//------------------------------// // 29 - Trail, Part 10 of 10 // Story: The Last Cutie Mark Crusader // by Jatheus //------------------------------// "Report!" Scootaloo called out, nursing her shoulder. A well-aimed and fast-flying rock had struck the joint of her armor. It wouldn’t cause any permanent damage, but it stung. "They are crack shots with those rocks. We shouldn't fly over again," the scout said. "You think?" Scootaloo barked. The citizens of Hoofington had mounted a formidable defense considering what they were working with. Annoyed though she was, Scootaloo had to admire their gall to attack such a superior force with slings and rocks. She was considering adopting a more aggressive attack posture when a new daylight flare was launched from behind her. It was followed by another, and then another. The light from them split the night and revealed that the cloud had arrived with Rainbow Dash and the rest of their forces. The few unicorns they brought stood on the edges, ready to rain magical death down on the enemy. A single thunderbolt clapped as a warning, booming through town and echoing across the countryside. As it faded, Rainbow Dash's voice blasted out through a loud-speaker. "This is Colonel Rainbow Dash of her majesty's EUP Guard. Drop your weapons and surrender immediately. If you resist, we will set your town on fire and burn it to the ground." Scootaloo turned her attention back to the citizens of Hoofington who, much to her surprise, began throwing down their slings to surrender. Within a minute the gates were opening, and the QRF was advancing unchallenged. "Let's go everypony," Scootaloo ordered. "Take them all into custody. Collect their weapons!” This was accomplished with relative ease. There were only about four-hundred citizens in the entire town. Those that had come out to fight barely numbered two-hundred. Sorting out just what was going on was another matter entirely. First, they had to put out the fire in the hotel. Scootaloo hoped that Sparklefly and the others were okay. ... Sparklefly was low on arrows. They’d been able to keep the rock-slinging towns-ponies from getting any closer, but one or two more shots and they’d be able to advance without fear. Charging Lance was awake and angry from the headache he’d received as a result of the stone that had stricken him. He seethed unpronounceable things under his breath that Sparklefly guessed was a chivalrous defense mechanism to avoid cursing in front of his mare comrades. They had no options in Sparklefly’s estimation. She knew the other two were thinking about a way to get out of this, but there was no clear weakness in their enemy’s deployment. They didn’t know how many there were, only that they were outnumbered by a group with a highly accurate, if not completely lethal, ranged attack. Flying out for reinforcements was also no longer a likely option. While Sparklefly might get into the air, it was far more likely that she’d be shot down before she could get through the trees and into open sky. Foliage crunched to their right. Somepony was moving again. Whether advancing or retreating, it was impossible to tell. Shouting erupted from the same direction. Sparklefly recognized Skyflame’s authoritative voice. “EUP Guard, drop your weapons or we will fire!” Charging Lance let out a snort of laughter, “The good guys are here!” Flittergear was also grinning a smile as large as the joy that swelled up in Sparklefly’s heart. The battle was over. ... Scootaloo’s forces were able to get the town secured and the hotel fire put out within an hour. Then she had begun interviewing various ponies that had slowed their progress and prevented them from retrieving their comrades. All of Hoofington’s fighters seemed to think that they had been under changeling attack. It had taken another half hour to get most of them contained in the town square and find somepony in charge that actually knew what was going on. It wasn’t long afterward that Skyflame returned with Sparklefly, Flittergear, and Charging Lance. "I got your message," Scootaloo said glibly when she saw them. In truth the relief she felt was as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. It was good to see her friends alive and well. "What took you so long?" Sparklefly teased. “Well, I had to polish my hooves. Can’t go out when not looking your best; you know how it is," came Scootaloo's sarcastic reply. Sparklefly grinned at the banter. "We need to talk to the colonel at once," Charging Lance said. His head was bandaged with a shirt. "Not a problem; follow me." Rainbow Dash had set up a temporary command post in the town square. They were on a platform built for multiple uses like band concerts or outdoor theatre. She had Pacer, Masher, and the mayor of Hoofington with her. He was a short, fat, balding stallion whose tail was going gray. Scootaloo hadn't noticed before, but it seemed that everypony here was rather well fed. She hadn't realized how lean she and her fellow soldiers had become in the last few months. "Captain Scootaloo, report." "The town is secure, and Skyflame located the ground team, safe and sound,” Scootaloo beamed. "Well done," Rainbow Dash said. Flittergear, Sparklefly, and Charging Lance approached. "Colonel," Charging Lance began, "We have reason to believe that this entire town is supporting the changeling army." "That's a lie!" the mayor squeaked. Turning to him, Rainbow Dash said, “You’d best stay silent for now. You are the leader of a group that attacked EUP forces. I’ll deal with you in a minute." The mayor’s face went pale as he looked down. Charging Lance continued, “The amount of food that they are growing here is more than enough to feed this population.” “We need to check the export records to see how much of the food is getting to the rest of Equestria,” Sparklefly added. Rainbow Dash turned to the mayor, “Well, what do you say to that?” He fidgeted uneasily before responding, "Perhaps if I show you." Rainbow Dash eyed him uneasily for a moment, "Major Skyflame, you have the command. The rest of you are with me.” Scootaloo, Sparklefly, Pacer, Masher, Charging Lance, and Flittergear followed behind Rainbow Dash and the mayor. Scootaloo noticed that the others had their weapons at the ready. Scootaloo got next to Sparklefly and quietly asked, "What do you think?" "Something's definitely not right," she whispered back. "But what I don't understand is why they surrendered as soon as Rainbow Dash shouted EUP." "I know,” Scootaloo agreed, “it’s weird.” They found themselves entering the town hall, which didn't look like much of a structure until they got inside. Every door and window had internal shutters that could swing into place to cover the openings. Each one was solid oak no less than three feet thick. The small size of the building caused Scootaloo to wonder why they would use such strong defenses here. It was far too little a space to accommodate more than a quarter of the town's population crammed wall to wall. In the mayor's small office, he began to push his desk aside. Pacer and Masher helped when he began to struggle, and this revealed a hidden trapdoor in the floor. The mayor opened it and went inside, followed by the others. Scootaloo was the last to enter the room. It was an underground chamber that would have been large enough to house all of the citizens of Hoofington five times over had it not been completely full of food. "Your whole town could eat on this for months," Sparklefly sounded astonished. Charging Lance grimaced. "As you can see," the mayor said, "we are not supporting the enemy." "Why hasn't your town been attacked?" Pacer accused. "We, we have been!" the mayor stammered. "We have f-f-fended off three attacks in the last two months alone!" "Why weren't there any reports about it?" Scootaloo asked. "What reports? We don't have any EUP soldiers here. We're on our own." Scootaloo did have to admit, they seemed to know how to defend their town. "So why the food store?" Charging Lance asked. "Half of Equestria is starving. Why haven't you been exporting?" “You think we could tell anypony how good our harvest was? After what happened at Las Pegasus?" the mayor squeaked. "We can't afford to have an attack like that here." Colonel Rainbow Dash sighed. Scootaloo knew the look in her eyes; she had seen it many times. It was somewhere between exasperation and boredom with somepony's stupidity, but it meant she had already made up her mind. "Okay, here's what's going to happen," Rainbow Dash said to the mayor. "We're going to forget that you attacked EUP soldiers. We're also going to overlook the fact that you've been blatantly disregarding Prince Shining Armor's authority by stockpiling the food down here. But, all of that ends today. We're taking the food with us, and you are going to share with the rest of Equestria from this day forward." "But, but, but..." the mayor sputtered. “You killed several of our citizens!” “And it was your citizens that started the fighting. Look, this isn’t a negotiation. You play it my way, or your only other option is to resist, in which case we will have to treat you and your town as an enemy. We will take this food by force and then a little well-placed lightning will burn your crops and buildings down, leaving you to fend for yourselves. Your call." Scootaloo watched Rainbow Dash as she eyed the mayor. While the colonel was one to boast, she was rarely one to bluff. As much as Scootaloo didn't want to admit it to herself, she believed that Rainbow Dash actually would destroy the entire town if it came down to it. The mayor was sweating profusely; completely flabbergasted, he relented and silently nodded his head. "Good," Rainbow Dash said. "The official story will be that we arrived to discover a siege in progress. That’s why you weren’t able to export the food until we came. I'm going to have a regiment dispatched to guard the farms here." "Thank you," the mayor said through gritted teeth. "The soldiers will be very helpful to defend the town." "I'm not doing it for you," Rainbow Dash said. "You disgust me. The fact of the matter is that we’re all in this together. I’m sending them to make sure you don’t forget that.” The mayor took the most dignified option available to him and walked sullenly away. Scootaloo was amused and couldn't help thinking, 'You get him, Rainbow Dash!' “Now, let's get all this stuff up to our cloud. I want to disembark before dawn.” The total losses suffered on both sides were relatively light. Of the regiment assigned to the Taskforce, three were killed, another fifteen were seriously injured, and another eighty-three had bumps and bruises. The townsfolk were not quite as fortunate; they suffered fourteen deaths and over a hundred wounded. The medics had their hooves full seeing to everypony's injuries. Every single pegasus in the regiment made more than one trip loading up the food, but they were able to complete the task by dawn. In the end, they did leave about five percent of what had been down there so the towns-ponies would have a small reserve. It was Flittergear’s idea, and Rainbow Dash grudgingly agreed. Scootaloo was relieved that her friends had made it out alive. The worst they had suffered was minor injuries and a nasty case of smoke inhalation, but it was nothing some expert medical attention couldn’t clear up; Scootaloo mused to herself, Sparklefly had looked worse after other actions she'd been a part of. In spite of having solved any mystery surrounding Hoofington, Scootaloo couldn't help but feel disappointed. The trail they had followed was a false one. There was no sign of Queen Chrysalis or any interference from changelings whatsoever. All she could do was hope their next mission would bring them a step closer to victory.