The Last Cutie Mark Crusader

by Jatheus

41 - Resolutions, Part 8 of 9

Scootaloo felt honored by all of the pomp and circumstance, if not a little embarrassed by the attention. The horrific nightmare through which she’d fought seemed distant, almost like a dream. Presently, she began to feel sad. The tribute for those who had been killed in battle was an upsettingly lengthy affair. Most of the names, listed with their deeds, were unfamiliar to the mare. She instead focused her thoughts on those she had known.

There was her first squad when she was still a cadet: Thunder Boomer, Sky Burst, Flame Out, Treble Cleft, Rain Dancer, and Cherry Blossom. The group she went with into the Everfree Forest: Regal Masquerade, Nimba, Nitro, and Lightning Dasher had died more than anypony else. Ponies she’d met along the way: Brax, Featherplume, Digger, Swiftlight whose body they never recovered, Mane Crusher for whom she held little sorrow, Radiant Pyre about whom she still felt immeasurable guilt.

There was her squad that she had trained: Jewel, Gunnysack, Rolling Thunder, Moonsliver, Quickbeam, and Doff who never even faced the enemy. The members of her Taskforce: Masher, Charging Lance who may have been the bravest pony she’d ever known, and Skyflame. Most painful were those she’d considered friends: Beigh whom she would have liked to know better, Pibs who was the sweetest and most amicable pony she’d ever met, and Sparklefly who was like a sister.

Princess Celestia’s heartfelt words were much appreciated, the mention of Sparklefly sending the pegasus into a despair notwithstanding. Despite the tributes and her own personal glory, the only thing she really wanted was to be released from EUP service. She’d had more than enough war and death. It was past time to move on.

She caught Rainbow Dash looking at her with no small amount of pride in her eyes. That warmed Scootaloo’s heart greatly. Scootaloo felt incredibly proud of Cloud Blazer, but she wished she could tell him. Nothing had changed between the two of them. They hadn’t spoken since the hospital, although there had been opportunities. She remained hopeful that they might make amends soon but had a dark feeling that the words spoken in the barn by Twinklestar might be the truth of it. Reconciliation might never come.

Scootaloo was broken from her thoughts and began paying attention to the ceremony again. Princess Celestia was finishing up recounting the deeds of the Wonderbolts, Templars, and Bushmasters. Their joint special operations in the aftermath of the defeat of the Assault Corps at Apple Loosa had crippled the changelings’ command structure.

"Stand here and be recognized.”

A second Taskforce had been gathering intelligence on likely command posts, and the special units struck in the middle of the nationwide changeling offensive. The chaos caused was a supplemental factor that kept their large southern army blind to what had been going on elsewhere, especially regarding the movement of Cloudsdale.

When the ceremony finally ended, the mingling began. Scootaloo tried to make for Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, who were standing near Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Duster’s siblings. She was cut off by scores of upper-crust and well-to-do citizens of Canterlot that all wanted to shake her hoof and give their thoughts and opinions to her.

Princess Twilight had already coached her for this event, and now Scootaloo was glad of it. Graciousness wasn’t exactly her strong suit, but with a little preparation, she was able to pretend well enough. By the time the room had cleared a little, she was dismayed to see that Cloud Blazer had beaten her to her friends. She decided to not approach.

"Hey, kid!" Rainbow Dash said from behind, grabbing Scootaloo in a hug.

The lack of boundaries was more than a bit surprising. No doubt it was due to the champagne that was being served.

"You’ve had a crazy couple of months, huh?"

"Yeah," Scootaloo agreed.

Her leg was feeling better, but it still twinged occasionally where Ash Eater had stabbed her.

"First you got your cutie mark, and now the Equestria Cross! You are all kinds of awesome; I’m so proud of you!"

"Thanks," Scootaloo was flattered, but not really sure what to say.

As quickly as she had arrived, Rainbow Dash was off, chasing down another of the Wonderbolts. With her friends already occupied, Scootaloo looked around for someone else to talk with.

…

Cloud Blazer’s hoof had been shaken so many times by so many different ponies that his joints were hurting even more than usual. He wasn’t certain if he deserved Equestria’s highest honor. It was humbling to receive it in the face of how much others had done. Really, all he did was escort a mare from Manehattan to Ponyville.

"Hey guys!" Rainbow Dash bellowed as she joined the group of friends.

"Oh!" Sweetie Belle squeaked, "Cloud Blazer! Tell Rainbow Dash about the changeling that you and Pixyglitter fought off on the way to Manehattan!"

Rainbow Dash teetered, obviously overly-happy from the champagne, "You fought off a changeling without weapons?"

“He had a knife,” Apple Bloom offered.

Cloud Blazer didn’t care to bring up that particular event around Pixyglitter after the contention it had caused at the time, but the words had already been spoken.

"Well, Pixyglitter and I were flying to Manehattan with Fluttershy," he began. "The wind was contrary, so we flew to Cloudsdale for a brief rest before continuing on. We were still within sight when that last offensive started, and the city was under attack. We decided to keep going, because there wasn’t really anything we could do about it anyway. One of the changelings spotted us and broke off from the attack to get us. Maybe he thought we were scouts or something; I don’t know. We couldn’t outrun him, so Pixyglitter and I changed course to give Fluttershy a chance to get to Manehattan.”

He took a breath before continuing, “Pixyglitter zig-zagged through clouds this way and that. We went up and down, but that changeling was determined to catch us. Finally, I told her to climb straight up, and we went through several clouds that obscured us from view. Then I had her turn, dropping down to pick up speed and then banking hard. When she did, I pulled the quick release on the harness and got my knife ready. The changeling got off a single shot, but he was so surprised by the maneuver that it went wild. My strike landed exactly where it should have and he was killed instantly," Cloud Blazer felt himself shudder inside at the memory. "Anyway, then I was falling."

"Tell him the important part of that point," Pixyglitter ribbed him.

"Yeah," Cloud Blazer said sheepishly, "I sort of didn’t tell Pixyglitter what I was planning."

The older pegasus burst into laughter, "You crazy stallion; how did you not die?"

"That’s the best part," he continued. "Pixyglitter realized what I had done and went into a dive. Meanwhile, I spread out to slow my falling as much as I could. We were pretty high up, but I knew that would only buy me seconds, maybe a minute. When I saw her coming toward me, I started shouting like you wouldn’t believe."

"I’ll bet you did!" Rainbow Dash guffawed.

"The ground was coming up fast, so I was doing what I could just not to panic. I honestly didn’t think we were going to make it for a minute there. Anyway, Pixyglitter reached me and I reconnected the harness and started shouting like a maniac for her to pull up."

Rainbow Dash shook her head, still laughing.

"Well, I’m not sure exactly how close to the ground we got, but I’m pretty sure my leg brushed the tree tops."

“Y’all are nuts!” Apple Bloom added.

Other stories were told, and the group got lost in the reminiscing of old times. Some stories were from the war, but many were of happier days before it had begun.

Through the window that led to the garden, Cloud Blazer saw the other one alone outside. Some of his joy turned to bitterness, and then shame. He felt some sorrow for the way he had treated her, but it was quickly smothered in an avalanche of anger.

He suddenly felt warm as Pixyglitter wrapped a wing around him. She always seemed to know what he was feeling. As she embraced the stallion, it was as if his heart had been filled with a peace, the depth of which knew no end.

...

Pixyglitter smiled in Cloud Blazer’s direction. Somehow, as mad as she had been at the time, the story about their brush with death at Cloudsdale was quite amusing this far after the fact.

Something didn’t seem right. Even though she was blind, she could feel that something was upsetting him. She opened a wing and wrapped the stallion in it, not caring what anypony else might think. She owed him that much. He had saved her from the lowest point in her life and given her a purpose again. More than that, he helped her recover enough hope to continue on.

Deep down, she loved him for that. It wasn’t exactly a romantic sort of love; it was much more powerful, although not as evident on the surface. She had some misgivings about his plan to help rebuild the weather factory, but she knew one thing. As long as he welcomed her company, they were going to get through whatever challenges came their way, together.

Comments

[Emperor]

Like I said, platonic life partners. Eventually, the other horseshoe will have to drop.

Ooooh, wait. If Rainbow Dash is still a colonel, that means Scoots is finally on even ranking with her

[Jatheus]

8811454
Ah ha! That sounds like a prediction! I'll admit it. 🍪

It would have... but Rainbow Dash got promoted to Commander.

[TheLocalCannon]

8811604
why do I get the feeling that, just to throw people off, you're bending the story ahead of time? For you see, this trickery shall give you no rhyme. I warn you this once as down that long list I climb

Enjoy your free rhyme

[Jatheus]

8811700
Haha Thanks! That's my first rhyme!

[TheLocalCannon]

8812221
I don’t reference things without making it obvious, if I did mimick it, whoops, adding to chapter 20, I feel that there was a point regarding Mane Crusher’s trustworthyness, though because it was the right hand man who wasn’t informed or trusted earlier, Mane betrayed Swift’s trust

[TheLocalCannon]

8812580
However, I did reference something in that completely unrelated other than the OTHER event at the time in the story, try and get it

[OmalleyCaboose5]

There was her squad that she had trained: Jewel, Gunnysack, Rolling Thunder, Moonsliver, Quickbeam, and Doff who never even faced the enemy. The members of her Taskforce: Masher, Charging Lance who may have been the bravest pony she’d ever known, and Skyflame. Most painful were those she’d considered friends: Beigh whom she would have liked to know better, Pibs who was the sweetest and most amicable pony she’d ever met, and Sparklefly who was like a sister.

“Y’all are nuts!” Apple Bloom added.

He no nuts. He crazy.

[Jatheus]

8813021
Indiana Jones!!!