We leave the station with no problem after this. I hear the train blow its steam whistle twice, then it begins to ring its bell as we start to move forward with a quick jerk of the train. As I am helping the rest of my family settle in, I look out the window and I see the Enclave troops are now out of their power armor and surrounded by the Lunar Republic’s Brood troops. One of the Enclave troops who has a red coat and white mane and tail is an officer. He stands on his hind hooves and makes an obscene gesture with his hoof in my direction. Well, I guess this means I have made a new enemy. I laugh lightly to myself as I think at least this one I know.

I finally get back to check on Magpie. Sutures and Moon are still with her as is Raven. Woody is standing by the door as if on guard. As I approach, he says in an aggravated tone, “Hi Mama Mollygirl, Mama Sutures says she will be fine. They are a bit crowded in there.”

“Thank you, Woody.” I tell him, then I ask him, “Are you alright?”

He looks at me funny and says, “Yeah, I am ok. I guess. They didn’t hit me at least. But I am worried about my ma.”

I put a hoof on his shoulder and tell him, “I understand. I was too. But if mama Sutures says she is ok, then I am sure she is ok.”

From inside I hear Sutures say, “Dear, you better not get into the habit of scaring me this way. Mollygirl, the boys and the older kids do enough of that.”

I hear Magpie reply in a pained tone of voice, “Sorry dear. I did not mean to. Thank you for saving me.”

Then I hear Sutures say, “I could not have done it without Moon. She covered you with a shield when they started firing at you while I moved you to the cart.”

I move closer and see Magpie nod her head, “Something you learned to do on the expedition?”

Sutures shakes her head no, and says, “Actually, no, Moon came up with that one, I am not sure if she learned it from Choo or it was her own idea,” she pauses and turns towards her daughter and says, “Either way, you really came through Moon, you really did well the last couple of days.”

I see Moon Lily absorbing the compliments with pride, and then she asks, “Ma, does this mean I can go with you on deliveries?”

I see Sutures’s sigh as she thinks about it, then she tells her, “Yes, Moon Lily, it does. You have done better than many of the adult medics do when they start out. So, you have earned the right if you want it.”

I see the young mare smile shyly as she answers, “Thank you Ma. I want to.”

I watch as Sutures then gives Magpie a light kiss and tells her, “I will be back in a bit. I want to get some water for you.”

I see Magpie nod her head and say, “Sutures, I know you got hit like this during the expedition, you told me so. Don’t baby me ok.”

Sutures turns back to her and tells her, “One, you are one of my wives and I care very much about you. Two, I will spoil you if I want to. Three, I wish someone could have done it for me.”

I see Magpie smile as she adjusts herself and she says, “Thank you, dear. And thank you to Moon.”

I see Moon Lily give her a hug and then she says, “It’s ok Mama Magpie. I was worried for you too. “

As they leave the berth I slide in and approach her. “Hey sweetheart, how are you feeling?”

She looks at me and tells me, “Honestly dear like I got run over by a herd of brahmin. You really have been through this several times?”

I nod my head, “Yeah, sometimes less, sometimes worse. But yeah, and I hated it each time. Let the healing spells and rest do their work and you will be fine.” I tell her then give her a gentle kiss.

She smiles and asks, “So where are the bucks at?”

“Badger is at the front of the car and Archer at the rear. Your son is at the door of the berth and the others are all sitting together in the seating area of the next couple of berths.”

She nods her head, “Well so much for getting romantic on the train ride back to the NCR,” she pauses, “Mollygirl, how long do you think it will take for us to get back to the NCR?”

I shrug my shoulders and I tell her, “Honestly, I just don’t know. It depends on a lot of things right now, such as the rail schedule and what the Enclave may pull. I mean we were probably an easy target so they went after us in Hoofington. Now, who knows.”

From behind me, I hear Sumac say, “I hope you are right Mollygirl, but I am really afraid of what that Lieutenant will do. I saw the look on his face. Mollygirl, he hates both you and Windy right now.”

I nod my head, “Yeah, I was afraid of that. But if he comes after us, I can use that against him.”

The three of us continue to talk until Sutures and Moon return a while later. Then we sit on the bunks opposite Magpie and we begin to talk about the last couple of days and what has happened.”

Finally, I hear Magpie, snicker a little bit, then she says, “Well I guess I am now a member of the I forgot to duck club,” as she points towards her shoulder.

Sumac looks slightly uncomfortable after that so I ask her if something is wrong. She looks at me and shakes her head as she says, “Dang it, I really did not want to be the only spouse who had not been shot yet and I really do not look forward to the idea of joining that club.”

I watch as Magpie smiles gently at her and reaches out with her unwounded forehoof, and gently touches Sumac and tells her, “Dear, I pray you don’t join this club, I never want to see you hurt.”

I see Sumac sniffle back a tear and then she leans over and kisses Magpie. Then she tells her, “Dear, please don’t ever scare me like that again. I thought we were going to lose you.”

We then shift our subject of discussion to more pleasurable subjects and try to just enjoy each other’s company as we continue on with our travels.

As the sun begins to get lower in the sky, I hear the train whistle sound as we continue on through the countryside that is the Lunar Republic. I am just afraid we have not seen the last of the Enclave officer or his unit.

After I leave the berth I move forward to where the older kids are sitting along with the youngsters and Windy’s family. I am not surprised to see that Millie and Rain Dancer are again cuddled together. However, both have their weapons nearby. I also notice that while she is leaning against him asleep, his chin is resting on her head and he too is asleep.

Across from them, I see Epona cradling Purchase in her hooves with her back against the side of the car. Purchase is dead asleep, but I notice that while her eyes are not fully open, she is observing what is going on in the car. Windy and Squall are both watching out the windows on each side of the car. I also notice Shadowbuck is by his father asleep on the floor next to the door.

As I move forward toward Badger he smiles at me sadly. Then I see Ginger and Xochitl assisting the conductor with changing some of the seats into bunks to sleep on for our family and some of the other passengers who do not have a standard berthing compartment like the one we are using for Magpie and the others. That one is large enough for six bunks. Which is not bad for our family.

I take one of the bunks and smile as Shadowbuck gets up groggily and comes over and asks, “Mama Mollygirl, can I sleep with you tonight?” He has not done this in years. But I think he may be shaken up from the last couple of days so I tell him, “Of course dear. Please do," and I pull up the blanket and let him climb in like he did when he was little.

As he is beginning to fall asleep, he asks, “Ma, was it always like that in the army?”

I kiss him on his forelock and I tell him, “No Bucky, not always, sometimes it was worse, but sometimes it is better. But we were all scared like that.”

I see him move his head in the shadows caused by the low flames lanterns and he asks, “Ma, you were scared too?”

I nod my head and whisper, “Yeah, I really was. It is a secret we really don’t talk about much. But even Papa Badger and Papa Archer were scared too during the fights.”

I see him nod his head, then he says, “But I thought you all were always brave.”

I smile in the dark, though I am not sure if he can see me do so as I tell him, “Bucky, to me bravery has always really meant being scared but still doing what you had to do anyways. On the expedition what kept us going was that we did not want to let the others down, especially if we were scared.”

“Mama Mollygirl, is that why none of you ever talk about the expedition. I mean other than to each other.” He asks me with the curiosity of a colt going into stallionhood.

I take a deep breath and I tell him, “In part. Most of the time we don’t like to remember those feelings we felt back then. The sights, the sounds, the smells. Those are some pretty strong memories.”

“Ma, can I tell you a secret?” he asks me.

I nod my head as he tells me, “When we were jumped by the radscorpions, I was so afraid I wet myself”

I nod my head, “Yeah, I understand, and to tell the truth, I have to during a fight, in fact, I almost did then too, but that is something we won’t tell the others, ok? That will be our own secret.”

He hugs me and tells me, “Ok Mama Mollygirl. And thanks for talking with me.”

I give him a bit of a squeeze and tell him, “Now that you have seen what it is like if you ever need to talk to one of us about it. Don’t be afraid too, ok.”

He looks at me in the dark and asks, “You really don’t think Pa or Papa Archer would be disappointed in me for being scared?”

I smile again as I notice he is starting to get sleepy again and I tell him, “I am sure they would understand. All of us parents are proud of how you all did today. You all handled yourselves really well.”

I hear him laugh sleepily and he says, “Yeah, even Raven with that big ol’ grenade launcher.”

I laugh slightly at that too and I tell him. “That she did. Oh, by the way, did all of you clean your weapons already?”

He is almost drifting off as he answers, “Yes ma’am. Our dads made sure we did.”

Before I can say anything more, I feel him snuggle closer and his breathing shifts as he goes into a deep sleep.

Then I notice exactly how tired I am and fall asleep with the gentle rocking of the rail cars, and the quiet whispers from the few others who cannot sleep yet. Before I fall asleep fully, I think to myself, we are heading home and my family is still all alive. Today has been a good day.

The next two days of travel are quiet as we cross the wide expanse. We are about 15 kilometers from official NCR territory and the station at the settlement known as Checkpoint when it happens. I hear the train whistle let out a loud scream as the brakes lock up and I feel it begin to jerk. I look up and see Badger’s eyes are wide as he looks out the window and calls to everyone in hearing, “Brace yourselves the tracks are out ahead!”

I look and yell, “Hold on everyone,” just as we expect the engine to come off the rails, instead it keeps sliding forward for another fifty feet each set of wheels on the light-loaded cars allowing them to bounce and resettle on the rails. I am stunned however as a three-foot section of rail on one side is gone and the engine miraculously slides onto the rails on the other side of the gap before it comes to a stop past it.

Once stopped the crew of the train checks first on the passengers and then begins to check on the equipment. I see Moon Lily sneak off of the car and I try to catch her as she examines the broken rail. I have just noticed that the rail was cut with a MEW when Moon tells me, “Mama Mollygirl, Granny Choo Choo told me one time how the Zebras tried to stop her train by destroying the rails. She taught me what to look for and how to do it for real. Ma, whoever did this had no idea what they were doing.”

“Ok dear, I give, why do you say that?”

She smiles knowingly and tells me, “Because the drive wheels can ride right through that as can the cars. Maybe the guide wheels on the engine got derailed, but nothing that could destroy an engine.”

As she says this, I get a chill up my spine. I begin to look around slowly and I quietly tell her, “Moon, slowly go back to the rest of our family. I think they may still be nearby.”

She begins to move but stops long enough to ask, “But why would they do something like this?”

“Moon, they mainly wanted to stop the train. I think these may be the ones from Hoofington.”

I see her eyes go wide. She nods her head and slowly walks to the others. I then begin to go that way when I am almost hit by a MEW beam.

I drop and roll into the ditch and draw my pistol. My Death Bunny and battlesaddle are still on the train. I see my family begin to fire back as Moon Lily dodges under the car and moves up on the opposite side. I peak above the edge of the ditch and I catch a glimpse of a pegasus in a regular Enclave uniform firing at the cars. I activate my SATS and target him. Just as I am getting ready to try and fire at him, I see a shadow on the ground next to me and roll to the side, and fire straight up.

He fires at the same time. I am hit in my side and scream in pain as the initial shock wears off. However, when he shoots me, I also hear the red-coated stallion scream in pain at being hit and he glides over to the rest of them. I quickly notice a decrease in fire at us. Soon I hear one of the Enclave troopers call to the others, “The LT is hit bad, somepony give me a hoof so we can get him to safety and treat him.

I then hear Badger call out, “Ceasefire.”

“But Papa, I was just going to hit them with Badda Boom,” I hear Raven say.

“Raven, unload it for now and help your brothers.” I hear him tell her.

Both sides stop shooting and I watch as they then have their largest squad member carry their lieutenant away on their back. I can smell the seared flesh and am in pain when I see Moon Lily come over to me and she throws up a shield as she begins to treat my wound. I hear her click her tongue a couple of times as she begins to treat the hole that has been seared into me. As she is doing this, she quickly looks me in the eyes and tells me, “You will be ok Ma. Nothing too major was hit,” Then she pulls a healing potion out of her saddlebag and has me drink it. Shortly after this Sutures arrives and surveys her daughter’s work.

I see her nod her head and hear her tell Moon, “Good work, and a good idea with the shield. I really need to learn how to do that spell better.”

Moon nods her head and tells her, “Thank you ma. How are the others?”

Sutures tells her, “Overall, we came off of this pretty well. However, we lost a couple civilians in the next car up. They panicked and jumped out of the car onto the side the shooting was from.”

I smile at Moon and tell her, “Your right Moon, they were rookies. They should have ambushed us from both sides of the tracks. I am just worried they will begin to learn from us.”

Sutures looks concerned and asks, “Mollygirl, what do you mean Moon was right?”

I grimace a bit more in pain as I shift to look at her and I tell her, “Dearest, Moon pointed out how they showed how inexperienced they were in trying to derail the train, and then I noticed they only hit us from one side. Oh, and just so you know, that pegasus I wounded and who shot me was the same one from the station in Hoofington.”

By now Archer has joined us and I hear him say, “Damn, I was afraid of that. But on the other hoof, it looks like the Lunar Republic impounded their power armor, so that levels the field a bit.”

I nod my head and I hear Sumac behind him say, “Yeah, that gives him another reason to hate us.”

I laugh a bit and tell her, “Sumac, he already does, so if he hates us more, we can use that against him.”

Soon I am moving very tenderly on my own hoofs and walk slowly to our car. As I get close, I hear the train crew talking about how the guide wheels are off the tracks and how hard it will be to get them back on. Then I hear Purple Haze tell the Engineer, “Have all the unicorns assemble at the front of the train please.”

He looks puzzled at first and begins to ask her why. She puts up a hoof and tells him, “Just get them and I will explain.”

I watch as soon there are ten unicorns, including Purple, Sutures, and Moon at the front of the engine. I overhear her tell them, “We are going to all use our TK to just lift it enough so that the engineer and some earth ponies can adjust those front little wheels back on the track. Now on the count of three, we lift.”

She gives the count and I watch as all ten of their horns light up at once and begin to lift the engine. I see the engineer and two others lean into the guide wheels and once they have them in position, he tells Purple, “That should do it.”

The unicorns then lower the engine the last little bit all at once and I see it hit hard, but the engine is now ready. Soon we are reloading onto the train and we continue on our journey back to the NCR.

As we pull into the station at Checkpoint, I see a squad of NCR Soldiers ponying a couple of defensive positions. I notice them all looking at the condition of the train as we pull into the station. A couple of them are pointing at the rail cars. Then I see their expressions as the dead ponies’ bodies are offloaded followed by the rest of us.

As I and my family get off I see the soldiers go to attention and salute me, Windy, and my spouses. Then I barely hear one whisper to another, “I never seen that many officers before. Look at them all.”

One of his partners' replies, “Yeah, look at the scars on the Lieutenant Colonel, and she looks to have been wounded again.”

As we begin to enter the station I am approached by a captain for the local forces. He salutes me and asks, “Are you Lieutenant Colonel Mollygirl of the 1^st Manesville Regiment?”

I nod my head as I tell him, “Yes captain, can I help you?”

He then says, “Ma’am, can I see you PipBuck to verify your ID?”

I am surprised and tell him, “Sure,” as I hold up my hoof so he can see it.

He looks at it closely and then says, “Ok, Ma’am, could you please follow me to the office over there. I have a package for you.”

I am very surprised at this and tell my family, “I will be right back.”

Once we are in the office, he closes the door and hoofs me a large envelope. I open it and begin to glance over it quickly. I nod my head and tell him, “Thank you, I appreciate it. Once the train has taken on water and fuel, we are to be green-lighted all the way through."

I see him raise an eyebrow but he asks nothing. Then I tell him about the section of track that has been cut out between here and Hoofington. I see him grimace and he tells me, “Thank you for letting me know. I will have to get a team out there to repair it soon. Until then the rail line is cut between us and Hoofington.”

I then return to my family and tell them what is going on. As I am doing this, I hear a slight buzz come from Epona, Ginger, and Xochitl’s PipBucks. I watch as they all look at them and then I see their expressions turn serious as Ginger turns to me and tells me, “Ma, we are to meet Choo in Junction Town. As soon as possible, we have a job.”

I am not surprised by this, but I am going to miss having them around again. I then tell them, “That is ok, we are all going there right now. I have to report to the war office.”

Soon I notice the train has been readied and we all begin to climb back on board again. Once we are all loaded the train begins the trip again, but this time we do not make all the stops and layovers we did on the way out. I also notice several locomotives going the other way that are on the sidings having cleared the tracks for us. I begin to wonder how they did this when I see the telegraph wires going to the small building next to each siding. Who knew that the telegraph and Horse code would be making a comeback?

The deeper we go into the NCR Territory the more I relax. I am just glad that will soon be heading home again. Then I begin to hear the reports on the radio of Enclave incursions into the NCR. These incursions seem to be in several areas, but one of them seems to be heading towards Manehatten

I see the civilian delegates with us almost panic at this news. Finally, Purple Haze calms them down and tells them, “Calm down everypony. First off, we are heading to Junction Town, and barring that we can always go to Manesville to wait until the NCR retakes our home.”

They all begin to calm down after this. Once they are settled down, she approaches me and asks me, “Colonel, can we talk someplace privately?”

I nod my head and we go to the restroom area. She checks to make sure no one is around and then she asks me, “Colonel, what do you know about Celestia One?”

I am honest and I tell her “Actually I never heard of it before.”

She sighs and tells me, “Ok, what I am telling you stays between us,” and she begins to explain what Celestia One is to me, and I begin to worry again.

My family and I arrive in Junction Town on our way back to Manesville so I can report to HQ about the success of our trade mission with Hoofington for the Manesville regiments and our failure to secure an alliance. Once I arrive, I am greeted by one of the officers I know from the General Staff.

He sees me and waves me over. I raise a hoof to him to signal him to wait a minute before I turn to my family. I tell my spouses that I will only be a minute and then I turn to my oldest daughters Epona, and Ginger, and my son in law Xochotil, and I tell them, “Look you three I know you are used to your special missions and all, but things are really getting serious now. Please be careful.”

Ginger gets that smart-alecky grin on her face and tells me, “Come on ma, you know we will be. Besides, look who is talking. Remember, you are the one who raised us this way.”

Beside her I see both Epona and Xochitl nodding their heads. Unfortunately, I know she is right and goddesses how I wish she was not. But such is our lives. I simply smile and tell her, “Yeah, but I keep telling you to do as I say not as I do,” and I give them a wink, and I tell them, “Well give me a hug and I will let you three get going. Remember to say hi for me to the rest of your team. Especially Sunny and Choo Choo, ok.” I pause and then add, “Oh, and tell Tater I am glad he finally asked out Twinkle Hoofs. It is about time.”

Epona then says, “Ok ma, we promise,” I see her hesitate, and then she says, “Oh, Ma, could you talk to Mama Magpie about getting me another copy of the Book of Little Pip, I, Uh I left mine behind on our last mission.”

I raise an eyebrow and tell her, “Sure, but how come you had to leave it behind?”

I see Epona blush and then Ginger says, “Ma, she gifted it to somepony you would never believe, but we can’t go into details right now. All I will say is it was through the Doorway.”

When she says this, I feel my heartbeat speed up a bit and my mouth go dry as I remember that portable portal all too well. I so want to ask, but I know I do not have the clearance to hear anything more about it. So, I simply nod my head and tell them, “Ok, I understand, and Epona I will get you a new copy as soon as possible. Do you still need a new copy of the Book of Daisy Jo?”

She smiles and shakes her head, “No ma, if I want to read it, I will just ask Ginger if I can borrow hers. Oh, when you get home tell Buttermilk and the calves, I said hi and I miss them.”

I nod my head and then I have them step closer, and I whisper to them, “Kids, for the love of Sweet Cream, be careful. I am really worried about what is building up between us and the Enclave again. The last time I felt like this was before the Day of Sunshine and Rainbows.”

While the memories of those days still give me the shakes, I see Ginger and Xochitl simply glance at each other and nod their heads. She takes his tail in hers and then they shift closer to each other. Epona on the other hoof simply nods her head and tells me, “Ma, thanks for taking Purchase with you back home for me. I had not planned on this.”

I then tell her, “Dear, I am happy to, but when do we ever plan for things like this. But when duty calls and all that.” Then I exchange a quick hug with all three of them and as I turn to go meet the staff officer, I tell them again, “Take care and I love you all. It was great seeing all of you again, thank you.”

I hear them walking back to the rest of my family as I approach the Major, I smile as I remember the first time, I met him and my now friend Dull Beak back during the Expedition all those years ago. “What can I do for you Blackcrest?” I ask.

He smiles at me, well as much as a griffon can, as he salutes me and tells me, “Ma’am, before you report to the War Department, the president needs someone who is not widely known to help bring a pony in to talk.”

I think to myself, Really? That is it. Then I realize, that is never just it and I tell him, “Ok, let me tell my family that I have to attend to my duties right now and set up to meet them at the hotel for tonight.”

He tells me, “But of course Colonel.” And he steps back and waits while I explain to my family that I will meet them later for dinner.

Archer and Sutures both look over my shoulders at the Major and then back at me and Archer asks, “I take it, it is more than the normal reporting in this time?” I can see the look of recognition on both of their faces but they say nothing.

Sutures then nods her head and kisses me quickly on the cheek as she tells me, “Ok, we will see you later, be careful dear.”

I nod my head and I tell her, “I will.”

Then I hear my daughter Millie ask, “Ma, can I go with you?”

I sigh as I tell her, “Sorry Millie, but not this time. Next time that I can, I will take you with me, ok?”

I see her huff out some air and she says, “Oh, Ok ma.” Goddesses, does she remind me of Ginger and Epona with her attitude. Then I have to smile as she walks over to Moon Lily and the other youngsters of our family and Windy’s.

Once I leave my family the Major takes me to the General Staff headquarters and then begins to fill me in on what we need to have done. I am surprised at how simple it is supposed to be, but then again, how often do things remain simple. He gives me the name of one of the other hotels in town as well as a room number. Then he surprises me and tells me, “You are to meet a Miss Scootaloo Dash and escort her to a meeting with President Regina Grimfeathers in her office at the executive building.

Once at the hotel, I go straight to the staircase and upon reaching the appropriate floor I check to make sure I am not being followed. I then enter the hallway and when I reach the proper room I listen briefly and can hear the two ponies inside talking before I knock.

I quickly knock and the door is opened by a mare fitting the description of Scootaloo. I nod my head and ask her to confirm her identity, “Scootaloo Dash?”

She confirms that is who she is and asks me what I want.

I then tell her, "President Grimfeathers wants to have a word with you in her office.” She seems slightly surprised by this and before she can respond I see that behind her in the room coming towards us is a blueish-grey unicorn mare with an orange mane and tail who is wearing a stable jumpsuit with the number 66 on it. I nod at the unicorn mare and tell them, "Just Scootaloo, the President was very insistent."

Scootaloo nods her head and tells the unicorn that she will be fine. To which she asks that she be careful. I have to smile as it is good to see friends who care about each other like that.

Scootaloo grabs a hat and trench coat and follows me out of the hotel as we are walking through the park past the statue of Little Pip, I see her looking at it and I decide to break the tension a bit.

Quietly I ask her, “Ma’am, are you really one of the mares who set up the stables?”

I see her shift uncomfortably and she looks slightly guilty as she answers me, “Yes, me and my friends Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, why do you ask?”

I smile and I tell her, “Well on the behalf of those of us from Stable 48 I want to thank you.”

She looks at me funny at first and she says, “You come from Stable 48? I am surprised at your being so high in rank as Reino is not a part of the NCR.”

I am a bit confused when she says this and I figure she must not be thinking of the right stable so I tell her, “No Ma’am, I am not from Reino, I am from Manesville. That is where Stable 48 is.”

She stops in her tracks and shakes her head, “Lieutenant Colonel I am sorry, but I am sure of which stable is where as well as what each stable had for an experiment or if it was a control base.”

The poor old mare, she must not remember correctly on this I think to myself. Then I hear her say, “You said Manesville right?”

I nod my head and tell her, “Yes that is right why?”

I see her laugh slightly as she presses a hoof to her face, “Lieutenant Colonel, I must apologize, you see there was only one stable in Manesville and it was 4B. I remember one late night while we were going through the paperwork that there was a typo on the paperwork for the number on the items on the uniforms and such. By then Stable 48 in Reino was also being started and we decided to just leave it as it was cheaper to buy two stables worth of equipment with the same numbers than two different numbers. Apple Bloom also said it would probably confuse any Zebra spies with the same number and two locations.”

I laugh to myself, “So a typo. Well, that explains that.” I tell her.

She looks at me funny and I tell her, “Ma’am, about ten years ago I was led into the remains of Stable 4. I found the deceased Overcows diary and they said that they had sent out the call for help to Stable 4 B in Manesville. Ma’am for the last nine years we have searched high and low for it and never found 4 B.” Then I laugh a bit more. “I always thought the misshaped 8 was just a bad casting job on the main door. I never realized it really was a B.”

She seems somewhat serious when I tell her this. Then she quietly says, “So Stable 4 died too.” As she shakes her head, then continues in a more normal tone, “I really had hoped that the two stables could sustain enough cattle to avoid genetic problems.” Then she looks at me and asks, “How did it work with having an Overcow as well as an Overmare?”

I smile at her, “Ma’am, it worked really well. When we opened the stable up, they were right there with us ponies. They really helped us as we formed the Co-op and began to reclaim the towns and farms in the surrounding areas too.”

I see her smile sadly and she shakes her head. Then she asks, “And the seed stocks?”

I smile at her and I tell her, “Ma’am, those helped us to begin again up there. We were lucky and were able to run the Co-op under the detection spell for a century. During that time we got a good hoof hold on rebuilding. Those seeds kept us and the local communities fed and after the NCR formed, we even traded some of the stock to help others as well.”

I see her smile at that and she says, “Thank you, it is good to hear of something going right and not being distorted in the stables.”

We are almost to the Government building when I decide to ask her, “Ma’am, I have to ask. When our stable closed there were two male pegasuses in it. What was that all about?”

I see her look surprised and she tells me, “Lieutenant Colonel, I have no clue. They weren’t supposed to be there.”

I laugh lightly as we reach the door and I tell her, “That is funny because I am descended from both of them. Thank you, ma’am, for the conversation.”

She nods her head and tells me, “Oh, not a problem. It was slightly refreshing to have the rare experience of meeting somepony whose stable was successful and who does not hate me.”

I smile at her when she says that. Then I notice we are at the President’s office door. I tell her, “Please wait here.” Then I knock and enter the office. I talk to the President to let her know we have arrived and she tells me to send Scootaloo in, but to wait outside so I can escort her back to her room once they are done.

After I have collected her weapons, I tell her, “Ma’am, I will wait out here and watch your weapons while you are in the meeting.”

Once I am sure I have all of her weapons collected I tell her, “You can go in now,” and I hold the door open for her. Once she is inside, I close the door and go to sit in a chair off to the side.

A few minutes later I stand back up when I see the commanding general come out. She stops and tells me, “I appreciate your discretion on this. After you take her back to her room you are done for the evening. Please report to the War Department in the morning for your full report.”

I nod my head and tell her, “Yes General. I hope to see you then.”

Once she has departed I sit back down and then I say quietly, “Ok Choo Choo, you can show yourself for a bit.”

I suddenly see the blue alicorn appear beside me. Then I notice that she now has a cutie mark that covers most of her flank with a black field and a crescent moon and below the moon is a locomotive. I raise an eyebrow as I see it and tell her, “Well that is new. When did you get that Choo?”

She smiles at me and tells me, “On the team's last mission, but really Mollygirl, you know I can’t talk about what happens on them.”

I sigh and nod my head, “Yeah, yeah I know Choo. I am just really surprised as I did not know you could get one again.”

She nods her head and excitedly tells me, “Neither did I, but I will say it is something I will never forget. Hopefully, someday I can tell you about it.”

I pat my old friend on the shoulder and tell her. “Ok Choo. I look forward to hearing it someday.”

We continue to talk for a bit then I hear someone begin to open the door and Choo Choo disappears once again.

Scootaloo comes out and I see a concerned expression on her face. She is very quiet and does not seem interested in a conversation. I walk with her back to her hotel room, Choo Choo silently following us using her invisibility spell. Once we arrive at the door, I tell her, “Ma’am, it was a pleasure to meet you. If you ever make it to the Manesville area, I would be pleased to show you around and let you see the good that we have done up there.”

She still seems distracted but smiles and nods her head. Then she offers me a hoof to shake, which I do. After this, she opens her door and as she goes inside, I hear her call out, “Hey Arc, we need to talk,” as the door closes. I then turn and head back outside.

Once on the street, Choo Choo reappears. She smiles at me and tells me, “That was interesting. She really does seem to feel bad about what happened in the stables.”

I nod my head and I tell her, “Yes she does. I hope she can find peace with it.”

Choo Choo nods her head, “Mollygirl, give it time, I am sure she will eventually.”

We talk for a while more as I approach my hotel and get ready to go see my family. She stops me and tells me, “Well, I need to go meet up with the rest of the team, Colonel. Take care of yourself and be careful.”

I smile and tell her, “I will, you also. Be careful and keep your eyes open. It seems all Tartarus is getting ready to break loose again.”

She nods her head in agreement and I watch as her ears go back momentarily. Then she says, “I will. Oh, and when you get back to Manesville say hi to George for me and tell her I will be back as soon as I can. And when you see Paperwork tell him I send my love and that I can’t wait to see him again.”

“I will Choo. Take care,” I tell her, and then as I enter the hotel lobby, I see her turn and walk away quickly disappearing from sight.

The next morning, I report to the war department again and give them my official report. I notice the look of disdain on one of the staff officers face, then he says, “Wonderful, they won’t help us. Don’t they know if we don’t stand together that the Enclave will come after them next?”

I nod my head and tell him, “Honestly Captain, I would hope so. But unfortunately, they seem disinterested in what is going on outside their own borders. But at least we got the equipment we wanted. Also, the trader we bought the artillery pieces from, he is the one who betrayed us to the Enclave.”

The Captain asks, “Are you sure?”

I nod my head, “Yeah, one of the ponies that came back with us gave us the rundown on what happened.”

“Ma’am, are you sure you can trust this pony?”

“Captain, she is like one of the family now. So, I do believe we can.”

He nods his head and tells me, “Well don’t worry about him, I am pretty sure he will be taken care of, one way or the other. Thank you for your report ma’am, I will pass it on to the General for you.”

I leave the War Department and return to our hotel. As I enter the room, I tell my family and Windy, “Ok, we get going in the morning. I have already set it up, we take the train to Western Landing, and then we will embark on a riverboat for the rest of the trip.”

From the doorway behind me I hear Purple asks, “Colonel, can we go with you too?”

I am surprised by her question and tell her, “Yes, I guess so, why?”

She smiles and tells me, “Because if we can’t go home safely, we may as well go to Manesville. I know there we should be well protected.”

I can’t fault her logic and tell her, “Sure, let your people know we are leaving first thing in the morning.”

With that, we all prepare to make the final leg of our journey.

Dear DJ Pon3,

Recently I have met a pony who many despise because of her past. I know to a certain extent how she feels. Both of us have been through the mill and I think we are both stronger for it. If you could, would you please play Hallelujah (I’m Not Dead) for her and myself as well as those others out there who take it on the chin and keep up the good fight?

Thank You,

Lieutenant Colonel Mollygirl, 1^st Manesville regiment.

Hallelujah (I'm Not Dead)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvhwU5Pl1Wk

Again I would like to thank Kkat and so many others for creating and adding to the universe of FoE. I also would like to take the time to thank RuinQueenofOblivion for allowing me to use her incarnation of the adult Scootaloo from her story Survivor's Guilt. The scene where we meet her changes perspective and adds the events as seen by Mollygirl. Any differences we find can be easily explained through the multiverse theory.

Speaking of multiverse theory, The typo that caused such a great diversion between multiple timelines was always intended. As we used to teach recruits at the US Navy Bootcamp, attention to detail. In this case an 8 instead of a B lead to an entirely different chain of events on a regional level.

For those of you who would like to read about the mission where Choo Choo got her cutie mark back, as well as to find out who Epona gifted her copy of the Book of Little Pip too, you can read it in Salted Pingas's anthology Fallout Equestria Wasterlanders. Particularly my story of A Suprise for Tea at: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/478448/2/fallout-equestria-wastelanders/a-surprise-for-tea-by-trooper

Finally, for those who would like to listen to this chapters dedication song, the YouTube link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvhwU5Pl1Wk