It feels good to be back here in Manesville. Junction Town was nice, but it is not the same for me anymore. Most of those I served with or was close to are now gone or assigned to Fillydelphia. I talked with Gawd when I got back and gave her my report and a rundown of what I saw and experienced with the ponies from the Co-op. This led her to offer me the chance to sign a new contract with the New Canterlot Republic’s fledgling army, particularly the portion of it that was formally the Co-op Defense Force out of Manesville. As I walk the halls to report in my mind wanders back to those hectic days and the ponies and cattle I got to know.

“Captain, Captain Dull Beak,” I hear a voice call from behind as I walk through what was once Stable 48, but is now the new NCR regional Headquarters and Command Center. I turn to see who is calling me and I see the tall, stocky, old, black stallion, Colonel Chappy.

“Yes sir. What can I do for you?” I ask.

He has a somewhat grim expression on his face and tells me, “Dull Beak, could you come to my office for a bit? I need to discuss a few things with you.”

While he makes it sound like a request, I know it is an order. Life was so much simpler before I stopped being a talon and joined up with the NCR Army. No matter what I want or have to do, I know I have to follow him. I signed the contract for the NCRA, now I got to follow it. There is nothing worse than a griffon who breaks their contract.

As I enter his office after him, he directs me to take a seat. I watch as he sits down behind his desk and leans forward on his forehooves on it. Then he tells me, “Captain, I wanted to first thank you for being willing to be assigned with us. From your time here as a liaison as well as the reports of your actions in combat with the CEF I have been very impressed, I am sure you will be a great asset to us in the 1^st Regiment.”

“Thank you, Colonel. I do appreciate it.”

“Captain, may I ask what made you decide to not only join but be assigned to the first?” He asks me.

I nod my head, “Of course Colonel. To tell you the truth after what I went through with the CEF I became very close to them. This is not a normal feeling for most of us in the talons. We try not to let personal feelings affect us. I was made to feel like a member of the Manesville military and treated as one of them. Once we got back, I also noticed how much the members of the Co-op had accomplished and I appreciate it.”

I see him nod his head, and he asks, “That wasn’t all of it was it?”

I sit quietly for a few minutes saying nothing. He raises an eyebrow, twitches an ear, and tilts his head as he waits for an answer. Finally, I tell him, “No Colonel, that was not all of it. During the expedition, I watched the CEF rescue my closest friend and see the state she was in. Then when she returned to duty I watched as Silver Spite murdered her, and the other Griffons under her as well as your officers. Colonel, I had no real reason to return home.”

He nods his head again and asks, “Guerre Faucon?”

I simply nod my head in reply.

“I had wondered if it was something like that. For what it is worth, I am sorry for your loss,” he tells me.

I try to sit up straighter in the chair and reply, “Thank you, Colonel. I do appreciate it. I just wish she could have gone out fighting rather than in an ambush like that. She was always a fighter, that is what I liked best about her.”

I see him nod his head. “So, you like working with fighters. Good. How would you feel if I tried to pull some strings for you and got you assigned with Major Mollygirl again, perhaps as a chief of staff for her?”

While I had hoped to be under her command, I had not thought it would be this easy. So, I hold my tongue and prepare to negotiate with him. After all, I do wonder what he thinks he can get out of it. Finally, I ask, “Sir what would this position entail for me?”

Smiling he tells me, “First and foremost you would run the staff portion of her battalion. You would be working talon in hoof with her 1^st Sergeant, Chain Lightning. I do believe you have met him before?”

I nod my head, “Yes sir, I have met him and I can work with him I do believe.”

“Good, I am glad to hear that. The other thing I need you to do is to work with the staff and the Major to make plans for operations that are coming up as well as the normal day-to-day operations.”

“Yes Colonel, I can do that with no problem. Is there anything else I need to know?” I ask figuring that would be everything.

Then he takes a deep breath and tells me, “Yes there is. After you finish reporting in with the battalion staff, I need to let the Major know I need to see her today.”

“Yes sir, I will do that as soon as possible,” I tell him.

“Alright Captain dismissed.”

From there I head straight for the battalion’s headquarters. The first pony I see is the Major’s clerk Paper Work. He automatically greets me.

“Good morning Dull Beak,” he tells me, then his eyes see the insignia on my uniform and he corrects himself, “I mean Captain. It is good to see you, anything I can do to help you?”

“Yes, there is Paper Work, do you know where the 1^st sergeant is?”

He smiles and tells me, “Yes sir, he should be back momentarily, he was just taking the muster reports up to the Regimental Headquarters, would you like to take a seat and wait for him?”

I nod my head and tell him, “You know what, that would be fine.”

“Very good sir, would you like some coffee or tea?” He asks.

“No, not right now, but if you happen to have a Sparkle Cola or a Sunrise Sarsaparilla, I could really go for one of those,” I tell him.

He smiles and tells me, “Give me a couple of minutes sir and I will see what I can do for you.”

I watch as he disappears down the corridor. While he is gone, I see the scarred, black-coated and yellow-maned Pegasus who is the 1^st Sergeant return. As he comes in, I rise to greet him. When he sees me, he has a suspicious look on his face, but he still comes over, salutes me, and after I return it, he asks, “How can I help you, sir?”

Smiling I tell him, “Just checking in 1^st Sergeant. The Colonel has assigned me to work with you running the staff.”

When he hears this, I notice his ears start to go back along his head and he asks, “Sir, is there a problem with the way I have been running the staff?”

I shake my head and tell him, “No 1^st Sergeant. But I have a feeling things are going to get interesting for us here soon.”

When I say this, I see him turn his head slightly and look at me suspiciously and he asks, “How is that sir?”

“Well between you and me, first sergeant, the Colonel has asked me to go get the Major so he can meet with her and me before the end of the day. I know she is on maternity leave and not due back for six weeks, so something must be going on,” I tell him.

I watch as Chain Lightning gets a concerned look on his face and he says, “I hope it is nothing serious that causes her to have to end her leave early. I mean as a first-time mother she will really want to be there with her foal.”

I look at him and tell him, “1^st Sergeant, it is worse than that. I don’t know if you are familiar with her story and how before the expedition she was attacked and almost killed. Because of that attack, this will most likely be her only chance at motherhood, and I know how you ponies are about family.”

I hear him sigh again and he says, “No, I had not heard about that, but I know she has had a rough go of it over the last year. When do you have to go get her?”

About this time Paper Work returns with an ice-cold Sparkle Cola and he expertly pops the cap and slides the bottle toward me on the desk I am standing next to.

I quickly thank him and then I tell Chain Lightning, “As soon as I finish this I should go, but before that, let's go over the staff roster and some of your ideas on what we need.”

Once we review the roster of our staff members as well as their duties, we begin to discuss the companies and their commanders. Their strong points and their weaknesses. Then we begin to discuss the needs of the battalion. Once we are finished, I excuse myself and depart to find the Major.

As I leave the stable, I see the first class of NCR recruits being worked by their instructors over in Camp Quick Trot. I think back to the mare that they named it after and smile. The mare who ended up replacing her was certainly different, but each was where we needed them at the time. And to tell the truth, I did respect her, even if she was a bit formal at times.

I fly just north of Emerald Grove and see one of the patrols of scouts going out for the day. I guess it is from the 1^st Regiment as I think I see an alicorn in its ranks. That would mean Trooper Choo. She sure has changed since the first time I met her. She is the first one of her species that made me realize that perhaps they really were just ponies and not monsters once Unity was destroyed. During some of our chats, she mentioned how it felt to be a part of Unity and how glad she was that she no longer was, although she does miss it sometimes. She and her two sisters have shown how much they can integrate into the regular pony communities if they are encouraged and allowed.

One of the things that surprises me still is that every year Manesville and the local communities celebrate the opening of the stable here. During this last celebration, the NCR integrated them into itself. During the celebration this year, Trooper Choo and her sisters talked with Regina, the President of the NCR’s daughter as well as some of the higher members of the Followers of the Apocalypse. They told them about their experiences since they were found, as well as how they were received and what they desired. To say the least, it was a bit of an eye-opener when we found out her “sister” Quick Frost had once been a stallion. The representative from the Followers then told her, “Well we are working on trying to find a way to turn some of the Unity alicorns into stallions.”

Quick Frost looked her right in the eyes and told her, “You know what, after two hundred years I am happy with who I am now. I have been a mare for far longer than I was a stallion and Blue Star is happy with me this way too, so no thank you. But good luck in your endeavors.”

Beside her, Blue Star nodded her green head and her mane flipped about a bit. Then she added, “Besides, we have a nice piece of land near the cattle we work for picked out to try and reclaim together.”

Regina laughed at her and told them, “Well I am glad to hear you are both happy and plan on becoming good citizens. You are some of our first success stories of you alicorns integrating into the NCR.”

Choo Choo smiled at her and then told her, “Thank you, ma’am. We are trying. Who knows, someday we may have natural-born alicorns again, but until then, I know my sisters and I are happy here, together.”

Then I had to poke the Yao Guai and asked, “Trooper Choo, are the rumors true that you are involved with a normal pony?

I saw her blush at first and she replied, “I don’t know if I would say involved, but I have started to date one of the NCOs in the 2nd battalion.”

I see several others raise eyebrows at this. Choo Choo looks around at them and asks, “What, he is very nice and a gentle colt. Besides at my age, who am I supposed to date, my previous fiancé who is now a ghoul? another alicorn? Sorry but my barndoor does not swing those ways.”

I am a little stunned to hear her mention the ghoul I had forgotten about what the others had said had occurred in the railyard under Canterlot Mountain. So I asked, “Speaking of that, would you be willing to lead an expedition back to there someday to retrieve some of the engines and rolling stock that was reported to still be there?”

At this, she brightened up and answered, “Yes I would. I would love to drive one of those old steam engines again. Besides, It would be nice to see Side Track again. I promised him I would return sometime to visit.”

I see the confusion on several of their faces, and I heard Quick Frost say, “I understand Choo Choo, but you are being rude, speak out loud for the others.”

She nodded her head and told us, “Side Track and I were supposed to be married after I returned from the Maripony run on what turned out to be the last day. He became a ghoul and I, what you see here. I ran into him during the expedition under the Canterlot Mountain. He has been maintaining the equipment there.”

Then I heard Regina say, “So the equipment there is usable. Interesting. I wonder if he would be willing to teach others how to maintain it?”

Choo Choo Smiled and told her, “I am certain he would ma’am. He always was a good teacher in the old days.”

Then I am brought out of my reminiscing when I notice I have just flown over the new settlement of White Cloud. Great, I have overflown the Major’s farm I think to myself as I turn and start to fly back. As I do so I see Sirocco coming to join me.

He flies up next to me and asks, “So Dull Beak what brings you out this way?”

I smile at the older pegasus who I came to know during the siege at Serenity Valley and I tell him, “Howdy Sirocco, just coming out to retrieve the Major for Colonel Chappy.”

When I say this I see a look of concern come over his face and he asks, “She is still on maternity leave with her foal, what’s the old mule want her for?”

I shrug my shoulders in reply as we continue to fly and I tell him, “Honestly, I really do not know, but I am worried a bit about it.”

He nods his head and tells me, “Let me know if it is anything you or she will need a hoof with.”

I smile, nod my head and tell him, “I will, Now I best land and get her, take care, and tell Fancy hello for me.”

With that, he waves a hoof and peels off while I go down to land in the farmyard. Once there I see Xavier and Sumac walking in the field beyond the barn, both wave to me and I wave back. Then I go up on the porch to knock on the door. I am only waiting for a couple of minutes when she answers the door.

She looks like she has been run through the wringer. I can not help but notice the dark circles under her eyes. I hate to bother her like this as I tell her, “Major, I hate to do this to you on your maternity leave, but the Colonel needs to see you today.”

I see the surprise on her face and she tells me, “Ok, let me go tell Magpie so she knows, and I will be right with you.” Then she leaves the room for the back of the house. I hear her talk to another pony, but I can not make out what they are saying. Finally, she comes back into the room in her uniform. She writes a quick note and leaves it on the table and then tells me, “Ok Dull Beak, let’s go.”

On our way, we talk about old times and friends. I do kid her a bit about her having given birth during Regina’s speech and while in formation. I then tell her, “You know you are the first mare I have ever seen give birth and then fall back into formation right away, much less with your foal on your chest. I have to say Major; you really know how to make an impression.”

I see her blush and she tells me, “Well you know, It did seem appropriate, especially seeing she mentioned birthing pains and all.”

At this she gets me to laugh again, “Major, this is why I love working for you, what is weird to others just seems so normal for you.”

I see her shake her head and she tells me, “Dull Beak, I don’t try to have stuff like that happen, it just seems to. If I was writing a book, nopony would believe it.”

I laugh lightly again as I tell her, “You know what Major, you are right, no one would. But that is what makes it so much more entertaining.”

We are almost to the gate when she notices the new recruits being trained as well as the construction going on in that area and she asks no one in particular, “What the?”

I see where she is looking and I tell her “Oh, that’s Camp Quick Trot, and those are the first batch of recruits we have been sent to train.”

She wants to know why they are here of all places and I go on to explain to her, as well as why it was named Camp Quick Trot. Then she tells me something that surprises me and in a way hurts that I had not expected, she tells me, “The sad thing to me is that Fancy told me once that she had been considering starting to have foals of her own when we got back. I guess now all of these troopers will in a way take her name. Each of them having come from Camp Quick Trot.”

The last part really gets me to think in a way I would not have imagined before and I tell her, “Major, even for a pony you look at things a bit different than most.”

When I tell her this, she just smiles a little and shrugs her shoulders. Then we reach the Guardhouse at the gate and are on base again. As we enter the rear entrance, I notice she is looking at all of the changes. I notice her sigh a bit and while I wonder why I do not ask. It is not my place. If she wants to talk about it, she will. She will let me know.

I follow her as she heads on her path directly to the Regimental HQ. Several of the ponies and cattle greet her as she passes and she seamlessly greets them back, but it seems to me more automatic than authentic.

Once we reach the HQ we are met and greeted by the regimental Sergeant Major. He begins by asking the Major about her foal, which I see relaxes her. Then he goes and checks to see if the Colonel is ready to see us. Once he is ready, we are told to go inside and the Colonel motions for us to take a seat.

After we are seated, he cuts right to the chase and tells us, “The reason I wanted to talk to you is that we are still looking at deploying part of the old CDF on a rotational basis. We have talked them out of sending our people into Fillydelphia, but to make up for that we are going to be deploying at various outposts to set up defenses and maintain a military presence in some of the remote and border areas.”

The Major does not react to this and still seems relaxed. She even tells him, “I expected that sir.”

Then he says something that I see crushes her, he tells her, “This means we may need to deploy your battalion sooner than I had wanted to. Yours will be the first to go.” I swear I can almost hear something break in her.

Then she asks quietly in a pained tone of voice, “Why my battalion first sir?”

He looks her in the eyes and I can see he is uncomfortable as he tells her, “Because Major, yours has the most experience out there. I will be sending out a platoon of scouts and engineers to assist you as well as a battery of artillery and mortars.”

I see her slump in her chair as she loses her military bearing. She looks down at the ground and asks, “How soon?”

The Colonel has a pained expression on his face as he tells her, “Major, there is no certain date yet, but within the next four months. That is why I need you to return to duty in two weeks.”

I see she has a tear in the corner of her eye but she fights it back and she says the only thing she can “Yes sir, I understand.” Then she and I get up to leave.

The Colonel also stands up and then tells her, “For what it is worth Mollygirl, I really am sorry about this.”

She quietly tells him as she reaches the door, “So am I sir, so much for promises.” Then she and I head out and I quietly close the door behind us.

She fights back the tears and anger and tells me “Well since we are here, I best check on my staff, care to join me.”

By the time we reach our battalion HQ, she is back to her normal confident self. The first member of the staff we run into is Paper Work. He quickly asks her, “Major, have you heard anything about Captain Kettle Belle, she has not shown up for muster this morning.”

She smiles at him and tells him that her wife Sutures had gotten called to their residence and that she was in labor last she knew. This both surprises Paper Work and pleases him as he tells her, “Oh wow, thanks for letting me know ma’am,” then he asks, “By the way, how is your little one doing?”

I see the joy on her face as she tells him about her foal Millie, as well as her other wife Magpies foal Woodrow. Part of me hurts for her seeing how much she loves just being a mother and knowing she is going to have to give it all up again, much sooner than expected. Soon several others of the staff have gathered around us and are listening to her talk about the foals and how her leave is going. Even Chain Lighting, who stands to the back, leaning against a filing cabinet drinking a cup of coffee.

Once we are done talking with the staff and getting a rundown of all that is going on, I ask her, “Major, do you mind if I accompany you back home. Maybe we can catch lunch in White Cloud even.”

She smiles and tells me sure. On the way there we begin to talk about some of the concerns we are going to have when we deploy. She also brings up the need to begin training for the troops to take the rust off and to hone their skills again. We then begin to talk about her family and those close to her.

I am surprised to hear that she is still visiting Tar Water every week. But I know that they had become close during the expedition. Her cousin and former scout Trouble and his wife Blondie are our next topic of conversation. She lets me know that they will be taking custody and raising Tar Waters foal once it is old enough to be weaned. Their son, Sunny is a source of amusement to me. He is so young and yet so eager to learn everything he can about flying. I still shake my head at how an earthpony and a unicorn parented a pegasus, but that is pony genetics for you. I know Trouble has pegasus in his bloodlines as he is related to the Major, but this also indicates that Blondie does too.

Sunny it seems, has become closely attached to both Ginger and Xochitl and the three of them are always into something. As it is, I found out from Stir Fry, the cook from White Cloud that they had provided her with three good-sized radhogs to serve at the Opening Day celebrations at the stable. While many of those there from the Co-op avoided it, all of the griffons and some of the others from the NCR delegation were more than happy to sample the goods she had at a booth there at that picnic.

We then arrive at the pub in White Cloud, it is just before noon and I see the owner, Hardtack standing behind the bar whipping it down with a clean rag and some water. He seems surprised to see us when he looks up. Mollygirl and I choose a table by the front window and sit at it. Once Hardtack comes over. We exchange pleasantries for a bit and the Major tells him that we are going to be deploying early. He then agrees with her and tells her it is not fair, but asks, when has service in any military been fair. After that, he tells us what is the special today and then asks us what we want to drink.

Mollygirl orders a pint of hard cider and a shot of whiskey to go with it. This surprises me as she normally does not drink. So, I just order a soda or water if they don’t have it.

As I am nursing my soda waiting for our lunches to arrive, she finishes her first set of drinks and orders another round. This makes my eyebrow raise a bit, but I am not her father so I am not going to say anything.

As we sit there, she starts talking about what all we need to do to get ready for deploying, then she starts to get upset and tells me, “That bastard promised me he would try and have us be the last of the regiment to deploy. After all that we went through and now this. It just ain’t right Dull Beak. It ain’t.”

I nod my head and I tell her, “I agree, it isn’t but Major, now you can see why my kind prefers a contract. At least that way you know where you stand.”

She looks at me and tells me, “Yeah, but I always believed a pony’s word was as good as a contract.”

She has her second round finished when our meals arrive and she orders another round. By then I have a second Sparkle Cola. But I am beginning to worry about her. I have never seen her drunk before. After we finish eating our meal, she notices her drinks are gone and orders a fourth one.

As she is drinking it, she begins to start talking about the expedition and Serenity Valley. For all that is holy, that was a botched-up mess. We should never have been put into that position. Since we got back from there, I found out that the Co-op had the forces to help us ready nearby. Instead, they wanted to reduce the number of raiders and survivors from Red Eye’s army as much as possible and waited until the last moment to help us. I am still outraged over it. I am surprised the Major isn’t, but then again, maybe she does not really realize what the situation was and why. Instead, she blames herself, and I comfort her with a wing around her and a shoulder to cry on as she breaks down about it.

I finally get Hardtack's attention and tell him, “Please, do me a favor and go let her family know. We need to be discrete though if we can.”

Hardtack nods his head and I see him step outside for a minute, as he comes back in, he tells me “Sirocco is going to get them.”

I simply nod my head and tell him thanks.

About a half-hour later I see first a zebra and then a mare walk in. I realize it is Xavier and Sumac and wave a talon at them.

Xavier and I take her out the back door and start to lead her home, as Sumac settles up the bill with Hardtack. When she catches up with us, I tell her, “I will pay you for my meal when we get to the farm.”

She nods her head and we continue on. As we are walking, I fill in both Sumac and Xavier on what happened. I hear Xavier say something in zebra that I don’t recognize, but am sure is not polite. Then Sumac tells me, “Thank you for letting us know what happened and why.”

As we walk to the farm Mollygirl is leaning on Xavier and I have a wing around her to try and steady her. She seems to be a bit more sober by the time we arrive at the farm. When we get inside the house Sumac tells us to take her to the bedroom so Sutures does not see her.

Like a contract going bad, this seems to conjure the deed she had hoped to avoid. I look up to see Sutures standing there asking, “Don’t want me to see who like what?”

When she sees the Major in this condition, I see the expression of horror, then sadness comes over her face. She says nothing at first then she begins to cry and I hear her mumble something as she goes into the kitchen and we hear the back door slam.

We help Sumac take Mollygirl into the downstairs bedroom, and hold her steady as Sumac removes her uniform. Then we lay her in the bed.

Once back outside Sumac comes over to me and tells me. “Thank you very much Dull Beak. We all owe you for this one.”

I hold up a talon and tell her, “No, no you don’t she is my friend and to be honest, I wanted to get drunk too after hearing this news.”

I see Sumac sigh and she tells me, “Well thank you anyways. Dull Beak you may not know it, but her family has a drinking problem. So if you could, please help us to keep her from hitting the bottle if you can.”

This time I sigh and I tell her, “Sumac, I will do what I can, but she is the boss, not me. But I will try.”

She smiles sadly and tells me, “That is all I or anypony else can ask. Thank you again,” then she surprises me by giving me a hug and a kiss on my cheek. Sometimes I really don’t get ponies I think to myself.

Then I tell her, “Ok, well I best get back to the Stable. Take care and I will see you later.”

She nods her head and tells me, “Ok, take care and let me know the next time you will be here for supper, I owe you a special meal.”

This gets my attention and I tell her, “Sounds good Sumac. I will do that.” Then I turn and walk a few steps away and take flight to fly back to the stable.

On my flight, I think about what all has happened and I just shake my head. She is my friend, one of the few I really have left, and I care about her, but how much can I do to keep her from drinking if she really wants to. Well, I gave my word to try. It’s not like it is a contract, right? Or is it? We will have to see.

While I want to thank Kkat and so many others who have created and flushed out the world of FoE, I also want to say thank you to those who are reading my story. Sorry for it being a short chapter this time, but the next chapter is almost ready to go and the following waiting for a final edit.

I thought that it would be a welcome change to see things from Dull Beaks perspective. The next chapter returns us to Mollygirl's view of events and life in the Co-op.