Location: 34408XP, Turquoise Sea

Date: 20 December 1037, 1:42 PM

The first thing that Scootaloo felt was the rushing wind on her face. Then the blinding light. To top it off, her head hurt. She couldn't make out anything. Was she dead? She raised a hoof to her eyes to shield them as they adjusted to... wait, what was that sound? And what's that blue wall in the distance? She tried to piece together what was going on, but...

The laughter of a maniac pierced through her dazed senses: "Don't you see?! Ten million lives! Ten million lives! All it would have taken is ten million-" The voice was cut off by a deafening explosion.

Scootaloo felt the shockwave throw her back into her seat. Wait, she was seated? Her vision was blurry, but yes, she could see that she was seated. Floating in the air, too. The ringing in her ears subsided long enough that she heard the flapping of fabric above her. She looked up. Was that a parachute?

A familiar female voice made its way into her ears. "Scootaloo! Are you okay?! Please tell me you're okay!"

Scootaloo rubbed her eyes and shook her head. She was sitting in her pilot's seat, roughly fifty meters in the air, and she was descending toward the ocean. Not too far from her was the smoldering wreck of the super submarine that she and her comrades had spent a considerable amount of effort to destroy.

Oh, I ejected.

She reached up to adjust her headset. "Um, I'm okay. I think I'll need a new plane, though."

"Oh thank Celestia you're okay. Don't worry, we'll pick you up as soon as the A/O is clear."

It's not clear? Scootaloo suddenly became acutely aware of the roar of jet engines and gunfire above her. Ah, right. Forgot that there were some hostile aircraft left. She wasn't worried, though. With the Equinox destroyed, her comrades could easily mop up the rest of them. All she had to do now was wait.

Location: ERN Vanhoover, 34408XP, Turquoise Sea

Date: 20 December 1037, 4:30 PM

Scootaloo sat in the mess hall alongside the other Wonderbolts. Usually, there'd be a lot of conversation, and they'd be celebrating the success of their latest mission, but this one was harrowing for more reasons than one.

For starters, they were missing one at their table.

"What was Big House's real name?" asked Iris.

Truthfully, Scootaloo didn't remember. That made her feel even worse.

"Smoke Stack," said Egghead. Usually, one of them would crack a joke about her knowing every little detail, but none of them were in the mood.

There was silence for some time. Scootaloo stared at the fruit salad on her plate, but she'd long since lost her appetite. Her mind went back to that blasted captain. He had singled her out and spoken only to her, only paying the barest minimum attention to anypony else. She briefly wondered if he was actually that insane or if he was on some sort of drug. Then again, Nightmare Moon cultists tended to behave strangely, so...

"I'll miss him," said Blastoff.

"Yeah... me too," sighed Rumble.

After another moment of silence, Scootaloo heard hoofsteps approaching them. She turned her head, then reflexively snapped to attention when she saw that it was General Rainbow Dash. Her companions haphazardly joined her in saluting when they noticed as well.

"At ease."

Scootaloo and the others sat back down. General Dash stood at the edge of the table, then tossed a few papers onto it. "Once you're all done here, we'll need you to fill these out. Nothing too important, but it is procedure."

"Yes ma'am," they said in loose unison.

General Dash removed her beret and tried to force a smile. "Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that the Equinox missed its target of Manehatten. The bad news is that a popular fishing area just off the coast is now somewhat irradiated, and the shockwave caused by the nuclear explosion broke a few windows."

That's something, at least.

"Furthermore, I have great news: For going above and beyond to prevent what would have been the single greatest loss of life in Equestrian history, you're all going to receive the Equestrian Medal of Freedom, the highest honor that any member of the military can achieve."

Each of them took turns to thank General Dash, but Scootaloo's mind was still elsewhere. The General took notice of this and asked her comrades to leave them for a moment. They nodded, then departed without complaint.

General Dash sat down next to her pupil. "Hey, Scoots? You all right?"

"...Not really."

"Why not? You saved Equestria."

"Yeah I know, it's just..." she bit her tongue.

The older mare reached a hoof out to Scootaloo's shoulder. "You wanna talk about it?"

"...They didn't eject," Scootaloo stared at her plate. "None of them did. Not even the ones who were young enough to grow up outside of the Chiropterra of old. They had so many opportunities to live, but none of them wanted to live in a world without Nightmare Moon."

There was quiet again.

Rainbow Dash sighed, "Some ponies are just... they just find something to hold onto, and they hold onto it so hard that they can't accept anything else. 'Cause if they let go, then that means their entire life was for nothing."

"What about us? What are we holding onto?"

"That's what makes us different, Scoots. We don't hold onto one thing, we hold onto lots of things. Our friends and our families. If one thing falters, then the others keep us floating."

Scootaloo closed her eyes again. "You know, Rainbow Dash? You'd make a good motivational speaker."

That got a good laugh out of her. "Oh please, I would never be caught dead trying to cheer up just anypony. I gotta keep up appearances, you know? I'm a strong, tough old mare."

It was Scootaloo's turn to laugh. "You're not that old."

"Okay, middle-aged, then."

The two of them descended into a brief fit of giggles. Eventually, Scootaloo reached over to hug her. "Thanks. You're the best."

Rainbow Dash reciprocated that hug. "Nah, Shortwing, what you did out there is gonna go down in history. I'm not the best anymore. You are."

Author's Note

I would have liked to make this story a bit longer, but the word limit for the contest was 10,000 words. It is what it is. I hope you enjoyed it, regardless.