Chapter 12
Maybe life isn’t about avoiding the bruises.
Maybe it’s about collecting the scars to prove we showed up for it.
I sat in front of two cryo-pods, their windows slightly frosted up as they had been active for a couple of weeks now. The two naked occupants peacefully inside of them as tubes from the side of the cryo-chamber ran into the two to feed them the necessary nutrients and drugs.
Why did it have to be you two girls, why not me? I don’t even know what to do on my own!
‘Sgt Bloom’ and ‘Cpl Belle’ were featured on the cryo’s name tags, their bodies prominently displaying the abuse they’d received to be placed in the chambers. Sweetie’s torso had massive burns all over its side from the plasma that had burned through her armor while Bloom’s left arm…
I swallowed.
It was just gone. Nearly from the shoulder down the limb was just gone. If it had gotten torn off any higher I wouldn’t even have been able to stem the bleeding and she’d have been dead. I felt myself shaking as I got another adrenaline boost and increased breathing from just thinking about what had happened on Harvest…
Come on Scoots, not cool. You did all you could and got them to medical… And the covies who’re responsible aren’t able to hurt anyone else anymore anyway.
I still remembered the flash and shockwave that had come from the nuclear device we’d left behind, a feeling of satisfaction washing over me as I could imagine all of the Covenant forces being vaporized by the weapon.
Serves them well.
I couldn’t stay at the cryo-tubes any longer, the pain of seeing my two best friends in such a condition and knowing they wouldn’t be waking up until after they’d reached a hospital on Reach stabbed at my heart.
The hallways of the frigate were almost deserted, only the occasional technician or trooper that hadn’t entered the freezer for one reason or another. I wondered if this is what we’d left Shimmer to as well, all alone in a galaxy without any friends? At least I still had Ana to keep me company. Talking about the devil...
“Morning, Scoots,” my human friend greeted me as I joined her for breakfast, getting a pack of rations from the dispensers.
“Yeah, good morning too,” I said absentmindedly, taking place at the table she’d claimed. Just like most UNSC warships, the cafeteria had a couple of tables reserved away for the ODST’s of the ship. Unofficially of course but the few other humans in the ship didn’t dare take place at the few tables that were marked. It also gave me a place where I could sit that have me avoid pesky questions about what kind of mutation or experiment I’d undergone... I missed the reputation we’d gotten on Harvest that allowed me to be left alone.
“You know they’ll be alright, don’t you?” Ana said as she saw me stare into nothingness again. “The UNSC takes care of its own. Bloom will probably get an artificial replacement and Belle will have some serious scarring but even that’ll turn out well.”
“Yeah, I know. But I still feel guilty about it,” I said, getting a sigh from Ana.
“You already saved their lives by keeping them alive until they got back to medical, you have nothing to be guilty about.”
“I was the one who pushed them to explore Twi’s castle and got us trapped here though...” My voice was soft as I told her that, eyes gazing down at the food in front of me.
“And after that, you did everything you could to keep them alive. You made a mistake, yes, but you didn’t sit still and pushed hard to keep them that way, are you going to sit down and let yourself fall to pieces or are you going to stay strong for when they wake up?” Ana’s stare bore right into me.
“You’re right, I’ve been sulking a hell of a lot, haven’t I? So not cool.”
My human friend chuckled. “No, it isn’t but that’s something you can change, and staring at their cryotubes isn’t going to change anything. You’re going to have to either think of something else to do or go into the freezer, I know you’re probably bored as hell.”
The corners of my lips tugged up into a small smile as I was glad to have Ana with me out here. “Thanks for that and you’re right, we should go under. They can only be helped when we get to Reach anyway.”
“Indeed. So I’ll see you at the cryo bay by tonight? I’ll go give the AI a heads up in that case.”
“Yeah, see you there.”
My skin itched, not that wasn’t to be expected as that was what happened each time I left Cryo, right now it was just a mere annoyance that’d be gone in an hour. I’d donned my armor as it was easier to carry that way as opposed to wearing regular clothes and dragging it along. The only thing I wasn’t wearing was the helmet as I wanted to leave my hair out since it had grown out a bit far and was getting annoying in the helmet.
Need to fix that sometime soon.
A clang went through the ship as it docked with the spaceport connected to the planetary tether above New Alexandria, Ana was already ahead of me so we’d meet up at the elevator down. Bloom and Sweetie had already been taken off of the ship, having gotten priority and being shuttled down to a hospital with a pelican.
Swinging my filled duffle bag onto my back I made my way through the now more significantly filled halls of the frigate, all kind of humans making their way off and onto the vessel as it got ready to depart again. The navy would never get much rest.
As I reached the spaceport I couldn’t help but stare in wonder at the green planet below through the windows it had installed. It was so unlike Harvest that had been turned into a grey ball of ash and fire. I stared in appreciation for a couple of minutes before heading deeper into the center of the station where the elevator was waiting.
“Took you long enough!” Ana called out as she saw me approach, she had opted to just drag along her set of armor as she wore regular clothing. “You’re really going to walk around like that?”
“Hey, it’s comfortable enough,” I grinned.
“Yeah, my ass it is, I’m getting you some clothes right after we’ve checked out. For myself as well by the way.” The two of us made our way to the elevator and got two seats in the passenger compartment that were already reserved for us. “So, got anything we should go do now we’ve got leave for a good while?”
“Don’t know...” I shrugged, only to think about it some more. “...Actually, I should give Shimmer a call, she’s going to be really surprised since I didn’t give her a heads up.”
I pulled my tablet from the duffle bag and connected it to the tether’s network, looking through the contacts until I found the one we’d used to send mail to each other on Harvest. Getting comfortable I waited for the call to connect, leaning back into the chair while pointing the tablet towards myself so the camera would pick up my face.
“Sergeant Shimmer,” Sunset answered to my surprise.
“Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting to hear when I rang you, thought you were only working for the Section Three spooks,” I grinned as the video feed on the other end sprung on as well to reveal a surprised Sunset Shimmer.
“Holy… Scootaloo?! What are you doing here!” She exclaimed. “Are Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle with you?”
I bit my lower lip and shook my head as my mood fell. “They were shipped to New Alexandria Medical Center to get treatment… They both have been out ever since we left Harvest.”
“Oh no… How bad?” Sunset asked with concern.
“Bloom’s lost her left arm and Sweetie got some serious plasma burns.”
“And Ana?”
“She’s sitting across from me,” I turned the tablet to point it at the human who waved at my fellow Equestrian.
“That’s a relief. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Well, I’ve technically got leave but since I already heard that they’re going to keep AB and Sweetie under for a bit so I wanted to ask if you had time for me to drop by,” I answered as Sunset gave me a smile.
“Of course! I’ll explain things later when we’re face to face but if you want to meet I’ll be at camp Stonehold. I can arrange for a pelican pickup if you want?” Sunset explained enthusiastically. I glanced over at Ana who gave me a nod.
“I’ll keep an eye on them, you should get to see faces other than mine or theirs for once. But don’t think that’ll get you out of getting new clothes.”
“Thanks Ana,” I told her with a chuckle, looking back at Sunset on the screen. “Think you can get a pelican to pick me up from the New Alexandria spaceport?”
Sunset snorted at the question. “There are pelicans going there daily, I’ll get a spot on one of them for you right after you get out of the elevator. See you on the base Scootaloo.”
“Yeah, see you there.” With that, I closed the call and got a set of earbuds to listen to some music on the way down.
It felt strange being completely on my own for the first time in over a year as I waited for the pelican to arrive at the base. There were a couple of other humans on the craft, one of which a navy officer, but they’d yet to ask me for the obvious. Shimmer had worked fast to get me the seat though as by the time we’d reached planetside she’d given me a gate and a time to be.
I wonder what she’s doing that she isn’t able to talk about it over an open call, must be some Section Three BS.
“Hey, you look like you went through some stuff. Got back from deployment?” one of the other humans, looked like a civilian to me but that might be deceiving considering where we were going.
“Harvest,” I simply answered, his face visibly paled a bit to my satisfaction.
“You’ve fought the aliens?!” Another asked, though this one was a bit more enthusiastic.
“For eight months,” I grunted, not really feeling like answering the interested humans.
“Let her be. She doesn’t want to talk about it,” the officer rumbled as he looked up from his work at the two humans who straightened up.
“Thanks,” I told the officer who already back to work. The rest of the ride was mostly in silence as no-one asked me any further questions.
The pelican came to a roaring halt as it set down on the base and opened its hatch which allowed everyone to dismount and head their own ways. I looked around for a bit but soon spotted the redhead I hadn’t seen in person since we’d sent her off on Harvest. A smirk found itself onto my face, as I approached and saluted her.
“Corporal Firewing, sergeant Shimmer,” I announced myself, getting an amazing look of surprise from the other human.
“At ease, corporal,” Sunset said with a smile, “Good to see you here, it’s nice to have someone who I can talk about Equestria with.”
“Heh, no worry. Sorry that we couldn’t keep you on Harvest.”
“Celestia no, I’m glad to not be there I’ve read the reports. I’m happy that I got to work here in safety while you were in mortal danger every day,” Sunset said with a laugh as she lead me along away from the landing pads.
“So, what’s the story about you suddenly being a sergeant?”
“It’s a cover,” Sunset responded with a bit less volume to make sure only I heard. “There’s a very interesting human I’ve been training for about two months now.”
“You found one that can do Mhmff...” Shimmer immediately put a hand over my mouth, I had to work hard to stop my initial reflex from knocking her away from me.
“Classified,” she hissed.
“Hey, I’ve been a bit out of touch out there. I don’t really keep up with that stuff you know?” I said, holding my hands up defensively.
“Fine, but now you know so don’t talk about it. I’m surprised you’re not even making an effort to hide those wings.” Sunset glanced at me to see the smirk on my face. “Oh, for the love of… You’re a piece of work, you know that?”
“Eeyup,” I laughed as she groaned. “So where are we going? To that interesting human?”
Sunset let the previous topic slide for the moment. “Yes. She’s in the barracks with the rest of the trainees. They should be preparing for PT about now.”
“Trainees? Cool, that explains the sergeant cover. Mind if I tag along with the exercise?” I asked, to which Shimmer shrugged.
“Got to ask the LT for permission but I don’t see why not.”
“Cool, where can I find him?”
“He has his office in the same building, I’ll show you the way.” Sunset lead me through the barracks to the staff only housing where she waited outside of the LT’s office while I went in and announced myself, explaining the situation. The lieutenant for one didn’t complain and asked if I could give the troops a small presentation with tips if I was going to stay for a while. Without there really being any disagreement we parted ways again.
“Got any bedding left around here?” I asked as I entered Shimmer’s bunkroom.
“Not in the staff’s quarters, there are only men’s rooms left. Though there’s room with the trainees if you want until we can get you a bed.”
“No problem, I can sleep anywhere anyway.” Well... though it wasn’t a lie, the nightmares did their best to keep me awake.
“Alright, ladies are in room 104 and up. I’m going to re-dress as well, need PT gear?” I nodded, Sunset pushing a set of spares into my hands.
“Thanks, what’s the time I need to be ready?”
“Forty-five, main entrance,” Shimmer curtly answered.
“Thanks, see you there.” I proceeded to make my way through the hallways to room 104, the five women who were present turned their heads to look who’d entered as they were in the middle of changing.
“Hey! What… are… Corporal, ma’am?” one of them, a black-haired girl said as she swiftly sprang to attention.
“At ease, I’m bunking here for the night. There’s a lack of female quarters in the staff wing,” I told them as I walked to the last empty bunk in line and tossed my filled duffle bag onto it. I could already feel the stares from all of the girls bore into my wings as I went through it to find the wrapping I’d used previously to bind them to my body and hide them.
“Corporal are-”
“If it’s about the wings then don’t bother. Anything else, maybe you’ll get an answer.” That made the black-haired woman shut up for a moment and allowed me to loosen the armor, placing it in the locker next to the bed. I managed to wrap the wings in place about half-way before the lady spoke up again.
“Are you friends with sergeant Shimmer?” she asked, getting my attention. I gave her a nod as I finished locking up my wings with the wrap.
I forgot how much I really hated this thing, not being able to move your wings suck.
“Figured that, she has some interesting skills herself. I would know since she’s been giving me extra practice in my free time.” That really got my attention, was this that ‘interesting human’ Sunset had talked about? “Miska Natália,” She introduced herself, holding out her hand.
“Scootaloo Firewing.” I shook the outheld hand. “I’m sure we’ll get to know each other better soon,” I grinned.
Tbh, I'm kinda bored and not in the mood to work on my other stories. 
Remember that comments are like authors' food, we gain energy from them. Constructive criticism is welcome.
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Well you're keeping your plot straight and consistent at least
I wonder if Bloom's magic will go through her robotic arm? I'm guessing the answer is no, which could be interesting seeing as one side of her is way more powerful than the other. Unless that is some super powerful piece of tech they're giving her.
damn Applebloom got hit that hard?! atleast she survived
Please dont be bored. I need something to read, when I'm not writing my own story. Waiting on others stories is helping me keep to writing mine. Keep on keeping on, and I'll do the same.
You really surprised me with this Chapter today. Thought it would be at least another two weeks before this will continue, but I am glad to be wrong
It's intresting so far and I will keep my eyes up for new Chapters.
I wonder how Twilight and the others are handaling this. That is, if Twilight survives telling them this.
Also, nice to see a fast update though we need more magic
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Noms the comment before it disappears like the arm
heh, we'll have some time for magic shenanigans next chapter.
I guess she can't just reveal her wings to everyone? At this rate I'm surprised if it's a secret or something
Another chapter so quickly, glad to see it!
Is Apple Bloom going to be able to channel her magic through her amputation
Applejack's gonna freak.
If I were Mishka, I'd be very, very scared. She's got an ODST grinning at her saying they're going to "get to know each other better"? Yeah, that's about the point you start shitting bricks.
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If the prosthetic is made of metal then its possible but she may need to train with it to be sure.
To be fair, if one of them had to go cyborg... she's probably the best one for it.
How many recruits is scoots gonna break?
I loved the last two chapters. Its great to be back into this story. Keep up the good work and I hope to see more chapters next week. Oh...*stares at you intently* I mean to. Truly do. I need mour.
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Yeah, their horrible. Especially on levels when their off the map in the rocks. So horrible.
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New Mombasa Legendary... The pain... Probably going to subject myself to it again with anniversary PC
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id be happy to give you a hand if you want
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Hahahaha...I was thinking of Halo 4. I don't remember the map but yeah
Scoots is probably a constant headache for Section 3, good for her. Although, given that the Spartans are already moving to become a public propaganda piece, that may be a similar end goal for the magical corps. (Which of course the CMC would get conveniently folded into). Given the Timeline, they may have long enough to get the Mages moving before the War escalates with the fall of Reach in 2552, or even before the Spartans are publicly revealed in 2547. (I am once again reminded just how damn long the timeline is in Halo, cryo screws with internal clocks.)
Nothing to say, keep it up.
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It would be interesting to see UNSC propaganda try to spin fireteam Crusader as some sort of superpowered superteam. They'd probably leave out the pony origins, however. Many civilians would probably think it's just fake propaganda, and all CGI.