Rainbow stared blankly at the photo of Maud, Pinkie and herself on the dresser. It was only a year ago; they were at a camp and as a memory, they took the picture. Now it became the only remainder of their friendship. The Pie sisters had perished earlier in the war, at the hands of Sombra, during a failed assassination attempt.
Rainbow remembered the camp. Pinkie had come up with the idea of taking one of those expensive photos, with all the detail and the editing and the lighting. Now it had become the only way their friendship remained.
If only you were here. Rainbow thought. Lightning Dust and Scootaloo were good friends, almost like two siblings, but she just couldn’t let go of the two Pie sisters. They had been so kind to her – Pinkie when cheering her up, and Maud with her amazing knowledge and comforting abilities, despite being stoic while doing so.
Her thoughts wandered back to the camp that year. She was lonely, having no friends, when Pinkie approached her. The two had developed a close bond with each other, with their shared interests and mischievous nature. Pinkie would always cheer her up with a song, a prank, or perhaps her signature chicken dance, and the duo would spend the next ten minutes laughing and rolling on the floor.
But now Pinkie was dead and gone. Rainbow wondered how much time she had left before she suffered the same fate.
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Soarin wondered what had happened to Thunderlane and Braeburn.
The two had always been his best friends, being there by his side, fighting alongside him, and giving him true friendship. The three of them understood each other, to the point that they could read each other’s thoughts before they were spoken aloud.
The last time they had seen each other was the mission to annihilate half of Sombra’s army, or as they were referred to, “helmets-n’-minions”. Thunderlane had gotten off easy, and only part of his mane had been singed off, along with a few stitches. Braeburn had a broken leg from distracting some of the minions, but was able to recover. Yet, Soarin hadn’t seen them around lately.
“Soarin?” Spitfire’s raspy voice inquired.
“Yeah?” Soarin replied.
“I need to talk to you.” Spitfire had a strange look on her face.
“Why?” Soarin was confused.
“Do you like anypony?” Spitfire asked.
“No. But why?” Soarin felt kind of silly. What type of question was that?
Spitfire felt her heart shatter. He. Didn’t. Like. Anypony. Which excluded her.
“Alright.” As calm as she could muster, she stepped out the room.
Why? Why did this happen to her? She had known Soarin for such a long time, since they were in high school. The two had even gone to the prom together.
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It was November already. Six months. Six hard months filled with misery and suffering.
The only comfort they had was that Celestia herself was fighting the minions, and leading the charges, while supplying everything she could to support the war and free the Crystal Empire.
Everyone felt hopeless.
The endless stream of minions didn’t help one bit. If they took down one, somehow ten would appear to take its place. They often wondered how Sombra did it, but the dark king had his ways.
Celestia’s army was battered.
Sure, they had better fighters, and teamwork, but the sheer number of opponents made death a certain fate. No matter how well they fought, they were severely outnumbered.
Sometimes Rainbow wondered how she had made it this far.
She didn’t have much talent in fighting – she was more of an aerobatics flier and a stunt flier than a soldier, but somehow she had survived against all odds.
How much did she wish that this mess would be over.
But she had something to do. No matter how hard things were, a meeting at the cove – their cove would make things slightly better.
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The night was still young.
A small victory had lead to the celebration. In the entire six months, all that had happened were humiliating defeats, deaths of friends and the climate. Yet against all odds they had won a major battle, turning the tide in their way.
The captains saw no use of having everyone in their bunks at 8:00, opting for an extra hour and half for the celebrations. The sounds of laughter, chatting and music were ones that had disappeared from the ponies for so long. The excitement was contagious, and soon even the normally stern Captain Spitfire had joined in, letting a smile escape her normal glare.
Rainbow however didn’t feel so. What should’ve been a victory, half a year ago, had lead to the loss of her two best friends. The event reminded her of the utter defeat of the assassination squad 34 and the gruesome deaths of Pinkie and Maud. She had seen their bodies – somehow they had been retrieved – partially crystallized, and the ugly cuts running through the bodies. It was one of the only times she had cried in public. It didn’t matter anyway, since everypony was crying. Pinkie’s antics could cheer anyone up, and Maud was calm, collected, and a problem solver. They were missed sorely, but no one knew how broken Rainbow felt on the inside.
“You know, Maud and Pinkie wouldn’t want to see you like this.” Soarin knew well what the two sisters were like and the friendship Rainbow shared with them. “It’s a time for celebration. They wouldn’t like it if you keep sulking like this.”
“Yeah?” Rainbow turned around.
“We haven’t won many major victories before. Why don’t we go and celebrate?” He offered a hoof.
“Fine.” Rainbow took his hoof and allowed him to lead her back into the camp.
The camp had seemed to be transformed within the ten minutes victory had been announced. The radiant smiles everyone was wearing gave the place an air of celebration, and the normally grumpy soldiers were happily chatting away with one another.
“Hey!” Lightning said happily, an immediately noticeable change from her normal, somber demeanor. “Have you guys seen Scootaloo anywhere? She’s playing hide and seek with us!” Then she lowered her voice to a whisper. “I don’t want her to beat my record of staying hidden, so do you guys know where she is?”
“Sorry, no.” Rainbow said. “But I could help you find her!”
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Scootaloo ran until the camp was out of sight.
Her excitement had clouded her sense, choosing to be away from the camp in order to win the game. It had been so long that she had forgotten how to hide, and it was humiliating. She couldn’t stand any failure. But now, she knew that she could win the game, if she could stay hidden here.
A small smile formed, one of pure joy, as she hoped that she could finally rejoice.
“Heellloooo…”