That's how Equestria and its citizens came to be known under the rule of Princess Celestia, mover of the sun. Her rule was absolute, but not harsh. Everypony had their place, and everypony knew what that place was.
Luna, the mare of the moon, had returned from her thousand-year imprisonment as Nightmare Moon on the lunar surface. After her defeat in the ruins outside of Ponyville, she returned to being Luna and returned with her sister to once again take over her duties of raising the moon and owning the night.
But something festered in the heart of the night mare. She saw how there were classes of ponies that sat higher on the ladder just because of their race or bloodline. The unicorns, with their inherent magic, were favored most by the Princess. They and the pegasi with their cloudborne homes had more freedom and independence than the earth ponies who worked the land and inhabited much of Equestria...and Luna grew upset. Before she had become the jealous Nightmare Moon, everypony under the sun and moon were equal. Those who worked did for the betterment of all, and those who sought knowledge shared with everypony else.
For many years after her awakening at the hands of Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony, she brooded over these facts and did her duties as lifter of the moon. She watched as the ponies in Canterlot and all over Equestria became more and more separated...until one day she could no longer stand to watch her people be subjected to this.
Fleeing the Royal Palace and taking up residence in the ruins she fought in not all that long ago, she began recruiting ponies of all races and birth with promises of equality and a new future.
The New Lunar Republic was born.
Many ponies immediately divided between the two factions. Those loyal to Princess Celestia migrated towards Canterlot, eager to ensure their Princess and society stayed safe. The followers of Luna flocked to her ruins and the nearby town of Ponyville, making it their new capital as the New Lunar Republic officially seceded from the Empire.
Princess Celestia was saddened at these events, but a more shocking turn of events was yet to come. So idealistic were the Lunar citizens that they demanded that the Solar Empire disband, and all ponies would be included in the Republic as equals. This call was met by defiance by the Solar Empire, and three months after the initial demands, the New Lunar Republic declared war.
Families have been destroyed. Friendships have been torn apart as loyalties divided. Some ponies fled both factions, determined to make a living on their own in the wilderness of Equestria. Others have turned to more malicious tactics, hiring themselves out as mercenaries to whichever faction is paying more at the time.
For 6 ponies from Ponyville, this will be the hardest time of their lives. Ideologies and battle have torn them apart and spread them far from their homes.
War has come to Equestria. The Elements of Harmony are broken and scattered. Can these 6 ponies overcome their differences and unite to end this war? Or will the conflict be too much for them, leaving them bitter and resentful for the rest of their lives?
The warmth of the sun kissed her wings. It was a feeling she loved, but one that she was also quickly getting tired of. For months now, she had spent most of her time at these high altitudes waiting for events that may not come. She sighed quietly and did a little backflip, stretching out tired muscles and worn out tendons. Six hours she’d been up here today, higher than the highest clouds. She looked down on those clouds, fondly remembering the times gone past where she would laze around on them waiting for friends to come by, or bucking them away to let the warm light of the sun stream down to all the ponies below.
Rainbow Dash was tired of the war.
For eight months now, Rainbow had been a lone flier for the Solar Empire. Her natural talent for speed had initially gotten her placed as a scout and reconnaissance pony, keeping near the ever-changing front lines and reporting back to other ponies what she discovered. Three months into the war, however, she was given a new assignment. She remembered that day as the day she started getting annoyed at the sun’s warmth. She thought back on the events immediately prior, the act that got her placed where she was now.
She had charged into the commanders’ tent, panting heavily and legs trembling. Her rainbow mane was caked with dirt and leaves, evidence of the methods she had to use to avoid being caught. The assembled officers turned towards her, and the closest pony motioned for her to speak.
“They’re coming,” she remembered herself saying, “they’re heading straight here. They’ve got to have close to 200 earth ponies and at least 3 pegasus bomber squadrons on the way.” The assembled officers gasped in shock, that kind of a force would decimate their little encampment, as they only hosted a company of 50 ponies and a single squad of pegasi. They would be outmanned, and probably completely decimated if the enemy had managed to hide any unicorns in those earth pony squads.
“Are you sure about those numbers? Why would they be sending such a massive force here?” one of the captains asked. The colonel at the head of the table stomped a hoof and scowled angrily at the map spread out on the table between them all before speaking.
“We’re shortly due to receive reinforcements. The higher-ups believe that if we can put together enough of a force here and drive forward that we can split the land the New Lunar Republic holds and cut off their supply lines. There are camps like this all around the Republic’s land. If it worked, we could surround a good portion of their forces and either force them to surrender, or...” his words died off, as even throughout these past few months of conflict it was difficult for anypony to think of taking another pony’s life.
Rainbow Dash stood there quietly throughout this exchange, silently cursing Luna for instigating this whole war. She thought of all the ponies out in the barracks and mess tents, and how they would never survive the force that was coming towards them. They would be wiped out entirely. With a small snort of determination, she raised her head and shook her mane, causing some of the debris to fall out of it.
“I’ll head them off,” she heard herself saying, not quite believing the words coming out of her own mouth. “I’ll try to create a diversion while you ponies evacuate. Get somewhere safe. If I can find you afterwards...” she trailed off, knowing how unlikely that scenario was. The officers all looked at her like she was insane.
“There’s no way you’ll survive! A lone scout against that size of a force? You won’t stand a chance!” a lieutenant exclaimed. The colonel shook his head sadly.
“Unfortunately, it’s probably the best chance we’ve got. Rainbow here is a good flier, one of the best. If she can deceive the enemy into going the wrong direction, even a little bit, we can save the lives of many ponies here.” He looked Rainbow Dash in the eye with a steeled expression. “I wish you luck, Rainbow. May Celestia protect you.”
Rainbow Dash saluted the colonel with a tired hoof. “Don’t worry, colonel, I’ve got a plan. I don’t know if it will work, but it’s my...and our...best chance right now.” With that, she turned and slowly walked out of the tent, with all of the commanders behind her bowing their heads in a silent prayer for the lone pegasus.
She shook her head to clear it from the memory. She was on duty, and she had to keep a close eye on the skies beneath her. She did a couple small tricks to stretch more muscles, making sure she kept herself out of sight behind the higher clouds. She’d never be able to pull off her maneuver if she was spotted beforehand.
As she hovered in the heights, she thought back to her friends. Whatever happened to those five ponies she had hung out with back in Ponyville, before it was taken as the capital of the New Lunar Republic? She wondered how the quiet Fluttershy and bookish Twilight Sparkle dealt with the outbreak of the war. Fluttershy had always hated conflict, so she probably fled the fighting to live in peace with her animals. Twilight had disappeared shortly before the war began, having been sent on a diplomatic mission to Ponyville to try and make peace with Princess Luna. Nopony had heard from her since.
She wondered if Rarity, with her style and grace, was getting along well in Canterlot, having moved there after the war started. She wouldn’t dirty herself on the front lines. Maybe she was making dresses for the bigwigs there, or designing the uniforms the troops wore. Rainbow Dash hoped that she was doing okay for herself.
She had heard rumors that Applejack had sided with Luna and was fighting out on the front lines, with Big Macintosh running Sweet Apple Acres to provide food for the troops out in the fields. She idly wondered if Applejack was among the many wounded she had seen over the last few months.
The only pony she could say for certain that she didn’t wish to run across out here in warzone was Pinkie Pie. After the war broke out, with chaos and conflict raging across Equestria, Pinkie Pie had gotten despondent that her parties weren’t enough to cheer up the Equestrian citizens she came across. Her mind reverted to that of Pinkamena Diane Pie, the odd and insane pony that Rainbow Dash had met only once before.
Pinkie Pie’s newfound madness caused her to gather a group of mercenaries to her, calling themselves the P.A.R.T.Y. Squad, and hiring themselves out to whoever paid them the most that day. They had no remorse, and were utterly ruthless in engaging whomever was their enemy at the time. Once the killing was over, however, the true horror began. The bodies of the slain were made into “party attendees”, and their “parties” usually ended up with bloodstains and property damage covering entire towns.
Rainbow Dash took the time to shed a tear for the friends she couldn’t see, the friends she missed so much. She missed Pinkie Pie’s parties, and the occasional crash through Twilight’s library windows. She missed her athletic competitions with Applejack. She missed Rarity’s sometimes-snooty sense of fashion, and the dress that she had worn for the Grand Galloping Gala years ago. She missed Fluttershy’s quiet kindness, even if she were scared of her own shadow most of the time.
Most of all, she missed being together with them all. Ever since she was recruited into the Solar Empire’s fighting forces, she had been alone. Sure, there were the ponies in the encampments, but she was never there long enough to even learn their names. She was only ever in the encampments for a day or two at most before heading back out to the field for more reconnaissance work. She missed having friends to hang out with, to compete with, and to laugh with.
Wiping the tears away that were building up in her eyes, she tried to empty her mind of the thoughts of the friendships that were forgotten. She had a job to do, even if it was just hovering in the sky for ten or twelve hours out of the day, and reminiscing over her old friends wasn’t getting that job done. Having cleared the final drops from her eyes with her forelegs, she once again turned her attention downwards.
Scanning the sky below, she was about to resign herself to another few hours of boredom before the sun went down when she noticed a dark spot against the ground below. She squinted her eyes for a better look, then opened them wide as a small smirk came across her face. A large flight of pegasi had just taken off from Republic territory and were heading towards one of the larger camps on the outskirts of the Solar Empire’s land.
She took a few deep breaths and steeled herself for what she was about to do. Judging their distance and height, Rainbow Dash mentally counted down a few seconds, and then threw herself into a steep dive, remaining as quiet as she could the whole time. As she plunged towards the ground, she placed both her forehooves in a diver’s point in front of her and began to pick up speed. The timing on this had to be perfect.
As she fell, she took note of the air bending in front of her. She pushed herself faster, watching the deformity in the air grow and begin to wrap itself around her. She needed as much speed as she could get if she was going to pull off a Sonic Rainboom in the center of the enemy squadron. Rainbow had gotten this trick down to an art form, and now was using it as a weapon. As the wind whipped past her face and blew back her mane, her mind once again drifted back to that day when she first thought of using the Rainboom offensively.
She had taken off from the camp and, using a long and out-of-the-way path, flew up above the cloud cover. Rainbow already hated this war, and she didn’t like what she was about to do. Once she was high enough, she stopped and looked out over the land until she found the advancing enemy. She flapped her wings and flew towards the enemy, hoping that what she was about to do would work.
As she approached the oncoming forces, she began to throw herself into a dive. Three pegasus bomber squadrons meant a lot of bombs, and if she could disrupt their flight with a Sonic Rainboom enough to cause them to fall into their own troops...
Rainbow blinked the tears out of her eyes. Never before had she intentionally caused harm to another pony. Sure, there had been accidents, and she had certainly caused some property damage because of her flying, but never had she willingly attacked another pony. What she was about to do was horrible, but if she didn’t do it then all those ponies in that camp would be dead by nightfall.
She plunged down, the air crackling around her as the wave of energy built up in front of her. Just as she was about to hit the same altitude as the enemy pegasi, she surged forward with a hard flap of her wings.
BOOM.
From behind her, it didn’t sound big enough. She banked up to avoid hitting the ground, and that’s when she heard the screaming. As she circled back up above their lines, she looked down on the enemy...or what used to be the enemy forces.
The Sonic Rainboom had been perfectly placed at a height mere inches above the backs of the flying pegasi. The shockwave of color and sound, being so close, snapped their wings like twigs in a tornado and sent the pegasi spinning out of control to the ground. With 20 pegasi per squadron, and each pony carrying two bombs, the ground forces were all but annihilated. Only a few wounded soldiers remained.
As she looked upon the field below her, Rainbow Dash felt all the muscles in her chest and throat tighten up. She closed her eyes, which were streaming with tears, and immediately took off back towards the direction of Empire territory. She had saved those ponies in the camp, but she felt like a monster.
Rainbow Dash shook her head again to focus on the here and now. Something was wrong. She couldn’t tell what, but she had an immediate feeling that something was different about this attack. She was almost upon the enemy, but she still glanced around to try and figure out what was causing this feeling of dread that took up residence in her chest. Two seconds passed before her eyes widened and she figured it out.
There were no ground troops.
During all these months of fighting, never was a pegasus squadron sent out without being accompanied by at least one squad of ponies on the ground as support. There were no ground troops accompanying this squadron, and the squadron wasn’t carrying any bombs. Instead, strapped to each of their backs and stomachs was a large crystal. Painted on their sides in liquid rainbows were images of a noose.
This was a suicide squadron.
Rainbow Dash knew that if she aborted the attempt now, she’d likely end up dead as a result of the g-forces that would be exerted on her. She narrowed her eyelids to slits, and pushed forward. All her muscles screamed in exertion as she hit that magical speed, and
BOOM.
The air was filled with color all around her. This wasn’t supposed to happen, her mind said, the Rainboom only makes a ring-shaped shockwave. Why is the air in front of me colored? she wondered, briefly, before a loud cracking sound was heard.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.
The air lit up with a white light, brighter than the daytime sun. Rainbow Dash couldn’t see where she was going. She tumbled a bit in the air, attempting to find anywhere where the extreme white light didn’t exist. She didn’t even see the shockwave come up behind her and slam her towards the ground. As she lost consciousness, her only thought was, So they found a way to fight it. I guess that means I’m not so great anymore.
She blacked out before she hit the forest.
Epilogue
She felt a cool breeze wafting over her face. She was in incredible pain, but she knew she was alive. Everything hurt, and she didn’t dare to open her eyes to see what kind of shape she was in. As the pain flared and she started slipping back into unconsciousness, she thought she heard a familiar quiet voice.
“Oh...oh Rainbow Dash...what did they do to you?”
She cracked her eyes open just enough to see a flash of yellow and pink before she slipped back into the darkness.
She was cold. She was hungry. She was tired. Most of all, she felt alone.
Applejack rolled over in the pile of hay and blankets that served as a makeshift bed. The hay was old and getting too dry, and it made her itch every time she moved. She shifted the blanket underneath her slightly, trying to keep it between her and the hay as much as possible.
She had just arrived in the barracks on the outskirts of the town of Gladhoof less than a week ago, having been sent as part of a small squad meant to replace the losses recently suffered in battle against soldiers of the Solar Empire earlier in the month. There were less than 30 ponies here in total, and most of the “buildings” were hastily constructed tents made out of tarps held up by branches.
She hated it here.
For all her weariness, however, she just couldn’t fall asleep. Three hours had gone by since she had first lain down on the makeshift bedding, and she was still wide awake. She sighed and rolled off the pile, stretching her legs as she stood. As she started to walk outside to get some fresh air, she took a look around at the other ponies in the tent.
The ponies all around her were all earth ponies, Applejack noticed. She hadn’t seen any pegasi or unicorns around the barracks since she arrived, and she knew that none had come with her when her small group got transferred here.
Shoot, Ah guess they’re needed more near Ponyville, she thought to herself. Since Luna’s gone and made that her capital, she’d want ta have th’ best magic defenses she can. Still, ah wish we had some sorta backup here. If’n the commander’s right, an’ there are Solars comin’ back this way, we’re not gonna fare well.
She didn’t know any of the other ponies that were stationed here. None of them came from Ponyville, and for as large as the Apple family was, not a single one of them were here either. Everypony here was tired, worn down, and seemed to just...not care anymore. They all just went about their routines. Eating, sleeping, training...the monotony of it was driving her crazy.
Exiting the tent, she looked up at the sky. Even though the two alicorn princesses were at war with each other, they both knew the importance of keeping the day/night schedule going. The night sky was filled with thousands of stars, each a little pinprick of light in Luna’s sky. Applejack stared into those points of light, and wondered how her friends were doing. She hadn’t seen any of them since the Lunar Republic’s secession, and she was starting to dearly miss all of them. Even Rarity, the snooty pain-in-the-flank, she thought.
As she walked outside the barracks' border into a small wooded area, she began to think about why she was even here to begin with. She wasn't a soldier pony, though she might be stronger or tougher than some of the so-called "soldiers" back at camp. She was just a simple farm pony, who got caught up in the fervor of the war declarations that she left home and went out to fight.
"What I wouldn't give to be back at Sweet Apple Acres, doin' some applebuckin'," she muttered to herself as she passed by a pair of large willow trees and stepped into a clearing. "That's honest work, not sittin' here, waitin' for somepony to wander by so we can kick the tar out of 'em. Not like this group's gonna pull that off."
The clearing was well-lit, the light from the stars and moon making it feel like a safe haven, protected from the outside world. She sighed and laid herself down on the soft grass, just listening to the sounds of the woods around her. This was peaceful, and comfortable, unlike those old hay beds back at the camp. "This is how an earth pony should spend her time outside," she said around a yawn that snuck up on her. "I'll just catch a wink of sleep here, then be back at camp for the mornin' hooey." She laid her head down beside her hooves, and was quickly asleep.
The first thing she noticed when she woke up was that it was rather bright out for the morning. The next thing she noticed was the single apple laid in front of her. Blinking and rubbing the sleep from her eyes, her still-waking brain began to process this information. She leaned forward and took a bite of the apple, chewed for a moment, then sat up completely straight and looked skyward.
"Aw horseapples, how late did I sleep? It's gotta be almost noon, and I'm gonna be in a heap o' trouble back at the camp!" She quickly stood, and took another glance at the apple on the ground. She decided that one more bite for the trip was for the best, then turned and ran off towards the barracks. It wasn't until she rounded the final tree and was within view of the camp that she noticed the smell.
Thick plumes of acrid smoke billowed up from nearly every tent and hay pile. Ponies lay bleeding, unconscious or dead, nearly everywhere. There were craters in the ground, most likely from unicorn battle magic. The entire camp was destroyed, and it looked like it had been done so very thoroughly. A single flag bearing the emblem of the Solar Empire stood in the center of camp untouched, obviously planted after the destruction had been finished. Applejack couldn't help but stare, her flank falling to the ground as her back legs nearly fell out from underneath her.
"What did they do? I don't see anypony that's not ours layin' here," she said quietly to herself. "They musta come in the middle of the night. Took us out quick." Her eyes began to water as she replayed the likely scenario in her mind. "Why would they go through all this trouble for just a little camp like this?"
A rustle in the brush on her left made her jump to her feet. She ran back around the tree she was standing near, crouching low to the ground behind its trunk. Did they leave someone behind to watch for ponies comin' back? she thought. A murmur of voices she didn't recognize moving towards the camp confirmed her thoughts, and once they had moved far enough away, she sprang up and broke into a run back into the forest.
If I go this way far enough, I should get near Ponyville in 2 or 3 days. I've gotta tell Princess Luna what happened. She needs to know, she thought as she ran. What coulda been so important that they had to blast apart an entire camp near a town like this for?
The smoke from the fires was finally starting to thin out as five unicorns in all-black bodysuits gathered near the banner that had been planted in the former camp. The masks they were wearing kept out the acrid air and the terrible smell, but it didn't prevent the sight of the devastation from getting through. Though they had been the ones to do this, it never seemed to get any easier.
"We searched the entire camp, milady. There was no sign of the target among the bodies," one with "III" embroidered on the flank of his suit stated in a business-like manner.
The one bearing "I" on their flank sighed through her mask and glanced around before speaking.
"That means she left before we got here. It's also likely that she's still alive. The reports said she was here less than two days ago, so she can't be far. I'm going to track her down, the rest of you report back to Canterlot. Inform Princess Celestia of the mission's result, and carry out whatever further orders you're given."
The other four unicorns saluted, then concentrated for a moment and disappeared in a flash. The lone remaining unicorn took one long, last look around at the camp and sighed again.
So much destruction...it must be stopped. Applejack, where ARE you? she thought, as a purple glow enveloped her horn. A set of ghostly hoofprints glowed nearby, heading into the forest. I hope you're alive, I need to talk to you!
She disappeared in a flash of purple magic, heading into the forest after the orange earth pony.
Fluttershy closed the supply cabinet after retrieving another roll of bandages. The hospital had just been restocked last week, but they were already running low again. Another order would have to be put in, and she wasn't sure if the hospital could afford to keep spending bits like it was. She sighed around the roll in her mouth as she walked down the corridor and pushed open the door to room 8.
Once inside the room, she dropped the bandages onto the small table near the doorway and turned to look at her patient. The electric blue pegasus in the bed had been here for over two months now, and was likely to be here for far longer than that. The explosion that had nearly blew off Rainbow Dash's wings had done quite a number on her, and in the whole time she had occupied that bed she hadn't woken up, just exhibiting the occasional reflex twitch or movement in response to treatments before lolling back off into unconsiousness.
A slight sniffle escaped Fluttershy's control, her eyes tearing up a bit at the sight of her friend hurt this badly, and having such a hard time recovering from it. She shook her head to get her mind back on track, and pulled off the sheet covering Rainbow's hind legs. Her throat caught again as she saw the bandages, just as it had that morning, and each time every day since she had put Rainbow in this bed herself. It hadn't gotten any easier to look at.
Both of Rainbow's hind legs were completely wrapped in bandages, and there were still large sections of the bandages that would be completely red with blood after just a few hours. In addition to the bandages, there were large wooden splints binding each leg to help the broken bones knit correctly. Rainbow's tail was almost completely gone, all but a few inches of that multi-hued hair having been seared off in the blast. Her flanks were still raw in places, though her coat had started to regrow in patches, mostly around Rainbow's cutie mark and spreading outward.
While her lower body had taken the brunt of the blast, though, her upper body wasn't that much better. Her wings were splayed out in splints similar to the ones on her hind legs, and at least half the feathers had been torn out of each one between the explosion itself and Rainbow's rough trip through the forest canopy immediately afterward. There were cuts and bruising all along her chest and forelegs, and most of her head was wrapped in bandages as well, with bits of her rainbow mane poking through where the bandages didn't overlap. The concussion she got from the impact with the ground was bad, and Fluttershy feared quite often that it might be permanently damaging for the brash young pegasus who was asleep in the bed.
Fluttershy blinked away the tears beginning to form as she leaned in to begin removing the latest set of bandages from Rainbow's legs. A few times she had to bite down on one of the very blood-soaked sections to continue with the unwrapping, and the metallic taste lingered in her mouth, just as it had done each time she had removed Rainbow's bandages previously. Once the bandages had been removed from Rainbow's left leg, she went back over to the table near the door and began pouring out some disinfecting cleaner onto a washcloth. The cleaner stung her nose, but she had gotten used to it over the last few months. Taking the soaked rag over to the bed, she began lightly scrubbing Rainbow's wounds to clean them of any residual blood or material.
A slight hiss escaped from between Rainbow's teeth as the cleaner stung her open wounds. Fluttershy looked up from her work briefly, making sure Rainbow didn't seem to be in too much pain from her ministrations. Rainbow's face was scrunched up a bit, but began to relax quickly. A small murmur of sound came out of Rainbow's mouth as she shifted her head, seemingly getting more comfortable in her sleep. Fluttershy turned back to her work, sighed, and continued her cleaning.
"mmr...zat....stings..."
Fluttershy's head shot up in an instant, eyes locked on Rainbow's face. The words had been faint, almost low enough to be inaudible. The scrunched up look of minor pain was back, and she was shifting her head around more. After a few fitful moments, she seemed to relax again and settled down. Fluttershy sighed softly, almost in defeat, but a small smile worked its way onto her lips. That was more activity than they'd seen in Rainbow since she was brought into the hospital. She picked up the cleaning cloth that had fallen to the bed and went back to her task.
"rrr...that...stings! Wha...?"
Fluttershy looked up again, and this time was greeted with a sight she hadn't seen for months. A pair of magenta eyes were blinking rapidly and squinting against the light in the room as they looked around. Rainbow was conscious! Fluttershy practically bounced into the air with happiness, her wings fluttering and keeping her aloft as the biggest smile she'd ever smiled broke out across her face.
Rainbow's head swung around and she blinked a few times in Fluttershy's direction, seeming to have a hard time focusing. She brought up a foreleg to shield her eyes from the light and stared for a moment.
"Fluttershy? Wha...what happened? Where am I? Why do I feel all tied up?"
Fluttershy landed near the head of the bed, grinning at Rainbow for a few seconds longer, before throwing her forelegs around Rainbow's neck and giving her as big a hug as possible. Rainbow looked shocked for a second, before taking another look at her surroundings and noticing the terrible shape she was in.
"Uh...Fluttershy? Really, what happened? I take it I'm in a hospital, but how did I get here? How LONG have I been here? The last thing I remember is..." Her words trailed off as the memory of what happened during her last Rainboom attempt came back to her. The noise, the light, the sound of those crystals resonating before the inevitable explosion, the long fall through the trees...
Fluttershy let go of her friend, stepping back towards the end of the bed to pick up the neglected cleaning cloth. She stopped and thought for a moment before replying.
"I found you in the forest just over two months ago. I had heard a loud explosion and ran off to see if anypony had been hurt. I found you on the ground, like you had crashed through the trees. I..." Her voice cracked and a tear ran down her face as she recalled how she had found Rainbow. "I didn't know what had happened, but you were very hurt. I immediately picked you up and flew you back here as quickly as I could. You've been unconscious the whole time. This is the first time you've woken up since...since..." She choked on the final part of her sentence as she thought about how she had found her friend.
Rainbow took in the sight of her friend quietly crying next to her hospital bed, before shifting her attention to herself. She took a good look at the bandages on her legs, wincing as she remembered the intense burning of the Rainboom's light as it was released from the crystal contraptions those suicidal pegasi carried. She turned her head, surveying the damage to her wings. She flexed the muscles closest to her shoulders, trying to feel out how bad the internal injuries may be. Though extremely sore, her wings seemed to be unbroken, or at least any breaks had been mended expertly. She looked back over to Fluttershy.
"Hey Shy, could you do me a huge favor? Can you take these whatsits off my wings? I need to stretch and they're in the way."
Fluttershy sniffled as she raised her head to look up at Rainbow, who was staring at her expectantly. She wiped a foreleg across her face to clear off any lingering tears and moved towards the head of the bed. Leaning over, she undid the straps holding the splint on Rainbow's right wing and gingerly slid the device off the cyan pegasus before moving to the other side of the bed to do the same with the left wing's splint.
Once free of the splints, Rainbow groaned in a mixture of pleasure and pain as she stretched muscles that had been forced into stillness for months. After a few experimental flaps to make sure everything still moved as it should, she folded her wings back to her sides, noting that there were still some feathers missing that hadn't regrown yet. She smiled as she closed her eyes and leaned back on the bed, watching Fluttershy go back to working on her legs. She took note of the delicacy that the yellow pegasus took when working on her wounds, making sure that they were completely clean before replacing the bandages with fresh ones.
"Hey Shy..." Rainbow said quietly. Fluttershy looked up from cleaning up the last of the old bandages laying on the bed, seeing Rainbow looking down at her own torso. She deposited the bandages on the tray and walked back to the head of the bed. Rainbow sighed, then turned to look at her friend.
"Thanks, Shy. If it weren't for you, I'd probably be dead right now. I owe you." She reached over and drew Fluttershy into a tight hug. Fluttershy smiled as she wrapped her own forelegs around Rainbows neck, returning the embrace and feeling extremely relieved that her friend seemed like she was going to be okay.
Two more months passed for Rainbow at the hospital, during which her broken legs healed with no complications.Her wing feathers had completely regrown and her coat was almost completely back to its normal condition. Once she was able to walk again, she would regularly accompany Fluttershy on her rounds, talking about the various events that had come about during the war. Some of the stories would cause Fluttershy to just about break down in tears, and some, to Rainbow's surprise, would cause the yellow pegasus to show an almost extremely calm anger in how things had turned out.
A week before Rainbow was scheduled to be discharged, a scroll bearing Princess Celestia's royal seal on it arrived at the hospital addressed to her. Fluttershy tucked it under a wing before she went to Rainbow's room to gather her friend for their mid-morning walk along the hospital's grounds. After handing it over, she waited patiently while Rainbow read the contents of the missive, then nearly jumped out of her skin when Rainbow jumped up from the bed, the scroll falling to the floor as she began rummaging around the room to find any belongings she had with her.
"Was...was there good news in it?" she asked of the rainbow-maned pony. Rainbow stopped in her quest to gather her things and looked back at Fluttershy. The flame of determination burned in her magenta eyes, a sight that Fluttershy hadn't seen a lot of during Rainbow's stay at the hospital.
"It was a message from someone high up in the Solar military. They want me back in Canterlot as soon as possible. I can't keep patrolling the skies since the Lunars apparently know how to counter a Rainboom, and I'm not very good at much of the other military stuff. Someone seems to have a plan, though, and it looks like I'm going on one last mission." Fluttershy's eyes widened as she heard the news, before she cast her gaze down to the ground.
"Rainbow...be careful. I was so worried when I brought you in, I couldn't stand to hear you got yourself killed out there just after getting better." Rainbow walked over and gave her friend a friendly nuzzle behind the ear before stepping back, using a hoof to bring Fluttershy's eyes up to meet her own.
"Don't worry Shy. I won't be getting myself killed that easily. Besides, I owe you for getting me healthy again. Once I finish this mission, I'm done with the military, I'll get my bits, and I'll be back to pay off the debt I owe you. I'll give you enough bits to run this hospital for a year. Count on it." Fluttershy looked puzzled for a second, and cocked her head in confusion.
"What kind of mission would get you that much money, Rainbow?" Rainbow cracked a cocky grin and shook her head, her multihued mane falling forward in front of her eyes, once again hardened in determination.
"We're going to end this war."
Fluttershy watched her friend take off and fly towards Canterlot in the orange sky of sunset. They had exchanged their goodbyes outside the hospital, in the garden. Rainbow had double-checked that she had packed what little she had, which amounted to not much more than her pair of flight goggles and a small bag of food and supplies Fluttershy had made up for her. She then took off like a shot into the distance.
Fluttershy waited until she couldn't see Rainbow in the sky anymore, then sighed and began to slowly walk back into the hospital. She went straight to her room, climbing into bed and curling her legs up underneath her. She stared at the sheets, deep in thought, until she leaned over and opened a drawer, pulling out another scroll bearing the Solar Empire royal seal. She let her gaze fall upon the letter she had received many months ago, about a month after Rainbow had arrived.
To Fluttershy, Equestrian Hospital and Veterinary Center #4
I know that you just brought Rainbow into the hospital there. Don't ask how I know. Thank you for keeping her safe, like we always used to do for each other. Princess Celestia has a plan that will hopefully end this dreadful war, but we need her as part of it. Just like we'll need you, Fluttershy. We need the Elements. I know you didn't want to take sides in this, but something must be done soon or Equestria will tear itself completely apart from the fighting.
Make her well. Once she's healed and other pieces are in place, we'll send for her to return to Canterlot. When this happens, we need you to act like you don't know. There are still too many chances that things can go awry before we can pull this off.