I hear the last lines of Winter Wrap up play and I watch as all of my fliers, no matter where they are, fly back to the river bank as planned. I look down and see the parents rushing their foals and even a couple of brahmin calves to them. I see the hugs farewell. I feel the tears in my eyes form as I know how they must feel. I put my hoof to my belly and look down, “I am so sorry lil’ one. I wish I could bring you into a world so much better than this.”

I hear the ruckus from the raiders getting louder as they work themselves into a more fevered pitch. My mouth has gone dry and I have trouble speaking. I look at Tar, “Get going now.” I order her.

She smiles sadly at me, “No. I will not abandon my people when they need me again.”

I look at her guard, then her, “That is not a request, that is an order Tar.”

She looks me right in the eye, “Mollygirl, I respect you and I have come to care about you as family. But no. You can court-martial me if we survive,” she tells me, “Besides you will need every gun when they come.

She is right, and it is not worth the fight. “Tar, I really wish you would reconsider this.”

I look back at the river and see the first flights going over. I see Choo Choo has Text Book on her back. At least the first non-flyer has gone over to help with the foals. Along the banks I see Ginger and Xochitl with weapons ready, directing the foals and their parents along with a couple of my MPs.

In the woods beyond their trenches, beyond small arms range, I see more and more of them begin to form up. They are howling and stomping.

From my side, I hear Sergeant Peach Pit begin to sing.

Mares of Canterlot, stop your dreaming

I know the song and I begin to join in.

Can't you see their spearpoints gleaming

See their warrior pennants streaming

To this battle field

Tar runs up and down the line telling cattle and pony alike, "Sing damn it, Sing!"

I realize she must have read the same reports I did, That the Zebras ordered their soldiers to refuse battle if us ponies were singing, as we were almost twice as solid in combat.

Mares of Canterlot stand ye steady

It cannot be ever said ye

For the battle were not ready

Ponies never yield

As we sing, I hear the song spread to both the D-troops and then Bailey's engineers and the Volunteers

Mares of Canterlot hear them howling

Show them courage that's resounding

Shot and shell our hearts are steady

Ponies never yield

Soon from behind me in the compound, I hear the others pick up the tune and we are all singing

From the hills rebounding

Let this war cry sounding

Summon all at Celestia’s call

The mighty foe surrounding

I watch as I see the first waves of their troops leave their trenches and those in the woods take their place. But as we continue to sing, I call out over the all hands channel, “steady, hold your fire, On my command”

Mares of Canterlot on to glory

This will ever be your story

Keep these burning words before ye

Ponies will not yield

As we finish the song, they are in a gallop towards our lines. They are screaming and coming at us for all they are worth. “Steady, Steady,” I tell my people, then just as they hit the minefields and obstacles, “Fire, Pour it in on them.”

I watch as the area in front of us becomes a living Tartarus once again. I see dozens of their troops hit and fall. But they are not alone I hear the all too familiar calls of “Medic,” “Doc” “I’m hit” coming from the areas around me. Off to my side, I hear Celestia begin to roar as she pours canister round into them. Soon after this is followed by Nightmare Moon’s quick barks as at first her crew fires at the ground then switches to aerial targets as I see griffons and Pegasi strafe our trenches and then begin to head back towards the rear.

I get on my PipBuck again, “Sunset, we have inbound griffon and pegasi. Watch out.”

“Roger that. All fliers, stop operation Foal Lift right now. We have Hostiles inbound. I repeat hostiles inbound. Those without passengers, defend those who have them until they get them dirtside.”

Behind me, I watch as several pegasi turn back around and land dropping off their passengers. Over the river, I see one get hit and watch in horror as he tries to make it to the other side but instead crashes into the river. I see several civilian ponies jump into the river to try and save both the flier and the foal he was carrying.

Then I hear the pitch in the battle to the front rise up again and have to turn back to it. I am just in time to see a raider carrying a satchel full of grenades getting ready to throw it and I take a snapshot with the deathbunny. He goes down and I duck below the trench line in time to hear the satchel charge explode.

I pop up just in time to see several more coming. Both Tar and I open up along with the others from H-troop near us.

Over in the volunteer’s sections, I hear the Bouncing Bessies taking their toll, and as I look, I see them completely eviscerate several ponies at one time. Those that are ahead of it when it explodes have their hind legs and flanks destroyed. Those who are behind it will never do anything again as their heads are ripped with fragments.

The Volunteers are better able to hold today than what happened yesterday. I look over to D-troop and watch a bunker get destroyed by an explosive charge. Those around it fall back and form a salient that becomes a death trap for any pony who enters it.

We fight like this for over five hours. Suddenly I hear Celestia go silent and no longer fire. Kicker comes over the PipBuck. “MG, this is Gunnybunny 2, we are out of rounds for Celestia and running low on them for Nightmare Moon.”

“Gunbunny 2, this is MG, Roger that. Hold the position if you can.”

“Sweet Mother of Creation,” I say when I look down at the valley and see that they are throwing the troops that were still in their trenches forward.

Suddenly I get word from D-troop, “MG, this is DK2, DK1 is down. They are starting to break through, we are falling back to the secondary line.”

‘Roger DK2, make em pay for every meter if you can.”

Then I call out over the PipBuck, “Sky 1 This is MG, can you provide some air support to D-troop. They are being driven back to the secondary lines.”

“That’s a roger MG, we are on it.”

I look up and see several more pegasi zooming in low, heading straight for the fight. As they get over the secondary trenches, they unleash their weapons. I am surprised to see two of them drop grenades from auto launchers as they fly over the forward trenches. Then they twist and burst into the sky again, reforming over the farmhouse for another run.

The next wave is almost on us. I see Kicker pull the breach from Celestia and then she and her crew fall back to the mortars and their pits.

I get the word from Trip Hammer, “MG1 This is VC1, we are getting hit hard up here and are having to fall back.”

“Roger, VC1, slow and easy if you can,” I tell him. Then I notice that Nightmare Moon has stopped firing. Her crew is pulling the breach on her and falling back also. I look around and see what is happening. I Call out to Kettle Bell. “Time to fall back to the reserve trenches, we have lost both of the flanks.”

I see the startled look on her face. She then turns and gives the order, “Fall back, make sure we do not leave any wounded behind.”

Then I tell Spec’s, “Tell Manesville they have broken our perimeter,”

His eyes go wide, and he calls over the radio “Manesville this is CEFHQ, Manesville this is CEFHQ, BROKEN SABER, I REPEAT BROKEN SABER!”

Not quite what I told him, but close enough. Buck it.

I begin to hear the commands rippling out among the Belles. “Even squads fall back; Odd squads cover fire.”

They leapfrog back to the next set of trenches in line. Slowly we are retreating. As they reach the crest and see the empty trenches, I begin to see them get excited and reform to come at us again. I am looking at the Volunteer’s positions when I see the first bunker of the Volunteers old section of the line disappear. I look toward where Bailey is and I see him pumping his hoof into the air. I guess he got them with another booby trap. Then from our section, I suddenly am surprised to see one of the engineers come past me with a flamethrower on his back. He gets about 20 meters past me and I can feel the heat and see the flame arch up through the air and into a section of trench that Silver Spite’s troops have occupied. As the flamethrowers and grenade launchers do their work, I watch them begin to fall back.

Kettle Bell gives the order for her troops to retake the trenches, and I watch as they surge forward and on both flanks, the troops join the general advance.

My troops keep using large amounts of grenades to dislodge the enemy that Blueberry Crisp cannot. Today I see lots of dead, but not near as many as yesterday. Bad news, they are learning to fight better.

Suddenly we are being strafed again by their fliers. I look up to see if I can see Sunset and my fliers, when suddenly to the west I see the silhouettes of at least fifty more fliers coming our way. My heart breaks. Goddesses damn it. Why? What did we do to deserve this fate?”

I am stunned and do not know what to do. Buck it all, we go down fighting.

Several other of my troops see them and are pointing. Sunset comes over the PipBuck, “MG1 this is Sky 1, we are moving to intercept inbound bogies”

“Roger that my friend, Good luck and Goddesses speed,” I tell him as I watch all of my fliers, at least those that are left, turn and fly at their best speed toward them.

The enemy begins to surge forward again from their trenches. Suddenly I feel Specs tap me on the shoulder, “LT, you need to hear this now.” and then he puts the radio earphone on me.

Suddenly I hear. “CEFHQ, this is Captain Cloud Dodger of the A troop Second Regiment CDF, make yourselves small you have artillery on the way inbound.”

I feel tears of joy come over my face as I listen. Then from about ten kilometers away part of the horizon lights up. I yell over the all hands channel “Every pony down, we have artillery inbound.”

Just as I hit the floor of the trench, I begin to hear the shells hit. The closest I have ever felt to this is when I experienced Rainbow Dash's raid and they used artillery to breakthrough.

As the shells shake the ground, I hear the enemy troops screaming as they try to get close to us to make it too dangerous for us to use our artillery. I realize what they are doing, “Everypony up, here they come. Pour it into them.

Suddenly I see a huge shadow fly over us and fire comes out of the sky and starts to hit the enemy trenches. I look up and I see George, surrounded by a pegasi escort. She stops in mid-air and waves to me. Then She twists back and dives for the ground again. In the distance, I see what looks like sky wagons being pulled by more Pegasi coming our way.

From in front of me, I hear a voice yelling “Into them, get close, muzzle to muzzle, they can’t use their artillery or dragon if we are that close, MOVE!”

I look at where the voice is coming from and I see that familiar white unicorn with his brown mane and tail. He is leading them with an assault rifle and sword held in his tk spell. They all surge forward and I lose track of Silver Spite in the ensuing melee.

We are fighting hoof to hoof in the trenches. My deathbunny takes down several, but I have to resort to my pistol and even my sword at times. At one point I look up and see several sky wagons fly over us, the earth ponies in the back are firing down as they pass over to land behind us.

Soon afterward I feel a tug on my barding and almost kick out when I notice it is Ginger and Xochitl up here. “Ma, the second regiment troops relieved us of taking care of the foals, so we came up to help.”

I simply shake my head. “Dear, I wish you would have stayed back, now I have to worry about you too.”

She laughs, “Only fair ma, I have been worried about you all day. “she retorts.

Soon I hear the gunfire die away. Several of my troops go over the top to clean up what is left of the raiders. In the distance, I can see some of them running, but they are no threat now. Closer in we find many of them wounded or dying. My first inclination is to just finish them off. Then Cloud Dodger lands next to me. I see the insignia on his collar and smile. “Congratulations on your promotion Captain,” I tell him and shake hooves with him.

He smiles back, “Thank you, ma’am. I appreciate it. I owe it to you. Your suggestion about the flying contingent really paid off when we got a surge in refugees from Thunderhead. After you left, we began forming the second regiment. We are considered airmobile by the way.” He says with a laugh.

“Well, you don’t have to call me Ma’am captain, after all, you outrank me now,” I tell him ruefully.

“Well, ma’am I would not count on that. Besides, it seems you earned the title.”

Suddenly I hear a medic call out for assistance, “Hey we got a live one here.”

I look over in that direction and see the medic is next to Silver Spite. His coat is covered in blood and I can see several bullet holes in him through the tears in his barding. Then I see his horn begin to glow and he laughs as suddenly the medic collapses grabbing his chest.

I am just starting to run there when I see Ginger reaching for her ax and swinging it, she cuts off his horn. “That’s for my sister. Welcome to being an earth pony.” She says calmly.

Silver Spite begins to scream in agony as the stored magic is back-fed into his head. I watch him roll on the ground with both forehooves grasping the stub of his horn in agony.

I suddenly see a black blur brush past me. Then Tar is standing next to him and I hear her say, “I was NEVER. YOUR. MARE!” then she toggles her SMG into his head. After her clip is empty, she slides her battle saddle off. With tears in her eyes, she slowly walks back towards the camp.

As Tar walks away Dodger looks at me then at the fresh corpse, “So that was him eh?”

Tiredly I answer him, “Yeah. That was him. He was a monster and he deserved far worse than what he got, If you have command here, I need to go back to my HQ and check on my troops. I will talk to you later Sir.”

“Sounds good Mollygirl, By the way, Faith sends her greetings.” He tells me with a smile and I have to smile back.

I call over to Ginger, “Ginger, Xochitl let's go back to HQ.” Ginger trots over to me and I kneel down and she climbs on my back. We begin to walk back down the hill. I look back and shake my head, As I do so I see a funny look come over Dodger's face.

My staff, what's left follows behind me. I see Pepper Spray has jogged ahead to guard Tar. Pepper has a bandage on her leg, and I can see some blood has run down from the side of her head, but she says nothing to me about it.

I look over at Paper Work and ask, “Where is the 1^st Sergeant?”

He looks down, “Ma’am, he never made it out of the trenches when we fell back. He bought his farm today.” He tells me.

“Damn it. I had not heard. I guess I was so busy with everything else.” I tell him.

Next, I get a call on my PipBuck that makes my blood run cold. It’s from Dusty, “Mollygirl, this is Dusty, you need to get over here, Stitches is down. We just found her”

Without realizing it I am at a full gallop for the D-troop sections of the line. I jump one of the secondary trenches and hear Ginger on my back, “Faster Ma, Faster, we need to get to Mama Sutures.”

As I begin to enter the trenches one of the other D-troop ponies points me to which way to go.

She is in one of the communication trenches. As I get up there, I see Triage is working on her, along with one of the medics that has just flown in. I look at her right hind leg and it is wrecked. Ginger jumps off my back and we both walk as carefully as we can to her. I gently stroke her cheek and Ginger hugs her.

She looks at me, “I am so sorry sweetheart, they got me with a grenade. I almost made it around the corner.” She sounds kind of hazy as she talks.

Triage looks at me, “She is on Med-X right now. We have her stabilized and she will be going out on a sky wagon along with some of the others as soon as possible.

I hear Ginger, “Mama Sutures. You’re gonna be ok. I will see you when we get back to Manesville alright.”

“Ok, dear, you be a good girl for Ma Mollygirl and Archer too,” she tells Ginger.

The stretcher-bearers arrive to take her to the landing site. But before they pick her up I give her another kiss and tell her, “I love you Sutures, please don’t forget that. I will see you as soon as I can.”

Then the stretcher-bearers pick her up and begin to take her away. As I turn, I see Badger looking at me. He half laughs, “I guess that explains how you feel about Stitches and Archer. We can talk about that later. Now, what is this about Ginger calling you ma?”

When he asks this Ginger steps close next to me, I put a hoof around her defensively. I raise my head in defiance and look him in the eye as I tell him, “Because she is my daughter now. I adopted her after Nugget was killed at Targhee.”

He still has that smart-ass grin on his face and I want to buck him for it. “Don’t you think you should have asked your spouses about that first?”

“Badger, sorry, but in case you didn’t notice mail was not going out, oh, and radio communications with Manesville was almost nothing,” I tell him with some scorn in my voice.

I see him back up, I don’t think he has ever seen me like this before. Buck it. I am the old mare here. I led more troops on campaign than almost anypony else alive in the Co-op. How dare he question my decisions.

“I’m sorry Mollygirl. I was just trying to kid a bit.” He tells me.

“Badger, I am sorry if I am not in the mood for kidding right now. I just watched one of the mares I love be carried away to probably lose a leg. One of the Stallions I love is in the hospital, or was the last time I knew, with a head wound and a leg wound. We have been out of healing potions since early yesterday morning, about the time I lost almost a whole company and then some. I still don’t know how many I lost today, or how many are wounded.”

He looks stunned. “My Goddesses Mollygirl, you have changed so much.”

“Sorry Badger, if you had seen, done, and been through what I have, you would change too,” I tell him, on my back I can feel Ginger nod. It is about this time that I catch sight of Woofers and Tweeters. I see them jump off the balcony of my room and they start to fly over to me. I see one of the pegasi begin to target them and I snap a quick warning shot at them. He spins and sees me and Ginger aiming at him.

I see Badger get on his PipBuck and hear him announce, “To all the pegasi, do not, I repeat do not hurt the enfields. They are the LT’s personal pets.”

Soon they both fly over and land next to me. I give them both a quick scratch behind the ears and they begin to walk beside me. I have decided I need to go to the hospital and let Archer know about Sutures. I look over at Badger, “I am going to see Archer, if you want to come along, perhaps it would be good for you to see what we have had for medical facilities.”

As we approach the hospital, I see an earth pony mare standing guard outside of it. She looks familiar to me but I just cannot place her. I see she has her eyeglasses tied on with a bit of string and I have to smile when I see a dashite mark painted on her helmet. Goddesses, I don’t know who this mare is, but I want to have a drink with her. She has balls.

As I get closer, I see her come to attention. She calls out to me “Good afternoon Mollygirl, it is good to see you again.” It’s the voice that does it. Holy Sweetcream, It’s Pages.

I cannot help myself; I trot over to her and give her a hug. “Damn it's good to see you. I never expected you to be a regular.”

She smiles, “It was kind of hard to go back to the library after getting a taste of action for me. So, when they started taking volunteers for the second regiment, I signed up. Your wife took my place at the library, at least until she delivers,” Then she looks at my belly, then up at me and Ginger, then at Badger, then at me again, “I would guess about the same time you should be due.” She says with a laugh.

Behind me, I see Badger’s head spin to look at me. Then Pages, shakes her head, “You haven’t told him and he didn’t notice eh? Bucks, never pay attention.”

I laugh a bit at that. “Your right Pages. They don’t.” I tell her.

Then she asks me, “Have you seen Sunset, is he ok?”

I have to smile at her for that, “Not since the fight ended, but last I heard on the PipBuck he was alright. Just so you know that buck is really hung up on you. If you want him, he is yours for the taking.”

She looks at me shyly, “Are you sure Mollygirl. I mean It is not like he has had a lot of options out here.”

Ginger chimes in then, “Actually, one of his exes showed up early in the expedition, he let her know he was already taken by you. It was so sweet of him. Unfortunately, I think it hurt Blondie a bit.”

I see Pages raise an eyebrow at that. “His ex was involved with both him and Trouble at one time. She showed up and was interested, He said no, but they are still friends. In fact, he is the Goddess father to her and Troubles foal.” I tell her.

Behind me I see Badger get a weird confused expression on his face, then he asks, “What the Tartarus were you all doing out here?”

I look at him, “Surviving, Badger, surviving. But I think later you and I may need to talk a bit,” I tell him, I shift back to Pages, Sorry dear, but I really need to go, I will talk to you later trooper, and if I see Sunset, I will send him your way.” Then I head inside.

As I pass them, I nod to both of the doctors and the staff, then I go to Archer's bed. He is awake but still in pain. Ginger climbs down off my back and hangs her SIR on the end of the bed with practiced ease.

Again, I see Badger looking stunned. Then she walks over and gives Archer a hug. I walk up to Archer and kiss him. Then I step back. He smiles at me, “Hi Love. I am glad to see you are ok. How’s our Sutures?”

I sigh, “That’s why I came over to see you, I wanted to tell you in person,” I see the look of panic come over his face, and before I he can say anymore I put a hoof to his muzzle, “Dear she is hurt bad, but they have already medivaced her by skywagon to Manesville. Unfortunately, she may lose a leg.”

I see him cringe and hear him choke up a bit, “Damn it, you two keep doing this to me. I am supposed to keep you safe.” He tells me.

I sigh, “Kind of hard with the two of us I guess, but Dear, I can not stay, I need to get back to headquarters to find out what our casualties are.”

He smiles, “I understand. Thanks for telling me.” He reaches out a hoof and I lean in for a hug and another kiss.

When I stand up and get ready to leave behind me, I hear Badger say, “I guess you already made your decision Mollygirl.” I see a hurt look in his eyes.

I look him in the eyes, “That depends on yours. But understand, one time I needed you more than any other and you asked our wife If she minded me being with you. I put up with it then, I. Will. Not. Tolerate. That. Kind. Of. Disrespect. Again. Do you understand me?”

Behind me, I hear Ginger suck in her breath, as she hears what he did. I see Badger's face get paler. Then I turn my head to make sure he can see my scar. I point at Archer, “He was only my friend and he supported me more than you did. He even accepts my scar, do you?”

I see him start to get tears in his eyes, I am afraid I may have pushed him too far, then he asks, "I wanted to ask, what happened, but I did not want to upset you.”

I look down at the floor in shame, I did not mean to make a scene or hurt him, Then I look up again and simply say, “Silver Spite, I was captured and he began to torture me. Archer led the team that rescued me. If you love me and still want a chance with me, you better thank him and the rest of the scouts.”

I see him sit hard on the floor dumbfounded. “Mollygirl, please go see to your troops, I need to talk with Archer anyways, then we can talk again later.”

I nod my head, “Ok, but Badger, please understand I do still love you and Magpie too.”

He smiles slightly, “Yeah, but maybe not after what I need to talk to you about later. By the way, when are you due?”

I put my hoof to my stomach and smile, “Badger, Pages was right, about the same time Magpie is. It looks like I took the first time it was all three of us together.” I see him smile with a pang of sadness to his eyes, “Talk to me later Badger, I need to get going.”

As I am leaving, I stop and talk to the doctors. The worst casualties have all already been evacuated. However, this time we had over a score of civilians wounded too. I shake my head at that. As I am going out the door, I notice the pile of limbs is larger than it was yesterday. I simply sigh and head back to my HQ, Ginger right behind me along with the enfields.

Once back at HQ I go over to the radio room. Specs is there and it is set up, but it just does not feel the same now. I look over and See Paper Work preparing his reports. He looks up at me. I got the numbers for the casualties’ ma’am. It is pretty grim, but not as bad as yesterday.” He tells me.

“Ok, let’s hear them,” I tell him.

He begins, “Ma’am we lost 25 civilians including two foals that went down in the water. Three civilians died trying to rescue them. The rest of the civilians that were wounded or killed occurred when they made the advance to retake the trenches with us,” he pauses as I take in my breath, I had not even realized they did that. Once he begins again, he tells me. “The artillery lost four gunners killed, seven wounded. The engineers had one more killed and three wounded. E-troop lost one killed, two wounded. Ma’am Rice Paddy was lost when they fell back from the trenches, I thought you would want to know.”

I nod my head, “Yeah, thank you.”

He then begins again, “The Volunteers took it hard again, they took twenty dead and fifteen wounded. They are down below half strength now fit for duty, some of those were fliers just so you know. D-troop took ten dead and seven wounded. H-troop has taken Thirteen dead and nine wounded.”

I sigh and rub my temple with my forehoof. “Thank you Paper Work. I appreciate it.”

“Your welcome Major,” He replies, then hoofs me a new message from Manesville confirming my promotion, as well as several of my officers, some of which will receive them posthumously.

I then get up and head upstairs. I want to talk to Tar. Pepper Spray is inside already with her talking. Taser is on guard outside the door.

I knock on the door frame. “Hey Tar, sorry to interrupt but I wanted to make sure you are ok.”

I see the tears on her face, “Yeah, at least I will be. Mollygirl,” Then she pauses, “Mollygirl, will you visit me when I am in prison?”

I smile at her, “Of course, we have not gone through this much together for me to turn my back on you now.” Then I reach out and hug her. She breaks down in tears more.

“Thank you Mollygirl, you do not know how much that means to me.”

I smile, “Yeah I do, we are family after all. Now I need to go check on some of the others. I will talk to you later.”

I then head back downstairs and head to the basement. As I enter, I hear Ginger tell Xochitl, “I don’t know what it will take for me to get my cutie mark, after all this and I still don’t have it.”

I laugh lightly and I hear Xavier tell her, “Don’t rush it. At least you did not end up with one like a raider would get.”

I go and give every one of them a hug and tell them thank you. Then I see Sunset. He is looking very nervous. So, I ask him, “What’s wrong Captain?”

He looks at me and tells me, “Just worried about if Pages will still want to see me once we get back. I know it is stupid, but I am a might worried ma’am,” then it dawns on him that I just called him Captain. He smiles and tells me, "Really, you don’t need to tease me, I know Dodger got his promotion already.”

I smile and tell him, “One, I am not teasing you. I just got a message listing our promotions. You will be the captain in charge of the 1^st regiment's scouts. Two, Pages is on watch over at the hospital right now. She wants to see you badly. Oh, and by the way, she is a regular now with the 2^nd Regiment.”

I see his jaw drop, then he closes his mouth, “Ma’am, if you will excuse me, I would like to go see her.”

I smile and nod my head, “Go ahead, I will see you back that way in a while.” I tell him and watch him as he grabs his kit and heads out the basement doors.

I visit for a while more, then head back out. The enfields stay with the scouts for now. Ginger and I head on over to Stir Fry’s wagon to see if we can get anything to eat. I am surprised to see her wearing a bandage on her leg, but when I mention it, she only shrugs her shoulder and tells me, “Oh, it’s nothing.”

“You sure Stir? I will worry about you.” I tell her.

She smiles at me, “Believe me, I have seen you and the others take worse.”

Something does not feel right, “Ok, Stir, something is bothering you, what is it.”

She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, “Mollygirl, we came so close, so close, and today, my brother drowned trying to save those foals and the pegasi who went down in the river. He has been my business partner for years, and now, now I just don’t know anymore. I don’t know how I am going to make it.”

“I am so sorry to hear that,” I tell her.

Then I hear a knock on the door of the trailer. I look up and it is Balanced Books. I smile when I see him.

“Oh, Hi ma’am, I hope I did not interrupt anything,” he says.

“No, not at all, can I help you any Balanced?” I ask.

He smiles back at me, “Nah, I am here to see Stir Fry. I wanted to make sure she is alright.”

Ah, now I understand, “Well, I best get going, sorry for bothering you Stir.”

“Mollygirl, you are never a bother, here take some bread and cheese with you. I know you two have to be hungry,” she says as she pushes them to me. I quickly grab them and have Ginger follow me away from there so we can eat quickly.

As we are eating, I see Fancy. “How you doing Fancy?”

“Hey Mol, I could be worse, I guess. It’s just, we lost a lot of good ponies and foals today. It is always the hardest when you lose foals.”

I nod my head in agreement. “Yeah, I heard. I am so sorry to hear that for them and their families.”

She nods her head, “Ma’am we will be burying them all in the morning. Would you officiate the ceremony?” she asks.

“Yes of course, as long as that is what the families want.”

She smiles, “LT, you are our lead mare, of course we want you to.”

I put a hoof around her shoulder. “Thank Fancy. I appreciate it. I will be there.”

Then I ask her, “How is Sirocco? Have you seen him?”

She seems nervous when she answers, “Yeah, he is going to be ok. He was wounded a couple of times, but nothing serious. One of the Griffons went after his daughter and her foal when she was crossing. He took that kind of personal.”

“Yeah, I can see that. Fancy, once we are back, I really should have you two over to my place for dinner wherever ever that ends up being.”

“That will be nice, but what do you mean where ever you end up?”

“Badger is here, and I am not too sure he likes who I am now. Of course, it probably did not help that I noticed him after I kissed Sutures goodbye when they were medivacing her.”

I see her shake her head quickly and then exclaim, “What, Sutures is hurt and nopony told me?”

I nod my head, “Yeah, she may lose a hind leg, but she is already on her way to Manesville for treatment.”

“Damnit, she is such a nice mare, I hate hearing this for her. You aren’t leaving her if she does, are you?”

“No, of course not. Actually, I made up my mind already. I stick with Archer and Sutures not matter what. Badger and Magpie, well, I love them but Badger hurt me a while back, and I can not forget it. Mags does deserve better though. It all depends on them now it seems.” I tell her.

“I can understand that Mollygirl, just be gentle on their hearts too if you can.” She tells me.

“I will Fancy, I will. I best get going though.” I tell her as I give her a quick hug and head back to the hospital along with Ginger.

Once I arrive back it has been relit by candles, there is a new guard on watch outside. Pages and Sunset are nowhere to be seen. I smile ruefully at that.

As I am walking down the aisle of the ward, I hear Archer telling Badger, “Ok, I can understand that. Explain it to Mollygirl and I am sure she will too. Also, you need to show her how you feel. Don’t just talk to her, show her, ok.”

It is right after that when he notices me and Ginger have returned. I see the expression on his face and can tell I have just embarrassed him.

Badger realizes somepony is behind him and turns. I can tell when he sees me, he stops, looks back at Archer. Archer nods his head and Badger turns back to me. He gets up, gently lifts my muzzle with his forehoof and very tenderly kisses me. Then he surprises me by telling me, “I am sorry I hurt you and made you feel that way.”

I kiss him back almost as tenderly and open one eye to notice that Archer is smiling. Then Badger tells me, “Mollygirl could we step outside, I have something I really need to talk to you about.”

I look at my daughter, “Ginger, could you wait here for a bit with Archer?” I ask her. In reply, I watch as she removes the SIR and hangs it from the bed again, then climbs onto it and cuddles up with Archer. I have to admit to myself it really makes me smile.

Then I turn and walk outside with Badger. We walk a little way from the hospital. In the gathering darkness, I can see the groups of ponies digging graves for tomorrow's internments. I look up towards the evening sky and sigh.

We both sit on the ground facing each other, then he begins. “Mollygirl, first off, Magpie and I had already decided we could try expanding the family. However, there is one slight hitch, we do have another mare now to consider.”

I feel a bit of a relief in the first part, but I am concerned about the second, “I am glad you two are agreeable to trying to add Sutures and Archer, but what are you not telling me? Who is she?”

Even in the dark, I can tell he is blushing, “Mollygirl, you have to understand, I never intended for it to happen. I, well she spent so much time with me in the hospital and helped Magpie so much, I realized I was becoming more than friends. Then one day while Mags was at work at the library, she went into season and I was caught off guard,” he pauses, “I know it is not an excuse, but I was still recovering from my leg and was feeling like I was not stallion enough and here she was in the kitchen bent over the counter doing dishes and, well, you can guess the rest.”

I am not upset, but I am confused a bit. “Badger, how could a mare catch you off guard without Magpie being home at Ma’s house?”

I swear I see him bite his lip, then he answers, “Because it was Sumac.”

I am dumbfounded, and he takes my not saying anything as anger and then says, “Please, don’t be angry at me, I did not mean to. She is due in about eight months. I am so sorry.”

I can’t help it, it is just so absurd to me, I burst out laughing.

Now he looks hurt, “It’s not funny Mollygirl, please stop laughing.”

I wipe the tears from laughing so hard from my eyes. “Badger, all this time I was worried about if I slipped, and I did not till a couple of days ago. It is just funny to me.”

Then he smiles, “Oh, it gets worse, Magpie caught us. Her reaction was about the same as yours just now.”

“Does Archer know?” I ask.

He nods, “Yeah at first he cussed me out for cheating on you that soon, then he started laughing. He did say we would have to run the issue with Sumac past Stitches though, especially as Sumac only has an eye for the bucks.”

“Badger, right now, I am really glad she is that way, otherwise this could be really awkward.”

It is then that he laughs lightly and tells me, “As if this is not awkward enough.”

“Badger, I am not mad, just so you know, but seeing how you seem to be so damn potent, I have to ask, please let Archer get Sutures pregnant first if she decides to have a foal.”

He looks sheepishly at me and all he can say is, “Ok, Mollygirl, I promise.”

Then I think and a smile comes over my muzzle as I think, poor Tar, “One more thing, since you and Magpie have agreed to try the arrangement, tonight, I want to sleep with both my husband and my mate, if he is up to it.”

I see his eyes go wide as he sputters out, “But Mollygirl, both Archer and I are straight.”

I laugh as I tell him, “I know, that means all the attention will be on me for once.”

Dear DJ Pon3,

We have survived the Siege of Serenity Valley. Those of us who are left will never be the same. We have all been changed by what we have seen, experienced, and done. We will never forget those we have lost or the cost to all of us. I have lost ponies and cattle that I have known for several years and considered brothers and sisters. Could you please play This Is For The Fallen?

Thank You, Sincerely

Specs, Radio Operator, CEF HQ.

Thank you to Kkat for creating this world and to so many of the other authors who have created and added to it.
I would also like to thank all my readers who have stuck with the story and have seen the CEF through to this point. As you can all see, there are a couple of last stands in this chapter. One being the CEF's against Silver Spite. There is also that of Badger and Mollygirl. Badger will now have to learn to adjust to this new Mollygirl

The YouTube link for the dedication song of this chapter is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoBwopigCpU