Journal Entry
Capt. Twilight Sparkle
June 9th, 1944
Private Bloom
Scootaloo died yesterday. She was shot in the shoulder by a sniper and bled to death, we couldn't make it to her in time. It took us a couple of hours to dig a grave for Scoot, and since her death was my fault, I was the one who placed her body in the six foot deep hole in the ground. We had a small funeral for her, with just us, the squad and I, there. Rainbow Dash said a few prayers for Scoot, and when we were done, we placed a grave stone above where her head would be, saying:
Private, First Class Scootaloo
A brave and loving hero
After that, there were no more sighs of the Germane Pozis. Braeburn led us under an arched alley, and stopped us.
"Thunder!" he shouted down the alley.
"Flash! Come on in!" came the reply.
Braeburn signaled an all-clear, and we moved up to a window just on the other side of the wall, where three look-outs were watching for intruders.
"Howdy, fellers," Braeburn said to them, "We're looking for Captain Toity."
"Somewhere down there, across the square," answered the first ponies, pointing to the other side of the alley.
"Go easy, and watch for snipers," said the second pony.
We walked down the hall cautiously, until Braeburn called us to a rest. We were in a boxed alleyway, that had stairs leading up to a balcony above us, facing a wall with vines climbing over it. A pile of rubble was packed up on one corner of the wall, and there were boards leaning against the side of the building.
"Hey," Braeburn said to a unicorn next to him, "Check up there and see if Toity's there, would ya?"
He pointed to the stairs leading to the balcony, and the unicorn looked uncertainly at him.
"Well, go on!" Braeburn encouraged, "Get!"
The unicorn dashed up the stairs and disappeared from view.
"Right," said Braeburn, sitting on the rubble, "Every pony take a rest here. I know we'll need it." he laid against the boards, which slid off the rubble and hit the wall.
I guess the wall was pretty weak, because when the board came into contact with it, it crumbled as if the board was passing through water. A series of shouts were emitted, and every pony stood up, surprised at the sudden yells. Behind the wall were about seven Germane Pozis, and they looked just about as shocked as we did. Every pony groped for their weapons, and it turned into a shouting match as we had our weapons aimed at them, and theirs at us.
"Drop 'em!" I shouted, "Drop 'em now!"
"Put your weapons down!" Spike was shouting next to me, "Put 'em down this second!"
The Germanes were shouting at us in their own language, but no pony, save Fluttershy, could understand them.
"I'll shoot ya!" Rainbow was shouting, her rifle fixed at one of their heads, "I'll blow a hole right through your head!"
Fluttershy wasn't aiming her weapon, and was simply shouting something to them in Germane, when gun fire sounded, blood shot from every direction, and the next thing I knew, we were all on the ground, the Germanes dead.
I looked up at the balcony, and I saw the unicorn from earlier, and a very handsome, grey skinned pony with a dark grey mane and purple reflector glasses. They both had guns out that were smoking from the barrel.
"Clear up!" he shouted, and Spike and Braeburn rushed into the room and checked the bodies, and Braeburn responded, "Clear Down!"
"I swear," Whooves said as we got up, "It's enough to make you old."
"Yeah, let's hope so," I said back, still looking at the captain. He walked down the stairs, to me, and put his hoof out.
"Hoity Toity, Pawfinders, 101st."
"Twilight Sparkle, 2nd Wranglers," I said, shaking his hoof. "Thank you." I added, looking at the dead Germanes, "We're looking for a Private Bloom. She's part of your outfit."
"My outfits are made from leather and fabric," he replied, looking insulted, "Not from other ponies."
"I meant... what?" I said, confused.
"Twilight, don't you know who this is?" said, walking up to us and looking like she was about to scream out of joy, "This is Hoity Toity, the famous fashion designer from Canterlot! He visited my shop once, remember Apple Jack?"
"Sure shooin' do!" said Apple Jack from inside the room with the Germane corpses, "This here captain is a legend, accordin' to you, ."
"Well, at least some ponies know about my fabulousity," Toity said, shifting his glasses a little with his hoof.
"I don't care about that," I said, knowing this was a complete waste of time, "Any chance you can bring Bloom up?"
"So, how was the road in?" Toity asked as we walked into the square. It was no longer raining, and the sunshine was quite enjoyable.
"Scenic," I said, "We lost most of our ammo."
"Not to mention one of our ponies," Whooves said, staring at the ground as he walked.
"Lieutenant, redeploy that bazooka to the right side of the road, and get Bloom up here!" Toity said to a passing Pegasus. As she flew away, he looked at me and said, "It's good to be the boss, isn't it?"
I nodded, not looking back at him.
"Bloom!" I heard some pony should, "Bloom! Front and center on the double!"
We saw a yellow pony running towards us, carrying a backpack full of apples.
"Here comes our filly," Toity said. The pony stopped in front of us in attention stance.
"Sir, Private Bloom reporting as ordered," she said to Toity. I heard Spike mutter to Whooves behind me, "Told you she'd be a jackass."
"At ease," Toity said to Bloom, and she relaxed her body a bit, "Captain Sparkle, 2nd Wranglers. She'd like a word with you."
"Um, cap?" Apple Jack tapped my shoulder, "That's-"
"I know she's your sister, Jack," I said, "But I'll tell her the news."
"That ain't what I was-"
"I'll let you talk to her in a minute! Just let me tell her first!"
I led Bloom over to the corner of a nearby building, Toity following us. I told her to take a knee, so she sat on the ground and looked at me questionably.
"Private, I'm afraid I have some bad news," I said. She continued to gaze at me, and I found it hard to think straight, "Well, there's no easy way to say this, so... I'll just say it. Your brother is dead."
She had a different look on her face now, a look of shock. She shook her head, her eyes closed.
"We have orders to come and get you... cause you're going home."
Toity put a hoof on Bloom's back, and she stared at me with red eyes. Finally, after what seemed like hours, she put her head in Toity's shoulder and said, "Oh my God, my brother's dead!" she sobbed loudly, and every pony was looking our way. I felt slightly awkward, as Bloom continued to cry, "I was gonna go fishing with him when I got back home."
It took a while for her to calm down and begin to talk again.
"How-- How did he die?"
"He was killed in action," I said.
"No..." she said, "No, that can't be!"
"I'm so sorry, Bloom," Toity said, looking at the back of her mane and curling it as if trying to change it's style.
"But that can't be!" she continued, "My brother's still in grammar school!"
Now it was my turn to stare at her questionably.
"You're Private Bloom?" I asked, uncertain now.
"Yes," she choked.
"Private Apple Bloom, from Sweet Apple Acres?"
"Private Sunflower Bloom, from Fillysoda."
I heard several groans from my squad, and Apple Jack gave me a I-tried-to-tell-you sort of look.
"Well, does that-- does that mean my brother is ok?" Bloom asked shakily.
"Yeah, I'm sure he's fine." I said, frustrated, "We're looking for a different Private Bloom. This is just a big fowl up."
"How do you know?" asked Bloom, but I was walking away, and I heard her crying, "How can she be sure, Captain? What if the fowl up was that her brother was OK, and mine was the one who died? I just wrote him a letter! I've gotta get home! I've gotta get home!"
"That was embarrassing," Whooves said when I reached him.
"Tell me about it," I agreed.
Toity came back after easing Bloom, and he stuck with us for a little walk.
"Are you in touch with your C.O.?" I asked him. When he didn't respond, I scoffed loudly, "That figures."
"What unit is your Bloom in?" he asked, ignoring my rudeness.
"Baker Company, 5-0-6."
"The pony with the broken back hoof, she's from 5-0-6, right?" Toity asked Braeburn.
"Yup. Charlie, I think."
Next thing I knew, I was in a small medicine tent, talking to a pony who was getting her back hoof wrapped up.
"Bloom?" she asked, "Don't know-- Ow! Take it easy, would ya!?"
"Where was your drop zone?" I asked her.
"Just inside of Vierville."
"Vierville? How the hay did you end up way up here?"
"You got me, ma'am. C-47 took heavy fire. The pilot went crazy trying to get out of there, turning every which way ,took more fire on the drop, and I ended up here. I haven't seen a single pony from my stick, ma'am, Celestia knows where they all are."
"Any pony from Baker Company have a big mouth? Say where the drop zone might've been?"
"No, ma'am, but I know Baker Company had the same rally point as us."
"Show me," I said, taking out a map and handing it to her.
The sun was sinking over the hills by the time we got out of that tent, and I was asking Toity if there was anywhere we could rest.
"My ponies are beat. We're gonna hold up here for maybe three hours. We'll pull out after dark. Got anything left in this town like a 3-star hotel, something with clean sheets and soft pillows and room service?"
Toity chuckled, gazing dreamily at him from beside him, "How about a nice comfy church?"
"We'll take that, I guess," I said.
"I think I'll stay with you guys for the night," Braeburn said, slugging Apple Jack in the shoulder gently.
" 'Corse you will!" Apple Jack said enthusiastically, "We have a lot to catch up on!"
"What have you heard? How's it all falling together?" Toity asked me.
"Well, we got the beachhead secure. Problem is Monty's taking his time moving on Caen. We can't pull out until he's ready. So--"
"That pony is so overrated."
"No argument here."
"You've got to take Caen, so you can take Saint-Lo. Then Valognes, then Cherbourg, then Paris, and then finally, you get Berlin."
"And then that big boat home."
"What a fascinating plan," said , still gazing at Toity.
"Why, thank you, young lady," he said to her, and continued talking to me, squealing behind us, "We sure could use you around here, but I understand completely what you're doing."
"You do?" I asked.
"Yes. I have a couple of brothers myself."
"Oh."
"Good luck."
"Thanks."
"No, I mean it. Find her. Get her home."
"What's wrong with your hoof, Twilight?" Whooves asked. It was dark out, and we're inside the curch, which was lit up by candles.
"I don't know," I said, staring at it as it twitched, "It started when they brought us down for embarkation. It comes and goes."
"Well, you may have to get yourself a new line of work," Whooves said, still looking at it, "This one doesn't seem to agree with you any more."
I watched my hoof twitched until it stopped, which wasn't a long time. Suddenly, remembering a memory, I began to giggle.
"What?" Whooves asked curiously.
I continued to giggle, and then I asked him, "What was the name of that filly at Anzio? The one that was always walking around with her back hoofs dragging behind her, and she was singing that song about the pony on the flying trapeze?"
Whooves looked at me as if I had gone insane, but then started cracking up himself.
"Ditzy Doo," he said, smiling.
"Ditzy Doo!" I said, "That was it! Yeah, she was a goofy filly."
"I remember she used to eat D's on every pony's jacket, for Ditzy!" laughed Whooves, "For Domination!"
We continued laughing, and I almost started choking.
"She was so short!"
"She was a midget, wasn't she?"
" 'How did you get to be a wrangler?' "
Whooves chuckled, "She got shot in the hoof once, didn't she? And she was walking with them dragging behind her?"
"Yeah, she could walk faster on her hoofs."
Whooves nearly cried he was laughing so hard.
"Yeah, Ditzy Doo," I said when we calmed down, "Scootaloo."
Whooves looked at me, half the smile faded from his face.
"You see, when... when you end up killing one of your ponies, you see, you tell yourself it happened so you could save the lives of two or three, or ten others, maybe even a hundred others. Do you know how many ponies have died under my command?"
"How many?"
"Ninety-four. But that means I've saved the lives of ten times that many, doesn't it? Maybe even twenty, right? And that's how simple it is. That's how you... that's how you rationalize making the choice between the mission and the ponies."
"Except this time the mission is a pony."
I took this in, and thought about it for a moment.
"This Bloom better be worth it," I said, "She'd better go home and cure some disease or invent some kind of loopty-hoop or something. Because the truth is I wouldn't trade ten Blooms for one Ditzy Doo or one Scootaloo."
"Amen," Whooves said, nodding.
I felt something on my right hoof, and turned to look at it.
"Look," I said, holding it up, "There it goes again."
Whooves looked at my twitching hoof, and then to me.
"Ma'am," he said, "Are you all right?"
I ignored him, and put my hoof down. I checked my watch.
"Now, look," I said, "we're gonna move out in about two hours. Why don't you get some sleep?"
Rainbow was sleeping softly as the others talked.
"I don't know how she does it," Spike said, looking at her.
"What's that?" Braeburn asked him.
"Falls asleep like that. I mean, look at her. The pony's lights out the minute her head hits the pack.
"A clear conscience," Apple Jack answered.
"Yeah, what's that saying? 'If Celestia's on our side, then who's on the others?' "
" 'If Celestia be for us, then who could be against us?' " Fluttershy said.
"Yeah, what did I say?" Spike said.
Then Rarity, who was copying Scootaloo's letter, said, "Well, actually, the trick to falling asleep is trying to stay awake."
"How's that, Rarity?" Apple jack asked.
"Well, when I worked in my dress shop at Ponyville, a baby dragon would come in every now and then to help me with the customers and give me ideas for clothing. He was a stunning dragon, he was, and I always had trouble talking to him when he came. I was always extremely busy, though, so the only time that we ever got to talk about anything was after the shop closed. He always came in during work hours and sometimes after closing time, so if he didn't come during the day, I'd lay down on my bed and think of dress ideas or fill in orders sent to me by mail. So what I would do is I would try to stay awake as long as I could so I could see him."
"Yeah, well that wouldn't have mattered at all in my house," said Spike, looking as though he hadn't heard a thing, "My mom, she would've come home, shook me awake, and chatted with me to until dawn. I swear that mare was never too tired to talk." he added, looking up at where I was.
"Yeah," Apple Jack said, "that's probably the only time she could get a word in."
Fluttershy giggled, and Spike nudged Apple Jack with his elbow.
"Funny thing is," Rarity continued, "sometimes he'd come earlier than I had intended, but I'd pretend to be asleep."
"Who?" Braeburn asked, "The baby dragon?"
"Yes. He'd stand in the doorway looking at me, and I'd just keep my eyes shut. And I knew he just wanted to find out about my day, that he'd shown up early... just to talk to me. And I still wouldn't move. I'd still pretend to be asleep... I don't know why I did that."
Every pony was looking at Rarity now, who was gazing at the ground as if there was something particularly interesting there.
"Wait," Spike said suddenly, "This sounds familiar. Was the baby dragon-"
"We've only got a couple hours," I said, walking to them from my bed and interrupting Spike. Whooves was fast asleep. "You should all get some sleep."
Soon it was only me and Fluttershy awake. Fluttershy was doodling animals in the corner, and I was watching my hoof twitch.
"Um, captain?" Fluttershy said softly, and I looked up to her.
"How you doing there, Fluttershy?" I asked, "You all right?"
"Yeah, I think this is all good for me, ma'am."
"Really? How is that?"
" 'War educates the senses, calls into action the will, perfects the physical constitution, brings ponies into such swift and close collision in critical moments that pony measures pony.' "
"Yeah, I guess that's Emerson's way of finding the bright side."
"You know Emerson, ma'am?"
"I know some."
"So... where are you from, Captain? What did you do before the war?"
I smiled, "What's the pool up too?"
Fluttershy chuckled softly, "I think about three hundred, ma'am."
"Well, when it gets up to, let's say, five hundred, I'll give you the answers and we'll split the money. How about that?"
"Well, if that's the way you feel, ma'am, I feel it's my duty under your command to suggest that we wait until it gets up to a thousand, ma'am."
"What if we don't live that long?"
Fluttershy thought about this, and then said, "Five hundred?"
"That would be good, yeah," I said, and I got up and patted Fluttershy on the back, "Get some sleep, Corporal."
"Yes, ma'am," she said, and got up and walked to her bed. I looked at the pictures she had drawn and smiled. One of them was of her flying with a flock of geese with a rabbit chasing her from underneath.