. “And on aerial inconveniences, let’s define them. I’d say they’re like… Like say… that?” Nimbus asked, as he gestured to a dark figure on the horizon, heavily armored and winged, with one long horn producing like a lance from his(?) forehead. A glow of magic, and one powerful beam was fired towards the vertibuck, Henri just barely managing to dodge the blast of energy, which scythed the roof of a building.

Nimbus quickly got to one of the guns of the vertibuck, and let loose with a barrage of fire as Twilight banked left and let the armored Alicorn have it with a blast of magic. The chaingun rattled and shook in Nimbus’ hooves, and eventually the searing pain as it heated up forced him to let go. The armored Alicorn had deflected Twilight’s fire with a shield, and slammed her up against the side of the vertibuck with a blast of magic from his own horn.

The vehicle rocked in mid-air and both Nimbus and Jabari were thrown to the floor. Wiping blood away from his mouth, Jabari managed to cough out: “Who the Tartarus is that?”

“I’ve… I’ve heard rumors,” Nimbus replied as he reached for his gun, only for another blast from the alicorn to knock it away from him as the vertibuck shook. He gritted his teeth, he doubted their form of transportation could take another hit like that one. “Winter… I’ve heard she’s had an Alicorn of her own at her beck and call. Memory’s a little fuzzy. Think that same alicorn was in Coltlumbia, her personal… dragon if you will.”

“So, how do we kill it?” Riptalon asked, cursing and swearing up a storm under his breath. He really, and I mean really hated days like this.

“Simple answer…” Nimbus replied after thinking for a moment. “I’m not sure we can. Never met anyone who lived through a battle with Tornado, as they call it.”

“You’re a real hope-bringer, you are,” Riptalon muttered as he watched Twilight and ‘Tornado’ exchange magical blasts in mid-air, a part of their own personal dogfight. “Out of the way,” he barked, tearing his attentions away from the alicorns and brushing past Nimbus. “If you want me to return that kiss, you’d better let me have a clean shot at that piece of ugly!”

“Fine. Light is green, light ‘er up. Just don’t hit Twilight,” Nimbus barked, opening one of the sliding doors on either side of the vertibuck. “Doubt Celestia would be very forgiving if we killed her favorite student.”

“Fuck you too…” Riptalon muttered, tossing a very rude gesture Nimbus’ way as he took control of the chaingun, and lit up the air with gunfire. He honestly didn’t care if he hit Twilight. Celestia’s favorite student or not, she was still partially the reason the Wastes were the way they were, and he still hadn’t forgiven her for that, nor the entire mess she’d gotten them into back on Mount Pleasant Island.

“Can’t… Can’t get a shot!” Target shouted, over the bellow of the engines. “It’s too fast for me!”

“So,” Gabby remarked. “This what it’s always like for you bunch, or is this one of those ‘special’ days?”

“Nope, this is about par for the course for us,” Nimbus sighed, Henri maneuvering the vertibuck around Tornado just to get a better line of sight for Riptalon, or to avoid another magical blast. “Our regiment’s speciality… Well, I’d like to say it’s bringing down Hell upon others, but usually it seems to be the other way around.” he deadpanned over the roar of the chaingun.

“That’s… enlightening.” Gabby remarked before a blast of magical energy scythed through one of the rotors of the machine, sending it into what was practically a death spiral. “And that’s worse.” she said, possibly making the understatement of the century.

“Brace yourselves!” Henri shouted as the ground rushed up to meet them, and Twilight’s voice called out their names in fear...

When Nimbus awoke, he found himself high in the sky. Peaceful, and back in an apartment in Coltlumbia. It was as if nothing had happened. No civil war, no Operation Cauterize screwing everything up for everypony.

He heard a low rumble from his side, and Nimbus rolled over tossing the covers off himself and realizing he wasn’t alone as he did so. A massive jet-black form, built with muscle and sporting two feathered wings that were possibly even larger than his own body, one draped over Nimbus’ side. In fact, the only part of the body that seemed to be clutching Nimbus so tightly that wasn’t black were two markings around the eyes, feathers a shade of blue as the sea and skies themselves. It was gorgeous.

Nimbus tried to move, but found himself unable to. The griffon’s -Riptalon, why would he be in Coltlumbia with Riptalon?- paws grasped him tightly, lovingly even.

“Just five more minutes…” Riptalon muttered as Celestia’s evening sun shone through the window and he stirred, clutching Nimbus tighter to his chest like some sort of plush toy. Not that Nimbus complained, he was like one big fluffy pillow or plush toy… Only alive. Much better than what the Neighponiese called a dakimakura.

Eventually, Riptalon’s grip -much to Nimbus’ displeasure released- as the griffon found himself meandering to the bathroom in a dazed state. Nimbus heard the shower run, and he followed. Right then and there, he took Riptalon, thrusting in and out of his body. Riptalon didn’t complain, and groaned out in pleasure.

“Cl… Clever bastard,” he muttered as the water washed away any of their sex juices. “Thank Celestia that you’re all mine… Any smarter mare or stallion? They’d have taken you for themselves long -Gah, bit harder why don’t you?- ago if I hadn’t swooped in.”

Nimbus obliged him. “Please, you glutton. You know perfectly well you were the only choice.”

Riptalon moaned and groaned out with pleasure, as he did whenever he felt that special pleasure he knew only Nimbus could give him, and his claws dug into the walls and his back arched. Then, at last he felt a shockwave go through his body as Nimbus came, before his lover pulled out.

“Just… Just one more round?” Riptalon asked, giving him a look that was to the affect of a kicked puppy. “I mean… We’ve got plenty of time…”

“As I said… Glutton,” Nimbus groaned out as he washed himself. As he did so, he noted how everything seemed just that little bit too dreamy, hazy or just that little bit too perfect. For a moment, he saw instead of a beautiful cloud home, a bombed out building consumed in flame. “President Winter? She’s expecting us at the assembly later today, to celebrate the joining of the Cloud Cities and the rest of Equestria. No, joining is the wrong word. Reunion, yes… That’s a better term!”

“Right… right,” Riptalon muttered. “Throwing that grand gala to celebrate both parts of Equestria finally reuniting. Forming a bridge, if you will.”

“And because it’s pretty much all thanks to you, my dear,” Nimbus said giving Riptalon a quick kiss. “You’re one of the guests of honor. So no smelling of musk or anything like that.”

“And yet you still took me anyways…” Riptalon smirked closing the gap between them once more. The scene changed, and the two found themselves in a grand ballroom of sorts, both wearing nice suits and being greeted by various other residents of both Equestria and the Cloud Cities.

Cameras flashed as Nimbus found himself shaking the hoof of Trixie Lulamoon, the current head of the Equestrians, and Princess of Friendship. She really hadn’t aged a day from when she first ascended, and neither had her wife Starlight. Nimbus remembered the pictures of them, having seen them in books that dated long before the Cloud Countries and Equestria had separated. The photos didn’t do them any justice.

Their daughter Starglow on the other hand, had looking like a nice and strong sixteen year-old mare, bearing some trace amounts of gothic eyeshadow and a beanie hat. She honestly looked bored out of her skull. It was as if she wanted to be anywhere but here. The cigarette in her mouth only emphasized this. Nimbus wasn’t surprised, teenagers hardly put much interest into grand things like galas and the like.

“So, Baron Nimbus. So nice to see you came out today,” Trixie commented as she shook his hoof. “I thought you normally couldn’t be bothered, what with your interest in discovering Equestria’s history and your books on finding Ponyland.”

“Yeah, you sorta got me. Bookworm through and through,” Nimbus shrugged -even as the scene changed, and he saw a terrified looking Twilight Sparkle backed up against a corner in some lab somewhere as a ghostly version of Trixie floated into the room- and smiled. “But tonight’s a special night. Winter would kill me if I didn’t show my face.”

“Not that your research isn’t important, Baron,” Winter said as she walked over, this mostly white furred stallion with a rainbow mane by her side. “It’s just that you really need to get out more. We all want to know where we came from, yes, but you being cooped up in your library all day? Not good for your health!” she laughed, shaking Trixie and then Starlight’s hooves.

“Quite! I had to… coax him out of his books!” Riptalon teased, and the tone he took left no illusions as to what ‘coaxing’ meant. As Starlight and Winter blushed, both Starglow and Trixie laughed their arses off at Nimbus’ obvious discomfort. He hoped this would end soon enough. Dealing with politicians and kissing up to them, along with dancing with his husband for the camera was more preferable than being embarrassed in this way!

“Oh, what I’d give for a day at the Range. Note to self, discharge weapons into facsimiles of Trixie and Riptalon.” he thought.

A loud explosion and a sharp shock jarred Nimbus back to reality, and once more he found himself in the Hell that was reality. An alicorn lay next to him, a hole in its head, and its horn seared off by the exact same shot that had felled it. Nimbus clutched the pistol that Gabby had given him in his hoof, the barrel smoking. Whispering a thank you, he began picking himself up off the ground.

Nimbus had known what had happened. A Society-aligned alicorn. That’s what it was. They’d stumbled across him somehow, and instead of killing him outright had given him something far crueler. They’d made him think he was in paradise, and if something in the back of his mind hadn’t told him something was off he’d have been trapped there forever. He’d heard the rumors from various NCR soldiers, about them returning with soldiers in their platoon trapped in these everlasting dreams. Even after the alicorn that had put them there was dead, still they remained. It was a fate he wished on nobody, and at the same time it was one he thought… nice in a way. It was an escape, a permanent one from what the Wasteland offered in return.

“Oh, scratch that item off my bucket list…” Nimbus muttered to himself sarcastically, as he pulled himself out of the rubble of a building. The burning wreckage of the vertibuck lay nearby, scorch marks from either magic or just the crash itself littering whatever was left of it. During its death spiral, it’d smashed into the side of an abandoned skyscraper and then plowed through several buildings, before hitting ground.

He groaned out in pain, his vision blurry as he called out Riptalon’s name, or any of his squadmates for that matter hoping to get an answer called back to him.

“Did… did they not even survive the crash?” Nimbus thought, fighting back tears for a brief moment his mask of cold uncaringness breaking away before he looked around and breathed a sigh of relief. “No… No bodies. Okay, good. They might still be alive. Course, they might have been thrown somewhere nearby, and they may be dead from the impact, but I don’t know that. What I do know is this, I have to get moving. Scavengers are going to come searching for anyone who may have survived that, and that includes me. Fuck… for all I know Tornado may be bothered to investigate this place, see if she got us,” Nimbus continued to think before he made up his mind. “Best I get moving. I’ll mourn later. Right now, time to get to ground. Manehatten’s got plenty of subways, should serve as ample cover as I make my way towards Tenpony Tower. Best bet, Scootaloo’s heading there as well. Because that’s where Winter would be.”

Grabbing Songbird, he began striding forwards, -No, strike that, staggering as he just only now regained his bearings- before shots flew over his head and he took cover behind the ruins of some walls. Peeking out from behind a corner, he saw two NCR troopers, one bearing medical bags entering the area. Presumably, they’d come to see if anyone had survived the crash and if that anyone wasn’t friendly, take them out. And Nimbus, being a pegasus probably wasn’t exactly considered a friendly. Best he changed their minds before he followed the fate of that Society alicorn.

“Friendly! Friendly here!” Nimbus shouted, kicking his guns towards the troops just to show he had on intent on harming them. “Oh by Luna’s star-covered withers, what is it with me and getting shot at by my supposed allies? Probably have more injuries relating to them, then ones relating to the ones who are supposed to be shooting at me, IE Stormy’s men.” he thought to himself in bewilderment.

“Ya know, I don't know what's worse, man - dodging falling vertibucks or freezing my ass off in the cold rain we’ve been having.” the medic remarked, tossing Songbird back towards Nimbus, who caught the weapon. “You the pilot of that? Because I gotta say, you’re pretty shitty if that’s the case.” he joked. Nimbus didn’t look amused.

“Blame her,” Nimbus said, as the form of Tornado swooped down low and surveyed the area. “Now, shut up and get moving. Stay low, and keep quiet!” he whispered out. Gesturing with a hoof, he pointed outside the building to a nearby subway entrance. “This way.” he whispered.

To be honest, faced with an unfamiliar pegasus who may or may not have been allied with the Enclave, and an Alicorn who almost certainly definitely was allied with the Enclave and covered in power armor to boot, it didn’t take long for these two to make up their minds.

“Lead the way.” the medic remarked, pistol in hoof. He was an earth brown stallion, with a light blue mane.

“So, what’s your names? I prefer to know who I’m working alongside.”

“Wind Spirit,” the medic replied, and turned to his friend, a older stallion with an astonishing amount of lavender painted on his frankly scratched together armor. “And this here is Cotton. He doesn’t talk. Like, he literally doesn’t talk. Tongue got cut out by raiders awhile or so back.”

“Oh, nice to know,” Nimbus deadpanned. “That way if we get captured, I at least won’t have to worry about loose lips from one party.”

Wind Spirit didn’t look entirely amused by that even as the three descended into the subway tunnels. Nimbus took in a deep breath, and then sighed. From out of one Hell, into another he thought. He was soon to realize just how truthful that statement ought to be.

As for Target, she’d been thrown free of the crash and had crashed through a window of a nearby skyscraper, being cut open in multiple places by glass shards. But still, she found within herself the strength to stand. Seeing a pillar of smoke rising from the streets, she surmised from her location relative to where the company had encountered Tornado, that was the crash site of their vertibuck.

“Damn…” Target coughed out, holstoring End of the Line onto her back and picking herself up off the wooden floor of this penthouse suite, as it seemed, blood forming in small pools below her. “Gabby, please tell me you’re in better shape than me…” she muttered, looking to her left where the ghoul was picking herself up off the floor as well, a wing bent in an unnatural format.

“Well, I’m not dead, so that’s something at least, right?” the former griffon chirped. “Just wish if I knew I could say the same for our friends…” she sniffled.

“Stand tall soldier,” Target stated, groaning out in pain as she picked herself up. “We mourn later, we’ve got a job to do.”

“Y-Yeah, I suppose…” Gabby whispered. “I… I can’t cry, even if I was able. Henri, she wouldn’t want to see that. No, she’d want me to continue with the m-mission…” Gabby murmured, her voice quavering and sounding as if she was about to break down sobbing.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Target whispered, pulling her friend(?) into a hug. “It’s okay. You can…”

“No, I can’t. I don’t want to. I’m supposed to be the Gray Ghost, bringing fear into the hearts of evildoers of the Wastes, and yet…” Gabby whispered.

“It’s been a long time since you’ve had friends hasn’t it?” Target asked, a motherly tone present in her voice. “And as soon as you find some again, you-”

“Lose them again, just like I lost the Cutie…” Gabby whispered, choking on her voice. “Them. Celestia, I don’t know how you cope. You’re a soldier, right? So, how do you do it?”

“I… I haven’t been a soldier for a long time, not since I quit the Rangers. No, I’m just some merc for hire when the NCR is desperate, or just wants their dirty work done on the quiet side…” Target replied. “And having friends was always a luxury. I just pushed them away, so in case I lost anyone, I wouldn’t have to mourn. Damn stupid mistake of mine not to do the same with Henri and Midnight. Fuck, just fuck…” the mare sobbed.

Suddenly, the door burst in, and two of Applejack’s Rangers burst in, battle saddles at the ready. Target froze up once more, looking terrified if Gabby didn’t know better.

“Okay, not ta judge ya on yer tastes,” one of the two Rangers said, Gabby recognizing the voice as the same one who was talking to Henri just before that alicorn shot them down. “But a cryin’ ghoul? That’s… certainly a new one fer me. Especially in the middle of a warzone. Could have picked a better time to uh… Well, do the deed?”

Target managed to muster up enough strength to sock said Ranger across the face even as she removed her helmet.

“Tart, you haven’t changed one jot,” Target stated, as the Ranger rubbed their jaw.

“Neither have you,” the Ranger -One Apple Tart- replied. She was mostly yellow in fur color, with a forest green mane tied in braids. “Your punches Target? They still hurt like a bitch. Haven’t seen ya in forever.”

“Yes, well Bittersweet Springs has a tendency to sour a mare’s opinion towards your group.” Target replied in a bitter, biting tone.

“Yeah, point of shame for all of us. Much as some of the Rangers like to boast about ya saving ta day, it shouldn’t have-”

“Been needed to have been saved in the first place,” Target murmured, running the scenario through her mind once more, hearing the screams of the dying and the gunfire. “All the same, I’m glad you’re here. You’re still one of the few in the Rangers I like. Aside from Steelhooves, Luna rest his soul.”

“Wait, you were at-” Gabby stated, eyes widening in shock, before a look from Target told her to shut it.

“Yeah, and that’s the end of it. Please, don’t bring it up,” Target whispered sorrowfully. “Please. So, what’s the sitrep?” she asked Apple Tart, her voice changing immediately from a pleading sorrowful tone to that of a soldier’s.

“Well, Lieutenant,” Apple Tart’s companion replied. Low ranking Ranger named Holly Gale. Her armor covered her entire body, so any description of her appearance under that was impossible. Hell, the only real way Target could tell she was a mare was because of her build.“We’re stuck here in this tower, and we’re unable to get the civilians out while Stormy Skies’ troops pour in, to cleanse the unworthy as they put it. All the while, Winter’s got control over Tenpony tower, and is more or less holding a gun to our heads with Celestia One. Nobody knows what the Hell’s going on, or why Winter would even want Celestia One to begin with. For all her claiming she’s going to better Equestria, not doing a damn good job of it if you ask me. Instead, everyone’s running around in fear like they’re chickens with their heads cut off.”

“Okay, I’d think Winter -and let’s assume she has no ideals about using Celestia One in the first place, and this is just all one big show to make Equestria take her seriously- would have her hooves full with Stormy Skies and his men. Knowing them,” Target sighed. “They would use Celestia One. What’s that old saying?”

“The enemy of mah enemy is mah friend?” Apple Tart asked, and then blinked in shock. “Surely not…”

“Yeah, for the time being we have to give Winter a hand. We simply don’t have the marepower to get Stormy’s loons out of Manehatten, so Winter’s troops are our best bet. We make nice with them, if only for a temporary situation, and when this is all over we resume our usual status quo.” Target explained.

“So what?” Apple Tart asked. “Ya suggesting we appeal to Winter Breeze’s better nature? Winter Breeze, the President of the Enclave?”

“You got any better ideas?” Target asked, Gabby having been watching this exchange the entire time like it was a tennis match.

“...You sure that you didn’t get one too many knocks to the head?” Holly murmured to herself.

“I’d like to believe Winter isn’t a complete monster. If Dashites exist, that must mean there’s some good in the Enclave right? The circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are, isn’t that right?” Gabby questioned, and Target nodded along with her.

“Bit of a stretch between a Dashite and the President of the Enclave really being on Equestria’s side, but as ya asked Lieutenant… No, Ah don’t have any better ideas. So, let’s get on with it.” Apple Tart sighed with a small shake of her head.

“Uh yeah, hate to bust up the big ideas and hope for the future club here, but we’ve still got problems here,” Holly spoke up. “I mean, we’ve still got civies trapped here, and Stormy’s soldiers are making their way up to us -and them- as we speak. So less chit-chat, more doing what Rangers do. Namely, saving lives.”

Apple Tart nodded, and then upholstered this set of SMGs from her armor, and tossed them to Gabby. “As fun as up close and personal attacks are, best ya have another option at hoof.”

Even as the group walked down a hallway, Holly pumping her shotgun and Apple Tart gesturing to the civilians to stay inside their apartments, Gabby looked towards Target with an expression of concern.

“You… You sure you’re going to be alright?” the ghoul asked. “Back there, you looked… well, there’s no other way of saying this but you looked terrified.”

“Y-Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Target stated. “Just… Just flashbacks to the last time I heard that voice. Last time I heard it… It just after the blood and the squalor of Bittersweet Springs. I… I was still trying to figure out what my place in everything was, and…”

“I understand…” Gabby trailed off. “Let’s get to work.”

With that, she pulled a table out of a nearby apartment, and flipped it over, using it as cover. The way the path leading up to the apartment was arranged, the entire building was one massive circle that just curved and coiled upwards to each floor’s balcony.

Low thuds echoed from a few floors below, and Apple Tart gritted her teeth and put her helmet back on. “They’re going to be breaching in… three… two… one.”

A explosion, and a door flew open Enclave soldiers pouring into the lower floor, and the gunfire started. For the first few moments, everything seemed to be going well enough with Gabby managing to lob a grenade down to the troops below them, Target picking off any stragglers with End of the Line. However, that was before the shattering of glass was heard and a beam of cerulean magic blasted through the skylight. Two lightly armored society-aligned alicorns flew in from above, one tackling Gabby to the ground, and using his magic to fling Target up against a wall knocking her out.

“My dear Equestria, victory is nigh, as we speak the NCR Senate is in the middle of deliberations to decide how to proceed,” Winter Breeze's voice spoke over the radio. “The future of Equestria could not be in better hooves, I hope that this little squabble will end soon and we'll be able to pioneer a new path for the…”

Whatever else she had to say got cut off by a shout of “Damnit!” from Apple Tart with Gabby pinned under the alicorn’s hoof and her weapons flung to the side.

The room lit up with the rumble of gunfire, the twin miniguns on either side of Apple Tart firing again and again. With the alicorn throwing up a shield to defend himself, Holly holding off the other one with shotgun blasts. However, what this didn’t account for was the Enclave soldiers they’d neglected to deal with, and some rushed past the pair of Applejack’s Rangers, right towards the civilians.

Gabby’s eyes widened as the screams started, and she struck, drawing blood in the lead alicorn’s leg making him rear up. Grabbing a nearby SMG she filled his exposed belly full of lead. The body crumpled to the floor, Gabby managing to scramble away before she was crushed. She grabbed her other fallen weapon, finding herself trapped between an alicorn intent on avenging her brother and Enclave troopers in power armor.

She saw Holly caught in an aura of magic, and with a sickening SNAP! Her body was tossed to the side coldly and callously, with only a dismissive huff of disapproval from the alicorn. Apple Tart, she looked too terrified to even fire off a shot, too afraid of hitting any civilians and seeing her comrade cut down mercilessly only added to her horror, making her freeze up.

Target meanwhile, she was only now awakening, and groggily staggering to her hooves. Her eyes widened as she saw the chaos around her, and was almost at once sent back in time.

“Do not! Do not fire! There’s civilians down there, they are not raiders. I repeat, they are not raiders!”

“Belay that! Just continue firing, don’t stop until your weapons are empty!”

Those were the words exchanged between Major Applesauce and a then Private Quartermane on the day of the Bittersweet Springs massacre. It was not a day of heroes, like it had been planned to be. It was not a day of anyone cleaning up the wastelands. It was just a day that would be long remembered, if not for the right reasons. She -Target- knew she had to do something. And she did.

It was something drastic about then, when the Major had ordered the firing to start. Target had tried for everyone to listen to her, but nobody was. So she did this. She’d broke into a sprint, and ran down into the valley below, just in an attempt to get the Major to stop shooting. And when the gunfire finally stopped, and the smoke cleared, it was all too clear to see what had occurred. Yes, there’d been raiders down there yes, but they’d used their captives as meat shields. Just like these Enclave soldiers were now.

“T-Target!” Gabby shouted, as she was torn between two waves of enemies. To her left, an alicorn. To her right, the Enclave who were backing the holdouts into corners and ready to fire.

“It’s… It’s just like before…” Target whispered, frozen in her spot.

“So, what are you to do?” the alicorn asked, in this low voice. Callous and cruel, devoid of any mercy. “What are you to do, Lieutenants Quartermane and Tart? What are you to do? Look at them, they’re not worth protecting!” the alicorn laughed. “They’re just wastelanders, and they’ll turn on you when you need protecting the most. They’ll just throw their lot in with whoever has the most power. That’s the way it was in the South, and that’s the way it will be when they realize who the greater power is in Equestria.”

The alicorn then grabbed Gabby in her grasp, holding her up in such a way that if any one were to fire upon the massive pony, they’d hit Gabby as well.

“Now, throw down your weapons, take off your armor and maybe… Maybe we can come to an understanding,” the alicorn commented. “We’ll let you go, and as for these civies… well, they might just turn out to be fine Alicorns for when we rebuild the society.”

“Maybe we should listen…” Apple Tart whispered, shaking in her boots.

“It’s just… It’s just like before. Cornered, with civilian blood on my hooves and there’s nothing I can do about it…” Target whispered before she looked at Gabby’s terrified expression, and her gaze hardened. “No, this time I can do something about it!” she added, looking towards the pistol in her right hindleg’s holster.

“Face front lieutenant!” Target shouted, and the alicorn’s eyes widened alongside Apple Tart’s. “This is no time for cowardness and shaking in your armor, especially now that we’ve got civilians caught in the crossfire! Never again! Never again! You remember the Ranger creed right?”

“S-Semper Invicta, A-Ad Victoriam,” Apple Tart repeated.

“Yes. Semper Invicta, Ad Victoriam.” Target repeated, before pulling out the pistol faster than anyone could have ever imagined, and firing at the alicorn’s knees, making her stagger to the floor. Gabby dropped from the magical aura that was holding her, before she whipped out her knives and sliced the alicorn across the chest felling it, The remaining Enclave soldiers, in their shock that their two heavy hitters had fallen were easy pickings for Apple Tart’s weapons.

As for Target? She continued to repeat “Semper Invicta, Ad Victoriam,” alongside “Never again, never again…” even as she slipped into unconsciousness.

Injecting a stimpak into Target’s body, Apple Tart sighed to herself as she looked at the fallen form of Holly Gale. No time to mourn for her, at least not yet. Not while there were ponies who still needed saving.

“So… So now what?” Gabby asked.

“We get word to anyone still out there, tell them we’re in need of an assist,” Apple Tart replied, tossing Gabby a flare gun. “Radios are down, Winter’s got control over the airwaves now. Ah was lucky enough to find a free channel back then when Ah did. So we do this.”

“But isn’t sending up a flare pretty much giving away our location to any Enclave forces?”

“Ya have any better ideas?” Apple Tart asked. “Running low on choices here. So yeah, this is about the only thing we can do.”

“Is it really?” Gabby asked even as she headed up to the roof.

Riptalon, from his location at an aqueduct had seen the flares come from the top of the rooftops of Manehatten’s upper east side. Distress flares. He knew the coloration, it was a distinctive shade of red-orange only used by Applejack’s Rangers.

A brief spot of hope flared up inside. Was that… Did that mean…? Was she alive?

“So, we’re not dead. Lucky day for us.” Riptalon murmured. He oh so desperately wanted to fire off another flare in response, just to let whoever those Rangers were know where he was. But he also knew the risks. Two flares, one fired so soon after the other? Anyone with a brain would know that was an attempt at communications.

“Well, depends on how you define your ideal of lucky. I mean, we narrowly escaped getting shot down via armored alicorn, and now we’re in the middle of a warzone with very little -if any- aerial support.” Jabari replied in a rather flat tone.

“So yeah, lucky!” Riptalon replied with a chirp. “Could be worse. We could be dead.”

“...I can see why Nimbus likes you. You have just about the same outlook on life as he does. Real hope bringers, the both of you.”

“Et tu eh, Jabari?” Riptalon murmured. They heard the flapping of wings, and readied themselves for battle with Jabari going for his sword and Riptalon for Lawgiver. Much to their relief, it was only Twilight.

“Thank Celestia you two made it. Saw the vertibuck go down, but the air’s too hot for me to stay up there searching for survivors. Only managed to see the general location of where it went down, and then spotted you in this aqueduct.”

“Well, if anyone’s alive, they’d be heading in the same direction as we are,” Riptalon replied, putting all horrific possibilities of what could have happened to Henri or anyone else out of his mind. “To Tenpony Tower. Storm drains should lead us right to them, and as a added bonus should keep us out of sight.”

Twilight vaguely remembered her history on Manehatten’s original design. Massive storm drains were some of the first things constructed, just in case of tsunamis. The designer was a bit paranoid, admittedly, as such things were thankfully rare in this part of Equus but it seems paranoia paid off. It was a maze of tunnels and drainage pipes, but Twilight knew enough spells that should lead them in the proper direction.

“Yeeeeeeeah, about keeping ourselves out of sight?” Jabari asked, as the low buzzing sound of vertibuck engines became audible. “Might want to think about making that sooner, than later.”

Twilight and Riptalon’s eyes widened, as they saw two vertibuck gunships with the Enclave insignia flying in their direction, searchlights trained primarily on them. What was even more frightening was the colors they flew in, crimson red stripes becoming visible in the moonlight.

“Well, they don’t have the military gray paint jobs of Winter’s save all of Equestria progressive thinking Enclave, so no prizes in guessing who they’re working for,” Riptalon muttered and then let out a shout of “Run!”

Breaking into a sprint as he ran down the aqueduct towards a massive yawning hole in the ground, his wings extending to their full length. As gunfire peppered his every pawstep, he grabbed Jabari with a claw and dived down into the storm drains with Twilight following after him, throwing up a shield in her wake.

Tucking in their wings, the twosome flew into a hole, with Riptalon tossing a grenade behind him the pin pulled. A loud Whump! came from somewhere behind them as a stray gunshot connected, and a blast of searing heat and flame propelled them onwards, deep into the dark...

“Okay, so correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t there a ceasefire going on between the Enclave and the NCR?” Nimbus asked, he and his two newfound friends having managed to make their way down to an old subway terminal. Rusting trains sat, still in their positions from oh so long ago, back from before the war and when Manehattan was a hub of pony activity. Even old propganda posters, -if not ones worn from age- still sat on walls urging ponies not to join the stripers and to fight the good fight. Grumbling a noise of disgust, Nimbus ripped one off the wall.

“A ceasefire that’s probably been broken by you traipsing in a vertibuck on some one-pony hero mission but yeah. A ceasefire,” Wind Spirit replied. “Not that any of us wanted to keep it really…”

“Firstly, it wasn’t a one-pony rescue hero type mission. I had friends. Possibly dead friends, but friends. Heroes don’t exist,” Nimbus corrected in a rather angered, snappish tone. “And even if they did, do yourself a favor and don’t compare me to one. I’ve long since worn out any luxury of having the ability to wear that title with any sort of pride. Secondly, I don’t think the ceasefire’s been broken… yet. That was an Enclave draped vertibuck. One of the Grand Edginess Enclave’s vertibucks. Whom if I remember correctly, nobody has a ceasefire with.”

“You’re still an idiot though,” Wind Spirit replied, following Nimbus into a subway car with Cotton bringing up the rear, guarding them with a shotgun as the threesome made their way deeper into the tunnels. “Some brave form of idiot, I’ll digress, but an idiot all the same. Manehatten’s the most heavily fortified city in Equestria. What makes you think it can be wrenched from the hooves of Winter Breeze?”

“Well, if someone puts a bullet through Winter Breeze’s skull, that might help…” Nimbus muttered. He had no qualms about taking her out, even if she was an old friend. She’d changed far too much from the mare he knew all those years ago, and she had become a threat to Equestria’s livelihood no matter how much she preached otherwise.

“Well, you’re certainly active on the getting things done front…” Wind Spirit murmured. “You’d be a damn sight better of a president than Regina. So glad she’s getting a vote of no confidence…”

“Listen, I like you, but that’s slowly changing Windy,” Nimbus replied irritably. “You thinking you know everything. Regina’s had her claws tied since the very beginning of this whole mess. She can’t send in troops unless she wants to set a ticking time bomb off, and have Winter bring hell all down on Junction Town and any other settlement she wants to. The gun pointed at the head of the world, if you will.”

“It’s not just that,” Wind Spirit disagreed, as the small group headed down a side tunnel, and continued deeper into the underground, small droplets of water from the pipes above dripping through cracks in the stonework and onto their heads. “It’s Scootaloo. Now ever since she ‘woke up’, the Wanderer’s been causing a lot of trouble for Winter, right and left. To be honest, I’d think it better if Scootaloo was turned over to the Enclave, maybe then Winter would let Manehatten go.”

“And how do you know that’d happen?” Nimbus asked, very tempted to whip out his pistol and blow this pony’s skull open. He didn’t for a number of reasons. One, Winter as he very well knew was quite the charismatic pony, -Hell, Nimbus himself admitted if he was a weaker buck, he’d fall for her form of corrupted generosity- secondly he needed a medic. Thirdly, he also needed someone to watch his back, and the more the merrier even if he didn’t have to like the ponies at his side. Liking your comrades was just a luxury at times. Finally, this pony could be a valuable source of information on what exactly was the current state of affairs in Manehatten. “For all we know, if Scootaloo was handed over, Winter would still continue. She doesn’t seem like the type of pony who would stop a crusade so easily. Chances are anyways, this ceasefire? Only temporary. She just wants to get Celestia One running again, and for that she needs time.”

“If you say so…” Wind Spirit muttered, sounding as if he didn’t entirely believe Nimbus. Personally, Nimbus thought him from his demeanor alone to be the kind of pony who would willingly change sides to Winter’s own, just so he’d have a better chance at surviving the coming storm. Because make no mistake, there was one brewing on the horizon. This was just only the calm before it.

“What’s that old saying?” Nimbus mused to himself as he tossed a glance towards Wind. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend? Never rang more true than before here…”

“Anyways, why are you in Manehatten anyways?” the pegasus had to ask. “This place, it’s so ludiciously fortified that I wouldn’t imagine any NCR ponies getting inside. So what are you doing here?”

“Me and Cotton? Well, we were stationed here before Winter got inside Tenpony Tower. There’s a few NCR soldiers, along with a few of Applejack’s Rangers stationed around the city. Nopony’s done anything though, we’ve just been keeping to cover until something happens and hoping nobody gets caught. I hear a few of the Rangers are mounting evac missions, just to try and get the civilains out of the city now that Stormy Skies is making his move, but I don’t imagine they’d have a lot of success. Seen a few alicorns circling the skies. That’d be the end of any evac missions if they spotted a Ranger.” Wind explained in a worried tone.

“Nice to know…” Nimbus murmured, before he held up a hoof gesturing for the party to come to a halt. Hoofsteps echoed in the distance.

“Enclave Patrol?” Wind Spirit whispered, the group of three pressing themselves to a wall as the hoofsteps grew closer. Nimbus readied his rifle.

“Quick and silent, when they come. Hide the bodies. Hopefully, if Lady Luck is on our side nobody will notice them until long after Winter’s gone.”

Wind Spirit and Cotton nodded, and readied their weapons as well and were about to fire only to find guns trained on them.

“Celestia, you trying to give us a scare?” a voice asked, and Nimbus’ eyes widened as he saw a orange mare -purple mane, cropped- dressed in this black long coat and fedora. Nimbus quickly motioned for his ‘friends’ to lower their weapons, just as the mare did the same.

He let out a breath of: “Scootaloo…”

Author's Notes:

Okay, first off... Happy Valentine's Day everyone. Or Happy Single's Awareness Day as I call it, but... Anyways. Finally, a new chapter for you to put your claws into.

Now, huge thank you to DraconicXeno -give him a shout why don't you?- to helping me write out the fight scene in the apartment block against Stormy Skies' soldiers. Now, on the whole Alicorn dream segment. Yes, I wrote it to be trippy, and also to show just how messed up Nimbus is. After all, preferring an endless paradise of a dream to the real world? There's something a little wrong there. Plus, I wanted to show just how dangerous the Society remnants could be aside from all the usual powers an IMP-created Alicorn would have.

Also, huge thanks to my sis in all but blood Ruinqueen for allowing me the usage of her characters. Now, I know I've said this before, but you rock girl! Also, considering the occupation of Manehatten lasted for at least three days in-universe, there's a reason the Survivors Guilt characters are going to be showing up for quite a bit here.

There's a reason I'm considering bringing her in to co-write the chapters for Day 2, and if one is needed, Day 3 as well.

Anyways, you know the drill. Your comments, thoughts, and criticisms are welcomed.