“Five days of restless sleep,” Silent said as Shadow joined them for breakfast. “You are taking some light sleeping meds tonight with an early bed.”

“I don’t have the energy to fight you,” Shadow yawned.

“Can you even lead us in flight?” Nor asked.

“Yes,” Shadow replied.

“We could take the time to finish modifying his armor,” Slice suggested. “We have it figured out.”

“We do not have a launch date,” Silent replied. “Research day. And the armor.”

Shadow just nodded his head.

His current research project was the Ghastly Gorge. Pre-war, it was home to something called Quarray eels. How they handled things would be an interesting venture. Nor believed so as well.

Shadow moved back to Fillydelphia. He had been flipping to and from there. It was a lot to handle and only three passes had been made over the city. The first two were high up, but they were able to establish what sections were still standing.

Both recon team attempts in the city ended before anything could be ascertained. But they went in before the city had only been confirmed to be Fillydelphia and they didn’t walk in. They chose their spot and flew in. A poor move

The data they collected allowed them to make a rough sketch of the city. There was the crater from the direct hit, but the factory district was still intact. Other sections of the city still were in decent shape, considering the blast.

There appeared to be two solid locations for groups to reside. The factories and another section in the west seemed well preserved enough. Shadow had no bearing for the last run. Where they came down in and where the shooting started was lost. They had no idea where they exited. It was entirely possible they ran through both parts, taking fire from more than one group.

“Shadow,” Silent called.

“Yes?”

“Dinner and then we are getting you to bed. It is late. 1830.”

Shadow got up and ate with them. He knew there was no arguing. Silent was not just their lieutenant, but a medic. There was no bluff or brushing these things off with him.

Silent had pills ready in his room. “These will help you sleep, but not too deeply. We need you awake in the morning after all.”

Shadow tossed both back and took a swig of water to flush them down.

“Now finish up,” Silent ordered. “You won’t have long before they will make you really drowsy. Don’t fight it.”

Shadow felt the pills do there work and drifted off to sleep.

He awoke in the middle of the night, mind racing. There was no sleep after that. Silent was not happy. They figured it must be his endurance and he would need a much heavier dose.

“Damn it Shadow!” Silent said the day after that. “I have to get you to sleep. For your sake. I called Captain Marble Falls. I know what happened on her weather segment. I can’t let you do that again. We both agreed to that.”

“Up the dose?”

“I can’t. Last night I maxed it. We have to figure out how to calm you down. What worked back home?”

“I never had trouble sleeping back home,” Shadow shrugged.

“What was key about back home?”

“Manual labor?”

“I wish, but that won’t do it,” Silent sighed. “Go back to researching for now.”

Silent picked up the phone and called the Captain again.

“This is Captain Marble Falls.”

“This is Lieutenant Silent Wind.”

“More trouble? Did he fall out?”

“Not yet. He has no idea what he would do back home. He had no trouble sleeping there. Any ideas? This is getting to him really badly.”

The Captain sighed. “Have you worked him through acrobatics? He would do that on a regular basis. He was even leading it in ACS.”

“No. Good idea. And it would be a normal routine enough as he grew up. It would explain his restlessness.”

Before bed, Silent worked Shadow through all the different acrobatic skills for a solid hour before giving him the meds and to bed.

“That still doesn’t look pretty,” Silent said the next morning.

“Well, I did better,” Shadow yawned.

“Better and good are not the same,” Silent sternly said. “You know that. I can’t let you go on like this. It will ground the mission or worse, cause problems below.”

Shadow sighed as he sat down.

“Let me fly,” Shadow insisted after a little while. “Let me just fly for the day.”

“If you fall out, I have no idea where you are,” Silent argued back.

“If I fall out, I will wake up later and make it back. I haven’t really flow since I got my wings.”

“You fell out during the weather portion of aerial combat in Basic.”

“Most of the time before that was spent on the ground.”

“Alright. Fly!” Silent caved. “Tomorrow you better be ready for us to start planning for below. I know we have plenty of work to do on our training, but its your schedule and I am sticking to it.”

“Yes Sir.”

“His armor is almost ready,” Slice said. “Like noon ready.”

“I will be fine,” Shadow insisted. “Flying free will be best. I can let go and still stay in the area. The armor blocks the tickle of the breeze.”

“Finish eating, then go,” Silent ordered.

Shadow trotted over to their launch pad, number 2 and checked the area. There were only a few units here, but he still checked the flight sheet. It was empty, meaning he didn’t have to watch out for anypony. He wrote his name and passed though the warning lines.

He took a minute to prep and then launched straight up. Shadow put everything he had into a sprint and then into a marathon. It felt good to be free and open. Nothing holding him back or captured. He circled back towards the fort. He had given his word to stay in the area.

On an impulse, Shadow banked to the north and headed into the mountains. He found a spot to land and then laid down. It was cool, hard ground. Like the clouds he farmed.

Shadow took a deep breath in and opened his mind. He couldn't tell them what was really bothering him. The silence was a horrible screaming and it was missing the calm noise of Cardinal Spitfire's sleeping purr. A soft purr when she was sleeping at just the right angle.

It had been almost three weeks without seeing her. The most he had gone was almost two weeks, but that was before he really opened up and let her in. One night in bed or a thousand, Shadow feared he would not be able to sleep without her truly being close by.

Shadow didn’t know how his parent's handled being apart. But that was almost never. Just like he had slept fine up until getting here. Now, nighttime was all her in his head. He missed her. It was as if half his heart was gone. Their relationship was hot and hard. They had come close fast and stayed close. There was no easy way to pull apart.

Shadow cried. Just openly wept in his pain. He had not let himself grieve for being away. Everything was so quick. So broken. So right. So perfect despite all the obstacles.

Shadow pulled the necklace out and held it. His side had the F and broken S. Perfect reminders. He needed to hold onto the memories. He needed it to hold the memories of her image, her smell, her soft coat, that special sight of content that bordered on a giggle at it’s tail. So many important things to remember.

The most important thing was their commitment. It was more than the necklace, it was apart of his foundation and he had not let it join it yet. His family was not just Dream Catcher, Lance, Rain Jubilee, Early Blossom, Cherry Tart, Buck, Spice Cake, and Lunar Harvest. It also was Cardinal Spitfire, Spearmint, Yellow, Auburn, and Fire.

Merging the two was new. Difficult. Painful. Right. What he had committed too. It was hard to do with being away from it all and happening so fast. Nothing was normal. But they knew that.

Shadow sighed and got up. He slipped out of his flight suit and danced in between the mountains for a while, truly free. The only things on him here his totems and the all important necklace.

Shadow stayed out until the sun began to set. He touched down and still had time for dinner. Avoiding food was not a good idea, even though he wasn’t hungry. The chains of life came back as he entered the hall and the team was there.

“You look better,” Silent greeted him. “Much better.”

“I’ll skip the meds,” Shadow replied. “I’ll sleep.”

“Alright,” Silent nodded. “I trust you.”

Shadow started the meeting in the morning.

“We have to insert from here, north of Baltimare. Fillydelphia is where we have to focus on things. That and its been requested to cover more of the Canterlot Lowlands, here.”

Shadow flipped over a larger print of Fillydelphia. “For Fillydelphia, you can see what the city is like from our scout reports. There is a lot of pitfalls and places to get trapped. There is no way we can spend more that two weeks max here.”

“That means a base of operations for this mission and if we do it right, others. Any suggestions?”

Nopony had focused on that.

“Okay, so we will follow along this path to this unnamed mountain to check it out. Then we will slide over the Hollow Shades. Nothing is known and may hold some strong locations. If not, then to map out the Foal Mountain range. I am positive we can find something here. For starters, we have wings. They do not.”

“When we secure a base of operations, what should we do?”

Shadow looked at them, try to coax them to join the planning. “This is when you give suggestions like you researched.”

“Ghastly Gorge,” Nor spoke up. “It is a scientific point and will give me plenty to do after. Finding out how the eels survived could help me predict how other creatures had mutated.”

“That gets us close to Canterlot,” Silent said. “That would be good to get a better look if we can. We can swing down through Ponyville, around the Everfree Forrest and to the gorge. I think we need to avoid the forest for now. It was a highly unknown place before the war. Research there should wait for another mission. We can get some eyes on it at least.”

Shadow drew the path on their map.

“We can circle back by Appleloosa,” Silent continued. “And swing past Shatterhoof on the way. I think that will be enough time away.”

“Mission one planned,” Shadow declared. “It won’t be hard and we can work out the nuisances of everything in a safer manner than the stress of Fillydelphia.”

“Next mission has to be to Fillydelphia,” Thunder stated. “That spot near StableTec HQ holds interest to pop into. Shadow and I think there is a group operating out of in that general area. It is a safer move than heading to the main city structure.”

Silent nodded his head and Shadow set down mission two.

“Baltimare,” Slice said. “It isn’t far. Do not mark it as a specific mission, but there were quite a few points of interest for us all. We should continue to plan out missions, but I think two definite ones should be fine. We may need to continue going back to Fillydelphia and ignore the other spots.”

“Good point,” Silent approved. “So lets make that secondary mission one. A trip up to Manehatten can be secondary mission two. We all have points marked there. But we should be coming up with new information, which means new objectives.”

They talked about more points like Splendid Valley, Hayseed Swamp, White Tail Woods and San Palomino Desert. But their focus was Fillydelphia and south of Canterlot Mountain.

“I think these two primary and two secondary missions are enough,” Shadow said sitting down. “Depending on time, maybe another run at Fillydelphia. But right now, to get to the Foal Mountains will take us… five days. Plus camp set up. After that, we have to be careful to not show our wings. First mission, will probably be a week, depending on how long we stay at the gorge. Second will be a week and a half since we will be on hoof most of the time. We have had no eyes on Baltimare. Baltimare another two weeks. We have so many places we want to investigate, and back out to Manehatten will take another week and a half or so.”

“That marks 53 days below,” Shadow finalized.

“A long time for a first full mission,” Silent stated. “And we will probably take another crack at Fillydelphia on our way out. We never counted the time it would take to come back here. It is a three month mission, at least.”

“That is straight missions and movements,” Nor pointed out. “We have not counted down time, repairs, healing and research back at our outpost.”

“That will probably take us to five or six,” Shadow stated. “But we don’t have to do it all before coming back. We can figure out our return dates down there. But we shouldn’t stress so much on that date.

Nopony said anything so Shadow continued.

“We need to be careful, really careful,” Shadow stressed. “We have to give as little away as possible about the Enclave. We are not flying their flag thankfully, but we can’t give anypony a way in.”

They chuckled since everypony was the right term for once.

“Cloud terminals will block a lot,” Shadow continued. “Storm, can a non Pegasus hack into a cloud terminal?”

“I do not know what tech might be down there,” Storm cautioned. “Like we have magic weapons, they might had a way to overcome a Pegasus’ connection to the clouds.”

“Heavily Encrypted then,” Shadow declared. “Only communication is reports back and formal requests for supplies and other things. Only thing that comes in is orders and official replies. We have no other connection, and only take what little information we need stored in the terminal. No field phones. We do not need somepony to be able to pick it up. Duty to the mission first. That is what matters as Reconnaissance Soldiers.”

The others agree.

“Team name?” Slice asked. “And operation name?”

They all sat around thinking. Sometimes pitching a name. It was almost time for dinner when Shadow smiled.

“Vindication. The last mission ended horribly over Fillydelphia five years ago. Now we are headed back their. We can permanently clear the last mission’s name as a failure by proving it was no way their fault by our findings.”

Everypony agreed.

“Then we should be seekers,” Nor suggested. “Well, more like Inquisitors. Searching out these false things to clear the way for the truth.”

“I agree with both,” Silent finalized. “Operation Vindication by the Inquisitors.”

Silent stood up. “I honestly didn’t expect this to only take a day.”

Shadow grinned. “The work has barely begun. We have no set mission and time exactly, so we will be winging it a lot. But having stuff planned out like we have will help us out there a lot.

---

Shadow sat at the terminal typing in commands. Storm had been running him through hacking. Their suits had assistants, but Shadow was working on doing it without aid. They all had been working at it on his insistence.

Weapons they were good with. They all could easily work the manual override Slice installed and even though they had eight weapons, it was easy to chose which weapon they wanted to use. Shadow had no way to really test their group tactics, but he felt they were ready.

Slice had run them all through lock picking and opening up sealed objects safely. He had a special tool he crafted himself for locks. It was a stiff cloud that was a master key. He just had to do minor adjustments until the tumblers would engage and it was open. However, he taught them how to do it without the key as there was no time for him to spend the time crafting another key. Packing a small lock pick set was easy.

They also learned their weapons inside and out. They could repair and adjust them as needed. That took a good week to learn, practicing every morning. Slice and Storm were very focused on them learning. It meant the repairs would not hang just on them. The same for the armor; but they only spent an afternoon on the armor.

Silent had gone a lot more into the medical side. They had been taught immediate first aid in Basic Training, he taught them longer term care for things like bullet wounds and other injuries. They were soon familiar with stitches, infectious wound care and simple amputations; in case of mutations or a really bad wound.”

Nor was not able to teach them anything about science. Samples and such were easy to teach in the field, but the scientific method and other aspects would take too long. He had been studying for years and was the oldest in their group, with eight years service under his belt, along with specialized training as a colt.

“Damn Shadow,” Storm said impressed. “You blasted that program apart.”

“You taught me well,” Shadow smiled.

“You can handle the field terminal, hacking difficult terminals and the basics of understand technology. Impressive for such a simple background.”

“And you got the mechanical side of things well,” Slice added while he was tinkering with his armor. “Cross training us all was a good idea. Especially the medical side. It helps to be able to trust the others with repairs or assisting me with repairs.”

Slice looked up at them beaming. “I need access to your armor again guys. I fixed the stupid wing location with the rocket launcher. It can now be fired with our wing straight up and any angles from perpendicular and lower. It comes with it’s risks…”

“I will take those risks,” Silent said coming into the room with Major Winters Breath. “Now we can really fly and shoot.”

Silent looked at Shadow. “Shadow, we are almost ready to depart. Everypegasus got leave before coming here, but you have been in training since the start. I have two weeks leave for you. Can make it to your family and back in time?”

“Thanks,” Shadow smiled. “But I do not need it. I would rather stay here and work on the final stages.”

Silent looked at the Major. “You were right.”

“Shadow,” Thunder called. “Go. You have worked your ass off these past few weeks alone. You trained us and got us ready. Because of you, we are tight. Lets get you off, even if it is just a few hours home, the travel through the cities isn’t bad.”

“Cities?” Shadow said confused. “From here it is a straight shot west. Why would I dip south and then over?”

“Where will you stay?” Silent asked just as confused as Shadow was. “There are two cities between us and your family. El Nino which you know, and Cherry Town, but Cherry Town is a long ways off. Even for you”

“Farm hop,” Shadow shrugged. “It is what we farmers do to travel long distances. Fly, stop at a farm and see if they can put us up for the night. We pay them some bits for dinner, the night and stay. We are big on hospitality.”

“They really only like to do it to help farmers. But I am one, will always be one, and am headed home to the farm. It is much easier to do single or a pair. I can make the eastern boarder from a fresh run tomorrow morning, easily.”

“Go get ready,” Silent said shaking his head. “How you travel is your business so long as your represent the Enclave to the highest standards.”

“Oh course,” Shadow nodded.

He took the leave ticket and headed back to his room.

“Is there a reason for two weeks?” Thunder asked when Shadow was gone. “A sudden time line.”

“Yes,” Major Winters Breath replied. “Simple. You have the missions prepared, you have your cross training done. You are ready to go, outside of the tinkering. And in three weeks, Fort Griffin's Gate will be swarmed with Wonderbolts back for training and some shuffling in their units. They have a large group of new recruits that will need a lot of training. We can get you out of the way, so we will.”

Shadow got back to his room and took a minute to think. It was late afternoon, still plenty of time. Shadow picked up the phone and dialed the number for Fort Wind’s Squad Barracks.

“Squad Barracks.”

“I am Command Sergeant Major Shadow Flare and looking to contact Corporal Cardinal Spitfire...”

“You missed her.” Shadow was cut off. “Second Lieutenant Cardinal Spitfire left this morning for Wonderbolt Testing. I have no idea where it is. All Wonderbolt squads are gone as well. It is just Colonel Nova and the ACUs.”

“Can you transfer me to the Colonel?” Shadow asked.

“Yes. I think he is in his office.”

The phone rang several times before it was picked up.

“Colonel Nova. Go.”

“Nova, it is Filly Fooler.”

“Hey! How are you liking Fort Griffin’s Gate?”

“Excuse me?” Shadow asked confused.

“I was stationed there for a time. All nine Scout Squadrons were. And I know the plan. Or enough to know you are there.”

“Right,” Shadow chuckled.

“And I am sorry, but they all left early this morning. I do not know where they were heading, or if they were all headed to the same place. I am assuming you got leave.”

“Yes,” Shadow replied. “Two weeks, so I could swing around to see my squad mates and still hit home for several days. I’ll just make a straight shot west to home. Hop from a few farms. However, I have you on the phone, I did have a question.”

“Oh?”

“I spent a lot of time working through your final mission. I can not pin down a good entrance and exit. I have charted over 20 paths and can’t figure it out. Do you have anything that wasn’t in the report?”

“Well, we were low, and getting blasted from very direction. So I couldn't get much. We hopped a wall and had to dodge over and then along a metal framed structure that was stripped of siding. Then it was out and free. On top of the gunfire, there was smoke and it got loud and hot once we got on the other side structure. Plus machinery. Not much to go on, anecdotal for reports.”

“Thanks,” Shadow said. “That actually removes quite a few paths.”

“Anything else?”

“You kept plenty from the reports,” Shadow commented.

“I reported what could be. Some things were small and not built enough to even report.”

“What do you know about the ‘Hollow Shades?”

“That is one place that we could never pin down. Mission 17. We came low and over them. Me and two others called under fire, the other three, including her, looked at us like we were crazy. We never turned back. That is where I think my brain got scrambled. We could not solidly pin down fire and the squad had a huge argument over it.”

“Interesting,” Shadow replied thinking. “Any suggestions for bases of operations?”

“Mission 12 we ran near Canterlot. We had fanned out, I was on the tip and had already traveled way too far off the side and could not check it out. A river runs along the Foal Mountain Range. Halfway it breaks away and heads south. Around that break it looked like the trees had been cleared and it looked like something had been built. I was too far away from the group to make a closer pass. I might have good eyes, but there was nothing to report since the distance made it unreliable. You will find that out soon enough.”

“I will make note of that,” Shadow stated. “Thanks. You have my gratitude. The team is ready as soon as I am back from my leave. They said they got theirs before gathering, while I never got any since training.”

“You all will do just fine,” Colonel Nova replied. “Take and enjoy that leave. It will be a long time before you get it again. But that is typical life in the military. And you won’t have much time when you come back up before it is down again. You are going to be actively acting out your duty. No sitting around for training for you. Hopefully more teams will come along, but the Major was only tasked with you. But that has nothing to do with leave. Enjoy it.”

“Thank you Nova. I will.”

Shadow hung up and thought about what Nova had said. He went back to their Wing.

“You are not supposed to be back yet,” Silent stated confused.

“I have two marks to make,” Shadow replied.

“Why are those added?” Silent asked.

“I called back to Fort Wind to see if I could even plan a day to slip in and say ‘hi’ to some ACU friends on my way back. They all have been moved around since I left. I spoke with Colonel Nova though, and picked up some small observations that couldn’t be added into reports. Things they could not confirm.

Shadow pointed to the Hollow Shades. “The Hollow Shades were never explored, they got close and things got weird. Some thought they were under fire, others right next to them didn’t. Weird, but since we will be close, it might matter.”

“Who is the Colonel Nova?” Silent asked annoyed. “Mission specs should not have been shared over the phone.”

“Nothing on our end was shared,” Shadow clarified. “And Nova was the hot shot Scout who was first below and last out. Over twenty missions, the final being over Fillydelphia.”

“The one you have been really focused on” Silent said connecting the dots.

“He helped with some ideas for this team,” Shadow added. “I got to know him in ACS and he is the Scout Commander. They are rebuilding that command as well. He has shared a few pieces of information that never got into reports. Things on the horizon that may or may not be something. A quick stop dodging raiders here or there, but location is not even accurately ascertained they were that quick.”

“Since you are back, I have something to tell you,” Silent said sitting down. “I look forward to hearing how long your flights took. I hate splitting the team up, and you are sorely needed and you need adequate rest, but I am thinking I may send you on solo observation missions, especially to check out certain areas. Maybe ahead of us like to Baltimare, or to make a run over the Hayseed Swamps. Things you can do in a few days that would take us three or four times as long, and may or may not be worth it.”

Shadow nodded. “Solid plan. Very solid. We will see how things play out.”

“I hate not having a solid plan,” Silent admitted.

“I know,” Shadow replied. “We do this, and every other mission after will be direct and easy to deal with. And we might call it quits early depending on how things run.”

“Fair point,” Silent said adding it to his mental notes. “I will remember that. I forget we can call it off. We are not locked down there.”

Shadow grabbed dinner and then packed. He grabbed his clothes and only one of his Dress Uniforms. They all had gotten more flight uniforms. Nicer ones that didn’t have patches. Everything was embroidered which allowed for them to be more streamlined. It was a lot nicer than worrying about the tips of their patches as they flew at high speeds.

The entire Fort knew he had leave and for how long. For a place of secrets, it seemed little could be kept secret inside it’s walls. It was no problem leaving and taking off after an early breakfast. Shadow kicked himself in high gear. He could make the trip in five days, but he was hoping to make it in four.

It felt amazing to be free and flying so fast. He forgot how it was flying at these speeds. The Inquisitors were good,. their power armor helped the others pick up speed and agility. But they were not an ACU and the power armor didn’t allow him to feel the subtleties of the breeze.

Shadow was traveling well. By mid afternoon he had passed the eastern boarder of the Northern Farming District. Shadow reigned it in a little while later and descended to the road where he landed. He had never actually farm hopped. He chose a farm and walked up to the front door and knocked.

It opened a little bit later by a tired mare carrying a young foal.

“What can I do for you?” She smiled.

“Hello Ma’am. My name is Shadow Flare. I am heading west to visit home on leave.”

“Ah, you are stationed out at that place in the east.”

“The what Ma’am?” Shadow asked trying to make sure he never divulged information.

“Oh sorry, I know its supposed to be a secret. The boarder is there for a reason and we do not cross it. But we know there is a military base there. It is no secret here, but nothing that concerns us or others.”

“Well…” Shadow said trying to recover.

“You are looking for a place for the night?”

“Yes Ma’am. My home is the Turnip Homestead on the west side.”

“Oh yes, we have heard about that Homestead. Come on in dear. I have dinner about ready. It is a bit hectic right now. I assume this is your first time farm hopping?”

“Yes,” Shadow chuckled. “Knowing how and doing are two very different things.”

“Well, make yourself comfortable in the living room. I will be right back.

“You certainly have a busy place. Is your farm doing well?” Shadow asked taking a seat on the couch.

“Enough,” She replied heading into the kitchen. “Some equipment just broke, making things tough.”

“I did a lot of repairs before I joined,” Shadow offered. “Point me in the right direction and I can see if there is anything I can help with.”

“You are our guest,” She replied sweetly before sighing. “But we are at a loss. They are in the barn out back and that means I am left with a baby foal and two colts along with everything else.”

“You are doing well,” Shadow assured her as he headed out back.

Shadow trotted out to the barn and introduced himself to the others. It was a simple family with only a married, single son and his, again, pregnant wife. Their irrigation plow had a huge chunk taken out of the point.

“We should cut off the front panel and angle things so it is two blades,” Shadow soon suggest. “It will only slice the clouds, but they will be broken up, easier for a shovel to be used. If we mounted a shovel on the front and the shovel breaks, you will lose the shovel. A worse sentence. This will also deal with those ice blocks better. Ice out here at this time of year...”

“Is bad,” The Farm Master replied. “We are not the only farm dealing with them around here.”

“Something must be happening below,” Shadow said without thinking.

They looked at him and his uniform.

“Oh yeah,” He chuckled. “I have no idea what would be causing if it is from below. But logically, ice floats. If something below is freezing the water, that means it rises up in our clouds because of how they are held together. It is a possibility.”

“It is a good thought,” The Farm Master admitted. “Lets fix this. Tomorrow we will begin exploratory digging.”

“I would not advise going below ten feet,” Shadow warned. “If it is something below, the clouds might have shifted. Last thing you need is an accidental breach. And that is not coming from a soldier, but a fellow farmer.”

They adjusted the plow and headed in for a good dinner. Shadow wanted to pay them 20 bits, they wanted none since he helped with the plow. They finally settled on 10. Shadow had more than enough and he always had a cash reserve. The card was great, but real bits talked and everywhere real bits were accepted.

Up early, breakfast, and then off again. Shadow knew his exact point, but his family’s Farm location was a little iffy since he did not have direct navigation coordinates. He knew he was on point when he saw the cherry farms come into sight on the horizon. It was mid afternoon, but it made for a good stopping point.

He glided low over the treetops enjoying the smell as he sought out the road. He found the crossroad and landed. The Cherry Homestead was split into four, like he had been told. The houses were all decently close to the crossroads. Which one was Cherry Tart’s direct family was unknown.

“How can I help you?” A stallion approached him from the fields.

“Hi, I am Shadow Flare. I am looking for Cherry Tart’s family.”

“Ah, the master sorter,” He replied.

Shadow blushed. “That came all the way back here?”

“Of course it did. Grandma Cherry Tart was very impressed. But that is their house. Farm hopping for leave?”

“Yes Sir, I am. And thank you. Have a wonderful day.”

They parted and Shadow walked over and up to the house. Before he could knock, he head laughter come around the side of the house. It was Diamond Dawn, Lex, Lighting Storm and a few other fillies and colts.

“Diamond,” Shadow called out.

She blinked a few times confused. “Shadow Flare?”

“Yep,” Shadow said trotting over.

“You joined up?” She asked shocked.

“Yes. And I am on leave trying to get home,” Shadow explained. “I just finished up with my last major bulk of training.”

“You are way off your mark,” She stated.

“Blame my last training location,” Shadow chuckled. “I figured on my way, since I was farm hopping, I could swing a bit more north to here and stop in.”

“Yeah,” She said still wrapping her head around it all. “Come on in. Lex, go tell dad, but not that he has to hurry. Shadow is family after all.”

“You never head I joined from your sister then?” Shadow asked.

“No. We know she is carrying a foal through some medical process and we are making plans to come out as soon as it is born, but nothing about you.”

“They have a lot going on from what I know,” Shadow stated. “The few letters I got were all from my dad and the broad family key points.”

The house was big. It made more sense now why Cherry Tart had built such a large house. Hers was still much larger, but this was a really big farm house with nine bedrooms. They sat down in the living room.

“Its a heavy field day,” Diamond Dawn explained. “For them anyway. I was given charge of the house, again. It is a light housework day for me. In a bit I am going to have to start dinner.”

Diamond Dawn smiled at Shadow. “But for now, it is just us. Lex won’t bother us, not with the others around.”

Shadow remembered her flirting tactics with him from before. But this time, it was warmer, more personal. Heart felt.

“I never thought a uniform would look good on you,” She continued.

“Neither did I,” Shadow replied. “This flight suit is nothing. But you won’t get anywhere with that line. There can not be anything between us.”

Diamond Dawn sighed. “Damn. I am striking out everywhere. Maybe I should join up.”

Shadow chuckled, but felt bad for her.

“Don’t join to get married,” Shadow cautioned her. “It won’t get you anywhere but someplace you do not want to be. Unless you want to run around, toting a gun, being cursed out with words and insults you have never heard before, and with the intent of actually doing combat, don’t join.”

“It’s bad?” She asked concerned.

“It has it’s ups and downs,” Shadow replied. “I am happy. Most of others are happy, but they own you. You have to learn and do what they need you to do, when they need you to do it. That changes depending on the job, but it is not always fun. You do not just get to leave and go off someplace whenever you want. You follow their rules. What would your point be in joining?”

“Get out of here,” She replied. “You and I are the same age. It is dead here. And I have nowhere to go.”

“Okay, but what would you want to do?” Shadow coaxed her.

“What is there to do?” She asked, a tad concerned. “Outside being a soldier?”

“A lot are combat roles. You also have medical, administration, communications, engineers, mechanics and scientists. But the pegasi that do the engineering, mechanical and scientist jobs are training in school before even entering. Their school system is way different than ours. Ours is improper.”

She sighed. “No good choices.”

“I know that I will be heading back to the farms,” Shadow confessed. “I may sign on for a few more years, but I will go back to farming. It isn’t a big secret in the Enclave about my future plans. I am doing my duty to them first and with everything I have. Finding your duty can be hard. By my acrobatics fit in perfectly with my duty.”

They continued to talk about futures and life, even when she had to start dinner.

“You options are not out,” Shadow encouraged her.

“And were yours?” She retorted.

“No,” Shadow admitted. “But I do not regret my choice. I went to serve because fate seemed to be pointing to me to the Enclave for now. What am I saying? It was. I know that. But my Cutie Mark was three aspects of being a soldier that are key. Speed, power, and agility. So I excelled. Fourth in my graduating class. But I never blinked or quit on my mission to be the best I can at doing my duty.”

“And back around to duty,” She sighed. “Duty can be tough.”

“Yep,” Shadow agreed. “Split up from family and friends and won’t get leave to see some of them for a long while. All my friends are doing their own training schools and finishing up about now. But they have families to head home to. And serving together isn’t going to happen because we are all in different jobs. And if you get married to another active duty soldier, you can be split up and at different bases. They try, but it is no guarantee.”

Shadow smiled at her. “You have to answer what you find your duty to the Pegasus Race is, and the rest will follow.”

The front door opened.

“Diamond?” Grandma Cherry Tart called out.

“In the kitchen cooking,” She yelled back. “With a guest.”

“Why is our guest in the kitchen?” She asked back. “Oh never mind. I was headed to the kitchen in the first place.”

“Well I’ll be!” Grandma Cherry Tart said seeing Shadow. “What brought you all the way out here?”

“I joined the Enclave,” Shadow replied. “Got a little leave and farm hopping home for a few days. I swung further north to stop in.”

“Now that is a good stallion,” She replied sitting down at the table with him.

Diamond Dawn put a glass of water in from of Grandma Cherry Tart.

“Does she always find housework this easy?” Shadow asked Grandma Cherry Tart?

She took a minute to think. “I guess she does. She is good in the fields, but she does a really good job in here as well.”

“That is a good skill to have,” Shadow replied. “We have been talking life and duty.”

“I see,” Grandma Cherry Tart replied.

“You came at a great time,” She continued after a moment to think. “Parsley Green’s extended family is in town and we are heading over after supper. They won’t mind one more, besides, they met you and the whole community knows about you.”

Shadow chuckled. “Yeah, I heard. I was directed here by somepony, and he knew my name.”

Grandma Cherry Tart laughed. “Give praise where praise is due. But let’s get out of her hair.”

Shadow followed Grandma Cherry Tart into the living room.

“Now,” She said settling into her chair. “I was just over with Bronze and Parsley. You were talking duty earlier. Well her family has a young stallion that will peak her interest. His name is Ice Storm. And they could use somepony skilled in the house and the fields.”

“Isn’t that every farm?” Shadow chuckled.

She joined him. “Yes, but you know what I mean. Celery died two years ago in childbirth. Both lost. They make due, but Cocoa is my age. We can only move so fast at our age.”

“She already tried flirting with me,” Shadow added. “She is looking, and our talks hopefully will be a good nudge.”

“He has a good head on his shoulders too,” She replied.

Grandma Cherry Tart sighed as she got more comfortable.

“Now, what about you?” She asked quietly. “Lips sealed.”

“A real firecracker,” Shadow replied. “She is testing to be a Wonderbolt right now. We were paired up as battle buddies and then a two Pegasus team for Aerial Combat School in our squad. We both are headed to hard, fast and hot jobs.”

“You nailed it. She never had kissed anypony, even on the cheek. Apple farmer close to New Cloudsdale. It hurts to be away. But nopony can know. Not even the Enclave military knows. If they did, they could pull me from my current job. Soon though, we will be back together.”

“How fast was it?” She whispered.

Shadow leaned in closer. “We had our duty to do, and had to keep our partnership in perfect sync. 26 intense weeks where we had to learn to trust each other, and then the flying, read and understand the other. We put personal feelings aside. Finally went for it over a few days leave, and after officially being together for two days… married because the judge saw my travel Homestead Book. Only reason he said yes since we had not known each other as long as they like in the city.”

“Goody,” She smiled. “I am glad you have one. You see their prestige and power. Not to be abused. But glad it worked out. It doesn’t sound like you two have had any time outside of that though.”

Shadow just nodded. “None. Two nights sharing a bed. One of those nights we had a few drinks, so it was just bed. That is why marriage is nice. A union through it all, no matter what or where we are. Best of all, she isn’t bigger than me.”

They both chuckled quietly and Shadow dug her picture out.

“My, she is a beauty,” Grandma Cherry Tart marveled.

Shadow showed her their photo book and their formation, and their top soldiers.

“My, both of you did really well. You certainly found what you are supposed to do. Saving Equestria isn’t easy. And I mean Equestria. We are still apart of it, even sealed up here.”

“That secret is safe with me,” Shadow said moving his hoof across his lips to ‘seal’ them.

The family came in and ended any further conversations. The greeted Shadow warmly like the family they saw him as. Over dinner they heard stories from him and what military life was like so far. The nickname, as expected, drew a lot of laughs over the entire story.

He was warmly welcomed as family at Bronze Bell’s and Parsley Green’s house. He mostly spent the evening talking with Diamond Dawn and Ice Storm. Shadow kick started a lot of the conversations, diving into things to get the two of them talking.

Ice Storm’s eyes soon held interest in her. Diamond Dawn took longer, but by the end of the evening, Shadow had slipped away quietly and had joined other conversations.

Shadow's words to his community had made it over to them. They didn’t know it was Shadow’s words. All they knew it was traveling east, taking communities by storm and sparking discussion.

Next Chapter: Chapter 31 - Home Again Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours, 2 Minutes