“Whoa…what the hay happened?”
“WRONG TIMELINE! OOPS! Let’s go!”
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Rainbow rubbed her eyes as she opened them.
“What time is it?” She wondered out loud, as she noticed Scootaloo’s bed was empty. Lightning wasn’t in the tent either. “Holy Celestia someone’s gotta be here.”
She stepped out. The sky was still dark.
“Oh well.” Rainbow muttered.
As she sat down on the ground, she started counting the stars for no reason. The tiny dots of light stood out bright against the dark indigo sky.
Maybe they still had hope. With dark, there would always be a bit of light within…Just like the night sky she saw every night.
The smoke from a distance clouded the northeast part of the sky. It had been there, for as long as Rainbow could remember. The swirls of dusty purple and light brown were often cast upon with the telltale neon green of Sombra’s magic.
She didn’t want to think about what it was for.
“Dash!” Scootaloo limped slowly.
“Scoots?” Rainbow was surprised. Not only that her daughter, or sister, as she would refer to her in public and to others, was gone in the night, but now she was back. Strangely, she did not feel relieved.
“It’s…It’s…Lightning.” Scootaloo’s face projected pure horror. The blood running down from her ear dripped from her face to Rainbow’s hooves, and the urgency in voice…the wideness of her eyes.
Before Rainbow could reply, a distraught looking Thunderlane was carrying Lightning Dust on his back.
The feisty, energetic ally she had was lain across Thunderlane’s back, unconscious. The cuts on her hooves, the blood stuck in her mane…it could only mean one thing. Rainbow rushed up to her, with a certain urgency, when a familiar voice sounded. Unlike the other times, his voice was much colder.
“There’s nothing you can do.” Soarin said softly, but his voice reflected a tone of coldness. “The best thing we could do would be to leave her alone.” His voice was much softer, yet his tone did not spread to his eyes.
Soarin sighed.
“I’ve seen so many ponies like this.” He began, but Rainbow cut him off with a feather from her good wing, pressed against his muzzle.
“It’s all right.” Rainbow said, holding back her emotions and fighting off her tears. “Everything will be. You won’t have to see that again.” She said, swallowing the lump in her throat.
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It was back to sleep for everyone – Princess’s orders. Normally everyone would rejoice, but everything that had happened the morning – Lightning and Scootaloo’s refusal to tell what happened, the horrendous injuries, and how they weren’t fighting the day.
It would’ve been nice not to be so worrisome.
No one could have slept, knowing fully well it was war, and war wasn’t exactly relaxing – rather, it was opposite.
Who knew what happened out there? At least, it would be a glad thing that only one pony was injured.
Scootaloo was sleeping soundly. Rainbow thought if she could sneak out, she could find Lightning and find out what had happened.
Making a small plan, she stepped out of the tent, the smoke, dust and bits of gunpowder greeting her. She was going to find out what had happened no matter what. She couldn’t live another day knowing that her best friend – one of her only friends – suffered a curse, a injury, without her knowledge of what it even was.
Days had turned into months and seasons and nearing years. But nothing could change the sense of loyalty she had always felt. Something embedded so deeply even the war could not remove it; something that had always been a part of her that she would never loose; and it was the only thing she could truly keep.
But maybe, it could help her keep her friends as well.
It was certainly worth a try, no matter what.
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“Are you feeling better?” The nurse asked, taking the tray and placing it on the table beside Lightning’s bed.
“I’m fine.” She spoke softly, yet still a trace of her usual gusto remained.
“If you need anything, just call for me.” The nurse beamed. “And you have a visitor. I heard that she’s your friend.”
Your friend. The words echoed around in Lightning’s mind. At least she still had a few left. “She can come.”
Rainbow stepped in as the nurse began to leave.
Her first thought was that Lightning was looking terrible.
It wasn’t a statement to undermine Lightning’s confidence or insult, but she certainly did by pony standards. Her bright orange mane was now a dirty gold, and her coat was matted in various areas, most notably around her neck and injuries. Parts of her coat were shaven off to prevent it from irritating and infecting her injuries.
It didn’t seem possible that a pony could transform within mere hours.
“Are you alright?” Rainbow asked, concerned.
“Yeah…” Lightning tried to laugh, to tell Rainbow she was okay, but it came out as pathetic and forced. “I really am.”
“You don’t sound like it.” The words came out before Rainbow had time to register what she had said.
“I know, I know. But I’ve been worse, haven’t I?” Lightning smiled, despite the pain it caused her. Rainbow knew she was telling the truth. It was something both of them had witnessed.
“Just…well…don’t ”
“It doesn’t matter.” Lightning shrugged it off.
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The patter of the rain echoed against the mud-splattered coats of the soldiers as they trudged around gloomily. No doubt that the events earlier have made their impact on their spirits.
The mud clung to their coats, yet it was almost unnoticeable.
It just seemed that life was always mocking everyone. No matter who it was, what you were, it just seemed that stuck in war was equal to hell.
No one could have a good, or even satisfactory life in war.
It was the perfect mixture of life and death to cultivate hope, yet shatter it time after time.
Perhaps all hope wasn’t lost?
Yet.
No one really knew what to do at times like these.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
The moon was out.
But neither Rainbow nor Soarin were in the mood for anything that contained smiles.
What was the Crystal Army anyway?
To all of the soldiers, they seemed like just “their common enemy”.
But was that all?
Something told Rainbow that what was common, shared knowledge, was not all that had been. So much time had been spent on the defense plans, the attack plans, and they had completely forgotten whom they were facing against.
Plainly put, no one really knew the enemy.
All they knew was what they need to do – to train, to fight, to learn about schemes and carry them out.
It dawned on Rainbow that perhaps, the reason that the months had not produced any real result, was that they didn’t know who they were facing against. The soldiers were equivalent to fighting robots.
Wasn’t that Sombra’s approach? To turn his subjects into lifeless robots, and have them care to his every whim; to fight against the Equestrian Army.
They needed a good change. They needed to know, that they were fighting against schemes most ponies could not decipher. What they probably needed was the ability to think fast and react if anything didn’t go as planned.
She thought back to the earlier times. Each time the news of many deaths would spread was much because the soldiers only knew how to carry orders, take orders, but not improvise should the need come.
As the thought strengthened itself in her mind, she realized it was what they needed.
They had heart, they had loyalty, but they needed the quick-thinking and improvising skills in order to win.
She had a plan, and she would set it in motion.
If she needed, she would change it as well.
It seemed the perfect solution to many of their current problems.
But first, she needed to tell Spitfire.