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Dear Fluttershy,834 words
Love, Rainbow Dash1,147 words
Reunion: The Walk of the Dead (Part 1 of 6)1,834 words
Reunion: Voices of the Distant Star (Part 2 of 6)1,381 words
Reunion: Parting and Familiar Feelings (Part 3 of 6)1,303 words

Reunion: The Walk of the Dead (Part 1 of 6)

"You ready, Rainbow Dash?".................BANG.THUD.

"No!!!" I bolted awake in my cot, sweat dripping down my face. "God dammit, not that dream again." I sighed as I got up and stretched my wings, snapping any loose connections and bolts into place before setting out on my normal morning routine. Or at least, what had been my normal routine for the last 30 years

-Uniform....check

-Ranks......check

-Dog tags.....check

And finally the icing on the cake. I procured the small silver box from my bag, removing one of the red vials from within, being careful not to knock any of Fluttershy's letters out of it. Oh, I don't think i explained what these red vial are for, so listen closely. My mechanical parts aren't light and aren't really efficient when it comes to speed and overall aerial effectiveness. My normal pegasus magic isn't enough to support the weight and to compensate for what they reduce in speed, so the princess made me these vials to help run things smoother. Think of it as an extra boost of pegasus magic.

I slid the vial into the slot on my hoof and felt the familiar pain as the magic in the vial flowed into me.

"God this is going to be a long day." I looked over and noticed something I must have previously overlooked, for sitting on the small rolling case i called a wardrobe laid a small piece of paper. "Huh, when the hell did that get there."

I trotted over to the case and looked at the paper.......

Colonel,

Your departure date was pushed up to today, your bus leaves at 1100 hours sharp.No need to thank me for it, just think of it as your gift. See you whenever the shows start back up!

Happy Birthday,

1st Lt. Spitfire

"Hehe, Spitfire you glorious bitch." I laughed just before realization hit me.... it was already 10:45. "Fuck, nice timing to Spits." I hurriedly threw my things together before rushing out from my now vacant tent. The bus was already being loaded with some other soldiers and others were loading the cargo.

I dropped my stuff with the loading crew just as someone smashed into me headlong.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Colonel." A young, blue and grey unicorn stood in front of me in the most tensed up salute i have ever seen. The look on his face was as stern as the toughest of Generals and yet as soft as the newest of recruits.

I laughed and stood, brushing the dirt off my black and silver uniform. "At ease man." I think he was more surprised to hear me laugh then yell at him. "It's all good, I used to do the same to my 1st Lt. just to piss her off."

"It worked ever time, but I always got her back in the end." Spitfire practically sang the words before doing a back flip off of one of the machine guns and landing between it and me.

"Oh yeah you did, remember when you loaded my gun with bubble soap."

"Hehe yeah, that was classic. I also remember how pissed you got." She pointed her hoof at the scar above her right eye. "It still hurts you know."

"Come on, Spits, that was nearly 8 years ago. And in my defense you did cause the gun to blow up in my face."

"Yeah, i guess i did."

I smiled, for the first time in ages it felt like. I walked over to her and gave her a big hug. "Imma miss you Spits. You know when the Wonderbolts' shows start up again."

"In about a month, if I'm correct. I also," She grinned, "believe that our first show is going to be at Ponyville, and also there are some lifetime tickets for a friend and some of her friends."

"Awesome!" The bus honked. 11 o'clock already. "Well, I guess I'll see you around. Drop by and see me and Flutters when you get the chance ok, the kids been looking forward to meeting her Auntie Spitfire." That was another thing about war, simple things such as learning your child's name were tough. Many letters sent, many received, many lost.

"Hehe, you know I'll stop by, now get out of here."

I nodded and bolted to the bus, getting just inside the doors before it started to roll away. We traveled for 6 hours from Los Pegasus to Stalliongrad and finally towards Ponyville. It looked like I was the only one getting of at Ponyville so that would be good, no major welcome back party, unless Pinkie had one stored away.

"Hey, driver."

The driver looked back at me then back to the road. "Yes Col. Dash?"

"Can you drop me at the Ponyville Cemetery, I have some business to take care of there before I even show my face in town."

"I can."

"Thank you." I spent the rest of the trip contemplating how ever pony would react to me being back home. I worried about how Fluttershy had been over the last 30 years. Thanks to Twilight's magic (and permission from Celestia) was able to take my DNA and artificially inseminate her, but that was an image i really didn't want to see, even though I know Twilight was very professional about it. At least she had our filly to keep her company over the last 4 years. Overall, the thing I worried about most was how Ponyville had changed since I last saw it. I remember that Scootaloo was made the weather manager 10 years ago, but other than that I have no idea what has happened to the town.

"Here we are, Ponyville Cemetery." The bus stopped in front of the iron gates of the cemetery, the light pitter-patter of rain falling on the windshield.

"Thank You." I walked to the front and handed him a small bag of 50 bits.

"Your welcome Colonel." I gathered my things from the cargo area and watched the bus roll away before turning to the cemetery and walking in. The many gravestones saddened me, all the dead laying in their eternal slumber beneath the ground.

There weren't this many dead before the war, I didn't think it would affect Ponyville this badly I walked further along the path until i reached a small group of headstones at the top of the hill. The lettering on the backs read "Apple". It didn't take a genius to guess that I really couldn't hold back my tears as i knelled down in front of Applejack and Big Mac's graves.

"Hey, Applejack. Big Mac. I thought i should let you guys know that I'm back in town. The last 30 years have been hard, but it's been even harder without you guys here." I kissed the headstone and traced the Equestrian Cross on it with my hoof.

"Réquiem ætérnam dona eis Dómine; et lux perpétua lúceat eis. Requiéscant in pace. Amen." I walked over and did the same with the Cake's, Spike's and Luna's tomb. I eventually reached Derpy and Dinky's mausoleum. They had almost gotten one as big as Luna did, but that was because I requested it for them. The day Derpy died, Dinky fell ill with the consumption that was going around town, she died a little over 6 hours latter.

The iron gate that blocked the entrance had been unlocked, so i stepped inside. The back wall held there tombstones. I walked up to Derpy's and was saddened but relieved to see the dog tag hanging from the corner of the stone etching.

"How are you Derpy?" I looked over at the above ground coffin, the flag of the Celestial / Lunar United Republic laying across the top of it. "I've missed you. I'm sorry that you had to die, I wished I would have taken the bullet for you. You didn't have to go to war but i made you." Tears began streaming down my face and falling in time with the rain outside. "At least....at least you have Dinky to keep you company in the afterlife. I'm so sorry Derpy." I sat for what seemed like an hour crying over her tomb. Throughout the war, only her, Spitfire, and Daz were my friends. Daz was found to be a traitor and executed by the military and Spitfire was gone most of the time, so Derpy kept me company.

I stood up wiping the tears off my cheeks and traced the cross on both her's and Dinky's coffins before muttering an old Latin prayer that the preacher said at my parents funeral.

"Dómine Iesu Christe, Rex glóriæ, líbera ánimas ómnium fidélium defunctórum de pœnis inférni et de profúndo lacu; líbera eas de ore leónis, ne absórbeat eas tártarus, ne cadant in obscúrum; sed signifier sanctus Míchaël repræséntet eas in lucem sanctam, quam olim Abrahæ promisísti et sémini eius. "

"O Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of hell and from the bottomless pit; deliver them out of the lion’s mouth, lest hell should swallow them up, lest they fall into the outer darkness; but let Thy standard-bearer, Saint Michael, bring them back into Thy holy light, which Thou didst promise of old to Abraham and to his seed." I turned around and saw Twilight standing outside the mausoleum under her umbrella. Her own tears fell, but I could tell they were more from happiness than pain or sadness.

I nodded before walking over to her and hugging her tight. "It's good to see you, Twi."

"It's good to see you to, Rainbow Dash. I had a feeling I would find you up here, once i saw the bus leaving town from this place, I knew it had to be you." She smiled a little bit returning my hug. "Everyone's waiting to see you. You going to come down to Sugar Cube Corner?"

"Actually, I think I have some business at home to take care of."

"I understand. Fluttershy will be happy to see you again, and i know Storm Dancer will be wanting to meet her mother."

"Storm Dancer, so that's her name."

"Yep."

"I love it."

"Fluttershy knew you would. Now you might want to get on home, Stormy will be getting home from school soon and you might want to be there waiting for them."

"Hehe your right. I'll see you around Twilight. I'll come by later and then we ca-" I fell over with a heavy metallic thunk against the ground. Dammit, I used up way to much energy

"Uhh... Rainbow Dash. What is up with your wing!?" She was staring at me with a curiously horrified look. I looked at it and the color drained from my face....

The flesh-like covering had ripped revealing the metal feathers beneath it. I stared back up at Twilight.

"I can explain."

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