Author's Notes:

“You’ll get over it…” It’s the clichés that cause the trouble. To lose someone you love is to alter your life for ever. You don’t get over it because ‘it” is the person you loved. The pain stops, there are new people, but the gap never closes. How could it? The particularness of someone who mattered enough to grieve over is not made anodyne by death. This hole in my heart is in the shape of you and no-one else can fit it. Why would I want them to?” -Jeanette Winterson, Written on the Body

Henri found Nimbus exactly where just about everyone had predicted he’d be. A bar. But what nobody could have predicted was what Nimbus was doing there. He actually hadn’t ordered anything remotely alcoholic. Instead, he just sat there with a glass of water in hoof.

“Well, this is a surprise,” Henri commented as she sat down next to him, ordering a Haywaiian Blue. “I was half expected to find you slumped over, wasted. Boreas knows after the week you’ve had you probably deserve at least that much…”

“Yes… Well…” Nimbus murmured. “Considering what I’m about to do, working with a hangover probably wouldn’t be the brightest of ideas…” he said, taking a deep shuddering breath and downing the glass. Quickly changing the subject, he turned to Henri. “Any news on Regina?”

He honestly worried about Regina sometimes, the old girl was a stubborn bitch, that much was true but she was head of the ongoing NCR/Enclave war. Truth be told, one of these days he often worried she’d just keel over and that would be that. He didn’t want to see that, or hear of it honestly.

He’d never admit it aloud, but Regina… she was growing on him. Despite all the nasty things that had been said about her as of late, he liked her. She was hardworking, stubborn and many other things, but she definitely cared for those under her employ. Almost like a mother hen in some ways. Though he suspected if he ever said that to her, she’d probably deck him in the face. Or shoot him. He wasn’t quite sure which.

And like Gabby, he knew the last thing the NCR needed right now was a regime change. They needed stability, and just voting Regina out and throwing someone new into that chair would never do. It’d be chaos, and this assumed the new president would know how to run a war. No, this couldn’t stand. He would not allow it if Regina was voted out. He’d fight those idiots tooth and nail if he had to just to keep Regina in office and keep the war effort running as it was. He hated this long war, it made him weary but he also knew that stability was required. Yes, that made him a hypocrite in some aspects as he was more than half-tempted to out Winter for who she was and then take out her group in one clean sweep taking advantage of the chaos but he was biased okay? So sue him. He liked Regina, he honestly did. And although he liked Winter, -or rather liked the mare she used to be- he also held no qualms that she was the enemy and taking her off the board in some measure would do everyone a lot of good in the current mindset she embodied.

“Well, trying to keep this on the down low, but I’ve got good news and bad news really,” Henri started after a long silence. “Officially, we were never here in Manehatten. Good thing is, Regina hasn’t been voted out of office. Seems kicking Winter Breeze’s ass out really did a good job for her electoral status. Sadly, Winter’s going to be pissed now that she can’t hold a gun to our heads anymore.”

Nimbus nickered. “Yeah, tell me something I didn’t know,” he muttered. “This whole Manehatten Project was the culmination of so many schemes, and she had the full advantage in the war having that Megaspell pointed at our heads. Scootaloo and company disabling it… at least for the time being anyhow definitely would not make her happy in the slightest. Fact is, I wouldn’t be surprised if Regina gets a Sprite-Bot call or something from her in the next few days.”

“And it gets even better really,” Henri drawled. “The Dealer showed up again. Now, of all times!”

“...Oh, lovely. Isn’t that just fuckin’ lovely,” Nimbus muttered having heard the stories from Riptalon. Half of them he believed to be all bunk and just the griffon going the slightest bit crazy but on the other hoof, he couldn’t refute so many Wastelanders seeing him over the years. “So what did he want this time?”

“Well, here’s what Scootaloo told me he did. Basically left us with the comment of ‘Ante Up’ and two cards. The Ace and the Queen of Spades…”

It didn’t exactly take a rocket scientist for that to register in Nimbus’ brain and almost on cue he did an almost comical spit take.

“Oh, you have to be fucking kidding me,” Nimbus muttered. “No, honestly. You have to be shitting me. ...Severely reconsidering my choice to go sober today, just because of this madness…”

“Hey, you think I believe it either?” Henri asked taking a sip of her drink. “Or would like to believe it? But the Dealer warned us about Celestia One, and lo and behold it came true. Maybe he’s right on this as well.”

“...Yeah, as right as you can be about a pony who I still severely doubt exists…” Nimbus muttered. “Anyways, I do hope you know exactly what I’m going to do now, right? And quite honestly… I would like nothing better than for you or someone else to accompany me.”

“You’re going to do what exactly?” Henri asked.

“Go after my brother. Getting captured by Winter wasn’t without its rewards. We did talk, and she did give me a possible location to my brother’s whereabouts. Just outside the city, old scrapyard. Apparently, some of Stormy’s forces along with the Society are holed up there. From all accounts, they very well seem to be guarding something. Or rather… someone.” Nimbus stated rather unaware of Henri’s reaction.

The griffon hen nearly choked on her drink upon hearing the word ‘Society’ and quietly cursed Nimbus before sighing. No, he didn’t know about her… issues with Nightmare Moon or anyone worshipping her. How could he? She’d never mentioned Puppy to him. Yes, she was angry at him but at the same time, she was angry at herself for never mentioning this little detail to him. Or anyone else in the group besides Target and Twilight for that matter.

“Nimbus… There’s something you need to know really. About me, and about the Society. I have… issues with them.”

“Perfectly understandable, given they’ve been kidnapping away ponies in the dead of night and brainwashing them into Alicorns. I’d think any normal Wastelander would have issues with them,” Nimbus said as he got up and grabbed Songbird before popping in a new magazine. “Emphasis on normal.”

“No, it’s not just that, it’s…” Henri started before thinking the better of it. No, it wasn’t best to force her issues on Nimbus. He had his own worries about his brother. The last thing he needed was to worry about the hen who’d be backing him up. “Agh, never mind.”

“No, if there’s anything bothering you I think we should all lay it out in the ope-” Nimbus started before a quick glare from Henri quickly shut him up. “...Okay, shutting up now. It’s just, I don’t want to run into anything down the road relating to not all of us being on the same page, that’s all.”

“Alright, fine!” Henri snapped. “Just… Just not here, okay?”

Taking him to an empty corridor, Henri began to explain. “It feels like so long ago, and yet… I still remember all too well. You ever heard of the 52?” she asked him.

“Yeah, the highway that connects the whole nation really. Goes from Canterlot to this little town called Nightmare’s Fall. ...Why in Faust’s name they’d call it that when I know for a fact Nightmare was put down in Ponyville is beyond me but…” Nimbus murmured before rubbing his forehead in pain. Yeah, he wasn’t drunk enough for an Equestrian History lecture.

“Yeah, you’re right about that. And yes, Nightmare Moon was defeated all those centuries ago in Ponyville, but some of her… remained.”

“Wonderful, just what I needed to hear,” Nimbus deadpanned. “A reason for the Society to justify their particular brand of insanity. Is there a point to all this?”

“Yes, there is. I don’t like talking about it, so just shut up and listen,” Henri said with a glare. “A few years ago, I met a filly calling herself Puppysmiles. Cute kid really, though the fact that she was mainly kept alive by the Pink Cloud -don’t ask- was a bit of an issue. Now Puppy…” Henri said before choking back a sob. “She was just a kid, she didn’t deserve any of this. All she wanted was to find her Mom…”

“Did she ever?” Nimbus asked.

“Yeah, she did. At the end of route 52. She set out on a quest to find her mother, and she found her alright. She found her grave at the end of that road, and… and…” Henri fought back yet another sob and Nimbus’ eyes widened in horror as he figured out the magnitude of Henri’s statement.

“That… That fragment, it latched on to her, didn’t it?” Nimbus whispered in realization and then it hit him further. Nobody would talk about a kid like that unless… “Oh Faust, you cared for her didn’t you?”

“Like a sister,” Henri whispered her tone almost devoid of life. “The sister I never had nor wanted, at least at first. But… When that fragment took over, there was only one thing I could do for her…”

Nimbus pulled the griffon into a hug finally letting her sob into his chest fur. “Shh… Shh, it’s okay Henrietta, it’s okay…” he whispered before the griffoness shoved him away.

“Just… Just let me save some face okay?” she snapped. “I have to do this. I have to do this for the kid.”

Nimbus didn’t look like he really believed her for a moment, even as he whispered: “Okay, tough gal, you do what you want, okay?”

Personally, he honestly didn’t believe she was doing this for the kid. No, he suspected she was doing this just to satisfy her personal quest for blood. If anything, he wanted to kill the Society members just so Henri wouldn’t have to disrespect Puppy’s memory. He honestly doubted that Puppy would want her big sister killing in her name. Even so, just watching Henri now…

“Faust above, when did I go so soft…?” Nimbus thought to himself as he watched Henri cry.

“Damn… Damn it… Why…?” Henri whispered, small tears dripping onto the floor from her eyes. “Honestly… I’d have been better off the way I was if I’d have never met you. Might have spared me the pain, and the hurt. I gained a sister… only to lose you! I… I know you had to die, be with your mother again… But… But couldn’t you have stayed with me a little longer?”

Nimbus laid a hoof on Henri’s shoulder before the new Element of Magic turned to look at him angrily.

“What did I say about letting me save some face?” Henri snarled. “If anyone else saw me like this then…”

“I won’t say a word, I promise. No, I Pinkie Promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly… Stick a cupcake in my eye…” Nimbus breathed out. Sure, he didn’t do the motions but that wasn’t his fault. He only knew the words, not the motions. Nobody had ever bothered to show him what they were so he wasn’t at fault there. Henri didn’t mind though, she understood the sentiment and knew perfectly well Nimbus wasn’t the best with social graces.

“Thanks…” she whispered. “My duty as a big sister, and my duty as the new Element of Magic to carry this out and eliminate the Wastes of one very large problem. And it’s also my duty as your commander to help you save your family, when I couldn’t save mine.”

“Thank you, but for this mission… I’m taking command understand? I know Stormy’s Enclave better than anyone, and I’d rather not someone who would have their emotions rule me boss me around okay?” Nimbus stated firmly and Henri only laughed.

“...Damn hypocrite,” she muttered.

The very next day, soon as the sun rose the group set out. Twilight had been left behind, due to her… injuries. While Nimbus and Henri both wanted the sheer firepower an Alicorn would bring to this mission, they also knew it was for the best. For the time being, Twilight needed to rest up. That crushed leg would only make her a liability at times. Yes, she had wings, but flying would just give them away long before they even got close to their targets.

This mission could not afford to be blown.

“Any of our birds squawking?” Riptalon asked, very uneasy about this whole endeavor to say the least. Both Henri and Nimbus were often ruled by their emotions at times when it came to this particular faction, and he would honestly like to be the one in charge of this whole endeavor. Clutching one of his knives tightly, an M249 SAW on his back and his other knife in its usual position on his foreleg he watched both carefully. His job alongside Jabari’s was suppression pure and simple. Keep everyone pinned down with bullets flying and if he got someone, great! Henri and Nimbus would then close in for the kill while Stormy’s forces fought to keep their position.

In his head, Riptalon went over the mechanics of reloading this beast of a gun. “Pull the bolt back, open the cover, replace the magazine, slide the belt into the feeding mechanism, close the cover, then push bolt forwards.” he recited to himself. Seemed simple enough, if not a bit time-consuming. Honestly, he if was composing this plan would have grabbed a few more NCR soldiers and let them do this job so he could do what he did best, get up close and personal and then get very, very dirty.

“Yeah, we’ve gotten a bit of news that after the Nomad and the Typhon showed up they got moving -smart, really- but it’s only been a few days and if they really are carrying a prisoner or two amongst them, they’d have to stop along the way somewhere to care for him or her,” Henri nodded fingering a beam pistol strapped to her side alongside her usual weaponry. There was no such thing as over-preparedness when you went into battle against the Society. In that same vein, Nimbus had grabbed himself a zebra rifle in place of his pistol. “The last communication was a day or so ago, and things have gone silent since then.”

“Wonderful…” Nimbus muttered. “Last thing I needed to hear… And I think I know why your birds have gone silent. Look up ahead.”

On the road ahead of them were a collection of NCR soldiers, lying face down and fast asleep. Nimbus swore. The Society Alicorns had put them in that endless dream of theirs that they loved so much. Faust only knew what they were dreaming about. He could only hope it was of a better world than this pony-made hell Equestria had carved out for itself. He could only hope.

“Damn!” Henri swore loudly after a few moments of trying to shake one of the soldiers awake.

“Well, at least we know we’re heading in the right direction,” Riptalon murmured seeing the scrapyard glinting off in the distance. “Man, you know you really haven’t told us anything about why we’ve suddenly decided to go off and hunt some Enclave and Society members. Not that I mind thinning the herd as it were, but… Seriously, I’d like to know what we’re exactly doing out here!” he exclaimed.

Nimbus turned to Henri. “You didn’t tell them?”

“I thought that was your job!” Henri hissed back.

“Well… I didn’t exactly want to mention your little… uh… breakdown… as it were…” Nimbus whispered back. Henri facepalmed. While she appreciated the sentiment, -she really did- she really wished Nimbus had at least given his side of the story.

“Okay, long and the short of it is,” Henri started. “Apparently, Nimbus here has information relating to where his brother may or may not be so-”

“Wait, so we’re just walking into what may be suicide on the simple case of a rumor mill?” Jabari shouted. “...Oh for Celestia’s sake. Please tell me Nimbus that you’ve finally lost your mind!”

“I have a very reliable source, she’s-” Nimbus started before quickly cutting himself off. It wouldn’t do him any good if he said his source was Winter. Goddess knew Riptalon probably already hated him enough already.

“Who is she?” Riptalon questioned, a dangerous glint present in his eyes. Nimbus swallowed and adjusted his collar. On the other hand, there should be no secrets in a relationship. Of course, the status of his and Riptalon’s relationship was in definite dispute at this moment. Cursing himself slightly for falling for Winter’s charms, Nimbus took a deep breath before continuing.

“A very reliable source. That’s all,” Nimbus stated with the look in his eyes warning Riptalon not to press any further. Riptalon looked ready to raise a hand in protest but thought the better of it seeing Nimbus’ expression. “In any case, I’d estimate we’ve only got a few hours of walking time before we catch up with them. Can’t have gotten too far, not if they have my brother to keep an eye on. The map on the pipbuck does tell me that there’s a magical refueling station just a couple of kilometers to the south of us. Now, if I were a small force of troops, that’d be the perfect stopping point for the night to rest up. Now, let’s get moving hens and gents. Gotta hoof it!”

Nimbus quickly broke into a spring briefly glancing upwards towards the evening sky. He smirked. A hunter’s moon. Seems someone up there liked him enough. With a glint in his eyes, he gripped his rifle tighter. “So…” the stallion thought to himself. “Let the hunt begin…”

Eventually climbing over the crest of a hill, the small group came upon a Red Rocket refueling station. Long ago, this was one of many stations used to refuel cars and the like. Now, it sat in decay, with the entire canopy above the recharge point actually half falling down. But it was far from abandoned, as evidenced by the small regiment of power armor-clad Enclave soldiers filing in and out of the main building along with the three alicorns patrolling the grounds. Screams of pain could be heard coming from the main building, and it took all of Nimbus’ willpower then and there not just rush down the hillside guns blazing and rip everyone apart. He knew those screams, having heard them in every nightmare since he left Coltlumbia.

“Clear…” Nimbus thought to himself, every one of his brother’s screams feeling like a strike against his soul. “You failed your brother. You’re the reason he’s in this situation!” he told himself. Taking a few deep calming breaths, Nimbus turned to Jabari and Riptalon while tossing the zebra rifle aside. For the moment, he’d rather not risk it. “Ditch the SAWs. Last thing I want is for you to shoot up my brother. New plan. I provide overwatch cover, while Jabari circles around back and get inside.”

“What about the Alicorns?” Riptalon asked. “Gawd knows that it’ll be impossible to get near your brother with them wandering about. And you really expect the kid to just go in there with just a sword? I mean, I like up close and personal style combat as much as the next buck but…”

“I thought ahead,” Nimbus said in return setting down his saddlebags. He reached into them and tossed Riptalon Lawgiver while Jabari was handed another energy pistol. “Now! ...Henri, get… creative. Cause a distraction. Any way you like. Riptalon, stand by to provide backup when needed. We all clear on this?” Nimbus asked and everyone nodded. Inwardly, Nimbus shuddered. He wasn’t happy with this whole arrangement. Ideally, he’d liked to have more soldiers, but right now every effort was being spared to get Manehatten back up and ready and drive any stragglers out, and they needed to move now before his brother was out of reach again. Ideally, he’d rather not have Henri on this at all, but he also understood that she was very good at what she did and had enough sense to curb her anger for this. ...At least, that’s what he hoped anyway.

Henri tossed him her energy pistol before dashing off towards a nearby tank full of magical energy. Nimbus set himself up near a rocky outcropping, right next to a small timbered woodland which would serve as both perfect cover and an easy escape route.

Making a small movement with his hoof, he pulled out Songbird, and nestled himself into a leaf pile and watched everyone move into position. Watching the movements of the guards through the scope, he quickly looked to his left and saw Riptalon dart behind a boulder that was able to hide his large frame.

Then, an explosion as the tank blew. The guards chattered amongst themselves for a short bit before the society-corns as Nimbus now started to call them flew off to check out what had happened.

Nimbus smirked, humming an old ditty under his breath as his hooves twitched on the trigger and he exhaled.

Blood and brain matter splattered on the ground.

A thunderous boom echoed through the gas station. Soldiers jumped from their hammocks and scrambled for their weapons, barking commands at each other all the while.

Nimbus smirked at the commotion. Perfect. Lining up another shot, he fired before retreating into the tree cover as the Enclave soldiers started hiding behind abandoned cars and orange beams of energy lit up the night sky. Nimbus, in a brief moment of panic, fired off a few shots before quickly realizing far too late he’d given away his position.

Five of the soldiers started scrambling up the hillside towards him. Nimbus quickly took flutter up into a nearby tree and watched as Riptalon pounced.

The griffon smashed one skull open with one massive meaty fist.

He quickly picked up one of the dropped SAWs and riddled the air with gunfire forcing the soldiers to scramble for cover.

“Now, let’s hope they don’t suddenly remember they can fly…” Nimbus thought, his blood pumping and adrenaline spiking as he leaped to another branch and used the tree cover to mask himself. Firing off another shot, he nicked one of the Enclave troops in the leg before swearing under his breath. A miss, and what was worse everyone now knew exactly where he was no thanks to accidentally turning on his pipbuck in a fumble.

“Run on for a long time...
Run on for a long time...
Sooner or later Gawd’ll will cut you down...
Sooner or later Gawd’ll cut you down…” Velvet Remedy’s voice crooned out of the speakers and Nimbus swore loudly enough to stain the air blue.

The pegasus leaped backward off the tree and fired his rifle, again and again, hoping to score a shot never having the time to activate a certain feature on his pipbuck that would definitely help with targeting. One shot, by pure chance, cut off a wing of one of the Enclave soldiers before Riptalon bloodied the ground by pumping him full of rounds.

Heart pumping, Nimbus and Riptalon stood back to back emptying round after round. An orange beam flew over Riptalon’s head, and he rolled to the left before tossing one of his knives into a soldier’s skull.

Hearts continuing to race, the two fled into the tree cover and quickly tried to reload as fast as they could as voices rang out through the forest.

“Find the two! Bring their bodies to the commander, cleanse the unworthy!” a voice shouted out somewhere in the darkness. Riptalon shot Nimbus a look as if to ask if Stormy’s idiots were always like this. Nimbus nodded resignedly.

Meanwhile, Henri found herself in another sort of mess. She could see the glow of the alicorns horns from her position, and saw red.

“This… This is for Puppysmiles…” Henri snarled as she whipped out both Black Rose and White Rose and fired at the lead alicorn who threw up a shield and Henri saw red. Taking to the skies, the alicorns followed.

Henri swooped around claws extended and sliced open one of the alicorns legs and as it screamed out in pain Henri pulled out a grenade, then the pin was removed. She tossed it and fired off White Rose.

A small explosion ripped wing from body and seared flesh from face and the first alicorn toppled to the ground with a sickening crack.

Henri dived below a beam of energy, blood at a boil before she saw a distinct dark blue shape dart towards her, and the next thing she knew she was slammed into a boulder. Brain cells rattled, and her vision a blur, she didn’t see what came next. A sharp scream of pain and she suddenly saw one of her wings lying limp next to her, and an alicorn standing over her, a fang-filled maw grinning devilishly.

For just a moment, a brief one mind you, but for just a moment Henri felt a pain where her wing once was attached. It was soon to fade as in one last act of defiance Henri put the pain aside. Henri tried to go for White Rose, but the alicorn raised a hoof and brought it right down on Henri’s arm.

She screamed out in pain as she felt bones breaking and crunching underneath. Blood pooled out from where Henri’s wing once was in a slow oozing trickle. Henri’s felt her heart start to beat faster and faster, and her breathing began to slow. As she waited for what was sure to slowly come, she swore right before she went under she saw a purple-colored, three-legged shape slice through the alicorn in a shower of blood and gore and heard a shriek of rage.

On the other side of the battlefield, Nimbus heard the scream cut through the forest. His body shuddered as he recognized the scream and his eyes widened in horror. “Henri…” He thought before whipping out his loaned energy pistol and shooting an Enclave soldier right between the eyes before breaking out into a gallop and launching himself into the air before a powerful right cross smashed another soldier’s skull in.

His body burning with rage and adrenaline, his vision clouded as everything became a sea of red and gunfire. Grabbing the second SAW, together he and Riptalon began to push the soldiers back towards the gas station while all the while Nimbus’ thoughts ran rampant. Was Jabari dead? Was Henri dead? Was his brother dead?

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” Nimbus mentally screamed as gunfire lit up the night, the Morningstar at full fury screams filling the air, his barely contained rage illuminated by the gunfire flashes. “Kill…. Kill… Kill them all!” he screamed out, sweat pouring down his body. “This is for Henri, this is for my brother and this is for…” he roared as one by one the troops were forced into a retreat.

Jabari, having taken advantage of the chaos had indeed managed to sneak in behind the back of the gas station and had sliced down one of the guards with his sword. He’d grabbed the fallen soldier’s novasurge and was currently taking cover behind a corner as two orange flashes of light ripped through the air.

Then, the two soldiers were distracted by something, the roar of the guns from outside. Taking a brief moment to turn, that was their last mistake as Jabari whirled out from behind the corner and pressed the trigger twice.

Twin orange flashes and both lay on the floor in piles of ash. Jabari kicked open a door, tossing the disgusting weapon on the floor and looked in front of him. Chained and shackled to a wall was a very thin -so thin in fact, you could feel his bones- white pegasus, bruised and bloodied.

“What’s… what’s going on out there?” the pegasus slurred.

“The wrath of God?” Jabari half-guessed. “I’m a… well, not sure if friend is the right word. But I know your brother.” he said, and the pegasus’ eyes lit up even as Jabari sliced through the shackles.

“Nimbus… He’s here? My brother’s here…?” Clear Skies breathed out. “Take… take me to him.”

“Not right now, not with what’s going on outside!” Jabari barked. “We’re getting you out of here. Come on now, out the back!”

Outside, Nimbus suddenly saw Twilight striding forwards, her entire body glowing with an angry violet light before she fired a beam of magic right at an Enclave straggler burning his entire body to ash. She tossed Nimbus the previously discarded zebra rifle and Nimbus kept his hoof constantly on the trigger showing no mercy whatsoever as he fired again and again. And again and again, the Enclave troops screamed and burned inside their armor before finally dying.

Looking back, Nimbus would honestly be scared of himself right then, and swear never to commit such atrocities again refusing a zebra rifle whenever offered but right now all he wanted was blood.

“Nimbus!” Riptalon shouted out as he saw Jabari leading an almost pure white pegasus away. "You can stop now! Please, for Gawd’s sake, just STOP!” he screamed in fear. Not for what was going on as he fully understood Nimbus’ need to right this injustice. No, what he was afraid for was Nimbus’ psyche. Once you became so consumed by a lust for blood and revenge as Nimbus was becoming, there was a very good chance one would never return from that state.

“NIMBUS!” Riptalon shouted as he wrenched the rifle out of his mate’s hands and smashed it underneath his paw. “Your brother… He… he wouldn’t want this, would he?”

Twilight’s voice joined in on the pleading, as the magnitude and the horror of what she had just helped to achieve slowly set in. “Please… please stop all this!” she pleaded her voice barely higher than a whisper.

“No… No…” Nimbus slowly began as his voice began to turn softer before he watched with widened eyes a small white figure being pulled up the hill. Nimbus let out a roar of rage and his energy finally spent amongst the blood and the bodies collapsed into Riptalon’s arms sobbing heavily…

“This is DJ Pon3 coming back at you with the latest news from around Equestria. Good news has just come in from Junction Town, the Senate has agreed to delay the vote of no confidence in President Regina Grimfeathers. This decision was reached after reports came in of the events of the Battle of Manehattan, so at least we finally have some bit of closure on that issue.

“Now, in other news, and we’re still not quite clear as to what happened but apparently just a few miles outside of Manehatten some sort of… massacre took place? Old Red Rocket gas station, a few NCR scouts found piles of blood and gore, and quite a few dead bodies lying about the place. Nightmare Society Alicorns and Enclave soldiers alike. Now, this mare doesn’t mind the wastes being cleaned up every so often, but even she’s taken aback by the sheer brutality of what she heard took place. It was like a one-pony army just took the station by storm and left us behind another Arbu...

“But enough of such grim things. Now, let's have some music, dedicated to one of our heroes that helped save Manehattan.”

“Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on….”

Henri threw something at the radio, silencing it. She sat in Tenpony’s clinic, a new set of limbs to replace her ruined ones. The doctors had said she pulled through, just barely. They’d had to amputate her crushed leg, and like her wing, a prosthetic cybernetic limb sat in its place. Her pipbuck, her element had fused with her leg in the process somehow. Henri just chalked it up to being the Element of Magic and all that rot.

Henri chuckled bitterly. Calamity and Velvet had theorized that through her friendship with Puppy, the Element had been attracted to her in the first place. A fine job she did of upholding its values back there really… Charging in like a fool, and letting her lust for vengeance consume her.

Velvet sat by her bedside, the Followers of the Apocalypse still present in Manehatten tending to the wounded. This would be their last day before they left onto another settlement, and Velvet probably would have gone earlier if not for Henri’s condition.

“You going to be alright?” Velvet asked watching Henri with a look of concern. Nearby, Twilight stood in the doorway looking unsure if she should even come in. Like Henri, she now bore a mechanical leg.

“I… I thought killing all those Society members would… would bring the kid back, but… But I…” Henri whispered.

“Hey, it’s alright…” Velvet whispered. “Trust me, I’ve been there. I’ve wanted to kill, and to…” she whispered thinking back to that nightmarish day at Fluttershy’s cottage.

“Yeah, I know… Gawd above I know, but me… this shouldn’t be me. I’m supposed to honor Puppy’s memory, not defile it by going into a blood-crazed vengeance and nearly getting myself killed in the process. If Twilight hadn’t…” Henri whispered before Velvet pulled her into a hug.

“It’s alright now, it’s okay. You’re safe. The mission, from what I heard, was a success and Nimbus is with his brother now. I don’t know how he is, but I do know that he’s got his family back so…”

“Thank Gawd…” Henri whispered, knowing there were only about a couple of ponies alive today that could commit such acts as the radio spoke of. She feared for Nimbus now, she really did. But hopefully, with his brother back in his arms he would give up his war. She could only hope.

Looking towards Twilight, the mare quietly took her leave sensing she was intruding on a private moment.

“How… How do you deal with it?” Henri asked. “How do you deal with living every day of your life, knowing 90% of your friends are dead and gone? How do you…” Henri choked on her tears.

“I… I honestly don’t know, Henri,” Twilight whispered. “Honestly?” she asked. “I’m amazed I haven’t broken down crying more than once, or just… Just found a very tall building to leap off of. Celestia knows Equestria doesn’t need me anymore anyways…”

“Maybe they do,” Henri whispered. “I heard about what you did, shutting down that factory and saving all those ponies from the trenches. Maybe they do need a Princess, even if she herself doesn’t want to acknowledge it. Because to me, even after all you’ve done, you still try and atone for your… failures. But for me? I screw up time and time again and-”

“Enough!” Twilight barked before her voice turned into a whisper as she put a hoof over Henri’s beak. “Enough. Hush now. Do you know that pain? You know what to do with it?”

“No. I… I don’t. I’ve been trying to figure it out, Hell I’ve even had Winter fuckin’ Breeze of all ponies try to help but-”

“Then maybe I can help. Maybe you’re right, maybe there is a usage for ponies like me still. And do you know what you do with all that pain? Shall I tell you where you put it? You hold it tight… till it burns your hoof and you resolve to yourself that nobody ever would have to feel that same pain as you, and you help them. Winter may never have said it -and maybe she should have, or maybe she assumed you already knew- but that’s what I think. That pain will always be there, yes it’ll always be there but it helps spur you onwards. Helps you do right. Be a better you from the tomorrow onwards. Now, no amount of blood spilled will ever bring your little sister back, but you can live for her. Live for the life she never had a chance to live understand?”

Henri simply nodded, and Twilight smiled. “Trust me, I’ve been there. Now let me tell you about a pony named Pinkie Pie. Not the one in the ministries and the one that the war created, but the one I knew…”