Gear entered the mess tent to see several civilians and soldiers were eating at three long tables that were set up near the left edge of the tent. The right edge was the kitchen and serving area, Applejack appeared to be cooking oatmeal with apples in it while another pony made waffles. Gear lead Dew to the end of the line and picked up a tray for both of them. They were served a strange looking waffle and the oatmeal Applejack was making. The pony serving food was a very stern pony wearing a hairnet and white apron, he carried a metal ladle though he wasn't using it. Gear took the food to the nearest open seat and set it on the table. Dew climbed up onto the bench next to him and looked at the food. "I don't like oatmeal." She said. Gear sighed, slightly amused.
"Just try it, if you don't like it, I'll give you my waffle." He said, eating a spoon full of the oatmeal. It was bland on its own but the apples made it better. Dew cautiously took a bite of oatmeal and chewed thoroughly. She then took another bite and continued to eat. Gear smiled and tried some of the oatmeal on the waffle. The waffle was worse than the oatmeal, probably just flour, water, and a small amount of sugar. It was fine though, he wasn't going to be picky at such a time. Dew finished her oatmeal and began nibbling on the waffle. Nurse Redheart sat down across from them with her own food and looked at Gear's shoulder.
"How's your shoulder doing? Haven't torn it open yet?" She asked. Gear shook his head, finishing off the waffle. "No, not yet. It's fine, it doesn't hurt that much." He replied. Redheart smiled at Dew. "And how are you doing? No cuts, bruises, muscle aches?" She asked.
"No, I'm fine!" Dew said around bites of waffle. Redheart smiled sweetly. "Well it's nice to see you at least know how to keep others out of harms way." She said toward Gear. He scoffed and rolled his eyes before looking in his bowl to see if there was any oatmeal he'd missed. There wasn't. Redheart gave him her waffle. "Here, you need energy to heal up and I'm not that hungry." She said. Gear accepted the waffle and broke it in half, giving half to Dew. She nearly squealed with joy and began eating it.
The two ponies watched Dew eat for a bit before looking back at each other. "Well, just keep your bandages dry and come see me if it starts hurting. I'll be in the medical tent on the roof closest to the water tower." Redheart said. Gear nodded and ate the last of the waffle she'd given him. Just then, they heard a commotion outside. Thankfully it wasn't panic and screaming, but excitement and joy. Everypony in the tent left their seats to see what was going on. Dew followed Gear closely, not wanting to get trampled by the many ponies gathering around the command tent. A pony outside was yelling for everypony to quiet down.
Gear picked up Dew and placed her on his back so she'd get a better view as the pony spoke. "As some of you know, squad 19 brought a long range radio with them. We haven't had any luck finding a signal, but this morning at 07:35 we got a faint signal. It sounded military but was too weak to tell, we will inform you as events-" A pony stepped out of the tent and whispered something to the pony before re-entering the tent. "I have just been told that the radio has reached the battle ship, Cadenza, off the coast of Whinypeg." There was a cheer of excitement from the gathered crowd. A couple bursts of gunfire from the MG nests around the roofs silenced them, reminding them that they were in a dangerous area. The pony waited for every pony to quiet down before continuing.
"They're only three days away right now and on their way. We just need to hold out until then." He said. Every pony murmured in excitement at the thought of being rescued in just three days. Gear smiled up at Dew who was bouncing up and down on his back excitedly. Ponies began to disperse as the pony had nothing left to say. Gear pushed his way through the crowd to get to the command tent, passing Twilight and Whistle on the way without noticing. Gear pushed into the command tent and saw Sabre at the radio with a nervous expression. Every pony around him looked guilty.
"Sir?" Gear asked in confusion. Sabre started in surprise and looked up at him. "Oh, Private Gear. Is something wrong?" Every pony seemed to change from guilty to busy in half a second. "Sir, what's going on. I mean really." He said, cutting off Sabre when he opened his mouth to reply. Sabre frowned. "Everything is as what was stated, Civilian, please move along." He put emphasis on civilian. Gear frowned back at him, stepping back out of the tent. Suspicious of the strange behavior, Gear decided to try to find Plank, the pony the sporting goods store owner had suggested.
He went from pony to pony, asking if they knew Plank, but none did. He went through half of the civilians before getting a tip that Plank was likely to be in his workshop near the north end of the docks, assuming he were still alive. Gear gathered up his friends, Whistle, Iron, Twilight, Applejack, Redheart, Shining Armor, and Trixie, bringing them to a secluded spot on the roof. Dew was still sitting in his back as he had forgotten to let her down. When he sat down, she tumbled off onto the ground. "Ow!" She yelped. Gear turned to look at her.
"Oh! Sorry!" He said. He turned back to the others. "Does any pony else get the feeling that something's not right here?" He asked, looking around. Sniper raised a hoof but still refused to speak. Shining Armor spoke instead. "I do, it only takes one day to get from whinypeg to Stalliongrad by boat. Two days max if the engines are damaged." He said. Twilight sighed in frustration. "Maybe they just need to stop in Las Pegasus to pick up more ponies, come on, why would they lie to us?" She asked. Applejack nodded in agreement.
"Ya'll are just nervous, they'll be here in three days to pick us up and bring us to the islands!" She said. Gear pursed his lips and looked at Applejack. "That's another thing that bothers me. Why not try to contact the islands directly? Shouldn't that have been their first attempt?" Iron scoffed. "They probably did try and just couldn't get a response. The islands are much further away and they said the reception was bad." Whistle looked at him strangely. "They would have told us, wouldn't they?" He asked. Gear shook his head. "I don't know... I have an idea, but I don't want to leave you ponies behind. There may be somepony who can build or repair a boat near the north end of the docks. If we can get him to build us a ship, we can leave for the islands." He said.
Twilight began to get angry. "Iron just said the islands are really far away, what happens if the boat sinks or we run out of food before reaching the islands? We'll all die!" She said. "And what if the boat does get here three days from now and we miss out on an easy trip to safety?" She continued fiercely. Gear sighed. "Well, I just want to have a second way out, I say we go get the boat built and have it ready to leave at a moment's notice. If the boat really does come in three days, we can board it then and leave with every pony else. Sniper told me a huge mob of infected are here as well, if we get overrun before three days we should be able to escape, yes?" He asked. Redheart, who had been fairly quiet during the conversation, spoke up. "I think it's a good idea." She said.
Twilight sighed in defeat. "Fine. But I get to say I told you so when the ship arrives in three days." Applejack and Iron agreed. "I'll come along, Iron wouldn't know his head from his rear without me." He said, putting an arm around Iron affectionately. "Somepony has to keep Twily out of trouble so I'll come too." Shining Armor said. Redheart smiled at Gear. "You'll need somepony to torture your wounds closed if you rip me open again, I'm in." Sniper walked over to and sat down next to Gear, nodding as if to say 'Just try and stop me from coming'. Dew nodded sagely. "Yes, it's a wonderful idea, I'll come too!" Gear smiled at every pony in relief. Even if it was just his nerves, it was nice to know the others had his back.