//------------------------------//
// 03: Breakfast and News 
// Story: Bear, Scribe and Paladin 
// by Speven Dillberg 
//------------------------------//

Adams Air Force Base, late 2277

Dominica looked at the great, crawling, heavily armoured monstrosity that the Enclave had as their base. The mobile command center sat in the middle of the runway of Adams Air Force Base, seemingly undamaged. The interiors, though, were painted with the blood and littered with the corpses of every Enclave soldier who had stood in the Lone Wanderer’s way, its armoury looted and its contents used by the one-woman army as she carved a bloody swath through them. Even then, they’d landed a few lucky shots. Parts of her T-45d had several half-melted plates, and the right pauldron was missing. Her helmet had taken the most damage, and she had abandoned it within after the visor had been melted.
She looked up and saw a glint through the clouds. “Boom,” she said moments before the orbital strike impacted. She brought a hand up and covered her face as the warhead impacted, setting the sky on fire for a fraction of a second. Dom peeked out and saw the last sign on Enclave power in the region reduced to nothing more than a smoking crater and scrap metal. She yelped when a particularly large piece impacted not two feet from her.
“A bit jumpy, aren’t you?” Sentinel Lyons said with a smirk. “You did good, soldier.”
“Thanks,” Dom said, turning around. “So, what now?” she asked the other members of Lyons’ Pride that were there.
“Well,” Sarah said, climbing into the reclaimed Vertibird, “we’ll be mopping up for a while. Odds are, there’s more than a few squads who’ll fight until the end. The rest, though, might just give up and surrender peacefully.”
“What’ll we do with them?” Kodiak asked as they took off.
“Depends. If they were commanding officers, and knew they were doing things that were wrong, then we might execute them. If they were just following orders, I guess we’ll give them a second chance.”
“What about that?” Dom asked, gesturing at the smouldering wreck.
“We might be able to find something useful. Tech, notes, locations of their production facilities,” Sarah said. 
“Does that mean we’ll have a fleet of these things?” Kodiak asked, sounding shocked by that.
“Don’t forget all the plasma weapons we can carry,” Dom added with a chuckle.





“Dom, it’s an apple.”
“I know it’s an apple, but it looks... wrong.”
“What do you mean?” Thomas asked, munching on an orange. 
Dom leaned against the table and raised the apple to her eye. “It seems... too perfect. Like it was drawn. No apple should look that perfect. Ever.”
“Dom, just eat it,” Thomas said as he rolled his eyes. To his left sat Veronica, having removed her helmet. She was digging into a small salad.
“How is she so okay with this?” the Paladin asked, pointing to the armoured Scribe. 
“The stuff I’ve been through with Thomas is nothing compared to this,” she said in between mouthfuls. “Honestly, this is a nice change of pace. No running from packs of feral ghouls or punching junkies to death.”
Shining Armor, who had been ordered to eat something to not seem so out of place, spat his mouthful of food across the table as he choked on his waffles. “What!?” he asked loudly when he recovered.
“Hey, not my fault they tried to pick a fight they couldn’t win,” Veronica said with a shrug. 
“Can’t argue with that,” Thomas added, either oblivious or not caring about the shocked expressions the princess and Knight-Commander had. “You’d think they’d stop after watching their buddy’s skull get pulped, though.”
“At least the raiders in D.C know when to give up,” Dom chipped in, taking a bite of the apple. She froze and stared at it, chewing slowly. 
“Is something wrong?” Celestia asked, desperate to depart from the rather disturbing conversation she had found herself witness to.
“This... tastes too good,” Dom said, her gravelly voice full of uncertainty. “How is that even possible?”
“I’m sorry?” Celestia wasn’t sure if she was meant to apologise. She could truthfully say that this was the first time someone had been less than satisfied with the food provided from the royal kitchens. “Would you like something else?” she asked, hoping that this was the right course of action.
“Meat!” Thomas said loudly, interrupting them. The rest of them just stared at him. “Hey, I barely managed last time, and the last thing I ate in Vegas was a Brahmin Wellington.” He paused for a moment. “Probably not my best decision.”
“Up there with mixing Jet and absinthe,” Veronica said offhandedly.
“We agreed not to talk about that,” the black man said darkly. In response, the power-armoured Scribe beamed at him.
“The Griffons serving brought their own cook, and they have meat most nights,” Shining said, wondering what Jet was. “I don’t think they’ll object to three more mouths.”
“Wait, Griffons?” Veronica asked. “As in, bird-lion things?”
“Calling them that is a good way to get killed. They’re very proud,” Shining warned. 
“Wait, why are there Griffons here?” Thomas asked. “And how are you a commander? Last I checked, you were a captain. And suspended from duty,” he added as an afterthought.
Shining Armor sighed and absently ran a hoof along the scar that crossed his muzzle. “I guess you should be brought up to speed.”
“If you are going to be staying for the same amount of time you did last time, then that would be best,” Celestia added, nodding in agreement with the unicorn’s suggestion.
“I should start from the beginning.” Shining Armor cleared his throat. “About a week after you left, one of our frontier towns, Appleloosa, was - ”
“Wait wait wait,” Dom interrupted suddenly, raising a hand. “Appleloosa?”
“The town was founded by apple farmers,” Shining said flatly, not happy with the interruption. “Anyway, they were attacked by Diamond Dogs.”
“Diamond Dogs?” Veronica asked. “What are they?”
“Large, sentient canines, about 6 and a half feet tall. Some are capable of digging through granite.” Shining Armor fixed his gaze on Thomas. “The one we captured said that it was in retaliation to an attack on a warren close to Ponyville.”
“They took children,” Thomas said harshly. “I was not going to sit there and let them get away with that.”
“I wasn’t saying I disagree with your actions,” Shining clarified. “What this has meant, though, is that every small town now has a permanent guard presence to deter any attacks. There have been six attacks since. In retaliation, we’ve destroyed three warrens. I got this scar when I led the most recent one,” he said, pointing at his face. “We’ve also been in talks with the Dogs’ leaders, but none of them admit to giving the orders to attack.”
“Congratulations,” Dominica said sarcastically as she turned to Thomas. “You managed to start a war in candy-land.”
“War was inevitable,” Celestia said in response. “The Diamond Dogs’ leadership fights itself so frequently it was only a matter of time until one of the more hot-headed ones gave an order they shouldn’t have.”
“Thankfully, we haven’t lost anypony yet, but I don’t know how long that will last,” Shining Armor said worriedly. 
“So, where do the Griffons come in?” Veronica asked. “And can I meet them?”
“We are military allies,” Celestia said. “In the event of an attack on our nation, we can request their aid, and they can do the same.”
“Many Griffons go through basic military training from a young age. Swords, axes, bows... Their armed forces are probably the best in the world,” Shining explained, looking out the window. “While many are happy with a peaceful life, they are always ready to answer the call to arms.”
“Like every town in the Wasteland,” Dom muttered.
“It helps that Diamond Dogs and Griffons have been at war three times in the last century,” Shining Armor added. “The wounds from the last one are still raw, if what Sergeant Grimfeather said is any indication.”
“Grimfeather?” Dom muttered. “Oh god.”
Veronica finished her salad and burped. “‘scuse me.” She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and stood up. “So, what? Are we just gonna sit here or are you gonna make us fight?”
“Of course not,” Celestia said jovially. “You are a guest in our lands, and you are free to do whatever you want, as long as you remain within the bounds of the law.”
“Sounds reasonable,” Dom replied as she swallowed the apple core. “I think I might stay in this castle, though. You smoothskins don’t tend to react well to ghouls.” Shining Armor and Princess Celestia, along with a number of the guard, looked at her in mild confusion. “Right, I guess that doesn’t work for ponies,” she muttered unhappily.
“Ghouls tend to call normal people ‘smoothskins’,” Thomas said, trying to explain what she had meant. “Probably just as a way of differentiating.”
“It’s meant to be an insult,” Dom said sulkily.
“Isn’t the NCR fine with ghouls?” Veronica asked.
“The ones from Necropolis practically founded Gecko and Dayglow. Took a few packages to and from those towns back in the day,” Thomas answered. “I think Dayglow was one of the NCR’s founding states.”
“Hey, I wouldn’t know,” Veronica said with a shrug. “Being raised in a bunker with a bunch of xenophobic technophiles kinda limits your education.”
“Yet you can dismantle and reassemble a laser rifle with your eyes closed,” Thomas answered with a wry smile.
“Yeah, well, one of the benefits with growing up around technophiles. So, can we go see these griffons?” Veronica asked, sounding a bit like a young, eager child.
“What are you, ten?” Dom asked unhappily.
“Hey, we’re in a fantasy land populated by talking animals that can use magic,” she argued. “I think I can be excused for how I am acting.” The ghoul’s response was to facepalm.
“I swear, my life is a game to some bastard up in the clouds,” she muttered.
“Talking animals?” Shining asked, not very happy with that description.





Shining Armor led the three Wastelanders to the main barracks. The normally open field that acted as training ground was only half its normal size, the other half occupied by tents. On the canvas of each was a stylized talon, one that seemed eerily familiar to the Paladin.
“There are fifty griffons here,” Shining said. “There are also a few in the more distant towns, providing support where we don’t have the numbers.”
“Like trusting a town’s security to mercs,” Dom mused.
“I wouldn’t trust a mercenary to bring me food, let alone protect a town,” Shining replied acidly. 
“So what do you think of me, then?” Thomas asked indignantly.
“You’re a civilian contractor. That’s different,” Shining replied, completely serious. Thomas blinked before grinning at the unicorn’s response.
“You’re a good man, Shiny.”
Dominica shook her head at this display of male camaraderie. Without any warning, she was tackled to the ground by a mass of feathers and fur. Acting purely on instinct, she clocked her attacker with a left hook, pushed them off, drove her right elbow into their throat and then drew the combat knife under her chest plate and held it to their throat. All that happened in the span of about two seconds.
Her snarl disappeared when she realised that she wasn’t pinning down a raider, but a strange mix of bird and big cat. “What the fuck?”
The griffon let out a screech as he was suddenly enveloped in a purple glow and yanked unceremoniously from the Paladin’s grasp. “Private Blacktalon, what is wrong with you!?” Shining Armor screamed at him.
“S-sir, that thing was following you!” the young Blacktalon stuttered.
“That ‘thing’ is a personal guest of the princesses!” the stallion yelled, spraying the unfortunate soldier with spit. “You will not attack her, or any of the others with me, under any circumstances! Is that clear!?”
“Y-y-yes,” the griffon squeaked.
“Yes WHO!?”
“Yes sir!” He let out a pained squawk then the Knight-Commander dropped him.
“I didn’t understand a single word of that,” Dom said as the griffon private was berated by a fellow griffon. “But I know what a commanding officer yelling at an inferior sounds like.” She slipped her knife back into its sheath.
Shining Armor let out an aggravated sigh. “Can’t believe that happened. Hot-blooded idiot. That kind of action in a battlefield situation is just asking to be sent home with a sword in your throat.” He rubbed his face and looked at her. “Sorry about using magic so close to you too, by the way.”
Dominica blinked, confused by the apology. “Why are you sorry?”
Now they were both confused. “Magic is toxic to your kind. Isn’t it?” he asked.
“Heh. To smoothskins, yeah. But to ghouls? We’re immune to the poisoning, and it heals us,” Dom explained. “Probably half the reason the Brotherhood keeps me around.”
“What’s the other half?” Shining asked, watching as Veronica stared rather creepily at a group of griffons armouring up for a spar.
“The fact that I practically wiped out half the military forces of a fascist paramilitary organisation shortly after I turned nineteen.” She sighed. “And that was after we lost Liberty Prime.”
Shining Armor blinked in shock. “You were only nineteen?” he asked, unable to believe that.
“Would you believe I’m only twenty-four?” she asked.





Author’s Notes:
Way to go, Thomas.
Why do we like to pit the D.Dogs and Griffons against each other like this? I know this isn’t the first time I’ve seen something like this in a story.