//------------------------------// // Finale // Story: Duty and Consequences // by Snap Shot //------------------------------// “Oh Faust!” Snow cried out, rushing over to me. The entire side of my white uniform was dyed a deep crimson. The agent looked at the wound with a critical eye. “That’s pretty deep,” she commented as she pulled one of the tapestries from the wall with her magic. She tore the hanging into small strips, levitating one in front of my mouth. “Bite down,” she ordered. “That’s got to come out.” I took the scrap of fabric in my mouth and braced myself. “Okay,” the mare told me. “On three…One.” She ripped the glass shard from my flesh, drawing a loud groan from me. Another strip of fabric was placed on the bleeding wound and I felt myself being magically lifted as she began to wind a long section of the tapestry around my middle. Breaking off a small black crystal from one of the many large towers she threaded it through the fabric locking it in place. “That should hold,” she sighed in relief. “It doesn’t look like it hit any vital organs…I think. You spend enough time in field hospitals you pick up a thing or two, but I’m not a doctor.” She patted the wound, drawing another groan from me. I spat out the rag and glared at her. “You know, you can be a real bitch sometimes, Snow!” I knew she was just checking to make sure the makeshift bandage was secure, but her good intentions didn’t change the fact that it hurt. She didn’t seem very amused with my comment. “I still have to reset your shoulder.” A pink magical aura surrounded my limb and suddenly pulled hard. The joint fell back into place with a popping sound though it was muffled by a cry of pain from me. “Buck it all! At least give me some warning.” Another section of tapestry looped around my neck giving me an impromptu sling to rest my foreleg. When I was patched as best as she could manage, Snow ran up to the wall behind the large gilded throne at the end of the room. She placed one hoof on the relief of a small gem set into the wall. “Your highness! Are you alright?” She asked the gem, and to my surprise the gem spoke back. “Agent Snow, you let me out of here this instant!” the gem shouted in Celestia’s voice. “I’m sorry your highness, we have to wait until the palace is secure.” Celestia’s voice suddenly began to sound worried. “What about the hostages, Agent? How many of them are there?” “We don’t know, a good number of them have been evacuated your majesty. Please calm down.” The wall shuddered and then began to smoke, but held firm. Celestia was trying to break free. “I must protect my subjects! It is our duty as the princesses of Equestria! Luna! Where is my sister? Is she safe?” Snow looked over at me nervously. As if I would know what to tell the princess. “We aren’t sure, your highness,” was the best that Snow could come up with. I expected another blast to follow, instead there was silence. It took a moment before the silence was broken by a sniff. “Oh please be safe, Luna,” Celestia begged meekly. Her voice sounded tearful, as if all of the death and sadness had finally culminated into that one moment. I wanted to let her out to let her find her sister but I knew that it wouldn’t be wise to expose the ruler of Equestria to that much danger. However, that didn’t mean I couldn’t take action myself. I got to my hooves and stretched my wings. “I’ll go find them, your highness.” I stated bluntly. Snow looked as if she was planning on stopping me. “You aren’t in any condition to fight Sergeant,” she warned. “My wingman is out there, Snow. I’m going and the only way you are going to stop me is to kill me.” The agent didn’t say anything, she just stared at me as I flew off the ground. A tiny glint of gold caught my eye in the sea of black crystals. I went down and picked it up, tossing the small fleur-de-lis at her hooves. “Protect Celestia.” I ordered her and flew out of the throne room. It was about this time that the adrenaline began to wear off and the pain in my shoulder and back became very apparent and started to slow me down. I took a deep breath and tried to push it out of my mind as I rocketed down the stairs. I stopped at the floor where the dogs lay dead, and hung a hard left following the direction where I had last seen Show off. There was a set of stairs leading down, I practically dove down them moving as fast as my wings would carry me. When I finally reached the bottom cellar, I saw two pony guards; it was Crest and Phalanx. I shot towards them and both drew weapons on me. “Where’s Show Off?” I asked them hurriedly, ignoring the spears pointed at my face. I looked down and noticed them standing over a pegasus, a blanket draped over her body. A small red stain had begun to form on the back of the cloth. Crest motioned me away from the injured mare before answering my question. “He went on ahead, but he’s fine... we thought it was best to stay put until help arrived.” I looked back to where the downed mare lay. “Will she be alright?” I asked. Crest’s voice dropped to a hushed tone. “Not unless we get her to a hospital soon. Her wing was completely severed and she’s been run through. We’ve managed to slow the bleeding…but there’s only so much we can do. Javelin went to get help but he hasn’t come back yet. We’re worried dogs got him. Go see your wingman…we’ll take care of Silver Wind.” I flew through the door into the cellar, almost tripping over a dead dog as I did. This one was different than the ones I had seen before. He has decorated himself in animal bones and lay next to a broken staff. “Show Off!” I called out, my voice echoing off the kegs that lined the shelves in the large room. I waited an agonizing second for a response and felt my heart begin beating again when I got a response. “Over here!” My wingman shouted from the back corner of the basement. I flew over a shelf of barrels to see him standing next to a small glow lamp. “About time you showed up.” I landed next to him, almost falling over because my foreleg was in a sling. He was cut in several places and there was a large burn mark on his flank but he seemed to be in okay shape. “Where’s Luna?” The blue coated alicorn stepped out of the shadows, her wing held at a strange angle at her side, obviously broken. “We are here,” she stated. I bowed as low as my injuries would allow. “Your sister is very worried about you,” I informed her. The princess motioned by to rise with a wry smile on her face. “We assumed she would be very angry with us.” A flash of light cast shadows throughout the wine cellar. “A storm?” I asked, confused. “No,” my wingman replied. “Lighting gun.” He rushed over to the window and Luna followed. I looked up to see forty or so pegasi above us, our reinforcements had finally arrived. Luna’s horn glowed brightly and a flare of magic shot from it hovering briefly falling back to earth. Four of the flyers saw it and dove down to the window. I saw several other flares erupt in the night sky behind them. “We need a medic!” Show told the first one that landed at the window. A smaller mare pushed her way past him. “I’m a medic,” she squeaked and then turned to her wingman. “Lower me down.” With Show Off’s help dropped down through into the cellar. She fired off a quick salute to the princess, with her small stature it was almost comical. “The other room by the stairs, there’s a wounded pegasus.” “Yes, sir!” she said and hurried off. Show off looked over at me regarding the bandage on my back that was slowly becoming redder and my foreleg nestled in a sling. “I hope she comes back to look you over. I thought I ordered you not to break that thing again.” I took the opportunity to hobble over to a pile of hay in the corner and lay down. Show Off came and sat down next to me, and Luna followed. She extended her large feathered wing which engulfed both of us in comforting warmth. All three of us relieved that this night of terror and fighting was finally over. “I’ve always been bad at taking orders,” I chided. “And it’s just dislocated but not broken. I’m more interested in you…you alright? You look like a barbecued apple.” “Did you know those damn dogs can use magic?” was all he said. “What happened to the Merc they send after you?” This question brought a smile to my wingman’s face; he obviously found this question to be very amusing. “That old son of a mule? About as sharp as a bowling ball. He’s over in the corner there.” I strained my eyes to see into a small recess, I could make out a dark shape with wings spread wide. It was an image that every foal had burned into their memory since their first nightmare night; the Dark Mistress of the Night, Nightmare Moon. At the hooves of the statue lay a dead Arabian. “Taken out by Luna’s dark side,” Show Off stated. “We have never liked that statue,” Luna said sadly. “That is why we had it moved down here. We never thought that some good would come from Nightmare Moon.” All further conversation was halted by a flight of ponies from the 49th CFG that barged into the cellar. “Your highness!” The flight leader said addressing the princess. “The palace is once again under our control. You are to accompany us to the throne room where your sister is waiting.” Luna rose to her hooves and playfully ran her tail under Show’s chin as she did. “We must do our duty and face the consequences of our actions. Thou dost understand?” She smiled. I looked from the piece of tapestry lashed around me to the burns that ran up Show Off’s side; we understood the idea of consequences for doing ones duty. Now that we were out of danger, I began to worry about my other companions. “You think Quill’s alright?” I asked Show. “You know he went back into the fight after everyone was evacuated, he’s too bucking noble to leave ponies in danger.” Show Off considered for a moment, before responding. He adopted Quill’s Trottingham accent as he spoke. “Quill is tough as hell’s horseshoes; you couldn’t kill that pony with a four hundred pound chimera.” I wasn’t so convinced, Show seemed to pick up on it because he called one of the flyer’s over to us. “Has radio contact been re-established, private?” The young colt nodded. “Yes Sir, but we are only supposed to use it for emergency communication only.” My wingman rolled his eyes; this flyer was so green he even smelled fresh. “Private, I will take full responsibility. Get on the radio and see if you can find a Lieutenant Quill Weave; male earth pony, green coat.” The flyer pressed his radio to his mouth and called in the request. It took a moment for a response to come back to him. “That was a medic; Lieutenant Weave is being treated for an arrow wound.” I felt panic well up inside of my chest. “Oh Celestia, Quill’s been shot…” Show seemed to take the news better but there was worry behind his eyes. “Is it serious private?” he asked urgently. The private relayed the question before turning back to us. “It was hard to understand because the medic was laughing so hard,” he informed us. “But I think he said that the lieutenant will just have a hard time sitting for a while.” The relief that I felt combined with fatigue seemed to multiply the comedy of that statement and I burst out laughing. The laughter was silenced by a sharp pain in my back, and I remembered my wound. “That looks pretty bad,” My wingman commented. “Nah,” I replied dismissing him. “Just a cut from some glass. I’m really thirsty though…” The bouncy medic came back into the room, she was one of the smallest pegasi that I had ever seen; so short that her medical saddlebag almost dragged on the ground. “I’m under orders from the princess to treat you two,” she said coming over. She started with Show, dabbing his various cuts with cotton and alcohol before bandaging them. She dressed his burns using some sort of silver cream, whatever it was seemed to be working because the pain on his face seemed to fade as she applied it. Moving on to me, she cut way the tapestry that Snow had used to bind my wound. I winced as she lifted the cloth. Her expression changed when she saw the laceration and she quickly lifted up my lips to look at my gums. “Sir, I need to get you to a hospital.” “What?” “Yes sir! Right now!” She looked out the door to where the rest of her squadron was. “Litter!” It turned out that the glass did a lot more damage that I had originally thought. The shard had pierced deeply and sliced my kidney. The doctors told me that the only thing that had kept me from bleeding to death was a small piece of white stained glass that had broken off in the wound. After emergency surgery, three days, and numerous pints of blood, the MDs finally let me sign myself out. I had many visitors during my sojourn at the hospital. Quill arrived with Rarity; he seemed to be very self-conscious of his wound because he kept holding his tail at an odd angle. He and Famosity had not only managed to evacuate the ballroom, but they also found where the Mercenaries were keeping the rear echelon hostage and took the opportunity to liberate the high ranking officers. For his gallant effort, Quill made captain and the promotion was signed by Celestia in his presence, unfortunately Famosity made Major at the same time so he was still a paygrade below her. Fam herself had come to see me a few times, bringing Maquillage with her. The lightish red mare had warmed up to me eventually and was actually willing to look at me when we talked. Famosity would then use the time during our conversation to place decorations all over the curtains that divided my bed from the pony next to me. That practice eventually had to stop when the nurse walked in and found me in the middle of a forest scene complete with a griffon in a tree above my head. The nurse claimed it was causing me undue stress. The one absent visitor was the most telling, Misty. One of the unintended consequences of doing one’s duty at wartime, love was usually the first casualty. Show Off was still hopeful as he watched me sign my name on the discharge papers. “So the second date didn’t go all that well,” he said encouragingly. “You just have to get back on the horse and hope that no one shoots at you on the third.” I looked over at him, doing my best to fake a smile. “I seriously doubt there will be a third Show,” I replied. “I haven’t seen her since the attack.” I put my signature on the last form and we both walked out the door. Standing in the sunlight waiting for me was Misty. Show Off saw her too, and quickly turned, heading back into the hospital. My mind raced with various apologies and excuses, none of which seemed significant enough to placate her. The mare’s face was a mixture of anger and sadness as she approached me. I opened my mouth to speak but no words came. She stood in front of me, and raised her hoof. I shut my eyes and braced myself for the blow, but it never came. I opened my eyes to see her lunge at me, and her lips pressed against mine and I felt the hair on the back of my neck raise in excitement. “Whoa,” I said as she released me. “Whoa yourself,” she replied. “Not that I’m complaining…but I thought you never wanted to see me again.” Misty gave me an apologetic look. “I never said that,” she replied. “I just was so scared.” “Why didn’t you visit me then?” I was more curious than angry with her. She shuffled from hoof to hoof, fluttering her wings involuntarily. “I…don’t like hospitals…” She admitted sheepishly. “They creep me out.” I laughed at her antics; she could behave just like a foal sometimes. “Does this mean you’ll be up for a show tonight?” She looked at me with a broad smile. “Absolutely.” A large shadow fell over us and Misty immediately bowed. I turned to see Princess Celestia, flanked by two guards and Agent Snow. “Misty, may I have a word with the Sergeant in private?” she asked kindly. The mare quickly nodded and gave her a salute. “Yes, Ma’am.” She trotted off up the road. “We still on for tonight?” I asked her retreating tail. “Pick me up as seven!” She called back. I turned back to Celestia who wore a broad smile on her face. “You wanted to speak with me your majesty?” I asked her. The Princess spread her wings wide, showing her full size and wingspan. “I wanted to thank you,” she replied. “To a princess the lives of her citizens are paramount to the life of herself. You and your friends were willing to sacrifice yourselves in order to defend ponies who you didn’t even know. You could have easily fled, but you chose not to. You rallied what troops you could and drove back an attack right at the heart of this country.” “I just did what any soldier would do.” Her eyes softened at my humility. “No, you saved my life. I will always be eternally grateful.” I reached into my saddlebag and pulled out a plastic jar with a tiny piece of glass rattling around in it. “Then I think we are even,” I said showing it to her. “The docs said that this was blocking a severed artery in my kidney, if it wasn’t there I would have bled out in a half hour. If you look closely, I think it’s the horn of a white Alicorn.” The smile returned to the princess’ face, she found this mildly entertaining. Slowly the smile faded away. “I hate to ask this of you,” she sighed. “But the bears have broken the ceasefire and attacked an outpost. After all that your friends have done, I must regrettably ask you to return to your unit once your leave is completed. I’m sorry.” My heart sank, that one brief glimmer of hope, the ceasefire, had died. Once again, we were at war and that meant we all had to resume the fight. “Yes, ma’am,” I said sadly. “Thank you sergeant,” the princess replied and then turned and walked back to where her carriage was waiting to return her to the palace. I pulled out the dragon scale and sighed. “You know,” I told it. “That Signet guy was one hay bale short of a loft, but he may have been right about one thing…this war my never end.” I saw Misty at the corner, waiting for me. I looked back at the dragon scale. “At least now I have something worth living for, and I think it’s time she found out about you. Wish me luck.” I tucked the scale back into my coat and trotted over to the mare on the corner. “Hey,” she said. “What was that all about?” “Duty and consequences.”