The march goes smoothly on the first day. By the end of the day, we are camped for the night outside of New Appleloosa.

It feels good in a way to be back on the move again. However, that night as we are getting ready for dinner Millie asks, “Where Papa?”

Epona quickly answers, “Mills, he had to stay behind for a while. He will come home eventually though.”

Then I hear Moon start to cry and she says, “Buts wants papa now.”

Both Sutures and I take our daughters in our hooves and eventually we are able to calm them down enough that they stop crying. After this, we both feed our little mares and then share some of our dinners with both of them while Epona goes over and eats with Tater and his Pa.

As the sun begins to set behind us, I hear many of the troopers begin to laugh and joke around their fires. From a few of them, I hear instruments being played and some of the troopers begin to sing.

After a while, I hear one of the fires singing Red is the Rose. As I begin to think of my Ivy and how much I miss her, Epona climbs up onto my side and hugs me. I see she has tears in her eyes too and she tells me, “Ma, always loved it when you sang this song to her on our side.”

This brings a smile to my face and I tell her, “I never got much of a chance to sing it to her on this side, but it still reminds me of her.” I then wrap a hoof around Epona and drag her around in front of me and I put a hoof over her back as I hold her close and begin to groom her.

I hear her giggle slightly and she asks, “Ma, what are you doing that for?”

I smile as I tell her, “Dear, I am taking care of my oldest daughter while my little one sleeps. I hope you don’t mind.

I see her smile and she says to me, “No ma, I don’t mind. I was just surprised is all,” then she is quiet for a few minutes and tells me, “Thank you for showing me how much you care ma. I still worry sometimes.”

“Epona dear, I understand entirely. I am just glad you still want me as a mother.”

After a bit, I notice she is beginning to fall asleep and I see Millie begin to shift closer to me. From my other side, I hear Sutures walking up to me and she tells me, “I hope you don’t mind my cuddling up close tonight too?”

“No, my dearest, in fact, I was hoping you would. The fillies are already asleep, and I really just want to cuddle and chat with you tonight.”

As we cuddle close around the fire, I notice that my other staff members are also beginning to come closer to it and lay out their bedrolls. I notice Sutures smiles when she sees them too. Then she tells me, “Just think dear, less than a month and we will be back home.”

I smile at her and tell her, “I know dearest. But in a way, I am just going to miss the just you and me part. My love, I have gotten to experience so much more of you than I ever imagined.”

I see her smile and she tells me, “I do understand love. I have wondered if I would ever have gotten to know you as a partner this well with the others around.”

We talk quietly for several more hours with our daughters all around us cuddled up to us. When we finally fall asleep, I feel her head on my back and a hoof around me as my eyes become too heavy to stay open.

Come morning we begin our normal traveling routine. After breakfast I hold my officers call and set the order of march for the day.

As was tradition from the CEF I still have the head of my civilian camp attend the meetings. I have to smile to see everyone who is still with us at each morning formation. Although I will say it does feel somewhat strange knowing that we did pick up a few recruits while we were in Hackamore. We are still short of troops, but not nearly as many as I had worried about. In part, this is because we began to copy the Harness Battalions' way of talking to the caravans as well as the locals. We tried not to take too many of them as we did not want to take too much of the strength of the area away with us.

As we get ready to head out, I see Tin Star approaching and he tells me, “It was good to see you again Lieutenant Colonel. Thanks for the suggestion about having a vendor’s area for when your troops come through. As you can see it worked pretty good last night, and we did use it when your reliefs passed through a while back.”

I have to smile when he says this and I tell him, “I am glad I could help you with that Tin Star. I shouldn’t be back for a couple of years, but in the meanwhile, take care of yourself, ok.”

I see him grin and he tells me, “I will, you also ma’am. And be careful on the roads ahead, we have had reports of high raider activity lately.”

I nod my head and I tell him, “Thanks Tin. I really do appreciate the heads up. Next time I come through here, I owe you at least a drink, if not dinner.”

I see him smile and he waves a forehoof as he says, “Well I appreciate the thought, but I won’t hold you to it. Now I best get back to town. Safe travels ma’am.”

“Take care deputy,” I tell him then I turn and give the order, “Form them up and get ready to move.”

Once the camps are fully stored and we are all ready we begin the march again. Hopefully, in two days we will make the landing. As we are starting our march for the day, I call out over my PipBuck, “Summer Solstice, send the scouts out.”

She quickly replies, “Yes Ma’am,” and shortly afterward I hear her yell in the distance at the head of the column, “Scouts OUT!” and I watch as I see a squad of pegasi take to the air and I see ground-bound scouts begin to take their positions along the column and to the front as we stop heading east as much as more toward the north and towards both the landing and home.

As the day progresses, we start to see dust on the horizon ahead of us. Summer Solstice sends out two of her teams of flyers to investigate it.

Soon after they arrive over the dust cloud, they begin to take fire from raiders on the ground. As I listen to the conversations over my PipBuck radio I overhear them talking.

“Highflyer 1 this is Highflyer 3 we are taking fire from the ground by those trees.”

“Roger that preparing to make a pass with miniguns.”

As they continue to fight with the raiders below them, I hear them say, “there are a lot more here than I thought there would be. SS1 this is Highflyer one, requesting more support. We have at least one company of hostiles on the ground.”

I halt the column and have the Enfields move forward to support the scouts and engage the raiders. I also have the artillery deploy quickly. As this happens, I see Summer Solstice go flying forward to support her scouts and I hear her call for artillery support.

Soon after I hear the battery fire the first spotting round, followed shortly by the full battery rapid firing into their targets. Then I watch them limber up and start running forward again right behind the Enfields. As they skid to a stop the guns are swung around and dropped and I watch as they fire point-blank canister rounds at the second group of raiders that were hiding along the road under tarps.

Shortly afterward I hear over my PipBuck, “The road is cleared Colonel, you can bring ‘em through,” from Clock Work.

As we go forward, I see the remains of many of the raiders that are left where the fight took place. I see about a dozen of them who are now prisoners and being escorted by the 6^th squad of E troop. Unfortunately, I also see a couple of our troopers have been wounded and I see at least two stretchers that have a sheet over the ponies underneath.

This close to getting home again and this has to happen. I watch as the guards of the prisoners fight with the urge to just cut them down, but when they see I am watching instead I see them remove all of the body armor and equipment from the prisoners instead.

At this point, part of me wants to just be done with them, but I know that would make us no better than them. Instead, I grin as I tell them, “Congratulations you will be going to Junction Town. I will let them decide what your fates will be.”

I see several of them turn pale and I hear one of them say, “You can’t do that, they will hang us for sure.”

Then I hear one of the guards laugh and tell them, “You really don’t know who you are talking to, do you? She not only has hung plenty of raiders before but even gone after the Praetor of the Legion in person. I would not expect mercy from her more than what you just got. Especially since we were on our way home."

I see all of the raiders' heads go down and an expression of desperation and a loss of hope takes hold in their eyes.

I see that look of desperation and I worry it may cause them to do something stupid that will get my ponies hurt. So, I tell them, “You try anything that will get my troops hurt, you will not have a chance to do anything again. This way you can at least go before the judge and hope for mercy.”

One of them then yells, something obscene at me, and I slowly turn and tell them all, “I have already been dead once, I am not afraid to be so again, can you say that? Do you really want to find out where you are going?”

As I walk away, I hear one of the guards ask another, “Is she serious?”

I am not sure if I want to laugh or cry when the other one says, “You mean you never heard about her and the ghouls? Yeah, buck, I heard them talking about her, she walks both sides of the vail according to the ones from under Canterlot Mountain.”

Then I hear the raider who originally swore at me say quietly, “Dear sweet creator, what kind of monster did they have us tangle with?”

After that, the ringing in my ears drowns out the conversation as I walk further away.

Soon we are back on the road again and continue on our way to the landing. As we approach the landing, I get the reports from the scouts that they can see smoke from the riverboats in the distance. As we get nearer, I can see them myself. Then I see the small outpost that is flying the NCR flag that has been built upon the shores there. I have to smile when I notice the trail from the bridges down to the landing as this tells me not only how much things have changed since the last time we came through this area, but also how much things have improved.

As we arrive at the landing, I have the Lancers and the Door Kickers set up camp on the outskirts of the facility. I then hold officers call where I let them know the plans for five of the coal wagons.

“Ok, Dull Beak, you are going to be in charge of the two companies that are escorting the wagons the rest of the way to Junction town,” I watch him nod his head. Then I tell them, “Kettle Belle, Clock Work your two troops will escort them there and return as soon as possible. XO, you all may spend one night either in Junction town, or camped on the route back, your call. However, I want those wagons there by late tomorrow afternoon. You will all leave in the morning.” I think briefly and I add, “Slide Rule, I want you to assign one section of your battery to go with them, you decide who goes. Go ahead and settle in for the night after you get things arranged for the morning.” I then realize I almost forgot something and tell them, “Dull Beak take the prisoners with you and turn them over to the authorities there.”

After I dismiss them, I head to the facility headquarters to meet the landing station commander and to see about beginning to load my troops.

When I knock on the door of the headquarters building it is answered by a grizzled old Griffon who has an eye patch that tells me, “Yeah, come on it, we’ve been expecting you, have a seat.”

I go on in and take the offered seat. I then wait several minutes for him to begin talking again as I watch him pour himself a large drink. He looks at it and then asks, “You want one too?”

I raise a hoof and tell him, “No, but thank you for asking, I have sworn off the bottle again.”

When he hears the again part, I see him raise his eyebrow above his remaining eye and I see him nod and he takes a sip of his whiskey. Then he asks, “so ma’am, what can I help you with?”

I look at his uniform and notice he only has the insignia of a captain on them and I tell him, “Actually I was coming to see where exactly you wanted me and my troops and how you would like us to begin loading.”

I see him take another sip and then he tells me, “Well you can begin by going down to the riverfront and talking to the captains of the riverboats and barges. They will let you know. Me and my people are mainly here to just make sure there is plenty of wood for the boilers of those old tubs as well as to keep the piers in shape and to assist with loading as requested.”

I nod my head and reply, “Sounds like quite a duty, not too bad then.”

I see him smirk and he tells me, “Usually it's not bad. We have our occasional run-ins with the local river pirates, but even that has slacked off the last couple of months.” He pauses, takes another drink, and asks me if I would like to join him in a drink again, then he says, “Hopefully it stays this way. My people and I have seen enough of fighting. I am sure you feel the same way.”

I nod my head and tell him, “Yeah, but usually, the fight comes looking for us, not the other way around.”

We then begin to talk about the news of our respective areas. Eventually, I politely am able to excuse myself and I head back to my troops. I then have Pogey Bait and some of the others head down to the river to discuss loading and to determine when to begin it.

I then return to my headquarters staff where I find my family waiting for me. As I approach, I see Millie running towards me. I kneel down and let her climb on my back while Sutures and the others wait for me to come to them. Once close enough I tell them, “Well, we are here. I assume we will be camping out here for the night and by tomorrow or the day after moving onboard our transport.”

I see Sutures nod her head and then I am surprised when I hear Epona say, “I can’t wait. I have never ridden on a boat before.”

I smile at her and tell her, “I am glad I can be here for your first time then.”

I see her grin and I hear her ask, “Ma, will I be able to explore the ship some, they seem so neat.”

I smile and tell her, “Perhaps dear, but if you wait until after we change riverboats at Two Step, I have a feeling the captain of our transport there will be more amicable to the idea.”

I see the slightly confused look on Sutures’s face when I say this and she asks, “Why would that make a difference?”

I smile and tell her, “Dear, I already have seen the name of the riverboat and I know the Captain of it. So just be patient. If you are well enough behaved, who knows the captain of that one may allow me to bring you to the pilothouse even.”

I see her eyes go wide and she asks, “Do you really think so Ma?”

I smile at her and tell her, “Well I can’t promise you for sure, but I think there will be a high chance of it.”

I see her sulk a bit at me not promising, but she still says, “Oh ok Ma.”

As the night progresses, I see the SOS troops start to load their wagons until it gets too dark. I also begin to see all of the other camps being set up for the night. Just before dark, I see the silhouette of a bovine coming in the darkness. Then I hear Buttermilk asks, “Has anyone seen the Colonel?”

I call out, “Over here Buttermilk, what can I help you with?”

“Mollygirl, we seem to have a problem with the barges. They do not want to let us load. I have told them that we are supposed to be on the manifest.”

I nod my head and tell her, “Thank you Buttermilk for letting me know. I will take care of it. In the meantime, have your people camp alongside the rest of us. I want you behind my troops so that they are protected, ok?”

I see her nod her head and she tells me, “Thanks Mollygirl, By the way, I think it might be because so many of us are cattle. I overheard one of the ponies on the barge say something about stupid one headed brahmin.”

Ok, I am getting a better picture of it now. I will be taking care of this personally. I smile at her and ask, “Seeing you are here, would you like to have a cup of tea with me?”

I see her eyes open a bit more and she immediately tells me, “Of course Mollygirl. I never pass up a hot cup of tea.”

With that, we head over to my HQ’s fire along with my staff and family. After a couple of cups, she gets up and tells me, “Thank you, I need to get back to the others and settle them in fully for the night. Thanks again Mollygirl.”

As she gets up, I see Epona get up and walk over to her and she asks, “Ma’s is it alright if I go to Buttermilk’s camp for a bit?”

I nod my head and I hear Sutures tell her, “Sure thing, dear, just make sure you take your weapon with you. Remember we are back in the wilds again.”

I hear Epona laugh lightly and she replies, “Already was going to grab it mama Sutures. I will be back in a bit,” as she trots over to her bedroll and slings her SMG across her back and I watch as she and Buttermilk walk back into the growing darkness.

As they walk away, I feel Sutures put a hoof around me as she tells me, “I am glad to see she has such a close relationship with Buttermilk. I think she needs a strong female as a friend and mentor.”

I turn to look at her and as I begin to ask her what she means I feel the bottom of my barding being pulled open and I feel a little filly begin to nurse. Sutures then begins to laugh but before more than a moment passes, I hear her say, “Ouch, easy Moon, that hurts.”

We finish feeding our daughters, then we lay them down for the night. Afterward, we lay next to each other with me holding her against me while I run my hoof through her mane, as we listen to the sounds of the camp all around us. As we drift off to sleep, I begin to think how today has been a good day.

Come morning I am up and at it again. I begin by clearing up the misunderstanding at the barges concerning the civilian camp. Next, I hold officers call and then send Dull Beak and the others off to Junction Town with the first shipment of coal wagons.

After officers call, I watch the column pull out and begin the trek across the bridge and along the roadway towards the capital. As they go, I think back to that day so long ago when I first talked to the Mareigan and she told me I was pregnant. I catch myself laughing lightly when I remember how little I trusted her. I also smile as I remember how Xochitl had gained his glyph that day.

Sutures notices my smile and asks me why. So, I tell her. I see her blush a bit as she tells me, “I remember that next day. Sorry dear about that.”

Soon afterward Chain lighting comes over and asks me, “Ma’am when do you want us to load up?”

I think for a minute and tell him, “Chain, have the HQ, and the Engineers begin to load up now. I will leave the other two companies and artillery until the others return.”

I see him nod his head, and he tells me, “Sounds good Colonel, I will get them moving.”

Soon I see the others moving as I have directed and I have Sutures, Epona and the fillies follow me as I make my way to the riverboat that has been assigned to us.

As we approach it, I see the name on the bow is the Baltimare Colt. I step up the ramp and cross with no problem. But the watch at the brow stops the others and tells Sutures, “Sorry Ma’am, but you no civilians allowed. Especially with children.”

I am turning around to say something when I hear Sutures say, “Excuse me but I am the Colonel's wife and these are her children.”

The stallion at the brow then tells her, “Ma’am, I really do not care who you are. But you are not getting by me.”

I hear Sutures take a deep breath and let out a sigh and she says, “Please get me your superior to talk to so we can clear this up.”

I see his face get a snide expression on it and he says, “No, I don’t think I will.”

I see her turn her head to Moon Lily and I hear her say, “Dear you have permission for magic.”

I see the fillies eyes light up with joy and I see her horn flare as she uses her TK to pick up the stallion and I watch as he goes flying through the air and into the water.

Then I hear Sutures say, “Magic is done for now.”

I then see a smiling Moon Lily tell her mother “OK mama, thank you.”

From the water, I hear a screaming stallion and I tell one of the crew members I see running down the deck, “You better get a rope to him, he seems to have gotten in over his head.”

As he runs to get a rope, my family quietly continues on board with me.

I then wait to the side while they fish the one crewbuck from the water and bring him back aboard. Once he is there, I approach him and ask him, “Where is the chief steward or the first mate?”

He looks at me with anger in his eyes and asks, “Who are you to ask for them?”

I approach muzzle to muzzle to the buck and I almost growl, “I am Lieutenant Colonel Mollygirl. Commander of the 2^nd battalion of the 1^st Manesville regiment. I am not asking for your captain only because I hope I do not need to bother him or her for something as trivial as finding out where my quarters are for this trip. And before you ask, my cousin, Captain Rough Waters of the S Glimmer taught me how the normal chain of command works on the riverboats. I notice no rank insignia on you so I assume you are an ordinary hand. NOW, I am asking for the common courtesy someone of my position is given, do I make myself clear?”

I see him gulp some and then he tells me, “I am sorry Ma’am, I will have someone go get the boat's purser for you.”

I nod my head and tell him, “Thank you. I do appreciate it.” Then I watch as he goes over to one of the others and tells them something. After which the other hand trots away and goes inside the skin of the riverboat.

We are waiting only a few minutes before another pony approaches me, he has a clipboard with him and he looks at it before he approaches me and tells me, “I am sorry Colonel but there seems to be a slight problem. We were not expecting you to have any civilians accompanying you. We only have a small cabin available for you.”

I smile as I ask, “Is it big enough to fit a cot in? I see him nod his head then I tell him, “Put a cot in there for us and we will be fine. We have slept in tight quarters for the last four months.”

I see him bite his lip and he asks, “Are you sure ma’am?” I mean we could put the civilians on the barge with the rest of the civilians you are escorting?”

At this point, I am fighting the urge to have Moon throw him over the side too. Instead, I sigh and ask, “Do I really need to talk to your captain?”

I see him take a deep breath and he says, “No ma’am, if you would be happy with these accommodations then we can do so with no problem.”

I nod and tell him, “They will be fine, now can you please lead us to them so we can clear the gangway?”

“Oh, yes ma’am, please follow me. Mind your step.” He tells us as he leads us back into the skin of the ship and up some stairs leading us to the next deck up.

When we arrive at my cabin, I see how small it is. It is half of what it was on the S Glimmer. But it will work. As I put my saddlebags on mine and Sutures bed, I then tell Sutures, “Dear I am going topside to talk with the Captain. I will be back in a bit.”

After I leave the cabin I head for the upper decks and the pilothouse to see if I can find the captain. As I move along the passageways, I see several of my people moving into cabins, and several times I see hostilities almost erupt between the crew and my troops. I know I best find the captain or the XO and find out what is going on, why they are so hostile to us?

As I reach the pilothouse, I see that it is empty. Right behind me is Bailey Bridge and he has a very dissatisfied expression on his face. So, I ask him, “Ok Bailey what is it?”

“Ma’am, we can deal with the crew being rude, but the accommodations on this thing are horrible. I swear the main area for the troopers was last used to transport cargo. The officer’s quarters are very cramped, I mean, not to complain ma’am, but they are treating us like we are livestock.”

I take a deep breath and ask him, “Bailey, would you like to see what myself and my family are sharing?”

I see a surprised look on his face and he cautiously nods his head yes.

“Ok, follow me then,” I tell him. I lead him down to my quarters and I knock before opening it to make sure no one is behind the door. As I open it, I see Epona on my bed. A folded cot on the far wall and Sutures is standing while feeding both fillies. I smile at her and tell her, “Sorry dear, I wanted to let Bailey know the size of our quarters.”

She smiles and waves at him, “Hi Bailey, sorry but they were hungry.”

I see him smile and he tells her, “No problem Doc. I completely understand,” then he turns to me and tells me, “Sorry ma’am, I guess you are right. We can make do for a couple of days.”

“Thank you, Bailey, and please make sure that they all understand we are on our way home, so it is only until Two Step.”

I then tell Sutures, “I will be back again soon. Sorry about that dear.”

I see her smile as she tells me, “No, I do understand. I am just glad we have a private room right now.”

I am soon heading back up and am on the deck that leads to the Pilothouse looking over the railing when I hear a pony clearing their throat behind me.

I turn and I see an orange earth pony mare with a blue mane and tail wearing the captain’s hat looking at me. I then introduce myself to her and am surprised by how hostile she seems. She holds up a hoof and tells me, “First off, I want your troops to stay out of the ship's operations areas. That means the main deck, boiler and engine room, and pilothouse are off-limits. That includes you.”

I nod my head as she tells me this and I reply, “That is understandable.”

Then she says to me, “I understand you have brought aboard several civilians that were not on the manifest.”

I look her in the eyes and I tell her, “They are my family and are accompanying me home.”

She huffs out air and tells me, “I don’t care who they are, you are going to have to pay extra for their passage.”

“Again, that makes sense to me and I am willing to do so,” I tell her.

She then says, “Even with that I am still half tempted to have you all thrown off my riverboat for having thrown my crewmember into the water.”

Now she has my temper starting to rise. I step closer to her and I tell her calmly and quietly enough that only she can hear me, “Captain, this is your ship, press me, and not only will I make sure you lose this contract. I will ensure you are blackballed throughout the NCR. Threaten me and I will ensure that not one piece of salvage will be reusable of this hulk. One of my husbands had taught me about steam plants and my cousin, Captain Rough Water of the S. Glimmer has taught me what else I need to destroy. And those artillery pieces over yonder,” I tell her as I point towards the two that are loosely pointed in our direction so they can support the other half of the battalion on their travels, “They are not merely for show. I am just curious as to what would cause more damage to your riverboat now, canister rounds, HE rounds, or maybe the white phosphorous smoke rounds?”

She looks at me with fire in her eyes and tells me, “You wouldn’t dare.”

As my eyes start to half close and I smile at her I tell her, “If you know the Water clan then you understand, I would. On the other hoof, I would really prefer not to go that far and instead respect your rules as passengers, but that is up to you.”

I watch as she fights with her anger, and she finally tells me, “Fine, no more threats. But before we leave, I want the 65 caps for the civilian passengers.”

I again nod my head and I tell her, “That sounds fair, let me go to my cabin and get them. Will you be around here, or will I have to have a crewpony direct me to you?”

She then asks, “How long will it take you?”

I tell her, “Only a few minutes. I know where they are.”

She then tells me, “I will wait here, but please make it quick I have things to do.”

I nod my head and I tell her, “I do understand, as one commander to another. So, I will make it as quick as I can.”

I trot down to my quarters and I see Sutures look up at me with a raised eyebrow as she says “Again?”

I laugh lightly and tell her, “No dear, this time the Captain is demanding 65 caps fare for you, Epona, and the fillies.”

I see her think about that and she says, “But I thought our fare was covered already.”

I simply shrug my shoulders and tell her, “Let it go dear, if it smooths things out, let it go.”

I see her cross her chest with both of her front hooves and she tells me, “Fine Mollygirl, but I do not have to like it, and I do not think it is fair.”

I simply shrug and dig into my saddlebags for my caps. Then I give her a quick kiss and trot back out the door looking for the captain again.

I find her near the rear of the deck that the pilothouse sits on. She is looking over the stern and at the large wooden and metal wheel that propels it through the water. I wait to make sure she is not busy and then clear my throat to get her attention.

I see her turn to me with a snide look on her face as I hoof her the bag of caps and I tell her, “Here you go, the fare for my family.”

She takes the bag and counts them out. Then she tells me, “Deal is done, now I have things to do.”

I do to and I type in a message for Bailey Bridge and Sergeant Cupcake to meet me at my location.

Shortly afterward they both arrive and I tell them both quietly, “Something does not feel right about this. Bailey, I want you to be prepared to scuttle this thing if we need to.” I then turn to Sergeant Cupcake and I tell her, “You and your partner are on duty now. Let the Sergeant Major know something seems afoot. She nods her head and heads off to find Chain Lighting.

While I hope this feeling is wrong, I do not think it will hurt to be prepared, just in case.

As I am waiting, I lean against the rail and watch the activity along the waterfront. As I watch everything seems normal. As I observe the civilians being loaded on the barge, I see Chain Lighting take off from it and begin to lazily fly back toward us.

As he comes into land, I talk to him about my concerns. As I finish, I see him smile slightly condescendingly and he tells me, “Colonel, I think I know what is going on. First off, the crews have all been thrown off by the cattle. This is followed up with them being primarily cargo transports and our people expecting passenger accommodations. Ma’am these crew members gave up their berthing for our people and then they heard our people complain about the accommodations. Ma’am, her crew had to hang hammocks in the engine room and next to the boilers. I would be pissed too.”

Now I understand the source of the problem. Wonderful, we caused it. Well in that case we can dang well fix it.

I sigh and then tell Chain, “Sergeant Major, make sure all the troops are informed of this and that they mind their manners.”

I see him nod his head and he then tells me, “Ma’am, I will pass this on to the 1^st sergeants and the company CO’s right now. If you could would you make sure Tater is ok for me? Last I saw him he was with some of the engineers working on their weapons.”

I nod my head, “Yeah sure, I will have him head up to my quarters and visit with Epona if you don’t mind.”

He smiles and tells me, “No, not at all I just hope he is not modifying the engineers’ weapons. He was telling me he had a few ideas that he had come across in some old books.”

I nod my head and laugh lightly as I tell him, “That sounds about right for that buck of yours. He really does have a skill with weapons.”

After that, he takes off and begins to make the rounds of the different unit commanders and 1^st sergeants so we can get the word out and hopefully defuse the situation before it gets out of hoof.

I then head down to the cargo hold where the engineers are berthed. As I get close, I hear Tater talking to some of them and I hear him say, “Well a bit more time and I should have the action cleaned up smooth and right as rain corporal. You also need to do a bit better job on your bolt, see the powder residue starting to build up. Eventually, that can cause you bigger problems, especially with this model.”

I let him finish talking and tell him, “Tater, please reassemble that for him, and then I will take you up to my quarters to visit with Epona. Your pa asked me to keep an eye on you for a bit while I have him running an errand.”

I see a bit of disappointment on his face at first then he says, “Yes ma’am, especially since pa wants me to.”

I watch as he expertly reassembles the weapon and hoofs it back to the engineer corporal in less than a minute. While I don’t say anything, I am silently impressed.

I overhear one of the engineers complain about their berthing arrangements and I call those around me over to me and I explain to them what Chain Lighting has told me. I then tell them. “Just so you know even I am in tight quarters; my wife and I are sharing one bunk. I have had to have a cot brought up for Epona and the two fillies. Folks, I even have to have the cot folded up when we feed the fillies because the room is so tight, so please consider that the crew has been kicked out of their normal berthing for us. What some of us are complaining about is as good as it gets for them. So, show them some respect as this is their home and they have their pride too, ok?”

I see several of them look at each other and then one says to me, “Ok Ma’am. It is understood.”

Later in the day, the hostility between my people and the crew seems to have blown over as I see them begin to talk and at least be polite to each other. That night is a quiet one and the next day after lunch I see a dust cloud on the horizon coming from the direction of Junction town. As the cloud gets nearer, I have Summer Solstice send up a few of her scouts and they verify it is Dull Beak and the other half of the battalion.

Within a couple of hours, they arrive and they begin to load onboard their transports. Once all of my people are loaded along with their equipment I report to the Captain and inform her of our status.

As I approach, she notices me and asks, “Ok Colonel what do you want now?”

I smile as I salute her and tell her, “Captain, I just wanted to report to you that all of my personnel and equipment have been loaded.”

I see her nod her head as she returns my salute and tells me, “Very good. I will have the rest of the transports begin to make preparations for getting underway. Once all are ready, we can begin the trip for you.”

I nod my head and tell her, “Thank you ma’am,” then I turn and head back below decks.

It is about an hour before sunset when we finally are fully ready and all the transports begin to make the passage upriver. As the last of the mooring lines is slipped from the dock, I hear the steam whistle let out a long call. Then I begin to feel the riverboat begin to move under its own power. Our next scheduled stop is Two Step transfer.

I stand leaning on the rail with my family as the flotilla moves along. Beside me, I hear Epona say, “Ma it all looks so peaceful from here.”

I nod my head and smile as I run my hoof across her forelock and I tell her, “It sure does, but remember looks can be deceiving. However, this is the first time I have seen this part of the river from this side.”

I see her smile and she tells me, “I can understand that Ma, remember this is my first time sailing on a riverboat at all.”

I nod my head and tell her, “Don’t feel bad, my first time on a riverboat was when we left Manesville. However, Papa Badger has actually sailed on the ocean and he has told me what is like there too.”

I see a look of consternation on her face and she asks, “Ma, how is Papa Badger? I mean on my side he was someone you despised. I mean I understand after he fathered Millie and then said she was not his and that he was not ready to be a father.”

I am a bit surprised at this and I smile as I tell her, “Dear, the Badger on this side is actually pretty decent. He is not perfect, but he helps with the foals, including changing them when needed, he has helped with them when they woke up in the middle of the night. I think Papa Archer has helped him become a good father and a decent parent. I think you will like him.”

I see she still has a slightly nervous expression on her face and she says, “I hope so, but I am still worried, besides what if he doesn’t like me or want me?”

I tell her, “Dear, I really don’t think that will be an issue,” Then I give her a hug and tell her, “Besides on this side even Sumac has fallen for him.”

I see her think about this and then she says, “Yeah, I guess you are right. But I am still nervous.”

I lightly pat her on her back and then smile as I notice she is watching her younger sisters play on the deck. Once it becomes dark, we head back down below to our quarters for the night to get some rest.

It takes us three days to get to Two Step Landing. As we are approaching, I hear one of the crew members saying “Things were so much better when those dang bridges were still up.”

When I hear it, I feel myself blush and then I hear Bailey say, “Yeah, sorry about that, but at the time we had to,” he pauses and then says,” I am just surprised that they have not begun to clear out at least the middle spans yet. I mean the wreckage allows most of the water to flow through it but if they clear those areas out, well they could at least get traffic flowing through again.”

I see the crew member then say, “How would you do that though?”

Baily smiles and tells him, “Well either with a team of unicorns using their TK to lift it, and I mean that would require a lot of them, or we could always cut the wreckage into smaller sections and remove it. Or we could always try to blast those sections out of the way and hope for the best. But I would go with cutting it into smaller sections.”

I see the crew pony smile and tell him, “Sounds good, I hope somepony does that sometime soon.”

Soon afterwards we begin to slow down and approach the docks. On the other side of the bridge wreckage, I can see the S. Glimmer standing by along with the other ships of her flotilla. I then notice that they are all flying the NCR flag and that the crew members on them look like they are wearing uniforms, which gives me more questions that I will have to ask Rough about later.

Once we are tied along the pier I watch as the unloading begins on this side of the bridge, then soon after the reloading begins on the other side.

As I am leading my family down to the brow to leave, I see the captain approach. She stops me and tells me, “I hope the accommodations you had were good enough for you.”

I nod my head and cautiously tell her, “They were fine, thank you. I left the cot folded up in the corner. I apologize for not taking care of it. We also tried to keep the room as clean as possible.”

She almost smiles then as she says, “I appreciate that. It is not much, but it is my cabin and I hated giving it up.”

I am completely shocked and tell her, “Ma’am, while I appreciate it, I am sorry to have displaced you.”

She nods her head and tells me, “That is ok, I put up a cot in the Pilothouse so I slept there. Now I best get going as should you. I hope the rest of your trip goes smoothly. Oh, and when you see Rough, tell him Rusty Water says hi.” Then she turns and trots away giving orders as she goes.

With that, I lead my family off the riverboat and head over towards the S. Glimmer for the rest of our journey home.

Dear DJ PON3,

We are now returning to our home after a long journey, my first time having left home like this. We all have seen so much and experienced things we never imagine. As I sail past the Foal and Canterlot mountain gap I can only think of one song that describes how I feel. Could you please play Roads Go Ever On for myself as well as all my brothers and sisters from these travels?

Thank you

Nightshade,

Trooper, 1^st Squad, D Troop, 2^nd Battalion, 1^st Manesville Regiment.

Once again we are on the move. This time getting closer to home. We also get to see Dull Beak getting to take command of a larger than company size force on his way to Junction Town. While that may not seem like much, it is a major step in his military career.

For those who wish to listen to the dedication song, the YouTube link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B6dsfGazyI