//------------------------------// // Ch10 - A Past Long Forgotten - Part 2 // Story: My Little Medic // by CommanderX5 //------------------------------// My Little Medic - Chapter 10 A Past Long Forgotten - Part 2 “So let me get this straight,” Spitfire said firmly as she examined Cadence’s wings with full interest, even pulling them lightly to take a closer look at each feather. “You’re an alicorn whose kingdom merged with Equestria long, long ago while it’s existence was erased from history books by the Princess, and you have been disguising yourself as various ponies ever since?” Noticing a firm nod, she continued, “You once took a persona of a pegasus named Braveheart and tried your luck with the Wonderbolts?” Spitfire took a quick look at the documents. “From Braveheart’s records, you were one of the biggest pegasi that ever joined the our ranks. In terms of speed and agility you were the slowest member on the team, but you make up for it with endurance and stamina, not to mention that your score on the exams were on Twilight’s level.” Cadence nodded and said, “I had centuries to learn, Spitfire. As for my condition, I was never a dedicated athlete, but my superior stamina and endurance came from being an alicorn. It was the first time I flew with the elites, though, so keeping up with the others was a huge struggle.” “I see. And five years after flying with the Wonderbolts, you died in action while saving the life of your comrade,” Spitfire’s face suddenly became far more serious, hostile even, “only to dig yourself out of your grave and start from the beginning as a new pony? Leaving your teammates behind with nothing but grief and guilt?” The alicorn just nodded once again, not daring to respond with words as she kept her head low in guilt. Spitfire sighed as she looked to the side at her trembling lieutenant as his poor mind still tried to add the facts together. Before the captain could add any word, Soarin’ cut in. “C-can you… can you tell me what happened, please.” “What happened? What do you mean?” “During that day when… when you saved Soft Breeze’s life! If she had died back then, my parents and I would never have been born. Please, I have to know what happened that day!” Cadence levitated over a cup of water and drank it before wiping her mouth while being assaulted by Soarin’s wide eyes and pleading pout. With a couple cups of water and a few snacks nearby as she and both Wonderbolts sat in Spitfire’s office, they were ready for a long story. After taking a deep breath, she spoke, “I guess you have the right to know. It all started during the most dangerous assignment we ever had.” “So, what’s our mission again? Sergeant Major Braveheart,” asked Sergeant Air Breaker as he looked at the leader. “Are we going to the badlands to rescue some rookie guards or check out their camp to find out why they disappeared? Why are they even in the badlands in the first place?” Braveheart growled. “First off, they’re not rookies. They’re veterans. As for your other question, very soon the EUP Guard will be reformed into the Royal Guards, which will involve a reduction of funds, members, and forcing a majority of the military to leave their barracks and borderlines to patrol our cities. Their HQ has organized a full exploration of the badlands since this is their last opportunity.” “So, basically, they want to do recon and map out the most dangerous areas around Equestria while they still have funding and members?” Sergeant Soft Breeze asked. “Precisely,” Braveheart responded before speeding up. Her wings flapping strongly while her mane and tail fluttered against the wind. “However, exploring the badlands involves many dangers, and some of the guards started to go missing for some reason. And because the badlands are so large,” She turned her head towards Soft Breeze, gesturing her hoof for her to take over. “They can’t spare many guards to investigate, so they called for us.” Braveheart nodded while Air Breaker looked at Soft Breeze with jealousy. She responded with a smirk and said, “You really need to pay more attention during our briefings. Mine and Brave’s brains will not always make up for you having just a half.” Noticing his head turning away with an annoyed groan, she giggled. The Sergeant Major looked to her sides and smiled warmly at her wing ponies and dear friends. Ever since her life as Braveheart began, she had met and became friends with some of her classmates. They faced exams, exercises in the barracks, even attended the Wonderbolts Academy together, and in the end, she and two of her friends became the elite fliers themselves. Ever since this trio joined the Wonderbolts at the same time, they were appointed together as a team with a more experienced Wonderbolt in lead. At least, until Braveheart was promoted to Sergeant Major, making her leader of the group. Their former commander was relocated to a more experienced squad. Today was their Seventeenth mission with Brave in charge, a very dangerous one. *** “And what happened next? Was it a manticore? A four headed beast, or maybe a humongous worm?” Soarin’ asked impatiently. “I was getting to that...” *** “Did you find anything?” Soft Breeze asked as she pushed some wreckage to the side from a destroyed officer’s tent. “Nothing besides a half eaten daisy sandwich and cake. I am actually impressed by the food supply EUP is capable to deliver to such a dangerous area,” Braveheart responded before taking a closer look. “Aunt Celestia!” she said before putting hoof on her mouth, luckily none of her friends heard that. Soft Breeze ran to her at alarming speed in panic as her attention focused on a damaged pan. “Look at the bite marks on this pan. I have a feeling that whatever ate it must have some massive teeth, with an even larger body to boot.” Wasting no time, the sergeant major ran to the supply tent that was examined earlier by Air Breaker. Soft Breeze followed. Pressing her hooves against the stone, Brave stopped herself from her gallop as the stallion looked at her with a gas mask in his hoof. “It seems that whatever attacked this camp forced the guards to leave their equipment behind.” Soft Breeze bit her lips and said, “This is not good. I hope there’s no toxic gas or poisonous plants wherever they’re hiding right now.” With a firm stomp of her hoof, she shouted, “There’s no time to waste, we have to find them ASAP!” Braveheart put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder and shook her head. “Don’t forget that whatever attacked this camp can still be in the area. We can’t search for the guards blindly with this beast around.” Breeze slapped her hoof away and frowned. “And what do you expect us to do? Stay inside as that thing is hunting them down?” “No, but… we need to be cautious. You both should inform the colonel and request reinforcements while I do a small recon from the sky.” “Don’t be stupid.” Air Breaker jumped in and said, “For such a smart pony to come up with such a bad plan, I’m disappointed.” He pointed his hoof around. “As you can see, besides a few marshlands, mountains and swamps, the area is mostly open. If the guards really tried to escape and hide from some sort of monster, you won’t notice them from the air.” Soft Breeze nodded. “That’s right. They can use caves, underground tunnels, bushes, or camouflage themselves in mud.” Braveheart sighed. So much for getting a chance to use my magic unnoticed. She was about to respond, when suddenly her ears caught something, causing them to perk upwards. Wasting no time, she looked around for the source of the noise, as did her wingmates. The sound of movement was emitted a little-ways off to their side. Forming a triangle formation, the trio of Wonderbolts walked through the camp as rustling became louder with every step. Their wings were spread and ready to be used. “Over there!” Air Breaker pointed towards a damaged hospital tent while stepping on few feathers that lay on the ground. “Maybe it’s a survivor.” The Sergeant Major didn’t share his enthusiasm. There was a chance that a member of the EUP would return to the abandoned camp in search for medical equipment, but it could just as well be the monster who attacked it in the first place. And there was still a matter with the pegasi. Why didn’t anypony fly back to Headquarters and report? With a hoof gesture, she ordered her team to go airborne and observe the situation from the air. She quickly cleared her throat with a cough and shouted, “My name is Braveheart, Sergeant Major from the Wonderbolts of the EUP Guard. Identify yourself!” With movements of the tent being the only response, she shouted again. “Are you a member of the EUP?” A loud and aggressive growl came from the tent before it was torn apart as a huge beast emerged from it. The Wonderbolts’ eyes opened widely and ears dropped at the terrifying sight. The monster had two tails: one that looked like a scorpion’s tail, but much larger and another was similar to a cobra. The main body was one of a lizard with three heads emerging from it: a lion’s, a dragon’s, and a crocodile’s. “Ch-chimera!” Braveheart shouted as she took a few steps back on her nearly paralyzed legs. Aunt Celestia once told her about the chimera she encountered during her search for the Elements of Harmony, but it had heads of a dragon, lion, and goat, and certainly no scorpion tail. Even chimeras that lived in the fire swamp were far smaller and had just two heads and one snake tail. This one had to be some sort of mutant that adapted to the badlands’ environment. All of the sudden, poisonous darts shot from the scorpion’s tail towards the flying pegasi with rapid fire, as did the toxin from the snake’s head. Both airborne pegasi tried to evade, but the projectiles captured them off guard, striking against their wings. “Soft Breeze! Air Breaker!” She shouted as her friends crashed into the ground with a loud thump. Yells of pain followed as their wings were filled with small stings and toxic substance. Braveheart spread her own wings as if ready to fly away, only to scream in pain as something struck them from behind. The beast slowly approached. Saliva was falling from his mouth as it licked it’s lips. Braveheart tried to move, but couldn’t as her muscles refused to heed her call. She could only stare at blood on the beast’s teeth and claws. Out of defensive reaction, her horn lit while the advanced illusion kept the blue aura out from her friend’s sight. She subtly pulled the beast’s foreleg, causing it to lose balance. Braveheart grit her teeth as she struggled to suppress her fears and move her legs, when suddenly she was pulled right onto Air Breaker’s back. Both pegasi galloped away from the monster who slowly got back to it’s paws and gave chase as the distance between them quickly shortened. With another subtle use of levitation, she make the monster trip over again, but it quickly countered by shooting more projectiles that hit the stallion's hind legs. “Air Breaker!” Soft Breeze shouted as she and Braveheart tried to pick up the pegasus back to his hooves, but his hind legs refused to cooperate. “We can’t escape without our wings. What do we do?” “We can always use this!” Air Breaker said as he took out a few syringes from his saddlebag. “I found these on the ground when I searched the supply tent. Maybe we can use them against the chimera.” Braveheart nodded as she took one with her hoof and one between her teeth. From the intel she read before the mission, EUP had this kind of ammunition in case of a monster attack, though it was mostly used by unicorns for obvious reasons. She gave the approaching monster a suspicious glare as it approached slowly, it’s eyes studying their every move. In order to force the guards from the entire camp to escape, it had to not only attack by surprise, most likely at night, but also destroyed the supply tent before any of the guard could take their equipment from it. This monster had to be both stealthy and intelligent. Furthermore, it’s tails were able to snipe pegasi wings, which would explain the feathers lying on the ground. With Air Breaker behind her and Soft Breeze by her side, Braveheart gulped. The chimera began to charge at the defenseless pegasus stallion while both female Wonderbolts galloped to intercept it. The monster shot a few toxic rounds at the approaching foes who jumped to the side to dodge, a very difficult feat considering that they had to hold their weapons in their teeth and a foreleg. Braveheart could see a giant paw raised and ready to strike as Soft Breeze bent her three legs in preparation to jump. Knowing that using levitation on the paw would clearly catch her friend’s perceptive eye, she focused on the hind legs instead, distracting the beast as it’s attack struck the ground, sending dirt into the air. The earth trembled under Soft Breeze’s hooves as she used this opportunity and stabbed a syringe into the monster’s paw. Braveheart did the same with beast’s other foreleg as the monster fell to the ground, it’s neck exposed. Both Wonderbolts galloped to it from both sides and jumped on it’s neck. They swung their heads as syringes between their teeth struck it. Braveheart’s breath came rapidly, so did Soft Breeze’s as they both smiled at each other. Surely it was an experience that would stay with them for a long time. Maybe they would even get a promotion. Brave’s smile didn’t last long however as something caught her attention. Looking to the side, she saw the scorpion’s and snake’s tail ready to strike as they swung at them. Time seemed to slow down as the deadly attack was but mere meters away from taking their lives… one life to be precise. The decision had to be made. On one side, as an alicorn she wouldn’t die but instead experience an unimaginable pain. Not that she couldn’t endure as the pain was not new to her, she suffered far worse over the centuries. She would just take the hit and act as if the beast missed, carry Air Breaker on her back and return to the Wonderbolts. She could continue her life as the elite flier with a friend’s death on her consciousness. On the other hoof, she could save her friend and take the hit on herself, but with witnesses seeing her receive a lethal wound, she would have to fake her death, leave her accomplishments and friends behind and once again start a new life in a never ending cycle she had to experience. Her life in the Wonderbolts in exchange for her friend's life, or leaving it all behind? Braveheart jumped on Soft Breeze with no regret. Was it even a choice when the decision was so easy to make? The last thing she saw was her friend landing on the beast’s paralyzed paw before a huge surge of pain spread across her entire body. Breathing became far harder, her vision started failing and tears fell from her eyes. She could feel her blood burning as her inner magic was fighting against the deadly poison. With a last effort to enhance the illusion spell with her magic, making sure that it last long enough and make her look dead, Braveheart closed her eyes. The room went silent. Spitfire looked to the side while Soarin’ held her wing between his forelegs nervously. It was one thing to hear a softened version of this story from his parents near a campfire, but completely different when hearing it from a pony who had been there herself. Cadence broke the silence. “Aunt Celestia ensured that everypony thought I was dead and faked my funeral. She helped me to move on as a mailmare.” She rubbed her hoof with her head lowered and added. “I kept an eye on Soft Breeze and Air Breaker. I was a guest at their wedding years later and even heard that they had two healthy children who continued the Wonderbolts’ tradition of the family.” She raised her head and smiled at Soarin’. “And to think that this family tree would lead to you, Soarin’, and our meeting today. Life sure has an odd sense of humour.” Soarin’ released his captain’s wing and rubbed his foreleg nervously while searching for something to say. Meanwhile, Spitfire stood to her hooves and approached Cadence, her stare firm and impassive. Both alicorn and Wonderbolt just stared at each other for a few seconds before Spitfire pressed her muzzle against Cadence’s one and gave her angered glare. The alicorn blinked in confusion. Both alicorn and the Wonderbolt just stared at each other for a few seconds before Spitfire shook her head with disappointment and spoke, “I don’t understand you. For such a brave pony, you’re also a coward.” Noticing that Cadence took a step back and blinked in confusion, she added, “While I admire your efforts to save your teammates, as an alicorn, your life wasn’t in grave danger. You just admitted that you knew you would survive.” Cadence nodded hesitantly. “I assumed it would be painful, but I knew it wouldn’t kill me.” The captain pointed her hoof at Cadence accusingly. “You’re brave enough to endure pain so others wouldn’t have to, and yet you faked your death and refuse to reveal being an alicorn. How could you do this to your friends who cared about you, to everypony who knew you, to those who loved you? You could’ve stopped this charade and end this spiral of lies anytime you wanted.” “B-but… then everypony would know my secret. Even if my friends could look past my appearance, the next generation would see only an alicorn, not a fellow pony,” Cadence responded with pain in her voice as she raised her foreleg defensively. “I was there, held on pedestal and looked upon as somepony greater, superior, a pony above everyone else. I don’t want that.” Spitfire frowned. “And what about your magic and experience. You said yourself that you had to hesitate several times to use magic against the chimera because your friends would see it. What if you hesitated and it cost their lives?” Cadence looked at the floor in silence as the captain continued. “You’re just escaping from your responsibilities. Maybe you would be a great leader, maybe your magic would be very useful if not hidden from the public eye.” Cadence took few steps back, almost knocking over the water container. She steeled her nerves and responded with confidence, “Equestria is not my kingdom to rule, nor do I want to take part in leading it simply because I’m an alicorn. If I would become an officer in the Wonderbolts or a boss in a company, I will achieve it as a unicorn, a pegasus or an earth pony and use my raw power only when absolutely necessary.” She paused to take a deep breath. “Furthermore, how can I use my magic to help others when restrained by politics and paper work? How many times can Auntie Celestia step in to protect her ponies when the Royal Guards do it for her? How many times can she assist in building a house or levitating heavy cargo from place to place when workers and airships can do it under her command?” With a stomp of her hoof, Spitfire added, “And who said that you will end up in a castle, away from ponies you want to work and live with? Who said that others won’t look at you the same? It is up to you to choose. You’ll never know if you won’t take the risk!” “No,” Cadence said shake of her head as she looked at the floor began rubbing it with her forehoof. “Maybe I would manage to live with the other ponies as an alicorn and convince them to treat me as equal, but there is a high risk the opposite will happen, a risk I don’t want to take.” She took a deep breath and said with calmer tone, “I’m a coward, I won’t deny that. I have many regrets from my long life, but also many joys. I’ve made many friends over the years, and I’ve seen many die. Some of them I just couldn’t stay with because I had to fake my death, but it was my choice.” Spitfire wanted to press the issue, but she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She looked to the side at Soarin’s stare who just shook his head. “Enough, Captain. Is this how you treat a Wonderbolt hero, a pony who’d go through terrible pain for a friend?” Watching as the captain returned to her seat. Soarin’ turned to Cadence and, much to her surprise, hugged her. His forelegs embracing the alicorn’s wings tightly as he pressed his head against Cadence’s neck. “Thank you.” The hug lasted for a few seconds, as Cadence returned it. She would have answered with ‘your welcome,’ but were words even necessary? Once free from his embrace, Cadence looked at her lieutenant's smiling face and eyes filled with gratitude. “Thanks for letting me know about your secret. I promise to keep it safe.” Soarin’ said slowly returned to his seat next to Spitfire and put his foreleg around her shoulder. “I’m glad that you have two more ponies you don’t need to hide your secret from, the more the merrier, right Captain?” Feeling her cheek pressed against Soarin’s, she blushed and smiled weakly. “S-sure. Whatever you say.” ‘Knock, knock.’ Both Wonderbolts turned towards the door as Spitfire asked, “Who’s there?” “Overwatch,” a muffled voice called from behind the door. “Me and Steelie have been looking everywhere for you.” Spitfire turned her head to Cadence to make sure she knew this secret as well. Noticing a nod, she said, “You may enter.” The female guard opened the door as she breathed rapidly as if she just ran a marathon. “Fleetfoot and Shining Armor are at each other’s throats. Your assistance is required!” The captain and lieutenant looked at each other before saluting to Cadence. “Sergeant Major Braveheart, I am afraid we will need to cut this conversation short,” Spitfire said before lowering her hoof to the floor and walk towards the exit, Soarin’ followed. They both spread their wings and took to the air the moment they left the room, leaving Overwatch and Cadence alone in officer’s room. More seconds later, Overwatch looked at Cadence with curiosity. “So, you were a Wonderbolt…” “Long story.” The guard nodded. “What about Spitfire and Soarin’, you saw that they are destined for one another. Are you interested in some shipping?” Cadence giggled. It was situations like this that she was born for. “I’m in.” “Excellent,” Overwatch said and shook her hoof with Cadence’s. She smirked and looked around the room moments later but her thoughts were quickly interrupted. “Don’t even think about it.” “Awww, but we’re alone in the captain’s office, just think about all the possibilities!” She quickly levitated a piece of document from the table with pictures of a green pegasus with name Lightning Dust and a blue pegasus with rainbow mane, their profiles filled with data written under the pictures. “After Twiny’s parents showed pictures with Mrs. Armorine on it, shouldn’t we learn something embarrassing about her just in case?” “No, means no!” Cadence said as she walked out of the room with her horn lit, pulling Overwatch by her ear out of the room with a levitation spell as the door slammed behind her. The annoyed guard frowned and crossed her forelegs, forced to leave such a treasure room without taking a single souvenir. She got back to her hooves quickly and followed the alicorn as a smile returned as fast as it was gone. Even if she could not play as a spy, there was still the role of a matchmaker for two Wonderbolts that needed to share one bed together as fast as possible.