//------------------------------// // Staying Home // Story: The Great Equestrian War // by Rainbow_Dash_14008 //------------------------------// I stand up along with everypony else, and start walking to the door, when a hoof on my shoulder stops me. I turn around, it's the Commander. "Not you Bluebell," she says, "you're staying here." "What? But I can help!" I protest, "I know how to fight! I can-" She puts her hoof to my mouth to quiet me. It feels like metal, meaning she already has on armor. "Tell me, how long have you been wearing that cloak?" she asks. "Since yesterday morning," I reply. "And also tell me, how many big battles have you been in with it on?" I hang my head, "None..." "Exactly," she says, "trust me, it is very tricky moving quickly in a battle while wearing a cloak. Hey, tell ya what, after this, I'll train you and show you how. Sound cool?" "Fine," I say. "Awesome," she replies, "Now feel free to do whatever here. Maybe you should help Cheerilee with the foals. Don't worry! You won't be alone. It would be so uncool if I took the whole army with me on a small rescue mission and left the base unprotected! I've got to go. See ya!" "Um...bye! And good luck!" I call after her. I'm puzzled, as she acted quite differently then when I first met her. "Wow," I hear somepony say, and I jump. It's Lyra, and I can tell that she had just heard every bit of the little exchange that I had with the Commander. "Wow," she says again, "the Commander offered to train you? Man you're lucky, she NEVER offers to train anypony! She must really like you!" "I guess...but what was that about?" I ask, "She acted so...different from yesterday..." "Oh, the Commander has these mood swingy things," Lyra explains, "and she gets excited when there's any sort of battle. That Pegasus sure loves fighting!" "Lyra!" I hear somepony call, it was Bon Bon, waiting impatiently by the door, "What are you doing? We have to go!" "Coming Bonny!" Lyra calls back, "Bye Bluebell!" "Bye guys!" I shout, "Good luck and be safe!" They leave, leaving me the only pony in the mess hall. I sigh. My new friends were putting themselves in danger, and here I was doing nothing! I should follow them, I think, No matter what the Commander said. I shake my head, No, that would just cause more trouble. The Commander was right, I have no idea how to fight in this cloak! I'll just get hurt. Or worse! But your new friends... I'll just put them in danger! And then I could lose them. Just like... But it's a rescue mission! What if one of your old friends were one of the ponies needing rescue! Then the Commander and the others can rescue them! They don't need my help, they're trained fighters! But- I shake my head harder, arguing with myself wouldn't make the situation better! I leave the mess hall. Some ponies run past me, all armored up for the battle. Soon though the hallway is empty. I walk, still thinking. About the battle. About all my friends. About Celestia. About Luna. Chrysalis. The new enemies. Spells. My cloak. For some reason my thoughts stick to my cloak. I look at it, brown, kinda tattered. Looks a lot like the costume I wore at the Hearth's Warming Eve play. Except a lot more concealing. As I look at it...not as concealing as I thought. As I walk the bottom of my hooves and tail popped out. The hooves I'm not that worried about. I've seen a lot of purple ponies in my life, I'm sure that nopony would connect my color with my true identity. It may clash with my fake name, but hopefully nopony will notice. But my tail... My tail is a problem. I haven't seen another pony with a tail like mine. If somepony saw it and my hooves they'd instantly make the connection! I know what I must do... I search until I find an empty room. I enter it and put up a sound proofing spell and a lock spell so nopony can get in, or hear me. First things first, I take off my cloak. Oh it feels so nice! A second later I shiver. I had gotten used to the warmth of the cloak that without it it felt freezing. Ignoring the sudden chill, I slowly stretch out my wings. "Ow!" I gasp, my wings are stiff from not moving for so long. I flap them a couple times, gently, until the pain went away. Then I flap them harder until I could l can lift myself a couple feet from the ground. I land and refold them. "Note to self," I gasp, "find a place to stretch wings a couple times a day." Can't let my wings get so weak that they're unusable. Ok, time to do what I came here to do. Using my magic, I slice my tail clean off. I leave a little, so my tail is short. The cloak won't show it anymore now! Reminds me of what Rarity did when we met that serpent. Rarity... I try to stop thinking about her, about my friends. But I can't. Tears start streaming down my face as I start to cry. I miss them so much! If only I hadn't agreed to go alone... I sit and cry for who knows how long, my cloak and tail lying beside me. Finally I stop. I put the cloak back on. But what do I do with my tail? I think, and find out that there's a pocket on the inside of my cloak. I use my magic to shrink my cut off tail, and place it in there. I remove all the spells from the door and leave. Remembering something else that the commander had said, I head to where Cheerilee takes care of the little colts and fillies, to see if I can help.