Wings of Tomorrow ~ Lament of the World

by Keeper of Jericho

39. The last gamble

Wings of Tomorrow
Lament of the World

39. The last gamble
The Siege of Stalliongrad – Part 8

The world had finally stopped shaking, giving Fluttershy the courage to remove her hooves from before her eyes. When the darkness did not part immediately after, for one short but terrifying instant she feared she had gone blind. The moment passed by as quickly as it had come as she realised that there was nothing wrong with her eyes at all, she was simply in a dark place. A cramped, dark place that was growing warmer with every passing second. Her wings were pinned to her sides, an uncomfortable sensation that gave her an overwhelming feeling of claustrophobia.

Pegasi by nature did not like to be trapped inside small spaces and Fluttershy was no exception. On top of that, the air around her was still heating up, making it harder to breathe, and further fuelling her anxiety and instinctual fear. She reached into the darkness in front of her until her hooves brushed against hot stone. The sudden heat made her quickly pull her hooves away, more out of surprise than pain and once she had calmed down a bit she slowly pushed them forward again.

As she felt around with her hooves, it quickly became clear to her that the stone she had felt was in fact multiple stones, a pile of debris that had rained down from above and was now blocking her exit. Gulping, Fluttershy realised that she had to dig her way out and fast. The heat in her little shelter was still rising and if she stayed here much longer, there was no doubt in her mind that she would suffocate. Already it was getting harder to breathe and her face and flanks were drenched with sweat. Desperately, she began to paw away at the rubble, praying to Celestia that the pile wasn't too big.

As she dug, Fluttershy's mind drifted back to only a few minutes before now, when the events had happened that had caused her to be in her current situation in the first place.

She had simply been doing her duty as well as she could, as she'd done since the beginning of the battle. It had certainly not been easy. The wails of the injured, the smell of blood, the noise of the canon fire in the distance, all of it had been very taxing on her mind. More than once she had wanted to run away and hide from it all. Only the knowledge that Rainbow Dash and the rest of her friends were here with her, risking their lives to do the right thing, had given Fluttershy the strength to brave her fears and play her part, like each of her friends was doing theirs.

Despite her bravery, the past few hours had still been some of the toughest of her entire life. The stream of injured ponies arriving at the hospital had grown with every passing minute and the medical staff had been hard pressed to keep up with it. Injuring a pony went much faster than treating one and more than half of the soldiers who came back from the front had suffered wounds that required extensive treatment. The limited numbers of the medical staff, however, meant that many succumbed to injuries that were not necesarily fatal, purely because help did not arrive on time.

Watching the life flow out of those countless soldiers who could have lived if there had just been more doctors had been especially hard on Fluttershy. Never before had she felt so helpless. What medical skills she had from treating her animals had not sufficed for treating the kind of injuries inflicted upon the soldiers out there on the battlefield. There had literally been nothing she could do except to try and provide some meager comfort in their final moments. In fact, Fluttershy had been doing just that when disaster had struck.

She'd been helping Applejack to make some extra, improvised beds to increase the number of soldiers they could tend to, when Pinkie Pie had stormed into the room, a panicky look on her face. Rarity and Twilight had been hot on her hooves, each appearing both tired and concerned. What had happened after that was a bit of a blur, because everything had gone so fast her mind had had problems keeping up.

Fluttershy recalled Pinkie saying that her tail was twitching and that she was sure the doozy was going to happen, followed by Twilight telling everypony to seek cover. She remembered trying to ask what was going on, but before she could utter a sound somepony had roughly pushed her to the floor and shoved her under the nearest bed. Fluttershy thought it had been Applejack, but she didn't know for sure.

What she did know was that the act had undoubtedly saved her life, for the very next moment there'd been a series of deafening explosions, followed by the hospital shaking upon its very foundations. Fluttershy remembered a scalding wave of heat, a cacophony of noise as the ceiling collapsed on top of her hiding place, a cloud of dust that took her breath away…

Then, darkness.

Even now, as she was pushing aside pieces of rubble, Fluttershy didn't understand what exactly had happened. She wasn't a fool of course, she knew that the hospital had been the target of an attack, that much was obvious. What she didn't understand was why. Why would somepony attack a place full of injured ponies? It wasn't as if they were hurting anypony, or that she and the rest of the staff had been doing anything wrong by taking care of them.

Had the attack perhaps been just an unfortunate accident, or was the Republic really that determined to win this war? She couldn't imagine anypony being that depraved, not even after everything she had seen and witnessed since arriving in this changed age. Even Rainbow Dash had been confident that they would be safe in this place during the fight, otherwise she would never have allowed her friends to stay, no matter how much Fluttershy and the others longed to help someway.

Fluttershy's heart ached as she thought of Rainbow Dash. “She was so against us being here. Even though she was going off to fight, she was only concerned about our safety. She was so worried about any of us getting hurt and now this...” she thought. “She must be feeling so bad right now… Oh, Rainbow Dash, please be alright.”

The admiral wasn't the only pony she was worried about right now either. The rest of her friends had been with her in this room when the explosion had happened and Fluttershy had no way of knowing if they had been able to find cover themselves. She could only hope - no, pray - that they had somehow and made it through. Then there were all those other ponies in the hospital, the medical staff and not to mention all those poor injured soldiers, many of which hadn't been incapable of movement.

How many had there been who hadn't been able to do anything but lay there as what they had thought was a safe haven collapsed on top of them? She couldn't bear thinking of it and yet her mind kept conjuring image after image, each more awful than the last…

Fluttershy was so lost in thought that it took her a while to notice that one of her hooves was grabbing nothing but air instead of the next piece of rubble. With a gasp she realised that she had actually managed to make a hole, through which came a very welcome stream of light, as well as, thankfully, some fresh air. Well, the 'fresh' air was still quite hot, but it was a relief after the suffocating heat inside her hiding place nevertheless. She pushed her hoof further through the opening, trying to make it bigger so she could squeeze herself through.

“Hold on, sugarcube, I'll getcha outta there lickety split!”

A gasp escaped Fluttershy's lips and her eyes filled up with tears, while a feeling of immense relief flooded her senses. She had never before been so glad to hear Applejack's voice. She felt her outstretched hoof being clasped firmly in Applejack's familiar, strong hooves, the contact convincing her that her ears hadn't been playing tricks on her and that one of her friends had really come to her aid. The next moment, Fluttershy yelped in surprise as she was roughly pulled out of her hiding place, dust and debris being forced aside as Applejack brought her into the open.

Fluttershy stumbled to find her balance atop the flattened pile of loose rubble, coughing and wheezing as her body tried to remove all the dust she had breathed in and swallowed during her rescue. Her mane and fur were almost grey and the golden armour Rainbow Dash had gotten for all of them had lost its sheen due to all the dust and ash sticking to it, making it look as if she had come straight from a construction site.

“Sorry about that, 'shy,” Applejack apologised as she quickly dusted off her friend with a few rough brushed of her hooves. “I figured it was best to not waste any time by diggin' ya out of there, 'cuz we're kinda short on time here.”

“It's, it's okay,” Fluttershy managed to sputter in between coughs. Once her body had calmed down again, she looked up and gave Applejack a shy but grateful smile. “I'm so glad you're okay, Applejack, I was so worried and...” Her voice trailed off as she took in her friend's appearance as well as the state of the room. Her eyes widened ever so slightly in shock. “Oh, oh my...”

Applejack was covered from head to toe in dust just like Fluttershy, but aside from a small gap on her brow that bled a bit, she looked no worse for wear. The same could not be said for their surroundings. The bombardment had totally wrecked the place; there were cracks in the walls, everything that hadn't been tied to the floor had toppled over and there were numerous fires everywhere. Half of the room had collapsed entirely, blocking the path to the window and a quick escape to the outside world.

The bed Fluttershy had been hiding under had broken in two down in the middle and was almost entirely buried underneath rubble and debris that had rained down from the ceiling, explaining why it had been so dark and confining under there. Smoke and dust reduced visibility, while the residual fires eating away at the walls and furniture drove up the heat and rapidly and greedily devoured the available oxygen in the air. They also provided the only light inside the room, for the bombardment had destroyed the hospital's generators, cutting off all electricity and darkening all light as a result.

Tartarus itself could not have looked less hospitable.

Seeing that Fluttershy was fine, Applejack turned around to address somepony behind her. “Y'all need help over there, Twilight?” she called out, raising her voice slightly to be audible over the din of the fire. Looking past Applejack, Fluttershy felt once more relieved upon seeing a very much alive Twilight Sparkle helping Rarity out of an iron closet that had fallen onto its side.

“We're fine, Applejack,” Twilight called back, as she used her mechanical wings to support Rarity, who stood rather wobbly on her hooves. “I think Rarity's just a bit shaken from when the closet fell over.”

“A bit shaken?!” Rarity echoed, her voice raised in disbelief, after which she gritted her teeth and sent a withering glare at Applejack through narrowed eyes. “Applejack, next time we need to take cover, you'll be the one who gets brusquely shoved into a closet and I get to cower under Twilight's shielding spell!”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “She's fine,” she said to Fluttershy, giving her friend a conspiring wink. Despite the severity of the situation and the fact that they had only just narrowly escaped death, Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle lightly. Applejack scanned the room with a frown. “Has anypony seen Pinkie?”

“Over here,” replied the familiar voice of the pony in question, causing everypony to look in its direction and watch as Pinkie Pie wormed her way out of a bedside table that she really had no business fitting in. Once she stood on the floor again, her friends could see that she did not appear to be hurt or injured, much to their relief. More alarming was the fact that Pinkie's mane and tail were decidedly, positively flat, their colour and that of her coat having turned dull and grey, even though there was not a speck of dust clinging to her body.

“Oh dear,” Rarity muttered, giving voice to what they all were thinking. Dislodging herself from the artificial wing supporting her, she made her way over to her distressed friend, the rest of her friends following quickly behind her. “Darling, are you alright?” she asked, once she stood before Pinkie. Using her hoof, Rarity lifted up Pinkie's chin so she could see Pinkie's eyes, only to see them filled to the brim with tears.

“I know now what the doozy was,” Pinkie said, ignoring Rarity's question. She pushed away the hoof holding her chin and dropped her head. “I never expected this to happen. Dashie said it wouldn't and I believed her...”

“Pinkie...” Twilight muttered, looking at Pinkie compassionately. She moved closer, wanting to pull her into an embrace, but Pinkie brushed off Twilight's attempt using one of her own mechanical wings, her head still held downcast.

“My Pinkie sense was trying to tell me. It knew what was going to happen, but I didn't understand what it was trying to say,” Pinkie Pie continued, squeezing her eyes shut firmly, tears running down her cheeks. “If I had, I could have warned more ponies and then...” She was interrupted by an orange hoof being pressed firmly against her muzzle.

“Don'tcha start doing that to yerself, sugarcube,” Applejack warned, her voice and expression compassionate but firm. “This ain't yer fault, none of it is! You did everything ya could. You realised what yer doozy was tryin' to tell ya and managed to warn as many ponies as you could in the time we had. So maybe those weren't many, but few's still better than none, which is what would've happened if ya hadn't warned anypony at all. Shucks, Pinkie, yer Pinkie sense is the only reason we're alive right now!”

“Applejack's right, darling,” Rarity agreed. “If you hadn't come to warn us, Applejack wouldn't have been able to push Fluttershy and myself under cover and Twilight wouldn't have been around to shield herself and Applejack. You've saved our lives, Pinkie!”

“But… but all those poor injured ponies...” Pinkie sniffled, wiping her tears away with one of her fetlocks. It was a futile gesture, for whatever tears she managed to brush off were immediately replaced by new ones.

“Wouldn't have made it even if you had managed to warn them,” Twilight finished Pinkie's sentence. It hurt her to say it so bluntly, but she knew it was true. “Many were too injured to move and there wouldn't have been enough cover for all of them even if they weren’t, nor could we ever manage to evacuate all of them in time.” She placed one of her hooves on Pinkie's shoulder, looking at her dear friend with eyes that reflected her aching heart.

“I know it hurts to hear this Pinkie, but many were going to die regardless. There wasn't anything you could've done to save them. None of this is your fault.” Twilight's eyes narrowed and her voice turned harsher as she glanced briefly at the collapsed half of the room. “It was the Republic who did this and nopony else.” Her voice cracked at the end and a sob forced its way out of her throat, causing the others to look at her in surprise, only now noticing the tears quietly making their way down Twilight's cheeks.

“Twilight?” Pinkie whispered, the sight of one of her friends crying momentarily making her forget her own sorrow.

“He did this,” Twilight whispered, in vain trying to stifle her sobs. She bowed her head, hiding her eyes behind her mane, but her friends didn't need to see them to spot the glistering tears that fell from her face to the ground. “My own brother gave the order to do… to do this.” She gritted her teeth, her body trembling as she was torn between sorrow and fury. “Shining Armour!”

“Twi...” Applejack whispered, not knowing what else she could say to comfort her friend, so she opted to place her hoof comfortingly on Twilight's back instead.

“I'm sorry, Twilight,” Pinkie muttered, as she flung herself at her crying friend and pulled her in a fierce hug. “I was so busy thinking about my own sadness that I didn't stop to think how hard this must be for you. I'm so sorry!” She tightened her embrace for a moment, before holding Twilight at leg length and looking in Twilight's eyes. Twilight met her gaze and forced herself to smile, but the smile didn't reach her eyes, which remained filled with tears.

“There's nothing for you to be sorry for, Pinkie,” Twilight said as she wiped her tears away with her left fetlock. “We're all shaken up by this; it's alright to be sad… But there wasn't anything we could have done, nor was it our fault it happened. Please don't blame yourself for something my brother did… Don't let him ruin your life too.”

Pinkie didn't reply, opting instead to give Twilight another hug, her lips giving the slightest hint of a smile while her body regained some of its colour. The touching display caused Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity to smile as well, relief evident upon their faces. A groan coming from above their heads cut the emotional moment short, however, making them all glance up nervously at a crack that was snaking its way across the ceiling, growing wider every second.

“Um, I really don't want to bother, but can we please continue this somewhere else?” Fluttershy squeaked, swallowing the lump that had formed itself in her throat upon seeing the danger looming above her head. “Somewhere safe and not on the verge of collapse, if that would be okay? Please?”

Drying the last of her tears, Twilight nodded and dislodged herself from Pinkie's embrace. Her face now bore a serious expression, while her eyes glistered with grim determination. “Fluttershy's right, we need to leave, this place is no longer safe,” she began, taking charge of the situation purely by instinct, though none of her friends minded. “There might still be other survivors in other rooms of the hospital, we have to help them and try to find a way to get them and ourselves out of here!”

Applejack glanced at the part of the room that had collapsed entirely, before looking back at Twilight. “How do you reckon we go and do that, sugarcube? Even if we suppose fer a moment that the stairways didn't go and collapse on us, it's still goin' to be a long way down, especially if we've gotta carry other ponies. How will we get out in time?”

“We use these,” Twilight replied, fluttering her mechanical wings to draw her friends' attention to them. “We're on the tenth floor of the southern wing of the hospital. I noticed the neighbouring building has a flat roof when we got here. We find a place where we can still access a window, bust it out and fly to the roof on the other side. It's not that far, we should be able to make it even if we're carrying somepony.”

She took a glance at the faces of her friends, waiting to see if they had any objections to her plan. Before any of them could say something, however, a piece of the ceiling as big as a pony's head came loose and missed Applejack by a hair, startling all of them.

“Right, it's a plan. Time to go everypony!” Applejack said, taking the decision for all of them, pressing down her hat more firmly on her head as she glanced at the piece of debris that had nearly fallen on top of her. The others swallowed audibly, looking nervously from the rock to the ceiling before nodding in agreement.

“Let's,” Rarity agreed jumpily. “Staying any longer in this environment would be absolutely, ah, killer for my complexion.”

The five mares hurried towards the door to the hallway. Using her magic, Twilight tried to turn the latch, but she quickly found out that it refused to budge. “It's stuck,” she groaned through gritted teeth, pulling harder at the handle with her magic. “The impact must have damaged the lock or something!”

“Step aside, sugarcube,” Applejack said, brushing Twilight aside with one of her mechanical wings. “This requires the subtle touch of a professional's hoof!” She pressed her ear against the door and tapped the wood a few times with her hoof. She listened to the sound returned for a moment, and then gave a sage nod. Turning around, she braced herself and glanced over her shoulder at her target one more time to measure the distance. Then, with a short cry, she bucked the obstacle with all the earth pony force her hind legs could muster. The poor door didn't stand a chance and was knocked cleanly off its hinges, sailing through the air before coming to an abrupt halt against the opposite wall.

Rarity spared a moment to give Applejack a dry sideways glance. “A 'subtle touch', darling?” she echoed, sounding equally impressed and resigned. Applejack merely gave her a knowing grin, causing Rarity to huff and roll her eyes before quickly following her friends out of the room.

As the five mares emerged in the hallway, they immediately noticed that it had fared no better than the room they had just left behind. There were multiple cracks along the walls and the floor was littered with stone, plaster and other debris that had fallen from the ceiling. Some of it was on fire, spreading a thick cloud of smoke throughout the entire length of the hallway, forcing the ponies to keep their heads low in order to breathe. The smoke, combined with the lack of windows to allow light to come in, as well as the fact that the electricity had gone dead, made it very dark and difficult to navigate, slowing their progress even more.

Twilight paused for a moment to light up her horn, to provide both more light and a guiding point her friends could use to locate her should they lose sight of her for one reason or another. She looked around, trying to figure out which way to go, her eyes watering as the smoke entered them. The room they had been in was located near one end of the hallway, close to one of the stairways that led to lower and higher floors. A quick glance to her left, however, revealed that that part of the hall had collapsed, just as Applejack had feared.

It was clear to her that they had no other option but to take the long way to the other end of the hall. She looked back over her shoulder to her friends. “Girls, try to open every door we come across and look for survivors or a window we could use,” she ordered. “Applejack, if there's a door they can't open, you or myself will try to bust it down, unless it looks like it can't be done or would take too long to do it.”

Applejack pulled the brim of her hat lower and nodded. “Gotcha, sugarcube.”

“We have to try and cover as much ground as possible as quickly as we can, there's no telling how long we have left,” Twilight continued. “But we shouldn't lose sight of each other, we have to stick together. If you do happen to get lost somehow, look for the light of my horn to find your way back to us.”

Her friends nodded, after which the group began to make their way down the hall as quickly as caution allowed them to. Twilight led the way, Pinkie following right behind her, keeping a close eye on the ceiling and her tail in case anything decided to drop. Fluttershy and Rarity were next, each on one side of the hall and trying every door they came across, while Applejack brought up the rear.

As they made their way through the burning building, they repeatedly had to avoid rubble that fell down from the ceiling, though thankfully Pinkie's twitching tail never failed to warn them in time. One time they got the fright of their lives when a piece of the floor suddenly gave away beneath Rarity's hooves, but the unicorn managed to jump to solid ground in time to avoid falling into the furnace of the floor below. All the time, smoke and heat battered their weary bodies, but they pressed on without complaint, knowing very well that the only alternative was certain death.

The repeated attempts of the collapsing structure to take their lives was a constant reminder that they were hard pressed for time, yet despite that they didn't stop looking for other survivors, opening or breaking down every door that crossed their path. So far, however, their search had yielded no results; every door they busted down revealing only more death and ruin. Ponies lay dead on the ground or in their beds, crushed under debris when the building had come down on top of them or suffocated by the heat and lack of oxygen. It was a sight that never failed to unsettle them, a reminder that without Pinkie Pie, their fate would have been no different.

It didn't help that, on top of finding no fellow survivors, they had also yet to find an opportunity to escape. Most of the rooms they had searched had collapsed at least partially, taking the windows and outer wall with it. Even when they found one where the window had still been intact, it was unreachable due to scorching fires or debris blocking the path. Though none of them said anything, it was clear on their faces that they were starting to both worry and panic. They had almost reached the other end of the hallway, with only a few rooms left to search; if those did not offer an escape route, then they had survived the initial bombardment only to die a slow death in its aftermath.

Then, just as they were starting to give in to despair, their ears picked up a noise that made hope flare up in their hearts.

Uncertain at first if it had merely been a trick of their minds, hearing the sound being repeated dispelled all doubts. From bit further down the hall came the unmistakable sound of a hoof knocking against wood. Straining theirs ears to listen now, they could faintly make out a voice trying to be heard over the din of the fire. Sharing a glance, the mares gave a unanimous nod before making their way over to the source of the sound as quickly as their hooves could carry them.

Once they had found the door in question, there was no doubt left in their hearts; somepony was definitely on the other side of the door, rapping his or her hoof against it to try and make him or herself heard.

“Can anypony hear me?! Please, we need help!”

Twilight gasped as she recognised the voice. “Doctor Carehoof, is that you?!”

A relieved sigh could be heard through the door. “Thank goodness, somepony came!” the voice replied. “Miss Sparkle, is it you?”

“Yes! I'm here and so are my friends!” Twilight answered, almost shouting in order to make sure she was heard. “Is there anypony else in there with you, doctor? Are you hurt?!”

“A piece of the ceiling hit me on the head, I can't use my magic without my skull feeling like it's splitting. I fear my horn was damaged, but I'll live!” the doctor shouted back. “I have four patients with me. They're alive, but they're too injured to walk. I managed to douse the fires to put us out of any immediate danger, but the door is jammed. It must have been damaged during the attack, meaning we're trapped inside here!”

Twilight's eyes narrowed into a serious and determined look. “Doctor, please step away from the door,” she warned, before turning around to face her friends, focussing on one of them in particular. “Applejack, I think this situation is one that requires your subtle touch.”

Applejack gave a grim nod before pulling down the brim of her hat. “One door goin' down,” she said, walking up to the door determinedly, her friends stepping aside to let her pass. This time, there was no prior show or fuss; she simply bucked the door with all the strength her legs possessed. The door snapped off its hinges and flew into the room, though Twilight caught it in her magic and let it drop to the ground before it could get very far.

Doctor Carehoof immediately came up to greet them, relief evident in his yellow eyes. His mane and tail were covered in sooth, dust and ash, dulling their usual teal colour. His lab coat had fared no better, the white having almost turned to grey. Only his blue fur and his cutie mark, a splint with a roll of bandages, remained relatively clean. Once he stood right next to them, the five mares could see that he had indeed suffered an injury to the head; there were clear signs of blood and a small crack ran across the length of his horn. Twilight winced upon seeing it. Using magic with a horn in such a shape would be about as pleasant as running a race with two broken legs.

“Miss Sparkle, I'm glad to see you and your friends are unharmed,” Carehoof said as a greeting. “Please, tell me, are there any other survivors?”

Twilight mournfully shook her head. “You were the first pony we found who's still alive,” she replied, her throat aching as she spoke due to more than just the smoke and heat. “There are a few rooms left on this floor that we haven't searched, but I wouldn't hold out much hope. Every room we came across had collapsed or was on the verge of doing so.” She glanced up to the ceiling of the room and swallowed hard as she noticed it sported a particularly large crack that was growing wider every second.

Doctor Carehoof followed her gaze until he saw the threat looming above their heads as well. “I see. Then there is absolutely no time to waste,” he said, lowering his eyes again before gesturing to something behind him. “We have to carry these gentlecolts to the exit while we still can.” Looking past him, Twilight and her friends could see four soldiers lying together on the ground underneath a makeshift shelter to keep things from falling onto them.

“Afraid that won't do much good, doc,” Applejack replied. “Seems like the stairways collapsed when the building took its beating. There's no getting outta here that way.”

Upon hearing this, the doctor visibly paled. “Does this mean we are trapped on this floor?!”

“I'm afraid so,” Applejack answered, for once looking rather uncomfortable speaking the truth. “Now don't y'all go panickin' like a spooked sheep,” she added quickly upon seeing the expression that had appeared on Carehoof's face upon hearing her words. “'Twi said the next building's roof's flat as a pancake. All we have ta do is find a window and use these,” she spread her mechanical wings, “to fly ourselves over to it.”

Carehoof thoughtfully rubbed his chin with one of his hooves. “That could work,” he admitted slowly. His eyes drifted to Applejack's wings and he contemplatively chewed on his lower lip. “Can you fly with those while carrying another pony with you, though? I mean no offense, but you have been given those only recently.”

“Our destination is situated at a lower point than where we currently stand,” Twilight answered in place of her friends. “I'm not denying that we aren't exactly the most experienced fliers in Equestria, but I'm sure even we can manage to at least glide our way to the other side.”

Those weren't the reassuring words that Carehoof had hoped to hear, but he accepted them nonetheless. “With the stairways blocked, we don't have much choice but to try,” he said. “As for a window, I believe I can help with that.” He turned half around and pointed to the wall on the opposite end of the room. In it was a window that appeared to have survived the destruction, even if the glass that had sat inside it had not. The wall itself had only a few cracks snaking across its surface and the ceiling did not seem to be on the verge of collapse.

Everything pointed to it being the escape way they had been looking for, but Twilight wasn't about to take any chances. Before she let anyone near that wall, she wanted to be as sure as somepony could be in these circumstances that it was as safe as something could possibly be in this condition. “Pinkie,” she began, turning her head to look at the pony in question. “What does your Pinkie Sense say? Do you feel any warnings coming up?”

Pinkie Pie narrowed her eyes and concentrated, staring intently at the window. The serious expression, combined with the flat mane and tail, looked fundamentally wrong on her, but none of her friends felt like now was the moment to be worried about such things. After a few moments, Pinkie relaxed again and shook her head. “I don't feel anything,” she said. “No twitchy tail, no itchy knee, no doozy, no anything! I think that my Pinkie Sense is telling me that it's safe to approach that window.”

Twilight nodded, reassured by the answer, and turned back to face doctor Carehoof. Upon seeing the odd look he was giving her, she smiled sheepishly. “Er, don't ask,” she said with a nervous laugh, becoming serious again before the good doctor could start to question her sanity. She gestured towards the four injured soldiers. “We should move them to the window. The shorter the distance we have to carry them on our backs, the better.”

“Very well,” doctor Carehoof replied, who had opted to not inquire further as to what twitching tails or itchy knees had to do with windows being approachable or not. He and Twilight moved over to the nearest soldier, where the latter used her magic to lift the injured pony onto the doctor's back. Rarity and the others came over to help as well, though before Applejack and Pinkie could start to do any lifting, Twilight held out a hoof and pulled them aside.

“Applejack, there were still a few rooms left that we hadn't checked when we found doctor Carehoof,” Twilight said, her face grim. “I don't want to ask you this, but would you be willing to go and make sure there are no other survivors left? I know it's dangerous and I won't force you, but I...”

Applejack held up her hoof to silence her. “Say no more, sugarcube,” she replied. “I understand how ya feel. If it turned out somepony died just because we didn't look fer him, it wouldn't sit well with me either. So don'tcha fret none, I'll do it.”

Twilight bowed her head slightly. “Thank you… I'd go myself if I could, but I have to stay here to oversee our escape. If any of us drops one of those soldiers or they slip off by accident, I might still be able to save them with my magic,” she said, sounding both relieved and grateful. The way her ears were lowered, however, told her friends how she really felt about asking them to head back into danger.

“Pinkie, would you go with her?” Twilight asked, looking positively guilty as she turned her attention to the pony in question. “I'll feel better knowing that she has your Pinkie Sense with her to keep her safe.”

Pinkie Pie gave a quiet nod in reply, causing Twilight to let out a relieved sigh. Upon noticing that her friend was still visibly feeling bad about what she asked of them, Applejack placed her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. “Twi, should the worst happen to Pinkie and me here while we're gone, I wantcha to promise me you won't beat yerself up about it afterwards,” she began, while looking Twilight straight in the eyes. “We went back cuz we agreed to. Whatever happens, it ain't your fault, you got that, sugarcube?”

They stared at each other for what felt like a long time, until Twilight finally relented and averted her eyes with a quiet sigh and a short nod. “I promise. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” she swore, while making the sacred motions to the binding oath. Once it was completed, she managed to look back up at Applejack, a small smile on her lips. “Thank you.”

“Ain't nothing to thank me for, sugarcube,” Applejack replied with a wink. “We're yer friends, after all.”

With those words, they parted ways. The two earth ponies quickly departed from the room, while Twilight hurried over to the window, where Rarity, Fluttershy and doctor Carehoof had just finished moving the last patient. The three ponies gave her knowing looks, but opted to not say or ask anything, for which Twilight was grateful.

“Is everything ready for our escape?” she asked, deciding to focus on what was the most important at the moment.

“As ready as we'll ever be, darling,” Rarity replied, giving a curt nod. She gestured at the window with her hoof. “We were trying to decide how to properly go at this. We do not exactly have much margin for error, after all.”

Twilight's followed the direction Rarity's hoof was pointing at, her eyes narrowing in thought as they settled on the window. As it was currently, it would be quite difficult to climb through the window, even more so while carrying somepony on their back, not to mention finding good footing for a proper jump into the air. She might have learned to fly only a few days ago, but Twilight knew that a proper take-off meant everything. Especially since they were going to have passengers they'd be responsible for.

She pondered about the situation for a few moments before reaching a decision. “Let's start by making ourselves a proper exit,” she decided aloud, positioning herself in front of the window, a scowl of determination on her face. Narrowing her eyes in concentration, Twilight surrounded the entire window - sill and frame included - with the signature lavender glow of her magic. She gritted her teeth and braced herself, then proceeded to rip the entire structure clean out of the wall using her telekinesis, discarding it somewhere off to the side, paying it no further heed.

Only the small portion of the wall, underneath where the window had been, still stood in their way. Using a beam of concentrated magical energy, Twilight sawed out the small portion's form from the rest of the wall, a quick flick of her magic dumping it atop the discarded window. What was left was a hole in the wall roughly the size of a normal door opening, through which entered a welcome surge of cool, fresh air.

Rarity's eyes glanced from the newly made exit to the pony that had made it. “Dear me, I had no idea you were experienced in construction and renovation work, Twilight,” she said, giving her fellow unicorn a sly look.

“A mare by herself has to get by somehow,” Twilight answered smoothly, allowing herself a small smile before becoming serious again. She looked outside through the newly made opening, observing the roof of the neighbouring building, which thankfully appeared to still be intact and a safe place to land. Chewing on her lower lip in thought, she tried to measure the distance and height difference between them and their destination. Her memory hadn't been wrong; the roof on the other side appeared to be low enough for them to safely cross the distance with a long, smooth glide.

Still, that didn't mean they had to be careless. A plan having formed in her head, Twilight turned around to face her companions. “Rarity, you'll have to be the first to try and make the crossing first,” she said, causing the mare in question's eyes to widen in surprise. Seeing this, Twilight hurried to explain. “Fluttershy will go with you without a passenger. This way, should something go wrong, she'll be able to catch either you or your passenger, while I catch the other pony with my magic.”

Rarity let out a deep sigh. “I can't say that I feel much for this arrangement, but I do see the logic behind it and I do realise that we don't have much choice,” she relented. She brushed a hoof through her mane and then gave Twilight a tired nod. “Very well then, I am 'in', as they say.”

Twilight gave her a grateful smile before turning her head towards Fluttershy. The pegasus gave a soft squeak and hid behind her mane, but nevertheless gave her friends a barely perceptible nod. “I'll do it,” she whispered, so softly her friends and doctor Carehoof had to strain themselves to hear her.

In truth, Fluttershy was about as keen on Twilight's proposed method as Rarity was, but forced herself to keep her objections to herself. Though Rainbow Dash had provided her with a mechanical exoskeleton to strengthen her wings, she didn't consider herself to be a very good flier. She knew that if she wasn't fast enough, if she failed to catch Rarity or the injured soldier in case they fell, either of the previously mentioned ponies would pay for her shortcomings with his or her life. The thought of bearing such a heavy responsibility, to have the actual life of one of her friends depending on her, truly frightened her more than anything ever had before.

Nevertheless, she didn't shirk away from it. Each of her friends and Rainbow Dash in particular, was in a similar situation and they all did what was expected of them, despite their fears and despite the heavy responsibilities riding on their shoulders. Fluttershy had vowed to herself that she would do no less and she had no intention of breaking her vow. She'd rather die of fright by facing her fears than abandon and betray her friends. She would fight, just like them. She'd play her part until the end.

“Thank you, girls,” Twilight said gratefully, giving both of her friends a small smile, unaware of Fluttershy's turbulent thoughts. She stepped away from the hole in the wall to get out of their way, and then turned her attention to doctor Carehoof. “I think we'd better get started, there's no telling how much time we have left.” She paused briefly to steal a quick glance at the ceiling. “Doctor, I think it's best if you go first.”

To her surprise, the stallion shook his head. “I'm afraid I have to decline, miss Sparkle,” he replied. “As a doctor, it is my duty to think first and foremost of the health and safety of my patients. I will not leave until all four of these gentlecolts have been evacuated from this building.” He gestured meaningfully at the four unconscious soldiers, the determined expression on his face making it clear that he would not be persuaded.

Twilight sighed, but did not argue. “As you wish,” she relented, after which she turned her head to look at the injured ponies as well. “Which one of these gentlecolts should we evacuate first, then?”

Doctor Carehoof's studied the four patients' injuries, his brow furrowed in thought as he tried to reach a decision. It was not an easy choice to make. Did he pick the one most in need of medical care, or the one with the highest chances of survival? With pain in his heart, for he valued the life of each patient equally, he reluctantly went with the latter. Bowing his head, he placed his hoof on the least injured soldier, a green pegasus with two broken wings and a shattered hoof.

Twilight wisely said nothing, instead mentioning towards Rarity and Fluttershy to come closer. “Girls, if you're ready?”

“Of course,” Rarity replied, giving a short nod. She spread her mechanical wings and then turned her back towards Twilight, making it easier for her fellow unicorn to load the wounded soldier onto her person. Twilight did so very carefully, gently lifting the injured pony with her magic while doctor Carehoof helped to manoeuvre him onto the fashionista's back.

Rarity breathed out sharply once the weight was placed fully upon her back, suddenly feeling very glad for the dreadfully heavy, sweaty armour Rainbow Dash had forced her to wear. To her credit, she uttered not so much as a single word of displeasure or complaint. If it was to save a life, she did not care that she had to perform manual labour or wear something of questionable fashion sense; she was not that vain or petty and had more dignity than that.

She glanced at Fluttershy and gave the pegasus a strained smile. “Well then, after you, darling,” Rarity said to her, gesturing at the makeshift exit Twilight had so kindly provided for them.

Fluttershy squeaked, looking very much like she wanted to be somewhere else right now; nevertheless she dutifully stepped forward. Taking a deep breath, she flittered nervously with her wings and then leaped through the hole in the wall into the open skies. The cool wind that greeted her felt incredibly soothing as it caressed through her mane and feathers, a welcome relief after the heat and smoke inside. The feeling of having fresh air in her lungs again felt so good that she wanted nothing more but to lose herself in it, but she stoutly suppressed that desire and focussed on her task.

A few powerful beats of her mechanically strengthened wings carried her swiftly through the air - a bit too swift to her liking, to be honest - until she was roughly halfway between the hospital and the neighbouring building. There she hovered in place, keeping herself aloft with almost lazy flaps of her wings. She turned around until she was facing the hospital and waited for Rarity to try and make the crossing, the nervosity chasing away her earlier feelings of relief.

“Alright, Rarity, your turn now,” Twilight said to her fellow unicorn, once she saw that Fluttershy was in place.

“Very well,” Rarity replied, laughing nervously as she approached the opening in the wall. Once she stood at the edge and could see how far below the ground was, her chest painfully constricted in fear. She almost did a step back, but caught herself before she could do so, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. “Now is not the time to panic, Rarity,” she admonished herself. “There is nothing to worry about. Your wings are completely functional and better yet, they won't evaporate in sunlight.”

She took a deep breath to steel herself, trying to gather her courage. “There are ponies depending on you to save them,” she continued. “So be brave and show your friends that their trust in you is not misplaced. A lady does not give cause for doubt, after all, and you are a lady, are you not?” Her eyes narrowed in determination and she gritted her teeth so hard one could pulverise granite between them.

Then, after letting out a most unladylike war cry, Rarity jumped.

To her credit, it took her only three seconds before she remembered to open her wings, which was roughly around the same time when Fluttershy managed to stop covering her eyes with her hooves. At first she felt herself falling freely to the ground below and Rarity quickly began to panic, her legs flailing. She needn't have worried, however, for her wings worked as they should. Sailing on the wind running underneath them, the mechanical constructs smoothly carried her across the gap until, with a thud and a few stumbling steps, Rarity landed safely atop the roof on the other side.

Fluttershy quickly hurried over to her friend to make sure she was okay, while back inside the hospital, Twilight let out a sigh of relief. For one terrifying moment, she'd thought Rarity had really been falling, but it had passed as quickly as it had come once she saw her friend gliding safely through the air. Now she watched as Fluttershy helped Rarity to unload the latter's passenger and lay him safely on the roof in the shadow of a chimney.

Once they were done, Twilight signalled for them to come back to ferry the next patient across. Fortunately flying proved to be much easier than gliding with a heavy weight on her back and Rarity made the trip back across the gap without any incident or drama. In little to no time, Twilight and doctor Carehoof had helped the second injured soldier on her back and Rarity was on her way again. There was no hesitation as she walked to the edge this time, she simply took a breath and jumped.

“Twilight!”

The calling of her name drew Twilight's attention away from watching Rarity's flight and she turned her head just in time to witness the return of Pinkie Pie. Judging from how her friend looked no happier than when she'd left and how she wasn't carrying anypony with her, Twilight dared to guess the search for other survivors had been unsuccessful. She waited a second for Applejack's return to confirm her suspicions, then grew worried when her friend did not appear.

“Pinkie, did you find anypony?” Twilight asked hurriedly, her concern growing when Applejack still did not return. “Where's Applejack?”

“Applejack?” Pinkie Pie echoed, a frown appearing on her face. She glanced over her shoulder and only now seemed to notice that she had returned to her friends alone. “She was right behind me a second ago!” she said, giving Twilight a worried look. “She must have gone back, but I don't know why she would do that without telling me, especially since we looked everywhere and didn't find anypony. Should I go look for her?!”

Twilight hesitated, unsure of what to answer. On one hoof, she was concerned for Applejack's safety, but on the other hoof, there was no telling how much time they had left before everything collapsed on top of them. They really could use Pinkie Pie at the moment to speed up the evacuation process; time was of the essence. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut and grit her teeth. Choosing between the safety of her friend or the safety of four injured soldiers who couldn't save themselves, it was an impossible choice to make.

The choice was spared her, however, as fate chose that moment for Pinkie's tale to start shaking. Pinkie's head whirled around, her eyes growing wide in panic as they stared at her tail. “Twitchy tail! Twitchy tail!” she cried out, her head turning in every direction as she tried to spot the place from which things would start falling.

Almost by instinct, Twilight's eyes looked up to the ceiling. During the past few minutes, the crack she had spotted earlier had only grown wider as the ceiling slowly gave away under the weight of the floors above it. Now at last it had reached its breaking point and with a loud groan the entire structure finally gave out. The room trembled upon its very foundations and ominous rumbling rang through the air as the ceiling broke into pieces, some large enough to crush three ponies to paste underneath them. Now those pieces were falling down, ready to bury the pink pony that was looking up at them with wide, panic-filled eyes.

Pinkie Pie knew she had to run. The ceiling was coming down upon her and if she didn't move she would be buried underneath it. With nothing to hide under this time, there was no chance she would survive. She knew this and yet her hooves refused to move. Fear had taken a hold of her body, the fear a pony could only feel when looking death in the eye, and it paralyzed her. She could only stare at the huge slab of plaster and stone that was going to fall on top of her and turn her into a pink, bloody mush underneath it.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she noticed that the falling debris was actually taking its sweet time crushing her. For some reason, it was coming closer only very slowly, which was odd, as if somepony had turned off gravity or increased the density of the air. Even stranger, the rubble was glowing with a familiar magenta colour. Was her fantasy running wild in an effort to make her smile just one final time?

“Pinkie!”

The cry of her name snapped her out of her fear-induced trance. In a flash of insight, Pinkie realised what was really happening right now. She wasn't being crushed because the debris was no longer falling due to somepony using magic to hold it in place. That was why the pieces were glowing and judging from the colour of the glow, she knew just who to thank for her timely rescue. Turning her head confirmed her suspicions.

Twilight Sparkle felt like she was back in Canterlot again, trying to hold down all those guards with her magic in order to save her friends' lives, throwing every bit of magic she had in her body into the fight. Only this time, the enemy wasn't a group of Republican soldiers out for blood, but a heap of smouldering debris roughly weighing a ton or so. The jury was still out on which of the two was the more colossal feat.

Every muscle in her body trembled, her legs feeling like they could give away at any moment and she could feel sweat running down in rivers over her neck and flanks. Her horn felt like it was made of lead, weighing down her head while her neck muscles strained to hold it up. “If I had a shard of magicite, this would be so easy,” she thought wryly, the realisation randomly passing through her mind.

“Pinkie!” Twilight cried again, her voice as strained as the rest of her body. “Get over here! Take one of the injured and leave!” she ordered, once she saw that she had Pinkie's attention. “Tell Fluttershy she has to help with the evacuation! Agh!” One of her forelegs gave away and the debris fell a step closer to the floor. Heaving, Twilight forced herself back up and pushed back against the debris, driving it back a few hoof-lengths. “There's no time… DO IT!”

“What about you?!” Pinkie shouted back in panic, though she obeyed Twilight's orders and hurried over to doctor Carehoof and the remaining two soldiers, dodging a few small pieces of debris that had slipped Twilight's grasp along the way.

“I'll be fine!” Twilight replied, giving another strangled groan as the colossal weight of the ceiling pressed down on her tender, untrained frame. “I'll buy you the time you need. Just get everypony to safety! Don't let anypony else die because of my brother's depravity!” As she said those words and thought of her brother, Twilight felt a spike of anger flare up in her chest. She let the emotion fuel her magic and with a chilling cry, she managed to push back the falling rubble almost all the way back into the ceiling.

As she struggled with both the collapsing ceiling and her emotions, Twilight kept being reminded of the events in Canterlot, less than a month ago during the night of the Parade. She hadn't been able to buy Fluttershy enough time to escape with Rarity back then. She had failed to hold back the enemy, failed to protect her friends, forcing Rainbow Dash to step in and save them.

“Not this time,” Twilight thought. She didn't care if she had been able to practice and study only a little bit since then, she didn't care that she still wasn't back on the level she had been during her old life. She wasn't going to fail this time, she flat out refused to. She was going to fight, just like Rainbow Dash, even without magicite or her old skill level and she was not going to be defeated again.

It was a battle between a unicorn and gravity itself, with the former trying to desperately hold up the giant weight that the latter was so eagerly trying to pull down; one that forced Twilight to give it her all. She constantly had to fight not only against gravity, but against her own body as well. The strain she was placing on it and the amount of effort she was asking from it was not little. Her muscles ached and the longer she continued, the more her horn began to feel like it was on fire.

Because of this, all her attention went to her efforts to keep the ceiling from collapsing, she couldn't afford to focus on anything else. She couldn't even glance over her shoulder to see how her friends were doing with the evacuation, to give her an idea of how much longer she had to keep this up. She tried not to think about it and focussed only on getting from one second to the next, urging herself to keep going for just one moment longer.

“Twilight!”

The sudden calling of her name startled Twilight so badly that she almost lost control over the debris. To her great relief she managed to recover quickly enough, but her heart was still beating wildly in her chest. Once she was sure her grip on the collapsing ceiling was secure again, she dared to turn her head around to look behind her. The injured soldiers were gone and Fluttershy was hovering in the air before the hole in the wall, doctor Carehoof on her back with his forelegs wrapped around her. How much time had passed? Twilight didn't know.

“Miss Sparkle!” doctor Carehoof called out to her. “Everypony has been taken to safety, you have to get out of there now!”

“I can't!” Twilight shouted back defiantly, turning her attention back to the falling debris. “I have to wait for Applejack! If I let go, the rubble will block her path and she'll have no way to escape the building!”

“We do not even know where Miss Applejack is!” the doctor cried out, sounding desperate. “You are putting your life on the line for somepony who might not even be alive herself anymore!”

“Applejack is not dead!” Twilight snarled angrily. “If she was, Pinkie would have sensed it. She went back for some reason and I'm waiting right here for her! I won't abandon one of my friends to die! I WON'T!” Her anger flared up again, giving her another temporal boost of strength, enough to push the debris a good deal higher. “Fluttershy, take doctor Carehoof to safety and wait for me with the others. I'll be joining you as soon as Applejack comes back!”

Fluttershy squeaked fearfully, but nodded nevertheless. She didn't like the idea of Twilight staying where it was dangerous, but she understood why her friend did it. She wouldn't have been able to abandon Applejack either if she had been in Twilight's place. “Please be safe,” she whispered. Then, after a last glance at her brave friend, Fluttershy turned herself around and began the flight to the other roof where the rest of her friends were waiting with the evacuated soldiers.

“Madness...” doctor Carehoof muttered, shaking his head, but he allowed himself to be carried away without any further protesting. The look in Twilight's eyes had told him everything he needed to know. There was no way in the nine realms of Tartarus that he could have convinced her to escape. She was too determined, too loyal to be swayed by words. He had never seen a mare so foolish and brave.

Twilight herself wasn't so sure about that brave part, but she agreed wholeheartedly with the foolish one. She knew that what she was doing was reckless and would even be called stupid by more than one, just as she knew that nopony would have thought less of her if she had escaped with the rest of her friends. There was no telling where Applejack had gone or how much longer she'd have to wait for her, making the possibility that staying behind would end up killing her a very likely one. Of that, she was all too aware, but she didn't care.

Applejack was the pony who had given her shelter when she had ran away from home because of Shining Armour's promotion, who had helped her to find her footing when she had arrived in Ponyville without a bit to her name. She was not going to let somepony who had done so much for her die in a disaster her brother was responsible for. She wouldn't allow it. She had lost so much already in this altered life of hers and she refused to lose anything else.

“That being said, I wouldn't complain if she came back right now,” Twilight thought wryly, a pained groan escaping her lips as the strain on her body increased. Already, her head hurt like mad, as if somepony was delivering blow after blow straight to her horn with a hammer. “I don't know how much longer I can keep this up...”

One of her hooves slipped, making her stumble and lose her balance. She almost fell over, but fortunately managed to regain her footing before that could happen. The brief disturbance, however, had taken away some of her focus from her magic, allowing the debris to sink further towards the floor. Twilight gritted her teeth and did her best to push it back up, but she had no more strength to call upon to achieve such a feat. Pearls of sweat ran down her face and fell to the ground as she strained to keep the massive weight aloft.

“Come on, keep it together, Twilight, just a little longer,” she told herself, even as the weight of the spell and what she was using it on pressed her head almost against the floor. She was reaching her limits. She'd lose her grip on the debris any moment now and there was still no sign of her missing friend. “Applejack, where are you?!”

Just when Twilight felt that she couldn't hold on any longer, she heard the most welcome sound she could imagine, the sound of running hooves coming her way. Her renewed faith gave her one last burst of strength, allowing her to push back the debris one last time. Not even a second later, Applejack burst into the room, looking as if she'd just taken a walk through Tartarus.

“I'm here!” she cried out, taking a moment to catch her breath, unaware of the danger above her head. Across her back was slung another survivor, an unfortunate nurse who'd gotten buried underneath a pile of rubble. If it hadn't been for Applejack going back after she thought she heard a weak cry for help, that's where she would still be.

“Applejack!” Twilight shouted, waving wildly with her foreleg to try and gain her friend's attention. “Applejack, we've got to get out of here! I can't hold it any longer!” It was true, she could feel her magic slipping away even as she spoke.

Applejack looked up when she heard her name. The first thing she saw was Twilight, whose horn was glowing and who looked utterly exhausted. That's when she finally spotted the collapsed ceiling and the floating pieces of debris, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks as she took in the sight. When she noticed the magenta glow surrounding the rubble and Twilight struggling to do… something, Applejack immediately connected the dots.

Wasting no time, she shifted herself into gear and sprinted towards Twilight, running underneath the looming debris as fast as her legs could carry her. “Let's go, sugarcube!” she shouted once she had made it to the other side.

Twilight nodded and immediately shut off her magic, letting the broken ceiling finally fall down unhindered. By the time she'd turned herself around, Applejack was right next to her. Together, the two mares raced towards the hole in the wall, diving through it just as the room collapsed. A plume of dust and smoke erupted from the hole behind them, the strong wind almost blowing Applejack and Twilight out of the sky.

Fortunately, even with their limited flying skills, the two mares managed to keep their flight stable and safely made it across the gap. Out of breath, their legs shaking, they finally landed on the other roof, their friends rushing up to greet them.

“Twilight, Applejack, oh my goodness, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked, her face pale with worry. She flittered around them, going from one friend to the other to try and look for any visible signs of injury, fussing over them like a worried mother.

“We're, we're fine, sugarcube,” Applejack panted, her voice hoarse and lacking its usual volume and strength. “Just, just hafta… hafta catch my breath fer a spell.” She breathed deeply in and out a few times to try and calm down her breathing, with limited success. “Whoo boy, that was one wild rodeo.”

“I should say so, judging from how you look,” Rarity replied, wrinkling her nose as she smelled the sooth and smoke clinging to Applejack's body. “Where ever did you disappear to, darling? Leaving us waiting without a word, why, I'd be quite upset with you if I wasn't so relieved to see you safe!”

“Sorry 'bout that, y'all,” Applejack apologised. “I was following Pinkie back to y'all when I heard someone cryin' fer help. Pinkie mustn’t have heard 'cuz she'd gone on ahead while I stopped ta listen. I followed the voice and found this lil' missy here,” she gestured at the mare slung across her back, “buried underneath a lot of rubble. Almost couldn't gett‘er out.”

“You'd better take her to doctor Carehoof right away, Applejack,” Fluttershy said, as she examined the unconscious mare on her friend's back with careful and tender touches of her hooves. “She doesn't look very good, the poor dear...”

“She sure doesn't, why just listen to her wheezing up her lungs,” Applejack agreed, as she glanced over her shoulder to take a look at her passenger. The nurse's breathing came out in raspy, laboured pants and she sported numerous cuts, bruises and burns on top of that. “Ain't no tellin' how much smoke she breathed in before I found her.” She shook her head sadly and sighed, then glanced up at Fluttershy. “Well, I'll be takin' her to the doctor now. You comin' with me, sugarcube?”

“Oh, ehm, yes, if that would be alright with you,” Fluttershy replied timidly, wanting to make sure the poor mare was going to make it.

Applejack nodded and together, the two mares walked off towards where doctor Carehoof was tending to the other evacuated patients a small distance away. The rest of their friends watched them go, concern for the injured mare evident on their faces, each of them hoping the innocent pony was going to be alright. A few seconds later, Rarity and Pinkie Pie looked away and focussed their attention on a still recovering Twilight.

“Darling, are you alright?” Rarity asked, feeling more than a little worried when she watched Twilight struggle for breath. Twilight's mane clung to her neck and forehead, drenched in sweat, and she appeared to be barely standing due to how exhausted she was. Given how hard her fellow unicorn had just pushed herself, Rarity wasn't surprised. “I saw what you were doing and I can scarcely imagine how much power it took from you. Your head must feel like it's splitting right now.”

“I'll, I'll be alright,” Twilight tried to assure her, but her harsh breathing and shaky legs didn't make her words very convincing. “It's just...” She paused to swallow hard. “Like Applejack said. Just… Have to...” She let her head drop, too tired to keep it up anymore. “Have to catch my breath for a moment.”

“More than a moment, I should say,” Rarity replied, moving herself right next to Twilight so her friend could lean on her for support, an offer Twilight gladly accepted with a moment's hesitation. “Your magic must be positively drained right now. We should try and find you a safe place where you can rest.” With a sigh, Rarity looked around, the high rooftop providing an excellent vantage point from which she could oversee a good deal of the city. “Good luck finding one in this city, however...”

“There's no time for that,” Twilight insisted, sounding like she had wanted to shout but lacking the strength or air to raise her voice, causing her words to sound more like a pitiful whine. She forced her eyelids open and sought out doctor Carehoof, a tired smile appearing on her face when she saw him tending to the injured nurse. She was glad Applejack had managed to find another survivor. At least they had been able to save six ponies from the aftermath of her brother's vile, cowardly attack.

Thinking about her brother and the horrors he had wrought rekindled the flame of rage in her heart, allowing Twilight to regain some of her strength. “As soon as Fluttershy and Applejack return, we've got to go,” she declared.

“Go where, may I ask?” Rarity wondered, her narrowed eyes critically scanning every facet of Twilight's appearance, as if trying to determine if her friend was in her right state of mind or not. “In your current state, I really don't think it would be wise to go anywhere, Twilight, except to someplace you can rest.”

“Maybe not, but I've got no choice,” Twilight replied, gratefully accepting the glass of water Pinkie offered her. She wisely decided not to ask or think about how or where Pinkie had managed to get such a thing on a flat rooftop next to a burning hospital. “I have to know what's happening and there's only one pony who can tell me.”

Her eyes glanced up briefly to the skies, to where the sun was being hidden by the thick cloud of ominous black smoke that arose from the ruined hospital. For some reason, it felt as if that image represented so much more than simply the destruction of the hospital. A shiver ran down Twilight's spine and she shook her head, determination flaming up in her eyes. She was not ready to admit defeat just yet. With a firm nod, she focussed again on her worried friends.

“There's no time to waste,” she said. “I need to talk to Admiral Desert Heat.”

---

The ominous cloud of black smoke that now covered the skies above Stalliongrad was a perfect analogy for Desert Heat's own feelings. Just as the dark clouds had blotted out the light of the sun and cast a dark shadow over the city, so too had his feelings of failure sundered the light of hope within him and shrouded his mind in shadows of despair. The admiral had never thought of himself as a pessimist, but right now all he could feel was defeat, the taste of failure laying bitter on his lips.

He had failed. He had failed Derpy, he had failed his fellow soldiers, he had failed everypony who had placed their hopes upon him. He had failed Equestria. All his efforts, all his speeches and promises, it had all been for naught. He had let the initiative slip from his hooves and now everything had gone to Tartarus, turning his war efforts into a total disaster. All hope he had felt upon hearing Derpy was on her way had been snuffed out like a candle flame in a blizzard.

The Republicans were at the walls and he had not the numbers needed to hold them back. The hospital was burning and despite all of their efforts they could not get the fire under control, let alone try and rescue any survivors. Rainbow Dash had gone berserk, leaving her troops without their commander. Yet even with all of that, fate had evidently not found the situation bad enough just yet and decided to drop one more piece of bad news into his lap.

“You are certain?” Desert Heat asked, trying to keep his voice steady while giving the soldier that had just brought him the news a sombre look.

“I'm afraid so, admiral, sir,” the soldier replied, looking decidedly unhappy that he had to bring his already weary looking superior even more bad news. “Our lookouts have confirmed that The Windigo has been sunk. Admiral Amethyst Star was last seen trying to save the ship, but has gone missing in the wake of its destruction. It is possible that she,” the soldier swallowed hard, “did not survive.”

Of all the bad news he had received so far, none had hit Desert Heat as hard as this. The sinking of one of their flagships would be the final nail in the coffin for the morale of his troops, once the news became more widespread, while the Republicans would only grow bolder and more determined now that they had just taken out one of their enemies' strongest powers.

The news hurt Desert Heat not just as the commander of an army, but on a personal level as well. For all they differed in about everything, from personality to age, Amethyst Star was still a close friend of his and one that he cared for very deeply. The thought of her having been injured - or worse - made him frantic with worry and grief. How could he ever face Derpy again, knowing that he had lost not just the city, but the grand admiral's very own daughter as well?

Realising that the soldier was still waiting for him to respond, Desert Heat forced himself to ignore the pain in his heart for the moment. Having lost a friend or not, he was still the acting commander of the Royal Guard and had a duty to fulfil, even if everything now seemed well and truly lost. “You said she was last seen trying to save the ship,” he said slowly. “Have there been no attempts made to find her or retrieve her body, should such be necessary?”

“Pardon me for being frank, admiral, sir, but who could have done so and when?” the messenger answered. “Both aerial fronts have descended into chaos and our troops are quickly being pushed back. The enemy is at the gates and every available mare or stallion who is not here helping to get the hospital fire under control has been sent to the walls to fight them. We simply have nopony left available to search for admiral Star in the middle of this chaos.”

Desert Heat watched as the soldier's ears folded back nervously once he was done speaking, no doubt fearing that he had overstepped his bounds in speaking so frankly to his superior. Desert Heat shook his head and sighed. “You are entirely correct, of course,” he admitted. Closing his eyes, Desert Heat barely resisted the urge to hold his head between his hooves, so at loss did he feel of what to do.

“Send word to vice-admiral Dew Chalice,” he finally decided. “She is to take over command of the Third Division in admiral Amethyst Star's absence.”

The messenger nodded, gave a hasty salute and then hurried off to pass on the orders. Desert Heat watched him leave for a second or two, then tried to bring his focus back to the matter of the still burning hospital. He knew his presence was required at the front, perhaps even more so than here, but he could not bring himself to abandon however many survivors there were trapped inside to a slow and painful death.

He cursed the fact that they had cleared the skies of any clouds in the area, because clear skies made it easier to spot an oncoming enemy. Now he wished they hadn't, for even the smallest raincloud would have been most welcome now. He had used his sand to battle the flames, to limited the success, but he was only one stallion and could not be everywhere at once. There'd have to be at least fifty Desert Heats or more to douse a fire of this size.

“Yet they only have me,” he thought bitterly, the weight of his perceived failures pressing down heavily upon him, making him look older than he truly was. Old and tired. “Derpy was wrong to entrust the command to me. I've made a mess of things. I let her down, I let everypony down.”

The admiral was pulled from his thoughts by the approach of another soldier. Wincing inwardly, Desert Heat prepared himself for the next bout of bad news. Fate truly seemed to be working against him today.

“Admiral Desert Heat, sir,” the soldier greeted, while saluting his superior officer. Once the admiral gave him an acknowledging nod, the soldier lowered his hoof and gestured to the five mares that he had brought with him. “These mares wished to have a word with you. They are some of our civilian volunteers who've managed to escape from the hospital.”

Desert Heat glanced past the guard at the mares in question, a frown on his face. He had simply assumed them to be members of the guard at first, due to the fact that they were wearing the standard armour of the Royal Guard. Now that he took a better look, he couldn't believe he had ever thought so in the first place; they clearly lacked the trained physique one would expect from a soldier, aside from the orange earth pony.

As he studied them, he had the nagging feeling in the back of his head that he knew them from somewhere, but he couldn't recall where exactly. He hadn't exactly had much contact with the civilian volunteers, that part of the preparations had been delegated to Sparkler and Rainbow Dash. He mulled it over, racking his brain, when suddenly it hit him.

“Of course! You're the friends Rainbow Dash brought with her when she returned from Canterlot,” he exclaimed, his eyes widening slightly in recognition. “The ones she never shut up about back when she was still a mere recruit under my tutelage at the guard academy!” Despite the severity of the situation everywhere around him, Desert Heat couldn't help but smile fondly at that memory.

The five mares - Twilight and her friends - shared a look of surprise at the revelation. “You were the one who trained Rainbow Dash to be a guard?” Fluttershy asked, not sure why this surprised her so much. Perhaps it had just seemed odd that her best friend had been trained by somepony she now shared the same rank with.

“One of the many,” Desert Heat corrected her. “Drilling new recruits was one of my duties back when I was still a vice-admiral. By the time Rainbow Dash had made it through the recruitment program and was officially accepted in the ranks of the Guard, I had been promoted and she wound up in a different division than mine. I did not instruct her after that, but I never forgot her. She was one of those recruits that leave an impression, you see.”

The admiral sighed and shook his head. “But as much as I would love to tell you all about your friend's escapades during her years of service, I fear now's not the best moment for it,” he said, his nostalgic smile having once again been wiped away by the grim reality of the present moment. “In any case, it is a relief to know you are all safe.” He gave them all an acknowledging nod. “I know not why you sought me out, but sadly my time is limited, so whatever you wish to say or ask, do it quickly.”

“We merely want to know what's going on!” Twilight Sparkle replied, speaking before any of her friends could. “Why did the Republic attack the hospital? I thought it was considered to be neutral ground?! Did the war go so much in our favour that my brother started to panic and gave up any pretence of morality in order to win?! Please, admiral, I have to know!”

Desert Heat carefully studied Twilight's face as she spoke. Her words were angry, each question being asked more quickly than the last and he could clearly sense her rage. Yet, in her eyes he detected something hiding underneath that fury. She was distressed about something, something that hurt her on a deeply personal level, and it was connected to the attack on the hospital somehow. He tried to recall what Rainbow Dash had told him about 'Twilight Sparkle'. He got the feeling he'd heard that name somewhere else as well...

“Ah, of course… Marshal Shining Armour is your brother, is he not, miss Sparkle?” he asked. When Twilight nodded affirmatively, his expression turned compassionate as he understood what haunted her. Thinking that somepony of your own blood had committed such a moral atrocity would be hard on anypony.

“From what he told me, the Marshal did not order this attack or give permission for it,” Desert Heat explained, keeping his voice neutral. “Smaragd Haze, the Republican commander who carried out the bombardment, acted on his own, so Shining Armour claimed. I know not for certain if this is true or not, though I have little reason to suspect him of lying about something like this.”

“As for the 'why'...” he continued, pausing for a moment to contemplate how to quickly sum up the strategy the enemy had tried to follow. “The Republic was hoping to start a war on two fronts. While their main forces kept our army locked in battle here at Stalliongrad, a smaller force would attack New Saddle in secret.” This particular revelation earned a gasp from the five mares, who were listening to his every word with rapt attention. Clearly, Rainbow Dash hadn't informed them of the unwelcome news this morning.

“Fortunately, we got word of that plan in time and Grand Admiral Hooves has managed to prevent the attack,” he added to quickly ease their worries about the results of the second attack. “The Republic's victory now rides entirely on the outcome of this battle. If their attack here fails as well, all of their efforts of today will be in vain. I'm guessing this is what drove Smaragd Haze to ignore Shining Armour's orders, to ensure that does not happen.”

The admiral shook his head and turned away to look at the burning hospital, after which he let out a deep sigh, his shoulders slumped in defeat. “It certainly worked,” he concluded sadly.

Twilight and her friends exchanged worried looks. “What do you mean by that, if I may be so bold as to ask, sir?” Rarity inquired, the slight trembling of her voice betraying her growing unease.

“I mean that it is over,” Desert Heat replied simply, stunning them all. “Smaragd Haze's gamble paid off. The hospital is beyond saving, we can't treat our wounded any longer and the morale of our troops has been shattered into a million pieces. The Republicans are at the gates and I don't have the troops to hold them back. Admiral Amethyst Star and her ship have been taken down, leaving the Third Division without its commander and with Rainbow Dash having gone berserk over your presumed deaths, the Second Division isn't much better off.”

The tired stallion bowed his head and let out another sigh. “It's over,” he repeated. He sat down on his rump and looked up to the cloud of black smoke that hid the sun from view. “The fall of Stalliongrad is only a matter of time now. I've tried everything I could, but I just wasn't good enough. I've failed.”

Applejack could scarcely believe what she was hearing. “So, that's it?” she asked weakly. “We lost?”

“So it would seem. The battle, for certain and the war is only a matter of time after that,” Desert Heat replied, not even looking at them anymore as he spoke. “You should evacuate the city while you still can. There is no need for you to die alongside the rest of us. We might have lost, but I have no intention of surrendering.” He closed his eyes and gave a resigned nod.

“No.”

The word came sudden and unexpected, causing Desert Heat to look at its speaker in surprise, nor was he the only one.

“No,” Twilight repeated, a strange expression on her face, one that bordered between anger and determination. She was aware everypony was looking at her in incomprehension, but she ignored the stares. “We haven't lost yet,” she said, her voice firm. “Things may look bad right now, but we still have a chance to win!”

If her friends had given her a puzzled look before, now they were regarding her as if she had lost her mind. Desert Heat's reaction was less extreme, though he did appear to be confused and somewhat intrigued as well. “I do not wish to be a pessimist, but I fear I must correct you, miss Sparkle,” he said. “I can assure you that we no longer possess the means necessary to hold the Republic back for long, let alone drive them back or defeat them.”

“That doesn't mean it's over,” Twilight insisted, sounding very sure of herself. “If what you told me is true, if Shining Armour really didn't mean to attack the hospital, then there's a way to force him to retreat!” She did a step towards Desert Heat, her expression grim and serious. “I know I may sound crazy, but I'm not! It's not exactly the most moral of plans, but I do have a plan that might just win us the war!”

Desert Heat's frown deepened and he fixed Twilight with a calculating look, inwardly contemplating what to do and how to react. The mare before him appeared perfectly serious and he didn't have any reason to doubt her sincerity. On the other hoof, it seemed almost too convenient that a civilian with no military background to speak of suddenly appeared before him with a plan she claimed could bring them victory despite the hopeless situation they were in. It definitely sounded too good to be true, but he figured there was no harm in hearing her out.

“Interesting.”

The word was spoken not by Desert Heat, but by a lone mare who had been quietly making her way towards the small group. She wore a grey, hooded cloak to conceal her identity, and carried an unconscious and injured Amethyst Star on her back. Once the mare came up close, Twilight and her friends were able to peer under the hood and spot the straw-coloured mane, as well as the rather striking brown eye-patch covering the newcomer's left eye.

“Please,” Derpy Hooves said, her single eye focussed on a certain unicorn, “tell me more about this plan of yours, Twilight Sparkle.”

End of chapter 39.

Author's Note:

My thanks to Barbecue Sauce and popcorn815 for their help in the creation of this chapter.

Don't really have much to say about this one, except that the scene in the hospital took way more words to write than I expected. Twelve thousand words, sheesh, I originally thought it wouldn't take more than five thousand or so. Anyway, next up is the fortieth chapter, in which the Siege of Stalliongrad will at long last come to a close. Who will win and who will lose? Next chapter, you'll know!

Comments

[Barbecue Sauce]

Great to finally have this chapter up!

Enjoy, everypony.

[nobodyreallyimportant]

I see you all managed just fine. You missed some capitalization in a few spots. (Pulling rarity out of the cubbord, etc.) but other than that it looked good. I'm looking forward to the next chapter.

[Hoof of Approval]

Twilight the Tactician. ENGAGE.

[GMZ_Casper]

Oh boy, things are about to explode in this wild climax. I can't wait to see what Twilight got up her metaphorical sleeves. And yay, Derpy is back and she has Amethyst with her, still alive.

C&Cs:
...the noise of the canon fire in the distance...
> Correction: ‘cannon’.
…Pinkie sense...
> Capitalize ‘sense’, since her Pinkie Sense is the name of her ability.
...doctor Carehoof...
> Capitalize ‘doctor’.
...miss Sparkle...
> Capitalize ‘miss’.
...while doctor Carehoof helped to manoeuvre him onto the fashionista's back.
> Correction: ‘maneuver’. And, again with ‘Doctor Carehoof’.
“Send word to vice-admiral Dew Chalice,” he finally decided. “She is to take over command of the Third Division in admiral Amethyst Star's absence.”
> When combined with a name, the title is capitalized. For example here, it should be ‘Vice-Admiral Dew Chalice’ and ‘Admiral Amethyst Star’.

[UncreativeName]

HA I knew it I was waiting for Desert Heat to drop the bomb on Shinning Armor that the attack on the hospital could of killed his sister, but apparently he didn't remember about Twilight. Now she's come up with the plan to mentally traumatize him into retreating by pretending she was killed. If the next chapter doesn't contain some semblance of that plan I'll be shocked.

[DaddyStallion]

Thanks for keeping this going! It always makes me happy when I see an email alert telling me this story updated.

[Dead Turtle]

Still as awesome as ever!

And I have no idea how Twilight will do this. Except by guilt-tripping Shining Armour, probably.

[Sylocat]

3590101 3595452

I second the motion. If Shining Armor isn't noble enough to lay off after Smaragd Haze blows up a hospital, there's no shame in misleading him. Tell him that hospital crashed down right on top of his sister, and see how he reacts to that. If nothing else, it'll stop him coordinating with Smaragd for a while.

[Keeper of Jericho]

3590101 3595452 3595799
Tricking Shining Armour into thinking Twilight died would do surprisingly little, to be honest. Yes, he'd probably feel awful because of it, but he'd never retreat due to it. None of his subordinates would ever accept that. "What, we're winning here and we retreat because one mare died?!" Far more likely that, if Shining Armour were to order such a thing, he'd be judged incapable of being in command for the moment and he'd just be replaced by one of the commanders instead. Besides, even if they would obey him and retreat because he feels guilty Twilight died, that would leave him in a very bad position in Canterlot. The Nobles' Court wouldn't be very pleased if their Marshal gave up victory simply because he let his personal feelings get in the way. He'd face dire consequences for that, and then who would protect Cadance, under house arrest and with her magic sealed as she is, not to mention the rest of his family?

[UncreativeName]

3598537 Yeah I suppose all those reasons occurred to me as well after I wrote that comment but I still kinda wish something like it would happen. Shinning needs a kick in the ass for being so stupid. Though I suppose the realization that Cadance betrayed him will do nicely.

[BR0NYGUY2001]

"NEW CHAPTER!!!
"WOW."

[Dead Turtle]

3598537
Good point!

[HeartsWarmth]

I'm so glad to have found this story again, I lost the link and couldn't remember what it was called, thank you feature box. But now it's safe and Favorited!

Twilight's going for mutual assured destruction? Who knows what magical spells she remembers and with enough magicite boom!

[Fury of the Tempest]

YES! DEPRY HAS ARRIVED!