Rising Storm

by Arrenius

Chapter Twelve: Aftermath

“Your best bet after that is to head back along the river here, it’ll take you to a path that ought to lead straight to Ponyville. It’s much too close to the border for the griffins to patrol it, we’d be on them in minutes.” Wald finished. “Anything else you’ll need?”

Cobalt sighed. “No, Ranger, nothing else. You’ve already done more than I should have asked.”

Wald smiled. “Don’t mention it. Princess and Country and all. Always happy to help out.”

Cobalt looked back to his family, who were eyeing Wald cautiously. “We’re in your debt Wald, every last one of us. I’m not sure how much of a future I have left at the Bureau, but if you ever need anything give me a call. I’ll see what I can do”

Wald smiled and nodded. “Safe trip back friend.”

“You too.”

With that, the two parted ways. Cobalt trotted over to his family and explained the route out of the forest to them. As they started along the path that Wald had described, Sugar Heart spoke in a hushed tone to her husband.

“Who’s your friend?” She asked weakly.

“Forest Ranger, he gave me the route out. Look, about what happened-”

She cut him off before he could finish. “Don’t ever scare us like that again. I mean it.”

Sugar looked at her husband with tears in her eyes. He gave her the warmest smile he could manage. And whispered into her ear:

“I’m so sorry about all of this. I’ll make it up to you if it takes the rest of my life.”

Sugar smiled. “I’m sure we’ll find a way to make that work.”

Cobalt’s smile widened. She hadn’t forgiven him yet, and he was far from off the hook, but it was a start.

As the family headed back towards civilization, Cobalt looked back at his mysterious savior. The ranger stood there stoically with the documents Cobalt needed to send along. So much pain over some pictures and reports. Cobalt smiled at Wald and gave him a nod, which the ranger returned.

Cobalt didn’t know it, but he had just made his 'savior' very, very happy.

*****

Kami Sai’s relief column crossed the crest of the hill near Drift Station. The Knight Commander’s hopes for a rescue had been dashed minutes ago when they had seen a large number of zebra warriors moving away from the station. Kami’s priority now was the recovery of the bodies, and if possible, taking his column to avenge the deaths of Gale Storm and his soldiers.

As the station came into view, it at first seemed that Kami’s fears had been confirmed. Smoke rose from the station and several of the buildings appeared to have been destroyed. But as he drew closer, Kami’s eyes widened. Within the station, there were at least 100 Equestrian soldiers, at their front another soldier holding a clipboard, apparently taking roll.

Soon after, Kami caught sight of the field of zebra bodies. He noted with astonishment that at least a thousand head of the enemy had fallen before the soldiers in the outpost. As he looked to his staff and subordinates, he could see they shared his surprise. No one had honestly expected there to be anything left, let alone the numbers present within the compound now.

Kami approached the outpost with a look of utter shock on his face. At a break in the sandbag ramparts, he was met by a grey pegasus stallion, whose blue mane was just visible under his helmet. Though he was difficult for Kami to recognize, covered in blood and dirt, Kami could tell just from the look in his eyes that before him stood his Administration and Supply Officer, Knight Lieutentant Gale Storm.

The two stood facing each other for a moment, and Kami found himself unable to wipe the shocked expression from his face. Gale saluted, which his superior quickly returned. He felt as if he were staring at a ghost, or better yet, the grim reaper. The silence lasted a few seconds before the subordinate officer broke it.

“Knight Lieutenant Gale Storm reporting for Drift Station Garrison. Ninety one soldiers on parade, forty three sick or excused duty, nineteen missing, presumed dead. Officers and allied forces all accounted for.”

Kami could only stand there with his mouth open. That meant 135 of his 154 Equestrian troops were alive. To face off against a force so numerically superior and take such miniscule casualties was unheard of, unbelievable. It took Kami a moment to overcome his awe and observe the stallion in front of him. Storm was clearly weary, his voice sounded hoarse, and it seemed to be the last of the energy he had left to stand at attention before his superior. Kami managed the only reply he could possibly think of.

“I-I... relieve you, sir.”

Gale gave a small nod in thanks. “I stand relieved.”

With that, he saluted again and stepped to the side.

Kami looked at his Second in Command. “Take the parade from the Colour Sergeant. Dismiss these troops and give them leave to rest.

“Yes sir.” The 2iC responded, trotting off to carry out his orders.

“That goes for you as well, Leftenant.” Kami said, turning his eyes back to the exhausted officer.

“Go get some rest.”

Gale did as he was told. He walked into the Command Post, once inside, he leaned against a wall and exhaled. The Pegasus didn’t even have energy enough to think, dragging himself to his bunk in the Officers quarters. Gale collapsed into the bed, and consciousness abruptly left him the instant his head connected with his pillow.

*****

Shining Armor stood as stoically as he could as the door to his cell was closed. It was an ancient, damp place. The cell could have been taken out of any foals fantasy picture book. Old cobblestone walls, iron bars for a door, and a window too small to crawl out of, but just large enough to let some light in, reminding the prisoner what they had lost. The whole room was enchanted to silence magic, and Shining knew quite well that any attempt to escape in that fashion would be ultimately futile.

The guard with the keys, a fairly new young stallion by the name of Ardent Sentinel fumbled with them for a moment, as if contemplating whether to carry out his orders. He cast a look at Shining Armor, as if begging for instructions. All that Shining gave him was a single nod. The guard took the hint and locked the cell door.

Ardent looked at his Commanding Officer and tried to apologize. “Sir, I-”

Shining waved his hoof. “You’re doing your job. Just like we trained you. You’ve done nothing wrong. You understand me?”

“I... Yes sir.”

Shining walked over to the window and sat silently on his haunches. His mind was clouded with worry. Not for himself, but for his old friend Gale Storm. Being locked in this dungeon, not hearing news, and not able to find out on his own, that was a worse punishment than any judiciary measure.

*****

Several hours after Celestia had sent Shining Armor to the dungeon in chains, an aide came to her chambers. The Princess knew what the message to be delivered was before the pony had even entered the room. The battle was over, Drift Station had fallen. General Thorn wanted to see her to inform her of this, and give his recommendation for a reprisal, or possibly to tender his resignation. Celestia would deny the recommendation and turn over command of the military from the Security Council to the Ministry of Defence, to be ratified and made official in a special session of the House of Lords tomorrow.

Celestia had sent for Lord Lavaliere, the Minister of Information about five minutes before. He should be arriving just as the General did.

A moment of useless pleasantries came as both Celestia and Thorn ignored their titles and introductions. Celestia wasn’t even able to conjure up a false smile for all her self flagellating. Had she been able to look the General in the eyes, she would have noticed that neither the crestfallen expression of a defeated stallion nor the angry one of a vengeful soldier were on the General’s face. In fact, all that was in his eyes was excitement.

Minister Lavaliere walked into the room as well, just before General Thorn could speak.

“Am I interrupting something?” The minister asked cordially.

“Not at all,” Celestia said half heartedly. “Please, stay, I shall speak with you when I am finished with the General.”

Thorn spoke up. “Princess, I have excellent news regarding Drift Station!”

Celestia eyed the General, surprised. How could the news possibly be excellent? Was the General trying for a sarcastic quip? Would he point out how ‘excellent’ it was that 150 Equestrians were dead and the only stallion with the spine to try to prevent it was languishing in a dungeon?

Celestia took a moment to respond. “It was my understanding that the situation was critical. That the soldiers present at the station were doomed?”

Thorn beamed, and spoke with the excitement of a frenzied schoolcolt whose sports team had just won some kind of trophy. “That’s just it Your Highness! They held! The station held in position until relieved! The zebras were utterly beaten! Their Impi exhausted itself against the station and now they’re reeling from a task force we have out in the field! With only nineteen casualties, we broke the back of the Zebra Empire, some of my colleagues think this could lead to a peace settlement within three months!”

Celestia stood there, dumbfounded. How could this be? The Royal Equestrian Army were not an efficient fighting force by any means, outnumbered by such a margin, there should have been no way the enemy would have succumbed to them. She spoke very truthfully in her reply to the General. “I... I don’t know what to say,”

“It’s incredible!” Thorn said, believing himself to be in agreement with the Princess. “I’ll have to admit, when I heard, I was prepared for an absolute disaster. But the OC at the station, this Gale Storm, he held his troops together for eighteen bloody hours! Every combat arms officer in the country is going to be clamoring to find out how he did it this time next week!”

Celestia simply sat there looking shocked. Against all her expectations, despite all her best laid plans, there was not a crushing defeat at Drift Station. There was, instead, a victory. A victory that Thorn seemed to think unexpected enough to call ‘incredible’. There wasn’t even the slightest chance that this could be twisted into propaganda against the armed forces, and by extension the Equestrian government. Her plans had failed, her opportunity to influence change in Equestria gone.

Celestia thought for a moment. It certainly was, in some ways, a welcome defeat. Nineteen soldiers had fallen instead of 150, but their deaths were now, in the scheme of Celestia’s machinations, meaningless. Their deaths were not enough to spark the flame she required.

But they certainly were enough, it dawned upon the Princess, to influence the opinions of the Equestrian public. Perhaps not against the military, but against the foolhardy government that had failed to allot them proper resources? That had left them to die in the face of impossible odds? Such determination, such devotion to country in the face of those conditions was little short of inspiring. Celestia saw another plan take shape in her mind. This one would require more improvisation, more reaction, more dramatic flair. Change would come in Equestria, but it would not come from her. She could not be the beloved pacifist as she had hoped to, the hero of the day was a young Knight Lieutenant across the world from his home.

She smiled and spoke jovially. “General, this is auspicious news! I am delighted to hear that our military has achieved such success in the face of adversity! Knight Lieutenant Storm deserves the gratitude of the whole kingdom!”

If Celestia could not make bungling incompetents out of the military, she would simply have to make them into heroes.

The Alicorn turned to Minister Lavaliere. “Minister, the original purpose for this meeting is now irrelevant. I want the news that General Thorn has conveyed here to reach the ears of everypony in Equestria! I want newspapers recounting the battle, biographies on Storm, overviews of the war, opinion pieces on how this battle will affect its outcome! Newspapers, films, books even, everything your ministry can manage to produce or encourage. I want this to be the top story in Equestria. It is your duty to make Gale Storm and Drift Station household names, understood?”

Lavaliere smiled. “Absolutely your Highness. I shall see that the State paper has a special edition ready for print by tomorrow. Private and local government publications should follow suit quickly.”

“General Thorn,” The Princess continued. “I am placing you in charge of the removal of the Drift Station garrison from Transvaal. Call up whatever reserves you require to replace them. I want those troops repatriated as soon as possible.”

Thorn nodded. “At once Princess. I’ll have them home before Friday at the latest.” Thorn turned to leave the room, but Celestia spoke again.

“Oh, and General?”

“Yes your highness?” Thorn said, turning back to look at the Princess.

“Organize victory parades on his return, in whichever cities seem most correct to you. See to it that Storm receives the Celestial Sun for his actions, and review his reports to determine which of his soldiers are also worthy of awards for conspicuous gallantry. You may assume my approval.”

Thorn nodded again, still beaming. The Princess continued. “I want you to co-ordinate all of this with your new superior. As per our previous discussion, the Security Council will be disbanded, and replaced with the first Equestrian Ministry for Defence.”

Thorn frowned. “Ministry of Defence?”

“Yes. From now on, decisions made by the military high command will not need to be ratified by an oversized civilian committee. The military will be a department of the government like any other, and will not need to seek outside approval for the allocation of its portion of the budget, nor its day to day operations.”

Thorn was surprised. This wasn’t at all what he had expected of the ‘more modern alternative’ Celestia had mentioned. It sounded as if the REA was finally being given the chance to breathe. Obviously there was the potential here for disaster, but in his excitement over the recent victory, the General found it difficult to be anything other than optimistic.

“When will this Ministry come into existence?” He questioned.

“Tomorrow. As I mentioned, I will require you to co-ordinate with its Minister. I believe you two are already well acquainted. You should contact Defence Minister Regal Courser to begin your preparations at your earliest convenience.”

Thorn’s heart skipped a beat, and his eyes widened.

The disaster had exceeded its potential tenfold.

*****

At an inconspicuous hut in the Everfree Forest, Forest Ranger Wald Flash struggled with his bindings. His captor had been gone for nearly nine hours, and he was the closest he had ever been to managing an escape. He felt the knot tying the rope around his forehooves beginning to loosen, and with another hour of work, maybe enough to come undone.

The Ranger’s musings were interrupted by the return of the pegasus who had overpowered him earlier this week. The door to the hut opened, and the dark blue stallion trotted in, wearing Wald’s cloak, and carrying a file folder.

“Excellent news, my friend.” The intruder said nonchalantly, in an upbeat, cultured voice. “I have exactly what I came into the woods to find, and thanks to the challenge and countersign you provided me, I was able to retrieve it with a minimum of bloodshed.”

Wald spoke out in his usual deep rasp. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”

The imposter laughed lightly. “Oh, I think I do. This information was given to me courtesy of the Royal Inquiries Bureau, the 'all seeing eye' of Her Majesty's government, and they were none the wiser.”

“Alright fine you crazy son of a bitch, you have what you want, now let me go!”

“Ah, my dear Wald, I’m afraid that isn’t how it works.”

The meaning of the imposter’s words dawned on the Forest Ranger, and suddenly he felt a lot less angry, and a lot more terrified.

“You, you can’t be serious,” Wald said nervously.

“I’m afraid I am. Please, don’t beg. I know you have a family, I know you will be missed. This is unavoidable.”

“They’ll look for me, when I don’t report in they’ll send someone! This’ll go better for you if I’m alive!”

“Please, stop.” The pegasus stallion looked his captive in the eyes. “I know it seems all so awful, but you have contributed to something so much greater than yourself. You have given me the first step to building a better world.”

“What are you talking about? You’re insane!”

“I am truly sorry that you won’t live to see it. But this I promise you, when the Empire is reborn, every pegasus, including your children, will live to see the dawn of the brightest day in the history of our race.”

Wald took a breath as the madman raised a forehoof, armed with a pistol cuff, to his face.

“This is a good death. There is no shame in it. You fought well when we met, you made every effort to do your duty. Take solace in that.”

Wald took a breath in, and just as he was about to speak, the weapon fired.

“Sterben Auch.”

The report echoed, and then, all was quiet in the Everfree Forest.

Author's Note:

Ministry of Information: In charge of propaganda and public service announcements.

Comments

[FrzR]

Well that was enjoyable. I'm surprised its not more popular, it was very well written. Thumbs up, favorite, watch, blah blah blah...

Bravo Zulu