“I guess that might work.” Break said. She hoofed the makeshift bomb with nervous anticipation. Much to her amazement, Scavenger had made one a little under an hour and working on the second. The raider army was almost at their doorstep. According to Loopy’s intel, there were fifty of them. The raiders all didn't have their own motorcycle. Two even four raiders rode on a single bike. In total, only eleven bikes were on their way. This might work to their advantage.

“If you could cause a catastrophic crash, that might reduce their numbers or at least injure them enough for us to win," Loopy said pointing at a map on the table, "they aren't being stupid and aren't driving all in one pact, but with your powers this might be doable."

Loopy had been surprisingly accepting of her strange powers when she explained them to him. Instead of fearing them, he wanted to use them to their advantage. Calling Card and his wife organized the townsponies in the best positions of cover.

"Of course, they might expect something like this," Loopy said, "pegasi are rare, but not unheard of. Griffons too. So, they will watch the air ready to shoot at anything that even looks like a bird, but I think your talents might give them a shock.”

“This might work.” Break was still far too injured to be much use in a fight, but proving aerial support might just be doable. The raiders would regret their haste and eagerness for bloodshed.

“Good luck Break.” Starlight stoked his rifle nervously, and Lucky’s death still rattled him.

“You too.” Break put a comforting hoof on his shoulder. “Good shooting.”

Scavenger gave her a nod filled with a determination she rarely saw in the stallion. Free Bird floated above him eager for battle. This whole battle might hinge on these two.

Break used her powers to float in the air high enough that she doubted the raiders would notice her or at least not easily. She watched them approach gauging them with a keen eye. The first thing she noticed was how haggard they all looked despite their outward overconfidence. Some of them looked like they hadn't slept for days and only caffeine keeping them going. Many of the raiders had injuries mostly bruises caused by brawling, but two of them appeared to be recovering from gunshot wounds. No doubt much of this damage came from the riot Scavenger created a few hours earlier. It struck Break that these ponies weren’t in any shape to get into a fight and needed rest. Did Lion Heart not care at all about his ponies? Break guessed not. If the citizens of Lily died, he didn’t care how many of his forces he had to sacrifice. Hope bloomed in Break’s heart. This might be doable after all.

Break spent the next few minutes determining the best way to launch her surprise attack. The motorcycles were far apart, but she calculated how she might cause a catastrophic crash if she hit them just right with her bomb. That would be sure to soften them up. These raiders were about to find out that the simple ponies of Lily weren't such easy prey.

Break waited for the best moment to drop her bomb and with a calculated throw, dropped it on the monsters. The raider driving the overpacked bike screamed as he tried to get out of the way throwing off one of his friends. The sudden turn unexpected turn made him accidentally crash into the bike next to him and Break winced as the bike behind them tried to avoid the bike in front of him and crashed into them both. The next two bikes avoided the collision and stopped to see if everything was okay. The crash was a messy sight, but the raiders were fine for the most part their wounds not as bad as they looked. The other raiders stopped to check what was going on too.

“What happened?” A raider yelled from his bike. He was some distance away and squinted to see the situation. He rode in closer to get a better look.

“I’m not sure.” A raider at the crash said. “Flesh Ripper lost control of his…” She didn’t get to finish as the bomb ignited taking the entire crash site with an eruption of fire. The raiders didn’t even have time to scream as they died. It took out three bikes and thirteen raiders.

“What the hay?” A raider said in horrified shock.

"Ride you, idiot! Ride." Another raider said urgency in his voice. “Watch out for hidden bombs. That must be what got’em.”

Each rider got back onto their bike weary and keeping an eye out for danger and exhaustion burned away from the terror of the moment and drove at a slower, more cautious, speed. One tried for a howl of excitement to scare their prey, but the explosion and crash dampened their mood and the raider shrunk when no one else joined in.

Well, there goes my payload. I made a dent in them. I hope it is enough. Maybe there is some other way I could help. What she wasn’t sure, but determined to come up with something. The raiders were on their guard now looking to the skies for any dangers. Break flew up higher to not risk discovery. Despite her reservations, she flew back to town to regroup with the others. Haste and recklessness wouldn’t help her now.

“Nice going.” Loopy gave her a wave as she touched down in front of him. “That should even the odds a little.”

Everypony in the town gave her a grim nod surprised by her powers, but not caring about them right now. She didn't see Scavenger and guessed he was still working on the other bomb. The townsfolk gripped their weapons grim but determined. They would not back down without a fight. Break eyed the raiders over the way and calculated they only had moments until the raiders arrived.

“Get ready, everypony!” Calling Card said. “Shoot on my mark.”

The raiders stopped a small distance away from the down and ponies got off the bike leaving only a single rider on each of them. Break despaired when she saw two of them caring flamethrowers. That would make this more difficult. She couldn’t punch away fire. The others had your typical raider weapons and luckily didn’t have any else fancier.

“I would ask you to surrender, but that’s a waste of time.” The leader said. “Enjoy the last, oh, ten minutes of your lives. You got lucky the last few times, but…” He didn’t get to finish as Break picked up a rock with a hoof and hurled at the pony using her ghost over the town’s protective wall. It flew true and impacted on the raider’s forehead. She didn’t know if he was dead, but he wasn’t getting up any time soon.

The shock of the attack on their leader only lasted a moment and the entire group charged at the town howling in one deafening roar.

"Fire!" Calling Card yelled back, and the townsfolk unleashed their rifles, but it did little to thin the enemy ranks. They only had five ponies with rifles and the townsponies hide their heads as the raiders returned fire triple the amount. The torrents outside the wall did some damage injuring a few of the enemy, but the raiders with the flamethrower made quick work of them and spread fire everywhere leaving a scorch mark on the wall. They threw a barrage of Molotov cocktails with skill and accuracy over the protective wall.

Filled with terror and panic, Break ran towards them and caught one in mid-air with Good Times Bad Times and returned it back over the wall. It was like a juggling act as she raced to catch them all before they hit the ground throwing them back without a care where it landed. One she accidentally threw back up into the air and she caught again before it hit Calling Card in the head. From the screams of pain outside, the raiders didn't expect somepony to use their own weapons against them. One screamed rolling on the ground trying to stop her clothes from being on fire. The townsfolk gave her grateful looks.

The victory was short lived however and raiders rammed themselves against front gate made from a door of a sky truck that they’d blocked with junk for the gate. Every earth pony in the raider’s gang joined in and some of the stallions were the biggest she’d ever seen. Townsfolk tried to stop this and a few push the door and junk back, there were too many of them and they fired ten shots at anypony that showed their head. It would only be moments until they were through for the front gate wasn’t that well made its hinges already bending and twisting. It would be a slaughter.

She looked around for anything that might block the raider’s entry and found nothing. Instead, she limped over to the door and her ghost pushed back with everything she had. The raiders let out of started surprise as they failed to get through. What seemed like an easy to break through was now unmovable. They pushed back even harder, but Break and her power were like solid stone and didn’t budge. Sweat fell from her face from the effort and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to hold this up forever, but she fought on anyway. The raiders gave in first.

“The damn thing won’t budge.” A raider said. “Craziest thing. What could hold us back? Solid steel?”

“Whatever.” Another raider scoffed. “We’ll just climb over these pitiful excuses for a wall.”

“Uh, won’t that make us vulnerable to their fire?” The first raider replied with trepidation.

“Shut up and do it.” The second raider snapped. “They can’t get us all!”

“Right, throw away our lives.” A raider said with sarcasm. “There’s plenty of us to go around.”

"That's right and don't you forget it." The commanding raider replied. "To Lion Heart, we're all instruments of destruction."

"Alright then, you go first." A raider said in a challenging tone. "It's for the glorious cause after all."

The commanding raider groaned and held his left leg. “Ugh, I can’t injuries from the fight in Zinnia. Somepony else will have to go first.”

“I bet.”

“Really, I can’t.” The commanding raider said a touch too defensively. “Also, I can’t believe you guys. This for the glorious raider cause! Soon, we’ll be running the wastelands and nopony will stop us!”

"But with you alive, while the rest of us get a bullet in the head?"

“I’m injured!”

The group of raiders broke out into bickering and Break watched in amazement as the raiders' army fell apart at the seams. Lion Heart had pushed them too far and morale was almost nonexistent. The raiders were tired, miserable, and hadn’t much to eat from their skeletal frames. This might be their chance.

“D-done!” Scavenger said and beamed as Break. He showed her the bomb he’d made in such short notice. “T-this w-will be the l-last one t-though. N-Not enough t-time.”

“Still, we do good work together.” Free Bird beamed. “And just in time. The raiders still haven’t broken through the barrier yet.” It flexed its claws ready for a fight.

“I don’t think that will be necessary.” Break whispered and Scavenger and his ghost blinked.

“W-what do you m-mean?” Scavenger asked.

“I think we can drive them away without a single more shot.” Break replied. “But I will need your help.”

As Break peaked over the wall, the raiders were still bickering almost the point of violence. They shot suppressing fire to stop the villagers taking advantage of this, but morale was dropping even lower if that was somehow possible. It couldn’t be any clearer that the raiders didn’t want to be here.

“Hey!” Break shouted interrupting their fight. The raider looked up at where the voice was coming from.

“Leave now, and we will let you live.” Break said in her most commanding voice.

“Really?” The commanding raider said with mocking laughter. “We outnumber you three to one. It’s only a matter of time until we slaughter you all!”

A smile came to Break’s lips. “Is that so? Two other raider parties attacked this town, and they all died not killing a single one of us. In fact, in this entire attack, you also have killed nopony. But you have faced heavy casualties. You’ve lost what a third of your force already?”

“Well, yes.” The raider said in a tight voice. “But your luck can’t last forever.”

Break laughed. “We have magic you can’t even dream of! Why else do you think every other attack failed?”

“Really.” The raider snorted. “You expect me to believe that?”

“Alright, you’re dead then.” Break motioned to Scavenger crept closer to the wall and Free Bird dropped closer to the wall unseen. His ghost couldn’t travel very far from his body and his ghost faded as it approached its target. It was nothing was a blur by the time it reached the raider, but Free Bird was quick and it vanished as it slit the commanding raider’s throat. He fell down dead much to the shock of his comrades and they paled in terror.

“Oh, and we have this too!” Break waved the bomb Scavenger made over the wall. Thankfully, the raiders didn’t fire at it too stunned by the death of their friend to fire at it. She'd only shown it for a split second, but its presence had a visual effect. The fight drained out of the raiders and they panicked.

“Screw this!” The raiders ran for their bikes stumbling over them. Many of them rode off before their comrades could climb on leaving their fellows behind running after them. One raider shot another rider in the back of the head and stole his bike desperate to escape.

"I can't believe that worked," Loopy said as he approached.

"It was a gamble." Break replied. "But they didn't have much fight left in them, to begin with."

“You did it!” Starlight ran up to her and hugged her. “You’re the miracle worker I always thought you were!” Break blushed at the compliment.

Lion Heart pushes his forces too far. They have no discipline. If Lion Heart died, I doubt anypony would be strong or charismatic enough to keep the raiders together.

Break sat down on a nearby box and rested her weary body. They didn’t have long until Lion Heart retaliated once again probably coming himself to make sure the proper job was done. They had maybe a day until that happened. The deserters won’t go back to their boss after such a spectacular failure so it would take a little time until news got to him. She wanted to use the time to rest and plan. She needed a good night’s sleep. Scavenger conversed with her a little and swore to work on the last bomb while she rested. Did the stallion not sleep?

Calling Card gave her the room that she slept in when Break first arrived in town. It almost felt like a second home to her. If only she could stay for real and have a place of her own again. No, she couldn’t stay. So much needed to be done and she attracted trouble. Stop Lion Heart, beat back his raider horde, then she could go back to her true mission, find her cousin Green Mile. It felt like two eternities since they last spoke. What was she doing now? Was she okay? Though her thoughts troubled and worried, she fell asleep as soon as her eyes closed.

"B-Break." She pushed herself awake, and she groaned. She'd only closed her eyes for a moment. What time was it? She looked up to Scavenger looking down at her his eyes worried.

“What is it?” Break was wide awake in alarm. Did something happen? Were the raiders attacking again? Was Lion Heart at their doorstep?

“Hello Break.” Robin, commander of the Cosas, said. “We need to talk.”

---

“Well, is he ready to see me yet?” Train Spotter said to the raider at the gate. “I have better things to do than wait here.”

“The Boss’ll see you when he’s ready!” The raider sneered.

The other raiders guarded the entrance of the newly created a wall around Zinnia had murder in their eyes ready to do horrible things to him as raiders like to do. Train Spotter paid them little attention for they were beneath even contempt. The wall was nothing more than wood and whatever else they could find on such short notice shoddily put up around the town. It looked like something they made in about ten minutes and he doubted it would take much to get through it. The raiders and their leader wanted to use Zinnia as a launching point to conquer the wasteland. Talk about such small ambition. Why did their glorious leader want to recruit this guy again? Still, he supposed an army might be useful.

A raider ran up to the gate. “The Boss will see you now.”

“Finally!” Train Spotter walked past the guard ignoring their glares as he pushed past them like they didn’t exist.

They took him all the way into the center of the famous ship that sat in the center of Zinnia. Train Spotter hadn't been inside it before only visiting the outside part of Zinnia briefly, but it was impressive. Lion Heart sat in a makeshift throne in the old town council room. Now it contained trophies of his victories with the major in a cage beaten to so badly that he was almost unrecognizable as a pony yet they kept him alive. A symbol of Lion Heart's strength, perhaps? No, Lion Heart wanted to display to everypony just what would happen somepony crossed him. He didn't have the usual raider trophies of pony body parts all over the place, thank Celestia.

“What do you want?” Lion Heart boomed. “They told me you have a business deal. You have a minute to impress me or else you won’t leave here alive.”

Train Spotter had never seen a pony this massive in his life. He filled almost the entire room and had an impressive amount of muscles. His stand floated above him ready to deal out death to anypony that displeased him.

Train Spotter smiled. The rumors were right! Lion Heart was a stand user, and this trip wasn’t a waste after all.

“I believe we can help each other out.” Train Spotter said a wide smile on his face.

Lion Heart’s stand moved like a serpent and grabbed him by the head fast then a blink. A grunt came from Train Spotter’s lips as the stand’s grip tightened any further and his head would pop like an olive. He felt himself being lifted from the ground.

“Quit wasting my time and get to the point.” Lion Heart said his smile cruel. "You feel a presence around your head; it would only take a little squeeze for your head to turn it to mush. You still haven’t convinced me why I should let you live.”

Train Spotter took a moment to compose his thoughts. This would be more difficult than he first thought. No matter, it would be a trifle to convince this one. Still, did the grip have to be this tight? He could barely think.

“Nice stand you have there.” Train Spotter looked the stand right in the eyes. He winced in pain as the force dropped him to the ground.

“You can see Blitzkrieg Bop?” Lion Heart said in genuine shock.

“Yes, I too am one of the gifted.” Train Spotter dusted himself off. “Only our kind can see stands.”

Hopefully, they would get to the niceties now. It was too bad he couldn’t summon his stand like Lion Heart could to impress him, but Train Spotter would make due.

Lion Heart stroked his chin. “Interesting. Fine, what do you want?” He was more on guard now and kept his stand close out of fear of attack. It was unnecessary paranoia, but he couldn’t begrudge the raider for it.

“My associates and I want to change the world for the good of ponykind.” Train Spotter said. "And the only way to do that is with fire."