//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - Friends // Story: Life Between Death // by cierragp //------------------------------// Another hard day. Another day filled to the brim with pain. Rainbow Dash mumbled loudly as she sat down at her usual table, slamming her tray down. “Why does everyone need to die?” “I dunno. But I’m not dead.” Soarin chuckled. “I know that, goof.” Rainbow had to smile. “Just remember that I’ll always be there for you, ‘kay?” Soarin smiled warmly. Rainbow could see the same gentleness in his eyes…the same gentleness she had saw a little over a month ago. “Sure.” She smiled. “But let’s get eatin’. I’m hungry.” “Yeah, captain.” Soarin said playfully, nudging Rainbow. “Sometimes I wonder how I even deal with you.” _____________________________________________________________________________________________ “Fleet, you’ve been scaring the hell out of me. Why are you freakin’ staring at those two?” Spitfire asked. “I CAN’T HELP IT!” Fleetfoot wailed dramatically. “THEY’RE TOO CUTE!” “What?” Deep down, Spitfire knew she loved Soarin. And hearing her best friend describe the two as cute was pushing her over the edge. She swallowed the lump and resumed her professional demeanor. “Jeez, that is so not for war.” “But Spitty!” Fleetfoot continued her acting, until Spitfire shoved a hoof in her mouth, silencing her. “Just stop it, would you?” Spitfire mentally did a facehoof as she groaned at the gurgled noises Fleetfoot was making. “Ow!” She gasped, as she saw the blood on her hooves. “Are you a foal or what?” She glared at Fleetfoot. “Nah.” Fleetfoot’s expression turned into one of silliness. “Next time, don’t shove that hoof of yours in my mouth.” _____________________________________________________________________________________________ “Is Thunderlane still alive?” Lightning groaned as she lay on her bunk. “Obviously. I just saw him at the mess hall. It’s called the mess hall. For a reason.” Rainbow lay on the top bunk, half her body hanging off the bed. “Just go up to him and ask him out! How hard is that?” “Very.” Lightning muttered. “Considering that we shouldn’t be falling in love anyways in war, why would I ever do such a thing?” A smirk came to her face. “So tell me about that hunk of a stallion. Who was that?” Rainbow blushed. “Soarin? He’s just my friend.” “Really?” Now it was Lightning’s turn to mock her. “Are you sure that you don’t go off to let him rut you? I don’t blame you if you’ve done that sometime.” “Hell no.” Dash glared harshly. “He’s just a friend.” “We’ll see.” Lightning poorly disguised her amusement. “Now where was that bag of candy again? Oh, and where in the hay are the covers? Talk about messy.” “Don’t ever ask me.” _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Soarin just wanted to smash himself senseless. He hated paperwork. As if the entire universe was against him, Spitfire had come to him earlier and dropped off an entire stack of paperwork. He didn’t even know where to start. “Buck.” He muttered under his breath and sorted the colossal stack into three piles: easy, killing, and hell of work. He placed a messy label on each and got to work. Twice he fell asleep, and the day certainly didn’t make things easier. Many of the soldiers had died in the past month, and the recruitment wasn’t going well. It had come to a point that he’d rather jump off a cliff than think of ways to get ponies to join. Being a captain wasn’t easy on him. It was never easy, nor enjoyable. Somehow his mind wandered to Rainbow Dash. He wanted to make sure that she was okay. She had received a dangerous mission earlier and he hoped that she would survive. It was strange; Soarin cared more for her than other ponies. He found this strange, but did not question it. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Rainbow arrived back at the camp, disheveled and wounded. The mission had gone far better than expected, but the deaths, the screams, the wounded weren’t something that she could get out of her mind, perhaps for the entire time she had left in this world. She turned around, and saw two new recruits. Blaze and Harmony. Vaguely, she remembered an explosion, bombs, and injuries, as well as screams. Harmony was sprawled across Blaze’s back, a large portion of a front hoof missing, the blood seeping through the weak bandage the nurse had hastily applied, before having Blaze transfer her over to another section of the camp, where the seriously injured were placed. Blaze wasn’t looking well either; even though Harmony had shielded him from the bomb, quite a few scars had resulted from the explosion, and his singed mane and coat were only small reminders of who they were fighting against. The duo had gotten lucky; if Harmony had been more to the right, she would’ve lost her life for sure. Instead, she only lost part of a hoof. Even if her movements were restricted by her injuries, Harmony would occasionally reach up – she was tiny – and brush away a loose strand of Blaze’s reddish mane out of his face, and give him an almost fragile, yet sweet smile at the same time. More than once Rainbow had heard Fleetfoot remark that Harmony was a “absolute hardcore mode” pony, the sight before her suggested otherwise. Fleetfoot had also said that the two had been in a long-distance relationship before, and had finally met on the battlefield. Internally, Rainbow felt warm and fuzzy. She was touched, perhaps the only normal emotion she had felt in what seemed like ages, by what was unfolding before her. Despite the harsh conditions and the negative prospects, the two were handling it well, and they had hope. Hope. Maybe she should have her share too. “Rainbow?” Soarin asked. “What, Soarin?” Rainbow turned around, her more positive thoughts softening her voice. “You okay? I saw you staring in the distance.” Soarin’s voice made her feel warm and fuzzy again. “No…it’s just…” she didn’t know how to explain. “Blaze and Harmony?” Soarin inquired. “Yeah.” “I guess I know what you mean. Harmony’s injury is plenty scary and vicious.” Soarin paused a while. “But she’s got someone that cares for her.” “She’s lucky. I kinda feel sorry for Blaze though. It must be hell to see someone that you love so much in pain.” Rainbow replied. “Sure it is.” All of a sudden, Soarin’s voice got quiet. “Are you okay?” Rainbow’s expression changed to one of concern. “I guess. It’s just…” Soarin couldn’t bring himself to explain it. “It’s alright. If you’re not feeling well, you can always find me.” Mentally, Rainbow was punching and kicking herself. She couldn’t possibly let a stallion like Soarin get attached to her – and vice versa. Lightning had been correct when she bluntly described Soarin as a “hunk of a stallion” but Soarin deserved a much better mare than she was. A mare that was prettier and nicer. Rainbow became so engrossed with her thoughts that she didn’t notice the tiny orange filly with the magenta mane desperately trying to get her attention. “Dash?” Scootaloo stared, confused. Normally she would only need to say her name once, and Rainbow would happily listen to what she had to say. “Uh-hun.” Rainbow replied absentmindedly. “Do you, y’know, like Soarin?” Scootaloo asked curiously. “No.” “But, haven’t you seen the way that he stares at you?” Scootaloo recalled what she had seen. “You don’t understand, squirt. Love is way more complicated than that.” _____________________________________________________________________________________________ “Captain Soarin wants to see you.” Fleetfoot said. Her normally casual demeanor had disappeared. “Thanks for the message.” Rainbow replied. Walking down the hallway, she wondered what Soarin wanted to do with her. Soon she reached the door marked with a sloppy “Capt. Soarin Skies”. Softly, she knocked two times. “Come on in.” A very familiar, and slurred voice sounded. Soarin’s office was much neater than expected. Although some of the papers were piled in a messy manner, overall, the office was neat enough. “What do you want?” She asked, taking a seat. “Jeez. Is that how you greet a friend?” Soarin joked. “C’mon, I was just wondering if you have time to meet me tonight. Same time, same place.” “You bet that I can.” Rainbow smiled.