Chapter 16: Paid in Full, The Butcher’s Bill

“In some battles, there are unexpected casualties, and the fight can rob a person of everything they have, leaving them battered and broken.” ― A.R. Wise, Never Coming Home

As we return, we fly over the trenches first and then the main entrance. Entire sections of the trenches are gone. The ruins of several bunkers can be seen. There are so many bodies, ours, theirs, the feral ghouls all over the place. I swear I can smell the stink of death while still in the air. The battle is not completely finished yet as there are still some hold outs in the tunnel entrance and in Manesville.

We are flying in formation on our return flight when it happens. I will never forget it. I am hurting from a burn on one thigh, I notice a small hole in my right foreleg. We are all wounded in some fashion or other, well except Charity. Then, well, then it happens. The skies clear.

It does not happen all at once. We watch as rings of rainbows expand and sweep through the clouds, turning them into rain. As soon as the clouds transition it happens. For the first time in my life, I see a bright ball of light in the sky and feel its warmth, as the rain falls to the ground.

“What is that, it hurts my eyes. Why is the sky that color now?” I ask.

Over the radio, I hear Sunsets reply “That Mollygirl, is how the sky really looks. This is what I have been missing for all these years.”

As I feel the moisture from the clouds fall on us, I then hear Dodger “I had not realized how much I missed that sight.”

Behind me I hear Hope, “It is beautiful, Faith would have loved to have seen it like this down here.”

Quietly we all hear Charity, “Mollygirl, can we go home now? I am tired, hungry, and sore.”

“Ok, colts, fillies, and dragonesses, let's go home. Farm this is MG, we are coming home to roost.”

“Rodger MG, please be advised the back gate is still your safest entry point. Welcome home and safe landings.” I hear soundwaves say over the radio.

“Farm, we will need some medical assistance at the back gate, we have wounded.”

“Rodger, Understood dispatching medical assistance at this time.”

Once we land, I disconnect my harness and slide down George's side. I can only put pressure on three legs. As I hobble to George’s backside to assist Emerado Down, I look at her wounds. She has a couple of pretty deep wounds on one of her forelegs. They are not bleeding as they have cauterized themselves. As I look at them, she quietly whimpers but tolerates it.

I stop to talk to George as the pegasi have already beaten me to Emerado and they are lowering her down. I can see the piece of metal sticking out of Emerado’s leg. We do not dare to just pull it out, as we do not know what we may damage if we do so. I watch as Charity takes a couple of roles of bandages and stabilizes the metal so it does not shift. As we are sitting there, he starts to examine all of us and has a report ready for when the medical teams get there.

Once the medical teams arrive, they talk with Charity. The doctor who has accompanied them orders Emerado to be carried to medical for surgery to remove the fragment. For me, I just get a Med-X shot and a healing potion. The same goes for Sunset, Dodger and Hope. As they carry Emerado inside, one of us goes on each side of George. “George, we will be your eyes to help you get inside, ok?”

“Ok, Mollygirl, Thank you all of you. I just want to get inside, grab something to eat and sleep for a while.”

We escort her inside, once she is in her room, we remove all her harness and clean her wounds as best we can. I make sure to get her some gems to snack on. Finally, we remove our own tack and harnesses. “I know we should be safe, but clean up is still going on upstairs. I want one of you to stay armed for now while the others rest. Rotate the watch as you feel best. I will be back as soon as possible." I head up to medical first.

Emerado is already in surgery when I get there. The doctor tells me she should be fine, but it will take a couple of days before she is fit for duty again. Because the main doors were closed during the battle, they do not have a large number of patients, yet. But word has gotten out that the back tunnel is open and there is a trickle of wounded coming in that way.

I stop by HQ next; I see the Major returning from the field behind me. She is filthy, looks exhausted and has blood on her face and barding. When I ask her about the blood she dully looks at herself and them me. “Don’t worry, it’s not mine.” She tells me.

I see the Colonel talking to the Sergeant Major. “Sergeant Major, I want casualty figures as soon as possible. I need to know what we have in case of a second attack.”

“Yes Sir, I will get them to you as soon as possible, sir.”

The Colonel notices me next. “Good Job to you and your fliers Lieutenant. They hurt us badly, but we are still here.”

I look at him, “Sir, it’s Cadet. Not Lieutenant.”

He smiles at me, “I know what I said, you and Emerado both are being promoted. How are your fliers by the way?”

“Sir, We lost Faith, Emerado is in surgery right now. George is injured and is not in a condition to fly. Sir she lost her glasses and is almost blind without them, we will need to get her new ones. The rest I have with George in her room resting. Sir, is there any word on the Door Kickers yet, I have friends and family with them. In fact, Magpie was out there as a stretcher-bearer with them.”

I see the look of surprise on his face, “I understand your worry, no word yet. I had no idea your wife was out there in it. I hope she is ok.”

“Thank you, Colonel. Sir one more thing. I would like to promote Sunset to Sergeant. When and if we get enough fliers, I would like to advance Cloud Dodger to Corporal. Sir, we could not have done it today without them.”

“Understandable Mollygirl, get with me later and we can go over it. Now we both need to get going.”

“Yes sir.”

I leave the office and am walking by radio as I am flagged over by Broadcast, Specs and Soundwaves. When I approach them, I hear “Is it true, are the clouds really gone?” from Broadcast.

“Yes, It’s true. We can see the sun finally. It’s, it’s like nothing I have ever imagined. I just wanted to stand in its warmth.”

“Wow, I can not wait to get up there and see it,” Soundwaves says.

Then I hear Specs, “Reports coming in on the radio from the local militias. “Donovan no action, all is clear. Dairyanne, several farms burned or burning. They have multiple civilian and militia casualties. They have one wounded prisoner and are requesting information on how to handle them. Emerald Grove reports several farms on fire, the local general store and two of the homes in the village are destroyed. Unknown number of casualties.” Then he pauses, “Oh no, no, no. Reports from Manesville, the Raptor fired upon the hospital. One wing has been destroyed. There are an unknown number of casualties A large part of the city is on fire including the town hall. They report hundreds of casualties both militia and civilians. The ghouls from across the river are sending parties to help with rescue and recovery.”

I am so stunned by these reports my hind legs collapse and I suddenly find myself sitting on the floor. “My Goddesses,” is all I manage to say. The three help me back to my hooves as I get ready to continue on, I hear one of them say, “The pegasi survivors in the tunnel are requesting to be allowed to surrender. They say the last of the feral ghouls in there are dead, they are deactivating their weapons.” I leave there wanting to be in on the capture.

As the stable door opens, I have my Angle Bunny SMG ready, but I am sickened by the scene of death and destruction that I see. Next, I hear my PipBuck start to rapid-fire click due to the high radioactivity of the dead ghouls. We quickly tell the five survivors to lay down their weapons and to leave the tunnel through the outer exit as we close the stable door again. After which my Pipbuck slows it's clicking. I grab into my pouch and drink a Rad-away before I do anything else. While I hate the taste, it sure beats the consequences otherwise.

I then decide to head back down to the rear entrance tunnel to go outside and help. As I get to the tunnel, I see dozens of ponies and cows bringing in wounded. Among them I see Magpie dragging a travois with a pony on it. As I approach, I see it is Shadowbuck on it. He is unconscious and appears to have several wounds including a large piece of wood sticking out of his side.

Mags looks at me with almost lifeless eyes, “The bunker took a hard hit. Saber lost a leg; it was ripped off by the explosion. Right now, it is tourniqueted. I’ll bring him back later. Captain Abby is dead Mollygirl. She died in my hooves. I couldn’t do anything, nothing.”

“It’s ok Mags, It's ok. I know you did everything you and Sutures could. Wait, Mags, where is Sutures? Is she dead too?”

“No Mollygirl, she is still up there treating Bullet and Pearl. Both are hurt pretty bad, but they should make it.”

I reach into my saddlebag and find a small flask of Old Overmare. I hold it out to her, “Here Mags, it won’t fix anything, but it may numb the pain for a bit.”

She takes the flask and downs it in one long drink. “Thanks, Mollygirl, I appreciate it, I better get moving, I still have work to do.”

“Ok love, I am so sorry you had to go through that,”

She turns her head towards me, “I am too. I love you Mollygirl, “I'll see you later.” With that, she looks ahead and proceeds on her way to medical. It is just too much for me, I sit back against the wall, put my head down and want to cry, but nothing comes out. I notice some others have done the same, some are crying others, just staring off into nothing.

I get myself up and start to head out again. As I climb over the top of the stables hill and work my way down the other side, I see the five pegasi prisoners removing their armor. How I hate them for what they have done to my home and my people. All the cows, ponies, even mules and dragon. I want to make them pay for the sins of their superiors. Behind them, I can see Manesville with several of the once familiar building now gone, badly damaged or burning. I see hundreds of civilian ponies heading toward the stable to help.

I eventually work my way down the hill and back into the trenches. I find the remains of the Door Kickers bunker and looking down the trench I see Bullet being worked on by Sutures. He has a compound fracture of his left front leg and I see a tear in his neck where wood splinters had torn into him. Sutures has applied bandages and splints. I walk up to them. “Hey dad, glad to see you survived.”

He moves his head slowly toward me, I can tell he has taken some Med-x for the pain. “Hey kid, Glad to see you made it. Unhurt too, even better, How’s Emerado?”

I smile back at him, “Emerado’s going to be ok dad. She is in surgery to have some shrapnel removed, but the doctors said she should be fine. I was lucky, only superficial wounds, nothing that a little healing potion and Med-x couldn’t take care of. Mags will be back soon to take you inside dad. She just,” Then I feel a hoof on my shoulder and see Sutures shake her head at me. “She was just taking some pony into the stable and will be back for you soon.”

“Ok, thanks for letting me know dear, I am getting tired now, I will talk to you later ok.”

It is then I notice the slight glow on sutures horn. “Sorry, I figured I would put him to sleep so he would not be in as much pain until after the surgeons see him. I had to use the same spell on Dusty.”

“Oh no, how bad was she hit?”

“She was not hit Moll; she is a basket case right now over what happened with Chance. Even when she seems ok, we are going to need to watch her.”

“OK, I can understand that. I do not know how I would handle it if I was in her place.” I tell her.

I find Dusty a short distance away and check on her. Then I see Pearl and Woodrow. Pearl has a cut on her face as well as a few splinters sticking out of her right forehoof. She looks at me “I’ll be ok Mollygirl, nothing Sutures can’t take care of out here.”

I nod and wait with Bullet for Magpie to get back here. As I wait, I wrap Abby’s remains in a blanket, and once Magpie gets back, I have her take Bullet on the travois while I carry Abby on my back for graves registration. The least I can do for her is to make sure she has a decent burial. I had finally gotten to know her not as my commander, but as a mare, and I lost her friendship already. I know that Dodger and Sunset will want to know also.

Once we get back to the stable, I gently place Abby by several others that were lost by the back entrance. I look at my poor exhausted wife. “Mags, please go get some rest in George's room. I will take him the rest of the way.”

I see her nod slowly and begin her way there as I continue up to medical. Once there I see a medic and one of the trauma nurses performing triage outside the door to medical. There are dozens of patients on the floor waiting to be treated. They look him over and have me place him closer to the door. “He should not be a problem, nothing we can’t handle” they tell me.

I ask about Em and Shadow Buck. Em has come out of surgery already, and has been taken to our stall to recover. She is being checked upon periodically by a nurse they tell me. Shadowbuck is still in surgery. There was more damage than they thought. While I am not surprised, I had hoped to talk to him for a bit if he was awake.

After that I take the travois again upon my back and start to head back to pick up Saber. On the way, Charity and Sunset stop me. “Mollygirl, we request permission to go and try and find Faith’s remains. I’ve known her since she was the size of an enfield, I can’t just leave her like that.”

I am surprised he even mentioned enfields the way pegasi feel about them. It shows me how stressed he is. “Permission granted, please be careful, we may have Enclave stragglers out there still. Let me know if you need a hoof, I will do what I can.”

“Yes ma’am. Thank you.” Sunset tells me.

As I get ready to move on again, I am grabbed by Charity and he hugs me, “Thank you Mollygirl.”

I put a hoof around him and pat him on the back a couple of times. “It’s ok Charity, just find her so we can bring her home.” At that I see him fight back tears. I do not want to embarrass him so I turn my head and start to make my way back outside to go pick up Saber. Behind me, I know they are following me. Once they reach the outside they take off and are flying back towards the area of the fighting.

When I reach the area where the bunker was, I find Stitches sitting next to Pearl and Woodrow. She has her head down and from the way her chest is moving, I can tell she is crying. “Hey Stitches, I am here for Saber.”

She looks up, the tears having left tracks through the dust on her cheeks. “It’s too late Mollygirl. He had too many internal injuries. He passed right after you left earlier.” She takes her helmet off and throws it against the opposite trench wall. “Damn it, I did everything I could. I just could not save him. I thought by using the tourniquet we had bought him enough time. If I would have had some Hydra, maybe...”

“I understand Sutures, I understand. You had too many ponies with serious injuries. You saved those you could. When I left Shadowbuck was in surgery, they expected him to make it. Bullet is still waiting. You stabilized him well enough he can wait a bit. Emerado was one of the first into surgery and is already in our stall recovering.”

“Not Emerado too. Damn it. I had not even thought about you guys. Once you took off, I thought you would be safe.”

I smile sadly, “I wish. Dodger is wounded. Hope is wounded. George took some hits in her wings and one of her forelegs, and to add insult to injury, they shot her glasses off of her. Heck I got burned on one thigh and had a fairly small hole burned through my right foreleg. Luckily it missed anything important, I did not even feel it.”
“How’s Dodger, Charity and Faith?” she asks.

She sees me blanche. “What did I ask the wrong?” she asks again.

“Sutures, the bucks are trying to find Faith’s remains. She went down during the fight. She was helping to keep the Enclave troopers off of George when it happened. We were all so busy, we are not sure where she went down.”

“I am so sorry to hear that Mollygirl. She seemed such a good pony.”

I put a hoof around her shoulder and hug her. “She was, Just like Abby, Hope, Pearl, Dusty and you. You’re a good pony Stitches, and a damn good friend.”

She takes a deep breath, and leans into me, “Thank you Mollygirl. I value your friendship too,” and then she surprises me with a kiss on the cheek. She then gets up, “I best get moving around, we may have more wounded that we have not found yet.”

I take Saber’s remains back and set them down close to Abby’s. I work for the next two hours straight hauling in wounded and the dead. I am just getting back up near where Sutures is when I get the call over my PipBuck from Sunset, “Mollygirl, we found Faith. She’s still alive. I can’t believe it. She is alive. She is in very rough shape. If you can grab a doctor or a medic and come to my PipBuck tag. Bring a backboard If you can.” He pauses and I can hear him moving after a bit I hear him continue but more quietly, “Mollygirl she is a real mess, we need help quick.”

Sutures and I look at each other, “I am on the way with a medic. I do not have a backboard. If there is a building with a door or table nearby grab it. We can use my harness to attach her to it.” I look at the map on my Pipbuck they are ten miles from the stable. Damn it. I only hope we can make it in time.

Sutures and I canter the entire way there. Once we get there, Sutures starts to check her over, Charity comes over and they start to discuss her medical condition. He suspects her spine has been broken just before her hips, and Sutures agrees with him. She has severe injuries but her vital signs are still strong enough that Sutures thinks we can get her back to the Stable alive for the doctors to work on her.

Sutures than uses her magic to lift her and I gently put my harness on her. Once it is on, we lower her onto the door and use some rope run through the harness to secure her to the door, before attaching it to the travois. As we start to slowly drag her back home, I start to notice several bodies around us, most are badly burned, they are members of the pegasi crew.

“Charity, did you check for any survivors from the others here?”

He looks surprised. “No, I had not thought of it.” Suddenly he flies over and starts to check. Most are dead, but he has found a survivor, he is severely burned on his sides and flanks and he is in shock. He was fortunate his wings are mostly ok. Charity gives him a shot of Med-X, helps him up and then half carries him alongside me back to the stable.

I move as surefooted as my tired body will allow. I have to detour several times around craters and twice around the wreckage of downed sky carts. One of which is still fully loaded. I call that one in so that the ordinance boys can come to clean up the wreckage. Then it hits me to call in that we have a wounded prisoner we are bringing in and that there may be more. I suggest using some of the Manesville Militia to go check for more.

After that suggestion I hear over my PipBuck, “Mollygirl, do you really think that is a good idea? A lot of those militia members have just lost family, friends, and homes.”

“It has to be done, who else do we have?” My reply is met with silence.

As we walk back, I see Sunset go over and find another badly wounded survivor of the raptor crew. He puts him on his back and starts to carry him. Sutures treats them as best she can as we move back toward the stable.

About halfway back I see a company of the Manesville Militia on their way to where we have come. Pages is among them I see she has a bloody bandage on one of her hind legs and one on the side of her neck. She calls out to me. “It is good to see you made it Mollygirl.”

“Thanks Pages. I am glad to see you too. I will let Magpie know you are ok when we get back to the stable.”

She falls out of ranks and runs over to me. “What do you mean when you get back to the stable? I thought she was at Sumac’s.”

I stop and shake my head, “No, she ended up in the thick of it as a stretcher-bearer. Physically she is ok. She is pretty shaken up though. Sorry Pages, we both really have to go. I will talk to you again soon.”

It is then she really seems to notice I am recovering a wounded flier, “One of theirs?”

As I slowly make my way again, I turn my head, “No, one of Ours. We all paid a piece of this bill.”

“What about the others?” she calls to me.

I call back, “Survivors of the raptor. Help them if you can.”

“Should we take them to the Stable?” She asks.

“They are overwhelmed there, try the hospital in town.” I tell her.

“But Mollygirl, most of the hospital is gone now.”

“Then wherever they can get help, I have to get her back Pages, sorry,” Then I put my head down and place one hoof after another trying to make the ride as gentle as I can for Faith, even if she is unconscious.

Once we make it back, I make my way to medical again, when I pass George’s room Hope runs out to meet us. I stop briefly for her to see her sister. We are joined by Dodger and Magpie. They all quietly fall in behind me as I take her up to whatever help we can get her.
Once we arrive, I see all the medical staff still striving to help the wounded and the dying. I see several bodies with their faces covered, waiting to be removed. The one doctor looks at her. “Oh, another of them, put her to the side, we will deal with her when we get done with our own.”

I see it as something inside Sutures breaks and I watch her reach over and draw her pistol out, pointing it at the face of the doctor. His eyes going wide in fear. “She is one of ours, you son of a faithless bitch. You either help her, or I swear I will end you now. I am not losing another patient to time.”

He looks at me and the rest of my fliers, “I’m sorry, but we are so underponied right now.”

I see Charity step up, “I was only a couple of classes short of being a nurse before I was exiled, I can help. Please, she is my sister.”

Sutures then puts her pistol away, “I will assist also if you will let me. But she needs help as soon as possible.”

The doctor looks at them, “Fine, but scrub up, and when we are done with her, I will expect you both to stay and help us with others.” They agree. He calls over two more of the medical staff members and I watch as they take Faith in, followed by Charity and Stitches. I sit down by the wall; my eyes are so heavy. Magpie and Dodger sit with me. Eventually I lay down on the floor and fall asleep out of sheer exhaustion.

When I wake up, I am unsure how long I have slept. I am still feeling groggy and to tell the truth, at first, I am unsure where I am or what happened. But then realization dawns on me. It is then that I see Sutures above me. She is the one who nudged me awake. Magpie is leaning against me still asleep.

When she sees I am awake she tells me, “Mollygirl, Faith is out of surgery. She is going to make it. But she, her spinal cord has been badly damaged. She will never walk on all four legs again.”

“Oh, thank the Goddesses. She made it.” I say right away, then I fully understand what she has just told me. “Sutures, does she know yet?”

“No, not yet. She is still unconscious. I think it is best for her right now, that way the rest of her can heal more also. They had to take out a couple of broken ribs also. Charity was a lot of help, let me tell you. They are talking about finishing his education and having him become a doctor eventually in the CDF.”

I smile at that. “I hate to lose one of my fliers, but I am sure he would be great at it.”

Finally, Sutures sits down next to me, “I hope you do not mind, but I really need to sit down for a couple of minutes.”

As we sit there, she starts to talk to me, “Mollygirl, I really have to talk about today to somepony.”

I put a hoof on her leg, “Go ahead, Sutures, I understand, I have a few things I need to talk about myself.”

“Molly, I have been in the CDF for over 8 years now. Today I was more scared than ever before in my life. But it was not for myself.”

I nod so she knows I am paying attention.

“The bombardment was bad enough, but after you and Em flew off on George it got really hairy. Dusty was in hysterics. She kept screaming for Chance. Three times Magpie and I had to hold her down as she tried to jump back over the top of the trench. Finally, I knocked her out with my spell.”

“I am not surprised to hear that, the poor kid,” I tell her.

“Then it got worse,” she continues. “The Enclave troopers got into our trenches. Mags and I were near a communication trench when a metal apple landed next to us. I threw Magpie around the corner and dove in after her right before it went off. As I got up, I was face to face with one of them he had his hoof up and was getting ready to step on my head.” She pauses, “as he raised his hoof, I used my horn to draw my pistol, I shoved the barrel into his ear and shot him three times before he fell. Magpie helped drag me out from under him.” I am not really surprised to hear this, but say nothing.

“After that, we went back into the main trench. I went around the corner and found Pearl wounded and Woodrow firing around another corner. I could hear hoof steps running towards us. Pearl stopped me, grabbed a metal apple off her barding and threw it around the corner. After it exploded, I look over and saw two of the armored troopers on the ground. The first took most of the blast. His armor actually was crushed in. I saw blood coming out of the mouth piece of his armor. When I checked his PipBuck he was already dying. Magpie checked the second one and told me he was only stunned, as I continued trying to work on the first one. Woodrow and Pearl then advanced past us. Mags finally figured out how to remove the trooper’s helmet. About that time, he started coming to and yelled he was going to kill her filthy ground-bound hide. As he started to get up and before I could even react, she grabbed a large rock that had been knocked into the trenches with both hooves and she crushed his skull in with it. To tell you the truth, I am still not sure if I should be proud of her for that or scared to death.”

I then turn and look at my sweet beloved in a whole new light. I never imagined her being capable of such a thing. I am just thankful she is still alive.

Sutures then continues talking, “Mollygirl, A bit later is when we saw the bunker take a hit. Bullet was on the far side of it covering that flank. The beam just barely missed a direct hit. But the force of it shattered the wall and the roof. The others provided covering fire as Magpie and I went into the wreckage and dragged Shadowbuck and Saber out. Mollygirl, all the wood from the beams, that was the worst of it. After we dug them out, we still had pieces of wood sticking out of them. Then I found Saber’s leg. It had been torn off with such force that it had impaled Abby. She was still alive and screaming. As I was digging her out, Magpie was holding her and trying to comfort her. She died before I could get her free. Magpie was still holding her, I had to tell her to let her go.”

She pauses and collects herself, “After that once we were back outside the bunker. It was about that time we looked up and saw George being chased by the ten Enclave fliers. I saw Luna open fire and tear them apart. One of them crash landed near us. Bullet went ahead of us as we went to investigate. Even wounded that Enclave bastard was dangerous. I came around the corner of the trench in time to see Bullet striking him in the wing root and break it with his front hoof. The trooper then spun on Bullet and with his wing still dragging the ground double barreled him with his hind legs into Bullets front leg. That is how he got that compound fracture. Bullet was on the ground as the Enclaver was getting ready to finish him. That's when Woodrow opened up with his Assault rifle. Once the Enclave trooper was down Woody walked over and put paid to his bill with a quick burst to the back of the neck, where the helmet met the body armor.”

She stops and begins to shake before continuing. “The final push was really bad Molly. I do not know what was worse, being pushed aside and driven from our sections of trenches by that damn power armor, or watching in horror as the feral ghouls come charging by us as close as they were. We had those Enclave troops pinned down inside the tunnel. They could not escape. I am still not sure how many of those ghouls ran into the tunnel. I know they were feral, but I swear I could hear some of them screaming to be let inside the stable, others not to be left outside to die in the megaspells. I think they thought it was the final day again. Then I heard the screams, the explosions, and gunfire from inside the tunnel. I saw body parts come flying back out the entranceway, some of them from the ghouls, others from the pegasi. I pray I never see anything like that again.”

I nod my head, “I can understand Sutures. I can understand. I hope none of us do.”

She gives me a half-smile; her eyes have a haunted look to them. “Well, I better get going. I still have work to do.” She gets up and heads back into medical.

As she leaves, I gently move Magpie so I can get up also. Down the hall a bit I see some of the wounded enclave prisoners. There is something wrong with the look of the medic that is attending them. I see the medic take a full syringe of Med-X and inject it into a patient. At first, I think nothing of it, but then I notice them take out a second and get ready to administer it to the same patient. “Hey, what are you doing, that will kill him,” I yell at the medic. They look at me and both of our eyes go wide in recognition, “Tar Water, what are you doing here?” She drops the syringe and jumps up fully. Then starts to run. I am up and running after her, Magpie waking up as I run off. “Somepony stop her. That’s Tar Water,” I call out.

She runs for the front entrance and after seeing that the door is closed leaps the railing and goes to the control panel to open the door. I jump after her as I see her hoof move the controls to open it. I tackle her and as I raise a hoof to strike her, she throws me back using both her hind and fore hoofs. As I land, I hit the railing and have the wind almost knocked out of me. I get up as she rushes me and starts to spin to kick me. I kick with full force on both hooves and hear a satisfying crunch as one of my hoofs contacts her ribs and I feel some of them give way. I start to advance on her and as I do, she spins more quickly than I expect and connects with a hoof upside my head. The pain drives me down. I can hear other ponies and cows running our way, and so does she. She jumps over me letting out a loud scream of pain as she lands, and then she runs out the door to the tunnel. I then notice the clicking of my PipBuck again. While I want to chase her, it is not worth the rads I would pick up. I pick myself up off the floor and close the door again.

The first ones there are from security. I tell them what has happened. They call out over the radio to let others know that Tar Water is in the area. As Magpie catches up with me, she hears me telling them what I saw Tar Water doing. She waits till I finish then she comes over to me. I can see the concern on her face and she raises a hoof and wipes blood from the side of my head.

“Are you ok love,” She asks.

“Yeah, I think so,” I answer her. “She got away again, but at least this time I know I hurt her, and I stopped her from killing some of the wounded.”

Mentioning the wounded jogs my memory and I finally remember to tell her, “Oh, by the way, when we were out picking up Faith, I ran into Pages. She is ok. She was worried about you. You might want to try and catch up with her again soon.”

“Thank you, love. I appreciate your letting me know. I was worried about her too. Have you heard anything from Badger yet?”

I tell her that the reports were of no action in Donovan, but then I am embarrassed to admit I had not thought to send him a message by PipBuck to let him know we are ok. So, I do it then. Within a few minutes I get a reply back, Oh, thank Goddesses you are both ok. Thank you for letting me know. I love you both.

We walk back toward medical, to check on the others. As we do, I hear so many stories about what others had seen during the battle as we pass them. I then see Kickers and as we approach I hear her telling another cow. “You should have seen it. After they pulled the tarp off of us and Luna, I had the first couple of the pegasi in my targeting reticle. The Lt. had those special EFS 40mm rounds loaded and I could see George being marked in yellow and the pegasi in red. When I opened up with Luna the rounds would keep adjusting the EFS as if tracking the hostiles. Once they got to about three and a half meters of distance, they would explode showering them with shell fragments. It was scary how well they worked. We cleared them off of George’s tail. Later a group of them decided to try and use the cover of the trenches to sneak up on us to take us out.”

She pauses and takes a breath. “That is when the Lt. got grazed by a round. As he dropped down to the ground, He looked at me and told me to fire right over the section of the trench they were in. As I did those rounds exploded right over them. Those that survived fell back. I saw them go after a bunker after that, but they were too close to our own troops for us to risk firing more at them. I have never seen anything like it. What was really surprising is that when the Feral ghouls came charging up Lt. Archer ordered us to open fire on them. He was afraid of them getting into the trenches with our wounded. After seeing what they did in the tunnel, I am really glad he did.”

It is at that point I briefly interrupt her “Hey Kicker, it’s good to see you. I was worried about how you and your gun crew were after that fight.”

“Hey, Mollygirl. It’s good to see you and Magpie are good too. Luna and her crew are pretty good. Celestia’s crew took a bit more of a beating though. They hit that raptor with three quick rounds and then had to shift to canister rounds as some of the pegasi on the ground charged them. They lost a couple of crew members and one of the wheels has to be remounted but overall most of us survived. I heard the Lt. wants to change the name of Luna to Nightmare Moon though. I do not know who yelled it over the radio, but it seems to have stuck.”

I have to smile at that, Emerado should be very happy to hear that her slip on the radio was accepted so well. I notice how tired Mags looks still. “Kicker, thanks for sharing that with me. Stay safe and I will talk to you later, ok.”

“Sounds good, Mollygirl, Magpie, both of you stay safe. Thank Sweet Cream for that blessing.”

As we walk through the stable I overhear bits and pieces of conversations from the members of the CDF as many of them talk to each other about what they saw. I hear some talk about what they saw or what happened to them or those around them. Others I see just sitting there quietly, just wanting to be left alone. I see some mourning the loss of loved ones and friends. It seems no one has been left untouched.

I take Magpie to my stall and have her lie down in Ivy’s old bunk. As she lies there, we talk some with Emerado. Em is hurting a bit. After a while, Magpie asks, “If you are hurting so bad Em, why don’t you have them give you some more painkillers?”

Emerado looks at me first then at Mags, “You didn’t tell her, did you?” she asks me. I shake my head in reply.

She looks at Magpie, “Mags, the reason I am worried about using more painkillers is that I may be in foal. I was going to get it checked this week. I know Bullet is sure I am for some reason.”

I smile at the look on Magpie's face as she processes this. Then she looks at Em, “That is really funny Em, I am late on my cycle, I am never late for my heat. So that would make two of us. At least our foals would get to go to school together.”

Em laughs, “Very true. I had not looked that far down the road yet.” They both seem to be in better spirits now so I excuse myself and head back out to check on my fliers.

Once I get back to George’s room, I find Hope and Dodger sitting to the side talking. By the door is Sunset and he is talking to some earth pony mare. As I get closer, I hear the voice and realize who he is talking to. “Good to see you again Pages. I take it you brought in some survivors?”

“Hey Mollygirl, Yes, we found three more. They are all in rough shape, but hopefully, they will make it. I was just telling Sunset here about the fight we had in Manesville.” She replies.

“Yeah, sounds like it was something alright. They ended up doing house-to-house fighting Ma’am” Sunset tells me.

“Sounds interesting alright. Pages, if you have some time, I would not mind hearing about it. If you have enough time, Magpie is in my stall resting right now, I know she would like to hear it too.”

“Well, I would like to but I should get going, I think most of my squad is waiting outside for me.” She tells me, “But if I can get back soon, I will finish filling you in Sunset, you too Mollygirl.” She says with a smile.

“Do ya really got to go so soon Pages? I finally meet a pretty mare who is single and she has to go right away.” He says as he puts his ears to the side of his head, I am not sure if he is really disappointed or just flirting at this point. It seems she is interested in him though.

“Tell you what Sunset, Mollygirl, and Magpie know how to get ahold of me. We will have to get together and talk more sometime, that is if you would like to.”

He smiles at her, “Oh, I definitely would like to spend more time talking with you, Ms. Pages. Feel free to look me up anytime.”

“Thank you, Mr. Sunset,” she says and surprises both of us as she walks away with a swish of her tail and smiles back at him over her shoulder.

Sunset and I step back into George’s room. I see the smile on his face and am glad to see it, but I still need to warn him. “By the way, Sunset, Pages there is my wife’s best friend. If you hurt her, you do not have to worry about me. She will kill you herself.”

I see his eyes go wide and his jaw drop. “Mollygirl, I never, what kind of stallion do you take me for?”

I laugh a bit, “Sunset, I know what kind of stallion you are, that is why I am warning you, and not threatening you. But I am glad you and her are both interested in each other.”

“Ya, really do mean that don’t ya Mollygirl?” he asks.

“Yes, yes I do Sunset. You are a good buck and she is a good mare. It is strange for me to see her with a rifle on her shoulder though. Normally she is a librarian, not a soldier.”

He looks me in the eye, “Really? She is a librarian. She doesn’t seem the type to me. Hmm, something to think about.”

“I did not know you preferred your mares to be a bit on the wild side Sunset.”

“Well, yeah, why do you think I was attracted to you? I know, I know, I was too late, but hey I can still look. Besides I like that buck of yours. Not many can go shot for shot like he did with me last night.”

Oh, Goddesses, they bonded over trying to outdrink each other. “I am glad you like him. I have a feeling he likes you too.”

I go over and check on Hope, and let all of them know Faith’s condition. George is still sleeping so we keep it quiet as possible. We begin to talk about some of the things we experienced that day with each other.

As we talk Sunset brings up Pages again. “Ya know Mollygirl that Pages, she was telling me she was across the street from the Hospital when it got hit. She had been firing at some of the Enclave fliers out the window as they flew between the buildings. Others were advancing against them on hoof. She thinks they were trying to hit the building she was in and missed. She said it was bad, but could have been worse, seems that when the sirens started the militia had helped the staff to evacuate most of the patients to some of the so-called bomb shelters that were near there.”

That is a bit of a relief at least. Hopefully, not too many ponies and cattle were hurt then when the wing went down. It does make me wonder what all Pages experienced though. I hope she will be alright too.

Eventually, we all go to the mess hall for chow. After that, we work our way back to medical to see how those we know are doing. As we pass by some of the squad bays, we see that they have pushed most of the furniture in them against the wall and have put up cots for the injured. It must have been worse than I thought I realize.

Once we get to medical, I see they have started to post a list of those that have been treated and where the locations they are recovering at. There is also a long list next to it that has a list of those who have died of wounds. I let out a deep breath of relief when I notice none of the Door Kickers 1^st Squad are on that list. Unfortunately, I do see some names I know.

The butcher’s bill cost still seems to be rising. I wonder what it will be in the end. If it ends. I notice that Bullet and Shadowbuck are both in their stall recovering. Well, that makes it easier for me to check on them. Before that, though I need to check on Faith. I see she is one of the ones that does not have a dedicated room yet so she is still in the Medical department. I am trying to think of where they might put her, but realize that there should be plenty of extra beds now in the stable. Two with her condition she will need to be close to medical until she recovers, at least as far as she will recover.

She is still asleep so we decide to leave her alone. I notice the time. It is after dark so I tell the others that we should go get some sleep. Dodger stops me. “Mollygirl, let’s go get your Magpie. I want you both to see the nighttime sky together.”
“Why, what’s so special about it?” I ask.

“Just trust me on this Mollygirl, it will be worth it.” He tells me, and the others nod their heads in agreement.

On our way back from Medical to George’s room, we stop by my stall. Emerado is sleeping and I see Magpie has gotten under my mattress and found my Mare Do Well book and is reading it. She smiles when I enter. “You caught me, sorry. I needed something to read and well, I really did not know you liked this series. We have most of the set at the library dear. I would have been glad to have brought them to you.”

“You mean you don’t think I am being foalish by reading them?” I ask her nervously.

“No dear, and after the day I have had, I can understand more why you would enjoy them too. I hope you are not too angry with me for going through your things to find something to read.”

“No, no I am not, but put the book down for a bit. The fliers want us to go outside so they can show us something.”

“OK, but what is it?” She asks as she gets out of bed stiffly and tries to stretch. I know that feeling. All her muscles must be in knots after the day she had.

“I am not sure, but they are outside the door and want to be there when we see it,” I tell her.

I see Dodger and Sunset waving at us to hurry. We come out the door and we follow them to the back door of the stable. The lights there are very bright. To the side, I can see the bodies that are covered there which saddens me again, and I wonder what they want us to see so badly. I hear Dodger, “Come on you two, up here,” as he walks us up to the top of the hill. Magpie and I both look at the ground so that we do not lose our footing as we climb.

Finally, we get to the top and we are looking at him. He smiles, “Now look up.”

We both look up. I hear Magpie take in a deep breath. I am stunned and start to become slightly dizzy as I look up into the darkness and see thousands of shining points of light. Then I see on the horizon Luna starts to raise the moon. “It’s, It’s beautiful,” I say out loud.

“Mollygirl, I have never imagined it being so beautiful, I have read about it, but this, this. I ah…”

“I am glad you mares like it,” Dodger tells us.

We both give him a hug, “Thank you so much Dodger.”

“You're welcome, now why don’t you make sure that buck of yours can look up and see the sky too? That way you all will be looking at it at the same time.” He tells us.

I send a quick message telling Badger to go look up at the sky right now if he hasn’t yet.

A few minutes later I get the reply. “Thank you so much. I had not seen the stars and the moon since I was at sea last. I missed them. Even if we are not together, at least we know we are seeing the same sky.”

As we stand there watching the moon move across the sky, I feel Magpie's tail reach over and grab mine. We stand like that for a while and I notice that the Pegasi have left us so we can have some privacy.

I put my hoof around her and start to nuzzle her. “I love you Mags, more than I could ever say. Thank you for sharing this with me.”

She leans into me. “I love you too Mollygirl.” Then she nuzzles me back and finally we decide to just lay in the grass and enjoy the night.

We awake in the morning as it is getting light. I look at my PipBuck, we still have some time before I have to get back for muster, so we sit there and watch our first sunrise together. It is amazing to see. To think that at one time ponies took this sight for granted. As the sun climbs above the hills and light comes to the trees, I give her a kiss and we both get up and return to the stable.

We both slip inside my stall as I grab a clean uniform as well as toiletries. “Mags, before we go on for the day, I think we both need to take a shower and clean up. Then we can get breakfast.”

After we finish our showers and are heading back to the stall, she tells me, “You know, I heard you, Badger and Ivy talk so much about the Stable. I always wondered what it would be like. It’s not quite what I expected to tell the truth. But it sure beats a bunker.”

We stop by George’s room. I see she is awake. As the others leave the room to go eat George stops me. “Mollygirl, I have a big favor to ask of you.”

“Ok George, what is it?”

“Mollygirl, I need you to go to my cave. When you get there knock three quick times. Do this three times, and say that I have sent you.”

“Ok George, I can do that but why? Do you have baby dragons in there or pets or something?”

She smiles and shakes her head, “No Mollygirl. I have three roommates. Their names are Choo Choo, Blue Star, and Quick Frost.”

“Ok, no problem, I guess. Do I need to take them food or anything?”

“No Mollygirl, you do not. In fact, they really do not eat much. They are very shy, but they are good company once you get to know them.” She tells me.

“What do you want me to do then?” I ask.

“I want you to let them know I am ok, but that I cannot come home without my glasses. Tell them I will be there as soon as I can. Please.”

“Ok, anything else I should know.”

“Oh yes, I almost forgot to tell you. They’re alicorns.”

Dear D.J. Pon3, Recently I have found a new home and I have already been called to defend it along with my brother and sister. We have shed blood for our people and are willing to do so again if needed. Could you please play Citizen Soldier for all of those in the Co-op Guard and Co-op Militia?

Sincerely

Hope
Trooper, Flying Squad, CDF
Manesville Co-op

Once again thank you Kkat for creating this world of Fallout: Equestria. I also want to thank Somber, Fuzzy Vee Vee, and so many others who have added to this world.

If you would like to listen to this weeks dedication song the Youtube link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQkGP6d6QSk