//------------------------------//
// 27 - Aftermath, Part 2 of 5 
// Story: The Last Cutie Mark Crusader 
// by Jatheus 
//------------------------------//

Beigh, alongside LD and Lightning Dasher, worked the injuries before him at a feverish pace. Having studied medicine before enlisting, they were deferring to his judgement and effectively letting him lead their healing efforts. They did have the advantage of medical supplies that had been stockpiled inside the castle. Lightning Dasher and LD were fair medics in their own right, but they were far more skilled with the immediate battlefield trauma control.

The rest of Sparklefly's platoon didn't have much in the way of medical training yet. Between the rest of them it was rudimentary at best. The three were able to quickly triage and keep the wounded from dying on them. That was a good start.

The door to CIC opened, and Lieutenant Sparklefly entered. Beigh only gave her a cursory glance before looking back down to his patient. For the briefest moment he’d feared it was rebels forcing their way in.

"Locknload," Sparklefly said.

"Sir?" Locknload said as he quickly moved to her.

“Take your squad and patrol the corridors from the main entrance up to the high tower. We need to keep an eye on any possible weakness in our defenses."

"Yes, sir!" he saluted. "Alright, now, let's move out!"

His squad jumped up and followed in no particular formation. Looking up, Beigh saw Sparklefly and Duster exchange a glance. Even if he hadn’t known, there was no doubt that they were related because they looked so much alike.

Finishing up with his patient, Beigh moved on to the next one. Mostly it was lacerations and magical burns to deal with, but one unfortunate unicorn had a crossbow bolt in his neck. They carefully bandaged it up and set him down by himself, having decided it was too dangerous to remove it at present. If they hit an artery, he would die for certain.

"What is our status here?" Sparklefly asked.

Lightning Dasher answered, ”Our wounded are going to be fine, but I recommend keeping them on rest."

Beigh listened to the clash going on outside, he looked up at them doubtfully and added, "If possible."

Her expression was almost a smile, but it evaporated before it finished forming. "And the others?"

"They'll live. That one that was shot in the neck is going to be tricky," Beigh said thoughtfully.

"We'll get that out, and he'll be fine," LD added. "Don't you worry about it LT."

"Keep your squad here to guard the... the prisoners," she said to Lightning Dasher.

Sparklefly walked over to the dead. Beigh had asked Locknload to get them covered with sheets, which he had. However, his efforts were now stained with drying blood. The lieutenant picked them up, one by one and took their dog tags. Lastly, she arrived at the mare from Digger's squad and hesitated a moment.

Beigh could only guess at what she was thinking as she waited, almost as unmoving as the body of the fallen soldier. So far, the only one from their platoon to die from their injuries. Then the moment passed, and she took the dog tag and covered the corpse.

...

Cloud Blazer made his breaths calm and deep as complete chaos overran the hospital. The power had failed, and in the darkness, blasts of magical light shot through the hallway as arrows and spears zipped through the air outside. The scraping of metal on metal was loud, but above all else, the screams of war and death filled the night. Applejack and the others were still huddled behind the beds.

"I don't think leaving the door open is the best idea anymore!" Cloud Blazer shouted over the noise.

"I'm on it!" Apple Bloom yelled back. 

She and Sweetie Belle ran together and slammed the door shut. Pinkie Pie and Applejack scrambled from their hiding place to help move the bench seats to barricade the door.

“No lifting!” Apple Bloom scolded her sister.

“I think we got bigger things to worry about just now!”

Apple Bloom, Pinkie Pie, and Sweetie Belle managed to scoot the combined seats across the small room and wedge it against the door.

"That ought to slow down anypony tryin' to get in," Apple Bloom said.

"A little," Cloud Blazer added.

“Y’all have to see this,” Applejack spoke vacantly.

Approaching the window sent shards of pain through all of Cloud Blazers mending wounds. The view of outside was unbelievable. Zebras were in a full-on battle against the EUP rebels that had control of the town.

“What’s going on?” Sweetie Belle asked with a shiver.

Cloud Blazer was dumbfounded by what he saw. He was even more-so when he saw a zebra charge a unicorn. Several magical blasts were unleashed, bouncing off or being absorbed by the zebra's armor. He finally got close and impaled the unicorn with his spear.

"You girls don't need to see this," Cloud Blazer said as he pulled the curtains across the window, leaving them all in complete darkness.

Fluttershy whimpered. A moment later, magical energy lit the room from Sweetie Belle's horn. Cloud Blazer ached all over as he climbed back into bed. He sighed relief when he stopped moving and the pain finally subsided to the normal throbbing. Despair was mixing with confusion and filling the room. Even Pinkie Pie was taken by it, having returned to her post comforting Fluttershy.

In the dim teal magical light, Cloud Blazer shut his eyes and listened. He could almost see the Everfree Forest in his mind, the day that they were ambushed. Pibs had saved him; Sparklefly lost her eye. Regal Masquerade had fought so valiantly. Lightning Dasher flew in to help them, and Cloud Blazer himself stayed behind to cover everypony's escape. He ran for the cliff, and then...

The stallion opened his eyes, and he was still in the hospital room. He had survived that day in the forest, but he would never fly again, not under his own power at any rate. The noise inside the hospital grew much greater. It sounded as if there were a fight in the corridor outside. Some shouting was followed suddenly by a hard bang against the door. Fluttershy screamed, but quickly covered her own mouth.

"Easy now," Applejack said. "If they was tryin' to break in, they'd hit the door a lot harder than that, sugar cube."

Cloud Blazer agreed with her assessment. Whatever had impacted into the door was not with intent to break through. Hoof steps thundering down the hallway were heard coming closer and closer, but then they began receding just as suddenly. The fighting started to sound farther away.

"Look here," Apple Bloom said, peering out the window. "The zebras won!"

Cloud Blazer didn't need to look. As little sense as it made, he accepted it. The sounds of battle were much smaller now. They couldn't hear much of anything from outside.

"That's good, right?" Sweetie Belle offered.

"I hope so," was all Applejack could muster.

"It is very good," Cloud Blazer agreed grimly, "as long as they are content with killing rebels."