“You don’t believe me, do you?” Nor said to Shadow.

Shadow leaned back in the overseer’s chair. “I didn’t say don’t. Write up a report to send. Give the facts. There is way to much unknown magic for me to say it is wrong. There is truth there. How much? Probably more than we, I, want to admit. We will see if your blessing plays out.”

“Thunder,” Shadow said turning their attention to him. “Weapons?”

“They are a small group. Not many. Poor shots compared to us, but we assaulted a Steel Ranger outpost and came out with no losses. Mostly thanks to my knowledge. We concealed me so that my identity was unknown. I looked like one of them. We won’t go into those specifics.

They can defend themselves well enough against the forces down there. They would give our units a solid fight, but they are no threat. They just want to be left alone. And send out their prophets from time to time. But they won’t try and force themselves on us. Just yelling and hollering at the most.”

“Armament wise, they use standard rifles that have been enchanted with the Glow to fire bullets packing radiation. Kind of like the incendiary rounds of the Zebra rifles. The dish ones fire pure Balefire radiation. They shot those at the scout fly over.”

“They actually fired on our scouts?” Shadow asked to clarify.

“Absolutely,” Thunder nodded. “The scout team scared them and the Zealots opened fire. The Zealots are wearing some really strong combat armor that we have to watch out for. It is easily the equivalent of our heavy combat armor, just more pony like since they don’t need to fly. Probably better stuff than ours.”

“You didn’t try and get any of these weapons?” Shadow asked. “It sounds like Nor could have gotten one of each.”

“No, they didn’t have enough for themselves,” Thunder shrugged. “Sure, after my raid with them and Nor’s vision, yeah. But they needed them. We don’t. Just to what, study?”

Shadow sighed. “So, they did fire on our scouts?”

Thunder rolled his eyes. “Yes. And we told them not to worry about it.”

“I’m not worried about it,” Shadow said. “I just want to send a message to Colonel Nova, confirming that information after their scout report.”

Please relay this message to Colonel Nova. It is important information that Scout Command must know immediately.

Nova. Mission to Hollow Shades success. Ponies there use weapons that fire Balefire. Scout Team was shot at and most likely hit. They were spooked, never seeing Pegasi before.

Command Sergeant Major of Reconnaissance, Shadow Flare

Shadow sent the message.

“Nor,” Shadow said. “You have a lot you are not telling me.”

“I can’t,” Nor said shaking his head. “I swore to secrecy some of my vision.”

“Just write a solid report. I trust you to not withhold valuable information.”

“Of course not. That was an understood part of the calling to be a prophet.”

“I think we are done here,” Shadow finished. “I will be outside, gazing up at the clouds.”

“That is his new thing,” Slice stated.

“Anything we should know?” Thunder asked.

“Nope,” Shadow sighed. “Nothing on our end. We watched a few movies, weened ourselves off Med-X and just healed.”

Shadow got up and headed out to the plateau. It wasn’t like looking up at the stars. But it was looking up at the sky, in some way. Going above should be days away. They were almost done below. And yet, others were just beginning.

Below them, the little town of Sanctuary had grown. With a house mostly restored and farm planted, more ponies came. Their group had doubled since, including a filly and a colt. Each from different families.

Shadow lost track of time when he went in.

---

Special Report Sergeant Major Nor’easter

The Hollow Shades has been resettled by a group known as the Children of Balefire. A group who worships Balefire, stating that Balefire is an old power of the land and that Celestia and Luna were suppressing her with their magic, turning Equestria into an artificial land.

They are armed with enchanted weapons we do not want to face. Balefire radiation does not hurt them. They certainly are blessed in that way. They have added magic wards to protect themselves further.

After my close experience with them, their claims holds merit. Strong, deep, old magic resides there and in their beliefs. The Enclave does not want to entangle themselves in that mess. Too many lives will be lost attempting to take the Hollow Shades.

As far as the Enclave needs to be concerned, they should leave them alone. The Children of Balefire won’t attack, but they will send prophets and preachers to settlements as they have always done. The best thing is to ignore them. The Hollow Shades hold no value to the Enclave. It is a dead, desolate area with no strategic value.

Peace between the Enclave and the Children of Balefire can be achieved. It is in our best interest to strive for peace.

Sergeant Major Nor’easter

Nor took the Zebra book they had found at the village they burned. He flipped to the back were there was some extra space and began to write.

There are two accounts I will tell. The first is the tale that is known. It is accurate, true and I have witnessed it myself through a vision. I partook in a ritual to understand them deeper and old magic put me in a trance for four days while I was taught everything I needed to know to be the Prophet to the Pegasus Race.

The second tale I write is the full account of my vision. Everything I felt, everything I heard, everything I knew but should not have know. This is for my use, so that I do not forget anything. Some of these things are unknown to the High Confessors who lead the Children of Balefire. And thus, they were to remain a secret, only to me.

The Wind has not told me to write the second tale, I trust it would warn me to keep my hooves from writing these things.

Nor wrote late into the night. As he began to write the second account, it would slowly fade from view like he was using invisible ink. If the time came, it would reveal itself.

---

“What is it?” Nova asked annoyed.

“Is this Colonel Nova?”

“What do you need?”

“I need to confirm that it is Colonel Nova. It is a secure message.”

Nova groaned. “Yes, it is me. Who are you?”

“Lieutenant Honey Bee.”

“Who?”

“I am the Lieutenant over the Reconnaissance Team.”

“Oh. What is it?”

“The reconnaissance team?”

“No, the message. And hurry up! I have shit to do and a Unit in piss poor condition I am having fixed.”

“I received important word that you needed to hear this. Command Sergeant Major Shadow Flare says: Nova. Mission to Hollow Shades success. Ponies there use weapons that fire Balefire radiation. Scout Team was shot at and most likely hit. They were spooked, never seeing Pegasi before.”

“Interesting,” Nova said focusing on the conversation. “Very interesting. Only two of us alive to care, but interesting.”

“Only two alive Sir?”

“Me and Shadow Flare. Good information to know. That solves an important mystery. Thank you for passing on that invaluable report. I know that what they are doing remains a secret, but I needed to know this information. My job as Scout Command needed to know it so I can take appropriate measure, immediately.”

Nova hung up the phone and exited his office. He walked down and out the back exit so he was looking over all five recruit flight deck. Olive Pit had Unit 0 deployed strategically throughout the flight decks.

Olive Pit was working them as hard as they would let him. According to his reports, several of the smarter members of Unit 0 were using the recruit warm ups to get some conditioning in. And as a group, they were making a poor show of their condition and in very much need of the extra work.

Nova sighed.

“Well my Love, I was right. Maybe if I was wrong, things would have played out differently. But I am here, and you are not. I ache not just in my heart, but my very bones. Now I know why. If I came forward and declared I was right, they would retire my ass. I have a job to do. For you, for me, for them. So that they don’t have to ask the same questions I am.”

---

Shadow opened up the new message.

Final Orders For The Inquisitors And Operation Vindication

17 days from now, a group of ‘activists’ will be heading below. They call themselves the ‘Pillars of the Community.’ They have divided the Pegasus Race more than they have brought them together.

Their destination is marked. Final headcount is unknown. Between 26 and 42. Approach on hoof. They will have an unsecured radio. Jam it. Do not spare a single one. Leave them to rot.

Make no mistake, they are Dashites. The chaos and agony they have caused is greater than you can understand without witnessing it. They have slapped the Enclave across the face and created mistrust. We can not prosecute them normally because of their following. This is their just reward. Nopegasus will forget their ‘tragic accident’ and nopegasus will ever stop trusting the Counsel again.

You see the need for our protection measures. The rest of the Pegasus Race will soon be reminded of that reason and the cost to secure it. Most recently the lives of your teammates below.

Make your family and friends proud. Make the Enclave proud. Finish strong like a real Pegasus.

Until after

Shadow called everypony in. They discussed their tactics and approach vectors.

“That is near Neighagra,” Thunder said. “They are going to gravitate to the falls. They produce some good cover, a good place to stay and water.”

“Clean water,” Nor added. “Cleaner than anywhere else.”

“Moving in on hoof will present it’s challenges,” Slice said. “Especially if they spook themselves. And there is a good chance they will spook themselves, jumping at every noise. Or freak because they made this mistake.”

“We are not getting too close,” Shadow stated. “They may be dissenters. They may be Dashites. But I don’t want to be close when I have to kill wings. A respectable distance.”

“Agreed,” Slice said.

“It doesn’t sound like there will be much in way of resistance,” Thunder added.

“It’s organized,” Shadow reminded them. “On their side. We can not discount that they will have have decent weapons and armor. The have the Counsel’s wings tied by mob. They probably won’t have training on it, but we can not fully assume that.”

“This kind of sounds like murder,” Slice said. “Killing outside the law.”

Thunder was ready with that counter argument. “It is our job to make sure enemies of the Counsel don’t stay enemies long.”

“We don’t have a choice,” Shadow replied. “We have that obligation and from what I have learned before from the Lieutenant, this has been a rising issue. These pegasi have worked against the Enclave and caused fractures for quite some time. They don’t trust us and want the Counsel disbanded.”

“These guys have fought against the Enclave, and the Counsel has been forced to bend to the mob in order to keep peace. I’ve see that mob and tried to keep that mob at bay. They want down to prove the Counsel wrong. They think that we are experiencing isn’t true.”

“The longer they stay down here, the more trouble it will cause back home. They won’t have a good stash when it comes to meds against radiation, meaning it could take them weeks to suffer and die. They won’t have many guns, but it may take weeks for them to be hunted, killed or enslaved.”

“We have no choice,” Shadow finished. “We must cut off the head of the snake now.”

“Agreed!” Thunder said slamming his hoof on the table.

“I hate to say it, but we have to,” Slice sighed.

“Fine,” Nor growled. “This is our final task. We know what we need to do in order to make it back to our families. This is on their heads.”

“No point in waiting to the last minute,” Shadow continued. “Be ready to fly in two days. In case the time frame moves up.”

“Load out ready to take down small targets,” Thunder ordered. “I will carry a spare set of rockets and grenades. You don’t need to. Focus that on single target ammo.”

They split apart but all headed to the armory. All of their spare ammunition had been moved into the armory. It was crowded, but things moved efficiently.

Shadow spent the evening outside on the plateau. It was his new way to relax. It kept him outside and moving. At least a little bit. And he liked keeping tabs on the ponies below, not that he could see any of them. It still made him feel like he was protecting them in some way.

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