SACRIFICES – CHAPTER ONE
There was something about flying at night which Swift loved, even if the armour she was wearing chafed in just about all the places she wouldn't want. The peace and quiet was a wonderful thing and the fact that her fur was just about dark enough that most ponies couldn't see her was a bonus. She was en route from Ponyville to Canterlot after delivering a vital message to the Guard commander in Dodge Junction and l was flying a response back to Commander Heart. All in all, life was good.
When she joined the Guard , Swift had not expected to be doing courier runs again but, as one of the fastest Pegasi in the Guard's Canterlot detachment she had found that courier runs were a regular part of her duties. She had landed in a wood a few miles outside of Ponyville to drink some water and readjust a leading feather which was starting to irritate her. She was half way through the water in the bottle and was just preening herself when she heard something, somepony shouting “No, Daddy, I'm sorry”.
Swift glanced around, listening for any other noises, her irritating feather forgotten. She moved through the trees as quietly as a barding-clad pegasus could frowning as she heard shouting coming from a shack. She was still approaching slowly when she heard a shriek from within. The adrenaline running through hers system increased as she galloped the remaining distance and smashed the door of the shack open with her front hooves.
She took in the scene immediately, anger bubbling up inside as she saw a Pegasus stallion standing over a very young filly. The stallion was standing on one of the filly's wings, hence the screaming from the obviously terrified filly. As the stallion turned to look at Swift his jaw dropped “Who the buck are you?”. Swift just answered by shoulder charging him into a wall to get him away from the filly. She heard a snap as one of the stallion's ribs broke due to the force of a fully-armoured guardspony smashing into him. She backed off a step, mostly because of the wave of alcohol fumes coming from him, then the stallion threw a punch at her face. Swift pulled her head back, taking the punch on her eye, glad she was still wearing her helmet as the stallion yelled as pain from his hoof joined the pain from his chest.
Wanting to get the fight over so she could deal with the still screaming filly, Swift turned then bucked the stallion in the crotch. He screamed, a few octaves higher than he had before. Swift just looked at him. “Needless to say, you're under arrest for foal abuse and striking a Guard officer. I'd cuff you myself but I need to get this filly to hospital but there will be a squad of Guard here soon”. It was not an ideal solution but she was on a package run, she didn't have the normal equipment with her for dealing with criminals.
The stallion smiled, despite the agony coming from his groin. “I'll just run”.
Swift looked down and nodded. “It's a pity you broke your ankle trying to escape”. A stomp on his ankle provided a snapping noise and another yell from the stallion. Swift just shrugged. “Don't go anywhere”.
She turned and ran to the filly. It was obvious that at least a couple of bones in her right wing had been broken and it looked like she had been struck by the stallion. Swift looked down and wondered for a second why the filly looked afraid until she realised something. “Oh silly me”. She took her helmet off and smiled, the filly seemed to calm down. “Now, little one. I'm going to get you some help but...”. The thought occurred to her that she was slower with her barding on and the flight was likely to be painful without the armour on her front hooves. “Just stay there and I'll take off my armour”. After taking off her armour she rooted in her saddlebags before pulling out a standard issue 'flare'. She didn't understand how it worked but it gave off a powerful surge of magical energy. Trained Unicorns could track it if she triggered it but she was about five hours away from being late in Canterlot, she couldn't turn it on and wait here. That left her with another option.
She turned on the 'flare' and pulled a blanket out of her saddlebags. “I know this may hurt but I'm going to have to fly fast and I don't want you getting cold”. She carefully lifted the filly and wrapped her in the blanket. There was a yelp as she moved the filly's injured wing. “I know it's hurting little one but I can get you to a doctor a lot quicker this way”.
She put the saddlebags back on and turned back to the stallion. “You're lucky that's all I did to you”. Then stepped outside and took off. She would have flown back to Ponyville but she knew where the nearest hospital in Canterlot was and she knew the doctors there, Ponyville was too much of a unknown quantity for her liking. She flew until she was high enough to see the lights of Canterlot in the distance, then looked down at the filly and smiled. “I've got you, everything is going to be okay!”.
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She flew as fast as she could to the guard post outside of Canterlot then landed in front of a confused Earth Pony. “Private Swift Wind, I triggered a flare between here and Ponyville. I want the son of a... I want the suspect there arrested for foal abuse”. She nodded at the filly in her hooves. “I need to get her to a hospital”. Without another word she took off and flew into the city.
Two Hours Later
The filly had been in the OR for a hour and a half and Swift was still pacing from one end of the waiting room to the other waiting for an update. She was about to turn for another pass when she saw the main doors open and her commanding officer step in.
Commander Iron Heart took one look at the Private before speaking. “Private, you will come to attention when an officer enters the room”.
Swift snapped to attention before she remembered the message she was supposed to bring to him. She glanced at the saddlebags. He walked over so that he was face to face with her. “You are out of uniform and wasn't there a message you were supposed to bring to me?”.
Swift didn't know what to say. He was right on every point and she really didn't have an excuse. “I'm sorry sir, I stopped for a water stop and there was a filly being abused and I needed to..”
He stopped her with a smile. “One of the guards at the post informed me that one of my pegasi had flown into town like a horde of dragons were snapping at her mane. I guessed that you might have a reason to have not reported. I sent a squad to the place where the flare was. They found a stallion with a broken hoof who claims that a pegasus bitch broke his rib then broke his leg”. Iron Heart nodded. “And it looks like he got in a hoof of his own”. He pointed at her eye which had been feeling a little puffy since she arrived in Canterlot. “You'll have a shiner tomorrow. Obviously you stood on his hoof while defending yourself from him. At ease, Private”.
Swift relaxed a little then trotted over to her saddlebags before pulling out the message and handing it to Iron Heart. “When I bucked in the door to the shack he was standing on the filly's wing. I'm guessing it's broken and it looked like he had beaten her beforehoof”. She frowned. “I think I lost control. He got me so angry”.
Iron Heart laughed. “That's understandable. What isn't is being out of uniform on duty. I'll have to put it in your record”.
Swift nodded, knowing that her odds of getting her dream posting to the elite Royal Guard would take a hit with anything negative on her record. “I understand”.
Iron Heart nodded as he walked to the door, then turned before leaving. “You've got the rest of the night off, Private. The patrol I sent has gathered your uniform. I'll expect you back at the barracks at the start of your shift tomorrow”.
Swift turned and nearly took flight as she saw a doctor behind her. “She's out of the Operating Room and in a recovery room. Her wing is going to take some time to heal and I've made a record of her injuries for Commander Iron Heart's office”.
Swift smiled, feeling like the weight of Equestria had been lifted off her shoulders. “Thank Celestia. Can I see her”.
“For a few minutes. She's still very weak but the prognosis is good. She's in room 4”.
Swift almost galloped the short distance to the room then looked inside. The filly glanced at her and backed away, whimpering. Swift stepped inside. “It's alright, little one. I'm the pony who helped you. Remember?”.
The filly looked closer as Swift bent over her to look at her wing. It had a bandage on it and there was another bandage above her eye. “I remember you. Thank you”.
“It's alright kid”. Swift sat in a chair next to the bed, looking giving the filly a closer examination.
The filly stared at her, then frowned as she saw something. “What happened to your eye?”.
Swift looked at the mirror on the wall, she would indeed have a black eye by the next morning. “The so”. She winced. “The pony who hurt you”.
The filly looked down. “My daddy”.
Swift was glad for her training allowing her to keep a calm expression whilst thoughts of how she was going to kill the stallion ran through her head. “Well, he hit me while I was stopping him”. She smiled, “He forgot that big tough guard ponies like I wear metal helmets”. The filly giggled as Swift leaned a little closer to her and tapped herself on the forehead before grinning as the filly laughed. “And we have thick heads anyway. He won't hurt you again”.
Swift turned as the door opened and the doctor looked in. “She should get some sleep, she's been through a lot”.
Swift nodded. “I'll be back in the morning before work”. She looked at the filly. “What's your name anyway, little one”.
The filly smiled. “I'm Scootaloo”.
Swift bowed theatrically. “I'm Swift Wind, happy to be at your service”.