The Last Cutie Mark Crusader

by Jatheus

25 - Preparations, Part 4 of 4

Sparklefly said, "Thank you for letting us use the barn."

"Shucks, don't think nothing of it," Applejack replied cheerfully.

A rooster crowed, a harbinger that the morning was fast approaching. Applejack had only been mayor for a little while, but Sparklefly noticed that there was already a kind of weariness behind her smile, the glow of coming motherhood somewhat dampened by it.

The two of them, joined by Pinkie Pie, Lightning Dasher, LD, and Clyde were putting up some simple decorations for a small farewell party for Scootaloo. Sparklefly hoped it would give her a chance to have a final talk with her about anything related to the coup. Scootaloo had suggested that they have it early in the morning.

Cloud Blazer and Radiant Pyre had also been invited, but neither had opted to attend. In truth, Radiant Pyre had only been invited because he’d been standing there. It wasn’t that Sparklefly didn’t trust him, but she felt a need to keep as few in attendance as possible. Also, in the unlikely event that he were one of the conspirators, he’d be less suspicious about an event to which he was welcome. Sparklefly had hopes that more could be warned about the coming upheaval, but she had mixed feelings about speaking of such things. She also felt bad for not inviting Java Chip, but given the situation, the less they all saw of each other, the better.

"This is going to be great!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed in her usual cheery way. "Sparklefly, would you mind passing up those streamers?"

"Sure.”

Her thoughts were drawn to Duster. The relief that he had survived was waning in favor of old grudges that Sparklefly and her brother had formed over their lifetimes. His abilities as a soldier were improving significantly, which did make her somewhat proud of him. The barn door opened, and Mrs. Cake entered.

"What'd you find?" Applejack asked.

"I'm so sorry, Applejack; I mean Mrs. Mayor!" Mrs. Cake fumbled her words.

"Aw, heck, ain't no need to gettin’ all proper on me," Applejack laughed in reply.

Mrs. Cake smiled and said, "We just finished searching the house, and we've only got one zap apple left, and a little hay. There's just nothing to make any kind of sweets with."

"Sorry about this, everypony," Applejack apologized.

"It's a small matter,” Sparklefly tried to reassure her. "We're all well aware of the rationing. This is definitely one case where the thought will count."

Applejack seemed to accept her disarming smile.

"Are you kidding?" Pinkie Pie started. "It'll be way more than fine once Fluttershy gets here with the balloons!" She finished by doing a cartwheel off of the ladder upon which she’d been standing.

"Is she always, this...” Lightning Dasher paused.

"Manic?" LD finished.

Sparklefly snorted, "You know I hate it when you two do that."

"Do what?" they asked in unison.

"Heh, heh," Applejack laughed. "Getting those two to think different ain't likely. Hey, Clyde, would you mind terribly checking the cellar one last time. I think there might be some cider still down there."

"Alright," the unicorn replied.

The thought of cider made Sparklefly feel ill all over again after her post-election celebratory debacle.

Mrs. Cake and Clyde exited the barn as the rest of them continued their festive work. They pulled some empty barrels around to serve as tables, but there was more than a little sadness that they had nothing to serve on the tables. LD and Lightning Dasher worked to create a banner. Despite their constant like-mindedness, there was a fair amount of arguing between the two of them about it. This was rather fascinating to Sparklefly, but she decided against bringing it to their attention. Things were nearly complete when Fluttershy arrived.

"Good morning there, Fluttershy," Applejack greeted her.

"Oh! Did you get them? Did you get them?" Pinkie Pie bounced toward her with unbridled enthusiasm.

"Oh," Fluttershy said, looking away, and sort of kicking the dirt floor with one hoof. "Gosh, I'm really sorry, but I looked all over Ponyville yesterday. They didn't have balloons anywhere."

Pinkie Pie's mouth dropped open in shock.

"It's a small detail," Sparklefly reassured them.

All in all the decorations were fairly dismal. The banner that LD and Lightning Dasher made was good, and they had quite a lot of streamers, but that was about it. While the barn was much more colorful and festive, Sparklefly now felt like this had been a dumb idea. She was glad that she hadn't tried to make it a surprise party. Clyde finally returned.

"Make no mistake, these are the last two bottles of cider on Sweet Apple Acres, unless you have another stash somewhere," he said to Applejack.

"No, sir," she replied. "That'll be the last cider on the farm for sure."

When the appointed hour finally arrived, there was one thing in plenty, and that was good cheer. The Cakes stayed in the house to keep a watchful eye over the sleeping "young 'uns". Scootaloo arrived with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, and everypony began having a good time just visiting. In spite of Sparklefly's feelings about the decorations, she too was enjoying the company of the others. There was a kind of intangible quality to this sort of gathering that was present, even though the expected ingredients were sparse at best.

It was heartwarming to see Scootaloo with such dear friends. They were all lucky to have each other. The little food they had went fast, but everypony took care to savor the two bottles of apple cider. There was hardly half a cup for any of them, but it was delicious. Sparklefly was almost able to forget the unpleasant business that prompted this gathering, almost.

Watching all of them, she considered each one. Scootaloo's friends were definitely trustworthy. LD and Lightning Dasher also had never done or said anything to make Sparklefly feel that they would join a coup. That only left Clyde. He'd been with Brax for quite a while, but she didn't know him that well. They had defended the farm together, and he'd been assigned to Scootaloo during her punishment. Maybe Scootaloo would know something more by now.

As time grew short, Scootaloo stood up on a barrel and said, "Well, very soon we'll all have to report for duty. Thank you all for coming; you are the best friends a pony could have.” She became serious and continued, “I’ve had such a good time, and I hate to spoil it, but... I’m afraid I have to say something now that will put all of our lives in danger."

Everypony became instantly silent when she said this. Scootaloo looked to Sparklefly, as if asking something.

Sparklefly was holding no small amount of trepidation inside, "It is safe to talk here."

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to be as straight as I can,” Scootaloo paused and swallowed hard. "There's about to be a rebellion against Prince Shining Armor."

Sparklefly heard gasps and quiet chatter throughout the room, and her own heart sank at the news. She had hoped that Swiftlight had been mistaken, or that the letter was a prank of some kind.

"Whoa, there, nellie," Applejack spoke up. "Just how in the hay are we supposed to buy something like that?"

Scootaloo looked somehow sad, but resolute as she replied, "Not long ago, we received a letter, written by Captain Swiftlight."

"Java Chip's friend?" Fluttershy said.

Sweetie Belle asked, "What did it say?"

"It warned that there was a plot to overthrow the prince, and that the military was behind it. It also said that if Swiftlight were to suddenly disappear, then he had been killed." Scootaloo took a breath. "He has disappeared, which is what got Sparklefly and me involved."

Everypony's eyes turned to Sparklefly. She had been rubbing her eye patch but quickly stopped, feeling embarrassed about it.

"Everything she is saying is true. Swiftlight had left the letter for Java Chip to find, and she didn't know what else to do, so she brought it to us," Sparklefly confirmed.

"I got reassigned in order to see if I could get close to General Mane Crusher and find out more," Scootaloo continued. "He is the one behind this."

"I think it's mighty brave of you to go investigating and all, but shouldn't we warn somepony?" Applejack asked.

"We already tried," Scootaloo replied. "Shining Armor and Rainbow Dash dismissed everything I said out of hoof. The thing is, we didn't have any evidence except for the letter, which we destroyed for fear of being caught with it. I'm telling you all this now because I want to keep you safe. This coming insurrection is now a verified fact; I have become... involved with the conspirators."

"So, can't you warn Shining Armor now, now that you know for sure?” Apple Bloom asked, a quiver in her voice.

"There isn't time," Scootaloo said as she hung her head, "It happens tonight."

Sparklefly felt her blood run cold.

Comments

[Razor Blade the Unicron]

Well, shoot. This is going to be a catastrophe unless some sort of miracle happens.

[Jatheus]

8188178 I'm sure the girls will have a plan!

[Blaster M]

One of the two LDs takes a bullet. The final LD is also a clone and the real one died in the initial escape many chapters ago.

[Jatheus]

8192006 Hah! Timberwolves don't use bullets! j/k

I thought it would be fun if there were no way to tell which one was the "real" Lightning Dasher. It certainly made for some awkward moments while they've been coping with their lack of uniqueness, the scar under LD's eye notwithstanding.

I find your theory about the original Lightning Dasher being killed long ago when they escaped the mirror pool cynical and interesting.

However, what actually became of the original? I'll never tell! j/k

[Blaster M]

8192246

One better. They're actually still in the changeling Matrix and this is all a fabricated reality.

[Jatheus]

8192915 Now that would be twisted!

[Emperor]

Maybe they'll get lucky and the timberwolves and changelings will attack right when the coup is taking place, so the two sides will be forced to fight them instead and most of the bloodletting that would have occurred anyways will have been sacrificed to destroy more of the real enemy. Probably not though.

No more balloons, sorry
And I said oatmeal, are you crazy?!

[Jatheus]

8237423
The timberwolves have been strangely quiet...

lol, what is even happening with Pinkie in this comment? (I catch the episode reference)

[OmalleyCaboose5]

I love how Twilight and Rainbow are the only characters to appear different than their canon selves as they have seen and fought in combat. The other character have not so they are not changed.
I meant main 6
The cmc's have clearly changed much which is unavoidable seeing as they are no longer children
Also where is Spike. He could have been used to highlight the tension of the princesses being gone as he would be worried for twilight. Given that he has not been mentioned he is either dead or a diplomat to whatever the dragons call there country

[Jatheus]

8741498
I tried to walk a balance of keeping the canon characters personalities intact while letting time pass. Hopefully they would have some natural progression... Applejack with kids, Rainbow Dash being a veteran soldier, Twilight having gone through so many of her own trials and battles to become quite able to handle herself as well. Pinkie... is just Pinkie... as is Fluttershy. Rarity moved, but that was about it. As for Spike... he is... hibernating? I like diplomat theory, but it begs the question... why not get the dragons to burn up the Timberwolves?

Well... no good answer for that one. I wrote much of this before season 5, so there was no Starlight Glimmer, and no Princess Ember, and no Thorax... my original though was that Spike had left to be with dragons for a few years, which is why he is absent.

[OmalleyCaboose5]

"So, can't you warn Shining Armor now, now that you know for sure?” Apple Bloom asked, a quiver in her voice.

He didn't believe me just on my word then but now that I am extra sure he is certain to listen

[Jatheus]

8741515
Clearly Apple Bloom has never worked for a corporation.