The Last Cutie Mark Crusader 21, Part 7 of 7

Discovery


"Well, that was a long day," Scootaloo said. “But at least I got to dig a new latrine instead of filling an old one.”

“I thought for sure you’d be on the other end of it today,” Sparklefly replied.

They were sitting atop Scootaloo’s completed work. Her orange coat was saturated with sweat and dirt that had combined into something like salty mud. She was glad that she’s thought to take off her uniform so it didn't get filthy. It was also much cooler to work without it. Her muscles were all weary, but she was so accustomed to such work that she likely wouldn’t be sore.

“Yeah, Radiant Pyre got in trouble for something, so I got to dig a new one instead.”

The orange pegasus stared expectantly at silver for a moment.

“What?”

“Come on, Sparklefly! You’re an officer. Tell me what he did!”

The lieutenant snorted, “First of all, he’s my superior. They didn’t tell me anything about it. Second, he was obviously fighting.”

Scootaloo’s ears perked up as she leaned closer, “How do you know?”

“Simple, when anypony says they fell and they have a black eye, they were fighting.”

Scootaloo grinned at the gossip as she looked back at the results of her work. She let her mind wander back through the day.

"My squad seems pretty good with the crossbow," Scootaloo said. She then smiled and snorted, “I’d never admit it to them, but a few of them are already better at breaking it down than I am."

She looked up in time to see Sparklefly stop rubbing her eye patch; she decided not to mention it again. Sparklefly had seemed self-conscious about it when they talked before.

“Breaking them down is important, but it won’t matter much if they can’t shoot,” Sparklefly noted.

"Yeah, I guess we’ll find out about that tomorrow." Scootaloo dug around in her discarded combat harness and found her canteen. It was truly amazing how refreshingly wonderful even a sip of water was after hard work. She looked down on the pit she had created with complete satisfaction. "As much as I hate the labor, there is something comforting about it."

"That's not surprising; completion of a task, especially a difficult one, is found cathartic by most.” Sparklefly added, "You have created something, and done it well. It only makes sense that you'd be pleased by that in the end."

"Cathartic?" Scootaloo teased, "I thought you grew up on a farm. Where'd you hear cathartic?"

Sparklefly grinned back at her, "I did used to read a lot."

Scootaloo nodded, "That explains it."

In the silence that followed, Scootaloo’s mind went back to Cloud Blazer. Trying to quickly think of anything to get her mind off of that situation, she asked, “How are your wings?”

Sparklefly regarded her bandages and shrugged, “They still tell me, ‘about a week.’ I’m going to have to learn to fly all over again at this rate. It’s a small matter, considering...”

Hearing a noise, both of them turned to see a guard approaching. Java Chip was walking with him.

"Sirs," the guard said, "This civilian asked to see you and was granted permission. She is not allowed on base without an escort."

"Thank you," Sparklefly replied. "We'll take it from here. Return to your post."

They exchanged salutes and the guard walked back the way he had come.

"Hi Java, what-" Scootaloo began.

Java Chip interrupted in a hushed and frantic tone, ”They've killed him." She seemed incredibly upset and began looking around to make certain no other ponies were nearby.

"What?" Scootaloo was confused and instantly put on edge, unsure how concerned she should be.

"Killed who?" Sparklefly asked the pair stood.

Java Chip was shaking, and tears began flowing from her hazel eyes. "Swiftlight," she said quietly with a quiver in her voice, "They've killed Swiftlight."

Sparklefly looked around casually, and then said, “Both of you, into that ditch, now."

The three of them climbed down into the new latrine that Scootaloo had been digging all afternoon. The scent of freshly disturbed earth and clay was all around them.

"What are you talking about?" Scootaloo asked. "Who killed Swiftlight? There hasn't been an attack."

Java Chip held out a piece of paper. Sparklefly unfolded it and started to read.

The distraught mare added, “I found that this afternoon. I closed early after this morning, and I finally had time to do a proper cleaning... I’ve been so busy with the election that I hadn’t got around to it... I swept that out from under the counter and picked it up off the floor. It must have fallen down there...”

"By Celestia..." Sparklefly said as she lowered the note. “This was dated three days ago. What happened next?"

"Well, I wasn't sure what to think, but I was worried. Swiftlight can be a real jerk, but he doesn't really do pranks. I went to the castle and asked where he was, and they told me that he'd been transferred to another unit. They said he had left this morning and he wouldn't be back." She began sobbing harder now.

Sparklefly gave the note to Scootaloo before embracing Java, “That’s okay, let it out.”

Scootaloo read, 'Dear Java Chip, Whatever you do, don't let anypony see you reading this. You were the only one I knew for certain I could trust. I have discovered something very disturbing. I have reason to believe that there is a plot to overthrow Prince Shining Armor. I don't know who all is involved yet, but I'm certain that General Mane Crusher and some of his officers are part of it. I'm going to try to infiltrate the conspirators and get more information, so I won't be around much. I don't want to draw any attention to you that might get you hurt. No matter what anypony else tells you, I will not leave Ponyville without saying goodbye. If I suddenly disappear, and there is some excuse as to my whereabouts, then I have been found out. That would mean I'm probably dead. If this happens, trust nopony. Just keep your head down and do what you have to do to survive. Destroy this note, and let's hope I'm just being paranoid. Ever yours, Swiftlight’.

Scootaloo sat down as this information began to sink in. A plot to overthrow Shining Amor... EUP officers involved... It just didn't make any sense.

"Do you think it's the changelings?" Scootaloo asked.

"No," Sparklefly replied thoughtfully. "They wouldn't have killed Swiftlight. If changelings were in control of the military forces in Ponyville, they would have simply replaced him. If he has been," Sparklefly hesitated. Java Chip continued crying. "If he has been murdered, then this is a pony conspiracy; we're looking at a coup."

Thunder rumbled distantly. The three were quiet in the bottom of the ditch. Scootaloo just couldn't believe it.

"But why?" she finally broke the silence.

Sparklefly shook her head, "Lust for power, maybe? Who knows. With the princesses out of the way, it might be possible."

Scootaloo shuddered at the thought. She felt more afraid than she had in a long time. "So, what do we do about it?"

"Let me think a minute," Sparklefly replied.

Fear spun into anger, "I don't know if you've noticed, but time is kind of against us just now."

Sparklefly put her hooves up, "Patience. Swiftlight got too close to this and he's probably dead. We have to be extremely careful."

Scootaloo calmed herself with the knowledge that her friend was absolutely correct. She paced back and forth a little in the cramped hole in which they were hiding.

"We do have an advantage," Sparklefly said after a minute or so. "If anypony had thought that Swiftlight had contacted Java Chip, she'd probably be dead by now. That means they have no reason to suspect that we have any knowledge of the conspiracy.”

Scootaloo nodded, "So we have the element of surprise. The problem is, we don't know who all is involved. How do we form ranks against an enemy of unknown strength and disposition?"

Sparklefly tilted her head and considered this, unconsciously rubbing her eye patch again. Scootaloo noticed that she frequently did this while deep in thought.

"Whatever happens, we cannot trust anypony with anything we've talked about down here,” Sparklefly said. “It's just too dangerous for them and for us. That maybe how they caught Swiftlight.”

"Agreed," Scootaloo replied. "We tell nopony about any of this without a good reason. Are you up for that?"

Java Chip nodded. She had cried out for now, but her face was still wet with tears.

"Now, we just need to find a way to get a message to somepony we can trust. We need somepony that has access to Prince Shining Armor," Sparklefly said.

"Normally I'd talk to Twilight Sparkle," Scootaloo said with a shudder. She was still grieved to not know what had happened to the princess. "What about Rainbow Dash? She's still in Cloudsdale preparing for her next assignment.”

Sparklefly nodded, "Yes, she could probably get an audience with him. Are you certain we can trust her?"

Scootaloo gave a look that caused a sheepish grin from Sparklefly before saying, "Yes, she would never betray anypony. We can trust her."

"That's settled; now all we need is a pretext of some kind to get a message to her. I think mailing anything would be far too dangerous," Sparklefly said. "For all we know they've got ponies screening all communications by now... I would if I were them.”

They sat in thoughtful silence. Scootaloo turned over possibilities in her mind, but they were slow in coming. More thunder rumbled overhead, and the first light drops of rain began drizzling down. By the look of them, the other two weren't coming up with anything credible either. A shiver shot through Scootaloo, and the fog cleared from her mind as perfect solution struck her.

"Guys," she said suddenly, "I have an idea!"