As the Glimmer picks up speed the two patrol boats zoom ahead on the river. We can feel the deck vibrating below us. I hear Rough give the call “All hands to your battle stations.” Archer and I look at each other and then Windy. She nods her head and tells me, “My family will go get our kits and provide air support, You two grab your families and join the Engineers.”

I see Millie and Rain give each other a brief hug then Millie joins us on our way to get our kits. Once we have them, we join the combat engineers in the troops' area. All of us have our kits. I notice Raven has a look of joy on her face as she gently caresses Badda Boom. The only one not with us is Shadowbuck and we know he is already in the machine spaces helping to push us through the water.

I see the grim look on Badger, Archer, and Sumac’s faces as we wait. The captain of the combat engineers is named Shaped Charge. He comes over to me and tells us, “Ma’am, I appreciate your wanting to help, but please keep you and your family back.”

I nod my head and I tell him, “Captain, we will be a reserve for you, that is all.”

He looks at our family and then he says, “Ma’am, these are foals with you, you can’t be serious.”

From the side, I hear Purchase Order tell him, “Captain, these kids fought their way through Radscorpions and two gangs in the Hoof. They know what they are doing.” I look over at her and she has her shotgun ready. Beside her, I see Tek with his zebra carbine ready.

He shakes his head then looks at our youngest Raven, points, and says, “Even her?”

Magpie laughs nervously and tells him, “Especially her. She is good with that grenade launcher. The bastards that shot me she took out with it.”

I see his eyes go wide and he looks at me and says, “Colonel, I thought it was just you and your husbands who were like that.”

I simply shrug and tell him “What can we say, we don’t like to fight, but when we do, we have each other’s backs.”

“Ma’am, this is our job, let us handle it.” He tells me.

Then from behind him, I hear Dull Beak laugh, “Captain, have you ever really met the regiments XO?”

He shakes his head, “I have only heard her reputation, sir.”

He grins and tells him, “She knows how to fight as does her family. I did not know Raven liked to use the grenade launcher, but it makes sense. Now as for the rest of them, I will ask you to let us do our jobs. Colonel, if I go ashore for some reason, you are invited to join me. However, please have your family stay onboard.”

I understand and nod my head to him, “Ok Colonel, you got it.”

He nods back and tells the captain, “Your troops ready to repel boarders?”

The captain gets a grim look on his face and says, “Sir, if it comes to that, of course.”

From the top deck, I suddenly hear the 76mm gun begin to fire. Shortly afterward I hear the 40mm guns join in. I look out a porthole and I see a pair of Vertibucks flying at us, both of them jerking, trying to throw the gunners off. Then I see one take a hit from a 76mm shell and it disintegrates into a ball of flame and falling wreckage. However, the other one keeps coming, Then I see several pegasi in power armor flying towards us. The veritbuck turns broadside to us and opens up with its miniguns.

From up top, I hear the call for medics. I also see parts of the timber that makes up the Glimmer splinter. Several of the engineers are wounded in this fashion. Both Sutures and Moon join the engineer’s combat medics in treating the wounded.

The engineer’s captain then orders, “1^ST squad to the upper decks to provide support, 2^nd squad, go to the main deck.”

I then call out, “1^st Squad we will have five unarmored pegasi that are with me providing air support. Their commander is Lieutenant Colonel Windrider. Use your EFS and don’t just shoot every pegasus.”

They storm out of the room and I look at my spouses, “I will be right back.” And I follow them out the door.

As I get to the top deck, I can see several of the gun crew members are wounded. I run over to the closest mount and send a quick message to Archer letting him know. He types back, On my way.

I begin to perform what first aid I know how to. Above us, I see Windy and her family are dogfighting with the enclave troopers leading them in front of the AA gunners. Behind us, I see the faster transports are still with us. The barges in the distance behind us. Over my radio I hear Windy call out, “Mollygirl, they have a temporary airbase on the back of the island.”

Just as she says this, I see another Vertibuck appear from behind the island. I see the 76mm gun try and turn to it in time. The 40mm from us and the other riverboats engaging the other one. I see one of the following transports take several hits and it begins to veer for the island.

By now Archer is back and I see that Moon Lily and Mille have followed him. Moon looks at me and tells me, “Ma told me to do first aid and triage the worst ones to her on the mess decks.”

“How bad is it?” I ask.

She looks at me and suddenly throws up a shield behind me which I hear several shots hit. Then she tells me, “Bad, but could be worse. Shadowbuck got burned some when a valve gave way. That is why we slowed down, he told me.”

I nod my head and tell her, “Ok, you need to get to work. I have to talk to the Commodore.”

As I run towards the pilothouse, I see Millie has gotten behind an airvent for the lower decks and is providing covering fire for her sister. I reach the Pilot House and tell Rough, “Windy says they have a base on the backside of this island, let’s shut them down.”

He looks at me and asks, “Want me to do a beach landing?”

I nod my head, “Yeah on this side. We can go from there.”

As we begin to turn for the beach, I call Dull Beak on my radio and tell him my plan. He agrees with me and suddenly I watch as the barges and their tugs slow down to bare steerage speed and I watch the rest of the transports make way for the island. As we get close to the beach, I see the deck crew bring the bow ramps forward with the steam cranes, and then once we reach the beach the ramps are set and I watch as the combat engineers make a run across them into the woods on the far side.

They quickly establish a perimeter and wait for the other two companies of infantry and the scout company to join them. Dull Beak and I go down to join them, followed by Badger. When I ask, he tells me, “Ma’am, I am infantry, this is my job. I will provide your guard for now.”

I nod my head and then I hear Trade Winds, the platoon leader for Dull Beak’s scouts calls in, “I have a visual on their base. They are currently getting two more vertibucks ready to fly and I can see their troops starting to form a defensive perimeter. I need Artillery at the following coordinates,” which he then gives.

Over the radio I hear, “Negative on the artillery at this time, however, we can give you mortar rounds.”

“Roger that, fire spotting round.”

I hear a thunk from the barges behind me and I see the round arch high in the air. Then I hear an explosion in the distance.

Over the radio I hear, “Round is short, refire spotting round.”

The round goes out again this time after it explodes, I hear over the radio, “Shot long, drop 50 yards and fire for effect.”

Soon I see one of the airborne vertibucks turn to make a run at the mortar and artillery barge. They are just getting into range when I see a bull or cow from the heavy weapons company stand on their back hooves and fire a missile at it. As the missile strikes one of its engines its gunner also hits the bovine and they both go down. The bovine landing on the deck of their barge.

I then hear Dull Beak begin to give orders to advance inland. Right after this, I hear a loud explosion as one of the vertibucks that is being readied takes a direct hit. In the distance in the sky, I can see the greasy black smoke climbing. Soon we begin to run into opposition.

I am still with Dull Beak’s HQ as we move forward. Twice I am shot at by snipers who have landed in the trees and are trying to hide up high. The first time I am too busy diving for cover to return fire. However, my escort and the Headquarters staff take care of them quickly. The second time They take a shot at me and I am just trying to suppress them because of the range and I get lucky and hit them. I see them hit the ground hard and I hear one of the grunts call out for a medic.

As I pass them, I hear the medic explain, “Ok, after I set your wing and treat these wounds, you are going to be our prisoner. Just relax, the war is over for you.”

I then overhear the prisoner ask, “What, you mean just like that? I thought you ponies would torture me, or kill me and eat me.”

I then overhear the medic say in a tone of disgust, “No, we don’t torture prisoners, and as for the other, you’re not my type. Now if it feels like torture when I am setting your wing, just remember we are not asking you questions when we do it.”

With that, I am past the scene and we are back to slowly moving across the island. We see a fairly thin belt of barbed wire around the improvised base as well as several dug-in fighting positions. As I arrive, I see the two infantry companies providing suppressive fire as the combat engineers use a couple of sets of Bangalore torpedoes to blow gaps in the wire. Twice I see ponies carrying the long thin explosive-filled pipes go down and another engineer runs up and continues the job. The later ones crawling on their bellies to keep low as possible. Once they have the charges in place, they connect the detonation wires and crawl back to a safe distance unreeling the wires behind them. Finally, they then connect the detonator and I hear them yell out, “Fire in the hole!”

There is an explosion and dust fills the air. But a gap has been blown and before the dust can clear I see the combat engineers are already going through the breach in the wire followed by first one company of infantry and then the next, fanning out as they go.

I hear the brief staccato of automatic and semi-auto fire as well as the return fire from the Enclave’s magical energy weapons. As they run, I hear several cries of “Medic” and “I’m hit,” from both sides as I see ponies and a few cattle go down.

Soon I see our troopers running across the tarmac and into the canvas building I assume are their hangers and buildings. I hear a brief firefight erupt at one of the tents and then over the radio, I hear one of Dull Beaks company commanders say, “Colonel, we have the base secured.”

“Roger that, I will be right there. I have your location marked on my PipBuck.” He tells him as we begin to walk through the gap in the wire and look around.

The perimeter is not as well defended as I would have expected. Dull Beak looks at me and tells me, “I don’t think they expected any resistance to get this far ma’am”

“You know I think you are right. Of course, who would have expected an entire battalion to come up and attack them out of the blue.”

As we enter the now secure base I look around and I see a lightly damaged vertibuck on the tarmac. Its crew must have run for cover once the mortars hit. A short distance from it I see another one that is a total wreck and everypony who was on it is dead.

Once we make it to the HQ of the base, we take everything we can find that is of intelligence value. Then I hear Dull Beak call out, “Lieutenant Trade Winds, would any of your troopers happen to have been former Verti Buck Pilots?”

There is a brief pause and I hear, “That is affirmative Colonel. What you got in mind?”

“Have them get over to the tarmac. If this thing can be readied quick enough, we are taking it with us.”

Then he looks at one of the infantry commanders and says, “Grab what supplies you can and take them back to the riverboats.” He pauses then orders, “Shaped Charge, get your engineers back to the Glimmer, we still have a rescue upriver to perform.”

I watch as the combat engineers pick up their wounded and dead and begin to hightail it as quickly as they can back to the Glimmer.”

As we are getting ready to move a pegasus from the scouts’ lands and salutes Dull Beak, “Sir, I can fly it, if it is airworthy do you want me to fly ahead and join you?”

Dull Beak shakes his head no and responds with, “No, we don’t want to take a chance of a friendly fire incident. Just land it on one of the barges so we can take it with us. Son, I think you may have a new job.”

As he says this, I see the face of the scout go wide with a grin and I hear him say, “Thank you, sir. I never thought I would get the chance to pilot one of these again.”

Soon Dull Beak and I, along with his staff are back on the Glimmer. As soon as we are, I see the bow ramps are raised and the Glimmer immediately begins to back away from the island and swing into the current as we begin to pick speed up so we can get to the Baltimare Colt.

As we go, I see the crew are all battle-ready. But I also notice that a couple of long lines, as well as fire hoses, have been flaked out on the decks and ponies seem to be standing by to use them.

As we move up the river, I can see smoke rising in the distance as well as steam. The two patrol boats are already ahead of us and I hear one of their captains call out on the radio, “Commodore, we are assisting with firefighting efforts at this time.”

“Roger that, any hostiles?” Rough asks over the radio.

“Negative sir, I think they figured they had done enough already,” they reply.

As we come around the final bend, I see her. The Baltimore Colt is heavily damaged. The steam we saw was from the boiler relief valves being pulled. The after one-third of the superstructure is either on fire or already put out. I see several ponies and a couple of griffons on it fighting the fires.

As we come alongside, I hear Rough call out over a bull horn, “On the Baltimore Colt, this is Commodore Water, we are here to render assistance. What do you require?”

I then see a very disheveled and smoke-covered Rust Water appear at the rail with a bull horn as she replies, “Rough, we need you to get upstream of us and fight the fires from that side and block the wind if you can. After we get the fires out, we may need a tow.”

“Roger Captain Rust. I understand and will comply.”

We then begin to shift to the upriver side and I watch as Rough expertly maneuvers the Glimmer so its bulk can cut down on the wind that is fanning the fires on the Colt. Once in position, I see the crew from the Glimmer pick up their fire hoses and begin to spray the superstructure of the Baltimore Colt.

As we continue to fight the fires, we have had small boats bring the worst of their wounded onto the Glimmer. I watch as Moon and Sutures treat the worst of them. Then I see one who is screaming in pain from the burns. I see Moon and Sutures both look at him, then each other and they both shake their heads as the burns are so severe, they know they cannot save him. I watch as Suture’s horn glows brightly and his pain goes away.

With the relief of pain, he stops screaming. Then I watch as his breathing becomes more shallow. Then I see Moon slowly raise her hoof and give the blessing for the dead as his chest stops moving. Moon closes her eyes and I hear her whisper, “Goddesses speed sir.” Then she turns and returns to help her mother with another sailor who has both a gunshot and some burns, but who is not in nearly as bad of condition.

Finally, when the fires are out and reflash watches are set Rough maneuvers the Glimmer and has them rig for a tow. It takes some time to run the towlines across but once done, we slowly move forward and I watch the line come out of the water as both riverboats move forward. The tow line never becomes tight but keeps a slight sag above the water as we continue on our journey north.

Just before nightfall, the rest of the Flotilla catches up with us and keeps pace.

As the evening sets in I return to my cabin. I notice that Badger is missing and ask, “Where’s Badger?”

Sumac testily answers, “Both him and our son felt they needed more help in the machinery spaces, so they both are standing watch with the crew.”

I nod my head then I ask her, “Sumac, are you alright?”

She looks at me straight in the face and asks, “Am I alright, Goddess damn it mare, no I am not alright, my son was burned bad enough he will have a scar on his side. One of my husbands has decided that he is needed by the ship more than by me and Magpie. And you, you go running into the worst of the Goddess damn fighting. NO! I am not alright.”

I notice a sleeping Magpie curled up by Sumac, and how she is resting her hoof protectively on Magpie. Then I tell her, "Sumac, I am sorry, I really wish I had left you all at home now. I really did not expect this.”

I see her deflate some and she says, “Mollygirl, who would have expected us to get caught traveling in the middle of a war. Part of me wishes we had not left home, but Mollygirl, those foals needed to meet the rest of their family. Besides, I do have to say I found myself getting sweet on Gus.”

The first part brings me some relief, but the later part surprises me and I have to say, “Yeah, Gus is pretty special. He and Milo kind of remind me of Archer and Badger.”

She nods her head, then she says, "Mollygirl, Purchase Order is with the youngsters, but I don’t think they have had anything to eat all day. I know Mags and I have not. Do you think you could get food for all of us?”

I nod my head and tell her, “I will do what I can ok.”

Finally, she smiles gratefully and says, “That is all I ask.”

I leave the cabin and go to the one for the youngsters and find Purchase Order is not only watching them, but she had a couple of cans of Cram and a box of Sugarapple Bombs that they are all sharing. She smiles when she sees me and tells me, “I had them in my saddlebags, you know, just for such an emergency.”

“Thanks, Purchase, you really have been a big help,” I tell her. Then I tell her, “I will see about getting some more food if I can. If you need anything let us know ok?”

She smiles and tells me, “We should be ok Ma. How is Shadowbuck?”

I sigh and tell her what Sumac had said. She nods her head and says, “That sounds about right for this family.” Then she asks, “Is Moon still helping with the wounded?”

I nod my head yes and she sighs, “Ma, we will need to watch her, she will push herself too hard if we let her.”

I nod my head and I tell her, “Yeah, but at least Sutures is with her right now.”

I see her cringe slightly when I say this and I hear her tell me, “Ma, Epona, Ginger, and Xochitl all told me how hard she pushes herself, she may not realize how far Moon Lily has pushed herself.”

“Your right, I will check on her. Thanks, Purchase.” I tell her, then before I go back out the door I ask, “Oh have the youngsters cleaned their weapons yet?”

I hear Purchase giggle slightly and she tells me, “Yes, and they complained about how tired they were the entire time. Once they had them cleaned, I let them take a nap.”

“Thanks again, Purchase. I really appreciate it.”

“Ma, I really appreciate you and the family having given me a chance. Now you best get going or we will be here chatting all night.”

I grin at her and tell her, “Perhaps we can enjoy some tea and conversation soon, but you're right for now,” and I head back out the door for the mess decks.

Once I get there, I notice that they are pretty much cleared. I see Moon sleeping on a bench next to one of the tables, and her mother sleeping on the one on the other side. The combat engineer’s medic is working on a stallion with a light wound and he tells me, “Ma’am, they need their sleep so I left them. The wounded have all been moved to cots on the lower decks.”

“Thank you, trooper. How are you doing?” I ask.

He shrugs his shoulder as he finishes up wrapping the bandage on the foreleg of his patient. Then he gives me his full attention and tells me, “Colonel, I am worn out. I, I don’t know how she did it,” he points toward Sutures. “How could she have done this day in and day out for months on end. It’s enough to make you want to hang up your hat sometimes.”

I sit across from him and I tell him, “Doc, she did it because she had to. We needed her at the time. Why do you think she retired and became a midwife?”

He shrugs his shoulder and tells me, “Well I think her leg pretty much did that for her.”

I shake my head and tell him, “She had already made up her mind to get out as soon as she could. She is a midwife now, and a pretty good one, but as you can see, she does not hesitate to go back into the role of a medic if needed. My suggestion is to give yourself some time. We still need you, but once this war is done, if you still feel this way, then let’s find you a different career. But until then we have to do what we have to do.” I pause and I tell him, “If things build up too much, talk to one of us, or better yet, talk to Buttermilk of Moon Pie back at the base. I know I do, and normally I would not say it, but so does she. It will not make it all go away, but it helps.” I tell him as I put a hoof on his shoulder. Then I get up and go talk to the cooks about getting some rations for my family as well as the troops.

A couple of the crew members offer to assist me in taking all the rations to my family. As I knock on the door for the youngsters, I see it pop open and suddenly three of the foal’s heads pop out from around the door. Behind them, I hear Purchase tell them, “Get back from the door so she can bring it in, ok.”

I hear Raven reply, “But Purchase, we are hungry.”

“No buts young mare. I know your parents taught you better.” She tells her.

Behind me, I hear the crewponies snicker a bit. Honestly, I can’t blame them as I want to laugh too.

Finally, they back off and I bring in a tray of food for them to share. Purchase smiles and tells me, “Thanks Ma. I was running out of my backup supplies.”

I smile back at her gratefully for her having taken care of the little ones and I tell her, “Don’t worry, once we get back to Manesville I will replace them for you. I just appreciate your having shared now.”

As the crew pony steps back out, I follow him and look back, telling them “I’ll be back in a bit, you kids behave for Purchase.”

I hear a course of food stuffed mouths, “We will ma.”

Then I take food first to Sumac and Magpie. I realize then that Sutures and Archer are not going to be in my room. So, I have them take additional rations to Windy and her family.

When we knock on their door, I hear movement and then I see Windy open the door. She has an exhausted expression on her face. I see her husband on the bed and watch as he slowly raises his head and I hear him ask, “Who is it dear?”

She smiles and turns her head, “Mollygirl has brought us dinner dear.”

Before he can even get up, I see Rain Dancer’s head pop up from his other side and say, “Food? I am so hungry.”

Then I see his sisters from the other side of the room get up and stretch as they come over for something to eat also. As they approach, I see how worn out they all look. I move aside and the crewman takes the meals meant for me and the members of my family that are not around into them. I smile at them and tell them, “I figured you all might be hungry. I know my youngsters were.”

“Thanks, Mollygirl, we really appreciate it.” Squall Line tells me, he pauses and then continues, “We were so tired after the fight we had to catch some sleep.”

I nod my head, “Purchase says my youngsters were the same way.”

Then from behind Windy, I hear Rain ask his mother through a full mouth, “Ma when I am done eating can I go see Mills?”

She looks at me and I tell them, “I don’t mind. I don’t think the others will either. But check with Purchase and see if she minds, as she is watching them.”

Windy smiles and tells me, “Molly, I will go with them and help her. Besides I want to talk with her some more also.”

“Thanks, Windy, I need to go check on Sutures and Moon Lily. They were asleep on the mess decks last I saw.”

She smiles sadly, “Like mother, like daughter I guess.”

I nod my head, “Yeah, I watched them together. They make a great team. I wonder how Badger and Bucky are doing?”

She looks at me funny and asks, “What do you mean?”

This time I smile sadly and I tell her, “Badger and Shadowbuck are both back at work in the boiler and engineroom.”

She looks at me funny and asks, “How did they come through?”

I sigh, “Badger was ok. However, Bucky got burned pretty good.”

She looks shocked and asks, “How bad?”

“He will have a permanent scar on his left side and forehoof. He got burned shutting down some steam valves.” I tell her.

“Couldn’t the medics do anything?”

“They did all they could Windy. Honestly, after seeing some of the others who were burned, I know how lucky he was.”

She shakes her head, “Poor colt. I am sorry to hear that for him.”

“He is a tough buck Windy; He is hard back at it already,” I tell her.

From in the room, I can hear the radio be turned on. Instead of the normal radio shows I expect, I hear a martial style of music playing. I see Windy’s ears suddenly turn to it as does her husband's. Then I hear an unfamiliar stallion’s voice come over the airwaves.

My Fellow Equestrians, once again this is Hollowed Dreams bringing you the real news as well as entertainment. As I have said before those of us in the Grand Pegasus Enclave are here to help all of us ponies to get back on our hooves again. We have begun to do this through several initiatives, particularly through the Pegasus Volunteer Corps. It has been brought to my attention that earlier today the renegades who used to stylize themselves as the Co-op and now are part of the New Canterlot Republic have attacked one of these Volunteer Corps bases near the fork of the Hoofrock river. They have not only attacked this peaceful base, but they have left no survivors and destroyed the provisions and supplies that had been staged there to help others.

This leads me to first ask that all peace-loving ponies stop doing business with this region as well as to end any and all mutual aid agreements that you may have had. Furthermore, I am giving these barbarians notice that these acts shall not go unpunished. You shall be made to pay for your horrific actions.

To those listeners in the Lunar Republic, we remind you how fortunate you are that your leadership has stayed neutral and has not taken sides. We applaud their desire for and endeavors to maintain peace. We also look forward to working with you and your leaders in the future to return Equestria to its proper place again someday.

For those in the occupied zones this message is for you, “The letter has no stamp. I repeat, the letter has no stamp. The empty chair is rocking, the empty chair is rocking. For those in the Lunar Republic, Zephyr Wind has blue feathers, I repeat Zephyr Wind has blue feathers.

Now I return you to our musical entertainment.

When he is done speaking, I then hear Windy’s oldest daughter Snow Song say, “Hey mom, that is the third time this week I have heard that DJ talking bad about home.”

I see Windy and Squall Line both look at each other with expressions of worry on their faces. Finally Windy tells me, “Well I guess they let us know how the Enclave will respond to our having taken their base.”

Then I hear Snow say, “But Mom, she is lying, they attacked us. We did not attack them.”

I watch as Squall moves over to his oldest daughter and puts a hoof around her. Then he tells her, “And that dear is why we no longer live in the Enclave. We just could not trust them anymore.”

With that, I tell them, “I will see you all a bit later. I better go make sure Rough and Dull Beak know what is going on.”

Windy nods her head before she tells me, “Ok Mollygirl, I will see you later, and thanks again for dinner.”

I smile, tell her their welcome and trot off. I no longer feel hungry myself. That radio broadcast took away whatever appetite I had. As I approach the Pilot House, I see Rough is up there and I call up to him, “Commodore, we need to talk, looks like we may have trouble brewing.”

He looks out the window and down at me and calls back, “Come on up Colonel, but when have we ever not had trouble brewing?”

I laugh lightly at this as I head on up and tell him about the broadcast.

The next several days go slowly and quietly as we carefully make our way up the river towing the Baltimore Colt. The night before we are expected to make home port, we once again hear Hollowed Dreams rattling off,

That’s right folks it’s all true or my name is not Hollowed Dreams. The NCR has even sent what they called a peace and trade delegation to the Lunar Republic that instead tried to instigate the gangs into open warfare against not only each other but against the leadership of that proud city of Hoofington. They went so far that when a peaceful force of law enforcement officers was sent after them, that they even shot the head of that task force, almost taking the life of the brave police lieutenant when he tried to board the train carrying these marauders.

Sadly, I must also report that not only were these degenerates from the Manesville area, but some were even from Manehatten. We know their names and there will be a reckoning. Among those names are the so-called Lieutenant Colonels’ Mollygirl and Wind Rider, the latter a deserter from the Enclave. We know about you Miss Purple Haze as well. WE know you used and are still using foal warriors to protect yourselves.

We the honest and peace-loving ponies will make you pay for your transgressions, as well as those who help you…

I am still trying to hear what other lies she is telling when I hear Windy say, “Somepony shut that drivel off will you, it’s making me sick.”

I watch as Frost Glitter her younger daughter walks over and turns off the radio. She then turns to her mother and tells her, “Ma, I don’t know what makes me more sick, the lies that Hallowed Dreams spews, or the horrible music he plays afterward.”

Windy only smiles, but I hear Squall Line tell Windy, “Well at least she has taste in music.” To which I have to agree. Give me some good old Hayseeds songs any day. That or maybe an occasional song that I hear on DJ Pon3’s show.

As it gets later in the evening, I hear Badger tell Shadowbuck, “Get some sleep son, we have the watch in less than eight hours.”

“Ok Pa, you too. See you then.” I hear Bucky reply and then I hear the door to the foals’ cabin close. Moon and Milly are with us as are Purchase and Windy’s youngsters. Raven and Woodrow both having been very tired asked to go to bed early.

As he enters the cabin, I hear him say, “I am so going to miss this.”

Magpie looks up at him and asks, “Miss what love?”

He smiles at her and tells her, “Working alongside my son. I, I just never imagined how much I would enjoy seeing him grow in his skills and passing on what I know about steam plants to him.”

From next to Magpie, I hear Sumac tell him, “Dear, I am so glad you have gotten this opportunity. I am sure it is a time neither of you will ever forget.”

He grins and tells her, “My dear, you are quite correct on that. It has even made me think about getting out of service after the war and maybe working one of the clan’s riverboats with Bucky.”

I see her surprise and pride when she says this. Then I hear Sutures tell him, “Badger dear, I am thinking that would be a wonderful idea. Why don’t you float it past Rough when you see him next?”

He nods his head. Then he says, “If you all don’t mind, I am going to go get cleaned up and get some sleep. It is going to be a short sleep and a long day tomorrow.”

Both Magpie and Sumac get up and give him a kiss and Sumac tells him, “Go ahead love, we will be in shortly.”

After he leaves, they continue to talk with us for another half hour before they return to their cabin for the night. We all exchange goodnights before they leave. After they have gone, I see a smile come over Squall’s muzzle and he asks, “Ok, so who wants to play some Dodge City Hold ‘em?”

I see Sutures' grin as she uses her TK to pull out a deck of cards and begins to shuffle them. From the other side of Sutures, I hear Archer say, “Sounds good to me, and Suture’s no dealing from the bottom of the deck this time.”

We are only a few hours from Manesville when we see smoke in the distance. I watch as the two patrol boats begin to move out in front of us and rush up the river towards our port. I also see several of our airborne scouts take off and disburse in front of us as they scout the skies and the river banks ahead.

As they fly off into the distance, I see several large black shapes flying away from the direction of Manesville heading west and onto the great plains. I shake my head as I realize we are seeing the last part of an air raid. From my PipBuck I hear Lieutenant Trade Winds report into Dull Beak, “Colonel they have just hit the waterfront and Pegasus port. We can still chase them if you want us to?”

I hear Dull Beak reply, “That is a negative, continue your mission and report back when you are done.”

“Affirmative sir will do.”

Once we are close enough, we can see large pillars of smoke rising from both the Pegasus port and the several spots along the waterfront. As we begin to pass under the bridge between Manesville proper and Dead Quiet we see several cans of something burning on the bridge as well as in several areas along the waterfront. Next to these cans, I can see ghouls and ponies fanning the fires and throwing in wet straw to make more smoke.

Finally, we are near where we will berth. Rough stops and I hear Rust give the order to drop anchor. Once she is anchored Rough takes in the towing line and goes pier side. Behind us, I watch as the other boats of the flotilla take their spots. Finally, I see the small tugs come alongside the Baltimore Colt and slowly move her to an empty berth. While this is happening, I watch the 3^rd Battalion offload. As the combat engineers finish debarking, I see a pony in an officer’s dress uniform ask permission to board. Then he asks for directions to find me and Windy.

Once he approaches me, he salutes me and hands me a sealed envelope. I open it and read the message requesting my presence at the stable immediately.

As I am reading my message, I hear Windy behind me cuss slightly and she tells Squall, “Dear, take the youngsters home, I will be there as soon as I can get there.”

He asks, “Trouble brewing?”

She sighs and says, “You could say that,” then she gives him a quick kiss and tells me, “I assume you got the same message.”

I nod and tell her, “Yeah, let me tell my family and I will head there with you.”

I watch the officer turn and begin to head for the brow just as Rough calls out, “All Hand; Attention! Right hoof salute!” We instinctively follow the order, and we watch as the crew of the Glimmer begins to carry the bodies of the dead ashore with as much respect and care as they can. It is then that I notice that the Commodore has assigned two of his crew to put on the full battle dress and stand guard on the dead.

Once finished I hear Rough call out, “Too, Carry on.”

Windy and I head back to our cabins to get our kits. We are just in time to see our party’s carts being offloaded onto the pier via cranes. I see Archer and Sutures are on the pier with most of our foals already, as is Squall Line and his family’s. I then notice Badger and Shadowbuck are both shaking hooves with several dirty ponies in coveralls.

It is then I hear one of them say, “You two are welcome back any time sir.”

Badger grins and tells him, “While I would love to right now, I have to return to my company and Bucky here needs to finish school.”

“I understand Badger. When he is ready, he is welcome. He has proven himself to us and he certainly knows how to turn a wrench and has sand.” The pony tells them. Then he turns to Bucky and tells him. “Young Stallion, thank you for everything you did for us. It has been a pleasure to have you on my watch team.”

I watch as Bucky stands at attention and salutes the older pony. Then I hear him say, “Thank you, sir. The pleasure was all mine. I will be back someday sir.”

He returns the salute and tells him, “I look forward to it, now take care and pay attention to your studies. Who knows, maybe someday you will be the Chief Engineer too.”

With that they say goodbye and they join me as we head down the brow and return home. I see Archer is now in the traces as the foals and Suture climb into the back. I also notice the members of the trade delegation do the same and fall in behind Archer as he heads back to the farm and White Cloud.

As our family’s head for home, Windy and I head back to the stable so we can report in as ordered. I look back toward the smoke-filled sky and the riverboats along the waterfront. I see Rough watching us and he waves to me. I smile and wave back, then I continue on to receive my orders.

Dear DJ pony,

Recently I have lost several ponies who were like family to me. Our home the riverboat the Baltimare Colt was almost destroyed and has suffered severe damage. None of my crew was left unharmed, but we are still here and still on the river. We will rebuild her and find our peace once again. For my ponies as well as the other riverboat crews please play for us Boat on the River.

Thank you,

Captain Rust Water, of the Baltimore Colt

For those who wish to listen to this chapter's dedication song, the YouTube link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16VSqbj9meA