“Agent Russet.”
Russet turned away from the viewing window, unsure of whether this was right to do. “Yes?” she asked. “What is it, what do you want?”
“It’s been over two years since we’ve been at this, and this is the first time I’ve seen her this down.”
“Trust me, Ember,” Russet said. “This is the worst I’ve seen her, and she was in a bad state before she was a super soldier.”
Ember trotted up to the same window Russet watched through, and sighed. He watched as Rainbow laughed and played with his daughter and his daughter’s best friend. They had really bonded since they first met, and it really was something to see how they acted together— like they were family. However, Ember was a soldier for longer than he could remember, and he could see the way Rainbow hid her pain with her smiles and her laughs and her quick quips.
What that pain was, was still quite a mystery to him. To say that he was clueless, however, would have been a lie. He could see the way she clung to them as her new family. The way she loved the company, the way she loved him and his family, it was real, and it was good. Something had happened to her, something that had broken her enough for her to latch on to the next best thing. In desperation, she found a family.
They had helped her. Now, he hoped, they could help her a bit more. “You’ve known her for much longer than I have. You’ve both been a part of AIM for longer than I’ve known about it. What happened?”
“Not by much, Ember.” Russet returned her attention to the window. “You seem to think my friendship with her is as intense as yours. You are basically family. I am, at most, a best friend. I only know her past thanks to the information I was privy to from Goldheart’s projects, and what she has told me, but there is still a lot I don’t know.” After a moment, she shook her head. “And I don’t think I’m the one that should be sharing this type of information with you.”
Ember nodded. “Right. Of course.”
They gathered their thoughts for a moment. The muffled laughter coming from the room next door was a little distracting yes, but it was a welcome one. “How are Sparky and Jay?” Russet asked.
Ember laughed softly. “She wouldn’t like you calling her that.”
Russet smirked. “Well, when you’ve been best friends with somepony like her for most of your life, I’d be as annoying as I can be too.”
Ember raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Really? “
Russet nodded, smiling wistfully. “Oh yes, quite so. She lost her accent when she moved away, but we kept in touch through letters. Before the war started, we met up again and had a good laugh. And now? Well, I’m just happy she’s still alive and kicking.”
“Oh no, definitely. She’s a strong spirit.” Ember sighed. “I just wish… well… I wish I could tell Firefly. I wish… there’s a lot of things that I wish for...”
“You’re strong too, Ember,” Russet said, grabbing his hoof. “When everyone heard about Starry Skies… well, we loved her here. She was the best healer we had, apart from Relda of course, and even then… she could always bring a smile to our faces, even those of us who would rather not.”
Ember held her hoof back, squeezing it gently. He smiled softly looked down, his eyes glistening. “Well, looks like we all need a smile right about now. That last mission took something out of all of us.”
Russet nodded, and looked forward. “Let’s hope that whatever Rainbow has to share, it’s going to help us. Here comes Bellum.” Russet brushed her lips on Ember’s cheek and smiled. “You should get your kids. What we’re going to speak about might not be the best for both of them to hear.”
Ember hesitated, almost torn, but he nodded all the same. “...You’re right. I’ll go, go get them an ice cream or something.”
Russet watched patiently as he went and stopped at the door frame. “Russet… I’m sorry. I really shouldn’t. Maybe… maybe another time. But not now.” He moved to leave, but paused. “Thanks. For everything. For getting my sister to watch over my little Firefly. Thank you.”
Russet smiled. “Go get ‘em, tiger.”
Rainbow’s feathery attack was interrupted when the door to her cell received a loud knock. Sighing, she rolled over and set the still giggling Firefly and Skylark on the wooden floor. “Hey kids, looks like work is calling.”
“Aw, can’t we hang out for one more minute?” Firefly pouted
“Or two? Or three? Or sixty?” Sky whined.
“Hey, with all the breaks we’ve been taking thanks to you, I hang out with you more than enough.”
“Okaaaay, fine,” the two fillies groaned, though Rainbow could see that they didn’t really mean it. With a growing sense of dread, she still smiled as brightly as she could before answering the door. She wasn’t all that surprised to see Colonel Bellum standing there with Ember, who looked a bit down himself. He quickly brightened upon seeing Firefly though, so she wasn’t too concerned about him, but she made a mental note to meet up with him later.
“Hey, Cap!” Ember greeted. “Looks like the cavalry’s here. Firefly, Sky, why don’t I get you kids something to eat, huh?”
“Ice cream!” Firefly exclaimed, any sign of despair quickly disappearing.
“Chocolate dipped ice-cream?” Sky asked, hopeful.
Ember chuckled. “We’ll see what I can do. Come on, we can’t get ice cream staying here. I need some cuteness if we’re getting it for free.”
“Dad, I’m ten, I don’t think they’ll-”
“Remember last week?”
Sky poked Firefly in the side. “He’s got a point.”
Firefly nodded, before rushing forward. “First one there get their ice cream first!”
Sky quickly followed, dashing through Ember’s legs. “Hey, no fair!”
Ember chuckled weakly as Bellum laughed. “You got some feisty kids there, Lieutenant. Better chase after them before they break something!”
“I’ll, yeah, I’ll go do that,” Ember said, smiling. Turning to Rainbow, he gave a look of concern.. “Good luck, Cap.” As they both nodded to each other, Ember quickly fled, yelling after his wards. “Hey! Don’t go too far! Firefly, don’t touch that!”
Bellum had one more good laugh staring after Ember before his smile turned into a frown. He entered the room and closed the door behind him. “Rainbow Dash. Yes, I know you’re not actually a captain, so I’ll make away with the titles. You can just call me Bellum.”
Rainbow nodded, moving to the table in the room. Sliding it to the center of the room, she sat in the chair opposite of Bellum. He took his own chair, facing Rainbow with grim determination. Bellum pulled out a map and a notebook before calmly facing her. “Tell me what was in the bunker. In the initial debriefing, you said you saw a map.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Rainbow said. “A map with several pins in it.”
Bellum nodded, writing it all down. “This is a bit redundant, but it’s important.” He nodded. “Continue. Where were these pins marked?”
“Every major city in Equestria, from Canterlot to Fillydelphia, to Vanhoofer and Baltimare. Even some remote location in the Badlands, and the Wakandan nation.”
The sound of a pencil on paper filled the silence in the room. “Was there any indication of any other locations they might have targeted?”
Rainbow nodded. “Yes, places like Saddle Arabia and Maripony, and some cities that I had no idea existed. They were off the map, suggesting that their agendas have expanded beyond native Equestria and any maps we’ve made of the world so far.”
“Hmph. Interesting. We do have maps of the rest of Equus, but they were imported from other places. I wonder…” Bellum crossed something out on his notepad, and underlined something else. Folding his hooves once more, Bellum stared Rainbow in the eyes. “Final question. What do you think these markers were for? “
Rainbow thought back to what she saw. Of course, it was all there. She saw it. Insomnia knew she saw it. And the grenade strapped to her shield said it all. Taking her shield and gently stripping the grenade, she placed it on the table and rested her head on her hooves, staring at it. “I believe he plans to use this on a scale that would level Equestria and the world beyond.”
Bellum reeled slightly, put off by the sudden hazard placed in front of him. Frowning, he gestured to the grenade. “And what exactly is… this?”
Rainbow scowled. “The Wither.”
The sound of Bellum’s chair crashing to the ground did not surprise Rainbow, nor his shouts. “What the hell were you thinking bringing that in here? Look what it did to you! Now think of what this’ll do to the rest of the compound if it goes off! Do you have any idea-!?”
“Yes, I do!” Rainbow shouted back, her chair sliding with a loud groan. “Not just the compound, Bellum! The world! The whole world is at stake, and you’re here yelling at me for bringing it to the one best place we could contain it! It’s a grenade for the Wither! I’ve seen soldiers carry belts of this stuff! Suits lined and made with this stuff! I’ve seen half a valley die from this! I was crippled and brought back because of this! And I might have some immunity to it now, but I can’t say the same for everyone else on the planet!”
“Lives are on the line, the future of Equestria is on the line, so don’t sit here lecturing me about what’s right and what’s dangerous!” Rainbow slammed her hooves into the metal table, her hooves bending the metal like putty.
Bellum held his breath as the grenade dropped to the floor with a soft thud and click.
Rainbow picked it up, marched over to Bellum, held it until he put his hoof out, and placed it in his hoof. “And don’t worry. I made sure the damn thing couldn’t go off even if it wanted too. You should thank Relda for that. She found the trigger. The magic. After she made sure Jaydock and Goldeneye were okay, she worked on this with a surgeon’s scalpel and it put her out for the rest of the trip back.” Rainbow walked over to the door and pulled it open with a silent rage.
“And if you don’t think I’m fit for this war after what I’ve shown you, then consider me released from active duty.”
She stormed away and didn’t look back.