Scootaloo found herself with Flittergear at the heart of a meeting to plan the EUP’s next move. Also in attendance were all of the commanders of the Wonderbolts, Templars, Bushmasters, and the CO’s of the regular units that were in and around Ponyville. They were in the late Twilight Sparkle’s castle, in the throne room with the large round table that was a magical map of Equestria encircled by six thrones. Nopony could activate the map now that the princess was gone. The room had been dubbed CIC when the EUP took up residence. All said and done, about thirty-five thousand of the Assault Corps had survived everything they’d been through. Prince Shining Armor was speaking.
"With any luck, we will soon find the changeling’s hatchery. Once we do, we’ll have the leverage we need to force Queen Chrysalis to stop the fighting."
"And if they don’t back down?" Rainbow Dash asked.
The prince looked at her, an eager lust in his eyes, "We will not lose this war, whatever it takes."
Scootaloo shifted uneasily at Shining Armor’s words.
General Fusillade, the stallion in command of the Templars, spoke next, “We’re still not done interrogating all of our new prisoners, but we’re definitely getting useful intel from them.”
Spitfire added, “Between that and some scouting we’ve done in the wake of the changeling’s retreat from Ponyville, my guys think they’re close.”
"We will have two options,” Shining Armor continued, a flash of red magical light crossed his expression, "We raise a force and attack directly or we send a small strike team to take it out. The advantage of the large force is that the changelings will have little choice but to try and stop us. If we can get them to gather in one place, we’ll have a better chance at putting them down once and for all."
"Messy," Flittergear said softly.
Scootaloo was certain in the subsequent silence that the others did hear her. She shifted her weight unintentionally onto the leg that had been wounded, and then immediately off of it again. The injury was mending, but it would be some time before it wasn’t painful to stand on.
"In either case, we need the information so we can force Queen Chrysalis to call off her dogs," the prince concluded. "Until then, we’re in a holding pattern again. The changeling advance has stopped on all fronts, though they haven’t retreated. With the exception of Baltimare, we hold everything that we did a few days ago.”
Spitfire added, "We managed to evacuate most of the city before it fell, and the farmland around Manehattan was recovered, though the crops took a beating in the exchange.”
In spite of everything that had been discussed, Scootaloo felt that there was one question still needing an answer. As no one else seemed wont to, she voiced it herself.
"If they do surrender tomorrow, what then?"
Shining Armor regarded her before answering, "We get them to disarm. They will destroy the timberwolves down to normal populations, and they will submit to having their horns broken so they cannot threaten us ever again."
"Not to belabor the point," Pacer took up her meaning, "What do we do with them after that?"
The prince shrugged and spoke callously, "That’s for them to figure out, but they can’t stay here. It’s no less than they deserve after what they’ve done."
Scootaloo knew well enough to keep her mouth shut at this point. Stripping changelings of their magic and banishing them seemed to her like a good way to guarantee another war somewhere down the line. Though, it was not as if she had a better solution. She puzzled over the problem.
To conclude the war, there were only a few possibilities. Either one side would destroy the other, or they would find a way to forge a peace that both sides could agree to. If the rest of the changelings reacted as Ash Eater had, crippling them would only make matters far worse. It wouldn’t be unlike breaking the wings of all the pegasi. Scootaloo shuddered at the thought.
But what alternative existed? It wasn’t as if they could simply integrate the changelings into their own society. Though, if they could succeed in making friends, or at least allies, the long-term chances for a lasting peace seemed much brighter. Scootaloo mused that Princess Twilight might have been a proud champion of such a notion. She turned her attention to the monarch.
Something was different about Shining Armor since the last time Scootaloo had seen him. His dark comments and line of thinking were most unsettling. She didn’t want to believe what she suspected. In the battle, she had recognized that blast of magic that slaughtered the changelings, but nopony else seemed willing to say anything. The Alicorn Amulet would be beginning to warp him; that would certainly explain his altered personality.
"If that’s all, I’m returning to Canterlot at once," the prince concluded.
Everypony stood when he did.
"Excellent work. I’ll commission statues for each of you," he said; it was not a joke.
The prince left, and the room cleared. A few lingered silently until it was only five of them left, the four remaining members of the Taskforce and Spitfire. She looked at Rainbow Dash with a gaze that held some unspoken meaning.
"We can trust these three," Rainbow Dash said.
Scootaloo was confused; Flittergear and Pacer seemed to share the sentiment.
"What do you think?" Spitfire asked.
"It’s time to act," Rainbow Dash said grimly.
"You mind filling in the rest of us on what’s going on?" Pacer asked impatiently.
"I was called by Princess Celestia the night before she died," Spitfire began. "She entrusted me with the safety of Prince Shining Armor from the Alicorn Amulet. At the time, it wasn’t public knowledge that he possessed it. I was ordered to discreetly share my charge with Rainbow Dash, and anypony else that we agreed could be trusted with this."
"Protect him how?" Pacer asked the question that was on Flittergear’s face and on Scootaloo’s mind.
Rainbow Dash answered, "The Alicorn Amulet is a powerful magical artifact. We saw that yesterday when he finally used it to clear the sky at the end of the battle. Keep in mind, that was only a fraction of what it can do. That’s why Shining Armor is keeping it with him at all times. We couldn’t risk the changelings getting their hooves on it. The problem is that it corrupts the wearer. The more they use it, the more twisted and evil they become."
Scootaloo didn’t like where this was going, "But this is Shining Armor we’re talking about. He hadn’t done anything bad or strange like when Trixie had the amulet."
Spitfire seemed slightly surprised by Scootaloo’s knowledge of such events, but the expression quickly waned, "There are things in his character that are out of place. Quite specifically, even contemplating genocide as an acceptable conclusion to the war."
Pacer scoffed with a snort, "Well, the changelings are responsible for tens of thousands of deaths, maybe hundreds of thousands before this is over. Not to mention that Shining Armor has lost Celestia, his sister, and his wife over this. Magical trinket or no, that’s going to have an effect on a pony."
"That’s true enough," Spitfire conceded, "And we have given him quite a lot of leeway up to this point."
"I know Shining Armor," Rainbow Dash said, "war is one thing, and he’ll always do his duty to protect Equestria, but slaughtering hatchlings is not him."
That brought silence to the small group. Scootaloo couldn’t find any argument against the statement.
"Okay, so let’s get the amulet from him," Pacer said.
Spitfire grinned thinly, "It’s not that simple."
"Gee, how did I know you were going to say that?"
Her smile evaporated.
"The amulet has a magical lock," Rainbow Dash answered. "It can only be removed by the pony that is wearing it, at their own will."
"So we have to make him want to take it off," Flittergear said.
"Yeah," Scootaloo heard herself answer. "That’s what they did when Trixie had it. But you heard how he objected when Rainbow Dash suggested he give it to somepony else this morning. It’ll only be harder after the way he used it in the battle. Do we have a plan?"
Spitfire’s nose wrinkled as if in thought or perhaps a decision was being made.
"There is one... asset that may be to our advantage," she said guardedly. "The problem then would be what to do with the amulet after we get it from him."
"It goes without saying that we can’t risk the changelings getting a hold of it," Rainbow Dash added.
Scootaloo had trouble focusing on the conversation. She was fending off an overwhelming feeling of loss after everything they’d been through. Her heart felt heavy in spite of the victory they had won.
“Destroy it?" Flittergear asked.
"Yeah, right," Pacer mocked, "You saw how much energy was unleashed and how many alicorns it took to take out the mirror pond. What do you think would happen if we tried to destroy this thing?"
An uneasy feeling settled on Scootaloo; her stomach was churning.
"That is essentially the problem," Spitfire agreed.
"So, we’ll get the asset close and wait for our moment?" Rainbow Dash suggested.
Spitfire nodded. Scootaloo wondered what the asset could be, but they didn’t seem likely to be forthcoming on that subject, so she didn’t ask. Almost unconsciously, she glanced back at her flank. A smile crept across her face; her cutie mark was still there.