//------------------------------//
// 32 - Glory, Part 3 of 6 
// Story: The Last Cutie Mark Crusader 
// by Jatheus 
//------------------------------//

Sparklefly was exhausted and nervous, an odd combination that was taxing on the mare. The remaining members of the Taskforce were with her, and together they awaited an audience with Prince Shining Armor. Scootaloo hadn't been keen on leaving Rainbow Dash behind, but they didn't have any other choice while she mended. They had flown ahead of Skyflame, who would be bringing their cloud with what was left of their force.

As they hadn't been in the main fighting, their casualties had been lighter than Brax's two divisions. The thirty unicorns that were dropped had not survived, and of the four companies that had gone after the queen, another hundred had been killed between changelings and the tornado. The mission had failed; the wasted life made Sparklefly feel sick. The one relief she had was the comfort that her brother and medic friend had both survived the battle. She buried the thought when she noticed Charging Lance looking at her.

"Don't be nervous,” said the older stallion. "It is a solid plan."

Sparklefly shifted uneasily, resisting the urge to adjust her eye patch.

"Yeah," Pacer said, "Just everypony make sure and let him know it was basically my idea."

Flittergear shot him a harsh look, but didn't say anything. She had managed to find some hay and was quietly chewing on it.

"Do you ever shut up?" Scootaloo launched a verbal attack.

"Only when I'm with a mare,” Pacer said with a kind of sneer that disgusted Sparklefly.

Scootaloo snorted back at him, “Don’t make me laugh. I doubt you'd know what to do with a mare if you bribed one to be alone in the same room with you."

Sparklefly joined the others in laughter at the remark, and by the look on his face, it infuriated Pacer.

"Anything you want to teach me?" he made a sleazy grin.

"Dream on.”

“Suit yourself, but I might have to dream of something a bit thinner though."

Sparklefly cringed at the insult, wondering if she would have to jump between them again, but Scootaloo didn't lash out. She just grinned right back at him, restraining any anger that was present.

"To each his own," she answered with icy daggers in her voice. "Just know that I'm sorry."

"What, for passing on a chance to get to know me better?"

Sparklefly looked to Masher, who rolled his eyes a bit dramatically.

"No," Scootaloo replied. "I'm sorry that I don’t know anypony desperate enough to help you stop dreaming and start living."

He snorted, “It’d be just another day for me, but for you it’d have been something special.”

"Enough, kids," Charging Lance said before Scootaloo could reply. "We need to focus on this battle-plan. I'm confident that there are no missteps, but let’s take another look.”

Sparklefly was glad to have Charging Lance around. More than fearless, he was old enough to be viewed by the others as a kind of authority, even though they technically didn't function that way. Scootaloo didn’t seem too upset at not getting the last word as they lost themselves in the plans again.

With no warning, the door opened. One of the guards beckoned them inside, and the Taskforce walked in. The war room was aflutter with activity. Table after table was receiving and sending reports, making scenarios and calculations of all kinds. It was a room of thinkers and number crunchers, very much like what the Taskforce did but with less imagination. They walked up the stairs to the big map that Shining Armor had on top, and they gathered near him. Digger was on duty again; he looked tired.

"Thank you for coming so quickly," Shining Armor said dryly. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Charging Lance answered, "It took all of us examining every possibility we could think of; no one of us can take credit for the strategy," he added, throwing a look at Pacer.

Sparklefly rubbed at her eyepatch as Charging Lance went on to outline the details of the strategy. It was a little bothersome to Sparklefly that all of their plans seemed dependent on air superiority. Although, if they hadn’t had that advantage, they may not have survived as long as they had. Without food shipments and the ability to move soldiers about as quickly as they did, the outlook of the war would be much more bleak.

"You say you can pull this off with the remainder of Brax's divisions?" Shining Armor asked doubtfully. "That numbers at barely three-thousand still fit to fight.”

"With our regiment, it is almost four-thousand," Charging Lance observed. “By all reports, activity in Canterlot has been minimal. A few thousand timberwolves maybe.”

Shining Armor thought for a few moments. "Your plan is sound, and I want this to happen immediately. However, I don't believe that four-thousand is nearly enough. I put out the call when I received your first reports from Dodge Junction, and more soldiers are on their way from every corner of Equestria."

Sparklefly was pleasantly surprised by his forward thinking. She appreciated that the prince didn’t waste time, and even though he hadn’t been totally forthcoming, his work behind the scenes was helping them greatly. He apparently had every intention retaking the capital in short order.

"By nightfall, you'll have an additional fifteen thousand to add to your four. At least half of them will have already seen combat," the prince added.

"We will adjust our plans to accommodate this larger force," Charging Lance grinned ecstatically.

“Thank you all for your efforts on this. We retake Canterlot at dawn," the prince said with a tone of finality in his voice. "Dismissed."

Sparklefly followed the others away from the meeting. She felt almost in a daze but couldn't help wondering what defenses were being sacrificed to make this possible. A little less than half of their force was going to be green. They would have to take care how they deployed those inexperienced soldiers to maximize their effectiveness.