Fallout

Scootaloo sat motionless in a kind of listless stupor. Exhausted and out of breath, the battle had left her drained of everything. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth as she forced herself to keep breathing. The ringing in her ears was still loud, but she was beginning to hear more than that. Loud noises would register, though they sounded far away. It was similar to having cotton stuffed in her ears. Her eyes were still functioning perfectly, the grit from the explosion having worked itself out. What they beheld only served to continue crushing her spirit. Pibs' lifeless body lay still, exactly where she'd been left almost an hour before. Scootaloo hadn't been there when she'd stopped breathing. When Radiant Pyre had run up the hallway, the few of them that were left had barricaded the opening to stop the timberwolves. Scootaloo was so busy helping with their failing efforts to defend the castle that she hadn't had time to stay with her friend. Then the reinforcements had arrived and it was over. By then, Pibs was already dead.

Scootaloo felt herself sigh. There were no tears; she was far too dehydrated for that. As she stared at the body, Scootaloo became aware that Pibs' fore-leg, the one that wasn't broken, seemed to be clutching at one of the pockets in her harness. Scootaloo's tired muscles pushed her over to the remains of her friend, and she moved her hoof to search the pocket. The only thing inside was a small folded napkin. Scootaloo opened it up, and had she the ability, she would have begun crying. The napkin contained, now pressed flat, the little purple flower that Pibs had found in the forest. It was the one she had picked to send to Lighthoof with her next letter, a letter she would never write. The weight of sorrow piled heavily upon the young mare as she folded the flower back into the napkin and put it into her own pocket. Something else was kindled inside as well: rage. Pibs hadn't deserved to die like that, none of them did. Scootaloo hated the timberwolves, and she was beginning to hate the changelings too. Conviction began to burn deep in her heart, and she set her resolve on course. She would do whatever it took to stop more of her friends from dying.

The sergeant removed one of the dog tags from Pibs' neck. It occurred to her that she hadn't retrieved one from Nimba. In all of the chaos of the fight in the forest, there just hadn't been time. She knew that it was something she was supposed to do, but somehow, it just didn't seem to matter.

"Sergeant," LD's muffled voice came through the ringing as he spoke loudly.

Scootaloo looked up at him. He was offering a cup of water. The mare took it greedily and drank it down. It was warm, but it was clean and refreshing. She thanked him, but the words only felt like strange vibrations to Scootaloo.

He spoke again at the same volume, "They've started letting ponies out one at a time. Should we go?"

Scootaloo shook her head and said, "There's no rush."

She sat back down, staring at the cold body of her friend, wishing that she could have done something to save her. Had she only arrived two minutes before, they may have not even been there when it happened. Scootaloo felt her shoulders slump, the futility of her wish weighing her down. She buried the rage and hatred within, knowing that she would need it the next time she faced the enemy.

...

Sparklefly had arrived at the shattered remains of the main gate of the castle. The reinforcements that came to rescue them had immediately taken command of the exit and kept everypony sequestered inside. After making initial contact, they brought in water and a little food, but hadn't let anypony leave for nearly an hour after they had secured the town. Once they got their unicorns in position and removed the bodies from the foyer, they started allowing the citizens to exit one at a time, after subjecting themselves to a scan to detect changelings. One of Brax's soldiers had been kind enough to bring her a cup of water while she waited. The despair was somewhat lifted from the ponies that had been trapped inside the castle, but their expressions still bore no small amount of concern to say the least. Lightning Dasher Number Seven had also informed her that Scootaloo and Radiant Pyre had survived and also of Pibs' death. This didn't come as a surprise, but she was saddened by the loss. Of the nine of them that went into that forest, one was injured so badly that he may not survive, three were confirmed dead, and another was missing in action. They had certainly had a rough week.

Sparklefly's turn to exit finally came, and the unicorn at the gate pointed where she was to stand. She complied. Standing still, she became showered in magic that burned. It felt as if her skin were on fire for a moment, a most unpleasant sensation, but it passed quickly.

"You're free to go; next," the unicorn said emotionlessly.

The acting sergeant walked out into the sunlight. It was bright, but the air, even filled with the putrid stench of timberwolves and death, was cooler than inside the stuffy castle.

"Corporal Sparklefly!" Princess Twilight's familiar voice called to her.

She turned and saw the alicorn nearby, surrounded by guards. Her brother, Prince Shining Armor, was with her. There was a sadness in her eyes. Sparklefly approached slowly. The town was buzzing with activity. Soldiers were beginning to clear the carcasses of the timberwolves and changelings that were strewn about everywhere. There wasn't a direction she could look that was not littered with remains from the battle. The guards watched her sternly as she passed them to approach the princess.

"Your majesty," Sparklefly said with a bow. "Welcome back."

"Thank you," Twilight said, her tone echoing the look in her eyes. "There is to be a debriefing in ten minutes. I've already got Lieutenant Brax ready, but we need to get Sergeant Scootaloo to report on the squad's actions."

"I'm afraid she may not be up to it, ma'am," Sparklefly replied hesitantly. "She was in an explosion in that last attack and she can't hear very well right now."

"I see," Twilight seemed even more somber at the news. She took a breath, "In that case, it falls to you."

All Sparklefly wanted was rest, but force of will drove her forward.

"Yes ma'am," she replied.

"Are you alright?"

"Just tired," she answered. "It's a small matter; I'll be fine to give the report."

Prince Shining Armor's stern expression became a little lighter with a smile, "Don't worry, by all accounts, your entire squad did a fantastic job, especially for your first time out. I'll see to it that you get some leave."

A little leave would be quite welcome, and Shining Armor, as Field Marshall of Princess Celestia's armies, certainly had the authority to make it happen. Sparklefly followed as the pair turned and walked toward city hall, their guards staying close. A path had already been cleared, and many of the streets were becoming passable again. All things considered, the town had suffered only minor damage. The buildings themselves were mostly intact, save for a few places where concussion magic had punched holes in rooftops. There were many shattered windows, and lower to the ground, anything that had a corner had been chewed. Sparklefly climbed the small set of steps that led onto the porch and then walked into the town hall. The room was filled with generals and commanders, not to mention every prince and princess in Equestria. They were all around the sides, facing the center of the room. The princesses sat around the innermost circle. They were all here, even Prince Blueblood, a distant cousin of Cadence and somehow removed nephew of Celestia, and Princess Flurry Heart, the adolescent daughter of Cadence and Shining Armor. Discord was hovering above the meeting with a fiendish grin on his face.

"Welcome, Princess Twilight Sparkle," Princess Luna said. "Now that thou art here, we shall begin."

The doors closed behind the trio and they approached the center of the room. Mayor Diamond Tiara somehow had managed a front row seat. Sparklefly couldn't help but sigh at the sight of her.

Princess Celestia stepped into the space at the center and spoke, "Through the efforts of our combined strength, Ponyville has been saved. I want to thank each and every one of you for your stalwart efforts to ensure that we did not lose yet another city to the ravenous appetite of the timberwolves. This is our first great victory in what has become an all-out war for our very survival. Some of you are already aware of the full truth of the matter, but it is now time that everypony knows the extent of the great threat that has really been attacking Equestria." She paused for a moment before turning to Twilight and nodding.

Celestia left the center, and Twilight took her place before speaking, "We had come to suspect that the timberwolves had been replicating themselves somehow in a magic pond that lies deep in the Everfree Forest. Almost a week ago, I led a secret mission into the forest to determine whether this was the case. We had nearly arrived at the mirror pool when we were ambushed. It was a coordinated attack to stop us. During the battle, I discovered that one the members of my squad had been replaced by a changeling."

Whispers and gasps rippled throughout the room at her final statement. The princess waited for them to quiet down.

"I was captured by the changelings, and I would not be standing here today if it had not been for the members of my squad. The four of them that managed to survive the ambush mounted a rescue, and we escaped only to find Ponyville under heavy attack. It was decided that I should go for help. I'll leave the details of my squad's involvement to Corporal Sparklefly."

Sparklefly took a breath as the princess motioned for her to come into the middle of the room. She did so, her legs feeling shaky. Then all eyes were on her. The bandage on her eye began itching, but she refrained from scratching it. Her mouth felt so dry. The nervous pegasus took another breath before she began to speak.

"After Princess Twilight was taken by the changelings, teleported away by their magic, we were forced to retreat. By the time we made it out of the forest, two members of our squad were dead, one was discovered as a traitor, and another had been critically injured. We left him in the care of a zebra and a citizen of Ponyville that are living in the wild." Sparklefly knew that it was safe to speak freely, but she couldn't shake the feeling that it was better to not give too much information on some points. She continued, "Using a magic potion that rendered the four of us invisible, Lighting Dasher and myself continued scouting to find the mirror pool, and hopefully Princess Twilight, while Pibs and Sergeant Scootaloo returned to an ursa major cave that we had previously discovered. Both myself and Lightning Dasher were captured by the changelings, and it was then that we discovered how many prisoners they had already taken. One of them was the mayor's aide, Silver Spoon. Sergeant Scootaloo and Pibs..." she trailed off.

Sparklefly's heart was pounding, and she found herself fidgeting uncontrollably. She took another deep breath, but now she was having a hard time thinking about anything but Pibs' death. She could almost see her, laying on the floor. "They..." She tried to continue, but it was becoming difficult to concentrate.

"We lost several good ponies that day, and in the days to come. Nitro was captured by the changelings while we were still cadets, just for being chosen for our squad. He may be still out there somewhere. It could have just as easily been me that was replaced. His sister, Nimba, was on our team as well. She was under the influence of his magic, and when we were attacked, she couldn't even defend herself. Regal Masquerade continued fighting after having been shot and stabbed multiple times. Toward the end, he couldn't even walk anymore, and Cloud Blazer dragged him through the forest, but he kept firing his weapon until they killed him. I have never seen a pony keep getting up after being hit that many times."

The room had grown completely silent. "Cloud Blazer may not recover from injuries he received to protect the rest of us. He brought up the rear in our escape, and he didn't make the jump into Ghastly Gorge with the rest of us. And Pibs... Pibs was the bravest mare I have ever known." Tears had begun running from Sparklefly's eye and soaking the bandage. "She was so afraid from the moment we first came under attack until she was killed just over an hour ago. She continued pulling her own weight even after breaking a leg. Nearly a week, she lived in constant fear, but she never once let any of us down." Sparklefly looked around the room, her vision blurry, but she read mostly compassion on the faces that returned her gaze, from the princesses on down the ranks. It was a kind of somber reverence that stared back at her; it was as if they understood. She cleared her throat, realizing that she was supposed to be reporting on their movements. It took a moment to remember where she had been.

Sparklefly paused, shuddering as she remembered Drob and Ash Eater asking her questions in the dark. She decided to omit this and continued, "Sergeant Scootaloo and Pibs went into the ursa cave and brought a pair of ursas that created a distraction. Because of this, Lightning Dasher and I were able to get free. We thought that Princess Twilight was with us, but it turned out to be a changeling. While I fought them, Lightning Dasher made it to the mirror pool and copied himself enough times to wipe out all of the changelings and timberwolves in the area. Once that had been accomplished, we found the real Princess Twilight, and collapsed the entrance to the mirror pond before returning to Ponyville."

"Thank you," Princess Twilight said, signaling that it was time for Sparklefly to leave the floor.

She walked toward the Princess of Friendship, a little wobbly, and sat down beside her. Lieutenant Brax then marched to the center of the room.

He started, "When the attack on Ponyville began, we had a little over eighty to defend the city. Our shield collapsed near sunset on that first day, and I immediately sent out scouts to request reinforcements. I had already been informed of the changelings in the Everfree Forest, but we didn't know the extent of their involvement. It seemed reasonable to assume that the scouts had a chance of getting through. Once Princess Twilight and her squad returned, I came to suspect that all of my scouts had been intercepted. The attack was laid out deceptively. We set all of our defense toward the forest on the east side of town at the river, where they hit us initially. What we didn't know, was that the changelings had been moving the timberwolves to surround us even before the shield went down. Acting Sergeant Sparklefly over there took it upon herself to deploy her force, now numbering in the hundreds due to the magic mirror pool, on the west side of town to keep us from getting outflanked. This bought us the time we needed to get the citizens into the castle. Once we were secure inside, we fended off several small attacks over the course of many days. They hadn't actually breached the castle until this morning. During our siege, we sent out Princess Twilight for help, and our unicorns scanned everypony to make sure there were no changelings among us. As for our ability to hold the line as long as we did this morning, I again have to credit the foresight of Acting Sergeant Sparklefly, who began preparing our last barricade before the door even came down."

Sparklefly was certain that she felt herself blush as she ignored the urge to scratch at her eye bandage. She didn't feel proud of herself or how she had expected it might feel to be considered as heroic by others. She mostly felt embarrassed. She did notice a peculiar look on Prince Shining Armor's face that was echoed in his wife's visage. Undoubtedly they would have strong feelings about changelings, considering their history with them. Princess Twilight again took the floor.

"As you know, the last time the changelings came, they were a great threat to us all. The challenge ahead is even more dire than that attack. They have been infiltrating our ranks for at least a year, probably longer."

"I'm afraid that will have to wait," Princess Celestia spoke as she stepped forward. Twilight returned to her seat as the supreme ruler of Equestria continued, "We have a much more pressing matter to discuss before we deal with the changelings: the destruction of the mirror pool."

"Oh, goodie!" Discord interrupted as he did a somersault. "I do love to make a little chaos now and then."

Celestia ignored his comment and added, "I'm afraid that for security purposes, I must now ask everypony under the rank of general to leave the room."

There was a small amount of commotion as they all began to go. Sparklefly also stood to leave.

"I'll fill you in on what I can later," Princess Twilight said. "Would you do something for me?"

"Anything," Sparklefly replied.

"Please go check on my friends and Sweet Apple Acres. I haven't had an opportunity to see how the battle affected the orchard."

Sparklefly nodded and said, "I'll check on all of your friends."

Twilight smiled warmly and replied, "Thank you."

Soon the acting sergeant was outside, and the door to city hall closed. Finding Scootaloo seemed the first order of business, as she was much more familiar with the princess and her friends than was Sparklefly.