I feel the hoofbeats shake the ground around me. I grab my binoculars out from my saddlebags and peer over the foxhole edge. Behind the first ranks of those running, I see the flag of Red Eye being carried. Then I look closer at the front ranks. My Goddesses, those are civilians, they are using them as equine shields. The horror of what is about to happen fully hits me. Over my PipBuck I call out to the Major and tell her, then I go on the D-company channel and call out. "Hold your fire until they are close enough Use your Eyes Forward Sparkle to determine your targets if you can. If it’s red it's dead my little ponies.” I tell them, remember to use your S.A.T.S. for the first targets at least, but do not rely upon it.”

I can tell when they hit the minefields because of the explosions, but soon those slow down as they are forced to run through them, Then our mortars and artillery open fire. I watch as the rounds hit both the soldiers and civilians. Nothing we can do, “Damn it. Those sons of bucking mules.” I yell without meaning to. I see several of the yellow markers shift to red as they panic, others simply disappear as they are killed by the artillery. Next, I hear the heavy automatic Anti-Material rifles of Hell’s Belles open up with their short burst, shift, short burst shift. Every couple of degrees of travel.

“Everypony up, Now Damn it! NOW, ON YOUR HOOFS TROOPS!” D-troop hears me and all of them stand to and prepare to fire. “On my Command,” I hold my breath as they get closer. Small arms rounds are starting to land near us as they fire on the run. Closer, closer, I think, then I yell, “Fire, Pour it into them.”

Every pony in D-troop joins the fray. I look over and see Ginger next to Xavier with a pistol in her muzzle steadying it and waiting till they get close. Xochitl on her other side with what looks like a civilian small-caliber hunting rifle standing on his hind hooves like his father, using the rifle's sling to steady his aim. Both him and his father firing steady and almost like clockwork together. As they continue to close, I use my Angle bunny to good effect. Short bursts, each burst shifting to the next target as one goes down.

I try to avoid shooting the civilians but know it is impossible. They are almost on us when I hear the call “Griffons inbound!”

I look at Sunset and Choo Choo, “Sergeant, take them if you can, if not try to draw them to either Hell’s Belles heavy weapons or towards Nightmare Moon, GO!”

As they shoot up into the air, I take the bit for my battlesaddle back into my mouth, check my magazine, and begin to fire again. Then they are upon us. The civilians continue to run towards the rear and perceived safety, many of their soldiers try to also, but most decide to try and engage us at close range. Over the PipBuck I hear Broken Dreams call Even Numbers, Stand fast and cover, Odd numbers, CHARGE!”

I throw myself over the top of the foxhole as do most of the odd-numbered troops, those that can’t are already engaged in hoof to hoof combat, and those going up to join them as we move in a counter charge that blunts the attack. We go hoof to hoof, muzzle to muzzle, buck for buck, and blood for blood. From both sides, I hear cries for Medic or Doc or even just mother.

I see them killing some of our wounded troops and without thinking I yell out “No Quarter! Show ‘Em the black flag!” Now it is to the death. Being taken prisoner is an option no longer on the table.

Suddenly a big buck knocks me down with a blow to the head. I roll and kick out with both hind hooves. I then feel his front leg break. As he goes down and falls into a shell hole, I rollway, Pull the pin, and toss a metal apple from my harness, in with him and several of his comrades. Once it explodes, I am up on my hooves and spray what remains of survivors with my submachine gun.

To the side, I see Xavier is engaging several more of them, hoof to hoof. Xochitl is using his small size to his advantage as he leaps forward in a random fashion and slices at the legs of the adult mares and stallions attacking their position, when one gets too close to him Ginger fires her pistol at nearly point-blank range.

I am moving forward again; Prairie Fire has joined me with his grenade launcher on one side. On my other is Dusty and Sergeant Duke. We advance to the next set of shell holes as Red Eyes troops fall back. “Keep it up, Short burst, pick your targets, conserve ammo,” I tell them. Behind me, I see Sutures is in another shell hole. She is treating Pearl for a wound in her neck. Waiting next to her is Raspberry Leaf with a wounded leg and a streak of red down his body. His ears down, his eyes closed. I notice his brother is missing.

From behind me, I can hear our forces mopping up the remaining attackers. Now the real work begins. Treating the wounded, burying the dead, handling the prisoners that other units have taken, sorting out Red Eyes troops from the civilians used as shields.

The survivors of the attacking force fall back to a distant tree line and seem to rally again. As they are reform for another attack, I notice to the north of us is a column of dust fast approaching our lines. I fear it is reinforcements for the enemy, but as it gets closer, I see them begin to retreat into the woods.

As the column gets closer, I see that the dust is being kicked up by a caravan and that it is being escorted by two squads of our troops. “Sergeant Duke, you have control of 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd Squad until I return. I will notify the captain.” I then grab Chip and Blackberry Pie and call for Trouble to meet us by the incoming wagon train.

We are all together as the first wagons of the caravan come around a corner in the woods and stops in front of us. I watch an old buck get out of it and approach me. Once they are about 3 meters away, he stops. Looks me in the eyes. “Good afternoon Ma’am,” he says with a smile, “You ordered delivery?”

I smile back, “Welcome to the CEF Sergeant. Your timing is outstanding. Please follow me.” I call over the PipBuck, “Captain, with your permission I would like to lead the supply train to the HQ. Also, I will be pulling my scouts out with me.

“Permission granted, thanks for letting me know about the scouts. Put Sergeant Duke in charge of your section of the company before you go. When you get back, we need to talk.” He tells me.

“Very well sir, Will do. I have already put the sergeant in charge of them, sir.”

As I lead the wagons into the village of Two Step, I watch as one by one my scouts reappear on hoof and fall in behind me. Most of us have been injured some. I see Sunset has a bandage on one wing even. Chip had a bandage around his head and one back leg. Xavier being trailed by Xochitl and Ginger. All of us have serious expressions on our faces. Once the wagons are delivered to the HQ, I look at my scouts. “In an hour I want to go back out and make sure they have departed.” I then notice a local tavern. It looks kind of seedy, but hey this is the wastelands, one can not be too picky. “Good work everypony, let me buy all of you a drink,” I tell them and lead them to it, goddesses, I hope they have a Sparkle Cola for the youngsters and me.

Together we head into the tavern. It is dark inside with only a few tables scattered around the room and a long bar along one wall with a couple of spigoted barrels behind it as well as several bottles of various liquors. The barkeep is just coming back into the room as we enter. He looks at us with no real expression at first, then I see his eyes get a bit wider when he notices Sunset and Sky.

“While the rest of you are welcome, we do not serve their type in here.” He tells us with a sneer on his face. At first, I think he is referring to the two enfields which have followed us in. Then he sees Choo Choo enter. “Out, all of you out. We certainly do not serve those things in here.”

Before I can say anything, Trouble walks over to him, “That’s nice to know,” as he puts his pistol on the bar. “You see, we are not from around here and are only passing through. But I am sure that with all our forces some of them would want to stop for a drink or two. Well, if the LT over there decides to let the Major know that some of her troops were treated poorly by the residents, the major may simply post a provost guard outside to prevent any business being conducted. I mean we would not want your principles being violated just so you can make a lot of caps, would you?”

I can see the thought of all those caps running through the barkeep's mind. Then Trouble looks at me, “Hey LT, couldn’t we just confiscate everything, you know to improve the morale of the troops.”

I see the barkeep's eyes widen as he realizes how much it would cost him then. “You know Trouble, we could just do that, but I think he might be a bit more reasonable than that.” I notice a mare with a foal looking out from the door to the back, “Besides, he would not want to cause hard times on his family like that, I am sure he is a reasonable buck.” I lean my forehooves on the bar, “I am sure he would be happy to sell us each one drink then we would be on our way, with no further trouble to him.”

The mare comes up to the husband and whispers something in his ear, he nods his head and looks at us unhappily. “Ok, I guess I was being unreasonable. What will it be?”

The adults each order their preference from his stock, when he gets to the foals I ask if he has any Sparkle Coal or other pop for them and me to drink. He shakes his head, “No the weakest I have to drink is hard cider.”

I am trying to decide what to do when Xavier says, “Let the youngsters split one LT. They did adult work today; they have earned it.”

The barkeep understanding what we are doing gives them each a slightly less than half full mug of cider. I take a full one as well. Xavier then looks at his son and Ginger and tells them, “You have acted as adults today, and this will help some, but remember not to make it a habit.”

I then turn to all of them, “Great work, all of you,” then I raise my mug in salute “To lost loves and fallen comrades.” and then we drink.

After we have finished our drink, I have Sunset take the others over to the HQ to wait for me. I talk to the barkeep one last time. “Thank you for the drinks. Would you have some bottles of whiskey I could purchase for the rest of my pony’s?”

He still is not smiling but nods his head. “Depends on how much and what you want. I have some really good home-brewed applejack brandy. I charge more for it as it is fresher. Also, if you bring the bottles back to me so I can reuse them, I will give you a cap for each of them.”

“Sounds fair, how much a bottle?” I ask.

Behind him, the mare tells me, “Five caps a bottle, plus the deposit.”

That seems fair enough, “Sounds good, I will take four bottles of it, please.” As the mare goes into the back, I set the caps on the bar next to me. She brings the bottles up and we make the exchange.

As I get ready to grab the bottles, I notice Trouble is there next to me. “Hey LT, I will carry those for you. Sutures asked me to help you earlier.”

Part of me is insulted at what that implies, but I actually do understand her concern. “Ok Trouble, thank you for the help then.” And I put them in his saddlebags.

I again thank the barkeep and the mare and leave. Once we are in the street and heading back to camp he starts to talk again, “Sorry LT, but I think Sutures is right. I know that our Great Granddam Millie had a real problem with drinking. Not sure why, but my family seems to hate her and deride her when they talk about her.”

It takes me a moment to realize exactly what he said, then I reply, “So you know then that we are related. Just before we left, I found her journal, I think I know why she had a drinking problem Trouble.”

At that, he gets smart-mouthed, “Oh, why was that. Because to us, it seems she was too good to keep her own foal and raise it. She only wanted the one, and got rid of her problem to someone else.”

I stop in the street, “No, Trouble, that was not it at all. She wanted your Grand Damn more than you would ever believe. I will tell you, but how about we not have this conversation in the middle of the street.”

“Ok LT, but I want to hear this. I really do. Make be believe she was a better mare, because us Waters, well, to us we were the unwanted ones, and we have paid for it since.”

I stopped him right there in the street, “Trouble, that could not be further from the truth. Ok, when she was at Tenpony Tower, she was raped, but she still did not want to give that foal up. She almost ended up divorced from Oatie because she refused to get an abortion, the only alternative she was left with was to give the foal up for adoption. I have read her thoughts. She wanted to keep that foal and mourned the fact she was denied contact with her by the adoptive parents. It tore her up inside, that is the main reason she turned to alcohol.”

He looks at me skeptically, “Mollygirl, I want to believe you, but after my entire life hearing otherwise, I really want proof.”

Exasperated I look at him, “Fine, when we get back to Manesville, we can have Magpie get the journals out and I can show you. If I do not make it back at least you know who to talk to about the information.”

He looks a bit stunned at that, “LT, what do you mean if you do not make it back? I do not like the sounds of that Ma’am.”

“Never mind, forget I said anything. We can look it up when we get back. Now let’s go catch up to the rest, we have some scouting to do yet.” I tell him as I head back to the HQ.

Once there the Major calls me into her office. “Lieutenant, I need your scouts to check out the area to the east to make sure they have really fallen back. If you could have your airborne scouts check to the south and then the north it would be appreciated.”

“No problem Ma’am,” I tell her.

Before I can leave, she stops me. “I almost forgot, we got mail, if you have any it will be with D-troop.”

“Thank you, Ma’am, I will check when we get back,” I tell her.

Once outside, I pass my orders on to the scouts and we head out. Sunset taking Choo Choo with him and I take the rest. On the way past our lines, I see Broken Dreams and am flagged down.

“Good job out there earlier Mollygirl, but next time, try to get the foals out of there first. Especially if you are going to call for no quarters to be given.”

“Thanks, Captain, I really had not planned on them being there with me. I thought my scouts would have been in the village along with the HQ, but instead, they all formed on me and 1^st squad. Being where we were, it seems we needed the backup.”

“I understand, still, I have a hard time with the idea of foal warriors as it is. Also, thanks for making the calls when they used the civilians as shields. I know it had to be done, but I just could not give the order.”

“Your welcome sir, I understand entirely. By the way, do I or any of my scouts have mail?”

“Sorry about that, I am so used to us not having it I almost forgot. You have two letters; Xavier has one as does Sunset.” He tells me and reaches into a set of saddlebags on the ground and hoofs them to me.

I take them and put them in my saddlebags, “Thank you, sir, I will see you in a bit. By the way, I picked up a few bottles in town for my squads tonight, you may want to do the same. You know, cut the edge, get them to talk to each other a bit more tonight around the fire.”

“Thanks, Mollygirl, I may have to take you up on that suggestion.”

I then walk over to my troopers. I mouth over the letters to Xavier and Sunset, “Read them when we get back. Let’s get this over with,” with that I lead off and we leave the perimeter to try and find the enemy once again.

After two hours of searching, including a thorough investigation of where they formed up. We can see that they have all headed back northeast. From the evidence on the ground, we can see that they are taking the wounded with them. They have stripped the dead of anything usable and just left them though. What kind of pony has this little respect for lives?

A short time later I find a note tied to a dead griffon,

Mollygirl,

While I enjoyed our visit today, I do have to say I am not pleased with the required terms of my departure. I look forward to our next opportunity to visit each other. Perhaps next time our visit can be more in person. I look forward to such a likely event. Also, thank you for having let me know earlier about the failure to perform even adequate service to me by caravan master Redeemer. Part of his punishment was to be in the lead element of today’s attack since he was only mildly wounded and fell back, I have decided to be generous and am having him shipped back to work in the factories of Fillydelphia as a slave. He most certainly has a large debt to work off.

Until we meet again

Captain Silver Spite,

CO 1^st Battalion 3^rd regiment, Army of Fillydelphia

I reread it, well I definitely know I have his attention, and we now know who was attacking us. “Ok, five more minutes of searching, and then we head back. I call Sunset on the PipBuck, “Sergeant, do you see anything?”

He promptly replies, “Other than a dust cloud heading to the northeast, no ma’am.”

“Ok, I will meet you back at Two Step then.”

Once back we find our foxholes from this afternoon and repony them. I let Broken Dreams know we are back, as well as the Major. I also tell the Major via PipBuck that the area is clear and about the note, I have found. Then I notice Sunset reading his letter with a smile on his muzzle, I wonder who it is from as I had not bothered to look earlier.

Xavier on the other hoof does not look so happy. He keeps looking at the foals and shaking his head, and muttering in zebra. I know it is not good by the way Xochitl keeps lifting his ears straight up and his eyes opening wide. Oh, that cannot be good.

After we have all settled down, I finally get the chance to read my letters. The first is from Sumac.

Dear Mollygirl,

I know it has only been since yesterday that you have left, but things have been very exciting here at the farm. By now I am sure you know that Ginger and Xochitl have run away to join you. We found their letters on their beds. That was the beginning. Magpie and Persimmon Tree have been fighting since, each blaming the other. They have tried to drag me into it, but I refuse. It was interesting though when Quick Frost and Blue Star showed up demanding to know where Choo Choo went. They were sure she was with the foals. Persimmon Tree then started to try and yell at them. I am glad you were not here to see that.

In other news. Badger is in the stable hospital right now. He is recovering from several wounds taken during the fighting at Hereford. He says for you not to worry and that he will be ok. Having talked to the medical staff, I think he is telling the truth, but you know how bucks are. Magpie was a wreck when she was told and ran the entire way to the stable. She is better now, but I know she is worried about you. But enough of that for now. Know you are loved and missed by your family dear. Even Persimmon misses you, though she is still angry and would not show it if you were here.

Take care and be careful dear,

Love

Ma Sumac.

I put the letter down, I have a tear in my eye and am now worried more about Badger and Mags. I just wish I could be there for them. I refold the letter and put it in my saddlebags. I pull out the second one and see it is from Magpie. Maybe I should read it later. I see Trouble across from me in the foxhole. “I hope you do not mind your cousin sharing a fox hole with you LT. Mine was pretty much destroyed earlier.”

“No, not at all, haven’t you been told already that I always welcome trouble?”

I see him smile and laugh a bit at the joke. “I guess so ma’am, I guess so. Besides, now I know you really are family.”

“I am glad to hear that. I don’t have a lot of family and I welcome more.”

He looks at me sadly, “Even Tar?” I hear the question in his voice.

I let out a sad sigh, “Trouble, I want to, if we find out she had a good enough reason for what she has done, then yeah, maybe. But she damn well better have good reasons. It is hard to forgive something like a knife to your throat and threats to everypony you love.” I tell him.

“Yeah, I understand Mollygirl, I care about her more than you realize, I hate my father for making me do this though. If we catch her and she has that good of reasons, then what do we do?”

“We will see then, Ok Trouble. If it comes to it though, I will not make you pull the trigger, I promise you that.”

“Thanks LT, I do not think I could do that. I know my family expects me to, and I have done some things I am not proud of over the years, but I don’t think I could live with myself If I have to do that.”

“It’s ok, I understand. Ok, let’s go take those bottles to each squad's sergeant for them to share.” I tell him.

“Sounds good LT. I hope you do not mind, but Sutures asked me to look after you when she was not able to.” He tells me.

“No, I do not mind. In fact, I am touched, it shows some ponies care about me. It is nice to be reminded of that from time to time.”

I make the rounds with Trouble from squad to squad. I talk with the troopers and ask how each of them is doing. Before I leave each squad, I pull out a bottle and give it to the sergeant of the squad for all of them. Each time I make sure I tell them “This was one of our tougher fights, you all did great. Even if you just passed ammunition to those shooting, you did good. Thank you, each of you.”

Finally, I make it back to 1^st squad. I sit and begin talking to all of them. Duke seems to be doing fine with them. Woodrow is smiling as I watch him sharpen his bayonet with a wet stone. Pearl is still wearing a bandage from the earlier fight. When I see Dusty, I begin to worry. I notice she has the shakes. So, I take out the bottle and instead of giving it to Duke, I open it and give the first toast, I fake taking a sip from the bottle and pass it right to Dusty. I see a grateful look on her face as she takes a pull on it, then passes it on.

Before I leave, I quietly tell her, “Let me know if you need to talk. Also, feel free to visit the scouts, I know your little sister would be overjoyed to spend time with you. Maybe you both could cross the river to see your mother in E-troop.”

I see her head pick up a bit, “Thanks LT, I forgot they were both here too. I might have to take you up on that.”

“Anytime Dusty, remember, we have drunk from the same canteen. I understand.” I tell her.

Next, I see Raspberry Leaf, “I am sorry about your brother Raspberry, I wish I could do more for you.”

“Thanks, LT, I appreciate it. We both knew it was a danger. Besides, he should have been wearing his helmet in his hole. I told him and he laughed at me. Dang stray metal apple fragment got him in the head. I just do not know how I am going to tell our mother. He was her favorite.”

I pat him on the shoulder. “It’s ok trooper, let me know and I will help you write a letter to her. In fact, I will be doing so myself either tonight or in the next couple of days.”

After I leave, I return to my scouts’ area. They have started a small cooking fire in the bottom of a larger fox hole that shelters it from being seen in the distance. They are all sitting around the fire talking when I come up in the growing darkness. I see Xavier sitting next to Sunset chatting. Choo Choo is talking to Sky about her flying. Leaning on Choo Choo I see Xochitl and Ginger. Choo Choo has a wing wrapped protectively around them both. Chip and Blackberry are laying down together with his head on her side. Both have bandages still on their wounds. Trouble and I slip in the hole with all of them. I pull out the bottle and suddenly everyone’s heads go up.

Xavier looks at both of the youngsters, “No, you two do not get any this time. I already told you it would not become a habit.”

Ginger begins to say something and Choo Choo puts her muzzle to Ginger’s. “He is right young mare. I would not allow it myself either.”

I hoof the bottle to Sunset and he opens it, makes the toast, and passes it on. As the bottle is making its way around. I hear a low growl from behind me, just outside in the dark. Then I hear Sutures quietly, “It is just me Woofers and Tweeters. You know me.” The growl stops and I see her appear out of the dark and slip into the hole with the rest of us.

“Hey Sutures, good to see you are ok still,” I say to her.

“Hey LT, same here. It has been a rough one. I almost burned out my horn with healing spells. We saved a good many of those civilians though. It seems once we started firing quite a few of them faked being wounded and hit the ground for safety. Not saying we could save them all. Especially those who had to run through those damned minefields.” She tells me.

“Yeah, I understand, but those mines were a necessary evil. I think we would have been in a lot more trouble without them. Especially since it's Silver Spite out there again.”

“Him again? It figures, I only wished we could have gotten him that day.” She says.

Sunset looks kind of confused at first, “What day was that? You mean you have run into him before?”

Before I can answer Sutures does for me, “Yeah, he is a real piece of work. Talk to me later and I will tell you about our first run-in with him.”

I guess the expression on my face must have said enough as he quickly drops the subject. After a bit, I notice the time. “Ok, everyone, I will be back in a bit. I have to go to officers call.” I tell them as I get to my hooves and put my gear back on. “Sergeant, you have the scouts.”

Once I arrive at the HQ, I find the caravan master is still talking with the Major. “In the morning, once we finish, I will be heading further south toward New Appleloosa. This was as far as the Co-op contract had us go.”

“No problem Long Haul, I understand. If I were to give you a list of supplies, we will require and a place and date to meet could you do so?”

He thinks about it before replying. “I guess I could, It will throw my route off though. So, I will have to charge you extra.”

She sighs then answers back, “Fine, I understand. Lieutenant, will you join us at the map so we can pick a date and place?”

I go forward to her and examine the map with them. “Ma’am. May I suggest where the railroad tracks cross over the river between JR-7 and Canterlot. If we do so in a week, it should give us time to hit our next objective and then meet them.”

“Does this seem good to you sir?” The Major ask Mr. Long Haul.

He examines the map a bit, looks at the distances, and thinks a bit. Then nods, “Yes, I think that would work. Make it nine days and I am sure we can do it.”

“Very good Long Haul, I think that will do. My clerk will have the list ready for you in the morning. If I do not see you before your departure in the morning, I will see you then. Have a good night sir.”

We both watch him go. “Ma’am, I am sure we can do it, I only hope they can.”

“I agree Mollygirl, I am worried, but at least we received some replacements with him. The escort he had will be staying on with us. I will be assigning them as a group to replace losses as needed.”

“Glad to hear that, how bad was it overall today Ma’am?” I ask.

“Give it a few minutes for the rest of the officers to arrive, then I will give you the numbers, but it was not as bad as it could have been, but worse than I had hoped.” She replies.

Once everyone is there, she starts going over numbers. “It could have been a lot worse. Today we lost another eight troopers and non-coms. We also have another 40 wounded. We need to start rationing our healing potions, so healing bandages and slower recovery times are going to become the norm.”

“Ma’am, what about the prisoners?” Captain Oak Root for E-troop asks.

“Now that is a good question. Normally I would want to process them and exchange them for our troops that were captured. Right now, that does not seem to be an option. I also do not know how effective paroling them would be. If anyone has a suggestion that does not involve executing them let me know.” She tells us.

“Ma’am, how many prisoners do we have now?” Lieutenant Block Buster asks.

“We have two severely wounded griffons right now, and another that is mildly wounded. We also have taken about thirty ponies’ prisoner, in varying conditions. The Civilians we have offered to release. However, several of them again have volunteered to join the expedition, some as soldiers, others in noncombatant roles such as cargo handlers, cooks, and stretcher-bearers.”

“I am glad to hear that; it will help stretch out our pony power a bit. I will take a couple of those volunteers to replace some of the losses in D-troop ma’am.” Broken Dreams tells her.

“Ok, see my clerk on the way out. We will have them sent up in the morning. Mollygirl, I know this is a rest period, but I need your scouts out early in the morning again. I do not want to be surprised.” The Major tells me.

I answer the only way I can, “Yes Ma’am, will do.”

After that, officers’ call ends for the night. I see Archer and stop him, “Hey Archer, good job on the covering fire today, Thanks a lot.”

“No problem Mollygirl, but we have to start conserving ammo until we can find more. We used more than I had expected to tell the truth.”

“I understand that. I have started to order my troops to conserve their ammo also. Hopefully, our next supply pickup will help more.” I tell him, then I continue. “Feel free to come over and visit Sutures if you want Archer, I know it is not easy having her so close and not getting to see her.”

He smiles sadly, “I will if I get time, maybe tomorrow night, but unfortunately I have to take care of some things back with the artillery before I can even catch some sleep tonight.”

“Ok, do you want me to let her know you are planning on it then?” I ask.

“Sure, go ahead, that way even if it doesn’t work out for some reason, she knows I am thinking of her and missing her.”

“Ok, I will do that then, have a good night Archer. See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow Mollygirl. I hope you sleep well.” He tells me and then he heads out the door and towards his troops.

Once back to my area I see the troopers have mostly headed back to their own holes. I head to mine and find Trouble and Sutures there already asleep. I lay out my bed role between them, as I am trying to go to sleep, I hear Sutures start to cry out in her sleep. Nightmares. Oh, how I hate bucking nightmares. So, I do the one thing I know to do, I move my bedroll closer to hers, I put my hoofs around her, and quietly tell her “It's ok Sutures. Everything is ok.” As I stroke her main and hold her. She roles over in her sleep and starts to cry against me. After a bit, I gently kiss her on her forelock and she quiets down, falling into a deeper sleep.

In the morning I wake up to Trouble staring at me cuddled up next to Sutures. He looks kind of confused and upset. “Mollygirl, are you cheating on your spouses?”

At first, I am confused, “What are you talking about?” I ask quietly trying to not wake Sutures up.

He points a hoof at Sutures and me, “This, you two, like this. What are you two doing?”

Then it dawns on me. “She was having nightmares Trouble, I feel asleep comforting her, that is all. Sometimes friends do that, sort of like when your parent does it for you as a foal.”

He looks at me confused still, “Parents really do that? Mine never did.”

“Usually they do. Yours never did? Really?” I ask, surprised, and saddened for him.

He looks down at the bottom of the foxhole between his hooves, “No, they never did. I thought holding was only something lovers did, and then only when they were being, well, you know.”

I nod my head. “Ok, I best wake her up. We can talk more later if you want Trouble.”

I see a small smile on his muzzle. What kind of foalhood did they have? Maybe I was far luckier than I even realized.

A bit later I send out my scouts in their normal teams. I feel we are fortunate in that we find nothing. However, I am worried about what Silver Spite and the rest of his army may be up to. Finally, around noon I get the time to read my letter from Magpie.

My Dearest love,

I know it has not been that long since you left, but I miss you so much right now and am so worried. Today did not begin well. We could hear the fighting at Hereford at the farm. Then we found the notes from Ginger and Xochitl. I tell you once they are back, I am so ready to spank both of them for this. Persimmon Tree and I both have been arguing all day about it. Then Blue Star and Quick Frost showed up asking to know where Choo Choo and the foals were. I about fell out laughing when Persimmon tried to yell at Quick Frost.

The day was topped off when a soldier knocked on the door. He asked for me and said he needed to talk to me concerning Badger. At first, I feared the worst, but then I realized the Chaplin was not with them, so I relaxed a bit. But then they told me how badly he had been wounded. He was shot in the left shoulder as well as taking metal apple fragments in his hind left leg. That one was so bad they thought he might lose the leg, but they were able to use several healing potions on him quick enough to heal it. In fact, he may no longer have a limp, we will see. He was unconscious when they found him. Luckily, they had a medic nearby who thought quickly.

When I got to the stable hospital, I spent some time with him. He and I are both worried about you love. We both know how dangerous it is out there. We also know how you put your duty before self. Please remember that your family is part of your duty too. We Need you; I NEED YOU.

I found your flowered pattern dress hanging in our room. I miss you so much I caught myself smelling it just to catch your scent once again. I hate not having you nearby, but I understand you need to do this and that you would rather be home. Please be careful, remember we love you and need you to be here to help raise our foal with us. Come home to us again as soon as you can my love.

P.S.

If Ginger and Xochitl are there, tell them we love them and miss them, but they are in so much trouble.

We Love you with all our hearts,

Magpie and Badger.

We make twice a day patrols with my scouts for the next two days. On the morning of our fourth day in Two Step, we finally pull out. In the distance, we can see a dust cloud coming in our direction. We are taking the prisoners with us for now, so that they cannot use them against us, or they claim the village was aiding us.

Before I leave the town, I visit the tavern one last time. I tell the owner to hide the extra caps he has made and if he is questioned about his missing stock, claim that we just took it. “You may want to hide for a few days also from the forces coming into town behind us, especially if it is who I think it may be,” I tell them before I leave. He thanks me for the advice and heads back to his mare as I go.

Once the last trooper is over the bridge the signal is given and the charges under it cause it to drop two full spans into the river below. The villagers look on in dismay. As they see the dust cloud approaching, they begin to leave their homes and head to the woods around it. Silently I wish them luck, as above us I see a single black crow fly over.

Dear DJ Pon3, Today I lost my brother in the battle of Two Step. We knew it could happen. Could you please play Sgt. Mac Kenzie in memory of him, and all others who have passed putting up the good fight.

Thank you

Trooper Raspberry Leaf

1^st Squad D-troop, CEF

Thanks again to KKat for having created the universe of Fallout Equestria. I also would like to thank all of those who have added to it and shown us that this world still had more stories to be told.

For those wanting to listen to this weeks dedication song the YouTube link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACJfKk35rbg