30 - Symbiosis, Part 1 of 10
Sparklefly felt herself fidget nervously. Talking with reporters hadn’t been on her list of things to do, but orders are orders. The small side-office in the Cloudsdale Command Center must only have been used for such things. There were no maps or any sensitive information to be seen. In fact, it had the look of a sterile office, devoid of anything that might hint at its purpose. The reporter sat and produced a pencil and notepad from her saddle-bag, an eager look on her face as she spoke.
“My name is Tell-Tale,” the beige mare began. “I was told that you were the mare with the answers on the action in Hoofington, and our readers want the scoop straight from the horse’s mouth.”
The journalist’s blue eyes glistened expectantly. Sparklefly tried to remember what Rainbow Dash had said about their official story.
The soldier took a breath, “Well, we were, um... We were patrolling some of the outlying areas. Normally those patrols are pretty... well they’re boring. Mostly it’s just days of nothing happening, but sometimes you find timberwolves.”
“Not to interrupt, but isn’t your organization called SECRET?” the journalist was flipping through some notes as she spoke, “the Special Equestrian Changeling Response Elimination Taskforce? So you weren’t investigating a changeling threat?”
“Oh my no, I mean yes. I mean...” Sparklefly felt embarrassed at her seeming inability to speak.
The code-name SECRET had also been Rainbow Dash’s idea. It was one of many that they had used when they travelled around to keep their exact mission secret. Rainbow Dash had laughed at the pun when she’d first told them, as well as every time it came up thereafter. Scootaloo seemed more amused by it than did anypony else.
“I’m sorry!” Sparklefly took a breath and tried to refocus. “Yes, SECRET’s primary mission is to investigate and eliminate any changeling activity. Between missions, we patrol.”
“I see, so you were patrolling near Hoofington?”
“Yes, that’s right. Hoofington didn’t really have much by way of an EUP presence, but we still kept an eye on the town.”
“I see, and so what happened that day?”
“Night.”
“I’m sorry?”
“We arrived in the night.”
“Oh, I see. Please continue,” Tell-Tale looked down at her notepad, on which she’d been feverishly scribbling.
“In the dark, we couldn’t exactly tell what was going on. When we got close, we knew timberwolves were around because of the stench,” she was drawing on everything she could remember to sell this tale of half-truths to maintain their operational security. Sparklefly hated that Rainbow Dash had made her do this. “It was Major Skyflame that first scouted the area and called us to action stations. Once we had fired a daylight flare, it was clear that the town was in trouble.”
“So your group consists of how many soldiers?”
“About three regiments,” she lied, far more easily than she liked. “We didn’t have time to wait for reinforcements. The townsponies had done a fine job holding them off, but Colonel Rainbow Dash had us saddle up and engage before dawn.”
“So, what was your role in the attack?”
Sparklefly’s mouth felt impossibly dry. She wished she’d had more time to come up with the story so she didn’t get her lies crossed.
“I led the feint.”
Tell-Tale looked up, “I’m sorry, a feint is?”
“Oh, it’s a small attack that should appear to the enemy as an actual attempt to break their lines. All it is actually for is to get them to attack in the wrong direction. If they take the bait, the real attack hits them on one of the flanks. In this case, Captain Scootaloo brought two regiments in from the side away from town, which the enemy would have thought was a safe rear of their formation.”
“I see.”
“I had three companies, and once the timberwolves did commit, we retreated while my friend Scootaloo led the main attack. Major Skyflame patrolled the skies and relayed information to the various actions and kept us coordinated. Colonel Rainbow Dash commanded everything from the cloud, which also acted as support.”
“So, after the battle, food was found in Hoofington?”
“Yes,” Sparklefly tried to swallow a lump that formed in her throat. This was the most important part of the deception. “They had been under repeated attacks and unable to ship out anything for months, so they had stored everything until we arrived.”
“The townsponies did all of that on their own?” Tell-Tale looked up, a hint of surprise on her face.
Sparklefly nodded, “They did a fantastic job defending their town, especially considering what they were working with. Of course, since the battle, we’ve seen to shoring up their defenses.”
While she was glad that the conversation had more or less come back to a mostly true area, she was ready for this interview to be over.
...
Scootaloo felt a slow simmer cooking her emotions as she read the newspaper. The article from Sparklefly’s interview had finally been published.
‘Captain Sparklefly, better known as The Hero of Canterlot, led a successful raid to rescue the citizens of the embattled Hoofington and bring their food stores to the rest of Equestria. As one of the leading members of the Special Equestrian Changeling Response Elimination Taskforce, known as S.E.C.R.E.T. for short, she planned and led the attack that rescued the citizens...’
“Unbelievable,” Pacer seethed. He was also reading the paper, “Only three of us mentioned by name, and if you didn’t know better, you’d think Sparklefly was in command here.”
Charging Lance answered, “Don’t put too much stock in what goes in the papers; we have to mislead them, and don’t be jealous just because you didn’t get the spotlight.”
“Come on, all our work is top secret and stuff,” Masher pointed out. “You can’t get too hung up on the public side of it.”
Pacer answered something that prompted a further response from Masher, but Scootaloo had stopped listening. She knew that Charging Lance was right, but it still wounded her pride. She’d been with Sparklefly in their missions almost every step of the way, and nopony seemed to even know about her. The door opened, and Sparklefly entered with a letter.
“There is the mare of the hour!” Pacer mocked.
Sparklefly cocked her head in a confused look. She apparently hadn’t read the article yet.
“And here I thought we were a team. I had no idea that you were single-hoofedly leading us,” Pacer dripped with sarcasm. He noticed the letter in her grasp, “What’s this? You even get fan mail? Now, that is something.”
Sparklefly wrinkled her nose, clearly uncomfortable at the teasing.
“Knock it off, Pacer,” Scootaloo interrupted.
“Oh yeah?” the mouthy stallion stood.
“All of you sit down,” Charging Lance said. “Clearly, you are all far too worked up about this. One more word and I’ll put up the suggestion that we run PT drills until our next action.”
That seemed to get Pacer’s attention. He snorted and sat back down.
Sparklefly approached Scootaloo, “What was that all about?”
Scootaloo pushed the paper over and watched Sparklefly’s expression scrunch into a mix of embarrassment and horror at the lies printed in black and white. Scootaloo knew that it hadn’t been Sparklefly’s intent, but she still felt a bit of envy as to how the situation was unfolding.
I'm back! I'd been away for a bit because of real life getting in the way of my fantasies. In any case, the break did give us this brand new scene! Albeit brief, this was not part of the first draft at all, but while I was thinking about this chapter, I decided to give it some extra oomph with this bit about the interview. It also serves to better develop things that are... developing. 
Also! Huge thanks to Emperor! I've been reading a bunch of his stuff, which is all fantastic! Seriously, go read his stuff. He is quite talented and skilled in the ways of storytelling. He gave me the acronym for S.E.C.R.E.T., which was used in one of his fic's about Lyra and Special Agent Sweetie Drops! S.E.C.R.E.T. That one is a fun one-chapter silly story, but he does a lot more with heavier and mind-blowing things too. I cannot stress enough, go check out his work! 
I may have also unintentionally begun to be inspired by his writing... I think some faces got scrunched and noses wrinkled in this bit... which are not normally go-to phrases for me. 
Anyway, time to press on! 
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first commenter! also great story man!
8378563
Haha, thanks!
Ha, I see you did use my acronym
And yeah, I love my characters wrinkling their snouts and scrunching their noses. That's to me what Robert Jordan is to tugging braids and smoothing skirts.
Anyways, I'm certain poor Sparklefly is quite embarrassed. If Equestria is anything like our world is, military secrets will eventually be declassified after fifty or a hundred years so S.E.C.R.E.T.'s true activities will be known to the general population some day.
8406456
I did!
As soon as you had mentioned me using it, I wanted to, but I didn't know where it would fit in (I think I mentioned before that I've already finished the first draft, so I have to think about what I'm changing and where, because it can have ramifications that are ongoing... In the original draft, Pibs died during the battle underground at the mirror pond, having been set on fire and burning to death. There were also no ursas in that draft... Anyway, when I decided to let her live a little longer, it made a serious reworking of chapters 10 and 11 to accommodate the change. It did end up having a huge bonus that the way she died, though less painful for her, was a bit more traumatic because Scootaloo was with her, trying to save her when it happened, and we got two more chapters of Pibs. I liked writing her.
This section is actually entirely new for this draft (it is the 2nd draft... if I write a 3rd... they won't be ponies anymore, as I'll be trying to make it a completely original story. I'm not sure how that would turn out, but it'd be a big job. We'll see.). Plus, I felt rather genius to use SECRET as a code name rather than their real name. It was kind of a way to have my cake and eat it too.
Apparently I also love your characters wrinkling their snouts and scrunching their noses.
I hadn't though about whether that would be declassified eventually, but I'm going with yes, that makes perfect sense, and the whole truth will come out eventually... Just not within the course of the story proper.
Symbiosis
Oh no not Venom
Tom Hardy can't be here
No the acronym is OWCA
How am I going to pick up chicks if I am not in the paper
Never let real life interfere with fantasy. Fantasy is more fun.
8743922
1) I'm not familiar with OWCA. Is that a Freelancer thing?
2) Hah, right? Though... I don't think Scoots is interested in chicks... she might light a handsome stallion someday (not you, Cloud Blazer).
3) I like that. But, truth is stranger than fiction, because fiction has to make sense.
8744367
The chicks was supposed to be Pacer, I should have Quoted the paragraph before that one