Celestia and Luna, I think to myself as I slip out of my dress to take a shower. I feel like I really need to get away from my stallmates for now. I can not believe I have embarrassed myself so badly. I just hope I did not try anything with Emerado this time either. She is about the closest female friend I have other than Ivy, and I did not want to lose that through another foolish mistake.

Finishing up my shower I quickly change into my uniform and get ready to go into town. During our rotation back to base, the first week is normally a time to de-stress and decompress from being on the line and in case of an incident, to debrief. The next two weeks will involve us performing labor around the stable during the day and having time off in the evening. We then have a week where we are restricted to the stable on standby status. During the last two weeks of the cycle, we live in one of the local communities and provide community service. After this, we return to field duty for two weeks. This helps to give us a chance to forget what we often see as well as to get to know and be known by the ponies and cows in our communities.

Unfortunately, sometimes this rotation has to be modified by special circumstances, missions, or needs of the herd. From the rumor mill, it sounds like we may be heading into one of those cycles. They told us at formation this morning that we are having our week of rest cut short by three days and that pending further developments we may have the rest of the rotation altered too. Maybe Bullet is right to worry.

It is with the intention of enjoying what time off I have left that I decide to go into Manesville from the stable. It should be nice to do a little window shopping and perhaps grab lunch to take my mind off of things. It is when I enter the third store that I realize I have entered J.C. Dobbins. The store where Magpie works. She is the pony who had found the journal entry in the archive that the Hayseeds used to write their new song. I see her behind the counter and feel I have to go over and say hello and to see if she has any other interesting things she’s found in the archive.

I will say that I think Magpie is a cute little mare. A bit stocky built, she has a beautiful black main and tail with red highlights in it. She also has a light red bay coat; however, she has a white blanket and spots on her hindquarters that makes her slightly exotic. Her cutie mark looks to be a scroll opened up to be read. While I do not know her well, the few times I have been in the shop before she was friendly.

“Hi Magpie,” I say as I walk up to her, to which she quickly replies and then ask if there is anything that she can help me with. Thinking quickly, I tell her “I am mainly just looking today and I wanted to thank you for helping me find that black dress”

Excitedly she replies back “Oh, it was my pleasure. I am so glad you like it”.

“It was well worth every bottle cap I paid for it Magpie”.

“Oh, Good, I hope that means you bagged your buck than “. She says with a knowing smile.

Embarrassingly I reply “Not exactly, but I did not wake up alone."

I swear she blushes a little as she tells me, “Really Mollygirl? I did not think your barn door swung that way.”

Stammering I reply “I, uh, I mean… This is, was so embarrassing,” and then I tell her of my wake up this morning. “Please do not say anything to anyone else,” I ask her.

Once she stops laughing she smiles and with a tear coming out of her eye says “No problem I swear I will keep it between us”.

I then ask, "Magpie, the Hayseeds said that you found a journal entry that inspired them to write their new song, is that true?”

Sheepishly she replied, “I guess so, I was talking to Juneellen the fiddle player about a journal entry I found in the archives and how sad it was. She then asked if she could see it. How was the song?” she asks, then continues before I can answer “I did not make the dance last night, I really wanted to but just could not make myself Mollygirl. I wish I could of, but I just was too worried about what all could have gone wrong”.

“Do not feel too bad Magpie, I feel that way every time I get ready to lead the squad out on a mission, it happens to me all at times”. I pause briefly if not a bit awkwardly and continue, “Speaking of the archives Magpie, I would love to see that journal entry sometime. Oh, and if there are some other things that you think I would enjoy or find useful I would welcome the suggestion”

"Well, Mollygirl, if you can come back in a couple of hours I will be done working for the day and we can perhaps grab something to snack on and I will take you to the archives to show you them,” she said with a smile.

“Ok, it’s a date Magpie, I uh, I mean, I will meet you then.” Oh, Celestia dang it, why could I not speak without stumbling and embarrassing myself today.

“See you then Mollygirl” she replies and then hurries over to help a cow who had just approached the fitting booth.

Leaving the shop, I continue to walk the streets for a bit and then stop for a nice hot cider. I walk along the Hoofstone river for a bit and looking across it and see the rusty tracks of the railroad that used to connect us to the rest of Equestria. The river is still wide enough and deep enough though that we do see trade traffic starting to build on it. There is now a troop of the Guard that rotates its duty station on the river. That only began a couple of years ago though after a group of slavers used it to break through our picket lines. They burned a couple of buildings along with it and kidnapped a half dozen ponies. We are still trying to find them, hopefully, we can, and then bring them home.

This gives me pause to think and makes me remember back to the first time our squad met Emerado and Republic. It is a bittersweet memory for sure. We had gone out on a Long-range protective patrol and ran into a group of slavers. The slavers we found out had eight mares, foals, and stallions as cargo in a wagon taking them to be sold at a market out east.

We had stopped for the night and had set up a dry camp off of the road in some woods. One of our team members was spotted by them when he had gone off from camp to make water. They then tried to capture him. When the rest of us heard the commotion. We responded back and after a brief firefight had killed or driven off all of the slavers. Unfortunately, we also lost Sergeant Dunder in the exchange.

I walked to the back of the wagon and opened it. Two of the slaves had been killed by stray rounds during the firefight, another two looked to have been dead already. Shadowbuck and I helped a sickly foal out of the wagon after a healthy buck jumped out. Then I saw her. She was on the verge of becoming a young mare. She was emaciated and had been shot in the leg several days before. Her leg wound was severely infected and she looked tired and haggard. Beneath her, she had sheltered a foal who was really too young to be away from his mother.

I called for our medic Splinters, and we both went inside to help her. It was while we were starting to treat her wounds that she first spoke to any of us.

“Please help him. His name is Republic,” she told us.

“We will, my name is Mollygirl. What is your name?” I asked her.

“Oh, I, my name is Emerado, my parents call me Em.” She sniffs and with tears in her eyes continues, “At least they used to. I think the ponies that took us killed them. They attacked our village at night. There was a lot of fire and smoke, and as I ran out the door, they grabbed me. They, they, I cannot say what they did to me.” She said as she hung her head in shame, her ears hung low and her tail tucked in tight to her hindquarters. It was then that I noticed that she was still a blank flank.

“Em, the unicorn mare you see there is Splinters our medic. Republic looks ok, so we will check him over as soon as we get done taking care of your wounds. Is there anything I can do to help you?” I asked.

She shook her head, but then leaned into my shoulder and started to cry. I put my hoof around her shoulder and just held her. The whole time Splinters working on her wound.

Republic was healthy as they come in the Wastelands. As the corporal of our set, I conferred with our other corporal Bullet and we decided to terminate our sweep early. We escorted them back to the Co-op. We explained to each of them how our co-op works and then offered them a chance to become members of it if they wanted. The one buck said no thank you. He was provided several days rations and then given directions to Girdershade. Emerado and the two foals decided to stay. After several months of working on the farms, she decided on two things. She formally adopted Republic, and she joined the Guards. She was originally assigned to the Door kickers. It was then that we became close friends.

As I continue the walk back to J.C. Dobbins, I realize I am passing the saloon where I first saw Bullet get into a bar fight. That was the one where my big brother/father taught Jester about running his mouth about me and then assuming that just because we had been intimate once, he could have me anytime. I still remember blocking him from the side to keep him in the corner as Bullet delivered buck after buck into him with both hind hooves. There are so many memories for me between here, Dairyanne, and the Stable.

The next thing I know I am back at J.C. Dobbins, just as Magpie comes out the door. After greeting each other we stop for a light early dinner at a local dairy and hay bar called the Milkweed. I am so excited, I do not know where they got it, but they have fescue with a light alfalfa mix. It is to die for. Magpie says she was trying to watch her figure and instead just has a light salad with some bluegrass and dandelion greens. As we eat, we enjoy a nice conversation and get to know each other better.

As we sit there enjoying our meal, I glance out the window and am surprised to see Badger, Whisky, and Memory walking down the street all talking to each other. Magpie looks out the window and then looks at me and asks, “I know you work with him all the time, what is he like? I mean he looks good, and seems nice, but is that just a façade?”

“No, Mags,” I reply “He really is a nice stallion, he is just really loyal to those he cares about. He and Memory have not been a couple for several years. However, she is one of his closest friends, as is Whiskey. To him, they are his family. They are like a brother and sister to him”.

"Really?” Magpie says and continues “I would love a stallion like that in my life”.

As she says this, I do not mean to, but my ears go straight back. Her eyes open wide. “I am sorry if I said something wrong Mollygirl” she quickly states, “I did not mean to step on your hoof.”

“No, you did not say anything wrong Mags, I am sorry, I have no claim on him and I do not think anyone else will as long as Memory is still around,” I answer her. Having realized that twice I have called her Mags, I ask “I hope you do not mind me calling you Mags?”

“No, not if you do not mind me occasionally calling you Molly or just Moll” she answers back. She follows that up with “We best get going if we are going to make it to the archive”.

“Ok, but since you are doing me the favor of helping me in the archives I will pay for your supper.”

I settle up the accounts for our meals and we quickly head back onto the street and walk down to where the old library is. Once inside she takes me down to the basement and into the archives that are stored there. Near the entrance to the archives is a small table with chairs around it. Next to it is a desk with a couple of computers on it. Then there is a reclining chair with a device that is shaped like a horseshoe with wires attached to it that goes to another device on a desk next to it. Further in are dozens of rows of books, boxes, and other artifacts stored on row after row of shelving.

Smiling at me she says “Welcome to my playground. I love going through these. Many of them were transferred here from the stable about 25 years ago to make room for the newer additions. Some of them are written on paper, but much of the archives include memory orbs from the senior officials over the years. We even have some recordings from when the communities were combined between the survivors and the stable inhabitants, they are all so very interesting.”

“Excellent,” I tell her, then ask. “Can I see the one from Twilight Dawn?”

“Sure, I know just where to look for it, and while you are reading it, I will try and find a couple of others I know you will want to see” quickly she adds, “By the way, the letter is actually not on a memory orb, it is a letter she wrote on the computer”.

She shows me to the computer counsel for the archives and after opening a file moves from the chair so I can read it. I sit down, adjust myself in the chair, and leaning forward with my chin on my left forehoof I begin to read part of the journal of Twilight Dawn, the unicorn who was the first Overmare of Stable 48.

In a way I feel rather stupid writing this. However, Doc Sparks the counselor for the stable has recommended that perhaps I can get some closure by writing a journal or even by writing letters to those I have lost, saying to them the things that I always wanted to, or regretted not being able to tell them. So here I go.

My dearest husband Prariefire,
I miss you so much, it has been so long since we have last seen each other that it is almost painful. It seems to be occurring more often of late, that I have the dream of our last night together. That night before you were ordered to Canterlot and before we were ordered into Stable 48 for our own protection. Celestia guide us we prayed and hoped everything would blow over in a couple of days. We never really thought that when the door closed, we would never talk, much less see those we loved or cared about and had to leave outside, again. Nor that we would have to stay inside for the rest of our lives.

While I know I was always a business mare and often did not seem to have time for us, I always loved you. I thought we still had our lives ahead of us and that we could have such a future together. However, our final night together, you left me with more than memories, I finally caught, and later gave birth to our daughter, I have named her Prairie Twilight as we discussed if we ever had a filly. You would be so proud of her my dearest.

It has been 27 long lonely years since I have last held you in my hoofs. If only those hellhounds of war had not been slipped from their leashes. If the Griffons of war could have been held in check. Our lives could have been so different. I know you volunteered to serve so as to help others and to protect our beloved Equestria and by extension, me. Eventually, the radiation levels from the megaspell and balefire blast will go down enough that we will be able to go out and see the sun again. When that day happens, my brave lieutenant, know I will think of you.

Please know that you are eternally loved and missed my husband, my Prairiefire.
Your loyal and beloved Wife
Twilight Dawn

As I read the letter, I find myself starting to choke up a bit. With a tear in my eye, I look up and see Magpie sitting there quietly on the corner of the desk with two memory orbs. Weakly smiling she looks at me. “I understand Moll, I felt the same way when I read her letter. It was so heartbreaking to me.”

Sniffling a bit because my nose had started to feel runny due to the held back tears. I tell her “Thank you Mags for sharing this with me, and not thinking I am weak because I teared up”.

“No big deal Moll, however, I do have a couple of memory orbs here that I think would really interest you. Just so you know, they are several hours long each and I know the library and archives will close before your done with them. Perhaps you should come back tomorrow. I have the day off from work and can help you again.”

“Better yet” I reply, “How about I use the first one and come back for the second tomorrow, would that work?”

“Ok, but only if you promise to walk me home as it is so late”.

“Sounds good to me” I reply and get ready to see what I would see.

As I prepare to use the memory orb, I really do not know what to expect. I know it was made by one of the leaders of Stable 48 from when they decided that they had to open the door to save those inside it. I expect it to be the memories from Twilight Hope, the Overmare. Boy am I wrong. Instead, I am not only seeing these events from the perspective of someone else but from an entirely different species. I guess you could say I am getting to ride herd, on Bertha, who was the Overcow that shared control of the stable with Twilight Hope instead. Dang it Magpie, why did you not warn me, I think to myself.

As I sit there chewing my cud, I notice how much extra weight there is on my lower abdomen, My Celestia, how do these cows stand having these large udders hanging there. It is a novel experience to see the ends of my legs being cloven-hoofed rather than a nice single hoof that I have known all my life until then. I find it is also a bit distracting having these horns on my head just peeking out into my peripheral vision.

I look across at the petite Unicorn mare. She has a pink coat that is highlighted by her bright red with yellow highlighted mane and tail. Her cutie mark sparkles and oddly enough is a rainbow over three flowers.

“Ok Twilight Hope, we really have to do something now” I hear my ride say “This is not like during your grandmother's time when we had the water purifier gem start to fail. We no longer have any spares”.

“Bertha, I know we have to do something. My question is not if we have to, but what exactly and how” Twilight Hope answers back. “You heard Scootaloo’s message about doing anything we needed to save the inhabitants of the stable. Well, we could see about sending out a team of our security forces to scout the area and to see if we can contact anyone.”

“I agree with you Hope about sending out a team, but how many and what do they do if they find someone?” Bertha asks.

“We also need to determine which direction we need to start traveling in” Twilight Hope considered.

“Well, if we send two teams one can go west toward what was Manesville, the other can cross over the hills and circle to the east, who knows what we may find. “I hear myself reply in Bertha's voice.

“Bertha, how bad do you really think it is out there, I know we have no choice, but…” I watch the mare lean forward in her seat.

“You’re right, we have no choice. It is time to milk or dry udders. I like it no more than you do. I only wish we could have contacted another stable to try and get a spare from them, maybe in exchange for some extra grass seed, Twi”.

“Bertha, we have to make sure that anyone who leaves the stable knows not to even mention our seed stocks. Those seeds may be our ace in the hole”. She says as she clops a hoof lightly on the desktop.

“Twilight, at least one of us, if not both of us needs to be there to see those two teams off. I wish one of us could actually accompany them, but at this time I do not see that as a viable option”. They both agree on this.

I watch as Twilight Hope and my ride, Bertha, prepare for the two teams to make their exits from the stables. They make sure that they have the best equipment that the stable has to offer to defend themselves. They also make sure that the medics for each team have a full load of healing potions, in case they are needed.

Finally, I am there as we see the two teams in helmets, barding, and early model battlesaddles. They are lined up on both sides of the corridor leading to the stable door. The teams are a mixture of cattle and ponies. Both teams’ medics are unicorns. Every spell may count in an emergency.

Bertha begins it, and Twilight Hope follows her lead. They hug each member of the teams and personally thank them for taking this risk for every pony and cow in the stable. It is after this scene that the order to open the stable door is given and both watch as the two 8 pony/cow teams leave the sanctuary of the stable into the unknown.

Together they stand there; watching the two teams totaling 16 security force members and two medics leave the relative safety of the stable. After the last one passes through the stable door Twilight Hope quietly gives the order, “Please close the door.” Together they stand there staring at the closed door, slowly they turn and with heads down, walk back into the depths of the stable and its warmth and comfort.

I find myself choking up at this, well talked about scene, what really surprised me was to watch and almost feel the emotions, as both of them quietly turned from the door with a tear in the corner of their eyes that they held suppressed. The fear of what those teams might have to endure, and the possibility that they may have sent them to their deaths.
It then hits me of the symbology of our military swearing-in ceremony being on opening day, as well as the members of the community and our leaders being there to bear witness. These teams were not just the first out of the stables, they were the founding members of the guards and some of our first casualties.

I watch as Bertha goes back to her office, finishes what paperwork she has, and flips on her computer to try and keep track of the teams via the location beacons in their PipBucks. She watches as the two teams first circle the area around the stable about a mile out, then watches as they separate. Each going in their intended directions. I also feel the horror she must feel hours later as several of the markers of the teams start to go out and others fall back toward the stable.

She watches until things appeared to stabilize. Then she finally leaves for the cantina to get something to eat, after which she goes to her stall and returns to her family for the night.

Going up to a little brown mottled heifer, giving her a tight hug and kissing her on the forelock. She first feeds her. For the first time in my life, I feel what it is to be a mother and to feed a child myself and the bond that is there. Next Bertha walks her into her stall, tells her a short story, and then puts her to bed for the night. She then joins her husband in their bedroom.

She goes over to her husband, puts her head against his neck, and begins to silently cry. She quietly vows she will not let these two down. Finally, after he has fallen to sleep, looking up at the ceiling of their stall she quietly tells herself she will never let them know how much she fears not just for them, but the entire stable.

It is then that the first memory orb ends. I so want to go onto the next one, but I had made a promise to Magpie. Removing myself from the memory orb setup. We earth ponies have to use machines for it, unlike Unicorns and Alicorns. I stretch long and hard. It is then that I notice the time. I am shocked it is after midnight. I then look over and see the little red bay appaloosa mare curled up in a corner with a book on her forehooves, sleeping quietly. Gently I use my front hoof to nudge her awake. “Hey Magpie, I am done now, thank you but we better get you home,” I tell her.

Smiling at me she says, “No problem Mollygirl, I was glad to do it for you. It was nice to have company down here for once.” Looking slightly fearful she asks, “You said you would come back tomorrow for the second orb, did you mean it, I mean, do you still want to?”

“Yes, but next time I would appreciate a bit of warning if the orb involves another species. now let’s get you home” I tell her.

I walk her to an old rundown house on the outskirts of Manesville closer to the Stable than the river. Standing outside the door, Magpie turns to me and jokingly says “I would invite you to stay the night as it is so late but I know you can make it easily back to the stable, besides, I am not the kind of mare who does that on a first date”.

Feeling a high amount of happiness as well as being thankful for her sharing the archives with me I impulsively give her a hug and a quick nuzzle on the cheek. “Thank you,” I tell her.

I am briefly surprised as the normally shy and quiet Magpie takes my face in her hooves. Gently touches her muzzle to mine and without thinking my mouth opens to hers. I do not know how long we stood there like that but finally, it ends and she steps back, smiling at me. “See you in the morning Moll, be careful on your way back to the stable”. Then she quickly darts inside, quietly closing the door behind her.

As I walk back to the stable a slight smile on my face thinking about the events of the day, it suddenly hits me. Wait, do I have a marefriend now? That was not planned, Luna knows how I have tried to keep that side of me private. I sit down for a minute, shake my head, and laugh to myself. Then I think, what about Badger? Celestia, why can't my life ever be simple?

I slowly wake up. In the background, I can hear the gentle hum of the air circulation machinery in my stall in the stable. I notice that all the other beds are empty. This makes me check the time and I find out I have overslept by 3 hours. I never oversleep. Luckily with our rotation stand down, morning formations are not required. I realize I have missed breakfast at the stables but if I hoof it into Manesville I can grab something before it is too late.

As I get up and prepare to shower and get ready for the day, I see a note on the desk in the corner of the stall. It is from Ivy.

Mollygirl, I assume that you had a good time yesterday, as having two clop sessions does say a lot. Sorry, but you were loud enough to wake us this time. If you would like I will be back at supper time and we can meet for dinner and you can tell me about your adventures. I will be out at the farm visiting ma and Epona. I hope to see you then.
Sincerely
Corporal Ivy

Well, that does sound good. Then I think, twice? I had not realized I had clopped twice, much less been loud about it. My Celestia I really have to get ahold of myself. With that in mind, I grab a towel and soap and go to clean up in the showers. Before leaving I leave a short note back.

Ivy it was a really good day and I have some things to talk to you about later. I also have some things to take care of but will try to meet you later for dinner. If I am not back in time go without me and I will catch up with you later.
Yours
Mollygirl, Sgt.

After leaving the note I finish getting dressed and head back over to meet Magpie. I knock on her door for several minutes with no answer before I notice an older pony standing there looking at me.

“If you are looking for Magpie she already left for the day, what did you say your name was?” she asks.

I quickly reply, “Oh I am Mollygirl. I was supposed to meet her today”.

“And you were supposed to meet her today? What kind of marefriend are you?” She asks me with a Stalliongrad accent.

“I did not mean to be late. Did she say where she went? Oh, and who did you say you are again?”

“She went to the archives, always the books it is with her; I did not say who I was, but if you must know I am Magda, her land pony. I have known her for many years now. You best not hurt her, she is a good filly I will have you know”.

"I promise Magda, that I will try not to hurt her, Thank you again. I best get going so I am not even later”. I reply as I turn and quickly start to head back to the archives.

As I am walking to the archives it suddenly dawns on me what had just transpired. I had just told somepony that I do not know, that I was in a relationship with another mare. Well, that answers that question from last night. Smiling an awkward smile one ear up and the other half down I realize that I had just come out of the tack room to a complete stranger. I also realize I had better hurry up before I let Magpie down or get her too upset with me.

Finally, I make it to the library. It seems half the day is gone already. I go directly to the archives room in the basement and there I find Magpie, sitting in the corner reading a book. Glancing over the top of it as I came in.

“Hello Mollygirl, I am glad you decided to come again, I had about given up,” she tells me with a tinge of sadness in her voice.
“I am so sorry Magpie, I did not mean to be so late,” I tell her as I slowly approached her with my head down and ears to the side. “I did stop at your house and I ended up meeting Magda though, so that is part of why I was so late”.

As I approach, she slowly puts the book down and walks over to me. Nervously she asks, “You were not upset about the kiss last night were you, I mean I hope you were not, I normally do not do things like that and I was so afraid I had scared you away”.

“No, I was not scared by your kiss, how could I be,” I say as I gently nuzzle her cheek. It feels so good to do so to her.

Smiling, she says, "I have the next memory orb all ready for you to use. I swear no surprises this time. Sorry about yesterday, I had just not thought about Bertha being a cow and how that would feel to you.”

As she walks me to the memory orb counsel and chair, I sit down in it and she hooks it up for me to use. I cannot help but think how nice it must be for a Unicorn or alicorn to be able to just pick one up and using a bit of magic to focus, be able to use one. Such is the lot of an earth pony, I guess.

"Ready?” she asks.

“Ready, I guess”. I reply and the room disappears.

Suddenly I am riding in someone else’s body again. This time she is a mare. Well, that is a relief. I can see her reflection in the mirror as she finishes putting on her security pony uniform the gold 48 on each collar of her blue jacket. She looks vaguely familiar. She is a red bay mare with black stockings on her legs with one hind and one forehoof having a white sock also.

She turns around and looks at the black and white stallion behind her also dressed in his stable uniform. Then I hear her say “Sweetheart, I know you are worried, please don’t be, we are only planning on being out for a couple of days. I will be back to both of you as soon as possible. Besides they are making sure we have everything we should need.

“Millie, I’m sorry, but I cannot imagine how I will handle it if I lose you. I should be the one taking this risk, not you”

Wait, did he just say Millie? OH MY CELESTIA, my great grand dam, that would make the stallion my great-grandsire Oatie. As a foal, my mother had told me about them. She never said that Millie was one of the first out of the stable. So much for no surprises Magpie.

“Oatie, I am so sorry, but really you are a hydroponics pony, this really is something for the security ponies to do.”

“For goodness sake than Millie, can me and Marey at least walk with you until you get to the entrance room.”

“Of course, Oatie, you can, but only to the outside of the stable door room. You will also have to wait outside of the armory dear while we draw our equipment." Looking at her PipBuck she notices the time. "Shoot I am going to be late, it would not be good for me to be late on a day like today. I will meet you outside the armory darling”. She kisses him on the cheek and trots away to the armory.

The armory door still looks the same, however, through it I notice how much smaller it is than when I use it. 18 other ponies and cows are also there. The one issuing out equipment to the others he must be the saddler sergeant. The others quickly put on their barding followed by their battle saddles, saddlebags, and canteens. It seems strange to see them all already have PipBucks on and not need to be issued one before going on a mission. The small details sometimes seem to stand out the most it seems.

Once they are all kitted out, they form into their two squads. Each squad with a unicorn medic, and one heavy gunner. They file out of the armory and turn toward the stable door. They walk past their families, snatching quick hugs and kisses as they go. Once outside the final room's door, they see the stable leaders, the Overmare and Overcow who tell the families that they cannot follow any longer, and suggest that they say a quick goodbye and then head further back inside the stable.

Millie falls out of ranks, goes over to Oatie and their daughter Marey. She hugs Marey and kisses her on the forelock, turns, and with tears starting to well up in her eyes kisses her stallion and then hugs them both. “I love you both and will see you in a couple of days,” she tells them. With that, she turns her back and walks to the entrance of the stable door room, a quick glance back and a wave of her hoof to them and she crosses over the threshold.

What she does not tell them, what she can never tell them is how scared she really is inside. I know the signs. I feel them every time I have had to go on a mission, especially when it is a door kicker one.

Once inside the two squads form back up in a line on each side of the corridor. The Overmare and Overcow are standing behind them. Once again Bertha steps forward first followed by Twilight Hope. They give each of the team members a hug.

I feel Bertha come up to me, she gives me a hug and kisses me where my forelock would be on my helmet, telling me “Thank you so much for stepping forward to do this for all of us”.

She steps aside and next comes a hug from Twilight Hope. She too thanks us for being willing to do this. “Millie, be careful and if you can bring them all home again”.

I watch as both of them step to the back of the room and I hear the order “Open the stable door”. The mechanisms begin to groan as a century of dirt grime and corrosion starts to break free. Suddenly the door is open. we can smell something odd. Something very earthy. Then the realization that it must be that we are no longer breathing the filtered stable air. With that Millie gives the order forward, she leads them into the darkness as she walks down the corridor.

After the last of the team members calls clear she looks back and sees two silhouettes in the door watching them go, one a large cow and the other a smaller unicorn mare. Then she hears the quiet command “Close the door” she hears the grinding and the light from the door slowly becomes less and less as the door closes behind them.

For the first time since those doors closed during the war, the stable has occupants on the outside, and she is in charge of one of the teams. They come to the mouth of the cave that the stable was built into and find a dilapidated fence. They cut their way through it and find the remains of the ponies and cows who did not make it into the stable. They are scattered about and the teams have to push their way past them.

Once clear of the tunnel each team begins to make a half-circle exploration for about a mile around the stable. Both teams end up back at the entrance within a couple of minutes of each other. Millie looks at Mootilda the leader of the other team and they bump hoofs. “Good luck Moo,” she says “See you inside in a couple of days”.

“You to Mill, call on the PipBuck if you run into something you need a hoof with” and with that they go their separate ways.

Mootilda and her team head towards Manesville, while Millie and hers to the southeast and towards the small village of Dairyanne and its sister town of Donavan. Slowly they explore the terrain as proceed. Most of the time in a line one after the other. They try to stick to areas that will provide concealment and protection.

Other than the ever-present gloom from the overcast everything seems to be going good for the first couple of hours. Then the horseshoe seems to turn and the luck runs out. First Mootilda’s team gets hit.

Over the PipBuck the calls of Mootilda’s team back and forth as they are attacked by what sounds like barbarian ponies. The first one hit is a young buck named Sherlock, his screams come over the PipBuck as they cut him apart in a surprise attack. Gunfire sounds over the PipBuck as Mootilda calls for the team to fire and retire, even numbers first. It is when the odd numbers began to retire that she loses two more members of her team, one has been shot with a shotgun and the other caught in a pit trap that she fell into. Down three members dead and several more wounded Mootilda falls back to the outskirts of Manesville and toward the stable. The battle, a skirmish by our standards now, is not one-sided, however. The calls of “Got him” and “That’s another tango down” ring out time and again. Eventually, though the team is able to disengage and reform in an area that they had already cleared.

Millie hears this and is shocked at first. Her team is still on the move and approaching the outskirts of a little hamlet that her PipBuck says is Emerald Grove. From a distance, she can see several forms moving around. One of the buildings is on fire and several ponies are lying on the ground. She watches as a pony strikes another one in the head with an ax. Behind that one, she sees two more grab a young mare and start to drag her away from the others.

On her PipBuck Mille calls to her corporal “Jonesy, do you see what I see?”

“Yeah Mille, but I think we should keep quiet for now, just observe and, AH Shit...” Jonesy trails off.

She looks up in time to see a small group of the raiders heading toward two members of her party, at about the same time the symbols on her PipBuck began to change from white to red.

“Damn it. Use your PipBuck to target them as best you can, open fire on the hostiles”

Her team quickly puts two of the raiders down, however, she can only watch as one of the raiders throws something that looks like a can from its mouth toward where Jonesy is at. It explodes, and as she watches parts of him fly through the air and his symbol on her PipBuck changes from green to black then fades away to nothing.

Something in her changes at that moment. Out loud she yells “All elements advance by evens and odds. Odds forward” with that half the squad jumps up and scrambles for the next bit of cover or concealment they can find ahead of them, while the odd numbers of the team lay down cover fire. The heavy weapons pony cuts loose with everything he has. The raiders begin to break and run, as the odd numbers began to fire and the even-numbered members come charging forward to their next cover and concealment area. They continue to fire until most of the raiders have gone over the next ridge and their PipBucks can no longer track them.

They then enter the hamlet and began to check the dead and wounded. The medical pony rendering aid as much as possible. The surviving ponies are very thankful for the rescue, overall, but some keep asking, why couldn't you have gotten here sooner?

One of the surviving ponies is an old-timer. Dragging his wounded hind leg, he approaches Millie. “Ma’am, I would like to thank you on behalf of all of us. Those raiders were going to kill every one of us this time.”

“Your welcome” she replies “What did you say your name is?”

“I didn’t say, but you can call me Thistle, what do you want me to call you, and more importantly, being as clean as you are and with all that equipment, where did you come from?”

“Thistle, please call me Mille, I think you and I have a lot of talking to do.”

As the rest of the team sets up a perimeter around Emerald Grove for the night Millie and Thistle go into what looks to be an old store with boarded-up windows to talk. Thistle tells her about the local dangers of the raiders and even slavers that are in the area. He tells her that there were rumors of occasional flyovers of a pegasus or two, but he figures that that was just bragging on the part of some colt of filly that wants to get attention as in all his years he had yet to see one. He also explains that the current inhabitants of Emerald Grove are not the descendants of the original ones as most of them had either died after the mega spell attack or had migrated to where rumor said they had a better chance of survival. He and his bands' ancestors had at one time lived further west on the plains but had stopped here to settle about 25 years ago. She then explains to him about the stable and how they were starting to look at coming above ground.

Half-jokingly Thistle looks at Millie and says “Perhaps your stable and my people can work together to make this area safer for all of us”.

“Thistle, I think that is a real possibility, tomorrow we will head back to the stable and I will talk to our leaders and I will let you know what they say”. With that, she holds out her hoof and shakes hooves with the leader of the first community to band with the stable, the beginning of our borderland, the Co-op.

With that, I am back at the archives. Shaking some at the revelations I had just had as well as the range of emotions I had just experienced. Celestia how I wished mom was still around so I could talk to her about this. I cannot wait to talk to Bullet about it now instead. He may have not been blood, but he is my family now, my brother and father in action and deeds.

“Magpie," I cannot wait to tell you…” I quickly gasp, but my sweet pony is not there. My heart begins to sink a bit, then I see the note.

Mollygirl,
If you are finished before I get back please wait, it was getting late so I went to get us some dinner, be back soon.
Yours
Magpie

So, I wait for her, but also, I explore the archives a bit on my own. I see so many journal entries as well as several more memory orbs. I really look forward to exploring these more with Magpie. I bet she knows where all the good ones are.

When she gets back, she is carrying a basket with some apples and two muffins as well as a bottle of milk. I walk over to her and take the basket from her muzzle, setting it on a table. I then turn to her and give her the biggest hug I can.

“Magpie, I cannot thank you enough, you do not know how much this means to me”.

“Come on Moll, it is only dinner” I hear her say with a slight smile in her voice. “Oh, you mean Millie’s, memory orb, I got a few more of those, she was a really busy mare in the early years it seems. I can get some of them out for you later.”

“Mags, I do not know how to tell you this” At which she looks at me nervously, lowering her head with a scared look in her eyes, Luna damn it, who hurt her this bad I ask myself.

“No Mags, I mean, Millie, she is my great grandmother. As a foal, my mother told me bits and pieces that she remembered about her, but never told me she was one of the first out of the stable”.

She looks so relieved I almost wanted to cry for her. I hug her again and this time I kiss her on the muzzle. My tongue slowly opening her mouth and she beginning to respond in kind.

“Thank you so much Magpie” I tell her and nuzzle her neck and then walk with her over to the desk so we can eat.

We spend the next couple of hours after we eat looking at various written articles. She offers me another memory orb, but I have to decline. Honestly, I really needed to get my head straight after the last one.

Looking at the time I realize it is getting late. I have to be back at the stable in the morning for formation due to our rotation getting cut short. It just does not seem fair that I finally find someone I really want to be with and can spend time with and now I have to go again.

Looking up and into her beautiful eyes, Celestia how I could just sink into them, I tell her “Mags, it is getting late, we really need to get you home and me back to the stable”.

“Ok, Moll, but will you walk me home?” she says with a shy smile.

“Of course, I will Mags, I would be glad to”

With that we head back to her place, once on the doorstep I kiss her again and nuzzle her neck. Then she surprises me.
“Molly, as it is starting to get dark, perhaps you can just sleep here and get up early to make formation.” She says with a hopeful look.

“I would love to Mags. But under one condition, no sex tonight.”

She looks hurt and crestfallen, I pick up her chin and look into her eyes. “My little Magpie, please understand I really would like to, more than you can imagine, but I want you to know that I want you for more than just that. Also cuddling and nuzzling are in order if you so desire”.

I kiss her again on the forelock. She smiles with a bit of a tear in one eye and agrees. Then with a quick whisk of her tail, she leads me into her home.

Dear DJ Pon3, I can not believe I am making this request. Could you please play Sister Golden Hair for the sweet mare that I hope will become my Somepony Special?
Thank you very much
Magpie
Manesville Co-op

Thank you to Kkat for creating the world of FoE. I would also like to thank Somber and Fuzzy VeeVee for showing me how much more there was to add to this world through their stories.

I would also like to thank my test readers for their time and assistance as I create and write the story of this part of the wastelands. 12/16/19, I have reedited the chapter and made minor changes that should help it to flow more easily. My apologies for the roughness of it before.

The embedded artwork is original for the story. It can be seen along with other pieces at:
https://www.deviantart.com/skybound1998