Chapter 56 Life Goes On

By Trooper

“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”

― Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

I cannot help but smile at how much fun we had. All of the fliers from my team approach us. Sunset comes up to me and asks, “Major, do we really get to do this again next week?”

I nod my head as I tell him, “Sure looks like it. Both of the Colonel’s said so.”

Behind me I hear Archer, “So we best figure out how we can beat them.” Then Archer looks at me and says to all of our fliers, “In fact, I will confirm it with my spouses, but if it is ok with them, then the Major and I will throw a victory party for us if we win. I will even see if the youngsters will get us a radhog to roast. Perhaps the settlement of White Cloud may even provide us with some of their new homebrew.”

Then I hear Quick Frost asks, “Sir, would I and my sisters still be allowed to participate in both the game as well as the party?”

He does not even get the chance to answer before I hear several others all answer, “Of course. You’re on our team.”

All three of the sisters smile at us and I see Blue Star bow her head, “Thank you, you have made us truly feel welcome and at home again.”

Sunset flies over to her and tells her, “Ma’am, we are just glad you are on our sides, besides, having to gotten to know Choo Choo and hearing her talk about you two while on the expedition has made me feel like I know ya’all pretty well.”

I see both Quick Frost and Blue Star turn their heads and stare at Choo Choo, “Really sister, you did not tell us you had told the others so much about us.”

Choo Choo looks abashed, “Sorry, I did not want you to be mad at me, but I missed both of you and when they talked about their families, I wanted to talk about mine too.”

Then I am floored when I see Quick Frost put a hoof on her shoulder, and I hear her say, “I am so glad that you missed us too. We missed you also Choo Choo.”

I notice that the sun is getting lower in the sky and realize the time. “Ok, everyone, Excellent job all, but I really need to get home. Have a good night and I will see you all next week.

As we fly off, I see MY fliers take off in all directions back home. The sisters fly with us a good part of the way back to the farm and then, with a wave of their forehooves, they turn and fly back toward Emerald Grove.

As we come into land, I see the foals are already home. Sunny flies up to greet us as George shifts her wings for her landing approach. I can hear him giggling as he flies next to her and says, “Hey George. Good to see you again.”

George continues to land but smiles at him and replies, “Good to see you too my friend. Have you been practicing your flying maneuvers like we talked about?”

“Yes, I have George. Wanna show me some new ones, huh?” Sunny asks her.

As I listen, all I can think of is, when did they talk about those, and is this the secret life of George? Then as we fully land and I start to remove my harness I hear George tell Sunny, “Not tonight little one, tonight I am tired. We just did a couple of hours of playing tag with the second regiment.”

With that I hear Ginger yell, “You got to play tag? That is not fair, I wanna fly and play tag, ma.”

I help Archer unhook his harness and as I am climbing down, I tell her, “Ginger, we did not plan on it. Well at least me and Archer did not,” as I turn to look at George, I see her look down at the ground, but I also catch her smiling.

“Besides Ginger, to fly like that you will need a harness and we do not have any that small,” I tell her.

At that, I swear I see George turn her head so her hearing diaphragm is closer to the discussion. I also see Archer get down and wobble a bit at first as he regains his footing. I see Magpie run out of the house and help him balance himself, as she does this, she gives me the look of, you should have known better.

Then she asks Archer, “What happened, did flying on George bother you that badly?”

He shakes his head, “No, just flying didn’t, it was the two hours of playing pegasus tag that got to me, but damn if I was going to let any of them know it got me.”

I turn my head and go over to him, “Archer, I am so sorry, I thought you were enjoying it as much as I was.”

He smiles at me and pats my forehoof, “Dear, I am very competitive by nature. I will not let them win. That is why I am doing it again next week too.”

I see Magpie go pale as he says this, then behind me, I hear both Badger and Sumac laughing. Then Badger yells out to him, “Welcome to the fold Archer, now I want to hear all about this game of Tag.”

As the rest go inside the house, I put George's harnesses inside her storage bags that are on the main harness. “Thanks again George, I really loved it,” I tell her.

She smiles at me, “I knew you would, and this way Archer can blame me and not you for setting it up. Have a wonderful night Major and I will see you in the morning,” she tells me and then she takes off and flies back towards her cave for the night.

Sunny joins us for dinner that night. It is so much fun to see the expression on his face as Archer recounts the game of tag. I almost laugh as I watch Archer explain to everypony how everyone was moving while moving his forehooves to show positions. Next to me is Magpie and she lightly kicks me under the table, and quietly asks me, “So you really had no idea that was going to happen?”

I shake my head as I answer, “No, not at all. I just meet Windy this afternoon. I mean we talked a bit and all but I never mentioned anything like this.”

She then looks at Archer and shakes her head as he continues entertaining everypony else. “The worst part is, Mollygirl, I think he really enjoyed it deep down. How are we going to explain this to Sutures?”

I simply smile and tell her, “Why do we need to, by now I am sure that she has heard about the game of tag involving over one hundred of our troopers, three alicorns, one griffon and a dragon.”

I see her jaw drop, “Mollygirl, I don’t know which part surprises me more, the griffon or the three alicorns. Where did you get a griffon who would join in?”

I am still smiling as I tell her, “Oh, Dull Beak has not headed home yet.”

“Uh, Dull Beak? You know a griffon and have not told me before?” She asks me.

I nod my head and look at the table, “Magpie, I was not trying to hide it, I thought any of us on the expedition would have said something about him.”

“No Mollygirl, you did not, but what really surprises me is that a griffon joined in for pony games.”

I look at her eye to eye, “Dear, I think it was for the honor of the CEF. Almost all of them were with me at one point or another flying in combat. He is just another of my flyers to me.”

As Magpie is saying this to me, Sumac taps me on the other side, and tells me, “Perhaps you could have him join us for supper sometime. I am sure he could use a good home cooked meal.”

“If you all are sure, then I would be more than glad to,” I tell her.

After supper, I am going to help wash dishes, but Sumac instead suggests, “Mollygirl, why don’t you walk Sunny home. Tomorrow is his first day of school too.”

“That sounds good to me Sumac, I wanted to visit Trouble and Blondie for a bit anyway,” I tell her.

“Can I come Ma?” Ginger asks, and though I shouldn’t, I tell her yes.

The three of us continue to talk as we walk the distance to Trouble’s in the dark. Once there I notice that they have lights burning inside the main house. As I am just about ready to knock Sunny opens the door and yells, “Mom, Dad, I’m home. Cousins Ginger and Mollygirl are with me.”

I hear a bit of scrambling from the next room and then Trouble peeks his head around the door frame from the bedroom. “Just a minute, and we will be right with you,” he tells us.

As he comes out, I see Blondie is blushing and Trouble seems a bit awkward, and I also notice he now has a neckerchief on that he normally doesn’t wear. Needless to say, I feel myself blush some.

“Hi guys, sorry about keeping Sunny out so late. I just wanted to talk to you guys about a couple of things.” I tell them.

Blondie then motions a hoof toward the kitchen that is being refitted and the table and chairs that are in there as she says, “Well come on in and have a seat, would you like some tea, or perhaps cider?”

As I sit down, I smile and tell her “Sure, whichever is easier for you.”

Then she smiles and tells me, “Tell Sumac and the others, thank you for having Sunny over for supper tonight, it allowed us to have some time by ourselves that we have really needed.”

“Blondie, I know I was, and I am sure the others were more than happy to help that way. Besides, Sunny is such a fun young colt. Did you know that he and George have been talking about flying maneuvers?”

I see Trouble laugh and then he tells me, “Why am I not surprised, that colt talks to every flier around to learn more. The other days poor Sirocco was being questioned for over three hours by him on how he could fight while flying and how to train better for it.”

I just shake my head as I tell them, “Trouble, I would not be surprised if he is not one of the best fliers in the Co-op someday.”

I see a look of pride come over both of their faces as I say this and then Blondie says, “That would not be too bad for a buck who was born from and raised by a unicorn and an earthpony. Boy that would sure twist some tails.”

I smile, nod and answer, “It sure would. Speaking of twisting tails, next week if we win the pegasi tag game Archer has promised my fliers a party, I was wondering if we could get some of the settlements homebrew?”

Trouble looks at me funny at first and then says, “Getting you some homebrew may be possible, but what game of pegasi tag?”

So, I go into details telling them all about it and how the Colonel’s said it would occur again next week.”

I see a worried look on Blondie's face, “Mollygirl, please don’t let Sunny know, he will try and join in it.”

I look down at the table when I tell her, “Too late, but it was Archer and George who told him after he caught us landing at the farm.”

Then I notice Trouble laughing so I ask, “What’s so funny?”

He sits up straight and then tells me, “I bet by next week Sunny will have a team of pegasi from the Militia ready to join in.”

My jaw drops and it hits me, this could really grow out of control.

I see Blondie shaking her head and then she says, “Especially if Sunny puts Sirocco up to it.”

We talk a bit more and then I decide I need to get Ginger home. When I go to the living room, I see both her and Sunny have fallen asleep on a couch together. I have to smile, maybe I really don’t have as much to worry about with Xochitl that I thought I did. I gently wake her up, “Ginger, time to go home dear.”

Groggily she stands up, “Ok ma,” she says as she steps toward me, I turn and let her climb on my back and then as I say my goodbyes, I feel her fall asleep again.

Sumac is still awake and opens the door as I get to the porch. I see her smile as she looks at Ginger sleeping on my back. She then asks me, “Do you want me to take her up to bed?”

“No, but thanks for asking, I want to.”

I see her nod her head and she tells me, “I understand, you two have a very special bond. Kind of reminds me of one I had with a filly that was like a daughter to me many years ago. I will follow you upstairs though if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all Sumac, in fact, you can help me tuck her in for the night,” I tell her with a smile.

Once I have her next to her bed, Sumac gently slides her into her bed. I put her stuffed pony in her hooves and Sumac pulls the blanket up for her. We stand there together smiling at the little filly who has been through so much but has so many adults who love her. We both give her a kiss on her forelock, I blow out the lantern in her room and then gently close the door as we leave the room.

As we walk down the hallway Sumac stops me. Again, she apologizes for what has happened between us. Then she tells me, “Mollygirl, I hope you realize that I love you just like you do our little filly in there. If you ever need me as a mother rather than as a sister-wife, please, please let me know.”

I am a bit surprised as I don’t know where this came from, but I return the hug and I tell her, “I love you too Sumac. Thanks for always being here for me. Oh, and by the way, all is forgiven about Badger, but we still need to talk to him to make sure he understands, no new partners.”

Still smiling at me, but with a tear in the corner of one eye, she says, “Thank you for that, but are you sure you want to limit that, after all, I hear your new stall mate is not only a looker, but I know how it is when it comes to those feathers,” then she winks at me as she gives me a nudge and begins to giggles.

I then realize she is only pulling my hoof on the last part and I join her with a brief giggle. Then I get her back by telling her, “Well seeing Archer and Mags are already in bed, maybe I should join you and Badger.”

The expression of shock on her face is priceless as she spurts out, “Mollygirl, are you serious?”

As I laugh, I tell her, “Nope, but you should have seen the look on your face.”

“Dang it young filly, I would put you over my knee and paddle ya’ but I am afraid you would just enjoy it. Now go along and get to bed. I am sure we both need some sleep.”

I put my hoof back on her shoulder, “Goodnight Sumac and sleep well.”

“Night Mollygirl, sleep well and I will see you in the morning. Remember tomorrow Ginger goes back to school and Sutures comes back home.”

“How could I forget either one ma. Wake me early and I will help make breakfast.” I tell her.

I hear her giggle again, “Thanks for the offer, but perhaps helping with the cleanup would be better.”

I sigh then look at her sheepishly, “Yeah, your right, now we both better go get some sleep.”

As she enters her room I head back down the stairs and try to enter the lower bedroom without waking anypony. As I am climbing into bed, I feel Magpie roll over and put her back to Archer and her hooves around me. As I lay there slowly starting to go to sleep, I think back along to the day’s events. Today, was a really good day.

I wake in the morning to the smell of bacon and coffee. As I shift to get up, I hear Magpie groan, she kisses me and tells me, “Morning love, I hope you slept well last night.”

“Morning sweetheart, I did, I hope both of you did also.”

In answer, she smiles at me then adds, “Yes I know I did and I think our Archer did also. I hope you don’t mind we took the chance of you being gone for a bit of one on one cuddling?”

“No, not at all, in fact, I am glad you could find the time. I think Trouble and Blondie took the opportunity also last night with Sunny at dinner here.”

She laughs gently, “Good for them, they really do make a good couple,” she says, then she adds, "Do you think they will have any more foals?”

“Honestly, I don’t know Mags, I think they are just happy to be together again.”

“I can understand that. I just hope for the best for them. Mollygirl, could you help me pick out an outfit for today, I have to make a proposal for the Archives to the board of directors and I want to make sure I put my best hoof forward.”

At about this time I see Archer begin to stir, and he looks at Magpie, smiling, “I would be glad to help too dear.” He tells her.

She pulls out several dresses for us to look at. Archer and I both agree she should go with a pink business type dress with a light blue ribbon in her mane. I can tell by looking at Archer how much he likes the way it looks on her, and I have to agree it looks very good.

After she is dressed, both Archer and I put on our uniforms so we can head into the stable and do some work. Then we meet the rest of the family in the kitchen for breakfast. I am about halfway through my oatmeal when I hear Badger say, “Buck, I am late.” He hops up, gives all three of us mares and Ginger a quick peck on the cheek, grabs his coffee cup and heads out the front door.

A little while later I see that Magpie has finished her oatmeal and tea and as she gets up she smiles at us and tells us “I will see you all tonight, wish me luck on my proposal.” Which of course we all do. As she heads out the door, I hear her talking to Xochitl. I cannot really understand what they are saying though. My ears have been ringing since the valley. Normally I can ignore it, but it does get frustrating when I am trying to hear quiet conversations.

Finally, Archer and I both finish up our breakfast and get up to leave. I give Ginger a quick nuzzle on her forelock and tell her, “Have a good day at school today hun, I love you.”

She smiles, “Love you too ma. I can’t wait for tonight. Mama Sutures will be home.”

I see Archer smile at that and he tells her, “Yes dear, it will be so nice to have us all together again.”

He hugs her quickly and then he goes over and says goodbye to Sumac, “I will see you later dear. I am sorry I have not spent much private time with you.”

I see her lean into him, close her eyes and smile as she tells him, “That’s ok Archer, I understand, besides I have not spent a lot of time alone either dear.” Then she kisses him and tells us, “You both best get going. I will see you tonight.”

Then we both head out the front door. As I go outside, I see Xochitl just sitting there smiling and relaxing, I put a hoof on his shoulder and I tell him, “Good Morning Xochitl, you can go in if you would like. Ginger has finished getting dressed. Besides, Sumac has some extra pancakes and bacon leftover if you would like some.”

“Thank you, Major, I appreciate it, but I am ok. My mother made me a large breakfast already this morning,” he tells me.

I cannot help but smile, he is such a cute and good young buck, “Ok dear, I was just offering as I do not want to see the extra food go to waste is all. Have a good day and be careful trooper.”

Beside me, I hear Archer tell him, “Let me know if you need any help with your math, ok. I know a lot of ponies and cattle have a hard time with it. I always had a knack myself and I enjoy it.”

I am surprised to hear this, not because he offered, but because most ponies I know hate math. Xochitl tells him, “Ok Sir, If I have difficulty I will ask.” Then Xochitl sticks out his hoof and shakes hooves with Archer, Stallion to Stallion. I see a look of complete respect come over the face of my love. Then he turns to me, “Ok dear, let’s get going. I want to stop in Manesville before we hit the stable and pick up a new dress for our little dear for her homecoming.”

Behind me, I see Xochitl blush and smile as we continue on our way to town.

Once there we pass by JC Dobbins as it is closed for the day due to more ongoing repairs. Instead we find a new shop that is named Second Chances, First Runs which is owned by a unicorn ghoul. As we walk in the door, she takes a passing glance at Archer, but when she sees me, she gets a funny expression on her face.

When she gets close to us, she introduces herself, “Good morning ponies, I’m Sewing Bobbin, what can I help you with today?”

Archer tells her, “My wife Mollygirl and I are looking for a dress or two for our wife Sutures. She has a black coat as well as a charcoal mane and tail,” then he reaches into his saddlebags and pulls out a slip of paper. “Here are her normal sizes, she may be a bit smaller right now as we all lost weight on the expedition.”

I notice the way he has said this and I feel my heart flutter a bit at it. I actually like the sound of that too. Dang it, why had I not noticed him sooner, I think to myself.

I see her slightly tilt her head and raise an eyebrow as she takes the paper in her magic and reads the sizes. “Hmm, no problem with this. You mentioned though she may be smaller right now. I assume you all figure she will gain some weight then. I have some nice dresses already made, or I can make new ones all for a decent price. For a bit more, I can enchant them so that they will automatically adjust their size to fit the wearer properly.”

Now that has my attention. With three pregnant mares in the house, each of us having some outfits like that makes sense to me. As she is showing us various dresses that we may like for Sutures, Bobbin asks me, “Mollygirl, are you the same mare that talked to Torque Wrench and Cherry Blossom?”

The names sound familiar to me and I remember them as the two I met the night of the megaspell blast. I nod my head and tell her, “Yes, I met them with my other wife and husband.”

I see her smile, “I was going to say I can tell that they were not lying that you too were turned away and forsaken like us ghouls, but it seems you are making up for it.”

I smile back at her and without thinking place a hoof on her shoulder as I tell her, “Really, I am just trying to be a normal pony. I hope they are both doing well though.”

She nods her head and tells me, “Yes, they are both fine. They passed on what you said that night to them to the rest of us, as well as how you treated us as anypony else. That helped a lot of us from going feral during those trying days.”

I nod my head and tell her, “I am glad I could help so many others then. Also, I need to thank the entire ghoul community for coming to help us when we were down.”

We then continue shopping for a bit more before we pick out two dresses for her. One is yellow and has a black belt for it. The second is a red skirt with a navy-blue blouse. We spend the extra caps so that they will self-adjust to her size. As we are paying our bill she then tells me, “When you are ready, come on in and I will help you pick out a couple of maternity dresses, or if you have a few dresses already that you want to have altered to fit you like these two, then we can do that too. Normally I don’t offer that service to those who don’t buy the item from me, but you are a special customer.”

I am both surprised and touched at the same time by her offer and I tell her, “Thank you very much. I do appreciate it, and I will be seeing you again soon Bobbin.”

“I look forward to it, now you and your buck there have a wonderful day,” she tells us and as we leave, I see her return to her sewing machine and begin to work again.

Our next stop is the stable. We are almost to medical when we run into Windy. I wave to her and she comes right over to us. “Hey Mollygirl,” She calls as she approaches.

“Hey Windy, how are you today?” I ask her.

She smiles and stretches her wings a bit then puts her ears to the side a bit, “A little sore from last night, I have not gotten near as much flight time in lately with the desk job,” she tells us.

Archer nods his head off to the side, “It was certainly a fun time,” he tells us.

I see her shake her head, “Damn, two earth ponies who enjoy flying, who would have ever thought it.” She pauses then continues, “Well I hope you didn’t mind that yesterday, but after all I have heard, plus what you said when we were talking yesterday, I had to make sure that you were straight up with me.”

“Windy, I can understand, I know too many ponies will brag about things like that,” I tell her.

She nods her head, “That includes my family. From what I understand back before the war I had an ancestor who while he was good, could not stand the idea of somepony beating his record, sooooo, low and behold he tried to set up the one mare who was going to beat his record. I am not proud of his behavior, believe me, but he was a Wonderbolt back then and I was named in his memory. Part of why I prefer to go by Windy rather the Wind Rider,” she tells us with a chagrined expression on her face.

Then she looks Archer up and down, “SO this is your artillery captain Eh? Archer, I heard a lot about you, both from your fiancé and from Lieutenant Badger and the rest of the staff. I would like to talk to you sometime about your guns and how we could incorporate their use if needed.”

I see Archer smile as he tells her, “Windy, it is a pleasure to meet you also. I would love to talk with you about my guns sometime, but I have a suggestion I think you would like even more,” he says as he looks at me, “In the Archives Magpie has a memory orb of a raid during the war by Rainbow Dash behind the Zebra lines. It takes some time to watch, but I am sure you would find it informative, as well as the written reports about it.”

She smiles as if she is placating him and tells him, “It would be interesting to see a raid that she was on. But I have seen a couple of the wartime memory orbs while I was still in Thunderhead.”

This time he leans in closer to her and almost whispers, “But how about one from her directly?”

I see her eyes open wide and her ears go forward as she says, “No way, you don’t really have that do you?”

I nod my head and tell her, “Actually yes we do, I learned a lot from it, and I gained a whole new respect for her from that one.”

I see her raise an eyebrow, “That one?”

I nod my head, “Yes, we have a couple more by her, but one is kind of hard to explain,”

She looks at Archer and with a wicked smile on her face she asks, “So did you use them too?”

Archer nods his head and I watch his body language as he shifts uncomfortably and tells her, “Yes, yes I did.”

With that evil smile on her face, she then asks him, “So what did you think of how it felt to be a mare?"

I see him cringe and he looks at her and answers, “Windy, I am just glad she did not get laid in them.”

Neither of us can keep from busting a gut when he answers it that way. Then he adds, “According to Badger, as bad as that is, it was not nearly as shocking as when he viewed one of the orbs from when the stable first opened. Magpie and Mollygirl had him view the one from the Overcow. Needless to say, he found it very disturbing.”

I see her eyes go wide at that as she says, “Oh, my goddesses, Archer that is too good to pass up, I will have to start making cow jokes towards him.”

Inside I cringe as I remember how disturbing it was for me, much less for him, but it is still funny. Then Windy notices the time and tells us, “Well Archer it has been nice to meet you down here dirt side, Mollygirl, I enjoyed seeing you again and we need to go out for ciders or dinner sometime, but I really need to get going. I will talk to you soon.” She says and I am shocked as she walks over to the rail of the balcony and jumps off and glides down to the lower level of the atrium and trots off out the back door of the stable.

I look over at Archer and see him watching her flying away. He turns to me and laughing lightly tells me, “Well she certainly knows how to make an exit.”

Once we arrive at the medical department, I see Sutures standing at the main desk talking to the staff as she waits for us. Her back is to us so she does not notice as Archer quietly walks up behind her, wraps a hoof around her and nuzzles her neck.

At first, she jumps, but once she realizes it is him, she leans into him and nuzzles him back. “Hi, sweetheart. Now take me home or lose me forever,” she jokes with him.

I then step to her other side and whisper to her, “I guess, I am chopped radhog huh.”

She turns her head slowly so her nose is touching mine and then surprises me by my licking it. She then giggles, “Of course not love, I cannot wait to get home to everypony.”

Archer clears his throat, “Before we go though, you need to try on your new dress.”

She looks at him and tells him, “But dearest, I don’t have a new dress.”

He smiles at her and pulls the two dresses out of his saddlebags and tells her, “You do now, so please try them on and wear one home with us.”

I see her eyes go wide as she looks at both the yellow dress and the red and blue skirt. She has tears come to her eyes as she looks at them. “You guys really bought these for me?” she asks, then she tells us, “You do not know how much this means to me.”

She is all but giggling as she runs back to her room and tries on the skirt and blouse first. She wears it out and shows it to us. Still excited she wears the yellow dress out and then she stands on her one good hind leg and all but spins on it. Showing off how the dress fits just right.

Next to me Archer is smiling and leaning against the wall. “So, my dearest, which one will you wear home?” he asks her.

I watched amused as she looks between the yellow one, she is wearing and the blue and red skirt and blouse. I see her put her forehoof under her chin as she tries to decide. Finally, she says, “I will stick with this one for now,” then she comes over and gives both of us a hug and tells us, “Thank you so much. You do not know how good it feels to have someone do this for you.”

“Yes, we do love, and I am just glad we could make you feel that way also. You are very, very special to both of us.” I tell her.

We then help her grab what she has left in her room and pack it in her and our saddlebags. As we head back out she is hooved her papers authorizing her transfer to the list of those medically retired and to return to stable for medical treatment as needed. As she signs them, I see a tear in her eyes and both Archer and I lay a hoof on her shoulder to comfort her. She sniffles a bit more and signs them. Then she says to no one in particular, “The end of an era for me I guess.” She then drops down from the counter and leads us out the door. Then she smiles as she asks, “Before we leave, can we stop and see George if she is in?”

“I think that would be an excellent idea,” Archer tells her.

Once we reach George's room, we see she is not in, However, I feel a familiar breathing on my neck and I quietly say, “Good morning Choo Choo.”

From next to me but still invisible she says, “But, But, How? Major how did you know I was here?”

I smile and quietly tell her, “Because I have gotten to learn how you do things Choo Choo, now would you like to explain to me why you are sneaking into the stable like this?”

I hear her let out a frustrated breath, “I was bored and tired of not being able to visit my friends, so I came to visit George, but she is not here, and I was going to try and find the medical section so I could visit Sutures.” She answers me.

From my side, I hear Sutures say, “Thanks Choo Choo, but I am heading home today. We were stopping to see George too.”

Then I hear Choo Choo giggle as she tells Sutures, “Over here Sutures, you are looking the wrong way.”

On the other side of Sutures, I see Archer just smiling and shaking his head.

Then Sutures asks, “Could we all go to lunch somewhere together?”

Archer and I both look at each other and just shrug our shoulders, “Why not, Choo Choo I know you don’t need to eat, but would you care to join us for a meal in Manesville?’ Archer asks.

I can hear the smile in her voice and she asks, “Can I show myself there?”

This time I smile and I guess where she is and lay a hoof on her as I tell her, “Of course, you will be our guest.”

“Ok, but I won’t show myself until we are out of the stable. No reason to get anypony in trouble,” she says.

We then begin to leave the stable by going up to the main entrance. As we pass out of it, I see the look on Sutures's face as she looks at it. Seeing her like this I wrap my tail in hers and asks, “Whatcha thinking dearest?”

She shakes her head and looks at me, “Sorry, it just really hit me hard that I am no longer a soldier. Now I am a veteran. It, it feels strange now knowing that I no longer really belong here.”

Archer steps up on her other side, “My dearest love, you will always belong here. Remember you are a medical retiree. You can still come and go as needed for any medical treatment.”

She nods her head, “Yeah, I know, in fact, I am scheduled to see Moon Pie next week. It’s just that I am no longer a soldier; I have to figure out how to live outside the CDF.”

“Love, you are our spouse, we will support you no matter what you do. Besides, now you can actually become a midwife, and maybe even a farmer on the side,” Archer tells her as we continue walking.

Once we are outside the main entrance of the stable Choo Choo reappears. We all enjoy a mild chuckle as she appears right behind the guard at the barricade. He is stunned, to say the least, and Choo Choo just smiles and waves at him.

Eventually, we reach the riverfront and wind up at the Dairy Barn. As we enter the place, we are immediately given a table with a view of the river. I then notice several of the locals all starting at our table. I think nothing of it until I realize they are staring at Choo Choo. She is taking a piece of bread out of the bread basket on the table when she realizes what is going on. I watch as she blushes, smiles embarrassedly and gives a small wave to everypony.

When the waiter comes over to the table, I notice he is a very nervous unicorn buck, so I ask, “Excuse me, but why are you nervous?”

I see him gulp as he looks down then he looks at Choo Choo then back to me again and tells me, “I have only heard of two types of alicorns, those who were the Goddesses being the first type. The second type being vicious killers in the wastelands. As she is calm and seems kind, I can only assume she is royalty.”

My jaw drops as does Archers. Sutures on the other hoof takes it all in stride and explains, “No, she is not either one. In fact, she and her two sisters are becoming members of the Co-op.”

Choo Choo nods her head and tells him, “Yep, my sisters Quick Frost and Blue Star are doing their farm work under some cattle at Quick Frost's former family farm. Me, I am going to join the CDF.”

I see his jaw drop at this, and he asks, “Her family's former farm? Do you mean you weren’t always alicorns?”

Choo Choo smiles at him, “No, we were made this way. All three of us were just unicorns before. In fact, I used to be an engineer on one of the railroads before the war.”

I see him shake his head and he then asks her, “How old are you then?”

She smiles at him and tells him, “This form you see is just over two hundred years old, before that, I was old enough that I was going to retire if the megaspell exchange had never occurred.”

As she is staying this, I notice all the other patrons are paying attention to his questions as well as her answers.

Still smiling she then tells him, “In fact, my daughter and her family were in the Manesville stable on that day when it closed, so some of the unicorns in the Co-op may be descended from me.”

I see him relax and smile after she says that, and he puts out a hoof to her, “It is a pleasure to meet you then, please call me Straight Up.”

She takes his hoof and shakes it, “Straight Up it is a pleasure to meet you, please call me Choo Choo.”

From the kitchen I hear a cow call out, “Hey Straight Up, let’s get working here, I have two more orders up.”

He looks embarrassed for a second and then says, “Sorry about that, now what can I get all of you?”

Once we are done ordering he nods to us and then trots off to put our order in and to take care of his other customers. The rest of the customers return to their own business and no longer pay any attention to us.

Archer places a hoof on Choo Choo’s and tells her, “That was very well handled Choo Choo.”

“Thanks Captain, I do try. I am just glad everypony was relaxed enough to let me talk rather than getting defensive.”

We all have a pleasant meal and enjoyable conversation together. I have to smile as I see how much Sutures is enjoying it. At one point during the meal, she looks at us, and tells us, “It feels so good to just be out in public again.”

Archer smiles at her and tells her, “Dear it feels so good just having you back with us again.” To which I only nod in agreement. Once we finish our meal we head back out onto the street and begin to head back to the farm. When we reach the city limits of Manesville Choo Choo ask us, “If you don’t mind, I am going to go see if I can catch up with George.”

Sutures answers for us and tells her, “Not at all Choo Choo, it was great to see you again. Please stop by the farm sometime and visit ok?”

Choo Choo smiles at her, “Sure thing Sutures, I will see you all later,” she says and then takes off and flies off toward the stable.

On the way home, we take a couple of breaks to let Sutures rest her stump. But she is determined to make it home before Ginger gets off from school. Which we barely do. Magpie and Badger having both gotten home just a little bit before us. Sumac brings cider out to the porch for all of us to drink as we wait for Ginger to get home.

I am sitting on the edge of the porch along with Magpie when I see Ginger, Xochitl and Sunny coming up the road. Just before the driveway Sunny waves to them and flies off toward home. I can tell when Ginger sees Sutures as I hear a loud squee come from her, she says something to Xochitl which I do not hear and then she comes running toward the house. She is almost yelling, “Mama Sutures, it’s so good to have you home.” As she throws herself at Sutures and almost knocks her off her feet.

“It is so good to see you too my little filly,” Sutures tells her as she gives her a hug. Once they break the hug, we all head into the house. As I am getting ready to head inside, I look over and I see Xochitl walking towards his home. His head and tail are down, but he has a smile on his face.

Once inside, Sumac and I head to the kitchen. Sumac tells everypony else to sit down at the table as dinner is almost ready.

While we are in the kitchen Sumac takes a blackberry pie out of the oven. We take several loaves of bread and a large salad out to the dining room first. Then I help her bring a moussaka out for everypony. It is rare we have it but when I have had it before I always enjoyed it. It is one of the dishes that Stir Fry introduced us to.

After dinner, we all go into the living room and it is rather entertaining to see both bucks are cuddled around Sutures with me and Magpie leaning on each other and Archer, and with Sumac on Badger. Ginger is laying against Sutures'S belly with a huge smile on her face. We listen to DJ Pon3’s show for a while and then Ginger has me read to her another story.

Shortly after I finish the story, I take Ginger up to bed for the night and tuck her in. As I am blowing out the lantern, she tells me, “Ma thanks for understanding me wanting to cuddle mama Sutures tonight.”

I smile as I kiss her on the forelock and tell her, "Dear how could I not understand, we are family. She means more to me than you would believe also.”

“Night Ma,” she tells me as she rolls over and cuddles up close to her stuffed pony.

As I come back downstairs Sumac stops me and suggests, “Dear, I think tonight maybe you and Magpie should sleep in my room with me,” she smiles and then says, I think Sutures needs a night with just the boys first.”

I smile and remember my night like that with them, “I think you are right Sumac. Let me say goodnight to everypony and I will head up.”

I say my goodnights and then head back upstairs to bed. Sumac is already there, but Magpie is right behind me. As I climb into bed Magpie snuggles up next to me. Behind me, I hear Sumac give out a light laugh as she says, “Mollygirl, the last time we slept in the same bed you were still a blank flank. Of course, it was for different reasons back then.”

“I remember ma,” I tell her, “I was having bad nightmares back then.”

She nods her head. “I remember that too dear, after that I kept finding you and Ivy sleeping together.”

“Ma, even in the stable, she would do that when I needed it. Sutures did the same thing for me while I was on the expedition.”

Next to me, I hear Magpie ask, “Is that why you became so close, dear?”

I nod my head and tell her, “A large part of it love. But she also shared something with me that few others have. Sort of like what you two shared during the battle of Manesville.”

As I mention that name, I feel Magpie shiver and then she tells me, “I only wish I could forget that day. I don’t know how you could do it day after day like you had to.”

“Magpie, neither do I to tell the truth,” I tell her.

Then I feel Sumac shift as she moves then I feel her give me a kiss on top of my head, and then she gently gives a kiss to Magpie too. She then quietly says, “Good night dears, get some sleep and I will see you in the morning.”

We both tell her good night and as I lay there, I hear both of their breathing change and feel their bodies shift as they fall to sleep. As I begin to fall asleep, I realize how lucky I really am and I think to myself how it has been a really good day.

Dear DJ Pon3,

Today, I meet a couple in my shop that reminded me of so much of myself during my youth. They were more concerned about another pony and their happiness. This made it so I could not help but feel the joy and caring from them. With this in mind could you please play Que Sera, Sera.

Thank you

Sewing Bobbin

Manesville Co-op

This chapter shows us how Manesville and the Co-op are still changing and working to recover from the fight with the Enclave. It also allows us to see how the family is reacting to their new norm.

For those who are interested in listening to this weeks dedication song, the YouTube link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcWbZUgymkw