32 - Glory, Part 1 of 6
Beigh's first rest came nearly three days after the second battle at Dodge Junction. The wounded were many, to say nothing of the dead. The official report came back that in total, their force suffered nearly seventy percent casualties. Of those, over half were dead. Four-thousand, six-hundred and twenty dead in a matter of three hours. Given the nature of injuries inflicted by the timberwolves, most of the wounded survivors would return to duty eventually, but Ponyville was below half strength now.
Reinforcements were said to be on the way, but none had yet arrived. Beigh sat by the infirmary tent completely exhausted. He had worked on more wounded than he could remember, but his mind kept going back to the battle. He was ashamed for running away, even though it had likely saved his life. He told himself that he had to survive. He told himself that he was able to help save many that would have died without his skills after the battle. It didn't really make him feel any better.
"Beigh!" Duster interrupted his thoughts.
Looking up, the sky seemed somehow cheerfully blue in a world so stained with red. "What is it?"
"Hey, I need a couple of spare harnesses for a friend of a friend," Duster said.
In his current state, it hadn’t taken much to confuse the medic, ”Wait, what?”
“I know of a corporal who was discharged due to injuries that is looking for some harnesses.”
”Did you check with the quartermaster?"
"They won't issue them for this. As I said, he was discharged, so he’s not a military priority anymore.”
“Why does he need them?”
“Flying,” he hesitated. “If he hadn’t served with my sister, I wouldn’t be asking.”
The thought of Sparklefly made Beigh’s heart skip. Rumors of her involvement were circulating after the battle, thanks in large part to a newspaper article in which she had been interviewed. He hadn’t received a letter from her, but the gossip was that she had been in Ponyville. That knowledge warmed the stallion against everything else that filled his days.
Bringing his thoughts back to the matter at hoof, Beigh replied, "Okay, not a problem. There are some... used harnesses in need of cleaning in the supply tent. I can get you two of those."
It was a grizzly thought to give away a harness that had been worn by soldiers who had been killed in action, but they did have more of them than were needed. Duster nodded and walked off. Beigh meant to take care of this right away, but he sat for a few minutes longer. That's all the chance that sleep needed to take him for awhile.
...
Scootaloo sat, staring blankly at the wall of the hospital room in Ponyville. She’d been in this building a dozen times as a patient, usually covered in tree sap. That seemed a lifetime ago. She was still in shock after everything that had happened. When Sparklefly had told her that Rainbow Dash was dead, Scootaloo felt herself wither inside. She had managed to compose herself enough to send several of her companies to search for the queen, but no sign of her was found. Queen Chrysalis had escaped again.
Scootaloo could only imagine how much worse things would be if Sparklefly’s report had been accurate, an error for which Sparklefly had endlessly apologized. Colonel Rainbow Dash lay in the hospital bed, still very much alive, but unconscious. They surmised that she had deployed her parachute, just as Sparklefly had done, but she’d suffered some injuries in the fall after she was struck by lightning. The doctors were confident that she'd make a full recovery in time, some new scars notwithstanding.
The injured cerulean mare’s chest rose and fell with each breath, loose wrappings covering medicines that had been applied to burns that snaked from her neck down her belly and onto her hind legs, one of which was in an immobilizing boot.
Rainbow Dash had only regained consciousness once, and Scootaloo hadn't been in the room when it happened. She was still kicking herself for that. Given the burns and other injuries the colonel had sustained, the doctors felt it wisest to keep her sedated for the pain. Major Skyflame made the decision to keep the Taskforce at Ponyville while they tended to the wounded. General Brax was glad to have their regiment around since his force so depleted after the battle.
"We need to go," Flittergear said softly.
Scootaloo was startled, shivering slightly as she turned, "What is it?"
Flittergear had an urgent look on her face, but she didn't say more. Scootaloo turned helplessly back to Rainbow Dash for a moment.
"I'll be back soon.”
Standing and walking were both uncomfortable, but the stiffness in her muscles from the fighting was fading. The hospital was overcrowded again, but the EUP infirmary was worse. They had patients on the ground and were using the mess tent as a second post-op.
Scootaloo followed Flittergear across town to the castle. Soon she was standing in front of General Brax’s quarters. The last time Scootaloo had been here, Mane Crusher was still in command. Flittergear knocked, and the door opened; Skyflame urged them inside. Nopony's quarters were large, but this room was now packed full with the Taskforce, Skyflame, General Brax, and Prince Shining Armor himself.
"Your majesty," Scootaloo said as she and Flittergear bowed.
"No need for that," he said, sounding rather cold in comparison to the last time she'd seen him.
Scootaloo hadn't noticed his guards at first. She recognized one of them, Digger. He nodded at her.
"Now that we're all here, I have to say I am disappointed," Shining Armor spoke evenly. "Queen Chrysalis escaped, and we lost nearly half the force sent to capture her. Every report I've read over the past three days are consistent in one point. Each of you gave everything you had to accomplish the mission. If it hadn’t been for the tornado, your outlying scouts likely would have caught her. I certainly don't fault you for the outcome. However, I am no longer of the opinion that this strategy is worth what it is costing us."
Everypony seemed as saddened by this as Scootaloo felt. Some of her last remaining bastions of pride were now wounded. They had been given the mission of finding the queen and ending the war, and they had failed.
"On the other hoof, this Taskforce does seem to have a true gift for strategy," Shining Armor continued. "I want this group to draw up a plan to retake Canterlot."
Scootaloo had only thought the room was quiet before he said that. Now the silence was deafening.
"What is the status on Colonel Rainbow Dash?" he asked Scootaloo.
She felt unsure of herself for the first time in quite a while, but struggled to speak quickly. Clearing her throat, she said, "She’s alive, but the doctor said she needs to stay in bed for several weeks. She suffered severe burns and fractured her leg, not to mention a concussion.”
"I see," the prince said. He paused a moment in thought and then continued, "You will have to function without her for now. Skyflame will command the regiment. Charging Lance, you will head up the Taskforce."
"As you say," the stallion replied.
Scootaloo was sure she saw a flash of pride across his face for a moment.
"Time is against us," Shining Armor continued. "Yesterday was the first day of autumn, which means winter will be upon us before we know it. I am convinced that we're going to see a new offensive from the changelings soon. Nearly catching the queen has put them off balance; retaking Canterlot will help keep them on defense." Looking up at Sparklefly, he asked, "Did you have something to say?"
She shook her head.
"If you have any thoughts, I want to hear them,” the prince said firmly.
"Your majesty," Sparklefly answered. "I'm just a little unclear as to what advantage retaking Canterlot will actually get us. It may keep them on defense for a little while, but the resources we'll use to do it won't be available for defending our other cities."
"It is a risk, but I believe it is worth taking," Shining Armor replied. "What I'm about to say does not go beyond this room." He paused, looking at each of them in turn. "Our forces are being spread thin to defend all of the area we have. I suspect this was the purpose behind the constant small attacks we've been hit with all summer. If a large force hits any of our smaller cities, we won't be able to repel it. Retaking Canterlot is more than just to keep them off balance. We will be able to abandon nearly a third of the smaller cities and relocate their populations to the capital. That done, we can consolidate our defense into much stronger positions.“
That made sense to Scootaloo. A smaller area would be easier to defend, but they were bound to lose farmland.
"What about the farms?" she heard herself blurt out before she’d considered whether this was actually an intelligent question.
"We'll abandon many of them for the winter," he replied. "They won't be any use to us in the cold."
A sigh of relief came when he turned away from her. Scootaloo was pleased with herself for not putting a hoof in her mouth for once. The prince seemed tired; deep concern was etched on his face as the appearance of a stallion that hadn’t known rest for a long stretch of time.
"I know I’m asking a great deal of you again, but I can’t think of any group I can trust more with this." The prince took a breath before concluding, "I'm heading back to Cloudsdale. I want you to return so I can review your plan tomorrow morning."
The prince left the room, flanked by his personal guards. Scootaloo found herself lost in a memory of the last time she'd seen Canterlot. She'd been carrying Brax as they’d flown away from the smoking ruin. Rainbow Dash had been hurt that day also, though not so much a brush with death as she’d just had. That was the day that Scootaloo first had really talked to Pibs.
“Don’t you agree?” Pacer asked.
Scootaloo looked up and realized that they had been talking while she was in thought. They were all staring at her.
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
“We were just discussing using Cloudsdale as our staging area,” Pacer replied, “but if you’re too busy, I’m sure we can have this meeting later.”
Scootaloo forced a calm over herself and used as few words as possible, “Yes, Cloudsdale. I agree.”
Masher suggested, “We might consider using a cloud to push in a larger force of earth ponies and unicorns than we can get airborne by pegasi.”
“Good idea,” Sparklefly agreed.
Scootaloo forced distractions and worries aside to pay closer attention to the meeting. A faint spark of hope rekindled her spirit. She was ready to return to Canterlot so they could begin rebuilding what had been lost.
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One bullet dodged, 10 more taken.
8474155
That might be an acceptable trade if the one bullet dodged was aiming for right between your eyes, and the ten hit less essential marks.
Can scootaloo just stick to one job please, you keep putting her into different squads and units and objectives.
8745525
Not a fan of her reassignments? Strictly speaking, she is still on the Taskforce, they have just been given a side-quest to take care of. Don't worry, it won't take them far away from the action.
Also... you win that round because you refused to believe me about Rainbow Dash.
🍪
Gotcha ARE YOU KIDDING ME YOU TROLL
AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Seriously though not cool
8745589
You know you like being teased!
Well, looks like it was a case of fallible eyewitness testimony then. Good thing for Equestria and for Scoots. No case of 'All the colours died that day' this time around
With RD out and several other major officers being shuffled around, and Scoots being included in the top-secret war discussions, she might yet get her day in the limelight. Or even better, her Cutie Mark
8782179
All things are possible.
I'm glad the RD line at the end of the last chapter had the punch I wanted... even if it was doubted.