The Last Cutie Mark Crusader

by Jatheus

23 - Quarantine, Part 2 of 5

Scootaloo said goodbye to Sweetie Belle as she left her at Sweet Apple Acres. The work that had been taking place in the fields was coming along nicely. Not being a farmer, Scootaloo didn't know too much about all of that, but the rows that had been plowed already stretched over several of the rolling hills of the orchard.

There was a line of ponies that had come to get zap apples. A crop of them had apparently ripened while Scootaloo was in Manehattan. Apple Bloom had told her that, after a town meeting to get the consent of the population, Applejack purchased the new crop from herself with city funds to distribute to everypony.

The stormy weather that had been in the sky when she'd left two days earlier had completely cleared out. It was a nice evening, and Scootaloo walked briskly through the edge of Ponyville. She needed to get to Sparklefly and tell her what had happened. Nopony believing her about the impending takeover was an outcome for which they hadn't planned.

Scootaloo stopped suddenly in her tracks and blinked to make sure her eyes weren't playing a trick on her. There were zebras everywhere. As she made her way though the northwest edge of Ponyville, many small squads of the striped equine moved freely though the town. It seemed as if they were memorizing the layout. The officers, presumably, were speaking in their native tongue, with which Scootaloo was unfamiliar. It was rather fascinating, but also a little dizzying to see so many of them walking by at once.

When Scootaloo finally arrived at the training ground entrance, the guards refused to open the shield for her.

"I'm sorry, sir," one of them said. "This area is under quarantine."

"What?" Scootaloo asked.

The other guard replied, "A fever came with the recruits from Baltimare, and it has been running through the recruits unchecked. By order of Major Brax, this entire area is under quarantine. If you go in, you can’t come out again.“

"How many are trapped inside?"

"Brax's entire battalion is inside," the guard answered.

“I need to get a message to my lieutenant; otherwise I’m AWOL.“

"Yes, sir."

"Please inform lieutenant Sparklefly that I have returned." Scootaloo thought for a moment what to say next. "Tell her that I request permission to stay at Sweet Apple Acres until the quarantine is lifted."

"Yes, sir; I'll relay the message," the guard said.

This was bad; this was very bad. If their battalion was down, there was a chance that others would catch the illness. If the changelings became aware of the situation, they'd send in the timberwolves while the EUP was unable to mount a resistance. Not only that, but how were they going to stop the coup? Maybe the illness would slow it down. Thinking about all of this was going to drive Scootaloo crazy, so she sat down and tried to clear her mind. There wasn't much else to do but wait to hear back from Sparklefly.

...

Sparklefly, while as yet unaffected by the illness, felt sick.

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but there just wasn't anything more we could do; he's dead," the medic said.

She simply nodded, staring down at the corpse that had been breathing, clinging on to life, only moments before. The motionless form didn’t even resemble the spirit that no longer inhabited it. Doff was now the first to succumb to the fever that had infected nearly half of the battalion. He lay there, already growing cold.

"Do you have a place to put the bodies?" Sparklefly asked flatly.

The medic nodded, signaling for an orderly. Sparklefly took one of his dog tags, placing it in her pocket.

"And to think, yesterday we were all afraid of the timberwolves killing us," the medic mused.

Sparklefly snorted. Turning around, she walked away without another word. It was a real shame about Doff, but she had no emotion to spare on him. The worry for her brother was consuming her. Duster was still alive, but his condition was about as bad as Doff's had been. They were keeping ice packs on him to bring the fever down, but it was becoming difficult to keep him hydrated just from how much he was sweating. It was a comfort that he was still breathing since she had left a few moments ago. He stirred from his sleep.

Looking up at her, Duster weakly said, "Hey, Sissy."

Touched deeply by this, Sparklefly was almost unable to reply. Choking back a mixture of emotions, she finally asked, "How are you feeling?"

Duster groaned a reply initially and then said, "Terrible." It was quiet for a while, then he said, "I'm very cold."

"You've got a fever. It's the same one that Thunderfly caught."

His frail voice managed to ask, "What happened?"

She decided to be honest with him, "Several of the recruits from Baltimare already had it, the fever, and they have infected others. About half of the battalion is down already, and we’re under quarantine.”

"No," he replied in little more than a whisper. "What happened to you,” he asked, pointing at her face, “to your eye?”

Sparklefly instinctively turned her patched eye away from him. She swallowed hard as she remembered the events of that day, slowly turning back to face him. She took a deep breath; her mouth was dry.

"My second mission was scouting the Everfree Forest with Princess Twilight Sparkle. Your sergeant, Scootaloo, was commanding. We walked into an ambush, and within moments we were down to half strength, so we retreated. A timberwolf tried to take my head off, but I ducked. The brunt of the blow was taken by my helmet, but his claws caught my face."

Sparklefly shuddered, but not from remembering the pain. The sadness for her lost friends was still far more devastating. Regal Masquerade, Nimba, Pibs...

...

Duster had forgotten his anger at Sissy for the moment. In spite of all the grudges he felt, she had come to see him. His mind spun a daydream as the details of her injury became revealed. He saw her and Scootaloo running through the woods, beating down hordes of timberwolves rather valiantly before she took that hit. He saw a timberwolf bring up a massive paw to strike down one of her comrades and Sparklefly leaping between them, heroically sacrificing her eye to save them. It all seemed rather epic in his mind, but her reaction to the memory made her seem rather small and frail somehow. She shivered as she finished telling the story.

Rolling Thunder walked up behind her as she finished recounting the tale.

“Lieutenant," he said with a salute, "perimeter patrol reports Sergeant Scootaloo has returned. She is awaiting your instructions at the north entrance, just outside the quarantine zone.”

"Thank you. Stand post here," she replied flatly. "This one has already stopped breathing on me once. Stay here and call the medics if it happens again."

As Sissy nodded a goodbye, Duster's mind was racing with panic at what she had said. She was gone before he could think of what to say to her. He felt so tired, so weak. Closing his eyes for a moment, Duster lay there wondering if that was why she had visited. Maybe she'd thought he was dead. That wasn't at all comforting. His head was pounding so that the blackness of his shut eyes seemed to pulse brighter.

"Lucky for you I'm under orders," Rolling Thunder said to Duster, who looked up at him. "If not for that, I'd let you die."

Duster didn't reply to the insult. He had no love for anyone else in his squad, except maybe Doff. Looking about, Duster tried to see if he could spot where they'd put him. After a few seconds, the exhaustion took hold again, and he gave up.

Comments

[Emperor]

That's rather cold on Rolling Thunder's part. Heck, even if you don't care about him at all, a soldier is still an extra body for the inevitable fight again.

[Jatheus]

8237255
True, but it is only personal. Constantly getting the squad in trouble didn't make Duster any friends.

[OmalleyCaboose5]

She simply nodded, staring down at the corpse that had been breathing, clinging on to life, only moments before. The motionless form didn’t even resemble the spirit that no longer inhabited it. Doff was now the first to succumb to the fever that had infected nearly half of the battalion. He lay there, already growing cold.

No Not Doff
Who was he again

"Lucky for you I'm under orders," Rolling Thunder said to Duster, who looked up at him. "If not for that, I'd let you die."

God what kind of...
I hate him. No words, nothing, he is just plain...no words

[Jatheus]

8741175
1) Yeah... Doff should have been better developed... if I ever make another draft down the road, I'll be sure to make his character more memorable in his friendship with Duster before I heartlessly kill him off.

2) Yeah, it was pretty harsh. Unlike Gunnysack, Rolling Thunder doesn't actually mean it. Not really...