Chapter 15 Love That Lasts

Part 1 A New Mission

Sanctuary was alive with the hustle and bustle of trade and agriculture. I hadn't seen so a place so lively since my days in Bittsberg! It was an exciting prospect, to say the least. The first pony to greet us was Press Peirce.

"Hey! You fellas made it! Cheers." he wore a big smile and reached out to shake my hoof, then Capper's.

The warm welcome was unusual in my opinion but Capper was all too pleased, "Nice to make your acquaintance," he winked. "My coltfriend and I are here to lend any assistance necessary."

"Capper," I hissed then smiled, embarrassed, when Press caught my eye, "happy to help!" I chuckled nervously.

"Well, I'd love to explain the situation, but first, Mama Madmare told me she was expecting you." Press pointed a hoof in the direction of a quaint little house where I recognized the hot-pink mare immediately. The old mare was knitting from a basket of yarn. What she was making was unclear, but she smiled and waved when she noticed we were looking. She readjusted her beanie and went back to work.

"We'll skedaddle on over then," Capper laughed, making legs with two of his paw pads. Why was he in such a high mood?

OOO

Capper Dapperpaws

"My name is Capper Dapperpaws," I introduced myself to the old mare, gingerly taking her hoof and kissing it.

"Oh!" she giggled. "I've been expecting you." she was staring at my kitty-cat paws as I drew away and I gave her a flashy smile, baring my sharp teeth. They must be glinting in the sun, I kept good care of them. "And who might your friend be?" she asked.

"Oh, you already know me," Blitz stammered.

"No, no. I'm talking about your other friend." she frowned and waved dismissively at my coltfriend.

"Wait, you can see me?" Cheshire asked her.

"Of course I can see you dear! They don't call it the Sight for nothin'!" she guffawed and set down her needles.

"Well, in that case, we must all be mad here!" my hysterical companion swirled around me and went to shake Mama's hoof, or rather he grasped both hooves and she shook back.

Laughing out loud, she smiled at the three of us, "You look confused dear," she lowered her spectacles at Blitz.

"Well of course I am, how can you possibly see a figment of—*ahem*—a program in Capper's imagination?" Blitz was on the verge of losing his breath.

Mama shook her head, "I can't." was her simply put statement.

"I like her," I said behind a paw at Blitzfire.

"Me too!" Cheshire was jumping up and down in glee. It almost appeared as though his lavender and purple stripes were swirling in on themselves, moving much the same way a deer pony's cutie mark would. "The prospect of being seen is curiouser and curiouser."

"Six curious things before breakfast, my dear," said Mama.

"How are you even able to hear him, let alone see him?" Blitz asked.

Mama sighed, "If only you could ride the Sight the way I do. Speaking of which, I know you have chems on you, I can smell it. Are you willing to share so I can tell you of your friends?" she was staring at Blitz with a sort of longing look. I wasn't sure it was healthy for her, but it was the wild wasteland, you do you.

"We sure do," I nodded at Blitz, curious to see where this was going.

Blitz creased his brows, "Are you sure it's a good idea?"

"Trip a little," I laughed and Blitz retrieved the chem satchel from his inventory.

Ravager Blitzfire

"Ah, the Sight!" Mama was sighing in euphoria. "It tells me…Press sent your friends ahead, to the Castle!" she breathed, "They were looking for you, dear…but I see in your future conflict."

"Conflict? With who?" I was anxious, tapping all four of my hooves nervously against the wood porch.

"Not with who you may think. A secret agenda, hard to distinguish. I see a newsmare in your future."

"Piper, it must be her," Capper nodded.

"ORANGE JUICE," she gasped loudly then her eyelids fluttered and she exhaled before locking eyes with me. "That's all I can remember little Ravager."

"If that's all then that's fine." I shook my head, still not feeling satisfied.

"You know, you could always see what I see. You're not a demented old unicorn, but with those types of chems, well…"

"Where would I get more?" I asked her.

"You would need to return to Everfree, and I think you'd need to do it with your friends alongside you." her voice was raven-like and she sounded tired.

"I think we should let you rest for now," Capper patted me on the shoulder to indicate we might wanna leave.

"Maybe, maybe," she nodded, eyelids beginning to droop. "Talk to Press. He knows more than I do!" then she was snoring.

Press was at a workbench when we finally found his house. It looked like it had been converted into a community center. The leader of the Minute Hooves turned from his project and went inside the house but when I moved to go after him I heard somepony calling my name.

"Ravager? Ravager Blitzfire, is that you?" the voice was so familiar!

OOO

Nexus Spark

Pre-War: 2 Years Before The Megaspells

"Ravager! Ravager Blitzfire, are you listening?!" the internment advisor was stomping both front hooves to get my friend's attention. I saw Blitz snap to.

"Wha-what?" Blitz was blinking rapidly, I could tell he'd been about to fall asleep.

For the past hour, we'd been talking to a turquoise mare named Melody Salazar-Rodrigo. She liked to be called Mimi. "I hope you're paying attention. I know it's boring but if you want to be an Overseer and Nexus wants to be your Head of Maintenance then I need full attention." her voice sounded sweet and sincere. She would be assigned to Stable 14 whenever we finally got done with training. Who knew how long that would take.

I was taking notes via an orb memory recording device. It was a nifty little invention and I wished I could take the credit for creating it, but unfortunately, I could not. "Yeah, Blitzy," I chuckled, shoving him playfully. Faust if my heart didn't stop racing every time I looked at that colt…

"I'm sorry," Blitz sat up straighter and shuffled his notes. He hadn't taken many, thank goodness I was recording this session.

"Now, where were we…" Mimi began again…

Ravager Blitzfire

Present Time: 207 Years After the Incident of Stable 14

I blinked at her, not quite believing my eyes. "Mimi?"

"Oh, Faust I knew that was you!" she lifted a high hoof in an embrace and I braced myself for the contact. She was a hugger, I remembered that much about her. I knew she was supposed to have been in Stable 14 but I had never seen her enter so I had no idea what happened to her. She looked a bit different…a bit ghoulish. I grimaced as she pulled away.

"Oh, I'm sorry, was that too much?" asked the timid mare. I looked her up and down, seeing her wrinkled pencil cutie mark and her mutated features and frazzled mane, or lack thereof.

"I think the question is more, 'what happened to you,' rather than 'don't hug my coltfriend,'" Capper laughed and held out a paw to her. She took it and shook.

"Oh, I see," she looked down at herself. "I'm a bit ugly now aren't I?"

"I wouldn't say that," I said while at the same time Capper said, "Now, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"I never made it to Stable 14. Instead, the radiation mutated me just enough to keep me alive but didn't affect my brain. Thank all the alicorns and Faust for that." she smiled, wrinkling her sparkly green eyes.

"Well better a ghoul than frozen in Stable 14." I skiffed my hoof through the dust on the concrete porch.

"Frozen?!" she gasped in shock, her voice rising a few octaves. "What do you mean? You wouldn't…?" she looked momentarily terrified of me.

"NO!" I bellowed, "Oh Faust, no! I had no idea until it was too late. It seemed to be some form of a control experiment. Nexus and I were the only two who survived."

"That's terrible! I'm so sorry," she stepped forward then back again, shying away but understanding lit her expression. "Speaking of Nexy, where is the poor guy?"

"Um…" I glanced down at my hooves, picking at some grime on my horseshoes.

"That's a bit of a touchy subject," Capper interjected, rubbing my back.

Mimi's mouth formed an O, "I didn't mean to pry."

"Hey!" a louder voice cut in, Press emerging from the community home. "I see you met Mimi."

"Actually, we already knew each other," I made eye contact with the chocolate brown stallion.

"Oh! That's always nice then!" he smiled brightly, "Mimi, weren't you heading out to meet with Terra?"

"Oh, yes, of course, the trader outpost. I can't believe I forgot!" Mimi moved off quickly, "It was nice seeing you; hope it isn't the last!" she waved as she ran away.

"So, the Castle. Mama told us to ask you about it." I turned my full attention to Press.

He chuckled, "Straight to business then."

"Usually how it is with us scavenger folk," said Capper.

"And what race are you exactly, I don't think I've ever met a walking talking cat before," said Press.

"I'm a Cait Sith," Capper announced, something not even I had ever heard from him before.

"Cait Sith?" I rose a brow.

"Well, ponies like to translate it to catlord, but yes, Cait Sith." Capper nodded with a cheeky grin.

"Very nice to meet you!" Press was pleased. "Now, about the Castle. Some friends of yours already went on ahead, so if you'd follow me over to the Sanctuary Garden Center, I have a war room in there." he pointed over to a huge greenhouse in the center of town. It looked makeshift and alien in this little residential area.

"Oh, that's sweet," Capper said smoothly.

We went in, seeing a few ponies tending the plants, but at the very back was a huge table with a map of Broncston spread out on it. Residing over it were two ponies, one of whom I recognized as Surge. "Look who it is!" he smiled big when he saw me. "And a catlord, thought your kind went extinct, but nice to be proven wrong." he smiled as he reached for Capper's paw. They shook.

"So you've met one of us," Capper laughed.

"Oh, I've worked with plenty of folk out in the wastes, I'm one of the Minute Scouts." nodded Surge enthusiastically. "I was actually told to expect Blitz here," he nodded to me, "and wait to take you to the Castle."

"So what is this Castle I keep hearing about?" I asked, peering over the map and seeing a big pink circle drawn around what I remembered as Griffonstone Castle. "Is that even in Broncston."

"Not officially no," Press informed me. "But it was commissioned as a command outpost prewar, which made it unofficially a part of Southeast Broncston."

"Which is why it's so urgent we go and meet Colonel Raven Shaw as soon as possible," Surge proclaimed with a raised hoof. He then adjusted his sunglasses.

With a tilt of his aussie slouch, "Yep, absolutely right," Press said in agreement.

I tapped a hoof subconsciously against the tabletop, "I'm gonna need to ask about the ponies you sent ahead first." my eyes would not make eye contact…

"You mean OJ and his crew?" asked Surge, frowning at me.

"That's where you're gonna have to elaborate," Capper gave him a one-hand finger gun then bit his lip when he saw me looking.

Press spoke up, "There were quite a bit of ponies in their group. It was a whole battalion."

"Hey, I don't complain about anypony offering their assistance." Surge laughed. "We need all the help we can get."

I perked up, staring Press down, and he shrank away a little. "Do you remember anypony's name?" I asked him with gritted teeth.

"I only remember the Guardian's name was Buck and the Colonel's name was Ashe Erza," answered Press, slowly straightening with a reassuring smile.

My heart was racing, and my thoughts were jumping all over the place, "Was there an orange pony with them?"

"Not that I can recall…" Press began to say.

A shout from an old mare came from the other end of the greenhouse. "Of course there was an orange pony, his name was Orange Juice for Faust's sake." she was making her way gradually toward us with a walker, her beanie crooked on her head. She pushed up her glasses and stopped when she reached us.

"Mama, what are you doing in here? You should be taking your midday nap right about now!" Surge gasped in shock.

She stuck her tongue out at him, "Oh phewy. In my day I was just as up and adam as any other pony."

"Orange Juice was in their party?" my eyes were practically bulging at her.

She nodded, "I had another vision. I must ask you to keep with you your Malice drug."

"Malice drug?" asked Capper, scratching his blue hair.

I glanced between the two of them, "you mean the unrefined raider drug I picked up?"

Mama nodded enthusiastically, "Precisely! If you refine it with ingredients from an old abandoned lab in Everfree then you can create something called Sympathy, but you'll need help from Orange Juice."

"Now hold on, Mama," Press reached a hoof toward her, "I don't think you should be asking everypony you meet for more drugs." he had a concerned look on his face but when I looked toward Surge he just shrugged it off.

"It's fine with me…" I told Press.

He shook his head, "She has an addiction you'll just be feeding into."

"Now wait just a minute, the info she's given us seems to be of use, 'specially if she remembered that colt's name where you couldn't," Capper was stroking his chin.

Press sighed exasperatedly, "I can't control anypony!"

"Back to the matter at hoof," said Surge.

"Right!" I shouted a little prematurely, "Capper, we need to get to the Castle as soon as possible."

"That would be excellent," Press agreed.

Just then the radio behind Surge burst into a jumble of static and shouted words: "zz-I don't know if anypony zz getting this zz Sanctuary, but zz is urgent! We zz under seige zz Griffonzz Station zz. Outpost and the Castle zz not responzz. Request zz backup! I repeat, zz! Over-zz!"

"That sounds serious," Press jumped to attention and Surge was already trying to hail them again.

My heart skipped a beat and I started tapping my four hooves from, swaying from side to side. "Is Orange Juice with that unit," I asked them.

I saw Mama nodding but Press said, "I have no idea." I decided to take Mama's word for it.

"Capper, we need to leave right now!" my nerves were acting up.

"You got it hotshot," he nodded and kept a neutral expression, seeing how serious my state of mind really was.

With that, we wrapped up the debriefing. I rushed out the door, Orange Juice on my mind and my nerves…

OOO

Orange Juice

Present Time—20 minutes ago…

I blinked my eyes, waking up beside the pony I knew and loved. I felt safe, I felt comfortable and most of all, I felt loved. I rolled over, facing him.

Wonder blinked his apple red eyes, slowly waking up as I did. "Good morning OJ," he smiled sleepily.

I pecked him on the lips, "I don't think it's morning, at least not from what I see on my EFS."

"Your Eyes Forward Sparkle?" Wonder yawned, looking as groggy as he sounded. It made me giggle and I booped my nose against his.

"Boop!" I said out loud with my laughter.

"Boop right back at ya, Cutie." Wonder kissed me and my heart felt all warm and tingly.

This colt had taught me a lot about love in the course of the last year, and for knowing him I was grateful. It was awesome to have him by my side, helping me learn exactly what my cutie mark meant. Last year I had received my cutie mark, just as everypony in the Fort had told me we would. It had made me so happy, and I'd been the happiest I'd ever been since Stable 28 in this last year alone. Wonder made me happy, and so did all my friends. They were a good influence on me, and I knew I was a good influence on them. Last year the Guardian had been a grumpy old stallion, this year he seemed a lot nicer.

Speaking of the Guardian, I could hear him talking outside our tent with a pony named Ashe Erza. We were in the command center at Griffonstone Station. We had recently met with some ponies called Minute Hooves Scout and Patrol, or MHSP, and we were at their command outpost discussing strategy with them. There was a radio tower and we were in contact with a place called Sanctuary. That was all I knew, I wasn't all too good at strategy so I didn't bother myself with the small details. That's what Erza, Buck, and Cherry were for. Lily and Pumpkin were here too, in a different mare's tent and sitting up I could see that Cherry had already gotten up way before Wonder and I had. Combat was still asleep in his own bed.

"If you think I'm asleep, you're gravely mistaken. Keep staring at me and I'll chop your shiny bits off." Combat grumbled.

"Well, we don't want that now do we," Wonder was sitting up.

Combat was referring to, of course, a time in our past when he was a raider who wanted to take my thingy from me. I grimaced at the memory but I knew he was only joking with me now as a friend. Combat hated Circle of Ash as much as we did. Speaking of, it was the whole reason we were here.

The tents weren't very soundproof and I could just hear bits and pieces of conversation from outside the tent. Cherry was talking, "...Not if we don't get back-up soon guys."

"Precisely!" was Lady Ashe's booming voice. Wonder and I smiled at each other, thinking the same thing. We were both young colts, about the same age. He was shorter than me though so he was usually little spoon. "We must contact Sanctuary and ask for the status of additional troops!"

"Meanwhile, how do we defend this position from the Lurks the Queen keeps sending at us?" Buck was grumbling.

"I don't know! I can get us on the radio at about 2:30pm, but that's about it," said a small female voice, a pony named Private Flower.

"I'll head the defense until then! Along with my colt…" came a slightly high pitched male voice, louder than the last. His name was Captain Ace.

"Calm down Cardkeeper," said another and final pony named Major Brighton.

The ponies we were getting help from at this outpost were named as mentioned: Skye Flower, a sky blue pegasus pony, mutated from years and years of radiation and looked like a ghoul, with light blue eyes and poofy turquoise mane and tail which were artificial; Shadow Brighton, a black colored unicorn who had woken up in a vault far from here and joined the Minute Hooves; and Ace of Hearts, or as he was better known as by his callsign, Cardkeeper, who had always been with the Minute Hooves since as far as he could remember. He was a white and blue striped pony with caramel-colored eyes. They were all differently ranked in their MHSP unit, headed by Shadow. At this point, we were on a first-name basis with all of them as we had been here for a little over a week.

Card and Shadow also had an adopted son named Dime Brighton who was too young to be in any combat situations but old enough to be present at the camp. Dime was an aubergine colored pony with golden eyes and colorful gold stripes all over his dark body. I really liked Dime, as even though he was younger than I, I was still at a similar mental age to him. I loved to play make-believe with him every day while the grown-ups made their battle plans. Wonder sometimes participated. Even though his mental age was the same as his physical age, he loved my naive and quirky nature. That's what made him the best coltfriend ever!

"OJ! OJ! Your mind is wandering again. What's got you so distracted?" Wonder was already up out of bed and he had on his flat cap. He had already retrieved his arcana bangle anklets and was now working on pulling on his combat boots. I blinked and glanced down at my own hooves, noticing I had messed up the bed covers as I had been pacing and rolling around in the bed while thinking.

"I guess my attention fell away from me again!" I giggled at my coltfriend. "Pass me my Puppydog tags?"

"Sure thing, Cutie." Wonderbolt opened a footlocker and grabbed the dog tags labeling me as the Guardian's Puppydog with Bittsberg Fort credentials. Here at this outpost, it was as though two allying nations had met up with their militaries to defeat a common enemy. However, our current enemy was not common, we were only helping them out in order to ask them to help us out. A favor for a favor as the Guardian had put it. He was such a great teacher!

I caught my tags and slipped the chain around my neck. My mane was no problem now, as Pumpkin Spice was here and she was making sure I kept up on my appearance. She was like a minister of image for the Fort, as Cheif Manedresser and only Mane Stylist on board. Lily was here as well, supervising Wonder as his boss, him being a field medic and her being Head of Medicine at the Fort. Cherry was here acting as active quartermaster, as his job title at the Fort was Cheif Quartermaster. Buck was, well, obviously my Guardian! Combat Zone was a Lieutenant at the Fort now, having helped us in a huge crisis last year dealing with Stable 28 and defeating the Overmare. Everything in Bittsberg was stable and secure again, just as Stable Tech had once promised everypony. Ashe Erza was here as a supervisor for the Guardian, being the best Colonel the Fort ever had.

"Hey OJ," Wonder called as I slipped the tags over my neck. "You wanna go see what Dime is up to?" he was by the flap of the tent.

"Sure, but first I wanna see what the Guardian is doing!" I called back and he left.

Outside Dime was running around playing with a small dog. The Minute Hooves always worked to preserve the way of life from Pre-War and they always rescued strays. I liked that! It was difficult for me to ignore the puppy as I made my way over to the Guardian. He was busily having a whispered converstion with Erza. Pumpkin Spice was bouncing past Dime and she waved at me. I grinned toothily and waved back.

"Hey Guardian!" a bounced in between the two and gave him a huge smile.

"OJ, I'm sorry, but I'm talking with the Colonel right now." he frowned down at me. He was wearing his customary purple lightweight power armor but his helmet was not present.

"Oh, he is quite alright," said Erza. "I find his presence amusing. In a good way," she added when I looked over my shoulder at her and stuck out my tongue. She stuck her tongue out at me in return. It made me laugh.

"I'm gonna go play with Dime." I said as I trotted off to join Shadow's son.

The puppy had returned to the tent and Wonder was looking after him. I went to Dime and said a very enthusiastic, "Hi!"

"Hi OJ!" Dime was laughing. "Pumpkin Spice is so funny!"

"Where's Pumpkin—" Pumpkin bounced up and interrupted me,

"Hi Orange Juice! I cannot get over your name, like ever!" she was making silly faces at me and I was not able to control my roaring laughter.

"I know," I told her.

"Your laugh is funny," said Dime to me.

At that moment a shreiking sound picked up and I looked toward the road. I recognized it as a Mire Lurk, but it was a nasty creature known as a Lurker in the Broncston Wastes. My eyes widened when I saw how close they were to us and I saw from the corner of my eye Pumpkin Spice dive to grab Dime and roll into the closest tent.

I spun around, basically jumping on my four hooves, and yelled to the Colonel, "Lady Ashe! Lurks!"

Everypony jumped into action at once. I hadn't been to the armory tent yet today so I needed to run to the war tent as quick as my little hooves could take me before I could find myself a weapon. I'm sure there was a locker in there with available weapons, hopefully a 9 or 10mm. Skye was inside and she was busily digging through a footlocker. Shadow was already cocking a shotgun and darting outside.

"Toss me a weapon Skye Flower!" I cried and she instantly threw a gun at me. I caught the 10mm, Yes! in my turquoise magical aura, letting it float in front of me. I had had a lot of practice with levitation in the past year. I was a unicorn, and before I met Buck and friends, I was very bad at magic. But I had been recieving constant help from everypony. I think I heard Lily say once that my growth and mental capacity had been stunted due to the horrible treatment I had recieved in Stable 28. I didn't know what any of it meant, but I trusted her. She was my doctor.

"No time to dilly dally now," said Skye Flower, out of breath. She was rushing out the door. I broke up my thoughts and went to follow her.

Outside was a mess with firefighting. Cardkeeper was on the radio nearby and I heard him shouting into the reciever, "zz-I don't know if anypony is getting this over in Sanctuary, but this is urgent! We are under seige at Griffonstone Station Command Outpost and the Castle is not responding. Request imediate backup! I repeat, imediate backup! Over-zz!" he then dropped the reciever and spun to join the action with his own semi-auto rifle. "Yaaaaah!" he was yelling as he ran toward his coltfriend.

I hoisted my pistol in my magical grip and joined the fray…

(Footnote: So here's the thing, I'm finally getting back into this story and honestly, I'm super excited to be reintroducing OJ. This is the first chapter I wrote this month and not last year, so my writing style may or may not have changed. If it did change I hope it's for the better. Feel free to leave reviews, I can't wait to see how everyone is enjoying this story! So, OJ and crew huh? I'm reintroducing a lot of characters. In total by the end of Chapter 15 there'll be about 10-11 main characters, a total of 8-9 new characters added. Just be paying attention ^^ Tell me what you think of Shadow Brighten and crew. I borrowed from another universe but changed things up a bit. I can't wait to get into the Castle battles and introduce the main plot of the story now. Stay tuned for Part 2 as I'm posting both parts TODAY! Love you guys and thanks for being loyal...)

Brohoof! /)