Chapter 32:
Reconsolidation

Flags waved throughout the encampment we found ourselves in after the extraction of the army units from Manehattan, the army having been pulled back after the completed operation. The ponies were still working on an accounting of the casualties and unit strength as pretty much the etirity of the Manehattan units had become a hodgepodge of merged and crippled units...

And we're no exception...

“Gilda and Cypher will find them if we don't,” Dash assured me as the changeling and Griffon were also around to find our two, still missing, batponies. The trouble being that while things were as they were it was hard to find any one specific pony among the thousands.

“I hope so...” I grimaced. If we didn't find them soon I would have to break off and actually get back into contact with the command. The two of us passed another aid station but a quick inspection showed my ponies weren't there.

“Hey, what are you doing here, griffon?”

Dash and myself turned to the source of the call, a small group of lightly bandaged earthponies staring daggers at me. Rainbow stepped forward to admonish them, only for me to hold her back. A grey coated and brown maned stallion had been the one who'd called out.

“What's your name, soldier?” I asked, seeing his eyes pass over my uniform and stiffen ever so slightly as he saw my rank. Though his posture changed slightly, his posture remained belligerent.

“Corporal Golden Field, sir,” he hissed through clenched teeth, but still putting himself at attention.

I nodded, glancing over at his buddies who were tensely looking at how this was going to play out.

“At ease, Corporal,” I stated, seeing a little confusion, the pony clearly having expected an admonishment... Not that I wasn't going to give him one, but I understood where he was coming from. “I'm not here to defend... my kind's actions. But, I have fought on Equestria's side from the very start. My team and I went willingly into that city to help get you all out, and, as it stands, I'm still missing two of my squad. In light of that, are you going to hold my species against me?”

Rainbow had joined my side, sending a vicious glare in the earthpony corporal's direction. The stallion held firm a moment longer but eventually his ears dropped. “My... apologies, sir. I did not know.”

“No you did not. See to your team, corporal.” I gave him a slight nod, which he returned before throwing a salute which I returned in turn.

“Sir!” my attention was drawn to one of the corporal's privates had called out to me, a light brown mare with a pale yellow mane, standing up at attention. “Private Sunflower, sir!”

“At ease, private. What is it you need?” The mare had a tic, tapping the ground lightly with her right hoof as she stood.

“You're looking for the batponies, aren't you?” she asked, making me glance over at Rainbow.

“You know where they are?” Rainbow eagerly asked, finally having a lead on the two batponies.

The made carefully nodded, her shaking oof pointing over to another tent. “One of them got hit, I saw the other convinve the eleventh to take her.”

“Private, you're a blessing, thank you.” Rainbow and I turned and took off in the direction that was pointed out to us, finding the standard of the 11th fairly quickly and getting directions to their aid station.

“Midnight!” Rainbow exclaimed as she spotted the batpony sitting in a corner taking a drag from a cigarette she'd somehow gotten her hooves on.

The batpony looked over, almost shocked to see the two of us. “C-Cap? Lt?”

Rainbow sat down next to the batpony, wrapping her wing around the other pony as she looked to be ready to shatter. “Hey, it's alright,” Dash assured her as the batpony pressed herself against Rainbow, tears forming in her eyes yet she kept herself together.

“Midnight, I need to know where Datura is,” I told her softly, the batpony pointing at the room ahead. Glancing over at Rainbow, she gave me a nod to go ahead while she remained behind.

Stepping through to the next room, I looked over at all the cots with bandaged up ponies but only headed over to one. Datura lay on her side, a bandage wrapped around the stump of what was left of her rifht wing and leg. Her breathing was rhythmical but she was whimpering in her sleep. I swallowed as I put my claw lightly on her shoulder in a futile attempt to comfort her.

“Who the buck are you?” I heard a pony hiss, a nurse stomping over to see what I was doing with her patient.

“It's alright... He's alright...” Both me and the nurse looked down at the bed, Datura looking back up at the two of us, her voice hoarse. “Sorry cap, set of strays got me... should have found better cover...”

“Don't apologise, Datura. You did your duty,” I said, gritting my beak in an attempt not to give away my feelings.

“The others... Midnight-”

“They're alive. Midnight and Dash are outside and Cypher and Gilda are looking for you elsewhere in the camp,” I informed her, hearing the tent open up again behind me, the nurse letting in Rainbow and Midnight.

“You have ten minutes. My patients need rest and most ponies here are set to be transported over to hospitals down south soon,” the nurse warned.

“Understood.”

Midnight, in the meanwhile, had carefully hugged the other batpony, the two talking to one another in whispers.

“Dash, I need you to find Gilda and Cypher and bring them here after you've had a word with Datura. I'll take care of Midnight while you're out.”

Dash didn't reply, merely nodding as she shot a haunted look at the hurt batpony.

After speaking with Datura, Dash had quickly found our other two squadmates and brought them back to the medical tent, stretching our allowed time a little to allow them to say goodbye too. I'd have to make sure she was to be transferred to a hospital in Canterlot where she could get the attention of one of the princesses. Departing with Rainbow, we headed for the camp's command center, leaving Midnight to be looked after by Gilda and Cypher.

The guards to the command post double checked us before letting us in, guiding us to where the officers where planning.

“...We need to centralise our efforts, pretty much every unit is running their own medical stations!”

I saw a set of officers standing around their central table, some of which I knew and others I had not met before.

“Captain Grey, good of you to join us. I'd heard you were about the camp,” General Stonehoof had seen me enter and had turned to greet me.

“Appologies, general, I was tracking down two missing members of my team.”

The unicorn that had just been briefing the general pointed at me. “Case and point.”

“The eleventh had the best organised setup of the places I looked, I'd suggest using their operation to expand and centralise,” I provided, having heard enough of the argument to understand what it was about.

General Stonehoof nodded and looked at the unicorn. “There you go. Consolidate the medical stations there.” The unicorn saluted and rushed off, the General motioning for me to step up to the table. “The ability to coordinate with the pocket was invaluable, your assistance was noted and appreciated. How is your team?”

“We're one down,” I responded, “Heavily wounded.”

“I'm sorry to hear that.” Stonehoof replied, letting out a sigh. “That seems to be the word of the day. We saved over two thousand ponies, except entire units are shattered.”

“Not a great state of affairs,” I agreed, looking at the map in front of me, seeing various defensive lines drawn in south of Manehattan. “General, you need to invest in magic suppression fields.”

I looked over in major Steel's direction, the stallion looking as if he hadn't slept since the breakout.

Join the club.

“Major, how was the frequency of attacks around Tenpony tower?” I asked.

“Initially as intense as everywhere but it quickly simmered down to the 'calmest' sector of my line,” The major provided, general Stonehoof just watching as he waited for me to make my point.

“Thought so,” I turned back to the general. “The griffons are infiltrated by changelings, the anti-magic field at Tenpony may have been degrading their command and control ability... It was also an areal denial weapon for said changelings, they couldn't enter it.”

“And how do you know that?” the General inquired.

“Need to know, General.”

That turned a few heads in the command center, the general, too, raised an eyebrow. “I shall take it under advisement then. Major, get your ponies who set that up on the case. Thank you Captain Grey, you prove a useful asset again.”

A quick salute later me and Dash left and found an empty meeting room to discuss our next course of action. “So, where are we going next?”

I sighed, putting pen to paper. “ We need to inform ERGIS about what we figured out and set up a plan with our changelings. If this is entirely fueled by changeling interference then we need to focus on them rather than the griffons.”

I wrote up my report while Dash watched, the two of us sitting in silence after I sent it over to Canterlot and waited for the reply.

“Jack, are you okay?”

I closed my eyes and grit my beak. I had to be okay, I couldn't break down now, the others were relying on me... Rainbow was relying on me.

“Yes,” I replied in barely but a whisper, Rainbow scooting over and wrapping her wing around me.

“Just know I'm here for you, okay?”

I nodded ever so slightly, resting my head on hers until the candle's flame brightened and a new letter was pushed through.

“What does it say?” Rainbow asked after I finished reading it.

“Queen Alvearium and princess Luna respectively are sending a unit to Fillydelphia. They apparently have a plan,” I told her, showing the message to her as well. “We're supposed to meet up with them there.”

“If we are then we should get packing, we might be able to hitch a ride on one of the trains taking casualties down there,” Rainbow proposed. “If we're fast then we can take Datura along and bring her down to the hospital there ourselves.”

I gave her a nod. “Sounds like a plan. I'll inform the General of our departure and we'll get moving.”

Author's Note

Greetings from Baghdad. Since I have barely anything else to do than work and write I might as well put my back into this one and check off another complete box. Apologies for the long wait.