I wake up in the morning to a noise in the bedroom. When I open my eyes, I see Badger is in there getting his uniform for work today. He looks over at me and smiles. “Good morning dear, I hope you two had a very pleasant sleep.,” he says.

I stretch a little, trying not to wake Archer, who still has two of his hooves laying across me and I answer him, “Good morning to you too. I trust you and Sumac slept well too?”

He nods his head as he finishes putting on his uniform top. “Yes, a very good time. She is as sweet as her daughter was,” he pauses for a minute and I hear him sigh, “You know Moll, I still miss her. Ivy I mean. I did not know her or Epona near as long as you did, but it still hurts.”

I nod my head, “I understand, I miss her every day too. But she would want us to go on living and loving. I all but heard her say it.”

He smiles gently as he walks alongside the bed. He bends over and kisses me. Then he smiles as he looks at Archer and tells me, “You know he really is a good buck. Of all the ones you could have found to bring into our relationship, I think he is the best. Part of me has begun to think of him as a brother.”

“I am glad you feel that way, dear. Both of them are sweethearts, and really things have not changed much between me and Sumac, so I guess so far things are working out well. Just think, tomorrow night our Sutures will be coming home, hopefully.”

He smiles again, “I am looking forward to that. Once she is here, we can start to settle into our family routine better. Besides, it should make things interesting.” He quietly tells me.

He lays a hoof along my cheek then kisses me one more time, “Have a good day love, I will see you later.” He tells me as he heads out of the room and finishes getting ready to go to work at the stable.

As I lay there trying to fall back to sleep, I move closer to Archer, and I feel him kiss me on the back of my neck, “Morning love,” he tells me.

I roll over in his hooves to look him in the eyes, “Morning my dear gentle stallion. How are you doing?”

He smiles at me, “Better than you can imagine,” he tells me. “I have to say I am very glad he has taken so well to our situation.”

Running a hoof along his cheek I ask, “How much of that did you hear?”

He gently boops me on the muzzle, “All of it dear, I will say I am becoming quite close to him also. It is nice to have a buck to share the house and the responsibilities with. I mean look at last night we all had each other’s back.”

“True, I am sure Grey is not too happy with us, but it did keep them all out of trouble,” I tell him.

Then he kisses me again, “You know dear, we have enough time to sleep a bit more. What do you say we try to catch some more sack time before Ginger comes and gets us up?” he tells me.

In answer, I simply kiss him one more time then I bury my muzzle against his neck and pull the blanket over our heads. Soon I fall back to sleep.

When I finally do wake up, I am facing away from Archer. The blanket has been lifted off of my head, and I see a set of eyes looking straight at me. Then I hear, “Morning Ma, Mama Sumac said it’s time to wake you two up.”

“Thank you, Ginger,” I tell her then I add, “I will be right out dear.”

As I begin to get up, I feel Archer move his hooves and shift so he can get up also. “Ah, the Ginger alarm. Ever so efficient.” He says with a gentle laugh. Then I hear “Ommfh,” from him as Ginger throws herself on him for a hug.

“Morning Papa Archer,” she says as she wraps her hooves around him.

“Morning my favorite little filly. How are you doing today?” he asks her.

She giggles a bit as she tells him, “I am doing good. Mama Sumac said that I could go with Xochitl and play with Sunny today after breakfast and chores are done.”

He pats her on her back then releases her from a hug, “Ok, sounds good dear. Have fun, but please be careful.”

“I will papa. I got to be ok for when mama Sutures comes home. Then we can have our whole family here.”

“I understand how you feel, I miss her too Ginger,” he tells her.

After that she gets up and heads out of the room, at the door she turns around and says over her shoulder, “See you two at breakfast. Mama Sumac has it ready already.”

“Tell her we will be right there dear,” I tell Ginger.

As she closes the door, I see him smile and he tells me, “Good thing we were tired eh?”

I look at him with a raised eyebrow as I slowly walk closer to him, deliberately swing my tail just a bit further from my hips with every step, “Why is that love?” I all but purr at him.

He takes one more step closer then moves his head alongside mine and takes a small nip at my neck then gently grooms me there, almost getting me to melt again. Then he stops and tells me, “Because I would have hated to have been interrupted when I am with such a sweet,” slight nip, “Beautiful,” another nip on my neck, “Loving mare,” a final nip and nuzzle.

Finally, I have to stop him, “Archer, please stop, we can’t do anything more right now, no matter how badly I want.”

He smiles at me and tells me, “Ok, if you are sure, just know I offered.”

I let out a deep breath totally frustrated. So, I gently place my muzzle next to his ear and tell him quietly, “I want to more than you realize love, but do we want to end up teaching Ginger things she should not see yet?”

I see both of his ears go down alongside his head, “Dang it, I hate it when you are right about things like that.” He answers back, “Besides we need to head into the stable for a bit to visit our Sutures.” Then he kisses me first on my scar, then on my nose, then on my lips. These are the moments I live for sometimes.

Then I hear a knock on the door and I hear Ginger, “Come on ma, papa, your breakfast is getting cold.”

“Ok, ok, Ginger, we are coming,” I tell her as I watch her bounce happily back into the kitchen.

After Breakfast both Archer and I head into the Stable. Both of us want to visit Tar and Sutures. Plus, I want to work a bit more on my after-action report. I have it almost finished, but still, it needs to be reread and edited. The worst part is having to hunt and peck on the keyboard.

Once we get to the stable, we go straight to security to visit Tar first. Today she seems to be in a bit better state of mind. It seems that seeing Hobbles be put in a cell as a prisoner and then taken away to the Manesville jail to await his arraignment has helped to give her some more faith back in the system. She lets us know that they are talking about starting proceedings in her case within the next week. Archer and I both let her know we will be there for her as much as we can. I do not tell her how afraid I am that there is not much I can do.

I do however let her know that I have asked Magpie to look up old cases from the Equestrian military as well as Co-op records to see if we can find a precedent for her defense. As we get ready to leave, she tells us, “Mollygirl, Archer, thank you both for all you have done for me.” I smile at her and tell her, “Tar, I am happy to help you. Not only are you family, but we have been through so much together.”

She smiles back, but I do see a tear in the corner of her eye form. She then waves her hoof and tells us, “You best be getting going, you have a wonderful mare to go see now.”

Our visit with Tar lasts for about an hour before we leave to go visit Sutures in medical. When we get there the doctor and nurse are there working with her on adjusting her prosthetic again. Magpie has already left for work for the day.

As I enter, I hear Sutures tell them, “No, that is too tight. Let it out just a smidge.”

“Ok, but after this, we need you to try and walk on it again.” The male nurse tells her.

It is then that she sees us. She smiles broadly and waves at us. “Hi, guys.”

“Hi dearest, how’s it going? Archer asks her.

She is practically beaming as she answers “Just the final adjustments now.”

The Doctor then tells us, “Once we are done here, would you two mind taking her for a walk around the stable, to make sure she is used to it?”

“I would be most happy too,” Archer answers before I can say anything.

They finish up with her readjustments and have her walk around the room for a bit first, then they ask her, “Are you ready to try using it a bit further?”

I see her smile as she tells them, “Sure Doc! I have been waiting to be able to get out of here for a while.”

The doctor and the nurse then look at us, “Major, how about taking her for a stroll around the atrium. Maybe visit a few friends and then come back.”

I nod my head a bit and tell them, “Sounds good. Sutures, would you like to see George if she is in?”

I see her smirk, “Sure, why not, but Mollygirl, I am not going to go flying right now.”

I put a hoof on her shoulder, smile as I look in her eyes, and ask, “Are you sure? I mean it, you may like it. How can you know if you never even tried it?”

I see Archer almost laughing off to the side as Sutures gives him a look of almost pleading as she asks, “Archer, tell her I should not be flying, I am a unicorn, not a pegasus, all hoofs on the ground thank you.”

I burst out laughing at the expression on her face and her near panic, “Don’t worry dearest, I would not do that to you.” I tell her and I give her a quick peck on the cheek.

I see the relief on her face as she thanks me for not really trying to get her flying.

Archer then laughs lightly and tells us, “Come along my darlings, time for a promenade, I do believe.”

I see Sutures face blush as she smiles at the thought. Once we begin our walk I am on one side of Sutures, Archers the other. I notice that he is holding her tail and I smile. We are on the lower level of the stable near George's room. When I notice a black unicorn with a red and orange mane, and a wrench and magic meter as a cutie mark, approaching us. He looks very angry for some reason.

I see the smile come off of Sutures's face and she gets a hard expression instead and her ears begin to move back along the side of her head. She says nothing yet, but she seems about to explode.

The stallion gets closer to us and then points at Archer as he tells him, “Let go of my daughter’s tail.”

I see Archer is taken a little aback, and he takes a half step back as he asks “Excuse me? Who are you and what is the issue here?”

The stallion sticks his hoof in Sutures face, “What is wrong with you, didn’t your mother and I teach you well enough to stay with your own kind. We should have homeschooled you. This is what we get for letting you go to a public school.”

Sutures with her ears back replies, “Hello father,” she then continues with a noticeable tone of sarcasm, “It is good to see you again too. If you would like, I would be very pleased to introduce you to my fiancé Captain Archer and our future wife Major Mollygirl.”

After she says this, I swear I see a blood vessel bulge out on the side of his head and he looks at her with disdain then tells her in a low voice, “So you really are going to shame us. Not only are you marrying somepony other than a unicorn, but you are involving yourself in such a trashy type of relationship.”

“Father, truly you need to calm down. I am a grown mare now and no matter what you think, I am now getting something that you never provided for me growing up.” Sutures tells him.

Her father still looking angry all but growls the question, “I provided you everything, what can they provide you that you did not have.”

She looks at first Archer, then me, and smiles as she looks at her father as she tells him quietly, “Love father, they make me feel loved and cherished. I am not somepony whose only purpose is to expand the number of my breed of pony. But enough of this for now, please send mother my greetings and tell her that I will be following in her hoofsteps soon and becoming a midwife.”

Her father still angry says to her, “What, you are going to quit your military career now too? You can never do what you should, can you?”

She has a sad smile on her face now as she asks him, “Father, do you pay so little attention to your daughter that you have not noticed that I have lost a leg? I sent several messages to both of you to visit me in the hospital here. Instead, my proposed spouses were the ones who were there for me. They showed me the love and care I needed. Do not worry, when I someday have an earth pony colt, I will not sully you and consider naming it after you. I have some true stallions who I know and will pay that respect to them.”

“You insolent, ungrateful…” he starts to say and raises his hoof as if to strike her, Archer steps forward and grabs it.

Then I hear Archer tell him, “Do not even think of striking my mare. I will not only have your job, but I will tie you to a caisson wheel and flay the flesh off of your back with a whip. You abandoned her, and I love her, now go, find somewhere else to be, if you ever change your feeling for her, then we can talk.”

Her father then looks at Sutures, “So that’s it huh? That is your decision? Fine, I no longer have a daughter,” he tells her.

She laughs at this and tells him, “That is fine. After all, you rarely acted as a father. I am sorry it has come to this though. I really do love both you and mother, but I will not be treated this way any longer father.”

I see him storm away and I shake my head. Beside me, I feel a warm breath and I notice George has come out to see what is going on. She looks at us and then says, “Major, Captain, I would offer to eat him for being such a horrible being, but I am afraid he would be just too bitter.”

I then see Sutures sit down, she is shaking some as she begins to laugh out loud and says, “George, it is good to see you again too dear.”

We spend some time talking with George after that. George was a little disappointed though that she did not want to fly. Then George looks at me and Archer and asks, “When you two head back to the farm, would you like to fly?”

I am smiling at the thought of it, but look over and I swear that Archer's face is starting to match his green mane at just the thought of it. So, I decide to poke the bear a little, “Archer, you know if you go for a ride, it might give you an idea of how we could use ponies on George to direct artillery fire.”

He gives me a brief dirty look, “Major, did you have to go there, now I feel obligated,” he tells me.

I refrain from jumping up and down in excitement, but I know he knows that is how I feel. Behind me, I hear Sutures snort and then giggle as she sees his expression. Then she tells him, “It's ok love, if you do it, I will too someday.”

Then I hear George excitedly say, “Really? You really mean it Sutures? Sweet.”

Now, this sounds like the old George, my friend who I have come to love and care about. I smile at all of them. Then Sutures notices the atrium clock and tells us “I need to get back for lunch dears. I am not ready for the mess hall, and I do not think they will let me join you in the officers' mess yet.”

As we are walking with her back to medical Archer asks her, “Dear, would you like us to pick you up a new dress for tomorrow?”

“Dear, why would I want a dress? I can just wear my uniform as normal,” she says. Then I see it hit her. She stops in her tracks and I see she has a lump in her throat. Then she tells us in a hoarse voice, “Yeah, I would, I guess I will be needing some now.”

We can see the emotional pain on her face and we both step up and give her a hug. “Thank you both. I really appreciate it.” She tells us.

“Dearest, I am more than happy to be here with you. You mean the world to us. I hope you realize that,” I tell her.

She smiles and I notice she wipes a tear from her eye. As she says, “Yes love, I have realized it. I meant what I told my father. I finally feel loved and cared about. Both of you have helped me so much to feel that way. The rest of the family has helped also, but you two. You two will always be my special loves,” she says. Then she gives a gentle kiss first to Archer, then to me, right on my scar. She then looks at me, and tells me, “Thank you for making me realize I am more than just my wound.”

“I am only glad I could help you, dear, after all, you helped me first with mine,” I tell her, then I hold the door to the medical department open so she can go inside.

Once inside she returns to her bed and tells us. “I know you two best get going. My lunch will be here soon and they are serving in the Officers mess already. Besides I am sure you both have things you need to take care of yet.”

Archer smiles at her, “You are right love, but we will be back later, ok?”

I see the love in her eyes as she looks at him and tells him. “Archer, this will be my last night by myself for a while, once you two are done with what needs to be done in the stable, why don’t you both head home. We can all relax then,” right after she says this, I see a devilish glint in her eyes as she says, “Besides, I am sure George will be waiting for that flight.”

Right after she says this, I see his eyes go wide and hear him say, “Yeah, I guess you are right.”

She then Giggles, and says, “Besides, tomorrow night I want to be well-rested and you should be too loves.” Then she winks at us. All I can do in response is smile. I am really looking forward to it now.

Once we leave there, we both head over to the HQ section. Archer decides to check in on the changes for the artillery since we were gone. Me, back to the grind of writing my reports. As I am sitting there the sergeant major comes over to my desk. “Good afternoon Major, is there anything I can help you with?”

I sigh, “Good afternoon Sergeant Major, it is good to see you again too. Unfortunately, not much at this time though,” I tell him, then I remember about my stall assignment and ask him about it.

I see a grim smile on his face when he answers, “Yes ma’am we upgraded your accommodations for when you are here. I had Lieutenant Emerado assist me in moving your possessions. I hope you do not mind?”

“No, not at all. In fact, I really appreciate it. Although I do not know where it is, or who I will be bunking with there,” I tell him.

His expression does not change as he tells me, “You will be sharing your stall with Major Wind Rider. She was formerly stationed at Thunderhead with the Enclave. I do hope this will not be a problem Major”

I smile, “I hope not, but we will see,” I set my paperwork aside and tell him, “This can wait till later. How about showing me to my new stall please.”

He smiles and replies, “Yes ma’am, would you like to let the Captain know where you are going to first?”

“Yes, I would, thank you for the reminder. I will be right back,” I tell him. I then run over and find Archer talking with several other officers about not only the new artillery assignments but how he employed them on the expedition.

I briefly catch his attention and let him know where I am going. He smiles at me and tells me, “Thanks for letting me know. I will wait here for you ma’am.”

I then follow the Sergeant Major to my new stall. The door for it is attached to a common room that is shared with six other rooms. I am surprised to notice that the common room has a number of couches and chairs as well as a radio and even on an old television with a set up to play movies on it. But what is most impressive to me is on one wall are several shelves filled with books and manuals pertaining to the Equestrian armed forces.

As I enter my stall, I notice it is a bit larger. It also has only two beds in it as well as two desks and chairs.

On one of the desks, I see a picture of a pegasus officer in enclave power armor with the helmet off and surrounded by six NCOs, she has a pink coat and yellow mane and tail. On the desk are a couple of manuals as well as a well-worn romance novel.

When I look at the other desk, I am very surprised to see the picture that Epona had drawn and given to Ivy has been framed and is sitting there. I hate to admit it, but I do tear up a bit when I see it. I sit at the desk and I notice that somepony has left a couple of manuals and books there for me. I am relieved when I see my copy of Cloud Seeder's poetry there. I was afraid I had misplaced it, to tell the truth.

I am sitting there reading one of the poems when the door opens and I get to meet my new stall mate. As she comes in, she looks at me and asks curtly, “Who are you and what are you doing in my stall?”

I stand up and hold out a hoof to introduce myself, “Hello, it is a pleasure to meet you, I am Major Mollygirl, Second battalion commander for the first regiment.”

She gets a look of disdain on her face as she looks me up and down. “Interesting. I had assumed you would be a pegasus. I guess they lied to me when they told me that my new stall mate was a flyer for the co-op.”

Oh, she is one of that kind, this shall be fun. I look at her and ask “So what makes you think I don’t fly?”

She huffs out some air and tells me, “Look, you are obviously an earth pony. Everypony knows that your kind does not like to fly.”

I nod my head then I tell her, “Now that is a fair enough assumption normally, but first off, you see this book I am reading? see the picture of the author?” I watch her head nod and she has a smirk on her face. “Well, I am a descendant of the author. Now that might not mean so much due to my lack of wings, however, “and I pause for effect before continuing, “However, when I fly, and yes, I do love to do so, I ride on George. I assume you know her. She is one of my best friends.” I tell her.

I see her jaw drop, “You? That was you?” she says.

I nod my head, “Yep. Now that that is out of the way,” I stick out my hoof again, “Hello, I am Major Mollygirl,” I tell her again.

She uncertainly sticks out her hoof, “Major Wind Rider, please call my Windy.”

“In that case Windy, please call my Mollygirl or just Molly.” I tell her with a smile as we shake hooves. Then I add, “I think we both have a lot we could learn from each other. So, tell me a little bit about yourself.”

For the next couple of hours, Windy and I get to know each other. She tells me that when she first arrived with her family, she assumed she would be just a private in the CDF. However, once the new regiment began to form, she was offered her previous enclave rank back.

“Windy, no offense, I am surprised that they gave you your rank back that quickly,” I tell her.

She shakes her head, “Mollygirl, they didn’t want to strip the remainder of the 1^st regiment’s leadership away. That and if you think about it, it meant we not only kept an experienced leadership base for the 1^st regiment, but we also got one right away for the 2^nd.”

I nod my head in understanding. “That makes sense, but what about making it airmobile? I mean it is impressive but still?” I ask her.

She smiles, “Mollygirl, that is actually a good question with a decent answer. When you consider that we had so many pegasi soldiers with us, but not enough for a full regiment. We simply broke it down into parts that could fly independently and those that would need a skywagon to fly.”

"From what I have heard that worked out pretty well for getting the 2^nd regiments troopers there to relieve your forces at the Valley," she says to me.

I nod my head in agreement, but also, I feel a bit of relief in her attitude of calling it a relief rather than a rescue. It seems to hurt a lot less that way. Then I say to her, “Windy, I have to ask, where did you get that many skywagons from? We never had any here in the Co-op before.”

She smiles sadly as she answers, “Most of them came with us when we escaped Thunderhead and came dirt side. We used them to bring what we could as we escaped, as well as those too young, too old, or unable to fly. Mollygirl, I never imagined in my life having to run like we did.”

“Windy, if I may ask, what the Tartarus happened?”

I see that faraway look I know too well as she looks back into her memory. When she answers me I hear the pain in her voice as she tells me, “Mollygirl, the short story is, Neighvarro attacked Thunderhead. I was on maternity leave when it happened, so I don’t know all the details. But I do know when the order was given to evacuate the city, I grabbed my family and as many others as I could, anyway we could, and we flew for our lives. Please don’t ask me anything more about it, at least not right now.”

I put a hoof on her shoulder and look her in the eyes and tell her, “I fully understand. I have part of my life that is like that too. So why did you choose to come to the Co-op?”

I see her smile at the change of topic and she answers me, “It seemed to be the most welcoming area dirt side for our kind. We heard about the radio message and how it specifically welcomed dashites, but also any other non-enclave pegasi. Mollygirl, it seems we were forced out of the Enclave pretty hard by Neighvarro, so we came here.”

I smile and tell her, “Well I am glad you did. But what happens if we are attacked by the Enclave?”

Her face goes emotionless as she tells me, “They destroyed my home once and I ran. I will not run again. Most of my fliers feel the same way.”

I blush as I apologize to her, “I am sorry, I did not mean to question your loyalty.”

She smiles, “Mollygirl, I would question yours if the roles were reversed. It’s no hair off my snout. However, I do have a grudge against Neighvarro and If I ever get the chance, I will pay them back in spades.”

To that I hold out my hoof, “Sister, that is something we both can agree on.” I tell her.

As she extends her hoof, she asks “What exactly did Neighvarro do to you?”

It is my turn to have a stern expression on my face as I answer, “The Spring Monsoon. She and her crew killed an injured too many ponies I knew. They even went so far as to attack our hospital.”

I see her nod her head, “I can understand that. I had forgotten that the Co-op had been attacked by a raptor before we got here.”

I nod my head, “Compared to the rest of the wastelands, even after that fight we were still doing pretty good it seems.”

She nods her head and tells me, “Not nearly as well as Thunderhead was, but I will say, the Co-op is a lot better off than a lot of places down here. I am just thankful they don’t automatically hate us all the time like most places.”

I smile at her and then tell her, “Now that, that’s behind us, I need you to tell me, what is it like to be a mother?”

After having talked with her for a while I finally tell her, “You must excuse me, my fiancé Archer is waiting for me back at the HQ section. We should be getting home to the rest of our family soon.”

It is at that point I see a bit of confusion on her face, “Your fiancé’? The rest of your family?”

I nod my head, “Yeah, it is a bit of an unusual situation. I am already married to Captain Badger and our wife Magpie. We are currently engaged to Captain Archer, as well as Sutures and Sumac.”

I see her shake her head briefly, “Excuse me, but what? I know I have only been here a couple of months but I did not know you all did things like this.”

I sigh, “Sorry Windy, most don’t. My life is a bit abnormal, even for me at times.”

I see her nod her head, “It seems so. Wow, I cannot imagine such an arrangement being allowed even back in Thunderhead.”

As I look at her, I have a half-smile on my face as I tilt my head and shrug my shoulders, then I tell her, “Oh, I also need to get my adopted daughter ready to go back to school tomorrow.”

I see her look of surprise, and she asks, “I thought school was still in session?”

I nod my head and tell her, “It is, but Ginger along with her friend Xochitl both ran away from home and hid in a wagon for the supply train of the expedition force,” I sigh then continue, “When we found them we were too far into hostile territory to send the back safely so both of them had a parent with us who asked if we could use them as scouts, that way they could stay safe and earn their keep as well.”

I see her shake her head, “Mollygirl, I have been a scout, it is not safe.”

I am looking at the ground when I tell her, “I know that now, we were a bit more naive back then.”

When I look up, she asks me, “What happened to their parents?”

“Xochitl’s father survived along with him. Unfortunately, Ginger’s mother died at the battle of Targhee. We were both with her. Nugget was my friend and I have known Ginger since she was a foal, so Nugget asked me to take care of her for her.”

I see her nod her head, “And here you are a pregnant mother in combat, suddenly with a filly to take care of too.”

“Windy, it's not quite like that. During the expedition, I really got to know Ginger. She is like a daughter to me. It’s just, I have never had a foal of my own. This little one will be the one and only foal I ever give birth to, and I am nervous. I never had to raise one from birth before.”

I see her smile as she tells me, “Well with your family, it sounds like you will have plenty of experience to assist you in it, and I will help you as much as I can, but I am sure you will do alright. Besides it's only one foal right.”

Without meaning to I cringe, “No damn it, our husband Badger has gotten me, Magpie, and Sumac all pregnant and we should be delivering close to each other.”

It is then I see her truly surprised for the first time as I watch her begin to laugh so hard, she has tears come to her eyes. Finally, when she has gotten herself back together, she looks me right in the eyes and tells me “Celestia, Mollygirl, the producers back in Thunderhead would have loved you, they could have done an entire sitcom series just off of your personal life.” Then she begins to laugh again.

When she sees the expression on my face, she begins to laugh even harder.

Eventually, I say my goodbyes to Windy and I go back to find Archer. As I enter the HQ area, I see the Colonel and he waves me into his office.

Once in there I take a seat. I smile at him and he says to me. “Mollygirl, it’s good to see you. I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to give you a heads up.”

I am a bit confused and I have to ask, “A heads up on what?”

He takes a deep breath and lets it out, then tells me, “Mollygirl, there is going to be a court of inquiry about the expedition.”

I am stunned, “Colonel, what for? Am I being blamed for what happened?”

He looks at me from across the desk, “No, it’s just with the heavy losses, as well as the loss of most of our original officers, there has been a very vocal group in the community that has demanded to find out what really happened.”

“Ok, Colonel, I guess my formal after-action report will not be sufficient.”

He shakes his head, “No, they want to hear from more than one source what happened, and who did what.”

“But Colonel, I only did what I had to do to bring our people home,” I tell him.

He nods his head, “I know that Major. I am only telling you this so you are not surprised when you come back from leave next week.”

“I appreciate it Chappy, I am sorry I got upset, but like you said, it has blindsided me.”

“Don’t worry Mollygirl, I am sure everything will be fine. By the way, have you meet your new stallmate yet?”

I smile, “Yes sir I have. Windy seems to be a very good officer and as well as a nice mare.”

“Good, I am glad you two are able to get along. I was a bit worried, to tell the truth. I know some of the Thunderheaders can be a bit pretentious, and I have not gotten to talk to her. You sharing a stall with her may be a really good way for us to build the relationship between the two regiments also.”

“Makes sense to me Chappy. But still, this feels way too much like somepony may be looking for scapegoats.”

‘I know it feels that way Mollygirl, but it is not. They used to do this all the time in the old Equestrian military. One of the reasons is that it may help us to find lessons that can be learned, that we have not noticed yet.”

“When you put it that way it does not seem so bad sir. When do you think this board of inquiry will begin?” I ask.

"I am not sure; we have a lot going on with the Court-martial of Tar Water also. I will let you know when I hear more.”

“Thank you, sir. If you don’t mind, I best get going.”

“No, not at all, in fact. I need to get back to these reports myself. Seems we have a surplus of weapons for the moment, but many of them are in rough condition,” he says and gives a light laugh.

I smile back at him and simply tell him, “Sorry about that sir. I have tried not to have the troops use them more than needed.”

Once I leave the Colonel’s office, I round up Archer and we begin to head home. Our first stop is at George’s room. When we get there, she smiles brightly and I see her begin to grab the harnesses off the wall. She then looks at me and tells me, "I hope you don’t mind but Major Wind Rider stopped by a little bit ago. She is going out for a training flight and I told her we would be flying too."

I smile at her, “Not at all George, I like Windy, besides she is my new stallmate here in the Stable.”

As I am saying this, I see poor Archer grimace, then he asks, “Does this mean hard flying George?”

She looks at me and then back at Archer and smiles as she tells him, “Not according to Mollygirl.”

I then see his face go slightly pale, and I hear him mutter under his breath, “Why do I have a feeling I am going to regret this?”

Then George puts her head right next to his, “Come on Archer, you’ll love it. It will be fun,” she says with a smile.

Finally, we are all harnessed up and ready to go. We walk with George to the back entrance. Once there I walk Archer through the procedures for hooking up his harness and I double-check his. Then I have him double-check mine.

Once we are ready George takes off gently, then she starts to climb for altitude. We are starting to make a circuit around the stable when I see a flight of four pegasuses at our two o’clock and high. George starts to react to them when I point out the two more groups at nine o’clock high and six o’clock low. I point them out to Archer and I see him smiling. He tells us over the coms link "I will watch the ones at six low." George then replies, "Ok captain, I will keep an eye on the ones at 2 high, Major would you mind keeping an eye on the others." Just then I see a shadow on her back and I yell, "George straight above."

Then I hear over the coms channel, “MG, this is WR, I already discussed this with George, time for a modified game of tag. If me or my fliers touch either of you or George, you have to return to the stable and start again. If you tag any of my fliers first, they have to."

Immediately after this George rolls to her right and dives for about 30 meters before she twists and climbs straight up at them. I see her open her mouth as if to spit fire and I watch as the four of them all roll out of our way in and away from each other.

George then twists again as the ones that were at our 9 o’clock dive to begin the fray. Then Archer calls out the low ones are climbing. To which George does a barrel roll that ends above and in front of them and she then dives. Again, she opens her mouth as if to spit fire and I imagine myself, firing at the pegasi as we soar down past them.

We spend the next 20 minutes twisting, turning, climbing, diving rolling. We have tagged two of her fliers so far. It is then that I realize our game has taken us over Emerald Grove and I see Choo Choo come out of the cave, look up and she leaps into the air. She is flying next to us and George yells to her, “We are playing tag with the 2^nd regiment fliers, want to join us?”

I see the smile on her face and I hear her yell, “YES!”

Then as we pass over a farm, I see her two sisters run out and then join formation with us without saying a word. As we fly in formation George explains the rules to Choo Choo. Then I see all three sisters disappear and suddenly reappear behind and above Windy and her flight. Suddenly all three of them are tagged and begin to fly for the stable.

Then I hear Windy over the comms, “Well if you’re going to play that way, I get more players too.”

As she says this, I send a quick message to Sunset letting him know we are playing pegasus tag and that he is invited. Just then I am tagged by one of the fliers and I let George know to return to the stable.

When we land at the stable, I see Soundwaves standing there. He tells us, "Wait 60 seconds and you can reengage." At the one-minute mark, he lets us know and George is up in the air again. From just over the far ridgeline I see Windy has reorganized her team and they are now at company strength.

Just before I start to feel we have no chance I hear Archer behind me yell. “Here come more players for us!”

I look behind me and I suddenly see Sunset, Serenity, Sky, and Firefly taking flight from the Trough by Manesville. I notice all kinds of ponies running out of the stable to watch the game. From the stable itself, I see Charity and Hope run out and fly towards us. Then I notice Dull Beak. At this point, I am laughing. We form up and suddenly I hear Choo Choo tell us. Major, my sisters and I have you. We will put a shield around you so they can’t tag you, she says as she laughs.

With that my team dives into the opposing teams. Then I look to the side and I see Cloud Dodger bringing in another platoon at least of fliers. This is got to be one of the biggest games of tag I have ever seen.

As we get close, I see Windy smile an evil grin as she dives right for me, hoof stretched out to make the tag and I yell, roll left now, and as we roll to the left Windy bounces off the shield that she had no idea was there. Behind me I hear Dull Beak laughing as he yells, “Tag Major!”

This lasts for over two hours. Both sides constantly tagging and trying to outmaneuver the others. Finally, we get a message from both Colonels’, “Ceasefire, Tie Game. Rematch, next week.”

Behind me I hear Archer, yell, “Tie? We almost had them!”

Then from my side, I see Windy flying closer laughing, “Which time Dirt Cloud?” Once close enough she bumps hoofs with me and then with Archer as she tells us and George, "I have not had that much fun since I was a filly.”

I can not help but giggle like a school filly myself as I tell her, “Thank you for such a great time,” then I wink at her and tell her, “I am already looking forward to next week.”

She sticks out her tongue and gives me a raspberry. Then she flies over so she can talk to George easier and tell her, “Great job Trooper. You really showed us some moves and you were right; they really can handle it.”

George nods her head and smiles as she says, “Thank you Major. I appreciate it.”

Then Windy asks us, “So where did you get the ringers? I mean three Alicorn sisters are pretty impressive.”

I am really surprised when I see Blue Frost is the one who answers, “Major, we are all friends of Mollygirl. Our sister Choo Choo said we could play without being members of the CDF, I hope that was ok.”

Windy looks at me with an appraising look, and tells me, “Major, you sure have an interesting assortment of friends,” then she looks back at the alicorn sisters and asks, “Have any of you thought about joining the CDF?”

Choo Choo smiles broadly and tells her, “Yep, I am joining the 1^st Regiment next week, once the Major is back from leave.”

“What about your sisters then?” Windy continues.

Quick Frost answers this time, “Ma’am, no offense, but I prefer farming to fighting anymore. With that said, if we are ever attacked, I will serve my time in the militia gladly.”

I see Windy nod her head, “Fair enough, I can respect that. It was a pleasure flying, and playing against you. Next week then?”

Dear DJ Pon3,

It has only been a few scant months since I have had to abandon my home in Thunderhead and have found my new home in the Co-op. I have recently found a kindred spirit and from the stories I have heard there is a song that fits her and the forces with her as well as mine. With that in mind could you please play Traveler’s Song for her and her troops. Oh, and also let them know that next week my battalion will win in our friendly little competition.

Thank You

Sincerely

Wind Rider, Major

2^nd battalion Commander, 2^nd Regiment, CDF

Again thanks go out to Kkat for creating the world of FoE. I would also like to thank all the other authors who have contributed by adding to this world. They have each shown how many more stories can still be told, as well as alternate histories that can occur. This week I wanted to give a bit of fun to the readers as well as the characters. I hope you have enjoyed it.

For those who want to listen to it, this chapters dedication song YouTube link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZno7ZAR-fM