Subdue the Enemy Without Fighting
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting” – Sun Tzu
It was a sunny day outside for a change, after what seemed like a week of rain. Fat, fluffy clouds drifted across the sky aimlessly, created by fast-flying weatherponies who kept them on schedule.
And Rainbow Dash watched it all from the kitchen window, enviously.
Her base instincts to fly kicked in just watching those clouds. She knew they could’ve been her future, a better future. Her wings raised ever so slightly as a response, and she cringed at the metal crinkle on her left, just as she had since she’d gotten it.
She tucked her wings in and sat back on her haunches, head bowed dejectedly. There was a creak behind her as another mare stepped into the kitchen, and Rainbow Dash didn’t need to look to know it was Pinkie.
“You doing ok?” Pinkie asked softly, sitting down next to her as close as she could.
Rainbow Dash felt her nuzzle her muzzle up against her neck, and slowly the warmth from the contact crept into her cold chest. She leaned into the touch and draped her good wing around the Earth pony.
“Better now,” she replied.
“Hey, how about I make us some cinnamon buns? The kind with the really sticky icing,” Pinkie asked.
“Sounds great, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash replied, releasing her. “You know, you really should look into opening that bakery. Your treats are the best—“
The loud slamming of the front door cut her off. She got up and peeked out of the kitchen to see a Prussian blue Pegasus colt with a curly pink mane and tail standing there. His eyes were teary as he tossed his saddlebag to the side.
“Hey Strats, everything ok?” Rainbow Dash asked, walking over to her son.
Stratosphere shook his head fiercely and charged upstairs. A second later, another door slammed shut. Rainbow Dash watched him go as Pinkie joined her in the entryway, a mixing bowl on her head.
“I think he’s been having trouble at school,” Pinkie said with a sigh.
“Yeah, I’ll go talk to him.” Rainbow Dash pecked her on the cheek before making her way upstairs. She approached a blue and pink striped door with a sign reading “Stratosphere’s Hangar” on it.
“Hey, champ?” Rainbow Dash knocked on the door. “Can I come in?”
She heard a muffled affirmative and slowly opened the door, peeking her head in. Stratosphere had his head buried in one of his pillows, body slack. Rainbow Dash stepped inside, quietly shut the door behind her, and hopped up on the edge of the bed next to him.
“Stratosphere?” she asked. He didn’t reply. “Do you… want to talk about it?”
Stratosphere sat up and looked at her, cheeks wet and eyes red. He wiped at his muzzle before crawling to Rainbow Dash’s side and burying it into her side. She wrapped her forelegs around him and held him close.
“What’s going on, champ?”
“Th-They kept calling me… guh-girly because of my mane,” he choked out, heaving out a few more sobs. “I told the teacher but they wouldn’t s-stop!”
Rainbow Dash huffed a sigh as she rubbed his back soothingly. “Again? Did you tell them the mom who gave you that awesome mane and tail kicked serious flank in the war?” she asked.
He nodded. “I w-wish I were like you two. I wish I could just… just kick their flanks like you kicked those crystal ponies’.” Stratosphere looked up at her, a faint, vengeful look in his eye.
“Whoa, easy there, champ.” She booped him on the tip of his snout. “There’s more to life than kicking flank.”
“B-But that’d stop them, wouldn’t it?” Stratosphere asked. “If I showed them how tough I was, like my moms?”
Rainbow Dash chuckled and shook her head. She looked to the ceiling in thought before a smile crossed her muzzle. “Strats, did I ever tell you about the time I met General White Lotus, after the war?”
Stratosphere’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “No! We learned about him in our history class. He was one of the most powerful generals to ever fight in the war,” he said in awe. “You really met him?”
His mother nodded. “It was about a year after the war ended…”
Rainbow Dash growled as she kicked a tin can as hard as she could, then regretted the sound it made as it bounced off a lamp pole. It sounded too much like her own prosthetic wing. She turned left, into the palace gardens of Canterlot.
The gardens had been opened after the war had ended, as both a place of rest and a place to memorize the fallen and injured ponies—like herself, Rainbow Dash hated to admit—from the war.
She looked to one of the garden tables set up for people to eat at or play chess, and was surprised to see a familiar unicorn, whose styled beard was now grey with age. He had a tea set on the table, and seemed to be enjoying a cup himself when she approached him.
“General White Lotus?” she asked, saluting subconsciously.
The unicorn looked to her, and the warmest of smiles crossed his face. It wasn’t bright or cheery, but exuded warmth like a hearth. “Ah, Rainbow Dash. So good to see a fellow soldier here on such a fine day. Please, no need for formalities – I have resigned. Would you care to join me?”
Rainbow Dash looked to the empty seat across from him, shrugged, and plopped into it. She didn’t really have much to say, so she just stared at his tea kettle. White Lotus raised an eyebrow, and floated a cup across to her, pouring it full.
The scent of chamomile wafted past her snout and she lifted the cup up and took a sip. It felt as relaxing as it smelled, as the warmth coursed down into her core.
“So, I have heard you’ve been in trouble as of recently,” White Lotus said.
“You have?” Rainbow Dash looked up at him surprised.
He nodded solemnly and levitated up a newspaper he had with him. On the front page was Rainbow Dash, restrained by a few guards who seemed to be having a difficult time. She looked down, her face hot with shame.
“I have much time for reading these days,” he said as he set the newspaper down. “What troubles you, my friend?”
Rainbow Dash shook her head and took another sip of the tea, which while it made her feel better, didn’t remove the heated blush from her face.
“One would think that, after a war won, the soldier who fought the hardest for our cause would be overjoyed. Yet, you attacked crystal ponies?” White Lotus asked, confused rather than unkindly.
Rainbow Dash slammed a hoof down on the table. “Those no good crystal clods were our enemy! And we’re just letting them go? After they took ponies from us, took our lives, took my—our—wings!” she screamed, face heated with rage.
She panted, before glancing around. Shrinking back into shame, she busied herself with another sip of tea and a hard, interested stare into the table top.
“Ah.” White Lotus nodded thoughtfully, taking a sip himself. “But my friend, they are no longer the enemy. Sombra has been vanquished, and his people restored to their right minds. What they have done through the war was because of him, not of their own volition.”
“I still don’t have my wing,” Rainbow Dash growled. “I could’ve been a Wonderbolt! I could’ve done amazing things!”
White Lotus nodded. “But you still have your life, and it is still full of opportunity. Maybe not the same opportunities as before the war, but opportunities worth seeking nonetheless.”
“General—White Lotus—with all due respect, you didn’t lose anything in the war. I did. I had a future. I could’ve been a great fighter. Now what do I have? One wing, some scars, and a bunch of medals,” Rainbow Dash said.
A darkness fell over White Lotus’s face and he bowed his head. He exhaled a sigh before his expression turned neutral. “I lost my son in the war, Rainbow Dash,” he said softly. “I too have lost much, and unlike your wing, no amount of metal will replace him.”
Rainbow Dash’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh my gosh, I’m s-so sorry, I didn’t… I didn’t know,” she said quickly.
He shook his head, and the warmth of his smile returned. “No, my friend. I was his general, it was I who sent him into battle with the same victory-minded zeal we all had. His loss was of my own fault,” he said before taking another sip.
“How can you be so positive though?” Rainbow Dash asked. “You lost family, that is way worse than my wing, or what some of these other ponies lost.”
“When I resigned, I was faced with a choice. I could hold onto my grief, my anger, and let it consume me like a wildfire. Or, I could make peace with the past, a past I cannot change, and learn from it, and so I have.” His smile turned to the rest of the gardens, where other ponies were congregating. “I made the choice to help others whenever I can, even in the smallest ways, like I could have helped my son.”
Rainbow Dash nodded, then looked into her tea. She didn’t like the scarred reflection she saw in the rippling drink. “I sure wish it were that easy for me.”
“It will take time, my friend. How long, I cannot say.” His smile brightened. “I do know that another soldier has been having difficulties as well, from the Sticks and Stones Brigade? You may know her… Pinkamena?”
“Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yeah. She saved my flank a bunch of times during the war.”
“I feel that you would have many rewarding discussions with her.” White Lotus took one final sip of his tea. “I won’t keep you, my friend, but know this: to win your wars, you must know what fights to fight.”
Rainbow Dash nodded, finishing her own tea. She scooted the cup back over next to the kettle before hopping out of her seat. As she flared open her wings, she turned to look at him. “Thanks, for the talk. And the tea. I needed it.”
White Lotus chortled. “That is what I’m here for, my friend,” he said, before waving to her as she flew off.
“So, you gotta ask yourself, Strats,” Rainbow Dash concluded. “Are these bullies worth fighting? Or should you just let it go?” She looked down at him.
Stratosphere looked away in thought, before looking shyly back up at his mother. “I should… let it go?”
His mother nodded, pulling him into a hug. “There’s going to be ponies out there that’ll bully you, champ, that’ll try to keep you down. They’ll only succeed as you let them.”
Stratosphere nodded, smiling as he nuzzled into her chest fluff. “Thanks, mom.”
Rainbow Dash sniffed the air as a faintly cinnamony scent wafted from downstairs. “Hey, I think your mom’s making some cinnamon buns. The kind with the really sticky icing. Would one of those cheer you up?”
“I feel better now,” Stratosphere said with a giggle. “But… I should really top off my sugar tank.”
And with that, Stratosphere broke free from his mom and flew out of his bedroom.
Rainbow Dash watched him go with a chuckle before flying after him. “Better save some room in your supper tank, champ!” she called after him.