“Now, you’re sure you’re absolutely alright?”

“Of course I am, Twilight!”  Shining Armor rolled his eyes and shifted in his cot.  “Honestly, I don’t even know why I’m in triage.  I’m fine!”

“90% of the skin on your back was burnt off, Shining,” Ramirez replied, smiling down at his friend.  Behind his head, the canvas of the massive tent serving as the triage center rustled with a gentle night breeze.  “The only reason you’re still alive is because of that ‘Swarm’ character, and we’re not even sure how in the hell he did it.”

“But I’m fine now!  I mean, just look around,” Shining sat up in his cot and motioned to the numerous cots around them.  On the cot just to his right, a SEAL slept with a blood-covered gauze bandage wrapped around his arm while a nurse switched out his blood pack.  To his left, a small filly rested in her parents’ arms while a vet looked over a massive burn on her flank, an IV packed with painkillers flowing into her stomach.  “There are tons of humans AND ponies that need way more help than me!  All I’m doing now is taking up a cot!  I should be out there; helping you guys hunt down the last of these jerks so we can…”

“Shining, sweetheart, just stay here for me, alright?”  Cadence pulled him in close.  “I’ve watched you die once tonight, and that is more than enough for me.”

“Oh, shoot,” he grumbled, crossing his arms and pouting.  She continued to snuggle with him, completely oblivious to the barely-ordered chaos surrounding them: the cries of nurses for more antibiotic or more plasma as another group kept a steady stream of cots flowing into the surgery tent, set up just across the square.

“Y’know what?  I got an idea,” Ramirez said.  Standing up, the SEAL managed to grab the attention of a nurse rushing by with a clipboard in one hand and a bag of plasma in the other.  “Excuse me, but could I grab you for a minute?”

“Ehh,” the nurse checked his watch and scanned around for his patients, but begrudgingly agreed.  “You’ve got thirty seconds.”

“Y’see, my friend here,” Ramirez motioned to Shining, “Was in a…set of strange circumstances.  He’s supposed to remain under observation, but he’d really like to…”

“Nobody under observation is allowed to leave their bed until they’ve been cleared by an on-duty Medical Technician,” the nurse drawled.  “That is standard triage procedure, soldier, and we have found no cause to alter that rule for ponies.”

“Yeah, I know the damn rules, but my friend…uh…” Ramirez leaned in close to whisper: “An hour ago, my friend had all the skin on his back burnt off and a few pieces of shrapnel embedded in his chest.”

The nurse’s eyes widened.  “My God, where’s your friend!?”  Ramirez simply pointed over to Shining, who removed a hoof from Cadence’s side just long enough to wave back at the nurse, whose jaw dropped in turn.  “Oh my shit, it was the Major, wasn’t it?”

Ramirez cocked an eyebrow.  “Now, how didja…”

“We’ve been briefed on some of the Major’s actions before,” the nurse replied, still watching Shining in stunned silence.  “I…I thought they were just stories or rumors.  It sounded like magic or something.”

“Before?  You mean this isn’t the first time he’s done something like this!?”

The nurse could only shake his head in reply.

“Well then, you of all people should know just how well-off my friend is now!  So if you could just give him something to do around here – he feels so useless sitting in a cot!”

“I still don’t know,” the nurse scratched his chin.  “Wartime triage procedures are VERY clear when it comes to patients under observation.”

“Oh, please, sir!”  Shining gasped, throwing his blanket off and kneeling at the nurse’s feet, Cadence’s arms still wrapped around his body and Twilight right on his hooves.  He summoned his best “sad puppy” face to beg: “I’m in tip-top shape, really!”

“Now hold on,” Cadence released his neck to face him.  “Shining, I already told you that I can’t worry about you anymore than I already have!  Can’t we just…”

“Cady dearest,” he took one of her hooves in his.  “You know I love you more than life itself, but you must also know I have to do this.  As a member of the Royal Guard, I need to be there for everypony who needs me, and these ponies…” he motioned to the wide array of cots spread out before them just as another cot carrying a pony writhing in pain for a broken leg was carried in, “…these ponies really need me.  They need somepony they can trust to tell them it’s all gonna be okay, and as a Royal Guard, that’s me.”

“I…honestly can’t see a hole in that logic, as much as I hate to admit it.”  Twilight sighed.

“Shineeyyy…” Cadence moaned.

“Listen,” he continued.  “I’m gonna stick around the tent.  I promise I won’t stray too far, so if something does happen to me, I’ll be right where I need to be, surrounded by the best doctors the humans have to offer.”

“Y’know what?”  The nurse finally said.  “That’s convinced me.  Hell, we could use a few extra hands…uh…hooves around here.  So tell y’what: if Ms. Cady gives us her ‘OK,’ I’ll let you do a few non-strenuous chores around here.”

Shining immediately turned his puppy-dog gaze towards his wife, clasping his hooves together under his chin and whimpering ever so slightly, his lower lip quivering.  The Alicorn rolled her eyes and relented almost immediately: “Alright, but nothing too bad.  And you better let me know if you start feeling off!”

“Love you darling,” he said, giving her a quick peck on the lips before rushing to the nurse’s side.

“And on the condition that I come with you!”  Cadence quickly added as she rushed to be near him.  

“Alright, with that settled, we need…” the nurse led the ponies off, leaving Ramirez and Twilight behind as Uris came jogging up to them, dodging IV stands and EKG machines.  

“Sorry to break up the reunion,” he panted sheepishly.  “But my fa… the Captain needs to see you immediately, Ms. Sparkle.”

“I…um…alright,” she sighed, casting one last look over her shoulder at her brother before trudging along towards the tent’s exit.  “I guess seeing him is the least I can do after the way I’ve acted.”

“Think nothing of it, Ms. Sparkle,” Uris chimed before turning to Ramirez.  The men sized each other up.  Though Uris was considered a second-line trooper and had nowhere near the training or experience the SEAL had, he figured he worked out enough to pose something of a challenge. They stared one another down, eyes narrowing, arms crossed.  “You’re the one who pulled that awesome shit on the rooftops earlier, arentcha?”  The pilot asked the SEAL.

“Yeah, that was me,” Ramirez shrugged.  “What about you?  I’ve been hearing some crazy stories about a chopper pilot who managed to wipe out an enemy squad with a pistol.”

“I had some help,” Uris replied, shrugging in Twilight’s direction.  

Ramirez looked over his shoulder at the little violet unicorn, then back at Uris, and grinned.  “Yeah, so did I.”

“Probably not as much as me,” Uris grinned back as the men strode towards the tent’s exit, right behind Twilight.  “Seriously though: this officer had a pistol right up to my skull, and that unicorn, right over there,” he pointed towards her, “pulled some teleportation shit at literally the last second!  Barely had time to get my bearings before…”

“Oh yeah?”  Ramirez said, holding the tent flap open for the pilot.  “Well, her brother kicked my ass!”

Uris’s jaw dropped as he raised his hand.  “You win, dude.  You’re the guy who fought a unicorn.”

“Damn straight,” Ramirez laughed, and the men clapped one another on the back as they followed Twilight to the Commander’s office, setup in a small general store just off the square.

Next Chapter: Chapter XXXIII: Rock Drill Estimated time remaining: 23 Minutes