"Did you mean what you said? Back there?" Pip asked as he and Rookie helped clear away any salvageable scrap from the garrison along with the rest of the stallions. Rookie glanced up at Pip as he lugged a large sheet of nearly perfect metal over to the pile the two had made.
"Yeah, you're damn right I meant it!" Rookie glanced around, though it had been a small attack it had left its mark on the rebel forces. Several bodies had littered the grassy clearing, though they had now been moved, the dark stains on the green blades of grass still remained. "I don't want this sort of thing to happen again..." Rookie murmured. Pip laughed gently, yanking out a long strip of charred wood and inspecting it. Rookie smirked and glanced over to him. "Did I say something amusing?"
"No, no you didn't..." Pip said, casting the beam away as a bad job.
"Well don't keep me in suspense!" Rookie laughed, pulling away to go to the station nearby, erected for water and food for the salvage team. Pip followed suite and took a gulp of water, he breathed for a moment suddenly noticing the heavy sweat he'd built up working to keep up with Rookie's almost unnatural strength.
"Well, I once heard somepony else say that, and you remind me quite a bit of them." Pip smirked, taking another drink as to add dramatic emphasis, to Rookie's annoyance.
"Well? Who?"
"Scoots..." Rookie stared in surprise, while Pip snorted at his slightly dazed expression.
"Really? I remind you of her?" Rookie asked already recovered after such a short break and heading back to the wreckage. Pip stood by the station, they'd been here for a few hours, the only stallions to stick to the job without taking a break while another pair took a shift. Even Big Mac had left for an hour before returning, but after two shifts, Rookie had seemed fine.
"What the hay is wrong with you man?!" Pip asked incredulously as Rookie yanked a long complex structure of beams, still attached by nails intact from the fire, out of the ruined garrison.
"Huh?" Rookie asked, letting go of the wood with his mouth and frowning. "What do you mean?" Pip pointed to the pile of salvageable items.
"Almost half of that, you've pulled out! And you're still going without even a break!" Rookie frowned, seemingly confused as to why Pip was so surprised.
"Well..." He said slowly, his brow furrowed in concentration. "I guess I could take a break... I don't think I really need one yet, but... I don't mind taking one..." Pip stared incredulously for a moment before shaking his head with another laugh and turning to the water waiting for them, closely followed by Rookie.
"Yeah, you and Scootaloo definitely have some similarity's going for you!" Pip said from the water table as Rookie took hold of more wreckage and pulled slowly.
"How so?" Rookie asked, muffled by his mouthful.
"Weeellll..." Pip began, looking into the air for inspiration. He leant against a tree as he began his list of reasons. "You both like fighting- Oh don't deny it!" He suddenly said as Rookie turned to argue. "I've been helping with this rebellion since it started, I know a fighter when I see one!" Rookie shrugged and continued, taking his word for it. He himself didn't think he'd shown himself as much of a fighter, besides those reflexes of his, or the way he dealt with the guards, but Pip had only seen him deal with one of them anyway! Pip continued, "You both like to be the hero. Macintosh says you were just a blur when you jumped in to save Rarity.
"Macintosh... he's the big red fellow... right?" Rookie asked, trying to assure he was getting a hang of the inner circle of the rebellion leaders.
'Rarity helps with armour and camouflage, Macintosh is her fiancé and head of front line infantry , Fluttershy is in charge of intelligence, Applejack security, Twilight strategist and Rainbow Dash was their leader and commander in battle...' He kept running this through in his head, ensuring he knew each role they played after pip had explained in their first few hours here helping.
"Yep, the big red guy!" Pip assured him, finally finishing his water and returning wearily to the work before him. "It takes quite a lot to impress him, and he's more or less astounded how you did it. 'Jumped through a 'ole no bigger than a badger burrow!' Apparently." Pip said, mimicking the deep voice Macintosh. Rookie laughed, not commenting but simply continuing his work.
"Most importantly, you and Scoot's are just too dang stubborn!" Rookie let out an all out guffaw of laughter at that, though he knew it was true, it was entertaining to hear how easily it rolled off of Pip's tongue.
The two continued to work happily for another five minutes before they heard a cough from behind them. Turning to investigate the two saw Rainbow Dash stood behind them watching them work.
"Commander!" Pip shouted, saluting, yet again Rookie snorted at the sudden seriousness Pip took. Rookie then mimicked the gesture.
"Go on, keep going guys, I just came to see how everything was..." Rainbow smiled, the two nodded and began to work again, but Rookie was halted by a cyan hoof gently resting on his shoulder. He glanced up to a pair of pink eyes looking back quite seriously. "You got a sec? I wanna talk to you..."
"Oh come on Rainbow!" Cried one salvage worker nearby, "He'd our best guy! Take him and this is gonna take hours more!" Other workers cried out their agreement all over the walls of the burnt out garrison, Rainbow laughed and waved at them.
"Don't worry guys! Pip'll pick up the slack while I borrow Rookie here!" The pinto stallion looked in horrified shock at the rainbow mare, who winked at him before turning and walking away, rookie in toe.
......
The two of them walked through the trees, headed back towards the centre of New Ponyville. Rookie remained silent in the presence of the leader of the force he had so recently pledged himself to, he wondered if she had come to initiate him or something like that, his answer came not too soon after the thought passed his mind.
"So... I wanted... to thank you for saving Rarity..." Rainbow said, looking around the surrounding trees. Rookie knew by her tone she had more to say, so remained silent. "Aannnd, I wanted to say... sorry." she looked over to him as he raised an eyebrow. "I... thought when you were here... and then the Levvy's showed up... I... I thought you brought them here, so I ordered Scoot to grab you and... and..." She had the face of a pony who was filled with complete and true remorse.
"So..." Rookie began, "That was you? Not Scootaloo?" Rainbow nodded, laughing.
"Nope, she defended you a little before I issued it as an order..." her face suggested she wanted to say more, she had a faint smile on her lips, but Rookie was unsure if it even meant anything, so he simply addressed the other surprising comment the leader had made.
Scootaloo had defended him! When he voiced his surprise at this to the Rainbow mare, she laughed. "Scoot's is a good kid, and an even better fighter! But... she's always tried to, well, be like me, so she acts brave to everypony else, and it sometimes just comes across as angry."
"Hah, yeah you're telling me. Next time she's 'brave' remind me to just nail the guards in the nuts nice and quick!" Rookie remarked, Rainbow laughed.
"Oh yeah, I heard about that! He's still limping you know, and I'm pretty sure he used to have a much deeper voice!" The two of them laughed again as they passed through the dense trees.
"I..." Rainbow stopped and looked away, but Rookie noticed the small noise and pursued it.
"Yeah?"
"Nothing." Rainbow said, halting and looking Rookie straight in the face. "You know, your eyes are REALLY blue!" Rookie frowned in confusion, unsure why that meant anything.
"Uhhh... thanks? I guess..."
"Sorry, it's just your eyes remind me of somepony."
"Oh, who?"
"Doesn't matter, she's gone now..." Rookie stared for a minute, he reminded himself of the crash course in history Pip had given him. He licked his lips, sure she was talking of one of two ponies, Soarin' or the traitor, Soarin' could have possibly been a girl, but Rookie thought it a more masculine name, and Rainbow had said 'She's gone.'
"You're talking about that friend, the one who abandoned you all right?" Rainbow's face froze for a moment, which then melted into a sad smile.
"Pip, he told you huh?" Rookie nodded, suddenly unsure if he should have said what he had.
"Pinkie was one my best friends, hay, we were all best friends... me, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, then... she just left." Rainbow grew thoughtful as they walked, Rookie couldn't help but wonder if they were headed for the main camp, he was sure he wouldn't be able to get back to the garrison again from there, it was luck that he had when he'd been running to help. If it hadn't been for the screaming, he'd have never found it. "You make me laugh like she did you know..." Rainbow eventually said, Rookie raised an eyebrow.
"Really?"
"Yeah, you're relaxed even when you've been swamped by all of this in just a day! It's like... you're used to all this kinda stuff." Rainbow had stopped walking, she was now staring at Rookie with newfound understanding.
"What's wrong?" Rookie asked, unnerved by the piercing stare.
"I just... had a thought..." Rainbow said slowly. "Do you remember ANYTHING? I know it's probably too soon to ask, but has anything come back to you?" Rookie sighed and began to walk again, followed closely by an attentive Rainbow Dash.
"No actual memories, only snippets of information... I know I must have been a fighter, my instincts are too sharp to be anything else." Rainbow caught up and began to lead the way again, however her eyes never left Rookie as he walked. "The only thing that started coming to me got cut off by the attack."
"And what was that?!" Rainbow pushed quickly, hoping for any kind of information.
"A pair of eyes..."
"Red? Were they Discord's?!"
"No..." Rookie sighed, knowing it would be a disappointment on the strategic front, but not on a personal level for Rainbow. "They're blue, just like mine." Rainbow's jaw dropped.
"You mean-"
"Yep. I think I knew Pinkie, or at least I met her..."
"A-and..." Rainbow stuttered, obviously wishing to ask something more. "H-how was she?"
"I don't know." Rookie sighed again, "All I saw were the eyes, and they were... sad, they were so, so sad..." The trees before them seemed to part ways, revealing the centre of Newponyville. As they walked Rainbow snorted with anger.
"Hmmph! If it is Pinkie she doesn't deserve any better! She turned her back on us! Now she's paying for it! Fine by me."
A pegasus came out from a nearby tent, orange with a purple mane, Scootaloo! Rookie noticed her before she saw them.
"Rainbow Da- oh..." She stopped short of running to her commander when she spotted Rookie. "W-what's he doing here? I thought he was helping with the garrison..." Rainbow smiled and pulled in the younger mare for a quick one legged hug.
"Don't worry Scoots, I asked for a quick word with him that's all."
"Oh." Scoots said slowly, trying not to look Rookie's way. The stallion smiled, trying to encourage a civil response from the mare.
"Hey Scoots, everything alright?"
"Yes." She deadpanned simply, turning to leave. She got only four steps away however before Rainbow called her back.
"Wait, Scoot's, do you mind taking Rookie back to the garrison? I gotta get planning with Twilight, we still got a lot to do before we torch that old place tonight!"
"Sure, no worries..." Scootaloo said lowly, turning begrudgingly and heading back to Rookie's side. Without pause, she passed him and went off in the direction of where Rainbow and him had come from. "Come on Rookie."
.......
The two were walking in pure silence, back to the garrison at a far less leisurely pace than Rainbow and Rookie had taken the walk. It was clear Scootaloo was simply following orders, not wishing to remain with the stranger any longer than possible. Rookie couldn't stand the silence, it burned away at his ears, after the cataclysmic noise of the attack, the quiet of the walk almost drove him insane. The dark stallion rushed ahead a few paces and switched directions to face Scoot while walking backwards.
"So, look, I think we got off on the wrong hoof today..."
"No, we're fine." Scootaloo said coldly, walking with a determined eye set ahead of the two.
"Really? 'Cos you seemed pretty quick on the trigger grabbing me during the attack..." Rookie coaxed, knowing that this would pull out an angered response from her if nothing else.
"We were under attack, the only change was your presence, it's protocol." She said once more, trying to kill the conversation.
"Ohhhhh, come on Scootaloo!" Her eyes twitched slightly in annoyance at his pestering, but she continued to keep her steely gaze fixed on the distant trees. "You don't strike me as a 'Protocol' kind of girl!"
"Oh really?!" Scootaloo halted and finally looked to Rookie who also stopped at the sight of Scoot's anger filled features. "Maybe I should go jumping into burning buildings and save helpless mares then?! If I'm so un-protocol, why don't I act more like you?!" Rookie smirked and began to walk backwards once more.
"Nahhhh, you don't need to do that, fighting Leviathans seems more like your kind of thing anyway." Scootaloo let out an irritated snort and began to walk again, a hair fell across her vision so she flicked it away. As she did, the dull afternoon sun highlighted something. A cut just above her eyebrow, Rookie recalled seeing it when she jumped him when he first arrived in Newponyville. "Then again I might be wrong..." He began, concern now obvious in his voice as he slowed to close the gap between them. He reached out to investigate the cut. "It seems they got you pretty bad there!"
"That wasn't them!" Scootaloo denied swiping away at Rookie's hoof. The stallion stared in confusion.
"What, was it from something else?"
"Not something!" Scootaloo shouted bitterly, she looked down at her hooves, obvious shame in her demeanour. "Somepony, Havoc." She spat angrily. Rookie paused, the word sent his head ringing with alarm bells, he knew instantly he should know who that was, but he was sure that name had never come up in Pip's stories. Scootaloo kept walking, but her speed had dropped somewhat as she hung her head in defeat. Rookie turned back around so he could walk beside her, and with a caring and cautious tone, he asked.
"Havoc? Who's that?" Scootaloo laughed.
"I can't believe I have to explain who that monster is to you! How he destroys everything! Kills everypony who protests against Discord! He's... he's..."
"A monster." Rookie repeated, helping the mare finish her explanation. The mare nodded and looked up, clearly suppressing her feelings as best she could.
"I first saw him four years ago, he was smaller then, no bigger than me! He... he lead a troop of Leviathans and ransacked over five villages in under a day!" Rookie was amazed. "There were rumours they were helping us with supplies in the fight against Discord, so the king sent his new plaything our way, since then we've struggled to find any support from civilians!" She grew quiet as her eyes fogged for a moment with pearly tears, she wiped them away angrily, annoyed at her weakness.
"So..." Rookie began, "That's when he gave you that?" He asked, Scootaloo laughed and shook her head. For the first time, Rookie noticed how white her teeth were, how kind that laugh was, the first glimpse that a mare actually hid beneath the warrior.
"No, I didn't even get near him! Rainbow did, but he easily hurt her and I had to get her out before he killed her! From then on, I didn't see him, only heard what he was doing... until two days ago." She looked up to Rookie and grimaced. "We had finally gotten the support of another town, but sure enough in a few days, they were there, ready to crush everypony who was helping us..."
"The Leviathans?" Rookie asked, Scootaloo gave a whimper and a nod, she was clearly fighting back tears again!
"They... they... set fire to the town, they... just let ponies burn!" Her voice cracked, and a single tear ran down her cheek leaving a sleek trail down her clean orange fur. "They... wanted me, I'd been to friendly with the locals, a spy must have heard about me... and so... they..."
"They came for you, trying to get rid of somepony important to us." Rookie said simply, understanding the logic behind the attack. Scootaloo sniffed, and looked up at Rookie.
"Us?" She sounded surprised.
"Well, yeah..." Rookie suddenly became bashful, blushing slightly he turned away, trying to hide his embarrassment. "I'm no monster! I can see what's going on is wrong! So... of course I'm one of you guys, I'm here to stop all this with you guys!" Scootaloo laughed again, sniffing hard she returned to her story.
"Havoc has his little entourage, a group of Leviathans and his right hand mare... Trixie! And... he sent them off to catch some civilians leaving the town... he didn't want any survivors!" Rookie was unable to stop himself from shuddering, this was horrible! What kind of creature would simply throw away innocent lives like that! Just to gain a victory over another faction in a war!?! "I had to choose..." Scootaloo began again, her voice was in tatters now, and the two had come to a complete standstill! Her dark purple eyes found his bright blue ones and stared for a moment. "I had to choose, go after Trixie, save the innocent... or go after Havoc!" Rookie knew where this was going, he took a step towards her, but before he could say anything helpful, Scootaloo cried out in anger and swung around, ramming her hoof into the solid trunk of a tree near bye. She collapsed against said hoof and stood there, supported only by the tall redwood.
"I went after him! I should have saved those ponies, but... I couldn't... I couldn't let him go! Not when I was so close!" Rookie approached the weeping mare, unable to believe he was seeing a completely opposite side to her than he had before!
"Did... you get him?" The stallion asked, for lack of something better to say.
"Pfft! Of course I didn't!" Scootaloo scoffed, turning around and jabbing her hoof at the wound on her head. "He beat the stuffing out of me! I only got away because Rainbow got there just in time!" She fell to the floor, unable to bear the weight of her grief anymore! "I... I tried to find them, the ponies I left behind to go after him... after the attack any survivors came here... they... they weren't there! They died because of me!"
Rookie stared at the usually hard and strong mare, still shocked by the complete change in personality! He watched as he realised the Scootaloo he'd seen had been exactly what Rainbow Dash had told him, an attempt to be somepony else. She really was a caring individual, weighed down by every decision she'd ever made and it made Rookie sad to see such a unique pony so miserable. He stooped down beside her, resting a consoling hoof on her shoulder. Without saying a word, he comforted her by being there, and slowly, Scootaloo's sobbing subsided somewhat.
Soon the mare was on her hooves, a little shaky, but otherwise back to normal. She was embarrassed, she kept trying to find anything other than Rookie to look at. Finally, she addressed him quietly. "I-I was wrong about you..." Rookie raised an eyebrow, gesturing toward the path, silently suggesting they moved forward.
"How so?" He asked.
"I never thought you were the one who lead the Leviathans here, I only followed Rainbow Dash's orders, but... at the same time, I was sure you were sent here to hurt us... in some way, and maybe you are..." She finally looked at the stallion, both still were rooted to the spot. "But... I feel as though... I can trust you! And that takes a lot... for me..." She grew shy and looked away, masking her face with her swept fringe as best she could.
Rookie smiled, unable to help himself at the fact that Scootaloo had actually just said that! Finally the mare began to move forward, and soon the cries of the salvage team could be heard once more.
"Scootaloo?" Rookie asked, taking her foreleg in his hoof, stopping her gently. She turned to him and waited to hear what he had to say. "I meant everything I said earlier! I'm here to help! Not just for the war, but for anypony who needs me. He glanced at the mark above her eye, concern etched itself onto his face. "I won't let anypony get hurt again if I can help it! Even you! You CAN trust me!" Scootaloo smiled, she teatered on her hooves for a second, before zipping up to him and pulling him into a fast and fierce hug. She held him tight, saying all she needed to with the embrace.
She was thanking him.
She was trusting him.
She was befriending him!