Sparklefly, laden with the few effects she always kept at base, watched her former battalion as they practiced their formation flying. She couldn't see Duster but knew where his squad was located. They moved swiftly overhead as a single unit. She almost thought she could hear Drill Sergeant J yelling at them from somewhere, but if that was what she’d heard, the wind had spread the voice too thin to understand.
“So, you coming or what?" Scootaloo asked.
Sparklefly's attention had been recaptured, and without turning around, she said, "Yeah, I'm coming." Looking to where Duster would be, she whispered, "Goodbye."
"What was that?"
"Nothing," Sparklefly replied as she turned and followed behind her friend.
The thought of leaving Duster was both liberating and terrifying. Brax had promised that he would look after him and make sure he got trained up properly. Though she desperately wanted to ask for much more than that, Sparklefly knew it was the best he could do. They walked on, heading back toward town and Sweet Apple Acres. Neither of them wanted to leave without saying their farewells.
"I guess this is it, then," LD said as he emerged from behind a tent.
"Were you just going to forget about us?" Lightning Dasher asked, flanking his twin.
Sparklefly smiled at them. She was glad they had adjusted as well as they had in accepting each other. She couldn't imagine what they had gone through, especially in the days after the siege, when they realized that they had to share that identity. It seemed like so long ago now.
"Of course not," she said.
"Are you kidding?" Scootaloo snorted. "Forgetting you two and all the trouble you cause is the first thing on my list when I get back to Cloudsdale."
LD and Lightning Dasher shook their heads and together said, "Figures."
Sparklefly laughed to herself.
“That right there! That's exactly what I'm talking about!" Scootaloo jokingly chided.
Sparklefly said, "She means to say that we'll miss both of you, and if you ever change your minds, you're always welcome by our side."
They both smiled uneasily. She knew them well enough to read their nervousness. Perhaps they had just lost their stomach for combat. They always seemed to perform well in a fight, but something had changed in them. They weren't quite the same after the siege. Sparklefly found herself wondering whether the original Lightning Dasher had been killed. If these were both copies, what differences would have been introduced in that process? It made her remember their initial escape, before she’d realized that Lightning Dasher had copied himself, and she saw the first one get killed. She tried to put it from her mind.
"Well, it's a small matter either way; see you around," she said.
"Yeah, what she said," Scootaloo agreed.
"Bye," LD and Lightning Dasher said in unison.
Scootaloo and Sparklefly continued on toward Sweet Apple Acres. She didn't know about the others, but she was drained from the night before. Thwarting the coup had been exhausting work. Her thoughts turned back to Captain Swiftlight as they walked. She was ashamed for even thinking it, but she was glad she hadn't known him better. Of course, if she had, he might have trusted her with information. Maybe she could have worked out a strategy that wouldn't have gotten him killed. One in her own platoon had also died when they took the castle: Cadet Merryweather. She had been a pegasus in Digger’s squad. She had taken an arrow to the head and didn’t last long enough for medical treatment. It made Sparklefly’s heart heavy to think of it.
After they passed through the EUP checkpoint at the end of the training grounds, they passed another one entering Ponyville. Zebras had locked down the entire city, if not the entire country. Anypony without written orders were subject to the forty-eight hour curfew that Shining Armor had ordered. It almost felt like a ghost town, if not for the sporadic zebras patrolling the streets. Sparklefly turned right, diverting from Sweet Apple Acres. The moment she did it, her heart began pounding with a mixture of nervous sadness.
"The farm is this way," Scootaloo said.
"I know," Sparklefly replied with a slight quiver in her voice. She couldn’t mask the raw emotion that was building, ”I want to go to Java's first."
She definitely did not want to see Java Chip under these circumstances, but somepony had to tell her what they'd found out.
"Oh," Scootaloo followed alongside, a knowing tone in her voice and a look of understanding in her eyes.
The silence between them was thick. The day was also quiet aside from birds, oblivious to the troubles of ponies, cheerfully singing their spring songs.
"You did this for Pibs," Sparklefly said. She had meant to ask a question, but she forgot what it was when she began to speak.
"Yes," Scootaloo replied solemnly.
They continued padding along, Scootaloo on three legs with the fourth in a sling. Sparklefly could see the thoughts burned into her face, and surmised that she was remembering when she'd given Lighthoof news of Pibs' death. The coffee house had the "closed" sign on the door. This was expected. With a total curfew, no civilians were able to move about, to say nothing of purchasing coffee. Scootaloo had a grave look on her face.
She began, "Do you want me to-"
"No,” Sparklefly cut her off. "I need to do this."
She didn't understand why she felt so strongly that it had to be her that informed Java Chip. It wasn't as if she'd had any involvement in the situation whatsoever. Maybe it was for all of the others that had been lost under her command that she hadn't been able to do this for. Maybe she was just a glutton for anguish. Sparklefly took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A zebra patrol walked behind them, but moved past, hardly paying them any attention.
"What was that?" Scootaloo said, her ears having perked up.
"Are you still hearing things?"
"My hearing is completely recovered," Scootaloo replied snidely.
A muffled voice called through the door, "Who's there?"
Scootaloo beamed at Sparklefly, who rolled her eye in answer.
"It's us, Sparklefly and Scootaloo," Sparklefly replied.
Sparklefly suddenly felt nervous again as she heard the locks on the door being worked from the inside. A few moments later it opened just slightly, paused, and then all the way.
"Come in," Java Chip said, looking cautiously around.
Scootaloo went first, and Sparklefly followed. As soon as they were inside, Java Chip shut the door and quickly reset her locks.
"You don't have to do that," Scootaloo reassured her. "It's perfectly safe now."
"Were you here last night?" Java Chip asked. "Zebras attacked the town."
"I was," Sparklefly replied. "I was in the middle of it. The zebras are on our side."
"But, what was all the chaos? They told me I can't leave the building," Java said nervously as she sat down at a nearby table.
The dimly lit shop was cold and devoid of the friendly ambiance which typically was found therein. Sparklefly’s emotional state continued elevating. She wasn’t sure what it was all the way to the coffee house. Sitting here, looking Java Chip in the dark, she identified it as dread. She desperately wanted to avoid the next few moments, but a sense of duty drove her forward.
"There was a rebellion last night. General Mane Crusher tried to overthrow Prince Shining Armor."
Java Chip looked at Sparklefly, but it was as if she was looking past her.
"Just like Swiftlight warned us," she said vacantly.
"Yes," Sparklefly confirmed. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "It was exactly as he said. Scootaloo warned Prince Shining Armor when she flew to Manehattan the other day. If you remember, it was the very next morning that zebras showed up in Ponyville."
Java Chip nodded slowly, this new information sinking in.
"See, Shining Armor told me to buzz off," Scootaloo added. "He made me think he didn't believe me and threatened to have me locked up if I told anypony else what I suspected. So Sparklefly and I made plans to rescue him. As it turned out, he looked into it himself after I warned him, and he prepared better than anything we could have done."
"He stationed zebras in key positions throughout the EUP that very day," Sparklefly said. "The zebras attacking last night was actually a counter-attack against the rebels."
“So, we won?" Java Chip asked.
“Totally!" Scootaloo grinned.
"What happened to your fore-leg?”
"Ah, it's nothing," Scootaloo shrugged at Java. She bragged, "Mane Crusher pulled it out of socket when he realized which side I was on. You should have seen the look on his face!”
Java Chip seemed to grow uneasy, and Sparklefly knew what it meant. The barista was trying to form words, but looked somehow unable to do so.
"We did find out about Swiftlight," Sparklefly felt shaky and hollow. She looked in Java Chip's hazel eyes, so filled with concern and hope. Her voice lost power, so she practically whispered, "I'm so sorry."
The beige mare nodded, a single tear escaping and running down her cheek. Snorting a sigh and looking down, she said, "Just like we thought, huh?"
Sparklefly tried to smile, but managed more of an uneasy grimace. "I know it won't make you feel better, but he saved us all," she said quietly.
"Do you really think so?" Java Chip asked, looking back up to the pair.
“Absolutely,” Scootaloo said as upbeat as possible, but Sparklefly could hear the same sadness in her voice. "If he hadn't given you that letter, we wouldn't have warned the prince, and the zebras wouldn't have been in position. Shining Armor would have been caught completely off guard."
Java Chip nodded, another tear escaping. "Thank you for coming to tell me yourselves," she said. "I think I'd like to be alone now."
Sparklefly nodded, holding back tears herself. Java Chip unlocked the door and opened it. As Sparklefly was exiting, she was grabbed in a hug from Java Chip. With her other fore-leg, she brought Scootaloo into it for a moment, and then let them go.
"We are shipping out today for Cloudsdale," Sparklefly said.
Java sort of smiled at them and shut the door without another word. It was over. Sparklefly sighed with relief as feeling returned to her body. The experience hadn't been nearly so bad as she had thought it would be, but it was one of the most unpleasant things she'd ever had to do. She earnestly hoped that she’d not have to go through it again.