Scootaloo was finding her assigned zebras much more useful than Filefolder had found his. It was true that they didn't speak her language, but they mostly did seem to understand her commands. There were five of them in all, but she only knew the name of Zuberi, their leader. One of the officers in CIC had instructed her to hide behind the zebras if they should run into changelings as their armor could absorb magical attacks.
The six of them moved into the forest. Her striped companions were unbelievably quiet; they hadn't said so much as a word to each other since they'd left Ponyville, and they stepped with stealthy precision. Not even the sound of their hooves could be heard as they silently crept deeper and deeper. The zebras didn't know what they were looking for, but Scootaloo was keeping her eyes open for any sign of the purple moss that Pibs had shown her nearly a month before. She must have spotted a hundred different kinds of plants that she didn't recognize before her eyes passed across something that demanded a closer look.
Upon first sighting, Scootaloo had walked past it. She then suddenly stopped and turned. The zebras all dropped into defensive stances when she did this. The mare trotted over to a tree on which the purple moss was growing. Zuberi and the others followed. It was only a small patch of it, but it was definitely the correct variety. Scootaloo excitedly began scraping it off of the tree and putting it into her saddle bag.
"We need more of this," she said to Zuberi.
He looked at her, inquisitively tilting his head to one side.
She held up the moss for him to see and said, "We need to collect this."
Scootaloo put it in her bag. She pointed at the moss again, and then back to her bag.
Zuberi nodded as if he understood before speaking, "Nadhani yeye anataka zaidi ya mimea hii zambarau. Kutafuta zaidi na kurudi kwa eneo hili katika dakika kumi."
The zebras shot out swiftly in different directions, leaving Scootaloo alone. She was a little startled at their speed, but she went back to scraping the last of her purple moss from the tree. When she finished putting it into her saddlebag, she continued forward. It was quiet, but after only a minute or so, one of the zebras found her and began stuffing moss into her bags. The others began arriving shortly thereafter, and before Scootaloo realized it, her bags were so stuffed full of the earthy plant that she couldn't close them.
"Thank you," she said to Zuberi.
He tilted his head at her again, and she wasn't certain if he understood her or not.
“No more,” she said with a forced smile.
He stared back at her as if trying to understand.
She pointed to her overflowing bags, “All full; no more room.”
He nodded, and moments later the zebra squad was formed up and escorting her back to back to Ponyville. Her spirits were lifted at how quickly they had accomplished this leg of their mission.
...
Sparklefly awoke to the medic gently shaking her. It was a little disorienting at first, as sleep had made her completely forget her surroundings. She didn't know why she was in the infirmary for a moment. Then she remembered Duster and the fever.
"LT, I have to go make my rounds," he said.
"Thanks," she replied as she stirred.
Standing proved uncomfortable. She was groggy, but forced herself to move. Sparklefly’s throat was scratchy, and she felt as though her legs were stiff and weighted with lead. The nap she'd taken made her feel even worse than she had before, almost nauseous. The medic had already walked off, and she could hear shouting on the other end of the infirmary tent. It seemed that another life hung in the balance. Duster looked rather pitiful. He was sweating in spite of the cold packs on his neck, head, and chest. He still had an intubation tube keeping his airways open, and his breaths were shallow but even.
The window flaps were open, and Sparklefly could see that night had fallen. She didn’t know for how long she'd slept, but it was longer than the half hour she'd expected. Sunset had been at least an hour away when she laid down. She shrugged, deciding it didn't matter; Duster was still breathing. Scratching an itch on her left eye, Sparklefly made certain to reposition her eye patch. She still felt shame for how little enthusiasm she had demonstrated when Scootaloo had given it to her. It was a thoughtful gift, and the detail on the embroidery was magnificent. It matched her cutie mark beautifully.
A patient in the cot next to Duster, a mare, began convulsing. Sparklefly ran over to her.
"Medic!" she cried out.
She wanted to do something, but she wasn't sure whether she might make things worse if she tried to hold her down. Suddenly the mare stopped, everything. Her chest fell in a final exhale, and she didn't breathe in again.
"Medic!" Sparklefly shouted again.
One of the medics finally arrived. He checked her quickly and began shouting. In the noise that followed, Sparklefly's attention went back to Duster. In spite of how horrible he looked, he seemed rather peaceful in the middle of this situation. The medics worked on the mare for nearly ten minutes before they gave up, exhausted and drenched in sweat from their effort. Sparklefly helped them carry the body out and took one of her tags.
Like Doff, Cadet Stormyweather never got to see the enemy in combat. She was killed by a virus before she ever even took the field, a side-effect of close quarters living inside an energy shield. They had a small pile of them now, including some that had died in the last few hours. If this was all of them, that brought the total to eleven lost to the fever. If the infected didn't start recovering soon, they were facing a huge problem. The number of sick had grown to almost three-hundred with the early symptoms.
Sparklefly returned to the infirmary to find a welcome sight. Scootaloo had arrived with Zecora and some zebras. They were distributing medicine that they had brought to all of the sick.
"Hey LT!" Scootaloo called out with a wide grin.
"Hey yourself, Sergeant," Sparklefly shot back, relieved to see her. “I thought you were going to stay at Sweet Apple Acres.”
“What, and miss my chance to strut in here like a hero and get all the credit for saving everypony? Do you even know you’re talking to?”
Sparklefly smiled at her friend.
“It looks like all that botany stuff was pretty useful after all. Pibs just helped save lives," Scootaloo said with a kind of cheerful solemnity.
It seemed to Sparklefly that Scootaloo had taken Pibs' death particularly hard. They didn't speak of it, but there was something in her eyes that gave it away.
"This will cure them?" Sparklefly asked.
Zecora answered her, "This is one disease that has no cure; treat the symptoms, and they'll recover for sure.
That was bound to make the medics feel better. Their efforts had been the correct steps for this illness. Sparklefly still found herself only caring whether Duster survived. She stumbled as she approached his bed, but caught herself before she fell.
"Are you okay?" Scootaloo asked.
Nodding, she replied, “It’s a small matter; I'm just tired."
"You should get some sleep."
"No," Sparklefly said, a little frantically. "I can’t leave now; I’m not leaving his side.”
"Don't worry about it," Scootaloo reassured. "I'll watch him."
Sparklefly nodded and resumed her place beside the bed on the floor. She found herself wondering how Scootaloo's trip to Cloudsdale had gone wrong. There were any number of things that could have prevented her from seeing Shining Armor or anypony else that she’d be able to trust. They would have to find some time to talk about it. Trying to work out these thoughts, Sparklefly’s head swam and her mind wandered to other things. She pondered who Cadet Stormyweather had been. What had brought her to enlist in the EUP? Did she have any family? How different was it for any of them who could have lived or died with no more ceremony than that? Eventually, she drifted off into a deep, perfectly comfortable sleep.