39 - Devotion, Part 4 of 16
Duster hadn’t slept. His eyes were heavy, and his head was pounding from being consumed in thought for the entirety of the night. He knew there was a way to stop the enemy, but he just couldn’t see it without abandoning another city to a similar fate. The numbers just didn’t add up. There were too many enemies and not enough allies to rally against them.
He didn’t know and therefore couldn’t appreciate the location on which he stood. It was a platform on the west side of Canterlot that had been the pivotal place that his sister had landed to get the last group of civilians out when she’d been a cadet. It now functioned as a landing zone for EUP scouts. Many had left, but Duster noted that few had returned; of those that did, not one had come from the Assault Corps.
The sun rose behind them in the east, but Duster faced away into the receding darkness. A thick layer of dew coated everything, making the floor reflective and slick. The light of the morning struck Cloudsdale in the distance, lighting it up like a giant glacier in the sky. Duster mused at the thought, but something twinged in the back of his mind, like a memory that has faded through the passing of the years.
He couldn’t put his hoof on at first, but it was definitely there. The headache in his right temple wasn’t making it any easier to clear his thoughts, but he stared at the floating city as he tried to work through just what it was he couldn’t quite remember. Like an itch that one cannot reach to scratch, he was unable to bring his mind into focus. He sighed, turning away for a moment.
He had been standing still for a while, but he now resumed pacing. LD had joined the rest of the squad and laid down hours before. They certainly weren’t wasting the opportunity to refresh themselves with some sleep. The soreness in Duster’s muscles begged him to do the same.
Deciding that he was too tired to continue straining himself, he let his thoughts wander. Before he realized it, he was home in Apple Loosa. At least, that’s where his mind had gone as he walked the perimeter of the platform.
Even as a little colt, he’d had chores to do. Everypony works on an apple farm. The day in remembrance was one where he had done extra chores. Flying through the list to get twice as much done as usual was no small feat, but the family had accomplished it.
The daydreaming stallion smiled at the memory. Sissy had developed a wing cramp that day while they were moving clouds. Not that her life was in danger from the near fall, but Duster had tried to help her glide down. The pair of them had crashed into an apple tree, and his sister had caught her mane in the branches. They had to use sheers to get her untangled.
Duster chuckled to himself. That was the day before they went to the Equestria Games in the Crystal Empire. He looked back at Cloudsdale as the reverie filled his mind. Sissy’s short mane, albeit longer than her later EUP cut, was the butt of jokes for the entire day. He and their other siblings were merciless about it right up until...
A shiver ran up Duster’s spine as things connected in his mind. That day was nearly tragic, but for the heroics of a baby dragon, the protegé and assistant of Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Duster gasped before he blurted out, "It’s almost a hundred square miles!"
LD was the first one to open his eyes. He lifted his head and looked directly at Duster.
Cloud density, that was the next question. It wouldn’t be necessarily something the average pony would know, but Duster grew up in a farming family that lived by making weather. Clouds were their business; given that background, the stallion was easily able to remember that it’s about one-tenth ounce per cubic yard. His head started pounding again as he tried to multiply it out.
"Almost seventy-five trillion ounces..." Duster was muttering.
"What in the wide world of Equestria are you babbling about?" Gunnysack looked groggy.
Duster waved him off with a hoof as he continued to think aloud, "That’s nine-trillion cups, four-and-a-half trillion pints, two-trillion quarts... ahh!" Duster’s mind raced on as he neared the answer he needed, "Almost 600 billion gallons of water."
"What are you talking about?" LD echoed the question.
"It’s eight pounds per gallon!"
"Water?"
"Yes!"
"Okay," LD looked uneasy. "Everypony knows that. Why are you so excited by it?"
"Don’t you get it? Cloudsdale weighs over two billion tons!"
LD didn't respond, but simply stared back at him blankly. The look Gunnysack’s face suggested unflattering thoughts.
"He’s lost it," Jewel said.
She and Locknload had also sat up. Duster realized that he wasn’t making sense, but he couldn’t worry about that right now. He had to find Shining Armor. His legs began to carry him swiftly away.
"Where are you going?" Locknload barked.
Duster replied, "I have to find the prince; I have to tell him!"
He didn’t wait for an answer, but instead trotted through the city back toward the castle. The morning in Canterlot was quiet, but for patrols of soldiers walking this way and that. They paid him little attention until he drew near to the royal grounds. He got through the ever-painful unicorn scans to verify his identity, but was stopped at the castle gate.
"State your business!"
Duster replied, "I have something urgent to tell Shining Armor."
"Do you have orders?" the guard asked.
A bit flummoxed, Duster admitted, “No… But I need to see him right away."
"His majesty is very busy."
"This is important," he inched forward.
The guard glowered at him with an expression that screamed, ‘give me a reason’. Duster’s hooves planted firmly, halting his advance. He ignored the sound of approaching ponies from behind.
"I am Sergeant Locknload, and we have business with Prince Shining Armor."
"Show me your orders," the guard demanded.
"We have no written orders."
"Then you don’t pass."
Locknload nodded, "That is your duty. We are involved with a special detachment that reports directly to his majesty. We are not part of the Taskforce, but we reported on their activity yesterday. The prince told us to return if we had any additional strategies for our operations in the south. We do.“
The guard stared back at him without answer. It was hard for Duster to keep his thoughts in check. He wanted to scream out everything he was thinking, but it wasn’t the time.
"I understand that you can’t let us in, but if vital information doesn’t at least come to the prince’s attention, whose head do you think it’ll be?" Locknload continued.
The guard seemed more annoyed if anything, but he finally nodded to his comrade before saying, "Wait at the bottom of the steps."
"Tell him that it is Private Duster that needs to see him," the sergeant concluded.
The rest of them went back down the stairs and waited in the open garden that was outside the castle. Looking around, Duster noted that it may have been more correct to say that it had been a garden. At present, not much was growing. Likely it had been destroyed in the battle and subsequent occupation by timberwolves. Still, there were signs that life had returned. In every direction there was freshly worked earth and other evidence that efforts to revitalize the area were underway.
Locknload growled, "Look, Private, as much as I appreciate the strange situation in which we have found ourselves, you cannot run off like that."
The harshness of his tone caused Duster to snap to attention.
"Yes, sir."
"As you were," Locknload said, almost with a sigh.
The sergeant didn’t look as forbidding as usual. It wasn’t softness, but he definitely wasn’t at his normal state of rough-and-ready. He almost seemed sad. He shook his head and walked over to a bench. The others followed.
"Are you alright?" Rolling Thunder asked.
"Perfect," came a sarcastic answer. "We’re sitting here doing nothing while there’s fighting going on."
Jewel looked a bit bewildered at this, "We probably would have died if we stayed out there."
His gaze snapped up to her, "Equestria is dying now. What’s the use of all our training and experience if we can’t use it to defend everypony else? Do you really think that your life or mine is that important?"
LD’s expression went cold. Duster knew well-enough the things he had already survived. They all had seen enough death to last a lifetime. Beigh came to mind, and then his sister did as well.
"I just don’t see what good it is to die for no reason," she replied.
Locknload took a deep breath, “Don’t you know who we are by now?. We are the knife’s edge that stands between death for no reason and living to fight another day. The changelings will kill us all if they get the chance, and the longer I’m sitting here, the more of them get to live longer and get that chance. I swear by Celestia’s unmarked grave, I will kill every single one of them I can get my hooves on."
"For Beigh, for Sissy, Moonsliver, Quickbeam, Doff..." a great sadness had come over Duster as he spoke. It was hardening as resolve, "We have to do whatever we can to keep any more from dying."
"So be it," Locknload said.
LD snorted before agreeing, "So be it."
Gunnysack and Rolling Thunder nodded silently.
At that very moment, the sound of the castle gate opening again caused Duster and the others to look up. The guard had returned. If possible, his complexion had become a whiter shade of his natural beige color.
"Follow me," he said simply.
Although he didn’t say, Duster was pretty sure that the guard had just received a tongue-lashing. Locknload motioned for them to follow the guard. They went up the steps and back into the castle once more. It was the same as the previous day inside. However, instead of leading them to the throne room, they were taken to a grand ballroom that was mostly empty.
There were castle servants inside, not to mention a dozen or so guards. To one side of the room, the royal counselors sat, quietly talking amongst themselves as they poured over what must have been the latest battle reports. At the end of a long table in the center of the room sat Prince Shining Armor. They approached only as close as their escort led them.
"Your majesty," the guard said with a bow, "Private Duster and company."
After receiving a nod from the prince, he then turned and walked out of the room. The breakfast that the prince was having didn’t seem to be any more than the rations everypony else received. It certainly wasn’t befitting royalty to have so meager a portion, but it was a sign of the times.
"You have something important,” the prince said, more a statement than a question.
"Yes, your majesty," Duster said. He tried to calm his mind before he continued. "I have a plan to save the Assault Corps and Ponyville."
"Oh?" The prince seemed amused. Nodding toward the advisors, he continued, "My counselors have all told me that the southern battle is a lost cause. Do you presume to be smarter than them?"
"No, your majesty. It was something that I remembered from before. At the Equestria Games, when I was a colt, an ice arrow was shot out of the range and struck a cloud that was passing overhead."
A vacant stare came back from the prince for a moment before the light of recognition sparked in his eyes.
"That was at the Crystal Empire," the prince said.
"Yes, your majesty.”
"Spike, the dragon, burned the ice away so that it wouldn’t harm anypony."
"Yes, your majesty.”
"Do you mean to suggest dropping a few clouds on the enemy? How would that save our southern forces?"
Duster took a deep breath, realizing the insanity of his plan, "Not exactly. We don’t have enough time to make enough clues to do any good. I mean to suggest that we freeze all of Cloudsdale and drop it on the enemy."
There were gasps throughout the room. Duster now commanded everypony’s attention, even the counselors had looked up from their reports to stare at him, mouths agape.
"I ran the numbers on it this morning. Cloudsdale is made up of over five-hundred billion gallons of water. If we turn that to ice, it would weigh over two billion tons and can easily blanket an area of up to ten miles by ten miles. They can throw whatever fire they want to at it. With that much ice, they won’t be able to put a dent in it before they are crushed.”
The prince tilted his head to one side while regarding the now self-conscious private. Duster’s heart was pounding like a drum and a lump had formed in his throat.
"You would destroy Cloudsdale," the prince said.
"Yes, sir," Duster replied even though it wasn’t a question. "I would destroy Cloudsdale. We can evacuate the civilians and any necessary supplies en route. If it goes well, we might take over six-hundred thousand timberwolves and we don’t even know how many changelings with it."
The prince stood and turned to his unusually quiet advisors, "Well?"
One of them stepped forward timidly and said, "His math is sound."
“Does anypony have any better ideas?" Shining Armor asked, scanning about the room.
Silence was the only answer he received.
"You know how dire the situation is to the south. How will you move the city into position in time?" the prince asked.
Duster nearly panicked inside. That was a major flaw in his plan that he hadn’t considered. He was about to speak, but no words came.
"If I may," LD began.
Shining Armor nodded.
"Cloudsdale has already fended off the attacks the changelings threw at it, and it can’t be reached by the timberwolves. We call upon civilians to move the city. It’s not as if the changelings will know why we are moving the city.“
“It won’t matter! The moment you move, you will become a target!" one of the advisors objected.
"You can’t expect civilians to move that city under fire and maintain their composure!" shouted another.
Shining Armor put up a hoof to silence them before it descended into vain babble.
"With respect, I’ve seen the civilians of Equestria do some amazing things," LD continued. "I was a civilian only a few months ago. I’ve had training, and I’ve seen combat. We aren’t asking them to fight, and we can keep them guarded. All we need to do is move the city. For that, the civilians only need to be inspired."
"What do you suggest?" Shining Armor asked.
LD took a breath, "We use any trained pegasi you dare send, even the cadets that are still in training to act as an escort, and call every able-bodied pegasus in Equestria immediately. We tell them that the Hero of Canterlot needs their help."
The advisors immediately began scoffing, but they quickly regained silence as the prince stepped forward around the table.
"The Hero of Canterlot is dead," he said simply.
Duster felt a weight on his chest at the mention of his sister.
"Yes, sir," LD replied, "But that is not yet public knowledge. Enough conflicting information comes out that we can still use her as a symbol. The stories about her deeds, though much of it not true, did serve to give the civilians a hero. Her brother looks almost exactly like her at a distance. If he wears her eye patch, nopony will question it."
Duster glared at LD. The thought of using the memory of his sister that way felt wrong. It enraged him that it was now a consideration.
LD looked back, but it was only desperation in his eyes as he whispered, "So be it."
Duster felt his resolve harden again. He would do it. He would do whatever he had to if it meant saving more lives.
"Bring me parchment and a quill," Prince Shining Armor decided.
The necessary items were brought to him within moments, and he began writing.
"I’m sending out the call to all able-bodied pegasi that are fit to fly to report to Cloudsdale immediately. It will be from the Hero of Canterlot and Prince Shining Armor. The trainees that are in Cloudsdale will oversee the evacuation of any unfit to assist, as well as the offloading of any supplies that we’ll need to save. You’ll report to Colonel Lightning Dust at Cloudsdale with these orders. Her defense force will assist and protect the movement."
Duster was almost in shock at this turn of events. He was excited that they thought his plan was viable, but also terrified that it might not work.
"As they said, you will be a target as soon as the city begins moving, so I will give them something else to keep their attention." Shining Armor took a breath, "Call in the Wonderbolts, Templars, and Bushmasters that are not fielded. We must keep the changelings advancing, and we can’t risk letting slip what we are planning. I am going to Ponyville to serve as a decoy and personally oversee the preparation of the ice arrows.”
The shouting that erupted from the advisors was deafening. Duster couldn’t sort out any one thing that was said, but it all was in objection to the prince’s plan to take the field himself. He put up a hoof to silence them.
"This is the best plan we’ve had since we destroyed the mirror pool. We have to cut their numbers down, and this will give us a fighting chance to end the war much sooner. Even if we don’t get any changelings, the opportunity to cut down that many timberwolves cannot be ignored. My life is in my own hooves, and I am willing to lay it on the line.”
Everypony stared silently at the monarch. He stood in thought for a long moment before looking back toward Duster and his squad.
The prince snorted, “Ponyville... My sister always had a fondness for that place, and more than once the fate of Equestria seemed to be in the balance at that little town. Perhaps it is fate that we are headed there now. I for one will take it as a good sign. Win or lose, this will be a defining hour."
The prince paced in silence for a moment before speaking again.
“Princess Celestia gave me charge to watch over her subjects as she would. She risked her own life more than once in their defense, but never needlessly. As powerful as she was, she made that sacrifice for us to get this far. I strive to follow the path she would have walked, and I will see it through even to the last full measure of devotion. That is what I expect from each of you, and from every subject of Equestria. Keep Canterlot on high alert, Flurry Heart will succeed me should the battle go ill. Let’s kill the stick-dogs.”
Shining Armor’s eyes flashed red with magical energy. The very air tingled with the buildup of power. As the crimson aura unleashed from his horn, the stacks of orders caught fire and zipped into the air, bolting out the door of the the ballroom that led into a courtyard. Through the window, they could be seen as they separated like a burst of fireworks, shooting off in every direction.
Duster was given a copy of their orders without such a dramatic display. His heart was pounding even harder now as they made their way out of the castle. With a little luck, and a lot of wings, they might be able to get to Ponyville in time to save the city, not to mention the soldiers that stood between it and over half-a-million timberwolves.
So, I skipped posting yesterday... and then I came to this, which was divided in half... but I didn't like it, so I put it back together. You'll notice that I have changed it to only 16 parts of the chapter, down from 17. 
Also! There is a (not so subtle) United States Civil War history reference in here! Yes, I had Shining Armor swipe a line from one of the most well-known speeches in American History. Did anybody catch it, or am I just that much of a nerd? 
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Well considering I'm British, no, I'm afraid I didn't catch it. However making an educated guess based on what seemed most 'quotable' and what happened during shining's 'speech', I'm going to say it was:
Did I get it right, do I get a cookie!?!?
8690427
You would have... but I'm afraid you got it wrong! It was the bit about "the last full measure of devotion". Of course, that was a reference to the soldiers who lost their lives at the battle of Gettysburg. (I didn't look up exact numbers, but it was something like 50,000 on both sides).
So! you owe me a cookie!
Well, I'll visit Britain sometime and broaden my horizons if you visit Texas.
J/K, I hope to visit Britain someday anyway!
Literally drop a city on 'em. One step below a colony drop.
8691127
Ooh, what's a colony drop?
You mean the ponies that were yelling at each other. They seemed real professional to me, real experts.
He exists
Shouldn't Ponyville be a major concern, what if the changeling got into the tree of harmony
Wow, way to torture Duster.
8757294
1) It's just a council doing their counsellor thing.
2) I think that's the only nod he gets in this story. Kind of shameful, I know.
3) Duster thanks you!
4) That's a good point... unfortunately, the tree of harmony will not be making an appearance in this story.
5) Well, we all have to play to our strengths.
Oooh, Lightning Dust. Maybe she might have been mentioned before but I'm pretty sure she hasn't actually appeared in this fic yet. That'll be interesting.
Also, I'm a little bit annoyed. After all, in a future fic of mine, I had the idea for, ironically enough, Scootaloo of all ponies to have to blow up Cloudsdale and doing it with her badass foreplanning. So for Duster to come up with the idea and for it to be enacted first here means I've been beaten to the punch
Still, that will definitely move the plot along. Plus, the changelings will definitely know the war has changed if the ponies are willing to enact such a desperate move.
8802609
Wow... I would still love to see that fic written. I know you could do a war-like Scootaloo far more justice than I have.
Plus, if it works, it'll seriously cut down the enemy forces.