25 - Preparations, Part 2 of 4
Scootaloo's first few days adapting to her new duties were somewhat less exciting than she'd anticipated. So far, she hadn't learned anything new about Mane Crusher's questionable loyalties. He seemed to be carrying out his charge as a General exactly as he should. This didn't come as much of a surprise, but after the insinuations from their conversation at Java's, Scootaloo had suspected he was going to bring her on board immediately. As it was, she had mostly been trained to do paperwork. On the plus side, she had been promoted to lieutenant again.
At that present moment, Scootaloo was returning to CIC, having just turned in some status reports for the clerk to file. He was still agitated by the zebra that had been assigned to his office. Their abilities to communicate were limited, but orders had come all the way from the top that these sort of integrations were going to happen. The official reasoning was that the more closely the zebras and ponies work, the stronger the bond they'd form against the changelings. This seemed to make sense, but if the ponies that had been assigned to zebra regiments were having as much trouble communicating as the zebras were, the success of this plan looked doubtful at best.
"Walk with me, Lieutenant," General Mane Crusher said, a little more gruff than usual, as he exited CIC.
Scootaloo turned and followed him. One thing about the job that she found out quickly was that no matter what else was going on, if the general needed something, that was her priority. They walked silently down the hall, ending up at Mane Crusher's quarters. They only stopped there briefly for the general to retrieve his hat. The brim went all the way around, not unlike the cowboy hat that Applejack typically wore, but it didn’t look nearly so worn or farm-like.
Having retrieved Mane Crusher’s cover, they walked up to the top of the castle. As they exited the trap door, there were already five other officers waiting for them. Scootaloo recognized them all, but the only one she actually knew was Captain Radiant Pyre from Brax’s battalion. After a motion from Mane Crusher, Scootaloo shut the trap door behind them. The seven of them were alone.
"Lieutenant Scootaloo, we talked the other day about how far you would be willing to go to protect Equestria," Mane Crusher spoke with a terrifying quietness to his voice.
"Yes, sir; I remember," she replied as calmly as she could. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest.
"You said you would follow me," he said, then paused for her to reply.
"Yes.”
"Prince Shining Armor will not allow us to field our armies and attack the enemy. This is a disastrous tactic for many reasons. We can't hope to feed the population until the harvest, to say nothing of next winter. More than that, every day we wait, the changelings strengthen their positions and probe for weaknesses in ours.”
Scootaloo nodded. Her mouth was suddenly painfully dry.
"I am going to take command of the EUP," Mane Crusher said.
His eyes bored into her soul to judge Scootaloo's reaction. Even after everything she suspected, it was still somehow shocking to hear it said so directly. Scootaloo realized that her mouth was hanging open, and she shut it. The silence grew unbearable.
"I understand," she replied with a quiver in her voice. Scootaloo quickly cleared her throat and added, "I trust you completely."
"Very good," he said.
The other five being so quiet was a little disconcerting. Scootaloo tried to swallow, but it stuck in the back of her throat like a lump.
"We are already in key positions. We'll be able to take out the heads of every field unit, battalion size or larger in three days."
"Oh, wow," Scootaloo blurted out without thinking. Frantically trying to think of something more useful to reply, she said, "That is very fast work, if you don't mind my saying so, sir."
"We've been planning for a while now," he said, almost to himself. Then he continued gruffly, "That is all for now. Return to your normal duties; discuss this with no one."
"I understand," she replied, nodding slowly.
"We'll have a meeting in CIC tonight at twenty-two thirty hours," he said. "Dismissed."
Without another word, one of the other officers opened the trap door, and they exited one by one. Scootaloo scarcely was aware of the walk down the stairs and back to CIC. She was relieved to find a glass of water, but her head was pounding with this new knowledge.
Their fears were true; Swiftlight must have been correct, and they killed him for it. The next few hours of work went by in a blur as Scootaloo grappled with this information. She tried to not let anything distract her, but she knew that was impossible. It was all she could do to continue working at all.
It seemed like only minutes before it was time for Scootaloo's lunch ration. She left CIC, with her mind still in a fog. She wanted to go to the cadet's mess hall, but fear that they might be watching her was foremost on Scootaloo's mind. The specter of death felt like it was hanging over her shoulder, waiting for her to slip so it could make the kill. Her legs felt heavier with each step toward the mess hall.
"Lieutenant," a voice called out quietly.
Scootaloo, startled, jumped and spun around to face Captain Radiant Pyre.
"Easy," he said calmly. "Come here."
She followed him without question, becoming even more on edge. He was leading her into an alley that was obscured from all main traffic in town. Her heart pounded; her eyes darted around, looking for anything to indicate that this was a trap. If it were, she might be able to fly away. But Radiant Pyre was a unicorn; he could shoot her down. Also, if they wanted to trap her, they'd have pegasi on the rooftops.
It was a fearful enough thing to be in a fight, but the anticipation of an unknown was considerably worse. The unicorn captain stopped in the middle of the alley. He also was looking around as if to ensure that they were alone before turning back to face her.
"I know this business makes you uneasy. I feel the same as you," he said quietly.
Scootaloo had no idea what to answer. Was he saying that he didn't like the conspiracy? Would he be an ally? She was too afraid and untrusting to say anything that might get her killed.
She finally asked, “And how do we feel?" as dryly as possible.
"I know you don't want to betray Prince Shining Armor," he said quietly, looking around again. "I don't either. We have to find a way to warn him before it's too late."
Scootaloo was rather stunned to hear this so directly. Her instinct was to agree and help him. She wanted to warn the prince and prevent the coup more than anything. What should she do? If he were telling the truth, she had found an ally, but what if they got caught? If she gets herself killed, who will warn Shining Armor then?
These thoughts flooded through Scootaloo's mind in a moment, causing an intense frustration that combined with fear. Not sure what to do panic overtook her in the form of a defensive blind rage.
She leapt forward, a swift jab catching Radiant Pyre off guard. He staggered backwards as her onslaught continued. He reared back to protect his head just as she spun and kicked low, dropping him onto the ground. She was on top of him before he could get back up, and she continued pounding at his face.
"Shut up, shut up! Shut up!" she spit at him in a violent whisper.
"Stop," he gurgled as she hit him one last time.
Still panicked, Scootaloo heard herself say, "You do not speak anything against General Mane Crusher, not ever. Do you understand me?"
Blood was flowing from Radiant Pyre's nose, a bright red contrast to his white coat. Hooves were heard galloping up behind her, so Scootaloo spun around, grabbing up Radiant Pyre and putting him in a headlock.
"It's okay! Stop!" Radiant Pyre called out to them. "Don't hurt her."
Three of the other conspirators that she'd met on the roof were slowing their approach. Scootaloo was confused, but still too frightened to let Radiant Pyre go. She debated putting her knife to his throat for good measure. She didn't want to get him killed, but she had no idea who was on which side.
“Stand down, lieutenant,” a chestnut mare said. "This was a test."
"A test?" Scootaloo asked, still confused.
Radiant Pyre spit out blood that had been draining into his mouth. "It was a test," he confirmed. "We had to make sure you were on board with this."
"Lieutenant," the chestnut mare said sternly, "Let the captain go."
Scootaloo was shaking from the excess adrenaline; she felt her fore-legs go slack, and Radiant Pyre pulled away. Her mind was working through this situation. One of them coming to the new recruits and trying to get them to warn the prince must have been how they caught Swiftlight. He must have done something that had given himself away. If this was all accurate, Scootaloo couldn't have received better news. That meant that they didn't suspect her after all.
With a sigh of relief, Scootaloo said, "I'm sorry, Captain, I-"
"Forget it," Radiant Pyre said. He pulled a handkerchief from a pocket and began cleaning the blood. "In light of the circumstances, we'll skip the court marshal."
Scootaloo couldn't help but smile uneasily at this. She could now add striking a superior officer to her list of achievements in the EUP. "Are you okay?"
"Oh yeah," he replied, almost cheerfully. “You hit like a girl. Besides, a bloody nose is a small price to pay to find out how committed you are." He let out a sort of laugh as he pressed the handkerchief to his nose and tilted his head back.
With the help of the other three, the two of them were straightened out quickly. The entire incident was less than ten minutes in the alley. Scootaloo was shaken, but significantly more confident. She had successfully infiltrated Mane Crusher's inner circle. Now she just had to figure out how to use this position to Shining Armor's advantage without getting herself killed.
"There you are," a familiar voice called out just as Scootaloo and Radiant Pyre were arriving the mess hall.
They stopped and turned around to see Sparklefly approaching. Her eye patch was turned so that the embroidered side was hidden.
"LT," Scootaloo instinctively said with a salute, forgetting that she'd just been promoted to lieutenant herself.
"Captain Radiant Pyre," Sparklefly saluted. "I didn't see you."
"As you were," he replied casually.
"I had actually been looking for both of you. LD and Lightning Dasher and I thought it would be appropriate to give you a little sendoff," she said to Scootaloo. "With your permission, of course, sir."
"Granted."
"How about tonight?" Sparklefly suggested.
Scootaloo's secret meeting was foremost on her mind, but she couldn't tell Sparklefly about it in public, especially front of Radiant Pyre.
"I can't. I have plans already." Scootaloo thought quickly to make up an excuse. "It's an orientation thing. What about in the morning?"
Sparklefly looked at Radiant Pyre, who nodded his consent. Scootaloo could feel her neck hairs standing on end, but she did her best to feign a pleasant disposition.
"I'll tell the others. Captain, you would be welcome to attend, of course," Sparklefly said cordially.
Scootaloo felt something like panic about to overtake her. Sparklefly had no idea that Radiant Pyre was part of the conspiracy.
"Thank you, Lieutenant. I'll have other duties that will require my attention," he replied.
"It's a small matter. See you tomorrow morning then."
"Where are we gathering?" Scootaloo asked as Sparklefly turned to walk away.
Looking back, she said, "Oh, Sweet Apple Acres. Mayor Applejack has allowed us the use of her barn."
"See you there," Scootaloo said as Sparklefly trotted off.
"Do you think she would be sympathetic to our cause?" Radiant Pyre quietly asked Scootaloo.
Facing him directly, she replied, "No, I don't think so. Even if she were, it would be too dangerous to try to get her involved."
"What makes you say that?" he asked.
"She's a thinker," Scootaloo said, looking back at Sparklefly as she walked away. "She might see through any test we could give to determine her loyalty. I have to admit, you had me fooled.”
"Forget it," Radiant Pyre said dismissively.
With a quiet sigh of relief, Scootaloo was more than happy to drop that subject. A lunch ration, though small, would undoubtedly help calm her nerves. Any measure of relief would be most welcome.
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Or more likely, Scoots doesn't want to get Sparklefly caught up in this mess. At least if Scootaloo gets executed along with the rest of the coup (which is impossible, since Scoots must have plot armour. Right? Right?!), Sparklefly should still survive.
Although I'm beginning to wonder if, with the amount of ponies that are sure to still die, if we won't see a General Scootaloo or General Sparklefly by the end of the story
I shall only say that Sparklefly not being involved is part of the plan... not that they have a plan... more like a vague idea of trying to get more information without getting killed...
As for plot armor... I never planned to throw Cloud Blazer from a cliff way back in Chapter 7. I just got there, and felt the need to do something dramatic. I didn't want to kill him, but the plans for the rest of them were too well laid, so I tossed him down and had to invent an entirely new thread to keep him relevant. So, sure, there is some plot armor... but I've been mostly writing from the hip. I didn't have an outline when I began.
Also, ponies have only begun to die...
The same trick, since you already showed it work once I bet you won't do it again
Also insert Admiral Ackbar
IIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTT'SSSSSSSS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA TTTTTTTTTTTTTRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPP
Clever girl
8741408
Clever enough to not trust anyone in this situation.
Sarge: insubordination
8741426
Scootaloo uses blind rage. It’s super effective.